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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No.
+CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV., by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: August 27, 2004 [EBook #13306]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Jon Ingram, Victoria Woosley and PG Distributed
+Proofreaders. Produced from page images provided by The Internet
+Library of Early Journals.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                         BLACKWOOD'S
+
+                          Edinburgh
+
+                          MAGAZINE.
+
+
+
+                          VOL. LV.
+
+                     JANUARY-JUNE, 1844.
+
+                      [Illustration]
+
+
+                           1844.
+
+
+             *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+                        BLACKWOOD'S
+
+                      EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.
+
+
+             *       *       *       *       *
+
+            No. CCCXXXIX. JANUARY, 1844. VOL. LV.
+
+             *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+                          CONTENTS.
+
+
+        STATE PROSECUTIONS,                                 1
+        ADVENTURES IN TEXAS. NO. III. THE STRUGGLE,        18
+        CLITOPHON AND LEUCIPPE,                            33
+        THE NEW ART OF PRINTING. BY A DESIGNING DEVIL,     45
+        THE BANKING-HOUSE. PART THE LAST,                  50
+        KÍEFF, FROM THE RUSSIAN OF KOZLÓFF,                80
+        MARSTON; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF A STATESMAN. PART VII. 81
+        LETTER FROM LEMUEL GULLIVER,                       98
+        THE PROCLAMATION,                                 100
+        THE FIREMAN'S SONG,                               101
+        POSITION AND PROSPECTS OF THE GOVERNMENT,         103
+
+
+             *       *       *       *       *
+
+                         EDINBURGH:
+
+         WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, 45, GEORGE STREET;
+                 AND 22, PALL-MALL, LONDON.
+
+      To whom all Communications (post paid) must be addressed.
+
+       SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS THE UNITED KINGDOM.
+
+             *       *       *       *       *
+
+        PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND HUGHES, EDINBURGH.
+
+
+             *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+STATE PROSECUTIONS.
+
+
+The Englishman who, however well inclined to defer to the wisdom "of
+former ages," should throw a glance at the stern realities of the
+past, as connected with the history of his country, will be little
+disposed to yield an implicit assent to the opinions or assertions of
+those, who maintain the superiority of the past, to the disparagement
+and depreciation of the present times. Maxims and sayings of this
+tendency have undoubtedly prevailed from periods of remote antiquity.
+The wise monarch of the Jewish nation even forbade his people to ask
+"the cause that the former days were better than these;" "for," he
+adds, "thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this." Far different
+would be the modern precept of a British monarch. Rather let the
+English subject "enquire _diligently_ concerning this," for he cannot
+fail to enquire wisely. Let him enquire, and he will find that "the
+former days" of England were days of discord, tyranny, and oppression;
+days when an Empson and a Dudley could harass the honest and
+well-disposed, through the medium of the process of the odious
+star-chamber; when the crown was possessed of almost arbitrary power,
+and when the liberty and personal independence of individuals were in
+no way considered or regarded; days when the severity of our criminal
+laws drew down from a French philosopher the sneer, that a history of
+England was a history of the executioner; when the doomed were sent
+out of the world in bands of twenty, and even thirty, at a time, at
+Tyburn or at "Execution dock;" and when, in the then unhealthy tone of
+public morals, criminals famous for their deeds of violence and
+rapine, were regarded rather as the heroes of romance, than as the
+pests and scourges of society. Let him enquire, and he will find that
+all these things have now long since passed away; that the rigours of
+the criminal law have been entirely mitigated, and that the great
+charters of our liberties, the fruits of accumulated wisdom and
+experience, have now been long confirmed. These facts, if universally
+known and duly pondered over, would go far to banish discontent and
+disaffection, and would tend to produce a well-founded confidence in
+the inherent power of adaptation to the necessities of the people,
+possessed by the constitution of our country. Thus, the social wants
+of the outer man having been in a great measure supplied, the
+philanthropy of modern times has been chiefly employed on the mental
+and moral improvement of the species; the wants of the inner man are
+now the objects of universal attention, and education has become the
+great necessity of the age. Hitherto, the municipal laws and
+institutions of this country have been defective; inasmuch as they
+have made little or no provision for the adequate instruction of the
+people. Much, no doubt, has been already done, and education, even
+now, diffuses her benignant light over a large portion of the
+population; among whom, the children of the ignorant are able to
+instruct their parents, and impart, to those who gave them being, a
+share in the new-found blessing of modern times. Much, however,
+remains still to be done, and the splendid examples of princely
+munificence which a great minister of the crown has recently shown the
+wealthier classes of this wealthy nation, may, in the absence of a
+state provision, have the effect of stimulating private exertion and
+generosity. In spite, however, of the moral and intellectual
+advancement of the present age, the passions and evil designs of the
+vicious and discontented are still able to influence vast masses of
+the people. The experience of the last few years unfortunately teaches
+us, that increased knowledge has not yet banished disaffection, and
+that though, during the last quarter of a century, the general
+standard of the nation's morality may have been elevated above its
+former resting-place, that education, in its present state of
+advancement, has not as yet effectually disarmed discontent or
+disaffection, by showing the greater evil which ever attends the
+endeavour to effect the lesser good, by violent, factious, or
+seditious means.
+
+Within the last thirteen years, the government has been compelled, on
+several occasions, to curb the violence and to repress the outbreaks
+of men who had yet to learn the folly of such attempts; and the powers
+of the executive have been frequently evoked by those who, of late
+years, have wielded the destinies of this country. Several state
+prosecutions have taken place during this period. They never occur
+without exciting a lively interest; the public eye is critically
+intent upon the minutest detail of these proceedings; and the public
+attention is concentrated upon those to whom is confided the
+vindication of the public rights and the redressing of the public
+wrongs. It has been often asked by some of these critical observers,
+How is it that, when great crimes or misdemeanours are to be punished,
+when the bold and daring offender is to be brought to justice, when
+the body politic is the offended party, when the minister honours a
+supposed offender with his notice in the shape of criminal
+proceedings, and the government condescends to prosecute--how is it,
+it has been asked on such occasions, when the first talent, science,
+and practical skill, are all arranged against the unfortunate object
+of a nation's vengeance, that the course of justice should be ever
+broken or impeded? Is the machinery then set in motion in truth
+defective--is there some inherent vice in the construction of the
+state engine? Is the law weak when it should be strong? Is its boasted
+majesty, after all, nothing but the creation of a fond imagination, or
+a delusion of the past? Are the wheels of the state-machine no longer
+bright, polished, and fit for use as they once were? or are they
+choked and clogged with the rust and dust of accumulated ages? Or, if
+not in the machine, does the fault, ask others of these bold critics,
+rest with the workmen who guide and superintend its action? Are the
+principles of its construction now no longer known or understood? Are
+they, like those of the engines of the Syracusan philosopher, lost in
+the lapse of time? Is the crown less efficiently served than private
+individuals? and can it be possible, it has even been demanded, that
+those who are actively employed on these occasions have been so long
+removed on the practice of what is often deemed the simpler portion of
+the law, and so long employed in the higher and more abstruse branches
+of the science, that they have forgotten the practice of their youth,
+and have lost the knowledge acquired in the commencement of their
+professional career? Lesser criminals, it is said, are every day
+convicted with ease and expedition--how is it, therefore, that the
+cobweb of the law holds fast the small ephemeræ which chance to stray
+across its filmy mesh, but that the gaudy insect of larger form and
+greater strength so often breaks through, his flight perhaps arrested
+for a moment, as he feels the insidious toil fold close about him? It
+is, however, only for a moment; one mighty effort breaks his bonds--he
+is free--and flies off in triumph and derision, trumpeting forth his
+victory, and proclaiming his escape from the snare, in which it was
+hoped to encompass him. The astute and practised gentlemen thus
+suspected, strong in the consciousness of deep legal knowledge, and
+ready practical skill and science, may justly despise the petty
+attacks of those who affect to doubt their professional ability and
+attainments. Some in high places have not hesitated to hint, on one
+occasion, at collusion, and to assert, that a certain prosecution
+failed, because there was no real desire to punish.
+
+Such is the substance of the various questions and speculations to
+which the legal events of the last thirteen years have given rise. We
+have now collected and enumerated them in a condensed form, for the
+purpose of tracing their rise and progress, and in order that we may
+demonstrate that, though there may possibly exist some reasons for
+these opinions, founded often on a misapprehension of the real
+circumstances of the cases quoted in their support, that they have, in
+fact, little or no substantial foundation. With this view, therefore,
+we shall briefly notice those trials, within the period of which we
+speak, which form the groundwork of these charges against the
+executive, before we proceed to state the real obstacles which do, in
+fact, occasionally oppose the smooth and _rapid_ progress of a "State
+Prosecution."
+
+The first of these proceedings, which occurred during the period of
+the last thirteen years, was the trial of Messrs O'Connell, Lawless,
+Steel, and others. This case perhaps originated the opinions which
+have partially prevailed, and was, in truth, not unlikely to make a
+permanent impression on the public mind. In the month of January 1831,
+true bills were found against these parties by the Grand Jury of
+Dublin, for assembling and meeting together for purposes prohibited by
+a proclamation of the Lord Lieutenant; and for conspiring to do an act
+forbidden by the law. By every possible device, by demurrers and
+inconsistent pleas, delays were interposed; and though Mr O'Connell
+withdrew a former plea of not guilty, and pleaded guilty to the counts
+to which he had at first demurred--though Mr Stanley, in the House of
+Commons, in reply to a question put by the Marquis of Chandos,
+emphatically declared, that it was impossible for the Irish
+government, consistently with their dignity as a government, to enter
+into any negotiation implying the remotest compromise with the
+defendants--and that it was the unalterable determination of the
+law-officers of Ireland to let the law take its course against Mr
+O'Connell--and that, let him act as he pleased, judgment would be
+passed against him--still, in spite of this determination of the
+government, so emphatically announced by the Irish Secretary, the
+statute on which the proceedings were founded was actually suffered to
+expire, without any previous steps having been taken against the state
+delinquents. There has ever been that degree of mystery about this
+event, which invariably rouses attention and excites curiosity; the
+escape of those parties was a great triumph over the powers, or the
+expressed inclinations of the government, which was well calculated to
+set the public mind at work to discover the latent causes which
+produced such strange and unexpected results. After an interval of
+seven years, another case occurred, which was not calculated
+materially to lessen the impression already made upon the public; for
+although, in the following instance, the prosecution was conducted to
+a successful termination, yet questions of such grave importance were
+raised, and fought with such ability, vigour, and determination, that
+the accomplishment of the ends of justice, if not prevented, was
+certainly long delayed.
+
+On the 17th December 1838, twelve prisoners were brought to Liverpool,
+charged in execution of a sentence of transportation to Van Diemen's
+Land for having been concerned in the Canadian revolt. Here the
+offenders had been tried, convicted, sentenced, and actually
+transported. The prosecutors, therefore, might naturally be supposed
+to have got fairly _into_ port, when they saw the objects of their
+tender solicitude fairly _out_ of port, on their way to the distant
+land to which the offended laws of their country had consigned them.
+
+If justice might not account her work as done, at a time when her
+victims had already traversed a thousand leagues of the wide
+Atlantic, when could it be expected that the law might take its course
+without further let or hindrance? On the 17th of December, as has been
+observed, the prisoners arrived at Liverpool, and were straightway
+consigned to the care and custody of Mr Batcheldor, the governor of
+the borough jail of Liverpool; by whom they were duly immured in the
+stronghold of the borough, and safely placed under lock and key.
+Things, however, did not long continue in this state. In a few days
+twelve writs of _habeas corpus_ made their sudden and unexpected
+appearance, by which Mr Batcheldor was commanded forthwith to bring
+the bodies of his charges, together with the causes of detention,
+before the Lord Chief Justice of England. Mr Batcheldor obeyed the
+command in both particulars; the judges of the Court of Queen's Bench
+met; counsel argued and re-argued the matter before them, but in
+vain--the prisoners were left in the governor's care, in which they
+remained, as if no effort had been made to remove then from his
+custody. All, however, was not yet over; for, as though labouring
+under a strange delusion, four of the prisoners actually made oath
+that they had never been arraigned, tried, convicted, or sentenced at
+all, either in Canada or elsewhere! Upon this four more writs of
+_habeas corpus_ issued, commanding the unhappy Mr Batcheldor to bring
+the four deluded convicts before the Barons of the Exchequer. This was
+done; arguments, both old and new, were heard with exemplary patience
+and attention; the play was played over again; but the Barons were
+equally inexorable with the Court of Queen's Bench, and the four
+prisoners, after much consideration, were again remanded to the
+custody of the governor of the jail, and, together with their eight
+fellow-prisoners, were, in course of time, duly conveyed to the place
+of their original destination.
+
+The next of these cases, in chronological order, is that of the
+Monmouthshire riots in 1839. This case, also, might tend to
+corroborate the opinion, that the service of the state, in legal
+matters, is attended with much difficulty and embarrassment. It will,
+however, be seen upon examination of the facts of the case, that the
+difficulty which then arose, proceeded solely from the lenity and
+indulgence shown to the prisoners by the crown. On New-Year's day
+1840, John Frost and others, were brought to trial, on a charge of
+high treason, before a special commission at Monmouth. The proceedings
+were interrupted by an objection taken by the prisoners' counsel, that
+the terms of a statute, which requires that a list of witnesses should
+be delivered to the prisoners _at the same time_ with a copy of the
+indictment, had not been complied with. The indictment had, in fact,
+been delivered five days before the list of witnesses. This had been
+done in merciful consideration to the prisoners, in order that they
+might be put in possession of the charge, to be brought against them,
+as early as it was in the power of the crown to give them the
+information, and probably before it was _possible_ that the list of
+witnesses could have been made out. The trial, however, proceeded,
+subject to the decision of the fifteen judges upon the question, thus
+raised upon the supposed informality, which nothing but the _anxious
+mercy_ of the crown had introduced into the proceedings; and the
+parties were found guilty of the offence laid to their charge. In the
+ensuing term, all other business was, for a time, suspended; and the
+fifteen judges of the land, with all the stately majesty of the
+judicial office, were gathered together in solemn conclave in
+Westminster Hall. A goodly array, tier above tier they sat--the heavy
+artillery of a vast legal battery about to open the fire of their
+learning, with that imposing dignity which becomes the avengers of the
+country's and the sovereign's wrongs. Day after day they met, heard,
+and deliberated upon arguments, which were conspicuous from their
+consummate learning and ability. At length these learned persons
+delivered their judgments, and, amid much diversity of opinion, the
+majority thought, upon the whole, that the conviction was right, and
+that the terms of the statute had been virtually complied with. The
+criminals, however, probably in consequence of the doubts and
+difficulty of the case, were absolved on the most highly penal
+consequences of their crime, and were, by a sort of compromise,
+transported for life to one of the penal settlements.
+
+The doubt which some have entertained of the real insanity of Oxford,
+and others who have recently attempted the same crime which he so nearly
+committed, has caused these cases also to be brought forward in
+confirmation of the opinions, which we contend rest upon no real
+foundation. The insanity of a prisoner is, however, a fact, upon which
+it is the province of the jury to decide, under the direction of the
+presiding judge. In each case the law was luminously laid down by the
+judge for the guidance of the jury, who were fully instructed as to what
+the law required to establish the insanity of its prisoner, and to prove
+that "lesion of the will" which would render a human being irresponsible
+for his acts. These verdicts, undoubtedly, gave rise to a grave
+discussion, whether the law, as it now stands, was sufficiently
+stringent to have reached these cases; and though this question was
+decided in the affirmative, the mere entertaining of the doubt afforded
+another specious confirmation of the impression, that a singular
+fatality was attendant upon a state prosecution. This idea received
+another support from the case of Lord Cardigan, who, about this period,
+was unexpectedly acquitted, on technical grounds, from a grave and
+serious charge. This, however, was no state prosecution, and we do but
+notice it, _en passant_, in corroboration of our general argument.
+
+We now come to the case of the Chartists in 1842. For some time
+previous to the summer of 1842, great distress, it will be remembered,
+prevailed among the manufacturing population of the northern and
+midland counties. The misery of the preceding winter had been dreadful
+in the extreme; emaciated, haggard beings might be daily seen
+wandering about the country half naked, in the coldest weather;
+sufferings, almost without a parallel, were borne with patience and
+resignation. Despair there might be in the hearts of thousands, but
+those thousands were mute and passive in their misery; all was dark,
+all was hopeless; the wintry wind of penury blew untempered, keen upon
+them, but still they cried not; hunger preyed upon their very vitals,
+but they uttered no complaint. Let us not, even now, refuse a passing
+tribute of honour and respect to the passive heroism which in many an
+instance marked the endurance of the hopeless misery of those dreadful
+times. At length, however, evil and designing men came among the
+sufferers--remedies for the pressing evil, and means of escape from
+the wretchedness of their condition, were darkly hinted at; redress
+was whispered to be near, and they, the hungry fathers of famished
+children, lent a greedy ear to the fair promises of men whom they
+deemed wiser than themselves. The tempter's seedtime had arrived, the
+ground was ready, and the seed was sown. Day by day, nay, hour by
+hour, was the bud of disaffection fostered with the greatest care;
+and, day by day, its strength and vitality increased. When, at length,
+the people were deemed ripe for action, the mask was thrown off,
+treasonable schemes and projects were openly proclaimed by the leaders
+of the coming movement, and echoed, from a hundred hills, by vast
+multitudes of their deluded followers. Large meetings were daily held
+on the neighbouring moors, where bodies of men were openly trained and
+armed for active and offensive operations. At length the insurrection,
+for such in truth it was, broke forth. Then living torrents of excited
+and exasperated men poured down those hillsides; the peaceful and
+well-affected were compelled to join the insurgent ranks, busy in the
+work of destruction and intimidation; when each evening brought the
+work of havoc to a temporary close, they laid them down to rest where
+the darkness overtook them. The roads were thus continually blockaded,
+and those who, under cover of the night, sought to obtain aid and
+assistance from less disturbed districts, were often interrupted and
+turned back by bodies of these men. Authority was at an end, and a
+large extensive district was completely at the mercy of reckless
+multitudes, burning to avenge the sufferings of the past, and bent on
+preventing, as they thought, a recurrence of them in future. The very
+towns were in their hands; "in an evil hour" a vast body of insurgents
+was "admitted" into one of the largest mercantile towns of the
+kingdom, where they pillaged and laid waste in every direction. In
+another town of the district a fearful riot was put down by force,
+some of the leaders of the mob being shot dead while heading a charge
+upon the military. The ascendancy of the law was at length asserted;
+many arrests took place; the jails were crowded with prisoners; and
+the multitudes without, deserted by those to whom they had looked up
+for advice, their friends in prison, with the unknown terrors of the
+law suspended over them, probably then felt that, miserable and lost
+as they had been before, they had now fallen even lower in the scale
+of human misery. Criminal proceedings were quickly instituted. Several
+commissions were sent down to the districts in which these
+disturbances had take place, in order that the offenders might meet
+with _speedy_ punishment. The law officers of the crown, with many and
+able assistants, in person conducted the proceedings. Temperate, mild,
+dignified, and forbearing was their demeanour; in no case was the
+individual the object of prosecution; it was the _crime_, through the
+person of the criminal, against which the government proceeded. No
+feelings of a personal nature were there exhibited; and a mild, but
+firm, as it were, a parental correction of erring and misguided
+children, seemed to be the sole object of those who then represented
+the government. Conviction was heaped upon conviction--sentence
+followed sentence--the miserable tool was distinguished from the man
+who made him what he was--the active emissary, the secret conspirator,
+also received each their proportionate amount of punishment. True, a
+few of the more cautious and crafty, all included in one indictment,
+eventually escaped the penalty due to their crimes; but, among the
+multitude of cases which were then tried, this was, we believe, the
+only instance even of partial failure. In spite of this single
+miscarriage of the government, the great object of these proceedings
+was completely answered; the end of all punishment was attained; the
+vengeance which the law then took had all the effect which the most
+condign punishment of these few men could have accomplished; the
+constitutional maxim of "_poena ad paucos, metus ad omnes_," has been
+amply illustrated by these proceedings; Chartism has been suppressed,
+by the temperate application of the constitutional means which were
+then resorted to for the correction of its violence, and the
+prevention of its seditious schemes.
+
+We must not omit to mention the instances of signal and complete
+success which have been, from time to time, exhibited in other
+prosecutions against Feargus O'Connor and different members of the
+Chartist body, within the period of which we speak. On none of these
+occasions has the course of justice been hindered, or even turned
+aside; but the defendants have, we believe, without exception, paid
+the penalty of their crimes by enduring the punishments awarded by the
+court.
+
+The recent trials of the Rebecca rioters were also signally successful
+and effective; and the prejudices of a Welsh jury, which some feared
+would prove a fatal stumblingblock, were overcome by the dispassionate
+appeal to their better judgment then made by the officers of the
+crown.
+
+From a review of the cases, it therefore appears, that the failures of
+a state prosecution have been comparatively few; and that the crown
+has met with even more than the average success which the "glorious
+uncertainty of the law" in general permits to those who tempt its
+waywardness, and risk the perils of defeat. The welfare and interest
+of the nation, however, lie in the _general_ results of these
+proceedings, rather than the _particular event_ of an individual
+trial. Therefore, though we should assume that a part only of what was
+intended has been accomplished, still if that portion produces the
+same general results as were hoped for from the successful
+accomplishment of the whole, the object of the government has been
+attained. Now, it may be observed, that, with perhaps the single
+exception of the case of Mr O'Connell in 1831, the end and object of
+all state prosecution has been uniformly and completely accomplished,
+by the suppression of the evil which the crown in each instance was
+anxious to put down. When this has taken place, there can have been no
+failure. Beyond what is necessary for the welfare of the state, and
+the general safety and security of the persons and property of
+individuals, the crown has no interest in inflicting punishment; it
+never asks for more than is required to effect _these objects_, and it
+can scarcely be content with less.
+
+There are, however, difficulties almost peculiar to the more serious
+offences against the state, but which are entirely different, in their
+nature, from those imaginary difficulties which have formed the
+subject of so much declamation. A passing glance at the proceedings
+now pending in Ireland, will give the most casual observer some idea
+of what is sometimes to be encountered by those to whom is entrusted
+the arduous duty of conducting a state prosecution. Look back on the
+"tempest of provocation," which recently assailed the Irish
+Attorney-General, on the vexatious delays and frivolous objections
+which sprang up at every move of the crown lawyers, called forth by
+one who, though "_not valiant_," was well known to the government to
+be "most cunning offence" ere they challenged him, but who, "despite
+his cunning fence and active practice," may perhaps find, that this
+time the law has clutched him with a grasp of iron. In ordinary cases,
+criminals may, no doubt, be easily convicted; and in the great
+majority of the more common crimes and misdemeanours, the utmost legal
+ingenuity and acumen might be unable to detect a single error in the
+proceedings, from first to last. Still it must be remembered, that
+even among the more common of ordinary cases, in which the forms are
+simple, the practice certain, and in which the law may be supposed to
+be already defined beyond the possibility of doubt, error, or
+misconception--even in such cases, questions occasionally arise which
+scarcely admit of any satisfactory solution--questions in which the
+fifteen judges, to whom they may be referred, often find it impossible
+to agree, and which may therefore be reasonably supposed to be
+sufficiently perplexing to the rest of the world. State offences, such
+as treason and sedition, which are of comparatively rare occurrence,
+present many questions of greater intricacy than any other class of
+crimes. In treason especially, a well-founded jealousy of the power
+and prerogatives of the crown has intrenched the subject behind a line
+of outposts, in the shape of forms and preliminary proceedings; the
+accused, for his greater security against a power which, if unwatched,
+might become arbitrary and oppressive, has been invested with rights
+which must be respected and complied with, and by the neglect of which
+the whole proceedings are rendered null and void. At this moment, in
+all treasons, except attempts upon the person of the sovereign, "the
+prisoner," in the language of Lord Erskine, "is covered all over with
+the armour of the law;" and there must be twice the amount of evidence
+which would be legally competent to establish his guilt in a criminal
+prosecution for any other offence, even by the meanest and most
+helpless of mankind. Sedition is a head of crime of a somewhat vague
+and indeterminate character, and, in many cases, it may he extremely
+difficult, even for an acute and practised lawyer, to decide whether
+the circumstances amount to sedition. Mr East, in his pleas of the
+crown, says, that "sedition is understood in a more general sense than
+treason, and extends to other offences, not capital, of a like
+tendency, but without any actual design against the king in
+contemplation, such as contempts of the king and his government,
+riotous assemblings for political purposes, and the like; and in
+general all contemptuous, indecent, or malicious observations upon his
+person and government, whether by writing or speaking, or by tokens,
+calculated to lessen him in the esteem of his subjects, or weaken his
+government, or raise jealousies of him amongst the people, will fall
+under the notion of seditious acts." An offence which admits of so
+little precision in the terms in which it is defined, depending often
+upon the meaning to be attached to words, the real import of which is
+varied by the tone or gesture of the speaker, by the words which
+precede, and by those which follow, depending also upon the different
+ideas which men attach to the same words, evidently rests on very
+different grounds from those cases, where actual crimes have been
+perpetrated and deeds committed, which leave numerous traces behind,
+and which may be proved by the permanent results of which they have
+been the cause. Technical difficulties without number also exist: the
+most literal accuracy, which is indispensable--the artful inuendoes,
+the artistical averments, which are necessary, correctly to shape the
+charge ere it is submitted to the grand jury, may be well conceived to
+involve many niceties and refinements, on which the case may easily be
+wrecked. It must also be remembered that the utmost legal ingenuity is
+called into action, and the highest professional talent is engaged in
+the defence of the accused. The enormous pressure upon the accused
+himself, who, probably from the higher or middle classes, with ample
+means at his command, an ignominious death perhaps impending, or, at
+the least, imprisonment probably for years in threatening prospect
+close before him; his friends active, moving heaven and earth in his
+behalf, no scheme left untried, no plan or suggestion rejected, by
+which it may, even in the remotest degree be possible to avert the
+impending doom; the additional rancour which politics sometimes infuse
+into the proceedings, the partisanship which has occasioned scenes
+such as should never be exhibited in the sacred arena of the halls of
+justice, animosities which give the defence the character of a party
+conflict, and which cause a conviction to be looked upon as a
+political defeat, and an acquittal to be regarded as a party
+triumph--all these circumstances, in their combined and concentrated
+force, must also be take into consideration. In such a case every step
+is fought with stern and dogged resolution; even mere delay is
+valuable, for when all other hope is gone, the chapter of accidents
+_may_ befriend the accused; it is one chance more; and even one
+chance, however slight, is not to be thrown away. Such is a faint
+picture of the defensive operations on such occasions: how is this
+untiring, bitter energy met by those who represent the crown?
+
+    "Look on this picture and on that."
+
+Here all is calm, dignified, generous, and forbearing; every
+consideration is shown, every indulgence is granted, to the
+unfortunate being who is in jeopardy. The crown has no interest to
+serve beyond that which the state possesses in the vindication of the
+law, and in that cool, deliberate, and impartial administration of
+justice which has so long distinguished this country. Nothing is
+unduly pressed against the prisoner, but every extenuating fact is
+fairly laid before the jury by the crown; it is, in short, generosity,
+candor, and forbearance, on the one side, matched against craft,
+cunning and the resolution _by any means_ to win, upon the other. Such
+are the real difficulties which may be often felt by those who conduct
+a state prosecution. Surely it is better far that these difficulties
+should, in some instances, be even wholly insuperable, and that the
+prosecution should be defeated, than that any change should come over
+the spirit in which these trials are now conducted; or that the crown
+should ever even attempt to make the criminal process of the law an
+instrument of tyranny and oppression, as it was in the days of Scroggs
+and Jefferies, and when juries, through intimidation, returned such
+verdicts as the crown desired. Our very tenacity of our liberties may
+tend to render these proceedings occasionally abortive; and the twelve
+men composing a jury of the country, though possibly all their
+sympathies would be at once enlisted in behalf of a wronged and
+injured subject, may, unconsciously to themselves, demand more
+stringent proof, in cases where the sovereign power appears before
+then as the party; and more especially, when the offence is of an
+impersonal nature, and where the theory of the constitution, rather
+than the person or property of individuals, is the object of
+aggression. In the olden time such was the power of the crown, that,
+whenever the arm of the state was uplifted, the blow fell with
+unerring accuracy and precision; but now, when each object of a state
+prosecution is a sort of modern Briareus, the blow must be dealt with
+consummate skill, or it will fail to strike where it was meant to
+fall. On this account, perhaps, in addition to then own intrinsic
+paramount importance, the proceedings now pending in Ireland, have
+become the object of universal and absorbing interest throughout the
+whole of the United Kingdom. Under these circumstances it has occurred
+to us, that a popular and accurate review of the several stages of a
+criminal prosecution, by which the general reader will be able, in
+some degree, to understand the several steps of that proceeding which
+is now pending, might not be unacceptable or uninstructive at the
+present moment. It must, however, be observed, that it is scarcely
+possible to divest a subject so technical in it very nature from those
+terms of art which, however familiar they may be to many of our
+readers, cannot be understood by all without some explanation, which
+we shall endeavour to supply as we proceed.
+
+The general importance of information of this nature has been well
+summed up by a great master of criminal law. "The learning touching
+these subjects," says Sir Michael Foster, "is a matter of great and
+universal concernment. For no rank, no elevation in life, and, let me
+add, no conduct, how circumspect soever, ought to tempt a reasonable
+man to conclude that these enquiries do not, nor possibly can, concern
+him. A moment's cool reflection on the utter instability of human
+affairs, and the numberless unforeseen events which a day may bring
+forth, will be sufficient to guard any man, conscious of his own
+infirmities, against a delusion of this kind."
+
+Let us suppose the minister of the day, having before been made aware
+that, in a portion of the kingdom, a state of things existed that
+demanded his utmost vigilance and attention, to have ascertained the
+reality of the apparent danger, and to have procured accurate
+information as to the real character of the proceedings, and to find
+that acts apparently treasonable or seditious, as the case may be, had
+been committed. Suppose him, charged with the safety of the state, and
+responsible for the peace, order, and well-being of the community, to
+set the constitutional process of the law in motion against the
+offending individuals; his first step, under such circumstances, must
+be to procure full and satisfactory evidence of the facts as they
+really exist. For this purpose agents must he employed, necessarily in
+secret, or the very end and object of their mission would be
+frustrated, to collect and gather information from every authentic
+source, and to watch, with their own eyes the proceedings which have
+attracted attention. This is a work of time, perhaps; but suppose that
+it is complete, and that the minister having before him in evidence,
+true and unmistakable, a complete case of crime to lay before a jury,
+what, under these circumstances, is the first step to be taken by the
+crown? Either of two distinct modes of procedure may be chosen; the
+one mode is by an _ex officio_ information, the other is by
+indictment. An indictment is the mode by which all treasons and
+felonies must be proceeded against, and by which ordinary
+misdemeanours are usually brought to punishment. An _ex officio_
+information is an information at the suit of the sovereign, filed by
+the Attorney-General, as by virtue of his office, without applying to
+the court where filed for leave, and without giving the defendant any
+opportunity of showing cause why it should not be filed. The principal
+difference between this form of procedure and that by indictment,
+consists in the manner in which the proceedings are commenced; in the
+latter case, the law requires that the accusation should be warranted
+by the oath of twelve men, before he be put to answer it--or in other
+words that the grand jury must give that information to the court,
+which, in the former case, is furnished by the law officer of the
+crown. The cases which are prosecuted by _ex officio_ information, are
+properly such enormous misdemeanours as peculiarly tend to disturb and
+endanger the government or to molest or affront the sovereign in the
+discharge of the functions of the royal office. The necessity for the
+existence of a power of this nature in the state, is thus set forth by
+that learned and illustrious judge, Sir William Blackstone. "For
+offences so highly dangerous, in the punishment or prevention of which
+a moment's delay would be fatal, the law has given to the crown the
+power of an immediate prosecution, without waiting for any previous
+application to any other tribunal: which power, thus necessary, not
+only to the ease and safety, but even to the very existence of the
+executive magistrate, was originally reserved in the great plan of the
+English constitution, wherein provision is wisely made for the
+preservation of all its parts."
+
+The crown, therefore, in a case such as we have imagined, must first
+make choice between these two modes of procedure. The leniency of
+modern governments has of late usually resorted to the process by
+indictment; and the crown, waiving all the privileges which appertain
+to the kingly office, appears before the constituted tribunals of the
+land, as the redresser of the public wrongs, invested with no powers,
+and clothed with no authority beyond the simple rights possessed by
+the meanest of its subjects. We shall, for this reason, take no
+further notice of the _ex officio_ information; and as treasons form a
+class of offences governed by laws and rules peculiar to itself, we
+shall also exclude this head of crime from our consideration, and
+confine ourselves solely to the ordinary criminal process by which
+offenders are brought to justice.
+
+In, general, the first step in a criminal prosecution, is to obtain a
+warrant for the apprehension of the accused party. In ordinary cases,
+a warrant is granted by any justice of the peace upon information, on
+the oath of some credible witness, of facts from which it appears that
+a crime has been committed, and that the person against whom the
+warrant is sought to be obtained, is probably the guilty party, and is
+a document under the hand and seal of the justice, directed generally
+to the constable or other peace-officer, requiring him to bring the
+accused, either generally before _any_ justice of the county, or only
+before the justice who granted it. This is the practice in ordinary
+cases; but in extraordinary cases, the warrant may issue from the Lord
+Chief Justice, or the Privy Council, the Secretaries of State, or from
+any justice of the Court of Queen's Bench. These latter warrants are,
+we believe, all tested, or dated England, and extend over the whole
+kingdom. So far the proceedings have been all _ex parte_, one side
+only has been heard, one party only has appeared, and all that has
+been done, is to procure or compel the appearance of the other. The
+warrant is delivered to the officer, who is bound to obey the command
+which it contains. It would seem, however, that, as was done in a
+recent case in Ireland, it is sufficient if the appearance of the
+accused be virtually secured, even without the intervention of an
+actual arrest.
+
+When the delinquent appears, in consequence of this process, before
+the authorities, they are bound immediately to examine into the
+circumstances of the alleged crime; and they are to take down in
+writing the examinations of the witnesses offered in support of the
+charge. If the evidence is defective, and grave suspicion should
+attach to the prisoner, he may be remanded, in order that fresh
+evidence may be procured; or the magistrate, if the case be surrounded
+with doubt and difficulty, may adjourn it for a reasonable time, in
+order to consider his final decision. The accused must also be
+examined, but not upon oath; and his examination also must be taken
+down in writing, and may be given in evidence against him at the
+trial; for although the maxim of the common law is "_nemo tenebitur
+prodere seipsum_," the legislature, as long ago as the year 1555,
+directed that, in cases of felony, the examination of the prisoner
+should be taken; which provision has recently been extended to
+misdemeanours also. Care must be taken that his examination should not
+even _appear_ to have been taken on oath; for in a very recent case,
+in which _all_ the examinations were contained upon one sheet of
+paper, and under one general heading--from which they all purported to
+have been taken upon oath, the prisoner's admission of his guilt
+contained in that examination, was excluded on the trial, and the rest
+of the evidence being slight, he was accordingly acquitted. Now, if
+upon the enquiry thus instituted, and thus conducted, it appears,
+either that no such crime was committed, or that the suspicion
+entertained against the accused is wholly groundless, or that, however
+positively accused, if the balance of testimony be strongly in favour
+of his innocence, it is the duty of the magistrate to discharge him.
+But if, on the other hand, the case seems to have been entirely made
+out, or even if it should appear probable, that the alleged crime has
+in fact been perpetrated by the defendant, he must either be committed
+to prison, there to be kept, in safe custody, until the sitting of the
+court before which the trial is to be heard; or, he may be allowed to
+give bail--that is, to put in securities for his appearance to answer
+the charge against him. In either of these alternatives, whether the
+accused be committed or held to bail, it is the duty of the magistrate
+to subscribe the examinations, and cause them to be delivered to the
+proper officer, at, or before, the opening of the court. Bail may be
+taken by two justices in cases of felony, and by one in cases of
+misdemeanour. In this stage of the proceedings, as the commitment is
+only for safe custody, whenever bail will answer the same intention,
+it ought to be taken, as in inferior crimes and misdemeanours; but in
+offences of a capital nature, such as the heinous crimes of treason,
+murder, and the like, no bail can be a security equivalent to the
+actual custody of the person. The nature of bail has been explained,
+by Mr Justice Blackstone, to be "a delivery or bailment of a person to
+his sureties, upon their giving, together with himself, sufficient
+security for his appearance: he being supposed to continue in their
+friendly custody, instead of going to gaol." To refuse, or even to
+delay bail to any person bailable, is an offence against the liberty
+of the subject, in any magistrate, by the common law. And the Court of
+Queen's Bench will grant a criminal information against the magistrate
+who improperly refuses bail in a case in which it ought to have been
+received. It is obviously of great importance, in order to ensure the
+appearance of the accused at the time and place of trial, that the
+sureties should be men of substance; reasonable notice of bail, in
+general twenty-four or forty-eight hours, may be ordered to be given
+to the prosecutor, in order that he may have time to examine into
+their sufficiency and responsibility. When the bail appear, evidence
+may be heard on oath, and they may themselves be examined on oath upon
+this point; if they do not appear to possess property to the amount
+required by the magistrates, they may be rejected, and others must be
+procured, or the defender must go to prison. Excessive bail must not
+be required; and, on the other hand, the magistrate, if he take
+insufficient bail, is liable to be fined, if the criminal do not
+appear to take his trial. When the securities are found, the bail
+enter into a recognizance, together with the accused, by which they
+acknowledge themselves bound to the Queen in the required sums, if the
+accused does not appear to take his trial, at the appointed time and
+place. This recognizance must be subscribed by the magistrates, and
+delivered with the examinations to the officer of the court in which
+the trial is to take place. With this, the preliminary proceedings
+close: the accused has had one opportunity of refuting the charge, or
+of clearing himself from the suspicion which has gathered round him;
+but as yet, there is no written accusation, no written statement of
+the offence which it is alleged he has committed. True, he has heard
+evidence--he has heard a charge made orally against him--but the law
+requires greater particularity than this before a man shall be put in
+peril upon a criminal accusation. The facts disclosed in the evidence
+before the magistrates must be put in a legal form; the offence must
+be clearly and accurately defined in writing, by which the accused may
+be informed what specific charge he is to answer, and from which he
+may be able to learn what liability he incurs; whether his life is put
+in peril, or whether he is in danger of transportation or of
+imprisonment, or merely of a pecuniary fine. This is done by means of
+the indictment. The indictment is a written accusation of one or more
+several persons, preferred to and presented upon oath by a grand jury.
+This written accusation, before being presented to the grand jury, is
+properly termed a "bill;" and, in ordinary cases, it is generally
+prepared by the clerk of the arraigns at the assizes, and by the clerk
+of the peace at the quarter sessions; but, in cases of difficulty, it
+is drawn by counsel. It consists of a formal technical statement of
+the offence, which is engrossed upon parchment, upon the back of which
+the names of the witnesses for the prosecution are indorsed. In
+England it is delivered to the crier of the court, by whom the
+witnesses are sworn to the truth of the evidence they are about to
+give before the grand jury. In the trial now pending in the Court of
+Queen's Bench in Ireland, a great question was raised as to whether a
+recent statute, which, on the ground of convenience, enabled grand
+juries in Ireland themselves to swear the witnesses, extended to
+trials before the Queen's Bench. This question was decided in the
+affirmative; therefore, in that country, the oath, in every case, must
+be administered by the grand jury themselves; whereas, in this
+country, the witnesses are sworn _in court_, and by the crier, as we
+have already mentioned. The grand jury, ever since the days of King
+Ethelred, must consist of twelve at least, and not more than
+twenty-three. In the superior courts they are generally drawn from the
+magistracy or superior classes of the community, being, as Mr Justice
+Blackstone expresses it, "usually gentlemen of the best figure in the
+county." They are duly sworn and instructed in the articles of their
+enquiry by the judge who presides upon the bench. They then withdraw,
+to sit and receive all bills which may be presented to them. When a
+bill is thus presented, the witnesses are generally called in the
+order in which their names appear upon the back of the bill. The grand
+jury is, at most, to hear evidence only on behalf of the prosecution;
+"for," says the learned commentator already quoted, "the finding of an
+indictment is only in the nature of an enquiry or accusation, which is
+afterwards to be tried and determined; and the grand jury are only to
+enquire upon their oaths, whether there be sufficient cause to call
+upon a party to answer it." They ought, however, to be fully persuaded
+of the truth of an indictment as far as the evidence goes, and not to
+rest satisfied with remote probabilities; for the form of the
+indictment is, that they, "_upon their oath_, present" the party to
+have committed the crime. This form, Mr Justice Coleridge observes, is
+perhaps stronger than may be wished, and we believe that the criminal
+law commissioners are now seriously considering the propriety of
+abolishing it.
+
+After hearing the evidence, the grand jury endorse upon the bill their
+judgment of the truth or falsehood of the charge. If they think the
+accusation groundless, they write upon it, "not found," or "not a true
+bill;" in which case the bill is said to be ignored: but, on the other
+hand, if twelve at least are satisfied of the truth of the accusation,
+the words "true bill" are placed upon it. The bill is then said to be
+found. It then becomes an indictment, and is brought into court by the
+grand jury, and publicly delivered by the foreman to the clerk of
+arraigns, or clerk of the peace, as the case may be, who states to the
+court the substance of the indictment and of the indorsement upon it.
+If the bill is ignored, and no other bill is preferred against the
+party, he is discharged, without further answer, when the grand jury
+have finished their labours, and have been themselves discharged. To
+find a bill, twelve at least of the jury must agree; for no man, under
+this form of proceeding at least, can be convicted even of a
+misdemeanour, unless by the unanimous voice of twenty-four of his
+equals; that is, by twelve at least of the grand jury assenting to the
+accusation, and afterwards by the whole petit jury of twelve more
+finding him guilty upon the trial.
+
+This proceeding is wholly _ex parte_. As the informal statement of the
+crime brought the supposed criminal to answer before the inferior
+tribunal, so does the formal accusation call upon him to answer before
+the superior court. The preliminary proceedings being now complete,
+and every step having been taken which is necessary to put the accused
+upon his trial, the _ex parte_ character of the proceedings is at an
+end. The time approaches when the accused must again be brought face
+to face with his accusers; and when, if he has been admitted to bail,
+his sureties must deliver him up to the proper authorities, or their
+bond is forfeited; in which case, a bench warrant for the apprehension
+of the delinquent may issue; and if he cannot still be found, he may
+be pursued to outlawry. It may be here mentioned, that the
+proceedings may be, at any period, removed from any inferior court
+into the Queen's Bench, by what is called a writ of _certiorari_. When
+the offender appears voluntarily to an indictment, or was before in
+custody, or is brought in upon criminal process to answer it in the
+proper court, he is to be immediately arraigned. The arraignment is
+simply the calling upon the accused, at the bar of the court, to
+answer the matter charged upon him in the indictment, the substantial
+parts, at least, of which are then read over to him. This is
+indispensable, in order that he may fully understand the charge. So
+voluminous are the counts of the indictment recently found against Mr
+O'Connell and others, that the reading of the charges they contained
+was the work of many hours. The accused is not always compelled
+immediately to answer the indictment; for if he appear in term-time to
+an indictment for a misdemeanour in the Queen's Bench, it is
+sufficient if he plead or demur within four days; the court has a
+discretionary power to enlarge the time; but if he neither pleads nor
+demurs within the time prescribed, judgment may be entered against him
+as for want of a plea. It he appear to such an indictment, having been
+committed or held to bail within twenty days before the assizes or
+sessions at which he is called upon to answer, he has the option of
+_traversing_, as it is termed, or of postponing his trial to the next
+assizes or sessions. He is also always entitled, before the trial, on
+payment of a trifling charge, to have copies of the examinations of
+the witnesses on whose evidence he was committed or held to bail; and
+at the trial he has a right to inspect the originals gratuitously. In
+prosecutions for misdemeanours at the suit of the Attorney-General, a
+copy of indictment must be delivered, free of expense, if demanded by
+the accused. These seem to be all the privileges except that of
+challenge, which we shall explain hereafter, which the accused
+possesses, or to which the law gives him an absolute indefeasible
+claim as a matter of right. The _practice_ of different courts may
+possibly vary in some degree on points such as those which have been
+recently mooted in Ireland; for instance, as to whether the names of
+the witnesses should be furnished to the accused, and whether their
+address and description should also be supplied. In such matters the
+practice might vary, in a considerable degree, in the superior courts
+of England and Ireland; and yet each course would be strictly legal,
+in the respective courts in which it was adopted; for, as it was
+clearly put by one of the Irish judges on a recent occasion, the
+practice of the court is the law of the court, and the law of the
+court is the law of the land.
+
+When the time has arrived at which the accused must put in his answer
+to the indictment, if he do not confess the charge, or stand mute of
+malice, he may either plead, 1st, to the jurisdiction, which is a good
+plea when the court before whom the indictment is taken has no
+cognizance of the offence, as when a case of treason is prosecuted at
+the quarter sessions; or, 2dly, he may demur, by which he says, that,
+assuming that he has done every thing which the indictment lays to his
+charge, he has, nevertheless, been guilty of no crime, and is in
+nowise liable to punishment for the act there charged. A demurrer has
+been termed an issue in law--the question to be determined being, what
+construction the law puts upon admitted facts. If the question of law
+be adjudged _in favour_ of the accused, it is attended with the same
+results as an acquittal in fact, except that he may be indicted afresh
+for the same offence; but if the question be determined _against_ the
+prisoner, the law, in its tenderness, _will not_ allow him, at least
+in cases of felony, to be punished for his misapprehension of the law,
+or for his mistake in the conduct of his pleadings, but will, in such
+case, permit him to plead over to the indictment--that is, to plead
+not guilty; the consequences of which plea we will consider hereafter.
+
+A third alternative is a plea of abatement, which is a plea praying
+that the indictment may be quashed, for some defect which the plea
+points out. This plea, though it was recently, made use of by the
+defendants in the case now pending in Ireland, is of very rare
+occurrence in ordinary practice--a recent statute having entirely
+superseded every advantage formerly to be derived from this plea, in
+cases of a misnomer, or a wrong name, and of a false addition or a
+wrong description of the defendant's rank and condition, which were
+the principal occasions on which it was resorted to.
+
+The next alternative which the prisoners may adopt, is a special plea
+in bar. These pleas are of four kinds: 1. a former acquittal; 2. a
+former conviction; 3. a former attainder; 4. a former pardon, for the
+same offence. The first two of these pleas are founded on the maxim of
+the law of England, that no man is to be twice put in jeopardy for the
+same offence. A man is attainted of felony, only by judgment of death,
+or by outlawry; for by such judgment, the prisoner being already dead
+in law, and having forfeited all his property, there remains no
+further punishment to be awarded; and, therefore, any further
+proceeding would be superfluous. This plea has, however, been
+practically put an end to by a recent statute. A plea of pardon, is
+the converse of a plea of attainder; for a pardon at once destroys the
+end and purpose of the indictment, by remitting that punishment which
+the prosecution was calculated to inflict.
+
+All these pleas may be answered by the crown in two ways--issue may be
+joined on the facts they respectively set forth; or they may be
+demurred to; by which step, the facts, alleged in the plea, are denied
+to constitute a good and valid defence in law. In _felony_, if any of
+these pleas are, either in fact or in law, determined against the
+prisoner, he cannot be convicted or concluded by the adverse judgment;
+and for this reason. Formerly all felonies were punishable with death,
+and, in the words of Mr Justice Blackstone, "the law allows many pleas
+by which a prisoner may escape death; but only one plea in consequence
+whereof it can be inflicted, viz., the general issue, after an
+impartial examination and decision of the facts, by the unanimous
+verdict of a jury." The prisoner, therefore, although few felonies
+remain still capital, is nevertheless still allowed to plead over as
+before. In misdemeanours, however, which are never capital, and in
+which, therefore, no such principle could ever have applied, the
+judgment on these pleas appears to follow the analogy of a civil
+action. Thus, if, upon issue joined, a plea of abatement be found
+against the accused, the judgment, on that indictment, is final;
+though a second indictment may be preferred against him; but if, upon
+demurrer, the question of law is held to be against him, the judgment
+is, that he do answer the indictment. If a plea in bar, either on
+issue joined, or on demurrer, be determined against the defendant, the
+judgment is in such case final, and he stands convicted of the
+misdemeanour.
+
+The general issue, or the plea of "not guilty," is the last and most
+usual of those answers to the indictment which we have enumerated, the
+others being all of extremely rare occurrence in the modern practice
+of the criminal law. By this plea, the accused puts himself upon his
+county, which county the jury are. The sheriff of the county must then
+return a panel of jurors. In England the jurors are taken from the
+"jurors' book" of the current year. It must be observed, that a new
+jurors' book comes into operation on the first of January in each
+year, having previously been copied from the lists of those liable to
+serve on juries, made out in the first instance, between the months of
+July and October, both inclusive, by the churchwardens and overseers
+of each parish, then reviewed and confirmed by the justices of the
+peace in petty sessions, and, through the high constable of the
+district, delivered to the next quarter sessions. If the proceedings
+are before the Queen's Bench, an interval is allowed by the court, in
+fixing the time of trial, for the impanneling of the jury, upon a writ
+issued to the sheriff for that purpose. The trial in a case of
+misdemeanour in the Queen's Bench is had at _nisi prius_, unless it be
+of such consequence as to merit a trial at bar, which is invariably
+had when the prisoner is tried for any capital offence in that court.
+But before the ordinary courts of assize, the sheriff, by virtue of a
+general precept directed to him beforehand, returns to the court a
+panel of not less than forty-eight nor more than seventy-two persons,
+unless the judges of assize direct a greater or smaller number to be
+summoned. When the time for the trial has arrived, and the case is
+called on, jurors, to the number of twelve, are sworn, unless
+challenged as they appear; their names being generally taken
+promiscuously, one by one, out of a box containing a number of
+tickets, on each of which a juror's name is inserted. Challenges may
+be made, either on the part of the crown or on that of the accused,
+and either to the whole array or to the separate polls. The challenge
+to the array, which must be made in writing, is an exception to the
+whole panel, on account of some partiality or default in the sheriff,
+or his officer, who arrayed the panel, the ground of which is examined
+into before the court. Challenges to the polls--_in capita_--are
+exceptions to particular persons, and must be made in each instance,
+as the person comes to the box to be sworn, and before he is sworn;
+for when the oath is once taken the challenge is too late.
+
+Sir Edward Coke reduces the heads of challenge to four. 1st, _propter
+honoris respectum_; as if a lord of Parliament be impannelled. 2d,
+_propter defectum_; as if a juryman be an alien born, or be in other
+respects generally objectionable. 3d, _propter affectum_; for
+suspicion of bias or partiality: and 4th, _propter delictum_; or, for
+some crime that affects the juror's credit, and renders him infamous;
+In treason and felony, the prisoner is allowed the privilege of a
+limited number of _peremptory_ challenges; after which, as in
+misdemeanours, there is no limit to the number of challenges, if the
+party shows some cause for each challenge to the court. This cause is
+tried by persons appointed for that purpose by the court, when no
+jurymen have been sworn; but when two jurymen have been sworn, they
+are the parties who must adjudicate upon the qualifications of those
+who are afterwards challenged, who, except when the challenge is
+_propter delictum_, may be themselves examined upon oath. The crown,
+also, we have seen, can exercise this privilege, but with this
+difference, that no cause for challenge need be shown by the crown,
+either in felonies or misdemeanours, till the panel is exhausted, and
+unless there cannot be a full jury without the persons so challenged.
+
+When twelve men have been found, they are sworn to give a true verdict
+"according to the evidence," and the jury are then ready to hear the
+merits of the case. To fix their attention the closer to the facts
+which they are impannelled and sworn to try, the indictment, in cases
+of importance, is usually opened by the junior counsel for the
+crown--a proceeding, by which they are briefly informed of the charge
+which is brought against the accused. The leading counsel for the
+crown then lays the _facts_ of the case before the jury, in a plain
+unvarnished statement; no appeal is made to the passions or prejudices
+of the twelve men, who are to pronounce upon the guilt or innocence of
+the accused; but every topic, every observation, which might warp
+their judgment, or direct their attention from the simple facts which
+are about to be proved before them, is anxiously deprecated and
+avoided by the counsel for the prosecution. The witnesses for the
+crown are called one by one, sworn, examined, and cross-examined by
+the accused, or his counsel. When the case for the crown has been
+brought to a close, the defence commences, and the counsel for the
+defendant addresses the jury. It is the duty of the advocate, on such
+an occasion, to put forth all his powers in behalf of his client; to
+obtain acquittal is his object: he must sift the hostile evidence, he
+must apply every possible test to the accuracy of the testimony, and
+to the credibility of the witnesses; he may address himself to the
+reason, to the prejudices, to the sympathies, nay, even to the worst
+passions of the twelve men whose opinions he seeks to influence in
+favour of his client. He may proceed to call witnesses to disprove the
+facts adduced on the other side, or to show that the character of the
+accused stands too high for even a suspicion of the alleged clime; he
+has the utmost liberty of speech and action He may indefinitely
+protract the proceedings, and there seems to be scarcely any limit, in
+point of law, beyond which the ultimate event of the trial may not be,
+by these means, deferred. Whenever the defence closes, in those cases
+in which the government is the real prosecutor, the representative of
+the crown has the general reply; at the close of which the presiding
+judge sums up the evidence to the jury, and informs them of the legal
+bearing of the facts, on the effect and existence of which the jury
+has to decide. This having been accomplished, it becomes the duty of
+the jury to deliberate, decide, and pronounce their verdict. If the
+verdict be "Not guilty," the accused is for ever quit and discharged
+of the accusation; but if the jury pronounce him guilty, he stands
+convicted of the crime which has been thus charged and proved against
+him, and awaits the judgment of the court. In felonies and ordinary
+misdemeanours, judgment is generally pronounced immediately upon, or
+soon after, the delivery of the verdict; in other cases, when the
+trial has been had before the Queen's Bench, the judgment may, in
+England, be pronounced either immediately or during the ensuing term.
+But whenever this event occurs, the prisoner has still one chance more
+for escape: he can move an arrest of judgment, on the grounds either
+that the indictment is substantially defective, or that he has already
+been pardoned or punished for the same offense. These objections, if
+successful, will, even at this late stage of the proceedings, save the
+defendant from the consequences of his crime. But if these last
+resources fail, the court must give the judgment, or pronounce the
+measure of that punishment, which the law annexes to the crime of
+which the prisoner has been convicted.
+
+By the law of this country, the _species_ of punishment for every
+offence is always ascertained; but, between certain defined limits,
+the measure and degree of that punishment is, with very few
+exceptions, left to the discretion of the presiding judge. Treasons
+and some felonies are, indeed, capital: but, in the mercy of modern
+times, the great majority of felonies, and all misdemeanours, are
+visited, some with various terms of transportation or imprisonment,
+which, in most cases, may be with or without hard labour, at the
+discretion of the court. In these cases, the punishment is prescribed
+by the statute law; but there are some misdemeanours the punishment of
+which has not been interfered with by any statute, and to which,
+therefore, the common law punishments are still attached. The case of
+Mr O'Connell, which is now in abeyance, seems to range itself under
+this head of misdemeanours. Such cases are punishable by fine or
+imprisonment, or by both; but the amount of the one, or the duration
+of the other, is each left at large to be estimated by the court,
+according to the more or less aggravated nature of the offence, and,
+as it is said, also according to the quality and condition of the
+parties. That a fine should, in all cases, be reasonable, has been
+declared by Magna Charta; and the Bill of Rights has also provided,
+that excessive fine, or cruel and unusual punishments, should not be
+inflicted; but what may or may not be unreasonable or excessive, cruel
+or unusual, is left entirely to the judgment of the executive.
+
+For crimes of a dark political hue, which, by their tendency to
+subvert the government or destroy the institutions of the country,
+necessarily assume a character highly dangerous to the safety and
+well-being of the state, it might be difficult to say what degree of
+punishment would be excessive or unusual. It seems probable, that in
+cases of this nature, which include crimes, so varied in their
+circumstances that there appears no limit to the degree of guilt
+incurred--crimes, the nature and character of which could not possibly
+be foreseen or provided for, in all their infinite multiplicity of
+detail; it seems probable that, in such cases, a large discretion may
+have been purposely left by the framers of our constitution, in order
+that the degree of guilt, on each occasion, should be measured by an
+expansive self-adjusting scale of punishment, applied, indeed, and
+administered by the judges of the land, but regulated and adjusted, in
+each succeeding age, by the influence of public opinion, and by the
+spirit and temper of the times.
+
+Even at this latest stage of criminal prosecution, in the interval
+which must necessarily elapse between the pronouncing and the
+infliction of the sentence, the convicted delinquent is not without a
+remedy for any wrong he may sustain in the act which terminates the
+proceedings. If any judgement not warranted by law be given by the
+court, it may be reversed upon a _writ of error_, which lies from all
+inferior criminal jurisdictions to the Queen's Bench, and from the
+Queen's Bench to the House of Peers. These writs, however, in cases of
+misdemeanour, are not allowed, of course, but on probable cause shown
+to the Attorney General; and then they are understood to be grantable
+of common right, and _ex debito justitiæ_. The crown, if every other
+resource has failed the prisoner, has always the power of exercising
+the most amiable of its prerogatives. Though the sovereign herself
+condemns no man, "the great operation of her sceptre is mercy," and
+the chief magistrate, in the words of Sir William Blackstone, "holding
+a court of equity in his own breast, to soften the rigour of the
+general law, in such criminal cases as merit an exemption from
+punishment," is ever at liberty to grant a free, unconditional, and
+gracious pardon to the injured or repentant convict.
+
+We have now rapidly traced the progress of a criminal prosecution from
+its commencement to its close, and we have given a summary of the
+_ordinary_ proceedings on such occasions. Although it may be possible
+that the practice of the courts in Ireland on minor points, should
+occasionally differ in some degree from the practice of the English
+Courts, we may, nevertheless, have rendered the proceedings now
+pending in the sister isle, more intelligible to the general reader,
+who may now, perhaps, be enabled to see the bearing, and understand
+the importance of many struggles, which, to the unlearned, might
+probably appear to be wholly beside the real question now at issue
+between the crown and Mr O'Connell. Whatever be the result of that
+prosecution, whether those indicted be found guilty, or acquitted, of
+the misdemeanours laid to their charge; we feel assured, on the one
+hand, however long and grievous may have been the "provocation," that
+while there will be "nothing extenuate," neither will there be "set
+down aught in malice;" but that the measure of the retribution now
+demanded by the state, will be so temperately and equitably adjusted,
+that while the very semblance of oppression is carefully avoided, the
+majesty of the law, and the powers of the executive, will be amply and
+entirely vindicated. On the other hand, if Mr O'Connell, and his
+companions, in guilt or misfortune, should break through the cobwebs
+of the law, and hurl a _retrospective_ defiance at the Government; we
+feel the utmost confidence, that the learning, foresight, and ability,
+of the eminent lawyers who represent the crown, together with the
+firmness and integrity of the Irish bench, "_sans peur et sans
+reproche_," will demonstrate to the millions who look on, that the
+constitutional powers of the state still remain uninjured and
+unimpaired in all their pristine and legitimate energy and vigour; and
+that neither in the machinery now set in motion, nor with those who
+conduct or superintend its action, but with others on whom, in the
+course of these proceedings, will be thrown the execution of a grave
+and all-important duty, must rest the real blame, if blame there be,
+of the failure of _this_ "State Prosecution."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+ADVENTURES IN TEXAS.
+
+No. III.
+
+THE STRUGGLE.
+
+
+I had been but three or four months in Texas, when, in consequence of
+the oppressive conduct of the Mexican military authorities, symptoms
+of discontent showed themselves, and several skirmishes occurred
+between the American settlers and the soldiery. The two small forts of
+Velasco and Nacogdoches were taken by the former, and their garrisons
+and a couple of field-officers made prisoners; soon after which,
+however, the quarrel was made up by the intervention of Colonel Austin
+on the part of Texas, and Colonel Mejia on the part of the Mexican
+authorities.
+
+But in the year '33 occurred Santa Anna's defection from the liberal
+party, and the imprisonment of Stephen F. Austin, the Texian
+representative in the Mexican congress, by the vice-president, Gomez
+Farias. This was followed by Texas adopting the constitution of 1824,
+and declaring itself an independent state of the Mexican republic.
+Finally, towards the close of 1835 Texas threw off the Mexican yoke
+altogether, voted itself a free and sovereign republic, and prepared
+to defend by arms its newly asserted liberty.
+
+The first step to be taken was, to secure our communications with the
+United States by getting possession of the sea-ports. General Cos had
+occupied Galveston harbour, and built and garrisoned a block-fort,
+nominally for the purpose of enforcing the customs laws, but in
+reality with a view to cut off our communications with New Orleans and
+the States. This fort it was necessary to get possession of, and my
+friend Fanning and myself were appointed to that duty by the Alcalde,
+who had taken a prominent part in all that had occurred.
+
+Our whole force and equipment wherewith to accomplish this enterprise,
+consisted in a sealed despatch, to be opened at the town of Columbia,
+and a half-breed, named Agostino, who acted as our guide. On reaching
+Columbia, we called together the principal inhabitants of the place,
+and of the neighbouring towns of Bolivar and Marion, unsealed the
+letter in their presence, and six hours afterwards the forces therein
+specified were assembled, and we were on our march towards Galveston.
+The next day the fort was taken, and the garrison made prisoners,
+without our losing a single man.
+
+
+We sent off our guide to the government at San Felipe with news of our
+success. In nine days he returned, bringing us the thanks of congress,
+and fresh orders. We were to leave a garrison in the fort, and then
+ascend Trinity river, and march towards San Antonio de Bexar. This
+route was all the more agreeable to Fanning and myself, as it would
+bring us into the immediate vicinity of the _haciendas_, or estates,
+of which we had some time previously obtained a grant from the Texian
+government; and we did not doubt that we were indebted to our friend
+the Alcalde for the orders which thus conciliated our private
+convenience with our public duty.
+
+As we marched along we found the whole country in commotion, the
+settlers all arming, and hastening to the distant place of rendezvous.
+We arrived at Trinity river one afternoon, and immediately sent
+messengers for forty miles in all directions to summon the
+inhabitants. At the period in question, the plantations in that part
+of the country were very few and far between, but nevertheless by the
+afternoon of the next day we had got together four-and-thirty men,
+mounted on mustangs, each equipped with rifle and bowie-knife,
+powder-horn and bullet-bag, and furnished with provisions for several
+days. With these we started for San Antonio de Bexar, a march of two
+hundred and fifty miles, through trackless prairies intersected with
+rivers and streams, which, although not quite so big as the
+Mississippi or Potomac, were yet deep and wide enough to have offered
+serious impediment to regular armies. But to Texian farmers and
+backwoodsmen, they were trifling obstacles. Those we could not wade
+through we swam over; and in due time, and without any incident worthy
+of note, reached the appointed place of rendezvous, which was on the
+river Salado, about fifteen miles from San Antonio, the principal city
+of the province. This latter place it was intended to attack--an
+enterprise of some boldness and risk, considering that the town was
+protected by a strong fort, amply provided with heavy artillery, and
+had a garrison of nearly three thousand men, commanded by officers who
+had, for the most part, distinguished themselves in the revolutionary
+wars against the Spaniards. Our whole army, which we found encamped on
+the Salado, under the command of General Austin, did not exceed eight
+hundred men.
+
+The day after that on which Fanning and myself, with our four and
+thirty recruits, reached headquarters, a council of war was held, and
+it was resolved to advance as far as the mission of Santa Espada. The
+advanced guard was to push forward immediately; the main body would
+follow the next day. Fanning and myself were appointed to the command
+of the vanguard, in conjunction with Mr Wharton, a wealthy planter,
+who had brought a strong party of volunteers with him, and whose
+mature age and cool judgment, it was thought, would counterbalance any
+excess of youthful heat and impetuosity on our part. Selecting
+ninety-two men out of the eight hundred, who, to a man, volunteered to
+accompany us, we set out for the mission.
+
+These missions are a sort of picket-houses or outposts of the Catholic
+church, and are found in great numbers in all the frontier provinces
+of Spanish America, especially in Texas, Santa Fe, and Cohahuila. They
+are usually of sufficient strength to afford their inmates security
+against any predatory party of Indians or other marauders, and are
+occupied by priests, who, while using their endeavours to spread the
+doctrines of the Church of Rome, act also as spies and agents of the
+Mexican government.
+
+On reaching San Espada we held a discussion as to the propriety of
+remaining there until the general came up, or of advancing at once
+towards the river. Wharton inclined to the former plan, and it was
+certainly the most prudent, for the mission was a strong building,
+surrounded by a high wall, and might have been held against very
+superior numbers. Fanning and I, however, did not like the idea of
+being cooped up in a house, and at last Wharton yielded. We left our
+horses and mustangs in charge of eight men, and with the remainder set
+out in the direction of the Salado, which flows from north to south, a
+third of a mile to the westward of the mission. About half-way between
+the latter and the river, was a small group, or island, of muskeet
+trees, the only object that broke the uniformity of the prairie. The
+bank of the river on our side was tolerably steep, about eight or ten
+feet high, hollowed out here and there, and covered with a thick
+network of wild vines. The Salado at this spot describes a sort of
+bow-shaped curve, with a ford at either end, by which alone the river
+can be passed, for although not very broad, it is rapid and deep. We
+resolved to take up a position within this bow, calculating that we
+might manage to defend the two fords, which were not above a quarter
+of a mile apart.
+
+At the same time we did not lose sight of the dangers of such a
+position, and of the almost certainty that if the enemy managed to
+cross the river, we should be surrounded and cut off. But our success
+on the few occasions on which we had hitherto come to blows with the
+Mexicans, at Velasco, Nacogdoches, and Galveston, had inspired us with
+so much confidence, that we considered ourselves a match for thousands
+of such foes, and actually began to wish the enemy would attack us
+before our main body came up. We reconnoitred the ground, stationed a
+picket of twelve men at each ford, and an equal number in the island
+of muskeet trees; and established ourselves with the remainder amongst
+the vines and in the hollows on the river bank.
+
+The commissariat department of the Texian army was, as may be
+supposed, not yet placed upon any very regular footing. In fact,
+every man was, for the present, his own commissary-general. Finding
+our stock of provisions to be very small, we sent out a party of
+foragers, who soon returned with three sheep, which they had taken
+from a _rancho_, within a mile of San Antonio. An old priest, whom
+they found there, had threatened them with the anger of Heaven and of
+General Cos; but they paid little attention to his denunciations, and,
+throwing down three dollars, walked off with the sheep. The priest
+became furious, got upon his mule, and trotted away in the direction
+of the City to complain to General Cos of the misconduct of the
+heretics.
+
+After this we made no doubt that we should soon have a visit from the
+worthy Dons. Nevertheless the evening and the night passed away
+without incident. Day broke--still no signs of the Mexicans. This
+treacherous sort of calm, we thought, might forbode a storm, and we
+did not allow it to lull us into security. We let the men get their
+breakfast, which they had hardly finished when the picket from the
+upper ford came in with news that a strong body of cavalry was
+approaching the river, and that their vanguard was already in the
+hollow way leading to the ford. We had scarcely received this
+intelligence when we heard the blare of the trumpets, and the next
+moment we saw the officers push their horses up the declivitous bank,
+closely followed by their men, whom they formed up in the prairie. We
+counted six small squadrons, about three hundred men in all. They were
+the Durango dragoons--smart troops enough to all appearance, capitally
+mounted and equipped, and armed with carbines and sabres.
+
+Although the enemy had doubtless reconnoitred us from the opposite
+shore, and ascertained our position, he could not form any accurate
+idea of our numbers, for with a view to deceive him, we kept the men
+in constant motion, sometimes showing a part of them on the prairie,
+then causing them to disappear again behind the vines and bushes. This
+was all very knowing for young soldiers such as we were; but, on the
+other hand, we had committed a grievous error, and sinned against all
+established military rules, by not placing a picket on the further
+side of the river, to warn us of the approach of the enemy, and the
+direction in which he was coming. There can be little doubt that if we
+had earlier notice of their approach, thirty or forty good
+marksmen--and all our people were that--might not only have delayed
+the advance of the Mexicans, but perhaps even totally disgusted them
+of their attempt to cross the Salado. The hollow way on the other side
+of the river, leading to the ford, was narrow and tolerably steep, and
+the bank was at least six times as high as on our side. Nothing would
+have been easier than to have stationed a party, so as to pick off the
+cavalry as they wound through this kind of pass, and emerged two by
+two upon the shore. Our error, however, did not strike us till it was
+too late to repair it; so we were fain to console ourselves with the
+reflection that the Mexicans would be much more likely to attribute
+our negligence to an excess of confidence in our resources, than to
+the inexperience in military matters, which was its real cause. We
+resolved to do our best to merit the good opinion which we thus
+supposed them to entertain of us.
+
+When the whole of the dragoons had crossed the water, they marched on
+for a short distance in an easterly direction: then, wheeling to the
+right, proceeded southward, until within some five hundred paces of
+us, where they halted. In this position, the line of cavalry formed
+the chord of the arc described by the river, and occupied by us.
+
+As soon as they halted, they opened their fire, although the could not
+see one of us, for we were completely sheltered by the bank. Our
+Mexican heroes, however, apparently did not think it necessary to be
+within sight or range of their opponents before firing, for they gave
+us a rattling volley at a distance which no carbine would carry. This
+done, others galloped on for about a hundred yards, halted again,
+loaded, fired another volley, and then giving another gallop, fired
+again. They continued this sort of _manège_ till they found themselves
+within two hundred and fifty paces of us, and then appeared inclined
+to take a little time for reflection.
+
+We kept ourselves perfectly still. The dragoons evidently did not
+like the aspect of matters. Our remaining concealed, and not replying
+to their fire, seemed to bother them. We saw the officers taking a
+deal of pains to encourage their men, and at last two squadrons
+advanced, the others following more slowly, a short distance in rear.
+This was the moment we had waited for. No sooner had the dragoons got
+into a canter, than six of our men who had received orders to that
+effect, sprang up the bank, took steady aim at the officers, fired,
+and then jumped down again.
+
+As we had expected, the small numbers that had shown themselves,
+encouraged the Mexicans to advance. They seemed at first taken rather
+aback by the fall of four of their officers; but nevertheless, after a
+moment's hesitation, they came thundering along full speed. They were
+within sixty or seventy yards of us, when Fanning and thirty of our
+riflemen ascended the bank, and with a coolness and precision that
+would have done credit to the most veteran troops, poured a steady
+fire into the ranks of the dragoons.
+
+It requires some nerve and courage for men who have never gone through
+any regular military training, to stand their ground singly and
+unprotected, within fifty yards of an advancing line of cavalry. Our
+fellows did it, however, and fired, not all at once, or in a hurry,
+but slowly and deliberately; a running fire, every shot of which told.
+Saddle after saddle was emptied; the men, as they had been ordered,
+always picking out the foremost horsemen, and as soon as they had
+fired, jumping down the bank to reload. When the whole of the thirty
+men had discharged their rifles, Wharton and myself, with the reserve
+of six and thirty more, took their places; but the dragoons had almost
+had enough already, and we had scarcely fired ten shots when they
+executed a right-about turn, with an uniformity and rapidity which did
+infinite credit to their drill, and went off at a pace that soon
+carried them out of reach of our bullets. They had probably not
+expected so warm a reception. We saw their officers doing every thing
+they could to check their flight, imploring, threatening, even cutting
+at them with their sabres, but it was no use; if they were to be
+killed, it must be in their own way, and they preferred being cut down
+by their officers to encountering the deadly precision of rifles, in
+the hands of men who, being sure of hitting a squirrel at a hundred
+yards, were not likely to miss a Durango dragoon at any point within
+range.
+
+Our object in ordering the men to fire slowly was, always to have
+thirty or forty rifles loaded, wherewith to receive the enemy should
+he attempt a charge _en masse_. But our first greeting had been a
+sickener, and it appeared almost doubtful whether he would venture to
+attack us again, although the officers did every thing in their power
+to induce their men to advance. For a long time, neither threats,
+entreaties, nor reproaches produced any effect. We saw the officers
+gesticulating furiously, pointing to us with their sabres, and
+impatiently spurring their horses, till the fiery animals plunged and
+reared, and sprang with all four feet from the ground. It is only just
+to say, that the officers exhibited a degree of courage far beyond any
+thing we had expected from them. Of the two squadrons that charged us,
+two-thirds of the officers had fallen; but those who remained, instead
+of appearing intimidated by their comrades' fate, redoubled their
+efforts to bring their men forward.
+
+At last there appeared some probability of their accomplishing this,
+after a most curious and truly Mexican fashion. Posting themselves in
+front of their squadrons, they rode on alone for a hundred yards or
+so, halted, looked round, as much as to say--"You see there is no
+danger as far as this," and then galloping back, led their men on.
+Each time that they executed this manoeuvre, the dragoons would
+advance slowly some thirty or forty paces, and then halt as
+simultaneously as if the word of command had been given. Off went the
+officers again, some distance to the front, and then back again to
+their men, and got them on a little further. In this manner these
+heroes were inveigled once more to within a hundred and fifty yards of
+our position.
+
+Of course, at each of the numerous halts which they made during their
+advance, they favoured us with a general, but most innocuous discharge
+of their carbines; and at last, gaining confidence, I suppose, from
+our passiveness, and from the noise and smoke they themselves had been
+making, three squadrons which had not yet been under fire, formed open
+column and advanced at a trot. Without giving them time to halt or
+reflect--"Forward! Charge!" shouted the officers, urging their own
+horses to their utmost speed; and following the impulse thus given,
+the three squadrons came charging furiously along.
+
+Up sprang thirty of our men to receive them. Their orders were to fire
+slowly, and not throw away a shot, but the gleaming sabres and rapid
+approach of the dragoons flurried some of them, and firing a hasty
+volley, they jumped down the bank again. This precipitation had nearly
+been fatal to us. Several of the dragoons fell, and there was some
+confusion and a momentary faltering amongst the others; but they still
+came on. At this critical moment, Wharton and myself, with the
+reserves, showed ourselves on the bank. "Slow and sure-mark your men!"
+shouted we both. Wharton on the right and I on the left. The command
+was obeyed: rifle after rifle cracked off, always aimed at the
+foremost of the dragoons, and at every report a saddle was emptied.
+Before we had all fired, Fanning and a dozen of his sharpest men had
+again loaded, and were by our side. For nearly a minute the Mexicans
+remained, as if stupefied by our murderous fire, and uncertain whether
+to advance or retire; but as those who attempted the former, were
+invariably shot down, they at last began a retreat, which was soon
+converted into a rout. We gave them a farewell volley, which eased a
+few more horses of their riders, and then got under cover again, to
+await what might next occur.
+
+But the Mexican caballeros had no notion of coming up to the scratch a
+third time. They kept patrolling about, some three or four hundred
+yards off, and firing volleys at us, which they were able to do with
+perfect impunity, as at that distance we did not think proper to
+return a shot.
+
+The skirmish had lasted nearly three quarters of an hour. Strange to
+say, we had not had a single man wounded, although at times the
+bullets had fallen about us as thick as hail. We could not account for
+this. Many of us had been hit by the balls, but a bruise or a graze of
+the skin was the worst consequence that had ensued. We were in a fair
+way to deem ourselves invulnerable.
+
+We were beginning to think that the fight was over for the day, when
+our videttes at the lower ford brought us the somewhat unpleasant
+intelligence that large masses of infantry were approaching the river,
+and would soon be in sight. The words were hardly uttered, when the
+roll of the drums, and shrill squeak of the fifes became audible, and
+in a few minutes the head of the column of infantry, having crossed
+the ford, ascended the sloping bank, and defiled in the prairie
+opposite the island of muskeet trees. As company after company
+appeared, we were able to form a pretty exact estimate of their
+numbers. There were two battalions, together about a thousand men; and
+they brought a field-piece with them.
+
+These were certainly rather long odds to be opposed to seventy-two men
+and three officers' for it must be remembered that we had left twenty
+of our people at the mission, and in the island of trees. Two
+battalions of infantry, and six squadrons of dragoons--the latter, to
+be sure, disheartened and diminished by the loss of some fifty men,
+but nevertheless formidable opponents, now they were supported by the
+foot soldiers. About twenty Mexicans to each of us. It was getting
+past a joke. We were all capital shots, and most of us, besides our
+rifles, had a brace of pistols in our belts; but what were
+seventy-five rifles, and five or six score of pistols against a
+thousand muskets and bayonets, two hundred and fifty dragoons, and a
+field-piece loaded with canister? If the Mexicans had a spark of
+courage or soldiership about them, our fate was sealed. But it was
+exactly this courage and soldiership, which we made sure would be
+wanting.
+
+Nevertheless we, the officers, could not repress a feeling of anxiety
+and self-reproach, when we reflected that we had brought our comrades
+into such a hazardous predicament. But on looking around us, our
+apprehensions vanished. Nothing could exceed the perfect coolness and
+confidence with which the men were cleaning and preparing their rifles
+for the approaching conflict; no bravado--no boasting, talking, or
+laughing, but a calm decision of manner, which at once told us, that
+if it were possible to overcome such odds as were brought against us,
+those were the men to do it.
+
+Our arrangements for the approaching struggle were soon completed.
+Fanning and Wharton were to make head against the infantry and
+cavalry. I was to capture the field-piece--an eight-pounder.
+
+This gun was placed by the Mexicans upon their extreme left, close to
+the river, the shores of which it commanded for a considerable
+distance. The bank on which we were posted was, as before mentioned,
+indented by caves and hollows, and covered with a thick tapestry of
+vines and other plants, which was now very useful in concealing us
+from the artillerymen. The latter made a pretty good guess at our
+position however, and at the first discharge, the canister whizzed
+past us at a very short distance. There was not a moment to lose, for
+one well-directed shot might exterminate half of us. Followed by a
+dozen men, I worked my way as well as I could through the labyrinth of
+vines and bushes, and was not more than fifty yards from the gun, when
+it was again fired. No one was hurt, although the shot was evidently
+intended for my party. The enemy could not see us; but the notion of
+the vines, as we passed through them, had betrayed our whereabout: so,
+perceiving that we were discovered, I sprang up the bank into the
+prairie followed by my men, to whom I shouted, above all to aim at the
+artillerymen.
+
+I had raised my own rifle to my shoulder, when I let it fall again in
+astonishment at an apparition that presented itself to my view. This
+was a tall, lean, wild figure, with a face overgrown by long beard
+that hung down upon his breast, and dressed in a leather cap, jacket,
+and mocassins. Where this man had sprung from was a perfect riddle. He
+was unknown to any of us, although I had some vague recollection of
+having seen him before, but where or when, I could not call to mind.
+He had a long rifle in his hands, which he must have fired once
+already, for one of the artillerymen lay dead by the gun. At the
+moment I first caught sight of him, he shot down another, and then
+began reloading with a rapid dexterity, that proved him to be well
+used to the thing. My men were as much astonished as I was by this
+strange apparition, which appeared to have started out of the earth;
+and for a few seconds they forgot to fire, and stood gazing at the
+stranger. The latter did not seem to approve of their inaction.
+
+"D---- yer eyes, ye starin' fools," shouted he in a rough hoarse
+voice, "don't ye see them art'lerymen? Why don't ye knock 'em on the
+head?"
+
+It certainly was not the moment to remain idle. We fired; but our
+astonishment had thrown us off our balance, and we nearly all missed.
+We sprang down the bank again to load, just as the men serving the gun
+were slewing it around, so as to bring it to bear upon us. Before this
+was accomplished, we were under cover, and the stranger had the
+benefit of the discharge, of which he took no more notice than if he
+had borne a charmed life. Again we heard the crack of his rifle, and
+when, having reloaded, we once more ascended the bank, he was taking
+aim at the last artilleryman, who fell, as his companions had done.
+
+"D---- ye, for laggin' fellers!" growled the stranger. "Why don't ye
+take that 'ere big gun?"
+
+Our small numbers, the bad direction of our first volley, but, above
+all, the precipitation with which we had jumped down the bank after
+firing it, had so encouraged the enemy, that a company of infantry,
+drawn up some distance in rear of the field-piece, fired a volley, and
+advanced at double-quick time, part of them making a small _détour_
+with the intention of cutting us off from our friends. At this
+moment, we saw Fanning and thirty men coming along the river bank to
+our assistance; so without minding the Mexicans who were getting
+behind us, we rushed forward to within twenty paces of those in our
+front, and taking steady aim, brought down every man his bird. The
+sort of desperate coolness with which this was done, produced the
+greater effect on our opponents, as being something quite out of their
+way. They would, perhaps, have stood firm against a volley from five
+times our number, at a rather greater distance; but they did not like
+having their mustaches singed by our powder; and after a moment's
+wavering and hesitation, they shouted out "Diabolos! Diabolos!" and
+throwing away their muskets, broke into precipitate flight.
+
+Fanning and Wharton now came up with all the men. Under cover of the
+infantry's advance, the gun had been re-manned, but, luckily for us,
+only by infantry soldiers; for had there been artillerymen to seize
+the moment when we were all standing exposed on the prairie, they
+might have diminished our numbers not a little. The fuse was already
+burning, and we had just time to get under the bank when the gun went
+off. Up we jumped again, and looked about us to see what was next to
+be done.
+
+Although hitherto all the advantages had been on our side, our
+situation was still a very perilous one. The company we had put to
+flight had rejoined its battalion, which was now beginning to advance
+by _échelon_ of companies. The second battalion, which was rather
+further from us, was moving forward in like manner, and in a parallel
+direction. We should probably, therefore, have to resist the attack of
+a dozen companies, one after the other; and it was to be feared that
+the Mexicans would finish by getting over their panic terror of our
+rifles, and exchange their distant and ineffectual platoon-firing for
+a charge with the bayonet, in which their superior numbers would tell.
+We observed, also, that the cavalry, which had been keeping itself at
+a safe distance, was now put in motion, and formed up close to the
+island of muskeet trees, to which the right flank of the infantry was
+also extending itself. Thence they had clear ground for a charge down
+upon us.
+
+Meanwhile, what had become of the twelve men whom we had left in the
+island? Were they still there, or had they fallen back upon the
+mission in dismay at the overwhelming force of the Mexicans? If the
+latter, it was a bad business for us, for they were all capital shots,
+and well armed with rifles and pistols. We heartily wished we had
+brought them with us, as well as the eight men at the mission. Cut off
+from us as they were, what could they do against the whole of the
+cavalry and two companies of infantry which were now approaching the
+island? To add to our difficulties, our ammunition was beginning to
+run short. Many of us had only had enough powder and ball for fifteen
+or sixteen charges, which were now reduced to six or seven. It was no
+use desponding, however; and, after a hurried consultation, it was
+agreed that Fanning and Wharton should open a fire upon the enemy's
+centre, while I made a dash at the field-piece before any more
+infantry had time to come up for its protection.
+
+The infantry-men who had re-manned the gun were by this time shot
+down, and, as none had come to replace them, it was served by an
+officer alone. Just as I gave the order to advance to the twenty men
+who were to follow me, this officer fell. Simultaneously with his
+fall, I heard a sort of yell behind me, and, turning round, saw that
+it proceeded from the wild spectre-looking stranger, whom I had lost
+sight of during the last few minutes. A ball had struck him, and he
+fell heavily to the ground, his rifle, which had just been discharged,
+and was still smoking from muzzle and touchhole, clutched convulsively
+in both hands; his features distorted, his eyes rolling frightfully.
+There was something in the expression of his face at that moment which
+brought back to me, in vivid colouring, one of the earliest and most
+striking incidents of my residence in Texas. Had I not myself seen him
+hung, I could have sworn that _Bob Rock, the murderer_, now lay before
+me.
+
+A second look at the man gave additional force to this idea.
+
+"Bob!" I exclaimed.
+
+"Bob!" repeated the wounded man, in a broken voice, and with a look
+of astonishment, almost of dismay. "Who calls Bob?"
+
+A wild gleam shot from his eyes, which the next instant closed. He had
+become insensible.
+
+It was neither the time nor the place to indulge in speculations on
+this singular resurrection of a man whose execution I had myself
+witnessed. With twelve hundred foes around us, we had plenty to occupy
+all our thoughts and attention. My people were already masters of the
+gun, and some of them drew it forwards and pointed it against the
+enemy, while the others spread out right and left to protect it with
+their rifles. I was busy loading the piece when an exclamation of
+surprise from one of the men made me look up.
+
+There seemed to be something extraordinary happening amongst the
+Mexicans, to judge from the degree of confusion which suddenly showed
+itself in their ranks, and which, beginning with the cavalry and right
+flank of the infantry, soon became general throughout their whole
+force. It was a sort of wavering and unsteadiness which, to us, was
+quite unaccountable, for Fanning and Wharton had not yet fired twenty
+shots, and, indeed, had only just come within range of the enemy. Not
+knowing what it could portend, I called in my men, and stationed them
+round the gun, which I had double-shotted, and stood ready to fire.
+
+The confusion in the Mexican ranks increased. For about a minute they
+waved and reeled to and fro, as if uncertain which way to go; and, at
+last, the cavalry and right of the line fairly broke, and ran for it.
+This example was followed by the centre, and presently the whole of
+the two battalions and three hundred cavalry were scattered over the
+prairie, in the wildest and most disorderly flight. I gave them a
+parting salute from the eight-pounder, which would doubtless have
+accelerated their movements had it been possible to run faster than
+they were already doing.
+
+We stood staring after the fugitives in perfect bewilderment, totally
+unable to explain their apparently causeless panic. At last the report
+of several rifles from the island of trees gave us a clue to the
+mystery.
+
+The infantry, whose left flank extended to the Salado, had pushed
+their right into the prairie as far as the island of muskeet trees, in
+order to connect their line with the dragoons, and then by making a
+general advance, to attack us on all sides at once, and get the full
+advantage of their superior numbers. The plan was not a bad one.
+Infantry and cavalry approached the island, quite unsuspicious of its
+being occupied. The twelve riflemen whom we had stationed there
+remained perfectly quiet, concealed behind the trees; allowed
+squadrons and companies to come within twenty paces of them, and then
+opened their fire, first from their pistols, then from their rifles.
+
+Some six and thirty shots, every one of which told, fired suddenly
+from a cover close to their rear, were enough to startle even the best
+troops, much more so our Mexican dons, who, already sufficiently
+inclined to a panic, now believed themselves fallen into an ambuscade,
+and surrounded on all sides by the incarnate _diabolos_, as they
+called us. The cavalry, who had not yet recovered the thrashing we had
+given them, were ready enough for a run, and the infantry were not
+slow to follow them.
+
+Our first impulse was naturally to pursue the flying enemy, but a
+discovery made by some of the men, induced us to abandon that idea.
+They had opened the pouches of the dead Mexicans in order to supply
+themselves with ammunition, ours being nearly expended; but the powder
+of the cartridges turned out so bad as to be useless. It was little
+better than coal dust, and would not carry a ball fifty paces to kill
+or wound. This accounted for our apparent invulnerability to the fire
+of the Mexicans. The muskets also were of a very inferior description.
+Both they and the cartridges were of English make; the former being
+stamped Birmingham, and the latter having the name of an English
+powder manufactory, with the significant addition, "for exportation."
+
+Under these circumstances, we had nothing to do but let the Mexicans
+run. We sent a detachment to the muskeet island, to unite itself with
+the twelve men who had done such good service there, and thence
+advance towards the ford. We ourselves proceeded slowly in the latter
+direction. This demonstration brought the fugitives back again, for
+they had, most of them, in the wild precipitation of their flight,
+passed the only place where they could cross the river. They began
+crowding over in the greatest confusion, foot and horse all mixed up
+together; and by the time we got within a hundred paces of the ford,
+the prairie was nearly clear of them. There were still a couple of
+hundred men on our side of the water, completely at our mercy, and
+Wharton, who was a little in front with thirty men, gave the word to
+fire upon them. No one obeyed. He repeated the command. Not a rifle
+was raised. He stared at his men, astonished and impatient at this
+strange disobedience. An old weather-beaten bear-hunter stepped
+forward, squirting out his tobacco juice with all imaginable
+deliberation.
+
+"I tell ye what, capting!" said he, passing his quid over from his
+right cheek to his left; "I calkilate, capting," he continued, "we'd
+better leave the poor devils of dons alone."
+
+"The poor devils of dons alone!" repeated Wharton in a rage. "Are you
+mad, man?"
+
+Fanning and I had just come up with our detachment, and were not less
+surprised and angry than Wharton was, at this breach of discipline.
+The man, however, did not allow himself to be disconcerted.
+
+"There's a proverb, gentlemen," said he, turning to us, "which says,
+that one should build a golden bridge for a beaten enemy; and a good
+proverb it is, I calkilate--a considerable good one."
+
+"What do you mean, man, with your golden bridge?" cried Fanning. "This
+is no time for proverbs."
+
+"Do you know that you are liable to be punished for insubordination?"
+said I. "It's your duty to fire, and do the enemy all the harm you
+can; not to be quoting proverbs."
+
+"Calkilate it is," replied the man very coolly. "Calkilate I could
+shoot 'em without either danger or trouble; but I reckon that would be
+like Spaniards or Mexicans; not like Americans--not prudent."
+
+"Not like Americans? Would you let the enemy escape, then, when we
+have him in our power?"
+
+"Calkilate I would. Calkilate we should do ourselves more harm than
+him by shooting down his people. That was a considerable sensible
+commandment of yourn, always to shoot the foremost of the Mexicans
+when they attacked. It discouraged the bold ones, and was a sort of
+premium on cowardice. Them as lagged behind escaped, them as came
+bravely on were shot. It was a good calkilation. If we had shot 'em
+without discrimination, the cowards would have got bold, seein' that
+they weren't safer in rear than in front. The cowards are our best
+friends. Now them runaways," continued he, pointing to the Mexicans,
+who were crowding over the river, "are jest the most cowardly of 'em
+all, for in their fright they quite forgot the ford, and it's because
+they ran so far beyond it, that they are last to cross the water. And
+if you fire at 'em now, they'll find that they get nothin' by bein'
+cowards, and next time, I reckon, they'll sell their hides as dear as
+they can."
+
+Untimely as this palaver, to use a popular word, undoubtedly was, we
+could scarcely forbear smiling at the simple _naïve_ manner in which
+the old Yankee spoke his mind.
+
+"Calkilate, captings," he concluded, "you'd better let the poor devils
+run. We shall get more profit by it than if we shot five hundred of
+'em. Next time they'll run away directly to show their gratitude for
+our ginerosity."
+
+The man stepped back into the ranks, and his comrades nodded
+approvingly, and calculated and reckoned that Zebediah had spoke a
+true word; and meanwhile the enemy had crossed the river, and was out
+of our reach. We were forced to content ourselves with sending a party
+across the water to follow up the Mexicans, and observe the direction
+they took. We then returned to our old position.
+
+My first thought on arriving there was to search for the body of Bob
+Rock--for he it undoubtedly was, who had so mysteriously appeared
+amongst us. I repaired to the spot where I had seen him fall; but
+could discover no signs of him, either dead or alive. I went over the
+whole scene of the fight, searched amongst the vines and along the
+bank of the river; there were plenty of dead Mexicans--cavalry,
+infantry, and artillery, but no Bob was to be found, nor could any one
+inform me what had become of him, although several had seen him fall.
+
+I was continuing my search, when I met Wharton, who asked me what I
+was seeking, and on learning, shook his head gravely. He had seen the
+wild prairieman, he said, but whence he came, or whither he was gone,
+was more than he could tell. It was a long time since any thing had
+startled and astonished him so much as this man's appearance and
+proceedings. He (Wharton,) had been stationed with his party amongst
+the vines, about fifty paces in rear of Fanning's people, when just as
+the Mexican infantry had crossed the ford, and were forming up, he saw
+a man approaching at a brisk trot from the north side of the prairie.
+He halted about a couple of hundred yards from Wharton, tied his
+mustang to a bush, and with his rifle on his arm, strode along the
+edge of the prairie in the direction of the Mexicans. When he passed
+near Wharton, the latter called out to him to halt, and say who he
+was, whence he came, and whither going.
+
+"Who I am is no business of yourn," replied the man: "nor where I come
+from neither. You'll soon see where I'm goin'. I'm goin' agin' the
+enemy."
+
+"Then you must come and join us," cried Wharton.
+
+This the stranger testily refused to do. He'd fight on his own hook,
+he said.
+
+Wharton told him he must not do that.
+
+He should like to see who'd hinder him, he said, and walked on. The
+next moment he shot the first artilleryman. After that they let him
+take his own way.
+
+Neither Wharton, nor any of his men, knew what had become of him; but
+at last I met with a bear-hunter, who gave me the following
+information.
+
+"Calkilatin'," said he, "that the wild prairieman's rifle was a
+capital good one, as good a one as ever killed a bear, he tho't it a
+pity that it should fall into bad hands, so went to secure it himself,
+although the frontispiece of its dead owner warn't very invitin'. But
+when he stooped to take the gun, he got such a shove as knocked him
+backwards, and on getting up, he saw the prairieman openin' his jacket
+and examinin' a wound on his breast, which was neither deep nor
+dangerous, although it had taken away the man's senses for a while.
+The ball had struck the breast bone, and was quite near the skin, so
+that the wounded man pushed it out with his fingers; and then
+supporting himself on his rifle, got up from the ground, and without
+either a thankye, or a d---nye, walked to where his mustang was tied
+up, got on its back, and rode slowly away in a northerly direction."
+
+This was all the information I could obtain on the subject, and
+shortly afterwards the main body of our army came up, and I had other
+matters to occupy my attention. General Austin expressed his gratitude
+and approbation to our brave fellows, after a truly republican and
+democratic fashion. He shook hands with all the rough bear and buffalo
+hunters, and drank with them. Fanning and myself he promoted, on the
+spot, to the rank of colonel.
+
+We were giving the general a detailed account of the morning's events,
+when a Mexican priest appeared with a flag of truce and several
+waggons, and craved permission to take away the dead. This was of
+course granted, and we had some talk with the padré, who, however, was
+too wily a customer to allow himself to be pumped. What little we did
+get out of him, determined us to advance the same afternoon against
+San Antonio. We thought there was some chance, that in the present
+panic-struck state of the Mexicans, we might obtain possession of the
+place by a bold and sudden assault.
+
+In this, however, we were mistaken. We found the gates closed, and the
+enemy on his guard, but too dispirited to oppose our taking up a
+position at about cannon-shot from the great redoubt. We had soon
+invested all the outlets from the city.
+
+San Antonio de Bexar lies in a fertile and well-irrigated valley,
+stretching westward from the river Salado. In the centre of the town
+rises the fort of the Alamo, which at that time was armed with
+forty-eight pieces of artillery of various calibre. The garrison of
+the town and fortress was nearly three thousand strong.
+
+Our artillery consisted of two batteries of four six, and five
+eight-pounders; our army of eleven hundred men, with which we had not
+only to carry on the siege, but also to make head against the forces
+that would be sent against us from Cohahuila, on the frontier of which
+province General Cos was stationed, with a strong body of troops.
+
+We were not discouraged, however, and opened our fire upon the city.
+During the first week, not a day passed without smart skirmishes.
+General Cos's dragoons were swarming about us like so many Bedouins.
+But although well-mounted, and capital horsemen, they were no match
+for our backwoodsmen. Those from the western states especially,
+accustomed to Indian warfare and cunning, laid traps and ambuscades
+for the Mexicans, and were constantly destroying their detachments. As
+for the besieged, if one of them showed his head for ten seconds above
+the city wall, he was sure of getting a rifle bullet through it. I
+cannot say that our besieging army was a perfect model of military
+discipline; but any deficiencies in that respect were made good by the
+intelligence of the men, and the zeal and unanimity with which they
+pursued the accomplishment of one great object--the capture of the
+city--the liberty and independence of Texas.
+
+The badness of the gunpowder used by the Mexicans, was again of great
+service to us. Many of their cannon balls that fell far short of us,
+were collected and returned to them with powerful effect. We kept a
+sharp look-out for convoys, and captured no less than three--one of
+horses, another of provisions, and twenty thousand dollars in money.
+
+After an eight weeks' siege, a breach having been made, the city
+surrendered, and a month later the fort followed the example. With a
+powerful park of artillery, we then advanced upon Goliad, the
+strongest fortress in Texas, which likewise capitulated in about four
+weeks' time. We were now masters of the whole country, and the war was
+apparently at an end.
+
+But the Mexicans were not the people to give up their best province so
+easily. They have too much of the old Spanish character about
+them--that determined obstinacy which sustained the Spaniards during
+their protracted struggle against the Moors. The honour of their
+republic was compromised, and that must be redeemed. Thundering
+proclamations were issued, denouncing the Texians as rebels, who
+should be swept off the face of the earth, and threatening the United
+States for having aided us with money and volunteers. Ten thousand of
+the best troops in Mexico entered Texas and were shortly to be
+followed by ten thousand more. The President, General Santa Anna,
+himself came to take the command, attended by a numerous and brilliant
+staff.
+
+The Texians laughed at the fanfarronades of the dons, and did not
+attach sufficient importance to these formidable preparations. Their
+good opinion of themselves, and contempt of their foes, had been
+increased to an unreasonable degree by their recent and rapid
+successes. They forgot that the troops to which they had hitherto been
+opposed were for the most part militia, and that those now advancing
+against them were of a far better description, and had probably better
+powder. The call to arms made by our president, Burnet, was
+disregarded by many, and we could only get together about two thousand
+men, of whom nearly two-thirds had to be left to garrison the forts of
+Goliad and Alamo. In the first named place we left seven hundred and
+sixty men, under the command of Fanning; in the latter, something more
+than five hundred. With the remaining seven or eight hundred, we took
+the field. The Mexicans advanced so rapidly, that they were upon us
+before we were aware of it, and we were compelled to retreat, leaving
+the garrisons of the two forts to their fate, and a right melancholy
+one it proved to be.
+
+One morning news was brought to Goliad, that a number of country
+people, principally women and children, were on their way to the fort,
+closely pursued by the Mexicans. Fanning, losing sight of prudence in
+his compassion for these poor people, immediately ordered a battalion
+of five hundred men, under the command of Major Ward, to go and meet
+the fugitives and escort them in. The major, and several officers of
+the garrison, doubted as to the propriety of this measure; but
+Fanning, full of sympathy for his unprotected country-women, insisted,
+and the battalion moved out. They soon came in sight of the fugitives,
+as they thought, but on drawing nearer, the latter turned out to be
+Mexican dragoons, who sprang upon their horses, which were concealed
+in the neighbouring islands of trees, and a desperate fight began. The
+Mexicans, far superior in numbers, received every moment accessions to
+their strength. The Louis-Potosi and Santa Fé cavalry, fellows who
+seem born on horseback, were there. Our unfortunate countrymen were
+hemmed in on all sides. The fight lasted two days, and only two men
+out of the five hundred escaped with their lives.
+
+Before the news of this misfortune reached us, orders had been sent to
+Fanning to evacuate the fort and join us with six pieces of artillery.
+He received the order, and proceeded to execute it. But what might
+have been very practicable for eight hundred and sixty men, was
+impossible for three hundred and sixty. Nevertheless, Fanning began
+his march through the prairie. His little band was almost immediately
+surrounded by the enemy. After a gallant defence, which lasted twelve
+hours, they succeeded in reaching an island, but scarcely had they
+established themselves there, when they found that their ammunition
+was expended. There was nothing left for them, but to accept the terms
+offered by the Mexicans, who pledged themselves, that if they laid
+down their arms, they should be permitted to return to their homes.
+But the rifles were no sooner piled, than the Texians found themselves
+charged by their treacherous foes, who butchered them without mercy.
+Only an advanced post of three men succeeded in escaping.
+
+The five hundred men whom we had left in San Antonio de Bexar, fared
+no better. Not being sufficiently numerous to hold out the town as
+well as the Alamo, they retreated into the latter. The Mexican
+artillery soon laid a part of the fort in ruins. Still its defenders
+held out. After eight days' fighting, during which the loss of the
+besiegers was tremendously severe, the Alamo was taken, and not a
+single Texian left alive.
+
+We thus, by these two cruel blows, lost two-thirds of our army, and
+little more than seven hundred men remained to resist the numerous
+legions of our victorious foe. The prospect before us, was one well
+calculated to daunt the stoutest heart.
+
+The Mexican general, Santa Anna, moved his army forward in two
+divisions, one stretching along the coast towards Velasco, the other
+advancing towards San Felipe de Austin. He himself, with a small
+force, marched in the centre. At Fort Bend, twenty miles below San
+Felipe, he crossed the Brazos, and shortly afterwards established
+himself with about fifteen hundred men in an entrenched camp. Our
+army, under the command of General Houston, was in front of
+Harrisburg, to which place the congress had retreated.
+
+It was on the night of the twentieth of April, and our whole
+disposable force, some seven hundred men, was bivouacking in and about
+an island of sycamores. It was a cloudy, stormy evening: high wind was
+blowing, and the branches of the trees groaned and creaked above our
+heads. The weather harmonized well enough with our feelings, which
+were sad and desponding when we thought of the desperate state of our
+cause. We (the officers) were sitting in a circle round the general
+and Alcalde, both of whom appeared uneasy and anxious. More than once
+they got up, and walked backwards and forwards, seemingly impatient,
+and as if they were waiting for or expecting something. There was a
+deep silence throughout the whole bivouac; some were sleeping, and
+those who watched were in no humour for idle chat.
+
+"Who goes there?" suddenly shouted one of the sentries. The answer we
+did not hear, but it was apparently satisfactory, for there was no
+further challenge, and a few seconds afterwards an orderly came up,
+and whispered something in the ear of the Alcalde. The latter hurried
+away, and, presently returning, spoke a few words in a low tone to the
+general, and then to us officers. In an instant we were all upon our
+feet. In less than ten minutes, the bivouac was broken up, and our
+little army on the march.
+
+All our people were well mounted, and armed with rifles, pistols, and
+bowie-knives. We had six field-pieces, but we only took four,
+harnessed wit twice the usual number of horses. We marched at a rapid
+trot the whole night, led by a tall, gaunt figure of a man who acted
+as our guide, and kept some distance in front. I more than once asked
+the Alcalde who this was. "You will know by and by," was his answer.
+
+Before daybreak we had ridden five and twenty miles, but had been
+compelled to abandon two more guns. As yet, no one knew the object of
+this forced march. The general commanded a halt, and ordered the men
+to refresh and strengthen themselves by food and drink. While they
+were doing this, he assembled the officers around him, and the meaning
+of our night march was explained to us. The camp in which the Mexican
+president and general-in-chief had entrenched himself was within a
+mile of us; General Parza, with two thousand men, was twenty miles
+further to the rear; General Filasola, with one thousand, eighteen
+miles lower down on the Brazos; Viesca, with fifteen hundred,
+twenty-five miles higher up. One bold and decided blow, and Texas
+might yet be free. There was not a moment to lose, nor was one lost.
+The general addressed the men.
+
+"Friends! Brothers! Citizens! General Santa Anna is within a mile of
+us with fifteen hundred men. The hour that is to decide the question
+of Texian liberty is now arrived. What say you? Do we attack?"
+
+"We do!" exclaimed the men with one voice, cheerfully and decidedly.
+
+In the most perfect stillness, we arrived within two hundred paces of
+the enemy's camp. The _reveillée_ of the sleeping Mexicans was the
+discharge of our two field-pieces loaded with canister. Rushing on to
+within twenty-five paces of the entrenchment, we gave them a deadly
+volley from our rifles, and then, throwing away the latter, bounded up
+the breastworks, a pistol in each hand. The Mexicans, scared and
+stupefied by this sudden attack, were running about in the wildest
+confusion, seeking their arms, and not knowing which way to turn.
+After firing our pistols, we threw them away as we had done our
+rifles, and, drawing our bowie-knives, fell, with a shout, upon the
+masses of the terrified foe. It was more like the boarding of a ship
+than any land fight I had ever seen or imagined.
+
+My station was on the right of the line, where the breastwork, ending
+in a redoubt, was steep and high. I made two attempts to climb up, but
+both times slipped back. On the third trial I nearly gained the
+summit; but was again slipping down, when a hand seized me by the
+collar, and pulled me up on the bank. In the darkness and confusion I
+did not distinguish the face of the man who rendered me this
+assistance. I only saw the glitter of a bayonet which a Mexican thrust
+into his shoulder, at the very moment he was helping me up. He neither
+flinched nor let go his hold of me till I was fairly on my feet; then,
+turning slowly round, he levelled a pistol at the soldier, who, at
+that very moment, was struck down by the Alcalde.
+
+"No thanks to ye, squire!" exclaimed the man, in a voice which made me
+start, even at that moment of excitement and bustle. I looked at the
+speaker, but could only see his back, for he had already plunged into
+the thick of the fight, and was engaged with a party of Mexicans, who
+defended themselves desperately. He fought like a man more anxious to
+be killed than to kill, striking furiously right and left, but never
+guarding a blow, though the Alcalde, who was by his side, warded off
+several which were aimed at him.
+
+By this time my men had scrambled up after me. I looked round to see
+where our help was most wanted, and was about to lead them forward,
+when I heard the voice of the Alcalde.
+
+"Are you badly hurt, Bob?" said he in an anxious tone.
+
+I glanced at the spot whence the voice came. There lay Bob Rock,
+covered with blood, and apparently insensible. The Alcalde was
+supporting his head on his arm. Before I had time to give a second
+look I was hurried forward with the rest towards the centre of the
+camp, where the fight was at the hottest.
+
+About five hundred men, the pick of the Mexican army, had collected
+round a knot of staff-officers, and were making a most gallant
+defence. General Houston had attacked them with three hundred of our
+people, but had not been able to break their ranks. His charge,
+however, had shaken them a little, and, before they had time to
+recover from it, I came up. Giving a wild hurrah, my men fired their
+pistols, hurled them at their enemies' heads, and then springing over
+the carcasses of the fallen, dashed like a thunderbolt into the broken
+ranks of the Mexicans.
+
+A frightful butchery ensued. Our men, who were for the most part, and
+at most times, peaceable and humane in disposition, seemed converted
+into perfect fiends. Whole ranks of the enemy fell under their knives.
+Some idea may be formed of the horrible slaughter from the fact, that
+the fight, from beginning to end, did not last above ten minutes, and
+in that time nearly eight hundred Mexicans were shot or cut down. "No
+quarter!" was the cry of the infuriated assailants: "Remember Alamo!
+Remember Goliad! Think of Fanning, Ward!" The Mexicans threw
+themselves on their knees, imploring mercy. "_Misericordia! Cuartel,
+por el amor de Dios!_" shrieked they in heart-rending tones but their
+supplications were not listened to, and every man of them would
+inevitably have been butchered, had not General Houston and the
+officers dashed in between the victors and the vanquished, and with
+the greatest difficulty, and by threats of cutting down our own men if
+they did not desist, put an end to this scene of bloodshed, and saved
+the Texian character from the stain of unmanly cruelty.
+
+When all was over, I hurried back to the place where I had left the
+Alcalde with Bob--the latter lay, bleeding from six wounds, only a few
+paces from the spot where he had helped me up the breastwork. The
+bodies of two dead Mexicans served him for a pillow. The Alcalde was
+kneeling by his side, gazing sadly and earnestly into the face of the
+dying man.
+
+For Bob was dying; but it was no longer the death of the despairing
+murderer. The expression of his features was calm and composed, and
+his eyes were raised to heaven with a look of hope and supplication.
+
+I stooped down and asked him how he felt himself, but he made no
+answer, and evidently did not recollect me. After a minute or two,
+
+"How goes it with the fight?" he asked in a broken voice.
+
+"We have conquered, Bob. The enemy killed or taken. Not a man
+escaped."
+
+He paused a little, and then spoke again.
+
+"Have I done my duty? May I hope to be forgiven?"
+
+The Alcalde answered him in an agitated voice.
+
+"He who forgave the sinner on the cross, will doubtless be merciful to
+you, Bob. His holy book says: There is more joy over one sinner that
+repenteth than over ninety and nine just men. Be of good hope, Bob!
+the Almighty will surely be merciful to you!"
+
+"Thank ye, squire," gasped Bob "you're a true friend, a friend in life
+and in death. Well, it's come at last," said he, while a resigned and
+happy smile stole over his features. "I've prayed for it long enough.
+Thank God, it's come at last!"
+
+He gazed up at the Alcalde with a kindly expression of countenance.
+There was a slight shuddering movement of his whole frame--Bob was
+dead.
+
+The Alcalde remained kneeling for a short time by the side of the
+corpse, his lips moving in prayer. At last he rose to his feet.
+
+"God desireth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he may turn
+from his wickedness and live," said he, in a low and solemn tone. "I
+had those words in my thoughts four years ago, when I cut him down
+from the branch of the Patriarch."
+
+"Four years ago!" cried I. "Then you cut him down, and were in time to
+save him! Was it he who yesterday brought us the news of the vicinity
+of the foe?"
+
+"It was, and much more than that has he done," replied the Alcalde, no
+longer striving to conceal the tears that fell from his eyes. "For
+four years has he dragged on his wretched existence, weary of the
+world, and despised of all men. For four years has he served us,
+lived, fought, and spied for us, without honour, reward, hope, or
+consolation--without a single hour of tranquillity, or a wish for
+aught except death. All this to serve Texas and his countrymen. Who
+shall say this man was not a true patriot? God will surely be merciful
+to his soul," said the Alcalde after a pause.
+
+"I trust he will," answered I, deeply affected.
+
+We were interrupted at this moment by a message from General Houston,
+to whom we immediately hastened. All was uproar and confusion. Santa
+Anna could not be found amongst the prisoners.
+
+This was a terrible disappointment, for the capture of the Mexican
+president had been our principal object, and the victory we had gained
+was comparatively unimportant if he escaped. Indeed, the hope of
+putting an end to the war by his capture, had more than any thing
+encouraged and stimulated us to the unequal conflict.
+
+The moment was a very critical one. Amongst our men were some thirty
+or forty most desperate characters, who began handling their knives,
+and casting looks upon the prisoners, the meaning of which it was
+impossible to mistake. Selecting some of our trustiest men, we
+stationed them as a guard over the captives, and, having thus assured
+the safety of the latter, began questioning them as to what had become
+of their general.
+
+They had none of them seen Santa Anna since the commencement of the
+fight, and it was clear that he must have made his escape while we
+were getting over the breastworks. He could not be very far off, and
+we at once took measures to find him. A hundred men were sent off with
+the prisoners to Harrisburg, and a hundred others, capitally mounted
+on horses found in the Mexican camp, started to scour the country in
+search of the fugitive chief. I accompanied the latter detachment.
+
+We had been twelve hours in the saddle, and had ridden over nearly a
+hundred miles of ground. We began to despair of finding the game we
+were in quest of, and were thinking of abandoning the chase, when at a
+distance of about seven miles from the camp, one of our most
+experienced hunters discovered the print of a small and delicate boot
+upon some soft ground leading to a marsh. Following this trail, it at
+last led us to a man sunk up to his waist in the swamp, and so covered
+with mud and filth, as to be quite unrecognizable. We drew him from his
+hiding-place, half dead with cold and terror, and, having washed the
+dirt from his face, we found him to be a man of about forty years of
+age, with blue eyes, of a mild, but crafty expression; a narrow, high
+forehead; long, thin nose, rather fleshy at the tip; projecting upper
+lip, and long chin. These features tallied too exactly with the
+description we had had of the Mexican president, for us to doubt that
+our prisoner was Santa Anna himself.
+
+The only thing that at all tended to shake this conviction, was the
+extraordinary poltroonery of our new captive. He threw himself on his
+knees, begging us, in the name of God and all the saints, to spare his
+life. Our reiterated assurances and promises were insufficient to
+convince him of his being in perfect safety, or to induce him to adopt
+a demeanour more consistent with his dignity and high station.
+
+The events which succeeded this fortunate capture are too well known
+to require more than a very brief recapitulation. The same evening a
+truce was agreed upon between Houston and Santa Anna, the latter
+sending orders to his different generals to retire upon San Antonio de
+Bexar, and other places in the direction of the Mexican frontier.
+These orders, valueless as emanating from a prisoner, most of the
+generals were weak or cowardly enough to obey, an obedience for which
+they were afterwards brought to trial by the Mexican congress. In a
+few days, two-thirds of Texas were in our possession.
+
+The news of these successes brought crowds of volunteers to our
+standard. In three weeks, we had an army of several thousand men, with
+which we advanced against the Mexicans. There was no more fighting,
+however, for our antagonists had had enough, and allowed themselves to
+be driven from one position to another, till, in a month's time, there
+was not one of them left in the country.
+
+The Struggle was over, and Texas was Free!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+CLITOPHON AND LEUCIPPE.
+
+
+When enumerating (in our number for July, last year) the principal
+Greek romances which succeeded the _Ethiopics_ of Heliodorus, we
+placed next to the celebrated production of the Bishop of Trica in
+point of merit (as it is generally held to have been also in order of
+time) the "Adventures of Clitophon and Leucippe," by Achilles Tatius.
+Though far inferior, both in the delineation of the characters and the
+contrivance of the story, to the _Ethiopics_, (from which, indeed,
+many of the incidents are obviously borrowed,) and not altogether free
+from passages offensive to delicacy, "Clitophon and Leucippe" is well
+entitled to a separate notice, not only from the grace of its style
+and diction, and the curious matter with which the narrative is
+interspersed, but from its presenting one of the few pictures, which
+have come down to these times, of the social and domestic life of the
+Greeks. In the _Ethiopics_, which may be considered as an _heroic_
+romance, the scene lies throughout in palaces, camps, and temples;
+kings, high-priests, and satraps, figure in every page; the hero
+himself is a prince of his own people; and the heroine, who at first
+appears of no lower rank than a high-priestess of Delphi, proves, in
+the sequel, the heiress of a mighty kingdom. In the work of Achilles
+Tatius, on the contrary, (the plot of which is laid at a later period
+of time than that of its predecessor,) the characters are taken,
+without exception, from the class of Grecian citizens, who are
+represented in the ordinary routine of polished social existence,
+amidst their gardens of villas, and occupied by their banquets and
+processions, and the business of their courts of law. There are no
+unexpected revelations, no talismanic rings, no mysterious secret
+affecting the fortunes of any of the personages, who are all presented
+to us at the commencement in their proper names and characters. The
+interest of the story, as in the _Ethiopics_, turns chiefly on an
+elopement, and the consequent misadventures of the hero and heroine
+among various sets of robbers and treacherous friends; but the lovers,
+after being thus duly punished for their undutiful escapade, are
+restored, at the finale, to their original position, and settle
+quietly in their native home, under their own vines and fig-trees.
+
+Of the author himself little appears to be certainly known. Fabricius
+and other writers have placed him in the "third or fourth" century of
+our era; but this date will by no means agree with his constant
+imitations of Heliodorus, who is known to have lived at the end of the
+fourth and beginning of the fifth century; and Tatius, if not his
+contemporary, probably lived not long after him. Suidas (who calls him
+_Statius_) informs us that he was a native of Alexandria; and
+attributes to his pen several other works on various subjects besides
+the romance now in question, a fragment only of which--a treatise on
+the sphere--has been preserved. He adds, that he was a pagan when he
+wrote "Clitophon and Leucippe," but late in life embraced
+Christianity, and even became a bishop. This latter statement,
+however, is unsupported by any other authority, and would seem to be
+opposed by the negative testimony of the patriarch Photius, who (in
+his famous _Bibliotheca_, 118, 130) passes a severe censure on the
+immorality of certain passages in the works of Tatius, and would
+scarcely have omitted to inveigh against the further scandal of their
+having proceeded from the pen of an ecclesiastic. "In style and
+composition this work is of high excellence; the periods are generally
+well rounded and perspicuous, and gratify the ear by their harmony ...
+but, except in the names of the personages, and the unpardonable
+breaches of decorum of which he is guilty, the author appears to have
+closely copied Heliodorus both in the plan and execution of his
+narrative." In another passage, when treating of the _Babylonica_[1]
+of Iamblichus, he repeats this condemnation:--"Of these three
+principal writers of amorous tales. Heliodorus has treated the subject
+with due gravity and decorum. Iamblichus is not so unexceptionable on
+these points; and Achilles Tatius is still worse, in his eight books
+of _Clitophon and Leucippe_, the very diction of which is soft and
+effeminate, as if intended to relax the vigour of the reader's mind."
+This last denunciation of the patriarch, however, is somewhat too
+sweeping and indiscriminate, since, though some passages are certainly
+indefensible, they appear rather as interpolations, and are in no
+manner connected with the main thread of the story, the general
+tendency of which is throughout innocent and moral; and whatever may
+be said of these blemishes, it must be allowed that the pages of
+Achilles Tatius are purity itself when compared with the depravity of
+Longus, and some of his followers and imitators among the Greek
+romancists.
+
+    [1] This work is now lost, and we know it only by the abstract
+    given by Photius in the passage quoted.
+
+The period of time at which the adventures of _Clitophon and Leucippe_
+are supposed to take place, appears to be in the later ages of Grecian
+independence, when the successors of Alexander reigned in Syria and
+Egypt, and the colonized cities in Thrace and Asia Minor still
+preserved their municipal liberties. The story is related in the first
+person by the hero himself; a mode of narration which, though the best
+adapted for affording scope to the expression of the feelings of the
+principal personages, is, in this instance, very awkwardly introduced.
+A stranger, while contemplating a famous picture of the Rape of Europa
+in the Temple of Astarte at Sidon, is accosted by a young man, who,
+after a few incidental remarks, proceeds, without further preface, to
+recount his adventures at length to this casual acquaintance. This
+communicative gentleman is, of course, Clitophon; but before we
+proceed to the narrative of his loves and woes, we shall give a
+specimen of the author's powers in the line which appears to be his
+forte, by quoting his description of the painting above referred
+to:--"On entering the temple, my attention was attracted by a picture
+representing the story of Europa, in which sea and land were
+blended--the Phoenician Sea and the coasts of Sidon. On the land was
+seen a band of maidens in a meadow, while in the sea a bull was
+swimming, who bore on his shoulders a beautiful virgin, and was making
+his way in the direction of Crete. The meadow was decked with a
+profusion of bright flowers, to which a grateful shelter was afforded
+by the dense overhanging foliage of the shrubs and clumps of trees,
+which were interspersed at intervals throughout its extent; while so
+skilfully had the artist represented the appearance of light and
+shade, that the rays of the sun were seen to pass here and there
+through the interstices of the leaves, and cast a softened radiance on
+the ground underneath. A spring was seen bubbling up in the midst, and
+refreshing the flowers and plants with its cool waters; while a
+labourer with a spade was at work opening a fresh channel for the
+stream. At the extremity of the meadow, where it bordered on the sea,
+the maidens stood grouped together, in attitudes expressive of mingled
+joy and terror; their brows were bound with chaplets, and their hair
+floated in loose locks over their shoulders; but their features were
+pale, and their cheeks contracted, and they gazed with lips apart and
+opened eyes on the sea, as if on the point of uttering a cry
+half-suppressed by fear. They were standing on tiptoe on the very
+verge of the shore, with their tunics girt up to the knee, and
+extending their arms towards the bull, as if meditating to rush into
+the sea in pursuit of him, and yet shrinking from the contact of the
+waves. The sea was represented of a reddish tint inshore, but further
+out the colour changed to deep azure; while in another part the waves
+were seen running in with a swell upon the rocks, and breaking against
+them into clouds of foam and white spray. In the midst of the sea the
+bull was depicted, breasting the lofty billows which surged against
+his sides, with the damsel seated on his back, not astride, but with
+both her feet disposed on his right side, while with her left hand she
+grasped his horn, by which she guided his motions as a charioteer
+guides a horse by the rein. She was arrayed in a white tunic, which
+did not extend much below her waist, and an under-garment of purple,
+reaching to her feet; but the outline of her form, and the swell of
+her bosom, were distinctly defined through her garments. Her right
+hand rested on the back of the bull, with the left she retained her
+hold of his horn, while with both she grasped her veil, which was
+blown out by the wind, and expanded in an arch over her head and
+shoulders, so that the bull might be compared to a ship, of which the
+damsel's veil was the sail. Around them dolphins were sporting in the
+water, and winged loves fluttering in the air, so admirably depicted,
+that the spectator might fancy he saw them in motion. One Cupid guided
+the bull, while others hovered round bearing bows and quivers, and
+brandishing nuptial torches, regarding Jupiter with arch and sidelong
+glances, as if conscious that it was by their influence that the god
+had assumed the form of an animal."
+
+To return to Clitophon and his tale. He begins by informing his
+hearer, that he is the son of Hippias, a noble and wealthy denizen of
+Tyre, and that he had been betrothed from his childhood, as was not
+unusual in those times,[2] to his own half-sister Calligone:--but
+Leucippe, the daughter of Sostratus, a brother of Hippias, resident at
+Byzantium, having arrived with her mother Panthia, to claim the
+hospitality of their Tyrian relatives during a war impending between
+their native city and the Thracian tribes, Clitophon at once becomes
+enamoured of his cousin, whose charms are described in terms of
+glowing panegyric:--"She seemed to me like the representation of
+Europa, which I see in the picture before me--her eye beaming with joy
+and happiness--her locks fair,[3] and flowing in natural ringlets, but
+her eyebrows and eyelashes jetty black--her complexion fair, but with
+a blush in her cheeks like that faint crimson with which the Lydian
+women stain ivory, and her lips like the hue of a fresh-opened rose."
+Love is not, however, in this case, as in that of Theagenes and
+Chariclea, instantaneous on both sides; and the expedient adopted by
+Clitophon, with the aid of his servant Satyrus, (a valet of the
+_Scapin_ school,) to win the good graces of the lady, are detailed at
+length, evincing much knowledge of the human heart in the author, and
+affording considerable insight into the domestic arrangements of a
+Grecian family.[4] An understanding is at last effected between them,
+and Clitophon is in sad perplexity how to defer or evade his
+approaching nuptials with his sister-bride, when Calligone is most
+opportunely carried off by a band of pirates employed by Callisthenes,
+a young Byzantine, who, having fallen in love with Leucippe from the
+mere report of her beauty, and having been refused her hand by her
+father, has followed her to Tyre, and seeing Calligone in a public
+procession chaperoned by Panthia, has mistaken her for Leucippe! The
+lovers are thus left in the unrestrained enjoyment of each other's
+society; but Clitophon is erelong detected by Panthia in an attempt to
+penetrate by night into her daughter's chamber; and though the
+darkness prevents the person of the intruder from being recognised,
+the confusion which this untoward occurrence occasions in the family
+is such, that Clitophon and Leucippe, feeling their secret no longer
+safe, determine on an elopement. Accompanied by the faithful Satyrus,
+and by Clinias, a kinsman and confident of Clitophon, who generously
+volunteers to share their adventures, they accordingly set sail for
+Egypt; and the two gentlemen, having struck up an acquaintance with a
+fellow passenger, a young Alexandrian named Menelaus, beguile the
+voyage by discussing with their new friend the all-engrossing subject
+of love, the remarks on which at last take so antiplatonic a tone,
+that we can only hope Leucippe was out of hearing. These disquisitions
+are interrupted, on the third day of the voyage, by a violent tempest;
+and the sailors, finding the ship on the point of coming to pieces,
+betake themselves to the boat, leaving the passengers to their fate.
+But Clitophon and Leucippe, clinging to the forecastle, are
+comfortably wafted by the winds and waves to the coast of Egypt, and
+landed near Pelusium, where they hire a vessel to carry them to
+Alexandria; but their voyage through the tortuous branches of the Nile
+is intercepted by marauders of the same class, _Bucoli_ or buccaniers,
+as those who figure so conspicuously in the adventures of _Chariclea_
+and _Theagenes_. The robbers are at this juncture in expectation of an
+attack from the royal troops; and, having been ordered by their
+priests to propitiate the gods by the sacrifice of a virgin, are
+greatly at a loss for a victim, when chance throws Leucippe in their
+way. She is forthwith torn from her lover, and sent off to the
+headquarters of the banditti; and Clitophon is on his way to another
+of their retreats, when his captors are attacked and cut to pieces by
+a detachment of troops, whose commander, Charmides, commiserates the
+misfortunes of our hero, and hospitably entertains him in his tent.
+
+    [2] The laws of Athens permitted the marriage of a brother
+    with his sister by the father's side only--thus Cimon married
+    his half sister Elpinice; and several marriages of the same
+    nature occur in the history of the Egyptian Ptolemies.
+
+    [3] Fair hair, probably from its rarity in southern climates,
+    seems to have been at all times much prized by the ancients;
+    witness the [Greek: Xanthos Menelaos] of Homer, and the "Cui
+    _flavam_ religas comam?" of Horace. The style of Leucippe's
+    beauty seems to have resembled that of Haidee--
+
+      "Her hair, I said, was auburn; but her eyes
+       Were black as night, their lashes the same hue."
+
+    [4] One incident, where Clitophon pretends to have been stung
+    on the lip by a bee, and to be cured by a kiss from Leucippe,
+    has been borrowed by Tasso in the Aminta, (Act I. Scene 2.)
+    "Che fingendo ch'un ape avesse morso il mio labbro di sotto,"
+    &c., whence the idea has been again copied by a host of later
+    poetasters. This is not Tasso's only obligation to the Greek
+    romances, as we have already seen that he was indebted to
+    Heliodorus for the hint of his story of Clorinda.
+
+
+
+A general attack on the buccanier force is projected for the next day,
+but the advance of the troops is found to be barred by a trench so
+wide and deep as to be impassable; and while preparations are made for
+filling it up, Leucippe is brought to the opposite brink by two
+officiating priests, sheathed in armor; and there, to the horror of
+Clitophon, apparently ripped up alive before the altar. After
+completing the sacrifice, and depositing the body in a sarcophagus,
+the robbers disperse; the passage of the trench is at length effected;
+and Clitophon is preparing to fall on his sword at the tomb of his
+murdered love, when his hand is stayed by the appearance of his
+faithful friends, Menelaus and Satyrus, whom he had supposed lost in
+the ship. The mystery is now explained. They had reached the shore,
+like Clitophon, on pieces of the wreck and having also fallen into the
+power of the robbers, (as appears to have been the inevitable fate of
+every one landing in Egypt at the time of this narrative,) were
+surprised by finding Leucippe among their fellow captives, and
+learning from her the dreadful fate which awaited her. Menelaus,
+however, having recognized some former acquaintances among the
+buccaniers, was released from his bonds; and having gained their
+confidence by proposing to enrol himself in their band, offered his
+services as sacrificer, which were accepted. He now contrived to equip
+Leucippe with an artfully constructed _false stomach_, and being
+further assisted in his humane stratagem by the discovery of a knife
+with a sliding blade, among some theatrical _properties_ which the
+robbers had acquired in the course of casual plunder, succeeded in
+appearing to perform the sacrifice without any real injury to the
+victim, who at his call rises from the sarcophagus, and throws herself
+into her lover's arms.
+
+It might be supposed, that after so portentously marvellous an escape
+as the one just related, the unlucky couple might be allowed a short
+respite at least from the persecutions of adverse fortune. But perils
+in love succeed without an interval to perils in war. It is the
+invariable rule of all Greek romances, as we have remarked in a
+previous number, that the attractions both of the hero and heroine,
+should be perfectly irresistible by those of the other sex; and
+accordingly, the Egyptian officer Charmides no sooner beholds
+Leucippe, than he falls in love with her, and endeavours to gain over
+Menelaus to further his views. Menelaus feigns compliance, but
+privately gives information of the designs of Charmides to Clitophon,
+who is thrown into a dreadful state of consternation by his
+apprehensions of this powerful rival. At this juncture, however,
+Leucippe is suddenly seized with a fit of extravagant frenzy, which
+defies all the skill of the Egyptian camp; and under the influence of
+which she violently assaults her friends, and is guilty of sundry
+vagaries not altogether seemly in a well-bred young lady. Both her
+admirers, Charmides and Clitophon, are in despair, and equally in
+ignorance of the cause of her malady; but before any symptoms of
+amendment are perceptible, Charmides receives orders[5] to march with
+his whole force against the buccaniers, by whom he is inveigled into
+an ambuscade, and with most of his men either slain or drowned by the
+breaking of the dykes of the Nile. The madness of Leucippe is still
+incurable, till a stranger named Choereas makes his appearance, and
+introducing himself to Clitophon, informs him that he has discovered
+from the confession of a domestic, that Gorgias, an officer who fell
+in the late action with the _Bucoli_, captivated, like every one else,
+by the resistless charms of the heroine, had administered to her a
+philtre, the undue strength of which had excited frenzy instead of
+love. By the administration of proper remedies, the fair patient is
+now restored to her senses: and the total destruction of the
+robber-colony by a stronger force sent against them having rendered
+the navigation of the Nile again secure, the lovers once more embark
+for Alexandria, accompanied by Menelaus and Choereas, and at length
+arrive in safety at the city, which they find illuminated for the
+great feast of Serapis. The first sight of the glories of Alexandria,
+at the supposed period of the narrative the largest and most
+magnificent city in the world, and many ages subsequently second only
+to Imperial Rome herself, excites the astonishment and admiration of
+the newcomers:--and the author takes the opportunity to dilate, with
+pardonable complacency, on the magnitude and grandeur of the place of
+his birth. "When I entered the city," (says Clitophon,) "by the gates
+called those of the sun, its wonderful beauty flashed at once upon my
+sight, almost dazzling my eyes with the excess of gratification. A
+lofty colonnade of pillars, on each side of the street,[6] runs right
+from the gates of the sun on one side, to those of the moon, (for
+these are its guardian deities,) on the other; and the distance is
+such, that a walk through the city is in itself a journey. When we had
+proceeded several stadia, we arrived at the square named after
+Alexander, whence other colonnades, like those I saw extending in a
+right line before me, branched off right and left at right angles; and
+my eyes, never weary of wandering from one street to another, were
+unable to contemplate separately the various objects of attraction
+which presented themselves. Some I had before my eyes, some I was
+hastening to gaze upon, when I found myself unable to pass by others,
+while a fresh series of marvels still awaited me, so that my powers of
+vision were at last fairly exhausted, and obliged to confess
+themselves beaten. The vast extent of the city, and the innumerable
+multitude of the population, produced on the mind the effect of a
+double paradox; for regarding the one, the stranger wondered where
+such a city, which seemed as large as a continent, could find
+inhabitants; but when his attention was drawn to the other, he was
+again perplexed how so many people, more numerous than a nation, could
+find room in any single city. Thus the two conflicting feelings of
+amazement remained in equilibrio."
+
+    [5] These orders are said to have come from the "_satrap_,"
+    the Persian title having been retained under the Ptolemies,
+    for the governors of the _nomes_ or provinces. The description
+    of the stronghold of the buccaniers, in the deep recesses of a
+    marsh, and approachable only by a single hidden path, (like
+    the stockades of the North-American Indians in the swamps, as
+    described by Cotton Mather,) if not copied, like most of the
+    other Egyptian scenes, from the _Ethiopics_, presents a
+    curious picture of a class of men of whom few details are in
+    authentic history.
+
+    [6] The main street, according to Diodorus, was "forty stadia
+    in length, and a _plethrum_ (100 feet) in breadth; adorned
+    through its whole extent by a succession of palaces and
+    temples of the most costly magnificence. Alexander also
+    erected a royal palace, which was an edifice wonderful both
+    for its magnitude and the solidity of its architecture, and
+    all the kings who have succeeded him, even up to our times,
+    have spent great sums in further adorning and making additions
+    to it. On the whole, the city may be fairly reckoned as the
+    first in the world, whether for magnitude and beauty, for
+    traffic, or for the greatness of its revenues."--"It
+    comprehended," says Gibbon, speaking of it under the Roman
+    Emperors, "a circumference of fifteen miles, and was peopled
+    by 300,000 free inhabitants, besides, at least, an equal
+    number of slaves."
+
+Choereas, himself a native of the city, who had been called upon to
+take service in the late expedition against the buccaniers, does the
+honours of the locale to his new friends:--but he is not proof against
+the fatal charms of Leucippe, and resorts to the old expedient of
+procuring her abduction by a crew of pirates while on an excursion to
+the Pharos. The vessel of the captors is, however, chased by a
+guard-boat, and on the point of being taken, when Leucippe is brought
+on deck and decapitated by the pirates, who throw the headless body
+into the sea, and make their escape; while Clitophon stays the
+pursuit, to recover the remains of his mistress for sepulture.
+Clitophon now returns to Alexandria to mourn for his lost love, and is
+still inconsolable at the end of six months, when he is surprised by
+the appearance of Clinias, whom he had supposed to have perished when
+the vessel foundered at sea. Clinias relates that having, like the
+others, floated on a piece of the wreck, he had been picked up by a
+ship, which brought him back to Sidon; and as his absence from home
+had been so short as not to have been generally noticed, he had
+thought it best not to mention it, especially as he had no good
+account to give of his fellow-fugitives. In the mean time, as
+Calligone is given up for lost, Sostratus, who has heard of his
+daughter's attachment to Clitophon, but not of the elopement, writes
+from Byzantium to give his consent to their union; and diligent
+enquiries are made in every direction for the runaway couple, till
+information is at length obtained that Clitophon has been seen in
+Egypt. His father, Hippias, is therefore preparing to set sail for
+Alexandria to bring back the truant, when Clinias, thinking it would
+be as well to forewarn Clitophon of what had occurred in his absence,
+starts without delay, unknown to Hippias, and reaches Alexandria
+before him.
+
+The intelligence thus received throws Clitophon into fresh agonies of
+grief and remorse: he curses his own impatience in carrying off
+Leucippe, when a short delay would have crowned his happiness; accuses
+himself anew as the cause of her death; and declares his determination
+not to remain in Egypt and encounter his father. His friends, Menelaus
+and Clinias, in vain endeavour to combat this resolve; till the
+over-ready Satyrus finds an expedient for evading the difficulty. A
+young "Ephesian widow," named Melissa, fair and susceptible, who has
+lately lost her husband at sea, and become the heiress of his immense
+wealth, has recently (in obedience to the above-mentioned invariable
+law of Greek romance) fixed an eye of ardent affection on Clitophon;
+and it is suggested by his friends that, by marrying this new
+inamorata, and sailing with her forthwith on her return to Ephesus,
+his departure would at once be satisfactorily explained to his father
+on his arrival, and he might return to his friends at Tyre after their
+emotions at the tragical catastrophe of Leucippe had in some measure
+subsided. After much persuasion, Clitophon accedes to this
+arrangement, with the sole proviso that nothing but the _fiançailles_,
+or betrothal, shall take place in Egypt, and that the completion of
+the marriage shall be deferred till their arrival in Ephesus--on the
+plea that he cannot pledge his faith to another in the land where his
+beloved Leucippe met with her fate. This proposal, after vehement
+opposition on the part of the amorous Ephesian, is at last agreed to;
+and Clitophon, with his half-married bride, sets sail for Ephesus,
+accompanied by Clinias; while Menelaus, who remains in Egypt,
+undertakes the task of explaining matters to Hippias. The voyage is
+prosperously accomplished; and Melissa becomes urgent for the formal
+solemnization of the nuptials; while Clitophon continues to oppose
+frivolous delays which might have roused the anger of a lady even of a
+less ardent temperament. Her affection, however, continues
+undiminished; but Clitophon, while visiting, in her company, her
+country residence in the neighbourhood of the city, is thunderstruck
+by fancying that he recognizes, in the disfigured lineaments of a
+female slave, said to be a Thessalian of the name of Lacoena, who
+approaches Melissa to complain of the ill-treatment she has received
+from the steward, Sosthenes, the features of his lost Leucippe. His
+suspicions are confirmed by a billet which Leucippe conveys to him
+through Satyrus; and his situation becomes doubly perplexing, as
+Melissa, more than ever at a loss to comprehend the cause of his
+indifference, applies to Leucippe, (whom she supposes to possess the
+skill of the Thessalians in magic,) for a love-charm to compel his
+affections, promising her liberty as a reward. Leucippe is delighted
+by the proof which this request affords of the constancy of her lover;
+but the preparations for his marriage with Melissa still proceed, and
+evasion appears impossible; when at the preliminary banquet, the
+return of her husband, Thersander, is announced, who had been falsely
+reported to have perished by shipwreck. A terrible scene of confusion
+ensues, in which Thersander,
+
+            --"proceeding at a very high rate,
+      Shows the imperial penchant of a pirate."
+
+Clitophon gets a violent beating, to which he submits with the utmost
+tameness, and is thrown into fetters by the enraged husband; and
+though Melissa, on certain conditions, furnishes him with the means of
+escape from the house in the disguise of a female, he again unluckily
+encounters Thersander, and is lodged in the prison of Ephesus.
+Leucippe, meanwhile, of whose unrivalled charms Thersander has been
+informed by Sosthenes, is still detained in bondage, and suffers cruel
+persecution from her brutal master; who, at last, having learned from
+an overheard soliloquy her true parentage and history, as well as her
+attachment for Clitophon, (of her relations with whom he was not
+previously aware,) forms a scheme of ridding himself of this twofold
+rival, by sending one of his emissaries into the prison, who gives out
+that he has been arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the
+murder of Leucippe, who has been dispatched by assassins employed by
+the jealous Melissa. Clitophon at once gives full credence to this
+awkwardly devised tale, and determines not to survive his mistress, in
+spite of the remonstrances of Clinias, who argues with much reason,
+that one who had so often been miraculously preserved from death,
+might have escaped also on the present occasion. But Clitophon refuses
+to be comforted; and when brought before the assembly in the forum to
+stand his trial, on the charge, (apparently, for it is not very
+clearly specified,) of having married another man's wife, he openly
+declares himself guilty of Leucippe's murder, which he affirms to have
+been concerted between Melissa and himself, in order to remove the
+obstacle to their amours, and now revealed by him from remorse. He is,
+of course, condemned to death forthwith, and Thersander is triumphing
+in the unexpected success of his schemes, when the judicial
+proceedings are interrupted by the appearance of a religious
+procession, at the head of which Clitophon is astonished by
+recognizing his uncle Sostratus, the father of Leucippe, who had been
+deputed by the Byzantines to offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, at the
+Temple of Diana, for their victory over the Thracians. On hearing the
+state of affairs, he furiously denounces the murderer of his daughter;
+but at this moment it is announced that Leucippe, whom Thersander had
+believed to be in safe custody, has escaped, and taken refuge in the
+Temple of Diana!
+
+The interest of the story is now at an end; but much yet remains
+before the conclusion. Thersander, maddened at the prospect of being
+thus doubly baulked of his prey, throws gross aspersions on the purity
+of Leucippe, and even demands that Clitophon, in spite of his now
+manifest innocence, shall be executed in pursuance of the previous
+sentence! but the high-priest of Diana takes the lovers under his
+protection, and the cause is adjourned to the morrow. Leucippe now
+relates the circumstances of her captivity:--the Alexandrian pirates,
+having deceived their pursuers by beheading another captive dressed in
+her garments, had next fallen out with and murdered their base
+employer Choereas, and finally sold her for two thousand drachmas to
+Sosthenes: while from Sostratus, on the other hand, Clitophon receives
+tidings that his long-lost sister Calligone is on the point of
+marriage to Callisthenes, who, it will be remembered, had carried her
+off from Tyre by mistake for Leucippe, (having become enamoured of the
+latter without ever having seen her,) and on the discovery of his
+error, had made her all the amends in his power by an instant transfer
+of his affections. Thus everything is on the point of ending happily;
+but the sentence passed against Clitophon still remains unreversed,
+and Thersander, in the assembly of the following day, vehemently calls
+for its ratification. But the cause of the defendant is espoused by
+the high-priest, who lavishes on the character and motives of
+Thersander a torrent of abuse, couched in language little fitting his
+sacred character; while Thersander shows himself in this respect fully
+a match for his reverend antagonist, and, moreover, reiterates with
+fresh violence his previous charge against Leucippe. The debates are
+protracted to an insufferably tedious length; but the character of
+Leucippe is at last vindicated by her descent into a cavern, whence
+sounds of more than human melody are heard on the entrance of a damsel
+of untainted fame. The result of this ordeal is, of course,
+triumphant; and Thersander, overwhelmed with confusion makes his
+escape from the popular indignation, and is condemned to exile by
+acclamation as a suborner of false evidence; while the lovers, freed
+at length from all their troubles, sail for Byzantium in company with
+Sostratus; and after there solemnizing their own nuptials, return to
+Tyre to assist at those of Callisthenes and Calligone.
+
+The leading defects observable in this romance are obviously the
+glaring improbability of many of the incidents, and the want of
+connexion and necessary dependence between the several parts of the
+story. Of the former--the device of the false stomach and theatrical
+dagger, by means of which Menelaus and Satyrus (after gaining,
+moreover, in a moment the full confidence of the buccaniers,) save the
+life of Leucippe when doomed to sacrifice, is the most flagrant
+instance; though her second escape from supposed death, when Clitophon
+imagines that he sees her head struck off by the Alexandrian pirates,
+is almost equally liable to the same objection; while in either case
+the deliverance of the heroine might as well have been managed,
+without prejudice either to the advancement or interest of the
+narrative, by more rational and probable methods. The too frequent
+introduction of incidents and personages not in any way connected
+with, or conducive to the progress of the main plot, is also
+objectionable, and might almost induce the belief that the original
+plan was in some measure altered or departed from in the course of
+composition. It is difficult to conceive for what purpose the
+character of Calligone, the sister and fiancée of Clitophon, is
+introduced among the dramatic personae. She appears at the beginning
+only to be carried off by Callisthenes as soon as Clitophon's passion
+for Leucippe makes her presence inconvenient, and we incidentally hear
+of her as on the point of becoming his bride at the conclusion; but
+she is seen only for a moment, and never permitted to speak, like a
+walking gentlewoman on the stage, and exercises not the smallest
+influence on the fortunes of the others. Gorgias is still worse used:
+he is a mere _nominis umbra_, of whose bodily presence nothing is made
+visible; nor is so much as his name mentioned, except for the purpose
+of informing us that it was through his agency that the love-potion
+was administered to Leucippe, and that he has since been killed in the
+action against the buccaniers. The whole incident of the philtre,
+indeed, and the consequent madness of the heroine, is unnatural and
+revolting, and serves no end but to introduce Choereas to effect a
+cure. But even had it been indispensable to the plot, it might have
+been far more probably ascribed to the Egyptian commander Charmides,
+with whose passion for Leucippe we were already acquainted, and who
+had, moreover, learned from Menelaus that he had little chance of
+success by ordinary methods, from the pre-engagement of the lady to
+Clitophon.
+
+Nor are these defects compensated by any high degree of merit in the
+delineation of the characters. With the exception of Leucippe herself,
+they are all almost wholly devoid of individual or distinguishing
+traits, and insipid and uninteresting to the last degree. Menelaus and
+Clinias, the confidants and trusted friends of the hero, are the
+dullest of all dull mortals--a qualification which perhaps fits them
+in some measure for the part they are to bear in the story, as
+affording some security against their falling in love with Leucippe, a
+fate which they, of all the masculine personages, alone escape. Their
+active intervention is confined to the preservation of Leucippe from
+the _bucoli_ by Menelaus, and a great deal of useless declamation in
+behalf of Clitophon before the assembly of Ephesus from Clinias.
+Satyrus, also, from whose knavish ingenuity in the early part of the
+tale something better was to be expected, soon subsides into a
+well-behaved domestic, and hands his master the letter in which poor
+Leucippe makes herself known to him at Ephesus, when she imagines him
+married to Melissa, with all the nonchalance of a modern footman.
+Clitophon himself is hardly a shade superior to his companions. He is
+throughout a mere passive instrument, leaving to chance, or the
+exertions of others, his extrication from the various troubles in
+which he becomes involved: even of the qualities usually regarded as
+inseparable from a hero of romance, spirit and personal courage, he is
+so utterly destitute as to suffer himself to be beaten and ill
+treated, both by Thersander and Sostratus, without an attempt to
+defend himself; and his lamentations, whenever he finds himself in
+difficulties, or separated from his ladye-love, are absolutely
+puerile. As to the other characters, Thersander is a mere vulgar
+ruffian--"a rude and boisterous captain of the sea,"--whose brutal
+violence on his first appearance, and subsequent unprincipled
+machinations, deprive him of the sympathy which might otherwise have
+been excited in behalf of one who finds his wife and his property
+unceremoniously taken possession of during his absence; while, on the
+other hand, the language used by the high-priest of Diana, in his
+invectives against Thersander and his accomplices, gives but a low
+idea of the dignity or refinement of the Ephesian hierarchy. But the
+female characters, as is almost always the case in the Greek romances,
+are far better drawn, and infinitely more interesting, than the men.
+Even Melissa, though apparently intended only as a foil to the
+perfections of Leucippe, wins upon us by her amorous weakness, and the
+invincible kindness of heart which impels her, even when acquainted
+with the real state of affairs, to protect the lovers against her
+husband's malpractices. Leucippe herself goes far to make amends for
+the general insipidity of the other characters. Though not a heroine
+of so lofty a stamp as Chariclea, in whom the spirit of her royal
+birth is all along apparent, she is endowed with a mingled gentleness
+and firmness, which is strongly contrasted with the weakness and
+pusillanimity of her lover:--her uncomplaining tenderness, when she
+finds Clitophon at Ephesus (as she imagines) the husband of another,
+and the calm dignity with which she vindicates herself from the
+injurious aspersions of Thersander, are represented with great truth
+and feeling, and attach a degree of interest to her, which the other
+personages of the narrative are very far from inspiring.
+
+In the early part of the story, during the scenes in Tyre and Egypt,
+the action is carried on with considerable spirit and briskness; the
+author having apparently thus far kept before him, as a model, the
+narrative of Heliodorus. But towards the conclusion, and, indeed from
+the time of the arrival of Clitophon and Melissa at Ephesus, the
+interest flags wofully. The _dénouement_ is inevitably foreseen from
+the moment Clitophon is made aware that Leucippe is still alive and in
+his neighbourhood, and the arrival of Thersander, almost immediately
+afterwards, disposes of the obstacle of his engagement to Melissa; but
+the reader is acquainted with all these circumstances before the end
+of the fifth book; the three remaining books being entirely occupied
+by the proceedings in the judicial assembly, the recriminations of the
+high-priest, and the absurd ordeal to which Leucippe is subjected--all
+apparently introduced for no other purpose than to show the author's
+skill in declamation. The display of his own acquirements in various
+branches of art and science, and of his rhetorical powers of language
+in describing them, is indeed an object of which Achilles Tatius never
+loses sight; and continual digressions from the thread of the story
+for this purpose occur, often extremely _mal-à-propos_, and sometimes
+entirely without reference to the preceding narrative. Thus, when
+Clitophon is relating the terms of an oracle addressed to the
+Byzantines, previous to their war with the Thracians, he breaks off at
+once into a dissertation on the wonderful qualities of the element of
+water, the inflammable springs of Sicily, the gold extracted from the
+lakes of Africa, &c.--all which is supposed to be introduced into a
+conversation on the oracle between Sostratus and his colleague in
+command, and could only have come to the knowledge of Clitophon by
+being repeated to him _verbatim_, after a considerable interval of
+time, by Sostratus. Again, in the midst of the hero's perplexities at
+his threatened marriage with Calligone, we are favoured with a minute
+enumeration of the gems set in an ornament which his father purchased
+as part of the trousseau; and this again leads to an account of the
+discovery and application of the purple dye. The description of
+objects of natural history is at all times a favourite topic; and the
+sojourn of the lovers in Egypt affords the author an opportunity of
+indulging in details relative to the habits and appearances of the
+various strange animals found in that country--the crocodile, the
+hippopotamus, and the elephant, are described with considerable spirit
+and fidelity; and even the form and colours of the fabulous phoenix,
+are delineated with all the confidence of an eyewitness.
+
+Many of these episodical sketches, though out of place when thus
+awkwardly inserted in the midst of the narrative, are in themselves
+curious and well written; but the most valuable and interesting among
+them are the frequent descriptions of paintings, a specimen of which
+has already been given. On this subject especially, the author dwells
+_con amore_, and his remarks are generally characterised by a degree
+of good taste and correct feeling, which indicates a higher degree of
+appreciation of the pictorial art than is generally ascribed to the
+age in which Achilles Tatius wrote. Even in the latter part of the
+first century of our era, Pliny, when enumerating the glorious names
+of the ancient Greek painters, laments over the total decline, in his
+own days, of what he terms (_Nat. Hist_. xxxv. 11) "an aspiring art;"
+but the monarchs of the Macedonian dynasties in Asia, and, above all,
+the Egyptian Ptolemies, were both munificent patrons of the fine arts
+among their own subjects, and diligent collectors of the great works
+of past ages; and many of the _chefs-d'oeuvres_ of the Grecian masters
+were thus transferred from their native country to adorn, the temples
+and palaces of Egypt and Syria. We find, from Plutarch, that when
+Aratus was exerting himself to gain for the Achæan league the powerful
+alliance of Ptolemy Euergetes, he found no means so effectual in
+conciliating the good-will of the monarch, as the procuring for him
+some of the master-pieces of Pamphilus[7] and Melanthius, the most
+renowned of the famous school of Sicyon; and the knowledge of the high
+estimation in which the arts were held, under the Egyptian kings,
+gives an additional value to the accounts given by Tatius of these
+treasures of a past age, his notices of which are the latest, in
+point of time, which have come down to us from an eyewitness. We have
+already quoted the author's vivid description of the painting of
+Europa at Sidon--we shall now subjoin, as a pendant to the former
+notice, his remarks on a pair of pictures at Pelusium:--
+
+    [7] Pamphilus was a Macedonian by birth, and a pupil of
+    Eupompus, the founder of the school of Sicyon; to the
+    presidency of which he succeeded. His pupils paid each a
+    talent a year for instruction; and Melanthius, and even
+    Apelles himself, for a time, were among the number.--Pliny,
+    _Hist. Nat_. xxxv. 36. The great talent of Melanthius, like
+    that of his master Pamphilus, lay in composition and grouping;
+    and so highly were his pictures esteemed, that Pliny, in
+    another passage, says, that the wealth of a city would hardly
+    purchase one.
+
+
+    "In this temple (of Jupiter Casius) were two famous works of
+    Evanthes, illustrative of the legends of Andromeda and
+    Prometheus, which the painter had probably selected as a pair,
+    from the similarity of the Subjects--the principal figure in
+    each being bound to a rock and exposed to the attack of a
+    terrific animal; in one case a denizen of the air, in the
+    other a monster of the sea; and the deliverers of both being
+    Argives, and of kindred blood to each other, Hercules and
+    Perseus--the former of whom encountered, on foot, the savage
+    bird sent by Jove, while the latter mounted on borrowed wings
+    into the air, to assail the monster which issued from the sea
+    at the command of Neptune. In the picture of Andromeda, the
+    virgin was laid in a hollow of the rock, not fashioned by art,
+    but rough like a natural cavity; and which, if viewed only
+    with regard to the beauty of that which it contained, looked
+    like a niche holding an exquisite fresh from the chisel; but
+    the sight of her bonds, and of the monster approaching to
+    devour her, gave it rather the aspect of a sepulchre. On her
+    features extreme loveliness was blended with deadly terror,
+    which was seated on her pallid cheeks, while beauty beamed
+    forth from her eyes; but, as even amid the pallor of her
+    cheeks a faint tinge of colour was yet perceptible, so was the
+    brightness of her eyes, on the other hand, in some measure
+    dimmed, like the bloom of lately blighted violets. Her white
+    arms were extended, and lashed to the rock; but their
+    whiteness partook of a livid hue, and her fingers were like
+    those of a corpse. Thus lay she, expecting death, but arrayed
+    like a bride, in a long white robe, which seemed not as if
+    woven from the fleece of the sheep, but from the web of the
+    spider, or of those winged insects, the long threads spun by
+    which are gathered by the Indian women from the trees of their
+    own country. The monster was just rising out of the sea
+    opposite to the damsel, his head alone being distinctly
+    visible, while the unwieldy length of his body was still in a
+    great measure concealed by the waves, yet so as partially to
+    discover his formidable array of spines and scales, his
+    swollen neck, and his long flexible tail, while the gape of
+    his horrible jaws extended to his shoulder, and disclosed the
+    abyss of his stomach. But between the monster and the damsel,
+    Perseus was depicted descending to the encounter from the
+    upper regions of the air--his body bare, except a mantle
+    floating round his shoulders, and winged sandals on his
+    feet--a cap resembling the helmet of Pluto was on his head,
+    and in his left hand he held before him, like a buckler, the
+    head of the Gorgon, which even in the pictured representation
+    was terrible to look at, shaking its snaky hair, which seemed
+    to erect itself and menace the beholder. His right hand
+    grasped a weapon, in shape partaking of both a sickle and a
+    sword; for it had a single hilt, and to the middle of the
+    blade resembled a sword; but there it separated into two
+    parts, one continuing straight and pointed, like a sword,
+    while the other was curved backwards, so that with a single
+    stroke, it might both inflict a wound, and fix itself in the
+    part struck. Such was the picture of Andromeda; the design of
+    the other was thus:--
+
+    "Prometheus was represented bound down to a rock, with fetters
+    of iron, while Hercules, armed with a bow and arrow, was seen
+    approaching. The vulture, supporting himself by fixing his
+    talons in the thigh of Prometheus, was tearing open the
+    stomach of his victim, and apparently searching with his beak
+    for the liver, which it was his destiny daily to devour, and
+    which the painter had shown through the aperture of the wound.
+    The whole frame of the sufferer was convulsed, and his limbs
+    contracted with torture, so that, by raising his thigh, he
+    involuntarily presented his side to the bird--while the other
+    limb was visibly quivering in its whole length, with
+    agony--his teeth were clenched, his lips parted, and his brows
+    wrinkled. Hercules had already fitted the arrow to the bow, and
+    aimed it against his tormentor: his left arm was thrown
+    forward grasping the stock, while the elbow of the right was
+    bent in the attitude of drawing the arrow to his breast; while
+    Prometheus, full of mingled hope and fear, was endeavouring to
+    fix his undivided gaze on his deliverer, though his eyes, in
+    spite of himself, were partially diverted by the anguish of
+    his wound."
+
+The work of Achilles Tatius, with all its blemishes and defects,
+appears to have been highly popular among the Greeks of the lower
+empire. An epigram is still extant, attributed to the Emperor Leo, the
+philosopher,[8] in which it is landed as an example of chaste and
+faithful love: and it was esteemed as a model of romantic composition
+from the elegance of its style and diction, in which Heretius ranks
+the author above Heliodorus, though he at the same time severely
+criticizes him for want of originality, accusing him of having
+borrowed all the interesting passages in his work from the
+_Ethiopics_. In common with Heliodorus, Tatius has found a host of
+followers among the later Greeks, some of whom (as the learned critic
+just quoted, observes) have transcribed, rather than imitated him. In
+the "Hysminias and Hysmine" of Eumathius, a wretched production of the
+twelfth century, not only many of the incidents, but even of the
+names, as Sostratus, Sosthenes, and Anthia, are taken from Clitophon
+and Leucippe: and to so servile an extent is this plagiarism carried,
+that two books out of the nine, of which the romance consists, are
+filled with descriptions of paintings; while the plot, not very
+intelligible at the best, is still further perplexed by the
+extraordinary affectation of making nearly all the names alike; thus,
+the hero and heroine are Hysminias and Hysmine, the towns are
+Aulycomis, Eurycomis, Artycomis, &c. In all these works, the outline
+is the same; the lovers undergo endless buffetings by sea and land,
+imaginary deaths, and escapes from marauders; but not a spark of
+genius or fancy enlivens these dull productions, which, sometimes
+maudlin and bombastic, often indecent, would defy the patience of the
+most determined novel reader. One of these writers, Xenophon of
+Ephesus, the author of the "Ephesiacs, or Habrocomas and Anthia," is
+commended by Politian for the classical purity of his language, in
+which he considers him scarcely inferior to his namesake the
+historian: but the work has little else to recommend it. The two
+principal personages are represented as miracles of personal beauty;
+and the women fall in love with Habrocomas, as well as the men with
+Anthia, literally by dozens at a time: the plot, however differs from
+that of the others in marrying them at the commencement, and sending
+them through the ordinary routine of dangers afterwards. The
+_Ephesiacs_ are, however, noticeable from its having been supposed by
+Mr Douce, (_Illustrations of Shakspeare_, ii. 198,) that the
+catastrophe in Romeo and Juliet was originally borrowed from one of
+the adventures of Anthia, who, when separated from her husband, is
+rescued from banditti by Perilaus, governor of Cilicia, and by him
+destined for his bride. Unable to evade his solicitations, she
+procures from the "poverty, not the will" of an aged physician named
+Eudoxus, what she supposes to be a draught of poison, but which is
+really an opiate. She is laid with great pomp, loaded with gems and
+costly ornaments, in a vault; and on awakening, finds herself in the
+hands of a crew of pirates, who have broken open her sepulchre in
+order to rifle the treasures which they knew to have been deposited
+there. "This work," (observes Mr Douce,) "was certainly not published
+nor translated in the time of Luigi da Porto, the original narrator of
+the story of Romeo and Juliet: but there is no reason why he might not
+have seen a copy of the original in MS. We might enumerate several
+more of these later productions of the same school; but a separate
+analysis of each would be both tedious and needless, as none present
+any marked features of distinction from those already noticed. They
+are all, more or less, indifferent copies either from Heliodorus or
+Achilles Tatius; the outline of the story being generally borrowed
+from one or the other of these sources, while in point of style,
+nearly all appear to have taken as their model the florid rhetorical
+display and artificial polish of language which characterize the
+latter. Their redeeming point is the high position uniformly assigned
+to the female characters, who are neither immured in the Oriental
+seclusion of the harem, nor degraded to household drudges, like the
+Athenian ladies in the polished age of Pericles:[9] but mingle without
+restraint in society as the friends and companions of the other sex,
+and are addressed in the language of admiration and respect. But these
+pleasing traits are not sufficient to atone for the improbability of
+the incidents, relieved neither by the brilliant fancy of the East,
+nor the lofty deeds of the romances of chivalry: and the reader,
+wearied by the repetition of similar scenes and characters, thinly
+disguised by change of name and place, finds little reason to regret
+that "the children of the marriage of Theagenes and Chariclea," as
+these romances are termed by a writer quoted by d'Israeli in the
+"Curiosities of Literature"--have not continued to increase and
+multiply up to our own times.
+
+    [8] Some bibliographers have assigned it to Photius; but the
+    opinion of Achilles Tatius expressed by the patriarch, and
+    quoted at the commencement of this article, precludes the
+    possibility of its being from his pen.
+
+    [9] See Mitford's _History of Greece_, ch. xiii, sect. 1.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+THE NEW ART OF PRINTING.
+
+BY A DESIGNING DEVIL.
+
+    "Aliter non fit, avite, liber."--MARTIAL.
+
+
+It is more than probable that, at the first discovery of that
+mightiest of arts, which has so tended to facilitate every other--the
+art of printing--many old-fashioned people looked with a jealous eye
+on the innovation. Accustomed to a written character, their eyes
+became wearied by the crabbedness and formality of type. It was like
+travelling on the paved and rectilinear roads of France, after winding
+among the blooming hedgerows of England; and how dingy and graceless
+must have appeared the first printed copy of the Holy Bible, to those
+accustomed to luxuriate in emblazoned missals, amid all the pride,
+pomp, and vellum of glorious MS.!
+
+Dangerous and democratic, too, must have appeared the new art, which,
+by plebeianizing knowledge and enlightening the mass, deprived the law
+and the prophets of half their terrors, and disrobed priestcraft and
+kingcraft of their mystery. We can imagine that, as soon as a printed
+book ceased to be a great rarity, it became an object of great
+abhorrence.
+
+There were many, no doubt, to prophesy, as on occasion of every new
+invention, that it was all very well for a novelty; but that the thing
+would not, and could not last! How were the poor copyists to get their
+living if their occupation was taken from them? How were so many
+monasteries to be maintained which had subsisted on _manuscriptum_?
+And, then, what prince in his right senses would allow a
+printing-press to be set up in his dominions--a source of sedition and
+heresy--an implement of disaffection and schism? The free towns,
+perhaps, might foster this pernicious art, and certain evilly-disposed
+potentates wink at the establishment of type-founderies in their
+states. But the great powers of Europe knew better! They would never
+connive at this second sowing of the dragon's teeth of Cadmus.
+
+Thus, probably, they argued; becoming reconciled, in process of time,
+to the terrible novelty. Print-books became almost as easy to read as
+manuscript; soon as cheap, and at length of a quarter the price, or
+even less; till, two centuries later, benefit of clergy ceased to be
+a benefit, books were plenty as blackberries, and learning a thing for
+the multitude. According to Dean Swift's account, the chaplain's time
+hung heavy on his hands, for my lady had sermon books of her own, and
+could read; nay, my lady's woman had jest books of her own, and wanted
+none of his nonsense! The learned professions, or black arts, lost at
+least ninety-five per cent in importance; and so rapid as been the
+increase of the evil, that, at this time of day, it is a hard matter
+to impose on any clodpole in Europe! Instead of signing with their
+marks, the kings of modern times have turned ushers; instead of
+reading with difficulty, we have a mob of noblemen who write with
+ease; and, now-a-days, it is every duke, ay, and every duchess her own
+book-maker!
+
+A year or two hence, however, and all this will have become
+obsolete.--_Nous avons changé tout cela!_--No more letter-press!
+Books, the _small_ as well as the great, will have been voted a great
+evil. There will be no gentlemen of the press. The press itself will
+have ceased to exist.
+
+For several years past it has been frankly avowed by the trade that
+books have ceased to sell; that the best works are a drug in the
+market; that their shelves groan, until themselves are forced to
+follow the example.
+
+Descend to what shifts they may in order to lower their prices, by
+piracy from other booksellers, or clipping and coining of authors--no
+purchasers! Still, the hope prevailed for a time among the lovers of
+letters, that a great glut having occurred, the world was chewing the
+cud of its repletion; that the learned were shut up in the Bodleian,
+and the ignorant battening upon the circulating libraries; that hungry
+times would come again!
+
+But this fond delusion has vanished. People have not only ceased to
+purchase those old-fashioned things called books, but even to read
+them! Instead of cutting new works, page by page, people cut them
+altogether! To far-sighted philosophers, indeed, this was a state of
+things long foreshown. It could not be otherwise. The reading world
+was a sedentary world. The literary public was a public lying at
+anchor. When France delighted in the twelve-volume novels of
+Mademoiselle de Scudéri, it drove in coaches and six, at the rate of
+four miles an hour; when England luxuriated in those of Richardson, in
+eight, it drove in coaches and four, at the rate of five. A journey
+was then esteemed a family calamity; and people abided all the year
+round in their cedar parlours, thankful to be diverted by the arrival
+of the _Spectator_, or a few pages of the _Pilgrim's Progress_, or a
+new sermon. To their unincidental lives, a book was an event.
+
+Those were the days worth writing for! The fate of Richardson's
+heroines was made a national affair; and people interceded with him by
+letter to "spare Clarissa," as they would not now intercede with her
+Majesty to spare a new Effie Deans. The successive volumes of _Pope's
+Iliad_ were looked for with what is called "breathless" interest,
+while such political sheets as the _Drapier's Letters_, or _Junius_,
+set the whole kingdom in an uproar! And now, if Pope, or Swift, or
+Fielding, or Johnson, or Sterne, were to rise from the grave, MS. in
+hand, the most adventurous publisher would pass a sleepless night
+before he undertook the risk of paper and print; would advise a small
+edition, and exact a sum down in ready money, to be laid out in puffs
+and advertisements! "Even then, though we may get rid of a few copies
+to the circulating libraries," he would observe, "do not expect, sir,
+to obtain readers. A few old maids in the county towns, and a few
+gouty old gentlemen at the clubs; are the only persons of the present
+day who ever open a book!"
+
+And who can wonder? _Who_ has leisure to read? _Who_ cares to sit down
+and spell out accounts of travels which he can make at less cost than
+the cost of the narrative? _Who_ wants to peruse fictitious
+adventures, when railroads and steamboats woo him to adventures of his
+own? Egypt was once a land of mystery; now, every lad, on leaving
+Eton, yachts it to the pyramids. India was once a country to dream of
+over a book. Even quartoes, if tolerably well-seasoned with suttees
+and sandalwood, went down; now, every genteel family has its "own
+correspondent," per favour of the Red Sea; and the best printed
+account of Cabul would fall stillborn from the press. As to Van
+Dieman's Land, it is vulgar as the Isle of Dogs; and since people have
+steamed it backwards and forwards across the Atlantic more easily than
+formerly across the Channel, every woman chooses to be her own
+Trollope--every man his own Boz!
+
+For some time after books had ceased to find a market, the periodicals
+retained their vogue; and even till very lately, newspapers found
+readers. But the period at length arrived, when even the leisure
+requisite for the perusal of these lighter pages, is no longer
+forthcoming. People are busy ballooning or driving; shooting like
+stars along railroads; or migrating like swallows or wild-geese. It
+has been found, within the current year, impossible to read even a
+newspaper!
+
+The march of intellect, however, luckily keeps pace with the
+necessities of the times; and no sooner was it ascertained, that
+reading-made-easy was difficult to accomplish, than a new art was
+invented for the more ready transmission of ideas. The fallacy of the
+proverb, that "those who run may read," being established, modern
+science set about the adoption of a medium, available to those sons of
+the century who are always on the run. Hence, the grand secret of
+ILLUSTRATION.--Hence the new art of printing!
+
+The pictorial printing-press is now your only wear! Every thing is
+communicated by delineation. We are not _told_, but _shown_ how the
+world is wagging. The magazines sketch us a lively article, the
+newspapers vignette us, step by step, a royal tour. The beauties of
+Shakspeare are imprinted on the minds of the rising generation, in
+woodcuts; and the poetry of Byron engraver in their hearts, by means
+of the graver. Not a boy in his teens has read a line of Don Quixote
+or Gil Blas, though all have their adventures by heart; while
+Goldsmith's "Deserted Village" has been committed to memory by our
+daughters and wives, in a series of exquisite illustrations. Every
+body has La Fontaine by heart, thanks to the pencil of Granville,
+which requires neither grammar nor dictionary to aid its
+interpretations; and even Defoe--even the unparalleled Robinson
+Crusoe--is devoured by our ingenuous youth in cuts and come again.
+
+At present, indeed, the new art of printing is in its infancy, but it
+is progressing so rapidly, that the devils of the old will soon have a
+cold birth of it! Views of the Holy Land are superseding even the Holy
+Scriptures; and a pictorial Blackstone is teaching the ideas of the
+sucking lawyers how to shoot. Nay, Buchan's "Domestic Medicine" has
+(proh pudor!) its illustrated edition.
+
+The time saved to an active public by all this, is beyond computation.
+All the world is now instructed by symbols, as formerly the deaf and
+dumb; and instead of having to peruse a tedious penny-a-line account
+of the postilion of the King of the French misdriving his Majesty, and
+his Majesty's august family, over a draw-bridge into a moat at
+Tréport, a single glance at a single woodcut places the whole disaster
+graphically before us; leaving us nine minutes and a half of the time
+we must otherwise have devoted to the study of the case, to dispose of
+at our own will and pleasure; to start, for instance, for Chelsea, and
+be back again by the steam-boat, before our mother knows we are out.
+
+The application of the new art is of daily and hourly extension. The
+scandalous Sunday newspapers have announced an intention of evading
+Lord Campbell's act, by veiling their libels in caricature. Instead of
+_writing_ slander and flat blasphemy, they propose to _draw_ it, and
+not draw it mild. The daily prints will doubtless follow their
+example. No more Jenkinsisms in the _Morning Post_, concerning
+fashionable parties. A view of the duchess's ball-room, or of the
+dining-table of the earl, will supersede all occasion for lengthy
+fiddle-faddle. The opera of the night before will be described in a
+vignette--the ballet in a tail-piece; and we shall know at a glance
+whether Cerito and Elssler performed their _pas_ meritoriously, by the
+number of bouquets depicted at their feet.
+
+On the other hand, instead of column after column of dry debates, we
+shall know sufficiently who were the speakers of the preceding night,
+by a series of portraits--each having an annexed trophy, indicative
+of the leading points of his oration. Members of both Houses will be,
+of course, daguerreotyped for the use of the morning papers; and
+photographic likenesses of the leaders of _ton_ be supplied gratis to
+the leaders of the press.
+
+How far more interesting a striking sketch of a banquet, containing
+portraits of undoubted authenticity, to the matter-of-fact
+announcements of the exploded letter-press--that "yesterday his Grace
+the Duke of Wellington entertained at dinner, at Apsley House, the
+Earls of Aberdeen and Liverpool, the Dukes of Richmond and Buccleuch,
+the Master of the Horse, the Lord Chancellor, Sir Robert Peel, Sir
+James Graham, Sir Frederick Trench, Colonel Gurwood, and M. Algernon
+Greville!" Who has patience for the recapitulation of a string of
+names, when a group of faces may be placed simultaneously before him?
+
+And then, accounts of races! How admirably will they be concentrated
+into a delineation of the winner passing the post--the losers
+distances; and what disgusting particulars of boxing matches shall we
+avoid by a spirited etching. Think of despatches from India, (one of
+Lord Ellenborough's XXXX,) published in a series of groupings worthy
+the frescoes of the tomb of Psammis. As to the affairs of China, we
+shall henceforward derive as much pleasure from the projects of Sir
+Henry Pottinger, cut in wood by the _Morning Herald_, as in surveying
+the Mandarins sailing on buffaloes through the air, or driving in
+junks over meadows, in one of Wedgewood's soup plates!
+
+It has long been the custom for advertisers in the continental
+journals to typify their wares. The George Robinses of Brussels, for
+instance, embody their account of some exquisite villa in a charming
+perspective of the same, or of a capital town mansion in a grim
+likeness; while the _carossiers_, who have town chariots or family
+coaches to dispose of, make it known in the most designing manner. The
+consequence is, that the columns of certain foreign papers bear a
+striking likeness to a child's alphabet, such as "A was an archer, and
+shot at a frog." Among ourselves, this practice is at present only
+partially adopted. We are all familiar with the shape of Mr Cox
+Savory's tea-pots, and Messrs Dondney's _point-device_ men in buckram;
+while Mordan acquaints us, with much point, how many varieties he has
+invented of pencil-cases and toothpicks. As to the London Wine
+Company, the new art has long imprinted upon our minds a mysterious
+notion of a series of vaults in the style of the Thames tunnel,
+frequented by figures armed with spigots and dark lanterns, that
+remind us of Guy Fawkes, and make us tremble for ourselves and Father
+Mathew! Loose notions of the stay-making trade have been circulated by
+the same medium; and we have noticed wood-blocks of wig-blocks,
+deservedly immortalizing the pernquier.
+
+But consider what it will be when the system is adopted on a more
+comprehensive scale. The daily papers will present a series of
+designs, remarkable as those of the Glyptothek and Pinacothek at
+Munich; and in all probability, the artists of the prize cartoons will
+be engaged in behalf of the leading journals of Europe. Who cannot
+foresee her Majesty's drawing-room illustrated by Parris! Who cannot
+conceive the invasion of Britain outdone in an allegorical leading
+article: "Louis Philippe (in a Snooks-like attitude) inviting Queen
+Victoria to St Cloud; and the British lion lashing out its tail at the
+Coq Gaulois!"
+
+As to the affairs of Spain, they will be a mine of wealth to the new
+press--_L'Espagne Pittoresque_ will sell thousands more copies than
+Spain Constitutionalized; and let us trust that Sir George Hayter will
+instantly "walk his chalks," and secure us the Cortes in black and
+white.
+
+The Greek character will now become easy to decipher; and the evening
+papers may take King Otho both off the throne and on. The designs of
+Russia have long been proverbial; but the exercise of the new art of
+printing may assign them new features. The representations of
+impartial periodicals will cut out, or out-cut De Custine; and while
+contemplating the well-favoured presentment of Nicholas I., we shall
+exclaim--"Is this a tyrant that I see before me?" Nothing will be
+easier then to throw the Poles into the shade of the picture, or to
+occupy the foreground with a brilliant review.
+
+As to Germany, to embody her in the hieroglyphics of the new press,
+might be a study for Retsch; and who will care for the lumbering pages
+of Von Raumer, or the wishy-washy details of Kohl, when able, in an
+_augenblick_, to bring Berlin and Vienna before him; to study the
+Zollverein in the copy of the King of Prussia's cogitative
+countenance, and ascertain the views of Metternich concerning the
+elder branch of the Bourbons, by a _cul de lampe_ in the _Morning
+Chronicle_!
+
+We have little doubt of shortly seeing announcements--standing like
+tombstones in those literary cemeteries, the Saturday papers--of "A
+new work upon America, from the graver of George Cruickshank;" or "A
+new fashionable novel, (diamond edition,) from the accomplished pencil
+of H.B." Kenny Meadows will become the Byron of the day, Leech the
+Scott, Forrester the Marryatt, Phiz the Trollope; Stanfield and Turner
+will be epic poets, Landseer preside over the belles-lettres, and
+Webster and Stone become the epigrammatists and madrigalists of the
+press.
+
+All this will, doubtless, throw a number of deserving persons out of
+employ. The writers, whose stock in trade consists of words rather
+than ideas, will find their way to Basinghall Street, prose will be at
+a discount, and long-windedness be accounted a distemper. A great
+variety of small Sapphos must turn seamstresses*, at three-halfpence
+a shirt instead of a penny a line; while the minor poets will have to
+earn a livelihood by writing invoice, instead of in verse. But this
+transposition of talent, and transition of gain, is no more than arose
+from the substitution of railroads for turnpike roads. By that
+innovation thousands of hard-working post-horses were left without
+rack or manger; and by the present arrangement, Clowes, Spottiswoode,
+and the authors who have served to afford matter for their types, will
+be driven from the field.
+
+    *Transcriber's Note: Original "semstresses"
+
+But the world (no longer to be called of letters, but of emblems) will
+be the gainer. It will be no longer a form of speech to talk of having
+"_glanced_ at the morning papers," whose city article will, of course,
+be composed by artists skilled in drawing figures. The biographies of
+contemporary or deceased statesmen will be limned, not by Lord
+Brougham or Macaulay, but by the impartial hand of the Royal Academy;
+and the catacombs at Kensal Green, like those discovered by Belzoni on
+the banks of the Nile, exhibit their eulogistic inscriptions in
+hieroglyphics. By this new species of shorthand we might have embodied
+this very article in half a dozen sprightly etchings! But as the
+hapless inventor of the first great art of printing incurred, among
+his astounded contemporaries, the opprobrium of being in compact with
+the evil one, (whence, probably, the familiar appellation of printers'
+devils,) it behoves the early practitioners of the new art to look to
+their reputations! By economizing the time of the public, they may
+squander their own good repute. It is not every printer who can
+afford, like Benjamin Franklin, to be a reformer; and pending the
+momentum when (the schoolmasters being all abroad) the grand causeway
+of the metropolis shall become, as it were, a moving diorama,
+inflicting knowledge upon the million whether it will or no--let us
+content ourselves with birds'-eye views of passing events, by way of
+exhibiting the first rudiments of THE NEW ART OF PRINTING!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+THE BANKING HOUSE
+
+A HISTORY IN THREE PARTS. PART III.
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+SYMPTOMS OF ROTTENNESS.
+
+
+Michael Allcroft returned to his duties, tuned for labour, full of
+courage, and the spirit of enterprise and action. Discharged from the
+thrall which had hitherto borne hard upon his energies, and kept them
+down, he felt the blessed influence of perfect Liberty, and the
+youthful elasticity of mind and body that liberty and conscious
+strength engender. Devoted to the task that he had inflicted upon
+himself, he grudged every hour that kept him from the field of
+operations. Firm in his determination to realize, by his exertions, a
+sum of money equal to his parent's debts, and to redeem the estate
+from its insolvency, he was uneasy and impatient until he could resume
+his yoke, and press resolutely forward. Rich and independent as he
+was, in virtue of the fortune of his wife, he still spurned the idea
+of relying upon her for his release--for the means of rescuing his
+fathers name and house from infamy. No; he saw--he fancied that he saw
+a brighter way marked out before him. Industry, perseverance, and
+extreme attention would steer his bark steadily through the difficult
+ocean, and bring her safely into harbour: these he could command, for
+they depended upon himself whom he might trust. He had looked
+diligently into the transactions of the house for many years past, and
+the investigation was most satisfactory. Year after year, the business
+had increased--the profits had improved. The accumulations of his
+father must have been considerable when he entered upon his ruinous
+speculations. What was the fair inference to draw from this result?
+Why--that with the additional capital of his partners--the influx and
+extension of good business, and the application of his own resolute
+mind, a sum would be raised within a very few years, sufficient to
+reinstate the firm, to render it once more stable and secure. And
+then--this desirable object once effected, and the secret of the
+unfortunate position of the house never divulged--the income which
+would afterwards follow for his partners and himself, must be immense.
+It was this view of the subject that justified, to his mind, the means
+which he had used--that silenced self-reproof, when it accused him of
+artifice, and called him to account for the deception he had practised
+upon his colleagues. It must be acknowledged, that the plan which he
+proposed held out fair promise of ultimate success and that, reckoning
+upon the united will and assistance of his partners, he had good
+reason to look for an eventual release from all his difficulties and
+cares. Yet it was not to be. "_We still have judgment here._"
+Punishment still comes to us from those whom we would circumvent. It
+was in vain that Michael set foot in the Bank with an indomitable and
+eager spirit; in vain that he longed to grapple with his
+fate--resolute to overcome it. The world was against him. The battle
+was already decided. His first hard struggle for deliverance was
+coincident with his last hour of earthly peace.
+
+Before one year had passed over the respectable heads of our notable
+Banking-House, Allcraft was involved in a net of perplexity, from
+which it required all the acuteness of his apprehending mind to work
+out a mode of extrication. Augustus Brammel continued abroad, spending
+his money, and drawing upon the house, with the impudent recklessness
+which we have already seen to be a prime ingredient in his character.
+He did not condescend to communicate with his partners, or to give
+them any information touching his whereabouts, except such as might be
+gathered from his cheques, which came, week after week, with alarming
+punctuality, for sums as startling. From this one source of misery,
+where was a promise or a chance of a final rescue? Michael saw none.
+What if he refused to cash his partner's drafts? What if he permitted
+them to find their way back, as best they might, through the
+various channels by which they had travelled on their previous
+journey--dishonoured and disgraced? Who but himself would be the loser
+by the game? Such a refusal would lead to quick enquiry--enquiry to
+information--information to want of confidence and speedy ruin. What
+reliance could repose upon a house, divided against itself--not safe
+from the extravagance and pillage of its own members? The public eye,
+ever watchful and timid, waits scarcely for the show of danger to take
+alarm and withdraw its favour. Michael shrunk from the bare conception
+of an act of violence. It was more agreeable, in an hour of
+self-collectedness, to devise a remedy, which, if it did not cure the
+disease, helped at least to cicatrize the immediate wounds. He looked
+from Brammel to Brammel's father for indemnification. And the old man
+was in truth a rare temptation. Fond, pitiable father of a false and
+bloodless child! doting, when others would have hated, loving his
+prodigal with a more anxious fondness as his ingratitude grew
+baser--as the claims upon a parent's heart dwindled more and more
+away. The grey-haired man was a girl in tenderness and sensibility. He
+remembered the mother of the wayward child, and the pains she had
+taken to misuse and spoil her only boy; his own conduct returned to
+him in the shape of heavy reproaches, and he could not forget, or call
+to mind without remorse, the smiles of encouragement he had given, the
+flattering approbation he had bestowed when true love, justice, duty,
+mercy, all called loudly for rebuke, restraint, wholesome correction,
+solemn chastisement. Could he be conscious of all this, and not excuse
+the unsteady youth--accuse himself? It was he who deserved
+punishment--not the sufferer with his calamities _imposed_ upon him by
+his erring sire. He was ready to receive his punishment. Oh, would
+that at any cost--at any expense of bodily and mental suffering, he
+could secure his child from further sorrow and from deeper
+degradation! To such a heart and mind, Michael might well carry his
+complaints with some expectation of sympathy and reimbursement.
+Aggrieved as he was, he did not fail to paint his disappointment and
+sense of injury in the strongest colours; but blacker than all--and he
+was capable of such a task, he pictured the gross deception of which
+he had so cruelly been made the subject.
+
+"I could," he said to the poor father, in whose aged eyes, turned to
+the earth, tears of shame were gushing, "I could have forgiven any
+thing but that. You deceived me meanly and deliberately. The character
+you gave with him was false. You knew it to be so, and you were well
+aware that nothing but mischief and ruin could result from a connexion
+with him."
+
+"Indeed, Mr Allcraft," replied the unhappy man, "I had great hopes of
+his reformation. He had improved of late years a little, and he gave
+me his word that he would be steady. If I had not thought so, I should
+certainly not have permitted you to receive him. What can we do, sir?"
+
+"Ah! what, Mr Brammel. It is that I wish to know. The present state of
+things cannot continue. Where is he now?"
+
+"Indeed, I do not know. He is a bad boy to hide himself from his
+father. I do not deserve it of him. I cannot guess."
+
+"Are you aware, sir, that he is married?"
+
+"They have told me something of it. I am, in truth, glad to hear it.
+It will be to his wife's interest to lead him back to duty."
+
+"You have not seen her, then?"
+
+The old man shook his head.
+
+"Well, well, sir," continued Allcraft, "this is not to the purpose. We
+must protect ourselves. His profligacy must be checked; at all events,
+we must have no connexion with it. Hitherto we have honoured his
+drafts, and kept your name and his free from disgrace. I can do so no
+longer. We have paid his last cheque this very day. To-morrow I shall
+advertise publicly our determination, to honour his demands no more."
+
+"No--no, no, Mr Allcraft," interposed old Brammel anxiously, taking
+every word for granted, "that must not be done--I cannot allow it; for
+the poor boy's sake, that determination must not be made at present. I
+am sure he will reform at last. I should not be surprised if he
+returned to business in a day or two, and settled steadily to work for
+the remainder of his life. It is likely enough, now that he is
+married. I have much to answer for on account of that youth, Mr
+Allcraft, and I should never forgive myself if I suffered any thing to
+be done that is likely to render him desperate, just when a glimmering
+of hope is stealing upon us. You shake your head, sir, but I am
+confident he will yet make up for all his folly."
+
+"Heaven grant it, sir, for your sake!"
+
+"Yes, and for his own, poor child--for what will become of him if he
+does not! Now, as to these cheques, Mr Allcraft, let me have them all.
+I will restore every farthing that you have paid on his account; and
+should any more be presented, let them be duly honoured. I hold myself
+responsible for their discharge. I am sure this is the wisest course
+to pursue. It is quite reasonable for you to demur, and to object to
+these demands. I like you the better, Mr Allcraft, for your scruples:
+you are an honourable man, sir. I would lose my last drop of blood to
+make my poor boy like you. It is wise and praiseworthy in you to look
+so carefully to the good credit of your house; and it is fair and
+right that I should take this matter upon myself. I do it, persuaded
+of the propriety of the step, and satisfied that all will go well with
+him yet. Be lenient with the unhappy boy, sir, and have yet a little
+patience."
+
+"I am afraid, sir, that he will but presume on your generosity and
+good nature."
+
+"Ah, but he is never to know it, Mr Allcraft; I would not for the
+world have him hear of what I have done. Should you discover his
+abode, write to him, I pray--tell him that I am enraged at his
+proceedings--that I do not think that I can ever be reconciled to him
+again. Say that my anger has no bounds--that my heart is
+breaking--will break and kill me, if he persists in his ingratitude
+and cruelty. Implore him to come home and save me."
+
+The old man stopped and wept. Michael was not yet a father and could
+not understand the tears: it appears that he understood business much
+better; for, taking leave of Brammel as soon as he could after the
+latter had expressed a wish to cash the cheques, he went immediately
+to the bank and procured the documents. He presented them with his own
+hand to the astounded father, from whom, also with his own hand, he
+received one good substantial draft in fair exchange.
+
+So far, so good; but, in another quarter, Allcraft suddenly discovered
+that he had committed an egregious blunder. He had entrusted Planner
+with the secret of his critical position--had made him acquainted with
+the dishonest transactions of his father, and the consequent
+bankruptcy of the firm. Not that this disclosure had been made in any
+violent ebullition of unguarded feeling--from any particular love to
+Planner--from an inability on the part of the divulger to keep his own
+good counsel. Michael, when he raised Planner from poverty to
+comparative affluence, was fully sensible of the value of his man--the
+dire necessity for him. It was indispensable that the tragic underplot
+of the play should never be known to either Bellamy or Brammel, and
+the only safe way of concealing it from them, was to communicate it
+unreservedly to their common partner, and his peculiar _protégé_. He
+did so with much solemnity, and with many references to the
+extraordinary liberality he had himself displayed in admitting him to
+his confidence, and to a share of his wealth. "Maintain my secret," he
+said to Planner, "and your fortune shall be made; betray me, and you
+are thrown again into a garret. You cannot hurt me; nothing shall save
+you." He repeated these words over and over again, and he received
+from his confidant assurance upon assurance of secrecy and unlimited
+devotion. And up to the period of Allcraft's return from France, the
+gentleman had every reason to rely upon the probity and good faith of
+his associate; nor in fact had he less reason _after_ his return. Were
+it not that "the thief doth fear each bush an officer," he had no
+cause whatever to suspect or tremble: his mind, for any actual danger,
+might have been at rest. But what did he behold? Why, Planner and
+Bellamy, whom he had left as distant as stage-coach acquaintances, as
+intimate and loving, as united and inseparable, as the tawny twins of
+Siam. Not a week passed which did not find the former, once, twice, or
+three times a guest at the proud man's table. The visits paid to the
+bank were rather to Mr Planner than for any other object. Mr Planner
+only could give advice as to the alteration of the south wing of the
+hall: Mr Planner's taste must decide upon the internal embellishments:
+then there were private and mysterious conversations in the small back
+room--the parlour; nods and significant looks when they met and
+separated; and once, Michael called to see Planner after the hours of
+business, and whom should he discover in his room but Mr Bellamy
+himself, sitting in conclave with the schemer, and manifestly intent
+upon some serious matter. What was the meaning of all this? Oh, it was
+too plain! The rebel Planner had fallen from his allegiance, and was
+making his terms with the enemy. Allcraft cursed himself a thousand
+times for his folly in placing himself at the mercy of so unstable a
+character, and immediately became aware that there had never been any
+cogent reason for such a step, and that his danger would have been
+infinitely smaller had he never spoken to a human being on the
+subject. But it was useless to call himself, by turns, madman and
+fool, for his pains. What could be done now to repair the error?
+Absolutely nothing; and, at the best, he had only to prepare himself,
+for the remainder of his days, to live in doubt, fear, anxiety, and
+torture.
+
+In the meanwhile, Planner grew actually enamoured of the
+_Pantamorphica_ Association. The more he examined it, the more
+striking appeared its capabilities, the fairer seemed the prospect of
+triumphant unequivocal success. In pursuance of his generous
+resolution, he communicated his designs to Allcraft. They were
+received with looks of unaffected fright. Without an instant's
+hesitation, Michael implored his partner to desist--to give up at
+once, and for ever, all thoughts of the delusion--to be faithful to
+his duty, and to think well of his serious engagement. "Your
+Association, sir," he exclaimed in the anger of the moment, "is like
+every other precious scheme you have embarked in--impracticable,
+ridiculous, absurd!" Planner, in these three words, could only
+read--_ingratitude_--the basest it had ever been his lot to meet. Here
+was a return for his frankness--his straightforward conduct--his
+unequalled liberality. Here was the affectionate expression of thanks
+which he had so proudly looked forward to--the acknowledgment of
+superior genius which he had a right to expect from the man who was to
+profit so largely by the labour of his brains. Very well. Then let it
+be so. He would prosecute the glorious work alone--he would himself
+supply the funds needful for the undertaking, and alone he would
+receive the great reward that most assuredly awaited him. Very
+delicately did Michael hint to his partner, that his--Planner's--funds
+existed, with his castles and associations, in the unsubstantial air,
+and no where else; but not so delicately as to avoid heaping fuel on
+the fire which he had already kindled in the breast of the offended
+schemer. The latter bristled at the words, lost for an instant his
+self-possession, said in his anger more than he intended--more than he
+might easily unsay--enough to bruise the already smarting soul of
+Allcraft. A threat escaped his lips--a reproach--a taunt. He spoke of
+his _power_, and touched cuttingly upon the deep schemes of _other_
+men, more feasible than his own perhaps, and certainly more honest.
+Allcraft winced, as every syllable made known the speaker's actual
+strength--his own dependence and utter weakness. He made no reply to
+the attack of the man whom he had drawn from beggary; but he looked
+him in the face steadily and reproachfully, and shamed him into
+vexation and regret.
+
+"I did not mean to speak unkindly, Michael," he stammered with a view
+to apologize. "I am sorry that I lost my temper. You need not fear me.
+Don't remember what I have said."
+
+"You have threatened me, Planner," answered Allcraft, trembling with
+irritation. "You have attempted to frighten me into compliance with
+your demands. I say, sir, you have threatened me. It is the first
+time--it shall be the last."
+
+"It shall, Michael--I promise you it shall."
+
+"I ask no promise from you," continued the excited and suspicious man,
+writhing under a sense of his helplessness. "You have betrayed the
+cloven foot. I thank you for it. I am aware of what is to follow--I
+expect it--I shall hold myself prepared!"
+
+"Do nothing of the kind, Allcraft. You know me better. You are safe
+with me. I am ashamed of myself for what I have spoken. Forgive me"--
+
+"But never mind," proceeded the unhappy Michael. "I defy you: do your
+worst. Let this be your acknowledgment of past favours--the fulfilment
+of your sacred promise. Betray me to Bellamy, and be at ease."
+
+"Michael, you do not use me well. I spoke angrily, and without
+consideration. I am sorry that I did so, and I have asked your
+forgiveness. What can I do more? You should allow for wounded
+feelings. It was hard to hear you ridiculing an affair that occupies
+my serious thoughts. I was irritated--think no more about it."
+
+"Answer me this, How much does Mr Bellamy already know?"
+
+"From me--nothing. Make your mind happy on that score. It is not to
+the interest of any one of us that secrets should be known. You need
+not fear. Shake hands."
+
+Michael took his hand.
+
+"And as to this Association," continued Planner, "let me have my way
+for once--the thing is clear, and cannot fail. The elements of success
+are there, and a splendid fortune must be realized. I am not greedy. I
+don't want to grasp every thing for myself. I told you just now that
+we would share and share alike. You are not up to projects of this
+nature. I am. Trust to me. I will engage to enter upon no new affair
+if I am disappointed in this. The truth is, I cannot quietly let a
+fortune slide through my fingers, when a little skill and energy only
+are necessary to secure it. Come, Michael, this once you must not say
+_no_."
+
+The hope, however faint, of making money by this speculation, and the
+fear of offending the depositary of his great secret, compelled at
+length from Allcraft a reluctant acquiescence. He consented to the
+trial, receiving Planner's solemn promise that, in the event of
+failure, it should be the last. Planner himself, overjoyed at his
+victory, prepared himself for action, and contemplated the magnificent
+resources of the bank with a resolute and daring spirit that would
+have gratified exceedingly the customers of the house, could they have
+but known it. Planner conscientiously believed that he had hitherto
+failed in all his schemes, because he had never commanded cash
+sufficient to carry out his views. This great obstacle being removed,
+he wisely determined to make the most of his good fortune. And in
+truth he was without the shadow of an excuse for timidity and
+forbearance. The anxiety which might have accompanied his ventures,
+had the money been his own, was mercifully spared him; the thought of
+personal danger and ruin could never come to cloud his intellect, or
+oppress his energy. As for the ruin of any other party, the idea, by a
+very happy dispensation, never once occurred to him. It took a very
+few months to make Mr Planner the largest shareholder--the principal
+director--the president and first man in the famous "_Joint-Stock
+Pantamorphica Association._"
+
+And whilst he was busy in the purchase of lands required for the
+extensive undertaking, his dear friend Mr Bellamy was agreeably
+occupied in paying off, by degrees, the heavy mortgages which, for
+many years, had been weighing on his beautiful estate. In addition to
+the ten thousand pounds which he had abstracted during the absence of
+Mr Allcraft, he had not hesitated to draw large sums under the very
+nose of his too easy and unsuspecting partner. The manner of Mr
+Bellamy threw Michael off his guard. He walked so erect--looked upon
+every body so superciliously--spoke even to Allcraft in so high a
+tone, and with so patronizing an air, that it was quite impossible to
+suspect him of being any thing but real coin, a sound man, and worthy
+of all trust. It is certainly true that Mr Bellamy had not brought
+into the concern as he had engaged, some twenty, or forty thousand
+pounds--it does not matter which--but the reasons which he
+condescended to give for this failure were perfectly satisfactory, and
+accounted for the delay--so well accounted for it that Michael
+entreated Mr Bellamy not to think about it, but to take his time. And
+how very natural it was for a man of Mr Bellamy's consideration and
+enormous wealth to secure the little property that adjoined his own,
+and to borrow from the bank any sum of money that he might want to
+complete so desirable a purchase! And how very natural, likewise, on
+the part of Allcraft, ever fearful of discovery, ever desirous to keep
+upon the best terms with Mr Bellamy (the great man of the country, the
+observed of all observers)--to be at all times anxious to oblige his
+friend, to render him sensible of his desire to please him, and of the
+obligation under which, by these repeated acts of kindness and
+indulgence, he was insensibly brought.
+
+And so they reached the close of the first year of partnership; and
+who shall say that the situation of Michael was an enviable one, or
+that the persevering man had not good cause for despondency and dread?
+He was already deeply indebted to his wife; not one of his three
+partners had proved to be such as he expected and required. Danger
+threatened from two of them: Mr Bellamy had not afforded the support
+which he had promised. A stronger heart than Michael's might have
+quailed in his position; yet the pressure from without animated and
+invigorated _him_. In the midst of his gloom, he was not without a
+gleam of hope and consolation. As he had foreseen, the business of the
+house rapidly increased: its returns were great. Day and night he
+laboured to improve them, and to raise the reputation of the tottering
+concern; for tottering it was, though looking most secure. For
+himself, he did not draw one farthing from the bank; he resided with
+his wife in a small cottage, lived economically, and sacrificed to his
+engrossing occupation every joy of the domestic hearth. The public
+acknowledged with favour the exertions of the labouring man;
+pronounced him worthy of his sire; vouchsafed him their respect and
+confidence. Bravely the youth proceeded on his way--looking ever to
+the future--straining to his object--prepared to sacrifice his life
+rather than yield or not attain it. Noble ambition--worthy of a less
+ignoble cause--a better fate!
+
+The second year passed on, and then the third: at the close of this,
+Michael looked again at his condition. During the last year the
+business of the house had doubled. Had not the profits, and more than
+the profits, been dragged away by Bellamy and Planner--his ardent mind
+would have been satisfied, his ceaseless toil well-paid. But the
+continual drafts had kept ever in advance of the receipts, draining
+the exchequer--crippling its faculties. Even at this melancholy
+exhibition, his sanguine spirit refused to be cast down, and to resign
+the hope of ultimate recovery and success. He built upon the promise
+of Mr Bellamy, who at length had engaged to refund his loans upon a
+certain day, and to add, at the same time, his long-expected and
+long-promised quota of floating capital: he built upon the illusions
+of Planner's strong imagination--Planner, who suddenly becoming sick
+of his speculation, alarmed at his responsibility, and doubtful of
+success, had been for some time vigorously looking out for a
+gentleman, willing to purchase his share and interest in the unrivaled
+_Pantamorphica_, and to relieve him of his liabilities; and had at
+last persuaded himself into the belief that he had found one. _He_
+likewise fixed a period for the restoration of a fearful sum of money,
+which Michael, madman that he was, had suffered him to expend--to
+fling away like dirt. Upon such expectation, Allcraft stood--upon such
+props suffered his aching soul to rest. There wanted but a month to
+the acceptable season when claims upon the house poured in which
+could not be put off. Michael borrowed money once more from his wife
+to meet them. He did it without remorse or hesitation. Why should he
+have compunction--why think about it, when the hour of repayment was
+so near at hand? It was a proper question for a man who could slumber
+on a mine that was ready to burst, and shatter him to atoms.
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+A MEETING.
+
+
+It was a constant saying of old Mr Brammel, that if his time were to
+come over again, he would adopt a very different plan from that which
+he had pursued in the education of his son. Now, a different plan it
+might have been; but one leading to a more satisfactory result, I must
+take the liberty to deny. Of what use is experience to one who, with
+sixty years of life in him, still feels and thinks, reasons and acts,
+like a child? Who but a child would have thought of paying the
+wholesale demands of that dissolute, incorrigible youth, with the
+notion of effecting by such subtle means his lasting reformation: who
+but a child would have made the concealment of his name a condition of
+the act? As may be guessed, the success of this scheme was equal to
+its wisdom. Augustus Theodore, too grateful for the facilities
+afforded him, showed no disposition to abridge his pleasures, or to
+hasten his return. In the regular and faithful discharge of his
+drafts, his vulgar soul rejoiced to detect a fear of offending, and an
+eagerness to conciliate, on the part of his partner, Michael Allcraft.
+He would see and acknowledge nothing else. And the idea once fixed in
+his mind, he was not likely to rest contented with half the glory of
+his victory. "No.--He would punish the fellow.--He would make him
+smart; he would teach him to come all the way to France on purpose to
+bully him. He hadn't done with the gentleman yet. Master Allcraft
+should cry loud enough before he had. He'd sicken him." Still the
+hopeful youth pursued his travels--still he transmitted his _orders at
+sight_--still they were honoured punctually--still Augustus Theodore
+chuckled with stupid delight over what he considered the pitiful
+submission of his partner, who had not courage to reject his drafts,
+and dared not utter now one brief expostulatory word. Mr Brammel,
+junior, like the rest of the firm, lived in his own delusions. The
+fourth year dawned, and Mr Brammel suddenly appeared amongst his
+friends. He and his lady had travelled over Europe; they had seen the
+world--the world had seen them; they were sick of wandering--they
+desired to settle. A noble villa, with parks and paddocks, was
+quickly taken and sumptuously furnished; hunters were got from
+Tattersall's--nursery-maids from France--an establishment worthy of
+the name rose like magic, almost within sight of Michael's humble
+dwelling, taking the neighbourhood by surprise, startling and
+affrighting Allcraft. Again the latter visited the fond old
+man--remonstrated, complained; and once more the father entreated on
+behalf of his son, begged for time and patience, and undertook to
+satisfy the prodigal's extravagance. He gave his money as before,
+willingly and eagerly, and stipulated only, with unmeaning
+earnestness, for secrecy and silence. And the fourth year closed as
+drearily as it had opened. The promises of Bellamy and Planner were as
+far from fulfilment as ever; their performance as vigorous and
+disastrous as at first. The landed proprietor still redeemed, day
+after day, portions of his involved estate. The schemer, disappointed
+in his expectations of a purchaser, returned to his speculation with
+redoubled ardour, and with fresh supplies of gold. His only chance of
+ultimate recovery was to push boldly forward, and to betray no fear of
+failure. One retrograde or timid step would open the eyes of men, and
+bring down ruin on the _Pantamorphica_. Planner became conscious of
+all this to his dismay, and he had nothing to do in the very extremity
+of his distress, but to proceed in his venture with the best spirits
+he could command, and to trust himself fairly to the swelling
+tide.--Allcraft looked on and trembled.
+
+It is wonderful how long a withered leaf will sometimes cling to its
+branch. It will hold tenaciously there, the last of its race, days
+after the decay of its greener and more healthy-looking mates. "A
+creaking door," the proverb has it, "hangs long upon its hinges;" and
+many a wheezing, parchment-looking gentleman, as we all know, who
+ought to have died every year of his life since he was born, draws his
+difficult breath through threescore years and ten; whilst the young,
+the hardy, and the sound are smitten in their pride, and fall in heaps
+about him. It is no less strange that a house of business like that of
+our friend Mr Allcraft, should assert its existence for years, rotten
+as it was, during the whole of the time, at its very heart's core. And
+yet such is the case. Eight years elapsed, and found it still in the
+land of the living: yes, and to the eye external, as proper and as
+good a house of business as any you shall name. Its vitals were
+going--were gone, before the smallest indications of mischief appeared
+upon the surface. Life must have been well nourished to maintain
+itself so long. And was it not? Answer, thou kind physician, gentle
+Margaret! Answer, thou balm and life's elixir--Margaret's _gold_!
+
+Eight weary years have passed, and we have reached a miserable day in
+the month of November. The wind is howling, and the rain is pelting
+against the parlour windows of the Banking-house, whose blinds are
+drawn close down. The partners are all assembled. Michael, whose hair
+is as grey as his father's on the day of his death, and whom care and
+misery have made haggard and old, sits at a table, with a heap of
+papers before him, and a pen in his hand--engaged, as it appears, in
+casting up accounts. Mr Bellamy, who looks remarkably well--very
+glossy and very fat--sits at the table likewise, perusing leisurely
+the county newspapers through golden eyeglasses. He holds them with
+the air of a gentleman, comfortable and at ease in all respects,
+mentally and bodily. Augustus Theodore swings on a chair before the
+fire, which he keeps at work for his own especial consolation. His
+feet stretch along the fender--his amusement is the poker. He has
+grown insufferably vain, is dressed many degrees above the highest
+fashionable point, and looks a dissipated, hopeless blackguard.
+Planner, very subdued, very pale, and therefore very unlike himself,
+stands behind the chair of Allcraft; and ever and anon he casts a
+rueful glance over the shoulder of his friend, upon the papers which
+his friend is busy with. No one speaks. At intervals Mr Bellamy coughs
+extensively and loudly, just to show his dignity and independence, and
+to assure the company that _his_ conscience is very tranquil on the
+occasion--that his firm "withers are unwrung;" and Mr Brammel
+struggles like an ill-taught bullfinch, to produce a whistle, and
+fails in the attempt. With these exceptions, we have a silent room. A
+quarter of an hour passes. Michael finishes his work. He spends one
+moment in reflection, and then he speaks:--
+
+"Now, gentlemen," he begins with a deep sigh, that seems to carry from
+his heart a load of care--"Now, if you please"--
+
+The paper and the poker are abandoned, chairs are drawn towards the
+baize-covered table. The partners sit and look at one another, face to
+face.
+
+"Gentlemen," said Michael, at first slowly and seriously, and in a
+tone which none might hear beyond their walls--"you do not, I am sure,
+require me to advert to _all_ the causes which have rendered this
+meeting necessary. I have no desire to use reproaches, and I shall
+refer as little as I may to the past. I ask you all to do me justice.
+Have I not laboured like a slave for the common good? Have I not
+toiled in order to avoid the evil hour that has come upon us? Have I
+not given every thing--have I not robbed another in order to prop up
+our house and keep its name from infamy?"
+
+"Be calm, be calm," interposed Mr Bellamy gently, remarking that
+Allcraft slightly raised his voice at the concluding words.
+
+"Calm! calm, Mr Bellamy!" exclaimed the unhappy speaker, renouncing
+without hesitation all attempts at the _suaviter in modo_, and yet
+fearful of showing his indignation and of being overheard--"Calm! It
+is well for you to talk so. Had I been less calm, less easy; had I
+done my duty--had I been determined seven years ago, this cruel day
+would never have arrived. You are my witness that it never would."
+
+Mr Bellamy rose with much formality from his seat.
+
+"Gentlemen," he said, "I cannot submit to dark and plebeian
+innuendoes. I have come here to-day, at great personal inconvenience,
+and I am prepared to listen respectfully to any thing which Mr
+Allcraft thinks it his duty to bring before us. But I must have you
+remember that a gentleman and a man of honour cannot brook an insult."
+
+"I ask your pardon, sir," added Allcraft, in a tone of bitterness--"I
+meant no insult. Pray be seated. I have the honour to present you with
+a statement of our affairs. We have claims upon us, amounting to
+several thousand pounds, which must be met within a week. A third of
+the sum required will not be at our command. How is it to be obtained?
+and, if obtained, how is it to repair the inroads which, year after
+year, have been made upon the house, and how secure it from further
+spoliation? It is useless and absurd to hide from ourselves any longer
+the glaring fact that we are on the actual verge of bankruptcy."
+
+"Well! I have had nothing to do with that. You can't say it's me,"
+ejaculated Mr Brammel. "You have had the management in your own hands,
+and so you have nobody but yourself to thank for it. I thought from
+the beginning how the concern would turn out!"
+
+"_Your_ share, sir, in furthering the interests of the bank we will
+speak of shortly," said Michael, turning to the speaker with contempt.
+"We have little time for recrimination now."
+
+"As for recrimination, Mr Allcraft," interposed Mr Bellamy, "I must be
+allowed to say, that you betray a very improper spirit in this
+business--very--very. You are far from being temperate."
+
+"Temperate!"
+
+"Yes; I said so."
+
+"Mr Bellamy," said Allcraft, bursting with rage, "I have been your
+partner for eight years. I have not for a moment deserted my post, or
+slackened in my duty. I have given my strength, my health, my peace of
+mind, to the house. I have drawn less than your clerk from its
+resources; but I have added to them, wrongfully, cruelly, and
+unpardonably, from means not my own, which, in common honesty, I ought
+never to have touched--which"--
+
+"Really, really, Mr Allcraft," said Bellamy, interrupting him, "you
+have told us every word of this before."
+
+"Wait, sir," continued the other. "I am _intemperate_, and you shall
+have my excuse for being so. _You_, Mr Bellamy, have never devoted one
+moment of your life to the interests of the house; no, not a moment.
+You have, year after year, without the slightest hesitation or
+remorse, sucked its life-blood from it. You have borrowed, as these
+accounts will show, thousands of pounds, and paid them back with
+promises and words. You engaged to produce your fair proportion of
+capital; you have given nothing. You made grand professions of adding
+strength and stability to the firm; you have been its stumblingblock
+and hinderance."
+
+"Mr Allcraft," said Bellamy coolly, "you are still a very young man."
+
+"Have I told the truth?"
+
+"Pshaw, man! Speak to the point. Speak to the point, sir. We have
+heavy payments due next week. Are we prepared to meet them?"
+
+"No--nor shall we be."
+
+"That's unfortunate," added Mr Bellamy, very quietly. "You are sure of
+that? You cannot help us--with another loan, for instance?"
+
+Michael answered, with determination--"No."
+
+"Very well. No violence, Mr Allcraft, pray. Such being the case, I
+shall decline, at present, giving any answer to the unjust, inhuman
+observations which you have made upon my conduct. Painful as it is to
+pass this barbarous treatment over for the present, still my own
+private affairs shall be as nothing in comparison with the general
+good. This provided for, I will protect myself from future insult,
+depend upon it. You are wrong, Mr Allcraft--very wrong. You shall
+acknowledge it. You will be sorry for the expressions which you have
+cast upon a gentleman, your senior in years, and [here a very loud
+cough] let me add--in social station. Now, sir, let me beg a word or
+two in private."
+
+It was very unfortunate that the whole establishment stood in
+unaffected awe of the redoubted Mr Bellamy. Allcraft, notwithstanding
+his knowledge of the man, and his previous attack upon his character,
+was not, at this moment, free from the fascination; and at the
+eleventh hour he found it difficult to withdraw entirely his
+confidence in Mr Bellamy's ultimate desire and capability to deal
+honorably and justly by him. Much of the Mogul's power was
+unquestionably derived from his massive _physique_; but his
+chief excellence lay in that peculiar off-hand, patronizing,
+take-it-for-granted air, which he made it a point to assume towards
+every individual with whom he came in contact. He had scarcely
+requested a few minutes' private conversation with Allcraft, before
+Planner and Brammel jumped involuntarily from their seats, as if in
+obedience to a word of command, and edged towards the door.
+
+"If you please," continued Mr Bellamy, nodding to them very
+graciously; and they departed. In the course of ten minutes they were
+recalled by the autocrat himself. The gentlemen resumed their seats,
+and this time, Mr Bellamy addressed them.
+
+"You see, my dear sirs," he began with, for him, peculiar gentleness,
+"it is absolutely necessary to provide against the immediate exigency,
+and to postpone all discussion on the past, until this is met, and
+satisfactorily disposed of."
+
+"Certainly!" said Augustus Brammel, who, for his part, never wished to
+talk or think about the past again. "Certainly. Hear, hear! I agree to
+that"--
+
+"I knew you would, dear Mr Brammel--a gentleman of your discretion
+would not fail to do so."
+
+Augustus looked up at Mr Bellamy to find if he were jeering him; but
+he saw no reason to believe it.
+
+"Such being the case," continued the worthy speaker; "it behoves us
+now to look about for some assistance. Our friend, Mr Allcraft, I am
+sorry to say, does not feel disposed to help us once more through the
+pressure. I am very sorry to say so. Perhaps he will think better of
+it, (Allcraft shook his head.) Ah; just so. He desponds a little now.
+He takes the dark side of things. For my own part, I prefer the
+bright. He believes, as you have heard, that we are on the verge of
+bankruptcy. Upon my honour as a gentleman, I really can believe in no
+such thing. There is a general gloom over the mercantile world; it
+will break off in time; and we, with the rest of mankind, shall pass
+into the sunshine."
+
+"Hear, hear!" exclaimed Augustus Brammel; "that's the way to look at
+things!"
+
+"Taking it for granted, then--which, positively, I an not inclined to
+do; for really, Mr Allcraft, it is against your interest not to help
+us in this emergency--but, however, taking it, I say, for granted,
+that our friend here will not succour us--it appears to me, that only
+one legitimate course is open to us. If we are refused at home, let us
+apply for aid as near our home as possible. There are our London
+friends"--
+
+"Ah, yes, to be sure--so there are," cried Theodore Augustus.
+
+"We surely cannot hesitate to apply to them. Our name stands--and
+deservedly so--very high. They will be glad to accommodate us with a
+temporary loan. We will avail ourselves of it--say for three months.
+That will give us time to turn about us, and to prepare ourselves
+against similar unpleasant casualties. See what we want, Mr Allcraft:
+let the sum be raised in London without delay, and let us look forward
+with the hearts of men."
+
+"Capital, capital," continued Brammel; "I second that motion."
+
+"Thank you, sir," said Mr Bellamy, with a gracious smile. "There
+remains then to consider only who shall be the favoured individual
+deputed to this important business. One of us must certainly go to
+London, and I do think it due to our youngest member, Brammel, to
+concede to him the honour of representing us in the metropolis. No
+offence will, I trust, be taken by our other friends, and I hope that
+in my zeal for Mr Brammel, I shall not be suspected of betraying an
+undue preference."
+
+Mr Bellamy turned towards Augustus Theodore with an almost
+affectionate expression of countenance, as he spoke these words; but
+perceived, to his mortification, that the latter, instead of being
+pleasantly affected by his address, wriggled in his chair most
+impatiently, and assumed the complexion and aspect of a man with whom
+something has suddenly and violently disagreed.
+
+"No--no--no!" he bellowed out, as soon as he could; "none of that
+soft-soap, Mr Bellamy; make up your mind at once--I sha'n't go. I
+can't borrow money. I do not know how to do it. I don't want the
+honour, thank you. It's very good of you, and I am much obliged to
+you--that's a fact. But you'll look out for some body else, if you
+please. I beg to say I decline--pos"--
+
+Mr Bellamy cast upon Theodore one of his natural and annihilating
+glances, and said deliberately,
+
+"Mr Brammel, for the first time in your life you are honoured by being
+made a useful individual. You are to go to London.--Go you shall"--
+
+"Go, I sha'n't," answered Brammel, in his accustomed easy style and
+manner.
+
+"Very well. You are aware, Mr Brammel, that your respected parent has
+yet to be made acquainted with sundry lively doings of your own, which
+you would rather, I believe, keep from his ears at present; you
+likewise are aware that if any thing happens to the serious injury of
+the bank through your imprudence--your inheritance from that respected
+parent would be dearly purchased for a shilling. I shall be sorry to
+hurt your feelings, or your pocket. I have no wish to do it; but
+depend upon me, sir, your father shall be a wiser man to-night, if you
+are obstinate and disobedient."
+
+"I can't borrow money--I can't--I don't know how to do it," said
+Brammel peevishly.
+
+"And who reproaches you for your inability, my dear sir," said Bellamy
+coaxingly. "No one, I am sure. You shall be taught. Every thing shall
+be made easy and agreeable. You will carry your credentials from the
+house, and your simple task shall be beforehand well explained to
+you."
+
+"I am not used to it."
+
+"And you never will be, Mr Brammel, if you don't begin to practise.
+Come, I am sure you don't wish me to see your father to-day. I am
+certain you are not anxious to part with your patrimony. You are too
+sensible a man. Pray let us have no delay, Mr Allcraft. See what we
+want. Mr Brammel will go to London to-morrow. We must take time by the
+forelock. Let us meet these heavy payments, and then we can think, and
+breathe, and talk. Till then it is idle to wrangle, and to lose one's
+temper. Very well: then there's little more, I imagine, to be done at
+present."
+
+Augustus Theodore still opposed his nomination, like an irritable
+child; but a fly kicking against a stone wall, was as likely to move
+it, as Brammel to break down the resolution of such a personage as Mr
+Bellamy. After an hour's insane remonstrance, he gave in to his own
+alarm, rather than to the persuasion of his partner. He was fearfully
+in debt; his only hope of getting out of it rested in the speedy
+decease of his unfortunate parent, whom he had not seen for months,
+and who, he had reason to believe, had vowed to make him pay with his
+whole fortune for any calamity that might happen to the bank through
+his misconduct or extravagance. It was not from the lips of Mr Bellamy
+that he heard this threat for the first time. What he should do, if it
+were carried out, heaven only knows. He consented to go to London on
+this disgusting mission, and he could have bitten his tongue out for
+speaking his acquiescence, so enraged was he with himself, and all the
+world, at his defeat. He did not affect to conceal his anger; and yet,
+strange to say, it was not visible to Mr Bellamy. On the contrary, he
+thanked Mr Brammel for the cheerful and excellent spirit in which he
+had met his partners' wishes, and expressed himself delighted at the
+opportunity which now presented itself for introducing their young
+friend to life. Then, turning to Michael Allcraft, he begged him to
+prepare their deputation for his work immediately, and to place no
+obstacle in the way of his departure. Then he moved the adjournment of
+the meeting until the return of Mr Brammel; and then he finished by
+inviting all his partners to dine with him at the hall that day, and
+to join him in drinking success and happiness to their young
+adventurer. The invitation was accepted; and Mr. Bellamy's grand
+carriage drew up immediately with splash and clatter to the door.
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+A CHAPTER OF LOANS.
+
+
+Augustus Brammel hated his partners with all his heart and soul. He
+had never been very fond of them, but the result of this interview
+gave an activity and a form to feelings which it required only
+sufficient occasion to bring into play. Notwithstanding the polite
+tone which Mr Bellamy had cunningly adopted in placing his mission
+before him, even he, the ignorant and obtuse Brammel, could not fail
+to see that he had been made the tool, the cat's-paw in a business
+from which his partners shrank. Now, had the young man been as full of
+courage as he was of vulgar conceit, he might, I verily believe, have
+turned his hatred, and his knowledge of affairs, to very good account.
+Lacking the spirit of the smallest animal that crawls, he was content
+to eject his odious malice in oaths and execrations, and to submit to
+his beating after all. No sooner was the meeting at an end, than he
+left the Banking-house, and turned his steps towards home. He had
+become--as it was very natural he should--a brute of a husband, and
+the terror of his helpless household. He remembered, all at once, that
+he had been deeply aggrieved in the morning by Mrs Brammel; that as
+many as two of his shirt buttons had given way whilst he was in the
+act of dressing, and unable to contain himself after the treatment of
+Mr Bellamy, he resolved forthwith to have his vengeance out upon his
+wife. But he had not walked a hundred yards, before his rancour and
+fury increased to such a height, that he was compelled to pull up
+short in the street, and to vow, with a horrible oath, that he would
+see all his partners roasting in the warmest place that he could think
+of, before he'd move one inch to save their souls from rotting. So,
+instead of proceeding homeward, he turned back again, with a view to
+make this statement; but before he could reach the Banking-house, a
+wiser thought entered his head, and induced him to retrace his steps.
+"He would go," he said, "to his father; and lay his complaint there.
+He would impeach all his partners, acknowledge his errors, and promise
+once more to reform. His father, easy old fool, would believe him,
+forgive him, and do any thing else, in his joy." It was certainly a
+bright idea--but, alas! his debts were so very extensive. Bellamy's
+threatening look rose before him, and made them appear even larger and
+more terrible than they were. What if his father insisted upon his
+going to London, and doing any other dirty work which these fellows
+chose to put upon him? Bellamy, he was sure, could make the old man do
+any thing. No, it wouldn't do. He stamped his foot to the ground in
+vexation, and recurred to his original determination. It was all he
+could do. He must go to London, and take what indemnification he might
+in the domestic circle previously to starting. And the miserable man
+did have his revenge, and did go to London. He was empowered to borrow
+twenty thousand pounds from the London house, and he was furnished by
+Michael Allcraft with particulars explanatory of his commission. And
+he walked into Lombard Street with the feelings of a culprit walking
+up the scaffold to his execution. His pitiful heart deserted him at
+the very instant when he most needed its support. He passed and
+repassed the large door of the establishment, which he saw opened and
+shut a hundred tines in a minute, by individuals, whose
+self-collectedness and independence, he would have given half his
+fortune to possess. He tried, time after time, to summon courage for
+his entry, and, as he afterwards expressed it, a ball rose in his
+throat--just as he got one foot upon the step--large enough to choke
+him. Impudent and reckless us he had been all his life, he was now
+more timid and nervous than an hysterical girl. Oh, what should he do!
+First, he thought of going to a neighbouring hotel, and writing at
+once to Allcraft; swearing that he was very ill, that he couldn't
+move, and was utterly unable to perform his duties. If he went to bed,
+and sent for a doctor, surely Allcraft would believe him; and in pity
+would come up and do the business. He dwelt upon this contrivance,
+until it seemed too complicated for success. Would it not be more
+advisable to write to the London house itself, and explain the object
+of his coming up? But if he could write, why couldn't he _call_? They
+would certainly ask that question, and perhaps refuse the loan. Oh,
+what was he to do! He could hit upon no plan, and he couldn't muster
+confidence to turn in. The porter of the firm mercifully interposed to
+rescue Mr Brammel from his dilemma. That functionary had watched the
+stranger shuffling to and fro in great anxiety and doubt, and at
+length he deemed it proper to enquire whether the gentleman was
+looking for the doorway of the house of Messrs ---- and ----, or not.
+Augustus, frightened, answered _yes_ at random, and in another instant
+found himself in what he called "THE SWEATING ROOM of the awfullest
+house of business he had ever seen in all his life." It was a large
+square apartment, very lofty and very naked-looking. There was an iron
+chest, and two shelves filled with giant books; and there was nothing
+else in the room but a stillness, and a mouldiness of smell, that hung
+upon his spirits like pounds of lead, dragging them down, and freezing
+them. Yet, cold as were his spirits, the perspiration that oozed from
+the pores of his skin was profuse and steady during the quarter of an
+hour that elapsed whilst he waited for the arrival of the worthy
+principal. During those memorable fifteen minutes--the most unpleasant
+of his life--Augustus, for two seconds together, could neither sit,
+stand nor walk with comfort. He knew nothing of the affairs of his
+house; he was not in a condition to answer the most trivial business
+question; he had heard that his firm was on the eve of bankruptcy,
+(and, judging from the part he had taken in its affairs, he could
+easily believe it;) he felt that his partners had thrown the odium of
+the present application upon him, not having courage to take it upon
+themselves; and he had an indistinct apprehension that this very act
+of borrowing money would lead to transportation or the gallows, should
+the business go to rack and ruin, as he could see it shortly would.
+All these considerations went far to stultify the otherwise weak and
+feeble Mr Brammel; when, in addition, he endeavoured to arrange in his
+mind the terms on which he would request the favour of a temporary
+loan of only (!) twenty thousand pounds, a sensation of nausea
+completely overpowered him, and the table, the chairs, the iron chest,
+swam round him like so many ships at sea. To recover from his
+sickness, and to curse the banking-house, every member of the same,
+and his own respectable parent for linking him to it, was one and the
+same exertion. To the infinite astonishment of Augustus Theodore, the
+acquisition of these twenty thousand pounds proved the most amusing
+and easiest transaction of his life. Mr Cutbill, the managing partner
+of the London house, received him with profound respect and pleasure.
+He listened most attentively to the stammering request, and put the
+deputation at his ease at once, by expressing his readiness to comply
+with Mr Allcraft's wishes, provided a note of hand, signed by all the
+partners, and payable in three months, was given as security for the
+sum required. Augustus wrote word home to that effect; the note of
+hand arrived--the twenty thousand pounds were paid--the dreaded
+business was transacted with half the trouble that it generally cost
+Augustus Theodore to effect the purchase of a pair of gloves.
+
+Mr Bellamy remained at the hall just one week after the receipt of the
+cash, and then was carried to the north by pressing business. Before
+he started he complimented Allcraft upon their success, trusted that
+they should now go smoothly on, promised to return at the very
+earliest moment, and gave directions on his route by which all
+letters of importance might safely reach him. And Allcraft, relieved
+for a brief season, indefatigable as ever, strained every nerve and
+muscle to sustain his credit and increase his gains. As heretofore, he
+denied himself all diversion and amusement. The first at the bank, the
+last to leave it, he had his eye for ever on its doings. Visible at
+all times to the world, and most conspicuous there where the world was
+pleased to find him, he maintained his reputation as a thorough man of
+business, and held, with hooks of steel, a confidence as necessary to
+existence as the vital air around him. To lose a breath of the public
+approbation in his present state, were to give up fatally the only
+stay on which he rested. Wonderful that, as the prospects of the man
+grew darker, his courage strengthened, his spirit roused, his industry
+increased! And a bitter reflection was it, that reward still came to
+him--still a fair return for time and strength expended. He could not
+complain of the neglect of mankind, or of the ingratitude of those he
+served. In the legitimate transactions of the house, he was a
+prosperous and a prospering man. Such, to the outer world, did he
+appear in all respects, and such he would have been but for the hidden
+and internal sores already past cure or reparation. Who had brought
+them there? Michael did not ask the question--yet. Never did three
+months pass away so rapidly as those which came between the day of
+borrowing and the day of paying back those twenty thousand pounds. The
+moment the money had arrived, Michael's previous anxieties fled from
+his bosom, and left him as happy as a boy without a care. It came like
+a respite from death. Sanguine to the last, he congratulated himself
+upon the overthrow of his temporary difficulties, and relied upon the
+upturning of some means of payment, on the arrival of the distant day.
+But distant as it looked at first, it crept nearer and nearer, until
+at the end of two months, when--as he saw no possibility of relieving
+himself from the engagement--it appeared close upon him, haunting him
+morning, noon, and night, wheresoever he might be, and sickening him
+with its terrible and desperate aspect. When there wanted only a week
+to the fatal day, Michael's hope of meeting the note of hand was
+slighter than ever. He became irritable, distressed, and
+anxious--struggled hard to get the needful sum together, struggled and
+strove; but failed. Hours and minutes were now of vital consequence;
+and, in a rash and unprotected moment, he permitted himself to write a
+letter to the London house, begging them, as a particular favour, just
+for one week to retire the bill they held against him. The London
+house civilly complied with the request, and five days of that last
+and dreary week swept by, leaving poor Allcraft as ill prepared for
+payment as they had found him. What could he do? At length the gulf
+had opened--was yawning--to receive him. How should he escape it?
+
+Heaven, in its infinite mercy, has vouchsafed to men _angels_ to guide
+and cheer them on their difficult and thorny paths. Could Michael
+suffer, and Margaret not sympathize? Could he have a sorrow which she
+might chase away, and, having the power, lack the heart to do it?
+Impossible! Oh! hear her in her impassioned supplications; hear her at
+midnight, in their disturbed and sleepless bedchamber, whilst the
+doomed man sits at her side in agony, clasps his face, and buries it
+within his hand for shame and disappointment.
+
+"Michael, do not break my heart. Take, dearest, all that I possess;
+but, I entreat you, let me see you cheerful. Do not take this thing to
+heart. Whatever may be your trouble, confide it, love, to me. I will
+try to kill it!"
+
+"No, no, no," answered Allcraft wildly; "it must not be--it shall not
+be, dear Margaret. You shall be imposed upon no longer. You shall not
+be robbed. I am a villain!"
+
+"Do not say so, Michael. You are kind and good; but this cruel
+business has worn you out. Leave it, I implore you, if you can, and
+let us live in peace."
+
+"Margaret, it is impossible. Do not flatter yourself or me with the
+vain hope of extrication. Release will never come. I am bound to it
+for my life; it will take longer than a life to effect deliverance.
+You know not my calamities."
+
+"But I _will_ know them, Michael, and share them with you, if they
+must be borne. I am your wife, and have a right to this. Trust me,
+Michael, and do not kill me with suspense. What is this new
+affliction? Whatsoever it may be, it is fitting that I should know
+it--yes, will know it, dearest, or I am not worthy to lie beside you
+there. Tell me, love, how is it that for these many days you have
+looked so sad, and sighed, and frowned upon me. I am conscious of no
+fault. Have I done amiss? Say so, and I will speedily repair the
+fault?"
+
+Michael pressed his Margaret to his heart, and kissed her fondly.
+
+"Why, oh why, my Margaret, did you link your fate with mine?"
+
+"Why, having done so, Michael, do you not love and trust me?"
+
+"Love?"
+
+"Yes--_love_! Say what you will, you do not love me, if you hide your
+griefs from me. We are one. Let us be truly so. One in our joys and in
+our sufferings."
+
+"Dearest Margaret, why should I distress you? Why should I call upon
+you for assistance? Why drag your substance from you?--why prey upon
+you until you have parted with your all? I have taken too much
+already."
+
+"Answer me one simple question, Michael. Can money buy away this
+present sorrow? Can it bring to you contentment and repose? Can it
+restore to me the smile which is my own? Oh, if it can, be merciful
+and kind; take freely what is needful, and let me purchase back my
+blessings!"
+
+"Margaret, you deserve a better fate!"
+
+"Name the sum, dear. Is it my fortune? Not more? Then never were peace
+of mind and woman's happiness so cheaply bought. Take it, Michael, and
+let us thank Heaven that it is enough. My fortune never gave me so
+much joy as now. I do not remember, Michael, that you have ever
+refused my smallest wish. It is not in your nature to be unkind. Come,
+dearest, smile a little. We have made the bargain--be generous, and
+pay me in advance."
+
+He smiled and wept in gratitude.
+
+Now Michael retired to rest, determined not to take advantage of the
+generous impulses of his confiding wife; yet, although he did so, it
+could not but be very satisfactory to his marital feelings to
+discover, and to be assured of the existence of, such devotedness and
+disregard of self and fortune as she displayed. Indeed, he was very
+much tranquillized and comforted; so much so, in fact, that he was
+enabled, towards morning, to wake up in a condition to review his
+affairs with great serenity of mind, and (notwithstanding his
+determination) to contrive some mode of turning the virtuous
+magnanimity of his wife to good account, without inflicting any injury
+upon herself. Surely if he could do this, he was bound to act. To save
+himself by her help, and, at the same time, without injuring her at
+all, was a very defensible step, to say the least of it. Who should
+say it wasn't his absolute duty to adopt it? Whatever repugnance he
+might have felt in asking a further loan from one who had already
+helped him beyond his expectations, it was certainly very much
+diminished since she had offered to yield to him, without reserve,
+every farthing that she possessed. Not that he would ever suffer her
+to do any thing so wild and inexcusable; still, after such an
+expression of her wishes, he was at liberty to ask her aid, provided
+always that he could secure her from any loss or risk. When Michael
+got thus far in his proposition, it was not very difficult to work it
+to the end. Once satisfied that it was just and honourable, and it was
+comparatively child's work to arrange the _modus operandi_. A common
+trick occurred to him. In former transactions with his wife, he had
+pledged his word of honour to repay her. It had become a stale pledge,
+and very worthless, as Michael felt. What if he put his _life_ in
+pawn! Ah, capital idea! This would secure to her every farthing of her
+debt. Dear me, how very easy! He had but to insure his life for the
+amount he wanted, and let what would happen, she was safe. His spirit
+rejoiced. Oh, it was joy to think that she could save him from
+perdition, and yet not suffer a farthing's loss. Loss! So far from
+this, his ready mind already calculated how she might be a gainer by
+the arrangement. He was yet young. Let him insure his life at present
+for twenty thousand pounds, and how much more would it be worth--say
+that he lived for twenty years to come? He explained it to his
+lady--to his own perfect satisfaction. The willing Margaret required
+no more. He could not ask as freely as the woman's boundless love
+could grant. He, with all his reasoning, could not persuade his
+conscience to pronounce the dealing just. She, with her beating heart
+for her sole argument and guide, looked for no motive save her strong
+affection--no end but her beloved's happiness and peace. Woe is me,
+the twenty thousand pounds were griped--the precious life of Mr
+Allcraft was insured--the London house was satisfied. A very few weeks
+flew over the head of the needy man, before he was reduced to the same
+pitiable straits. Money was again required to carry the reeling firm
+through unexpected difficulties. Brammel was again dispatched to
+London. The commissioner, grown bolder by his first success, was ill
+prepared for hesitation and reproof, and awkward references to "that
+last affair." Ten thousand pounds were the most they could advance,
+and all transactions of the kind must close with this, if there should
+be any deviation from the strictest punctuality. Brammel attempted to
+apologise, and failed in the attempt, of course. He came home
+disgusted, shortening his journey by swearing over half the distance,
+and promising his partners his cordial forgiveness, if ever they
+persuaded him again to go to London on a begging expedition!
+
+Oh, Margaret! Margaret! Oh, spirit of the mild and gentle Mildred!
+Must I add, that your good money paid this second loan--and yet a
+third--a fourth--a fifth? When shall fond woman cease to give--when
+shall mean and sordid man be satisfied with something less than all
+she has to grant?
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+A DISSOLUTION OF PARTNERSHIP.
+
+
+The most remarkable circumstance in that meeting of the partners,
+which ended in Brammel's first visit to London, was the behaviour of
+our very dear friend and ally--the volatile Planner--volatile, alas!
+no longer. His best friend would not have recognized him on that
+deeply interesting occasion. He was a subdued, a shaken man. Every
+drop of his brave spirit had been squeezed out of him, and he stood
+the mere pulp and rind of his former self. He who, for years, had been
+accustomed to look at men, not only in the face, but very
+impertinently over their heads, could not drag his shambling vision
+now higher than men's shoe-strings. His eye, his heart, his soul was
+on the ground. He was disappointed, crushed. Not a syllable did he
+utter; not a single word of remonstrance and advice did he presume to
+offer in the presence of his associates. He had a sense of guilt, and
+men so situated are sometimes tongue-tied. He had, in truth, a great
+deal to answer for, and enough to make a livelier man than he
+dissatisfied and wretched. Every farthing which had passed from the
+bank to the _Pantamorphica_ Association was irrecoverably gone. The
+Association itself was in the same condition--gone irrecoverably
+likewise. Nothing remained of that once beautiful and promising
+vision, but some hundred acres of valueless land, a half-finished and
+straggling brick wall, falling rapidly to decay, the foundations of a
+theatre, and the rudiments of a temple dedicated to Apollo. Planner
+had gazed upon the scene once, when dismal rain was pouring down upon
+the ruins, and he burst into bitter tears, and sobbed like a child at
+the annihilation of his hopes. He had not courage to look a second
+time upon that desolation, and yet he found courage to turn away from
+it, and to do a thing more desperate. Ashamed to be beaten, afraid to
+meet the just rebuke of Allcraft, he flung himself recklessly into the
+hands of a small band of needy speculators, and secretly engaged in
+schemes that promised restitution of the wealth he had expended, or
+make his ruin perfect and complete. One adventure after another
+failed, cutting the thread of his career shorter every instant, and
+rendering him more hot-brained and impatient. He doubled and trebled
+his risks, and did the like, as may be guessed, to his anxieties and
+failures. He lived in a perpetual fear and danger of discovery; and
+discovery now was but another name, for poison--prison--death. Here
+was enough, and more than enough, to extinguish every spark of joy in
+the bosom of Mr Planner, and to account for his despondency and
+settled gloom. And yet Planner, in this, his darkest hour, was nearer
+to deliverance and perfect peace, than at any previous period of his
+history. Planner was essentially "a lucky dog." Had he fallen from a
+house-top, he would have reached _terra firma_ on his feet. Had he
+been conducted to the gallows, according to his desserts, the noose
+would have slipped, and his life would certainly have been spared.
+
+It happened, that whilst Michael was immersed in the management of his
+loans, a hint was forwarded to him of the pranks of his partner; a
+letter, written by an anonymous hand, revealed his losses in one
+transaction, amounting to many hundred pounds. The news came like a
+thunderbolt to Allcraft. It was a death-blow. Iniquitous, unpardonable
+as were the acts of his colleague--serious as was the actual sum of
+money gone; yet these were as nothing compared with the distressing
+fact, that intelligence of the evil work had already gone abroad, was
+in circulation, and might at any moment put a violent end to his own
+unsteady course. He carried the note to Planner--he thrust it into his
+face, and called him to account for his baseness and ingratitude. He
+could have struck his friend and partner to the earth, and trod him
+there to death, as he confronted and upbraided him.
+
+"Now, sir," roared Allcraft in his fury--"What excuse--what lie have
+you at your tongue's end to palliate this? What can justify this? Will
+you never be satisfied until you have rendered me the same hopeless,
+helpless creature that I found you, when I dragged you from your [§]
+beggaring. Answer me!"--
+
+There is nothing like a plaintive retort when your case is utterly
+indefensible. Planner looked at the letter, read it--then turned his
+eyes mildly and reproachfully upon his accuser.
+
+"Michael Allcraft," he said affectingly, "you treat me cruelly."
+
+"I!" answered the other astounded. "I treat _you_! Planner, I
+intrusted you years ago with a secret. I paid you well for keeping it.
+Could I dream that nothing would satisfy your rapacity but my
+destruction? Could I suppose it? I have fed your ravenous desires. I
+have submitted to your encroachments. Do you ask my soul as well as
+body? Let me know what it is you ask--what I have to pay--let me hear
+the worst, and--prepare for all my punishment."
+
+"I have listened to all you have said," continued Planner, "and I
+consider myself an ill-used man."
+
+Michael stared.
+
+"Yes--I mean it. I have worked like a negro for you Allcraft, and this
+is the return you make me. I get your drift; do not attempt to
+disguise it--it is cruel--most, most cruel!
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Have I not always promised to share my gains with you?"
+
+"Pshaw--_your_ gains--where are they?"
+
+"That's nothing to the point. Did I not promise?"
+
+"Well--well."
+
+"And now, after all my labour and struggling, because I have _failed_,
+you wish to turn me off, and throw me to the world. Now, speak the
+truth, man--is it not so?"
+
+Oh! Planner was a cunning creature, and so was Michael Allcraft. Mark
+them both! This idea, which Planner deemed too good to be seriously
+entertained by his colleague, had never once occurred to Michael; but
+it seemed so promising, and so likely, if followed up, to relieve him
+effectually of his greatest plague, and of any floating ill report,
+that he found no hesitation in adopting it at once. He did not answer,
+but he tried to look as if his partner had exactly guessed his actual
+intention. Such [§]* gentlemen both!
+
+   *Transcriber's Note: Original cut off between [§]s--Section
+   completed with best guess of correct wording.
+
+"I thought so," continued the injured Planner. "Michael, you do not
+know me. You do not understand my character. I am a child to persuade,
+but a rock if you attempt to force me. I shall _not_ desert the bank,
+whilst there is a chance of paying back all that we have drawn."
+
+"_We_, sir?"
+
+"Yes--we. You and I together for our schemes, and you alone for
+private purposes. You recollect your father's debts"--
+
+"Planner, do not think to threaten me into further compromise. You can
+frighten me no longer--be sure of that. Your transactions are the
+common talk of the city--the bank is stigmatized by its connexion with
+you."
+
+"Curse the bank!" said Planner fretfully. "Would to Heaven I had never
+heard of it!"
+
+"Leave it then, and rid yourself of the annoyance. You are free to do
+it!"
+
+"What! and leave behind me every chance of realizing a competency for
+my old age! Oh, Michael, Michael--shame, shame!"
+
+"Competency! Are you serious? Are you sane? Competency! Why, the
+labour of your life will not make good a tithe of what you have
+squandered."
+
+"Come, come, Michael, you know better. You know well enough that one
+lucky turn would set us up at last. Speak like a man. Say that you
+want to grasp all--that you are tired of me--that you are sick of the
+old face, and wish to see my back. Put the thing in its proper light,
+and you shall not find me hard to deal with."
+
+"Planner, you are deceived. Your mind is full of fancy and delusion,
+and that has been your curse and mine."
+
+"Very well. Have your way; but look you, Michael, you are anxious to
+get rid of me--there's no denying that. There is no reason why we
+should quarrel on that account. I would sacrifice my prospects, were
+they double what they are, rather than beg you to retain me. I did not
+ask for a share in your bank. You sought me, and I came at your
+request. Blot out the past. Release me from the debt that stands
+against my name, and I am gone. As I came at your bidding, so, at your
+bidding, I am ready to depart."
+
+"Agreed," said Allcraft, almost before the wily Planner finished. "It
+is done. I consent to your proposal. A dissolution shall be drawn up
+without delay, and shall be published in the next gazette."
+
+"And publish with it," said Planner, like a martyr as he was, "the
+fate of him who gave up all to his own high sense of honour, and his
+friend's ingratitude."
+
+So Planner spake, scarcely crediting his good fortune, and almost mad
+with joy at his deliverance. He had no rest until the seals were fixed
+to parchment, and the warrant of his release appeared in public print.
+Within a week, the fettered man was free. Within another week, his
+bounding spirits came like a spring-tide back to him, and in less than
+eight-and-twenty days of freedom and repose, he recovered quite as
+many years of sweet and precious life. He made quick use of his wings.
+At first, like a wild and liberated bird, he sported and tumbled in
+the air, and fixed upon no particular aim; a thousand captivating
+objects soon caught his eagle eye, and then he mounted, dazzled by
+them all, and soon eluded mortal sight and reach. But, glad as was the
+schemer, his delight and sense of freedom were much inferior to those
+of his misguided and unlucky partner. Michael breathed as a man
+relieved from nightmare. The encumbrance which had for years prevented
+him from rising, that had so lately threatened his existence, was
+gone, could no longer hang upon him, haunt and oppress him. What a
+deliverance!--Yet, what a price had he paid for it! True, but was not
+the money already sacrificed? Would it have been restored, had the
+luckless speculator himself remained? Never! Well, fearful then as was
+the sum, let it go, taking the incubus along with it. Allcraft took
+care to obtain the consent of Bellamy to his arrangement. He wrote to
+him, explaining the reasons for parting with their partner; and an
+answer came from the landed proprietor, acquiescing in the plan, but
+slightly doubting the propriety of the movement. As for Brammel, he
+consented, as he was ready to agree to any thing but a personal visit
+to the great metropolis. And then, what was Michael's next step? A
+proper one--to put out effectually the few sparks of scandal which
+might, possibly, be still flying about after the discovery of
+Planner's scheme. He worked fiercer than ever--harder than the
+day-labourer--at his place of business. It was wise in him to do so,
+and thus to draw men's thoughts from Planner's faults to his own
+unquestioned merits. And here he might have stopped with safety; but
+his roused, suspicious, sensitive nature, would not suffer him. He
+began to read, then to doubt and fear men's looks; to draw conclusions
+from their innocent words; to find grounds of uneasiness and torture
+in their silence. A vulgar fellow treated him with rudeness, and for
+days he treasured up the man's words, and repeated them to himself.
+What could they mean? Did people smell a rat? Were they on the watch?
+Did they suspect that he was poor? Ah, that was it! He saw it--he
+believed he did--that was equivalent to sight, and enough for him. Men
+did not understand him. He would not die so easily--they must be
+undeceived. Miserable Allcraft! He speedily removed from his small
+cottage--took a mansion, furnished it magnificently, and made it a
+palace in costliness and hospitality. Ah! _was_ he poor? The trick
+answered. The world was not surprised, but satisfied. There was but
+one opinion. He deserved it all, and more. The only wonder was, that
+he had hitherto lived so quietly, rich as he was, in virtue of his
+wife's inheritance, and from his own hard-earned gains. His increasing
+business still enlarged. Customers brought guests, and, in their turn,
+the guests became good customers. It was a splendid mansion,
+with its countless rooms and gorgeous appointments. What
+pleasure-grounds--gardens--parks--preserves! Noble establishment, with
+its butler, under-butler, upper-servant, and my lady's (so the working
+people called poor Margaret) footman! In truth, a palace; but, alas!
+although it took a prince's revenue to maintain it, and although the
+lady's purse was draining fast to keep it and the bank upon its legs,
+yet was there not a corner, a nook, a hole in the building, in which
+master or mistress could find an hour's comfort, or a night's
+unmingled sleep. As for the devoted woman, it made very little
+difference to her whether she dwelt in a castle or a hovel, provided
+she could see her husband cheerful, and know that he was happy. This
+was all she looked for--cared for--lived for. _He_ was her life. What
+was her money--the dross which mankind yearned after--but for its use
+to him, but for the power it might exercise amongst men to elevate and
+ennoble _him_? What was her palace but a dungeon if it rendered her
+beloved more miserable than ever, if it added daily to the troubles he
+had brought there--to the cares which had accumulated on his head from
+the very hour she had become his mate? Michael Allcraft! you never
+deserved this woman for your wife; you told her so many times, and
+perhaps you meant what was wrung from your heart in its anguish. It
+was the truth. Why, if not in rank cowardice and pitiful ambition,
+entangle yourself in the perplexities of such a household with all
+that heap of woe already on your soul? Why, when your London agents
+refused, in consequence of your irregularity and neglect, to advance
+your further loans--why take a base advantage of that heroic
+generosity that placed its all, unquestioning, at your command? Why,
+when you pretended with so much ceremony and regard, to effect an
+insurance on your worthless life, did you fail to pay up the policy
+even for a second year, and so resign all claim and right to such
+assurance, making it null and void? Let it stand here recorded to your
+disgrace, that, in the prosecution of your views, in the working out
+of your insane ambition, no one single thought of her, who gave her
+wealth as freely as ever fount poured forth its liberal stream,
+deterred you in your progress for an instant; that no one glow or gush
+of feeling towards the fond and faithful wife interposed to save her
+from the consequences of your selfishness, and to humble you with
+shame for inhumanity as vile as it was undeserved. It is not
+surprising, that after the taking of the great house the demands upon
+the property of Margaret were made without apology or explanation. He
+asked, and he obtained. The refusal of aid, on the part of the London
+house, terrified him when it came, and caused him to rush, with a
+natural instinct, to the quarter whence he had no fear of denial and
+complaint. He drew largely from her resources. The money was sucked
+into the whirlpool; there was a speedy cry for more; and more was got
+and sacrificed. It would have been a miracle had Allcraft, in the
+midst of his crushing cares, retained his early vigour of mind and
+body, and passed through ten years of such an existence without
+suffering the penalties usually inflicted upon the man prodigal of the
+blessings and good gifts of Providence. In his appearance, and in his
+temperament, he had undergone a woful change. His hair--all that
+remained of it, for the greater part had fallen away--was grey;
+and, thin, weak, and straggling, dropped upon his wrinkled
+forehead--wrinkled with a frown that had taken root there. His face
+was sickly, and never free from the traces of acute anxiety that was
+eating at his heart. His body was emaciated, and, at times, his hand
+shook like a drunkard's. It was even worse with the spiritual man. He
+had become irritable, peevish, and ill-natured; he had lost, by
+degrees, every generous sentiment. As a young man he had been
+remarkable for his liberality in pecuniary matters. He had been wont
+to part freely with his money. Inconsistent as it may seem,
+notwithstanding his heavy losses through his partners, and his fearful
+expenditure, he was as greedy of gain as though he were stinting
+himself of every farthing, and secretly hoarding up his chests of
+gold. He would haggle in a bargain for a shilling, and economize in
+things beneath a wise man's notice or consideration. For a few years,
+as it has been seen, Allcraft had denied himself the customary
+recreations of a man of business, and had devoted himself entirely to
+his occupation. It was by no means a favourable indication of his
+state of mind, that he derived no satisfaction at the grand mansion,
+either alone or in the mere society of his wife. He quitted the bank
+daily at a late hour, and reached his home just in time for dinner.
+That over, he could not sit or rest--he must be moving. He could not
+live in quiet. "Quietness"--it was his own expression--"stunned him."
+He rushed to the theatre, to balls, concerts, wherever there was
+noise, talk, excitement, crowds of people; wherever there was release
+from his own pricking conscience and miserable thoughts. And then to
+parties; of course there was no lack of them, for their society was in
+great request, and every one was eager for an invitation in return to
+_Eden_--such being the strange misnomer of their magnificent
+prison-house. And, oh, rare entertainments were they which the
+suffering pair provided for the cold-hearted crew that flocked to
+partake of their substance! How the poor creature smiled upon her
+guests as they arrived, whilst her wounded heart bled on! How she
+sang--exquisitely always--for their amusement and nauseous
+approbation, until her sweet voice almost failed to crush the rising
+tears! How gracefully she led off the merry dance whilst clogs were on
+her spirits, weighing upon every movement. Extravagant joyousness!
+Dearly purchased pleasure! Yes, dearly purchased, if only with that
+half hour of dreadful silence and remorse that intervened between the
+banquet and the chamber--not of sweet slumber and benevolent repose
+but of restlessness and horrid dreams!
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE CRISIS.
+
+
+Michael was half mad in the midst of his troubles; and, in truth, they
+gathered so thickly and rapidly about him, that he is to be admired
+for the little check which he contrived to keep over his reason,
+saving him from absolute insanity and a lunatic asylum. Mr Bellamy,
+although away, made free with the capital of the bank, and applied it
+to his own private uses. Mr Brammel, senior, after having, for many
+years, made good to Allcraft the losses the latter had sustained
+through his son's extravagance, at length grew tired of the work, and
+left the neighbourhood, in disgust, as Michael thought, but, in sad
+truth, with a bruised and broken heart. At last he had dismissed the
+long-cherished hope of the prodigal's reformation, and with his latest
+hope departed every wish to look upon his hastening decay and fall. He
+crawled from the scene--the country; no one knew his course; not a
+soul was cognizant of his intentions, or could guess his
+resting-place. Augustus Theodore did not, in consequence of his
+father's absence, draw less furiously upon the bank! He had never
+heard of that father's generosity--how should he know of it now? And,
+if he knew it, was he very likely to profit by the information?
+Michael honoured his drafts for many reasons; two may be mentioned,
+founded on hope and fear--the hope of frightening the unfortunate
+Brammel senior into payment when he met with him again, the fear of
+making Brammel junior desperate by his refusal, and of his divulging
+all he knew. Could a man, not crazy, carry more care upon his brain?
+Yes, for demands on account of Planner poured in, the very instant
+that fortunate speculator had taken his lucky leave of the
+establishment--demands for which Michael had rendered himself liable
+in law, by the undertaking which he had drawn up and signed in his
+alarm and haste. Oh, why had he overwhelmed himself with partners--why
+had he married--why had he taken upon himself the responsibility of
+his parent's debts--why had he not explained every thing when he might
+have done it with honour and advantage--why had he not relied upon his
+own integrity--and why had he attempted, with cunning and duplicity,
+to overreach his neighbours? Why, oh why, had he done all this? When
+Michael was fairly hemmed in by his difficulties, and, as it is
+vulgarly said, had not a leg to stand upon, or a hole to creep
+through, then, and not till then, did he put these various questions
+to himself; and since it is somewhat singular that so shrewd a man
+should have waited until the last moment to put queries of such vast
+importance to himself, I shall dwell here for one brief moment on the
+fact, be it only to remind and to warn others, equally shrewd and
+equally clever, of the mischief they are doing when they postpone the
+consideration of their motives and acts until motives and acts both
+have brought them into a distress, out of which all their
+consideration will not move them an inch. "Why have I _done_?" was,
+is, and ever will be, the whining interrogative of stricken
+_inability_; "Why am I about _to do_?" the provident question of
+thoughtful, far-seeing _success_. Remember that.
+
+I am really afraid to say how much of poor Margaret's fortune was
+dragged from her--how little of it still remained. It must have been a
+trifle, indeed, when Michael, with a solemn oath, swore that he would
+not touch one farthing more, let the consequences be what they might.
+Could it be possible that the whole of her splendid inheritance had
+shrunk to so paltry a sum, that the grasping man had ceased to think
+it worth his while to touch it? or did the dread of beholding the
+confiding woman, beggar'd at last, induce him to leave at her disposal
+enough to purchase for her--necessary bread? Whatever was his motive,
+he persisted in his resolution, and to the end was faithful to his
+oath. Not another sixpence did he take from her. And how much the
+better was he for all that he had taken already? Poor Michael had not
+time to enquire and answer the question. He could not employ his
+precious moments in retrospection. He lived from hand to mouth;
+struggled every hour to meet the exigencies of the hour that followed.
+He was absorbed in the agitated present, and dared not look an inch
+away from it. Now, thanks to the efforts of her people, England is a
+Christian country; and whenever fortune goes very hard with a man who
+has received all the assistance that his immediate connexions can
+afford him, there is a benevolent brotherhood at hand, eager to
+relieve the sufferer's wants, and to put an end to his anxiety. This
+charitable band is known by the name of _Money-lenders--Jewish_
+money-lenders; so called, no doubt, in profound humility and
+self-denial, displayed in the Christian's wish to give the _honour_
+of the work elsewhere, reserving to himself the labour and--the
+profit. When Michael needed fresh supplies, he was not long in
+gathering a gang of harpies about him. They kept their victim for a
+while well afloat. They permitted their principal to accumulate in his
+hands, whilst they received full half of their advances back in the
+form of interest. So he went on; and how long this game would have
+lasted, it is impossible to say, because it was cut short in its
+heighth by a circumstance that brought the toppling house down, as it
+were, with a blow and a run.
+
+When Allcraft, one morning at his usual hour, presented himself at the
+bank, his confidential clerk approached him with a very serious face,
+and placed a newspaper in his hand. Michael had grown very timid and
+excitable; and when the clerk put his finger on the particular spot to
+which he desired to call his superior's attention, the heart of the
+nervous man leapt into his throat, and the blood rushed from his
+cheek, as if it were its duty to go and look after it. He literally
+wanted the courage to read the words. He attempted to smile
+indifferently, and to thank his servant as courteously as if he had
+given him a pleasant pinch of snuff; but at the same time, he pressed
+his thumb upon the paragraph, and made his way straight to his snug
+and private room. He was ready to drop when he reached it, and his
+heart beat like a hammer against his ribs. He placed the paper on the
+table, and, ere he read a syllable, he laboured to compose himself.
+What could it be? Was the thing exploded? Was he already the common
+talk and laugh of men? Was he ruined and disgraced? He read at
+length--_The property and estates of Walter Bellamy, Esq., were
+announced for sale by auction._ His first sensation on perusing the
+advertisement was one of overpowering sickness. Here, then, was his
+destruction sealed! Here was the declaration of poverty trumpeted to
+the world. Here was the alarum sounded--here was his doom proclaimed.
+Let there be a run upon the bank--and who could stop it now?--let it
+last for four-and-twenty hours, and he is himself a bankrupt, an
+outcast, and a beggar. The tale was told--the disastrous history was
+closed. He had spun his web--had been his own destiny. God help and
+pardon him for his transgressions! There he sat, unhappy creature,
+weeping, and weeping like a heart-broken boy, sobbing aloud from the
+very depths of his soul, frantic with distress. For a full half hour
+he sat there, now clenching his fists in silent agony, now accusing
+himself of crime, now permitting horrible visions to take possession
+of his brain, and to madden it with their terrible and truth-like
+glare. He saw himself--whilst his closed eyes were pressed upon his
+paralysed hands--saw himself as palpably as though he stood _before_
+himself, crawling through the public streets, an object for men's
+pity, scorn, and curses. Now men laughed at him, pointed to him with
+their fingers, and made their children mock and hoot the penniless
+insolvent. Labouring men, with whose small savings he had played the
+thief, prayed for maledictions on his head; and mothers taught their
+little ones to hate the very name he bore, and frightened them by
+making use of it. Miserable pictures, one upon the other, rose before
+him--dark judgments, which he had never dreamed of or anticipated; and
+he stood like a stricken coward, and he yearned for the silence and
+concealment of the _grave_. Ay--the grave! Delightful haven to
+pigeon-hearted malefactors--inconsistent criminals, who fear the puny
+look of mortal man, and, unabashed, stalk beneath the eternal and the
+killing frown of God. Michael fixed upon his remedy, and the delusive
+opiate gave him temporary ease; but, in an another instant, he derived
+even hope and consolation from another and altogether opposite view of
+things. A thought suddenly occurred to him, as thoughts will occur to
+the tossed and working mind--how, why, or whence we know not; and the
+drowning man, catching sight of the straw, did not fail to clutch it.
+What if, after all, Mr. Bellamy proposed to sell his property _in
+favour of the bank_!! Very likely, certainly; and yet Allcraft,
+sinking, could believe it possible--yes possible, and (by a course of
+happy reasoning and self-persuasion) not only so--but _true_. And if
+this were Mr. Bellamy's motive and design, how cruel had been his own
+suspicions--how vain and wicked his previous disturbance and
+complaints! And why should it not be? Had he not engaged to restore
+the money which he had borrowed; and had he not given his word of
+honour to pay in a large amount of capital? At the memorable meeting,
+had he not promised to satisfy Allcraft of the justice of his own
+proceedings, and the impropriety of Michael's attack upon his
+character? And had not the time arrived for the redemption of his
+word, and the payment of every farthing that was due from him? Yes; it
+had arrived--it had come--it was here. Mr Bellamy was about to assert
+his integrity, and the banking-house was saved. Michael rose from his
+chair--wiped the heavy sweat-drops from his brow--dried his tears, and
+gave one long and grateful sigh for his deliverance from that state of
+horror, by which, for one sad, sickening moment, he had been
+bewildered and betrayed. But, satisfied as he was, and rejoiced as he
+pretended to be, it could hardly be expected that a gentleman
+possessed of so lively a temperament as that enjoyed by Mr. Allcraft
+would rest quietly upon his convictions, and take no steps to
+strengthen and establish them. Michael for many days past had had no
+direct communication with his absent partner, and, at the present
+moment, he was ignorant of his movements. He resolved to make his way
+at once to the Hall, and to get what intelligence he could of its lord
+and master, from the servants left in charge of that most noble and
+encumbered property. Accordingly he quitted his apartment, threw a
+ghastly smile into his countenance, and then came quickly upon his
+clerks, humming a few cheerful notes, with about as much spirit and
+energy as a man might have if forced to sing a comic song just before
+his execution. Thoroughly persuaded that the officials had not
+obtained an inkling of what had transpired in his _sanctum_, and that
+he left them without a suspicion of evil upon their minds, he started
+upon his errand, and waited not for breath until he reached his
+destination. He arrived at the lodge--he arrived at the Hall. He rang
+the loud bell, and a minute afterwards he learned that Mr Bellamy was
+within--had made his appearance at home late on the evening before,
+and, at the present moment, was enjoying his breakfast. Michael, for
+sudden joy and excitement, was wellnigh thrown from his equilibrium.
+Here was confirmation stronger than ever! Would he have returned to
+the estate upon the very eve of disposing of it, if he had not
+intended to deal well and honestly in the transaction? Would he not
+have been ashamed to do it? Would he have subjected himself to the
+just reproaches and upbraidings of his partner, when, by his absence,
+he might so easily have avoided them? Certainly not. Michael Allcraft,
+for a few brief seconds, was a happier man than he had been for years.
+His eyes were hardly free of the tears which he had shed in the
+extremity of his distress, and he was now ready to weep again in the
+very exuberance and wildness of his delight. He presented his card to
+the corpulent and powdered footman; he was announced; he was ushered
+in. Walter Bellamy, Esquire, sitting in state, received his friend and
+partner with many smiles and much urbanity. He was still at breakfast,
+and advancing slowly in the meal, like a gentleman whose breakfast was
+his greatest care in life. Nothing could be more striking than the air
+of stately repose visible in the proprietor himself, and in the
+specious and solemn serving-man, who stood behind him--less a
+_serving_-man than a sublime dumb waiter. Michael was affected by it,
+and he approached his colleague with a rising sentiment of
+awe--partly, perhaps, the effect of the scene--partly the result of
+natural apprehension.
+
+"Most glad to see you, my very good friend," began the master--"most
+glad--most happy--pray, be seated. A lovely morning this! A plate for
+Mr. Allcraft."
+
+"Thank you--I have breakfasted," said Michael, declining the kind
+offer. "I had no thought of finding you at home."
+
+"Ay--a mutual and unexpected pleasure. Just so. I had no thought of
+coming home until I started, and I arrived here only late last night.
+Business seldom suites itself to one's convenience."
+
+"Seldom, indeed--very seldom," answered Michael, with a friendly
+smile, and a look of meaning, which showed that he had taken hope from
+Mr Bellamy's expression--"and," he continued, "having returned, I
+presume you spend some time amongst us."
+
+"Not a day, my friend. To-morrow I am on the wing again. I have left a
+dozen men behind me, who'll hunt me over the country, if I don't
+rejoin them without delay. No. I am off again to-morrow." (Michael
+moved uneasily in his chair.) "But, how are you, Mr Allcraft? How are
+all our friends? Nothing new, I'll venture to say. This world is a
+stale affair at the best. Life is seen and known at twenty. Live to
+sixty, and it is like reading a dull book three times over. You had
+better take a cup of coffee, Mr Allcraft!"
+
+"Thank you--no. You surprise me by your determination."
+
+"Don't be surprised at any thing, Mr Allcraft. Take things as they
+come, if you wish to be happy."
+
+Michael, very uneasy indeed, wished to make a remark, but he looked at
+the man in crimson plush, and held his tongue. Mr Bellamy observed
+him.
+
+"You have something to say? Can I give you any advice, my friend?
+Pray, command me, and speak without reserve. As much as you please,
+and as quickly as you please, for I assure you time is precious. In
+half an hour I have twenty men to see, and twice as many things to
+do."
+
+Again Michael glanced at the stout footman, who was pretending to
+throw his mind into the coming week, and to appear oblivious of every
+thing about him.
+
+"I have a question to ask," proceeded Michael hesitatingly; "but it
+can be answered in a moment, and at another opportunity--in a little
+while, when you are _quite_ at leisure."
+
+"As you please; only remember I have no end of engagements, and if I
+am called away I cannot return to you."
+
+Poor Michael! His expectations were again at a fearful discount. The
+language and demeanor of Mr Bellamy seemed decisive of his intentions.
+What could he do? What--but fasten on his man, and not suffer him to
+leave his sight without an explanation, which he dreaded to receive.
+Mr Bellamy continued to be very polite and very talkative, and to
+prosecute his repast with unyielding equanimity. At the close of the
+meal the servant removed the cloth, and departed. At the same instant
+the landed proprietor rose from his chair, and was about to depart
+likewise. Michael, alarmed at the movement, touched Mr Bellamy gently
+on the sleeve, and then, less gently, detained him by the wrist.
+
+"What do you mean, sir?" asked Bellamy, turning sharply upon his
+partner: "What do you mean? What is your object?"
+
+"Mr Bellamy," said Allcraft, pale as death, and much excited; "you
+must not go until you have satisfied me on a point of life and death
+to both of us. Your conduct is a mystery. I cannot explain it. I know
+not what are the motives which actuate you. These are known to
+yourself. Let them be so. But I have a question to ask, and you must
+and shall answer it."
+
+"_Must_ and _shall_, Mr Allcraft! Take care--pray, take care of your
+expressions. You will commit yourself. When will you cease to be a
+very young man? I will answer voluntarily any questions put to me by
+any gentleman. _Must_ and _shall_ never forced a syllable from my lips
+yet. Now, sir--ask what you please."
+
+"Mr Bellamy," continued Allcraft, "your property is announced for
+public sale."
+
+"It is," said Bellamy.
+
+"And the announcement has your sanction?"
+
+"It has."
+
+"And with the sum realized by that sale, you propose to"--
+
+Michael stopped, as though he wished his partner to fill up the
+sentence.
+
+"Go on, sir," said the proprietor.
+
+"With the sum thus realized, I say, you propose to make good the
+losses which the bank has suffered by your improvidence?"
+
+"Not exactly. Is there any thing else?"
+
+"Oh, Mr Bellamy, you cannot mean what you say? I am sure you cannot.
+You are aware of our condition. You know that there needs only a
+breath to destroy us in one moment for ever. At this very time your
+purpose is known to the world; and, before we can prevent it, the bank
+may be run upon and annihilated. What will be said of your
+proceedings? How can you reconcile the answer which you have just now
+given to me, with your vaunted high sense of honour, or even with your
+own most worldly interests?"
+
+"Have you finished, sir?" said Bellamy, in a quiet voice.
+
+"No!" exclaimed Michael, in as angry a tone of indignation: "no! I
+have not finished. I call upon you, Mr Bellamy, to mark my words; to
+mark and heed them--for, so Heaven help me, I bid you listen to the
+truth. Quiet and easy as you profess to be, I will be cozened by you
+no longer. If you carry out your work, your doings shall be told to
+every human soul within a hundred miles of where you stand. You shall
+be exhibited as you are. If every farthing got from the sale of this
+estate be not given up to defray your past extravagance, you shall be
+branded as you deserve. Mr Bellamy, you have deceived me for many
+years. Do not deceive yourself now."
+
+"Have you finished, sir?" repeated Mr Bellamy.
+
+"Yes--with a sentence. If you are mad--I will be resolute. Persist in
+your determination, and the bank shall stop this very night."
+
+"And let it stop," said Bellamy; "by all means let it stop. If it be a
+necessary, inevitable arrangement, I would not interfere with it for
+the world. Act, Mr Allcraft, precisely as you think proper. It is all
+I ask on my own account. I have unfortunately private debts to a very
+large amount. What is still more unfortunate, they must be paid. I
+have no means of paying them except by selling my estate, and
+therefore it must go. I hope you are satisfied?"
+
+Michael threw himself into a chair, and moved about in it, groaning.
+Mr Bellamy closed the door, and approached him.
+
+"This is a very unnecessary display of feeling, Mr Allcraft," said the
+imperturbable Bellamy; "very--and can answer no good end. The thing,
+as I have told you, is inevitable."
+
+"No--no--no," cried Allcraft, imploringly; "Not so, Mr Bellamy. Think
+again--ponder well our dreadful situation. Reflect that, before
+another day is gone, we may be ruined, beggared, and that this very
+property may be wrested from you by our angry creditors. What will
+become of us? For Heaven's sake, my dear, good sir, do not rush
+blindly upon destruction. Do not suffer us to be hooted, trampled
+upon, despised, cursed by every man that meets us. You can save us if
+you will--do it then--be generous--be just."
+
+"As for being _just_, Mr Allcraft," replied Bellamy composedly, "the
+less we speak about that matter the better. Had _justice_ been ever
+taken into account, you and I would, in all probability, not have met
+on the present business. I cannot help saying, that, when you are
+ready to justify to me your conduct in respect of your late father's
+liabilities, I shall be more disposed to listen to any thing you may
+have to urge in reason touching the produce of this estate. Until that
+time, I am an unmoved man. You conceive me?"
+
+"Yes," said Michael, changing colour, "I see--I perceive your drift--I
+am aware--Mr Bellamy," continued the unhappy speaker, stammering until
+he almost burst with rage. "You are a villain! You have heard of my
+misfortunes, and you take a mean advantage of your knowledge to crush
+and kill me. You are a villain and I defy you!"
+
+Mr Bellamy moved leisurely to the fire-place, and rang the bell. The
+stout gentleman in plush walked in, and the landed proprietor pointed
+to the door.
+
+"For Mr Allcraft, William," said the squire.
+
+"Very well!" said Michael, white with agitation; "Very well! As sure
+as you are a living man, your ruin shall be coincident with mine. Not
+a step shall I fall, down which you shall not follow and be dragged
+yourself. You shall not be spared one pang. I warn you of your fate,
+and it shall come sooner than you look for it."
+
+"Pooh, pooh; you have been drinking, Mr. Allcraft."
+
+"You lie, sir, as you have lied for months and years--lived upon lies,
+and"--
+
+"You need not say another word. You shall finish your sentence, sir,
+elsewhere. Begone! William, show Mr. Allcraft to the door."
+
+William pretended to look very absent again, and bowed. Michael stared
+at him for a second or two, as if confounded, and then, like a madman,
+rushed from the room and house.
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE CRASH.
+
+
+The plans and objects of Mr Walter Bellamy were best known to himself.
+Whatever they might be, he diverged from them for a few hours in order
+to give his miserable partner the opportunity he had promised him, of
+completing that very inauspicious sentence--the last which he had
+uttered in Mr. Bellamy's house previously to his abrupt departure.
+Michael had not been in the banking-house an hour after his return
+from the Hall before he was visited by a business-like gentleman, who
+introduced himself as the particular friend of Mr. Bellamy, on whose
+particular business he professed to come. Allcraft, with his brain on
+fire, received the visit of this man with secret glee. All the way
+home he had prayed that Bellamy might prove as good as his word, and
+not fail to demand immediate satisfaction. He longed for death with a
+full and yearning desire, and he could kiss the hand that would be
+merciful and give the fatal blow. A suicide at heart, it was something
+to escape the guilt and punishment of self-murder. Bellamy was reputed
+a first-rate shot. Michael was aware of the fact, and hugged the
+consciousness to his soul. He would not detract from his reputation;
+the duellist should add another laurel to his chaplet of _honour_, and
+purchase it with his blood. He had resolved to fight and fall. It was
+very evident that the friend of Mr Bellamy expected rather to frighten
+Michael into a humble and contrite apology, than to find him ready and
+eager for the battle; for he commenced his mission by a very long and
+high-flown address, and assured Mr Allcraft, time after time, that
+nothing but the most ample and the most public _amende_ could be
+received by his friend after what had taken place. Michael listened
+impatiently, and interrupted the speaker in the midst of his oration.
+
+"You are quite right, sir," said he. "If an apology is to be made, it
+should be an ample one. But I decline to make any whatever. I am
+prepared to give Mr Bellamy all the satisfaction that he asks. I will
+refer you at once to my friend, and the sooner the affair is settled
+the better."
+
+"Well, but surely, Mr Allcraft, you must regret the strong
+expression"--
+
+"Which I uttered to your friend? By no means. I told him that he lied.
+I repeat the word to you. I would say it in his teeth again if he
+stood here. What more is necessary?"
+
+"Nothing," said the gentleman, certainly unprepared for Michael's
+resolution. "Nothing; name your friend, sir."
+
+Michael had already fixed upon a second, and he told his name. His
+visitor went to seek him, and the poor bewildered man rubbed his hands
+gleefully, as though he had just saved his life, instead of having
+placed it in such fearful jeopardy.
+
+That day passed like a dream. The meeting was quickly arranged. Six
+o'clock on the following morning was the hour fixed. The place was a
+field, the first beyond the turnpike gate, and within a mile of the
+city. As soon as Michael made sure of the duel, he saw his
+confidential clerk. His name was Burrage. He had been a servant in the
+banking-house for forty years, and had known Michael since his birth.
+It was he who gave the newspaper into Allcraft's hands, on the first
+arrival of the latter at the bank that morning. He was a quiet old man
+of sixty, an affectionate creature, and as much a part of the
+banking-house as the iron chest, the desk, the counter, or any other
+solid fixture. He stepped softly into his master's room after he had
+been summoned there, and he gazed at his unhappy principal as a father
+might at his own child in misfortune--a beloved and favourite child.
+
+"You are not well this morning, sir," said Burrage most respectfully.
+"You look very pale and anxious."
+
+"My looks belie me, Burrage. I am very well. I have not been so well
+for years. I am composed and happy. I have been ill, but the time is
+past. How old are you, Burrage?"
+
+"Turned threescore, sir; old enough to die."
+
+"Die--die! death is a sweet thing, old man, when it comes to the
+care-worn. I have had my share of trouble."
+
+"Too much, sir--too much!" said Burrage, his eyes filling with water.
+"You have half killed yourself here. I am sure your poor father never
+expected this. Nobody could have expected it in his time, when you
+were a little, fat, rosy-cheeked boy, running about without a thought,
+except a thought of kindness for other people."
+
+Michael Allcraft burst into a flood of tears--they gushed faster and
+faster into his eyes, and he sobbed as only men sob who have reached
+the climax of earthly suffering and trial.
+
+"Do not take on so, my dear sir," said Burrage, running to him. "Pray,
+be calm. I am sure you are unwell. You have been ill for some time.
+You should see a doctor--although I am very much afraid that your
+disease is beyond their cure--in truth I am."
+
+"Burrage," said Michael in a whisper, and still sighing
+convulsively--"It is all over. It is finished. Prepare for the
+crash--look to your own safety. Hide yourself from the gaze of men. It
+will strike us all dead."
+
+"You frighten me, Mr Allcraft.--You are really very ill. Your brain is
+overworked--you want a little repose and recreation."
+
+"Yes, you are right Burrage--the recreation of a jail--the repose of a
+tomb. We will have one, at least--yes, one--and I have made the
+selection."
+
+"Have you heard any bad news to-day, sir?"
+
+"None--excellent news to-day. No more hopes and fears--no alarms--no
+lying and knavery--eternal peace now, and not eternal wretchedness."
+
+"Had you not better leave the bank, Mr Allcraft, and go home? Your
+hands are burning hot. You are in a high fever."
+
+"Put up the shutters--put up the shutters," muttered Michael, more to
+himself than to his clerk. "Write _bankrupt_ on the door--write it in
+large letters--in staring capitals--that the children may read the
+word, and know why they are taught to curse me. You hear me, Burrage?"
+
+"I hear what you say, sir, but I do not understand you. You want
+rest--you are excited."
+
+"I tell you, Burrage, I am quiet--I never was so quiet--never sounder
+in body and mind. Will you refuse to listen to the truth? Man," he
+continued, raising his voice and looking the clerk steadily in the
+face. "I am ruined--a beggar. The bank is at its last gasp. The doors
+are closed to-night--never to be re-opened."
+
+"God forbid, sir!"
+
+"Why so?--Would you drive me mad? Am I to have no peace--no rest? Am I
+to be devoured, eaten away by anxiety and trouble? Have you no human
+blood--no pity for me? Are you as selfish as the rest?"
+
+"Is it possible, sir?"
+
+"It is the truth. But speak not of it. I will have your life if you
+betray me until the event tells its own tale. We close the door
+to-night, to open it no more. You hear the words. They are very simple
+words. Why do you stare so, as if you couldn't guess their meaning?"
+
+"Oh--I have dreaded this--I have suspected it!" said Burrage, wringing
+his hands; "but it has always seemed impossible. Poor Mr Allcraft!"
+
+"_Poor!_" exclaimed Michael. "Do you begin already? Do you throw it in
+my teeth so soon? You are in the right, man--go with the stream--taunt
+me--spit in my face--trample me in the dust!"
+
+"Do not speak unkindly to me, master," said the old clerk. "You will
+break my heart at once if you do. What you have told me is hard enough
+to bear in one day."
+
+Michael took the good fellow's hand, and answered, whilst his lips
+quivered with grief, "It is--it is enough, old friend. Go your ways.
+Leave me to myself. I have told you a secret--keep it whilst it
+remains one. Oh, what a havoc! What devastation! Go, Burrage--go--seal
+your lips--do not breathe a syllable--go to your work."
+
+The clerk went as he was bid, but stupified and stunned by the
+information he had received. He took his accustomed seat at the desk,
+and placed a large ledger before him. He was occupied with one trifling
+account for half the day, and did not finish it at last. A simple sum of
+compound addition puzzled the man who, an hour before, could have gone
+through the whole of the arithmetic in his sleep. Oh, boasted intellect
+of man! How little is it thou canst do when the delicate and feeling
+heart is out of tune! How impotent thou art! How like a rudderless ship
+upon a stormy sea! Poor Burrage was helpless and adrift! And Michael sat
+for hours together alone, in his little room. He was literally afraid to
+creep out of it. He struggled to keep his mind steadily and composedly
+fixed upon the fate that awaited him--a fate which he had marked out for
+himself, and resolved not to escape. He forced himself to regard the
+great Enemy of Man as _his_ best friend--his only comforter and refuge.
+But just when he deemed himself well armed, least vulnerable,
+and most secure, the awful _reality_ of death--its horrible
+accompaniments--dissolution, corruption, rottenness, decay, and its
+still more awful and obscure _uncertainties_, started suddenly before
+him, and sent a sickening chill through every pore of his unnerved
+flesh. Then he retreated from his position--fled, as it were, for life,
+and dared not look behind, so terrible was the sight of his grim
+adversary. He leaped from his chair, as if unable to sit there; and,
+whilst he paced the room, he drew his breath, as though he needed air
+for respiration--his heart throbbed, and his brain grew tight and hot
+within his skull. The fit passing away, Michael hastened to review the
+last few years of his existence, and to bribe himself to quietness and
+resignation, by contrasting the hateful life which he had spent with the
+desirable repose offered to him in the grave; and by degrees the
+agitation ceased--the alarm subsided, and the deluded man was once more
+cozened into hardened and unnatural tranquillity. In this way flew the
+hours--one train of feeling succeeding to another, until the worn-out
+spirit of the man gave in, and would be moved no longer. At last, the
+unhappy banker grew sullen and silent. He ceased to sigh, and groan, and
+weep. His brain refused to think. He drew his seat to the window of the
+room, which permitted him, unperceived, to observe the movements in the
+bank--and, folding his arms, he looked doggedly on, and clenched his
+teeth, and frowned. He saw the fortunate few who came for money and
+received it--and the unfortunate many, who brought their money--left,
+and lost it. He was indifferent to all. He beheld--as the spirits fair
+may be supposed to look upon the earth a moment before the sweeping
+pestilence that comes to thin it--life, vigorous and active, in that
+house of business, whose latest hour had come--whose knell was already
+sounding; but it moved him not. He heard men speak his name in tones of
+kindness, whose lips on the morrow would deal out curses. He saw others,
+hat in hand, begging for an audience, who would avoid him with a sneer
+and a scorning when he passed them in the street. He looked upon his own
+servants, who could not flatter their master too highly to-day, and
+would be the first to-morrow to cry him down, and rail against his
+unpardonable extravagance and recklessness; but he heeded nothing. His
+mind had suspended its operations, whilst his physical eye stared upon
+vacancy.
+
+It was very strange. He continued in this fashion for a long time, and
+suddenly sensibility seemed restored to him; for an ashy paleness came
+over him--his eyelid trembled, and his lips were drawn down
+convulsively, as if through strong and heavy grief. He rose instantly,
+rushed to the bell, and rang it violently.
+
+Burrage came to answer it.
+
+"Monster!" exclaimed his master, gazing at him spitefully, "have you
+no heart--no feeling left within you? How could you do it?"
+
+"Do what, sir?"
+
+"Rob that poor old man. Plunder and kill that hoary unoffending
+creature. Why did you take his miserable earnings? Why did you rob his
+little ones? Why clutch the bread from his starving grandchildren? He
+will die of a broken heart, and will plead against me at the
+judgment-seat. Why was that old man's money taken?"
+
+"We must take all, or nothing, sir. You forbade me to speak a
+syllable."
+
+"Speak--speak! Yes, but could you not have given him a look, one
+merciful look, to save his life, and my soul from everlasting ruin?
+You might, you could have done it, but you conspire to overthrow me.
+Go--but mark me--breathe not a word, if you hope to live."
+
+The poor clerk held up his hands, shook them piteously, sighed, and
+went his way again.
+
+It was six o'clock in the evening, and every soul connected with the
+bank, except Michael and Burrage, had left it. They were both in the
+private room, which the former had not quitted during the day. Michael
+was writing a letter; the clerk was standing mournfully at his side.
+When the note was finished, directed, and sealed, Allcraft turned to
+his old friend and spoke--
+
+"I shall not sleep at home to-night, Burrage. I have business which
+must be seen to."
+
+"Indeed, sir, you had better go home. You are very unwell."
+
+"Silence, once more. I tell you, Burrage, it cannot be. This business
+must not be neglected. I have written to Mrs Allcraft, explaining the
+reason of my absence. You will yourself deliver the letter to her,
+with your own hands, Burrage. You hear me?"
+
+"Yes, sir," faltered Burrage, wishing himself deaf.
+
+"Very well. I have no more to say. Good-by--good-night."
+
+"Good-night, sir," said the man, walking slowly off.
+
+"Stay, Burrage. You are a true old friend--my oldest. Give me your
+hand. I have spoken unkindly--very harshly and cruelly to-day. Do not
+think ill of me. My temper has been soured by the troubles of life.
+You forgive me for my anger--do you not?"
+
+The old man did not answer. He could not. He held the hand of his
+master tightly in his own. He drew it to his lips and kissed it; and
+then, ashamed not of the act, but of his unmanly tears, he walked
+slowly to the door, and quitted the room--his head bending to the
+earth, whence it never again was raised.
+
+Two hours later Michael was many miles away. He had followed to his
+humble home the aged man who had that morning paid his substance into
+the bank. Much as he had to answer for, Michael could not bear to
+carry about with him the knowledge that he had ruined and destroyed
+the grey-haired labourer. Why and how it was that he felt so acutely
+for the stranger, and selected him from the hundreds who were beggared
+by his failure, it is impossible to guess. It is certain that he
+restored every sixpence that had been deposited in the morning, and
+could not die until he had done so. Where Allcraft passed the night
+was never known. He was punctual to his appointment on the following
+morning; and so was Mr Bellamy. It is due to the latter to state,
+that, at the latest moment, he was willing, as far as in him lay, to
+settle the difference without proceeding to extreme measures. All that
+a man could offer, who did not wish to be suspected of rank cowardice,
+he offered without reservation. But Allcraft was inexorable. He
+repeated his insult on the field; and there was nothing to be done but
+to make him accountable for his words at the point of the pistol--to
+receive and give THE SATISFACTION OF A GENTLEMAN. Whatever
+satisfaction the mangled corpse of a man whom he had deeply injured,
+could afford the high-born Mr Bellamy, that gentleman enjoyed in a
+very few minutes after his arrival; for he shot his antagonist in the
+mouth, saw him spinning in the air, and afterwards lying at his
+feet--an object that he could not recognize--a spectacle for devils to
+rejoice in. Happy the low-born man who may not have or feel such
+exquisite and noble SATISFACTION!
+
+Allcraft was not cold before Mr Bellamy was at sea, sailing for
+France. The latter had not put his feet upon foreign soil, before his
+property was seized by hungry creditors. The bank was closed. Burrage
+himself pasted on the shutters the paper that notified its failure.
+Augustus Theodore Brammel heard of the stoppage whilst he was at
+breakfast, sipping chocolate; and greatly he rejoiced thereat. His
+delight was sensibly diminished in the course of the morning, when he
+received a letter informing him of his father's death, and an
+intimation from a lawyer, that every farthing which he inherited would
+be taken from him, as goods and chattels, for the discharge of claims
+which the creditors of the bank might have against him. Later in the
+day, he heard of Allcraft's death and Bellamy's escape, and then he
+rushed into a chemist's shop and bought an ounce of arsenic; but after
+he had purchased it, he had not heart enough to swallow it. Enraged
+beyond expression--knowing not what to do, nor upon whom to vent his
+rage--it suddenly occurred to him to visit Mrs Allcraft, and to worry
+her with his complaints. He hurried to her house, and forced himself
+into her presence. We will not follow him, for grief is sacred; and
+who that had the heart of man, would desecrate the hearth hallowed by
+affliction, deep and terrible as that of our poor Margaret?
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE VICARAGE.
+
+
+Our history began at the Vicarage; there let it end. It is a cheerful
+summer's morning, and Margaret sits in the study of her friend Mr.
+Middleton, who has learned to look upon his charge as upon a daughter.
+She is still attired in widow's weeds, but looks more composed and
+happy than when we saw her many months ago there.
+
+"You will not leave us, then," said the good vicar; "we have not tired
+you yet?"
+
+"No," answered Margaret, with a sweet contented smile, "here must I
+live and die. My duties will not suffer me to depart, even were I so
+inclined. What would my children do?"
+
+"Ah, what indeed? The school would certainly go to rack and ruin."
+
+"And my old friends, the Harpers and the Wakefields?"
+
+"Why, the old ladies would very soon die of a broken heart, no doubt
+of it; and then, there's our dispensary and little hospital. Why,
+where should we look for a new apothecary?"
+
+"These are but the worst days of my life, Mr. Middleton, which I
+dedicate to usefulness. How am I to make good the deficiency of
+earlier years?"
+
+"By relying, my dear madam, upon the grace and love of Heaven, who in
+mercy regards not what we have been, but what we are."
+
+"And is there pardon for so great a sinner?"
+
+"Doubt it not, dear lady. Had you not been loved, you never would have
+been chastised--you would never have become an obedient and willing
+child. Be sure, dear Mrs Allcraft, that having repented, you are
+pardoned and reconciled to your Father. Pray, hold fast to this
+conviction. You have reason to believe it; for truly _you have not
+despised the chastening of the Lord, nor fainted when you were rebuked
+of him_."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+KÍEFF.
+
+TRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN OF IVÁN KOZLÓFF. BY T.B. SHAW.
+
+
+      O Kiéff! where religion ever seemeth
+      To light existence in our native land;
+      Where o'er Petchérskoi's dome the bright cross gleameth,
+      Like some fair star, that still in heaven doth stand;
+      Where, like a golden sheet, around thee streameth
+      Thy plain, and meads that far away expand;
+      And by thy hoary wall, with ceaseless motion,
+      Old Dniéper's foaming swell sweeps on to ocean.
+
+      How oft to thee in spirit have I panted,
+      O holy city, country of my heart!
+      How oft, in vision, have I gazed enchanted
+      On thy fair towers--a sainted thing thou art!--
+      By Lávra's walls or Dniéper's wave, nor wanted
+      A spell to draw me from this life apart;
+      In thee my country I behold, victorious,
+      Holy and beautiful, and great and glorious.
+
+      The moon her soft ray on Petchérskoi poureth,
+      Its domes are shining in the river's wave;
+      The soul the spirit of the past adoreth,
+      Where sleeps beneath thee many a holy grave:
+      Vladímir's shade above thee calmly soareth,
+      Thy towers speak of the sainted and the brave;
+      Afar I gaze, and all in dreamy splendour
+      Breathes of the past--a spell sublime and tender.
+
+      There fought the warriors in the field of glory,
+      Strong in the faith, against their country's foe;
+      And many a royal flower yon palace hoary,
+      In virgin loveliness, hath seen to blow.
+      And Báyan sang to them the noble story,
+      And secret rapture in their breast did glow;
+      Hark! midnight sounds--that brazen voice is dying--
+      A day to meet the vanish'd days is flying.
+
+      Where are the valiant?--the resistless lances--
+      The brands that were as lightning when they waved?
+      Where are the beautiful--whose sunny glances
+      Our fathers, with such potency, enslaved?
+      Where is the bard, whose song no more entrances?
+      Ah! that deep bell hath answer'd what I craved:
+      And thou alone, by these grey walls, O river!
+      Murmurest, Dniéper, still, and flow'st for ever.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+MARSTON; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF A STATESMAN.
+
+PART VII.
+
+
+     "Have I not in my time heard lions roar?
+      Have I not heard the sea, puft up with wind,
+      Rage like an angry boar chafed with sweat?
+      Have I not heard great ordnance in the field,
+      And heaven's artillery thunder in the skies?
+      Have I not in the pitched battle heard
+      Loud 'larums, neighing steeds, and trumpets clang?"
+
+                                               SHAKSPEARE.
+
+At daybreak, the bustle of the camp awoke me. I rose hastily, mounted
+my horse, and spurred to the rendezvous of the general staff. Nothing
+could be more animated than the scene before me, and which spread to
+the utmost reach of view. The advance of the combined forces had moved
+at early dawn, and the columns were seen far away, ascending the sides
+of a hilly range by different routes, sometimes penetrating through
+the forest, and catching the lights of a brilliant rising sun on their
+plumes and arms. The sound of their trumpets and bands was heard from
+time to time, enriched by the distance, and coming on the fresh
+morning breeze, with something of its freshness, to the ear and the
+mind. The troops now passing under the knoll on which the
+commander-in-chief and his staff had taken their stand, were the main
+body, and were Austrian, fine-looking battalions, superbly uniformed,
+and covered with military decorations, the fruits of the late Turkish
+campaigns, and the picked troops of an empire of thirty millions of
+men. Nothing could be more brilliant, novel, or picturesque, than the
+display of this admirable force, as it moved in front of the rising
+ground on which our _cortège_ stood.
+
+"You will now see," said Varnhorst, who sat curbing, with no slight
+difficulty, his fiery Ukraine charger at my side, "the troops of
+countries of which Europe, in general, knows no more than of the
+tribes of the new world. The Austrian sceptre brings into the field
+all the barbaric arms and costumes of the border land of Christendom
+and the Turk."
+
+Varnhorst, familiar with every service of the continent, was a capital
+cicerone, and I listened with strong interest as he pronounced the
+names, and gave little characteristic anecdotes, of the gallant
+regiments that successively wheeled at the foot of the slope--the
+Archducal grenadiers--the Eugene battalion, which had won their
+horse-tails at the passage of the Danube--the Lichtensteins, who had
+stormed Belgrade--the Imperial Guard, a magnificent corps, who had led
+the last assault on the Grand Vizier's lines, and finished the war.
+The light infantry of Maria Theresa, and the Hungarian grenadiers and
+cuirassiers, a mass of steel and gold, closed the march of the main
+body. Nothing could be more splendid. And all this was done under the
+perpetual peal of trumpets, and the thunder of drums and gongs, that
+seemed absolutely to shake the air. It was completely the Miltonic
+march and harmony--
+
+    "Sonorous metal blowing martial sounds."
+
+But I was now to witness a still more spirit-stirring scene.
+
+The trampling of a multitude of horse, and the tossing of lances and
+banners in the distance, suddenly turned all eyes in their direction.
+
+"Now, prepare," said the Count, "for a sight, perhaps not altogether
+so soldierlike, but fully as much to my taste, as the buff-belt and
+grenadiers'-cap formality of the line. You shall see the Austrian
+flankers--every corps equipped after its native fashion. And whatever
+our martinets may say, there is nothing that gives such spirits to the
+soldier, as dressing according to the style of his own country. My
+early service was in Transylvania; and if I were to choose troops for
+a desperate service, I say--give me either the man of the hill, or the
+man of the forest, exactly in the coat of the chamois-shooter, or the
+wolf-hunter."
+
+He had scarcely pointed my attention to the movement, when the whole
+body of the rearguard was in full and rapid advance. The plain was
+literally covered with those irregulars, who swept on like a surge, or
+rather, from the diversity of their colours, and the vast half-circle
+which they formed on the ground, a living rainbow. Part were infantry
+and part cavalry, but they were so intermingled, and the motion of all
+was so rapid, that it was difficult to mark the distinction. From my
+recollection of the history of the Seven Years' War, I felt a double
+interest in the sight of the different castes and classes of the
+service, which I had hitherto known only by name. Thus passed before
+me the famous Croatian companies--the Pandours, together forming the
+finest outpost troops of the army--the free companies of the Tyrol,
+the first marksmen of the empire, a fine athletic race, with the
+eagle's feather in their broad hats, and the sinewy step of the
+mountaineer--the lancers of the Bannat, first-rate videttes, an
+Albanian division, which had taken service with Austria on the close
+of the war; and, independently of all name and order, a cloud of wild
+cavalry, Turk, Christian, and barbarian, who followed the campaign for
+its chances, and galloped, sported, and charged each other like the
+Arabs of the desert.
+
+The late triumphs of the Imperial arms in Turkey had even enhanced the
+customary display, and the standards of the cavalry and colours of the
+battalions, were stiff with the embroidered titles of captured
+fortresses and conquered fields. Turkish instruments of music figured
+among the troops, and the captive horse-tails were conspicuous in more
+than one corps, which had plucked down the pride of the Moslem. The
+richness and variety of this extraordinary spectacle struck me as so
+perfectly Oriental, that I might have imagined myself suddenly
+transferred to Asia, and looked for the pasha and his spahis; or even
+for the rajah, his elephants, and his turbaned spearmen. But all this
+gay splendour has long since been changed. The Croats are now
+regulars, and all the rest have followed their example.
+
+My admiration was so loud, that it caught the ear of the duke. He
+turned his quick countenance on me, and said--"Tell our friends at
+home, M. Marston, what you have seen to-day. I presume you know that
+Maria Theresa was a first-rate soldier; or, at least, she had the
+happy art of finding them. You may see Laudohn's hand in her
+battalions. As for the light troops, Europe can show nothing superior
+in their kind. Trenk's Pandours, and Nadasti's hussars were worth an
+army to Austria, from the first Silesian war down to the last shot
+fired in Germany. But follow me, and you shall see the work of another
+great master."
+
+We spurred across the plain to the mouth of a deep, wooded defile,
+through which the Prussian grand _corps d'armée_ were advancing. The
+brigades which now met our view were evidently of a different
+character from the Austrian; their uniforms of the utmost simplicity;
+their march utterly silent; the heads of the columns observing their
+distances with such accuracy, that, on a signal, they could have been
+instantly formed in order of battle; every movement of the main body
+simply directed by a flag carried from hill to hill, and even the
+battalion movements marked by the mere waving of a sword. Even their
+military music was of a peculiarly soft and subdued character. On my
+observing this to Varnhorst, his reply was--"That this was one of the
+favourite points of the Great Frederick. 'I hate drums in the march,'
+said the king, 'they do nothing but confuse the step. Every one knows
+that the beat at the head of the column takes time to reach the rear.
+Besides, the drum deafens the ear. Keep it, therefore, for the battle,
+when the more noise the better.' He also placed the band in the centre
+of the column. 'If they are fond of music,' said he, 'why should not
+every man have his share?'"
+
+The steady advance, the solid force, and the sweet harmony, almost
+realized the noble poetic conception--
+
+                          "Anon they move
+      In perfect phalanx, to the Dorian mood
+      Of flutes and soft recorders, such as raised
+      To heights of noblest temper heroes old
+      Arming to battle; and instead of rage,
+      Deliberate valour breathed, firm and unmoved
+      With dread of death to flight or foul retreat."
+
+It is true that they wanted the picturesque splendour of ancient
+warfare. The ten thousand banners, with orient colours waving, the
+"forest huge of spears," the "thronging helms," and "serried shields,
+in thick array of depth immeasurable." But if the bayonet, the lance,
+and even the cannon offered less to the eye, the true source of the
+grandeur of war was there--the power, the tremendous impulse, the
+_materiel_ of those shocks which convulse nations--the marshalled
+strength, fierce science, and stern will, before which the works of
+man perish like chaff before the wind, and the glory of nations
+vanishes like a shade.
+
+While the last of the troops were defiling before the duke and his
+staff, a courier brought up despatches.
+
+"Gentlemen," said the duke, after glancing at one of the papers, "the
+army of the Prince de Condé is in march to join us. They have already
+reached the neighbourhood. We must now lose no time. M. Marston, you
+will report to your Government what you have seen to-day. We _are_ in
+march for Paris."
+
+Varnhorst and Guiscard were now summoned to the side of the duke; a
+spot was found where we might shelter ourselves from the overpowering
+blaze of the sun; the successive despatches were opened; a large map
+of the routes from Champagne to the capital was laid on the ground;
+and we dismounted, and, sitting together, like old comrades, we held
+our little council of war.
+
+"I can make nothing of my French correspondents in general," said the
+duke, after perusing a long letter, "but M. le Comte writes like
+Cagliostro. He has evidently some prodigious secret, which he is
+determined to envelope in still deeper secrecy. He tells me that La
+Fayette has fled; but when, where, or for what purpose, is all equally
+an enigma. In one sentence of his letter he would persuade me that all
+France is disorganized, and in the next, that it is more resolved to
+resist than ever. Paris is prepared to rise at the first sight of the
+white flag, and Paris is sending out six thousand men every three
+hours to join the republican force in the field. Paris is in despair.
+Paris is in furious exultation. How am I to understand all this? Even
+in his postscript he tells me, in one breath, that the whole of the
+strong places in our front are filled with national guards, and that
+no less than seven corps of troops of the line are prepared to fight
+us in the plains of Champagne; and that we have only to push on to
+take the towns--charge the troops of the line to see them
+disperse--and advance within ten leagues of Paris to extinguish the
+rebellion, set the royal family free, and restore the monarchy."
+
+The mysterious letter was handed round our circle in succession, and
+seemed equally beyond comprehension to us all. We had yet to learn the
+temperament of a capital, where every half-hour produced a total
+change of the popular mind. The letter, fantastically expressed as it
+was, conveyed the true condition of the hour. The picture was true,
+but the countenance changed every moment. He might as well have given
+the colours of cloud.
+
+I had now entered on a course of adventure the most exciting of all
+others, and at the most exciting time of life. But all the world round
+me was in a state of excitement. Every nation of Europe was throwing
+open its armoury, and preparing its weapons for the field. The troops
+invading France were palpably no more than the advanced guards of
+Prussia and Austria. Even with all my inexperience, I foresaw that the
+war would differ from all the past; that it would be, not a war of
+tactics, but a war of opinion; that not armies, but the people
+marshalled into hosts, would be ultimately the deciders of the
+victory; and that on whichever side the popular feeling was more
+serious, persevering, and intense, there the triumph would be gained.
+I must still confess, however, in disparagement to my military
+sagacity, that I was totally unprepared for the gallant resistance of
+the French recruits. What can they do without officers?--ten thousand
+of whom had been noblesse, and were now emigrants? What can they do
+without a commissariat, what can they do without pay, and who is to
+pay them in a bankrupt nation? Those were the constant topics at
+headquarters. We were marching to an assured victory. France was at an
+end. We should remodel the Government, and teach the _sans culottes_
+the hazard of trying the trade of politicians.
+
+There was but one man in the camp who did not coincide in those
+glittering visions. Let me once more do justice to a prince whose
+character has been affected by the caprices of fortune. The Duke of
+Brunswick's language to me, as we saw the Tricolor waving on the walls
+of Longwy, the first fortress which lay in our road, was--"Sir, your
+court must not be deceived. We shall probably take the town, and
+defeat its wavering army; but up to this moment, we have not been
+joined by a single peasant. The population are against us. This is not
+a German war; it is more like yours in America. I have but one hundred
+and twenty thousand men against twenty-five millions." To my remark,
+"that there might be large body of concealed loyalty in France, which
+only waited the advance of the Allies to declare itself," his calm and
+grave reply was: "That I must not suffer my Government to suppose him
+capable of abandoning the royal cause, while there was hope in
+military means. That it was his determination to hazard all things
+rather than chill the coalition. But this let me impress upon your
+Ministry," said he, with his powerful eye turned full on me; "that if
+intrigue in the German cabinets, or tardiness on the part of yours,
+shall be suffered to impede my progress, all is at an end. I know the
+French; if we pause, they will pour on. If we do not reach Paris, we
+must prepare to defend Berlin and Vienna. If the war is not ended
+within a month, it may last for those twenty years."
+
+The commander-in-chief was true to his word. He lost no time. Before
+night our batteries were in full play upon the bastions of Longwy, and
+as our tents had not yet overtaken us, I lay down under a vineyard
+shed in a circle of the staff, with our cloaks for our pillows,
+listening to the roar of our artillery; until it mingled with my
+dreams.
+
+We were on horse an hour before daybreak, and the cannonade still
+continued heavy. It was actively returned, and the ramparts were a
+circuit of fire. As a spectacle, nothing could be more vivid,
+striking, and full of interest. To wait for the slow approaches of a
+formal siege was out of the question. Intelligence had reached us that
+the scattered French armies, having now ascertained the point at which
+the burst over the frontier was to be made, had been suddenly
+combined, and had taken a strong position directly in our way to the
+capital. A protracted siege would raise the country in our rear, and,
+thus placed between two fires, the grand army might find itself
+paralysed at the first step of the campaign. The place must be
+battered until a breach was made, and stormed _à la Turque_. Our
+anxiety during the day was indescribable. With our telescopes
+constantly in our hands, we watched the effect of every new discharge;
+we galloped from hill to hill with the impatience of men in actual
+combat, and every eye and tongue was busy in calculating the
+distances, the power of guns, and the time which the crumbling works
+would take to fill up the ditch. The reports of the engineers, towards
+evening, announced that a practicable breach was made, and three
+battalions of Austrian grenadiers, and as many of Prussians, were
+ordered under arms for the assault. To make this gallant enterprize
+more conspicuous, the whole army was formed in columns, and marched to
+the heights, which commanded a view of the fortress. The fire from the
+batteries now became a continued roar, and the guns of Longwy, whose
+fire had slackened during the day, answered them with an equal
+thunder; the space between was soon covered with smoke, and when the
+battalions of grenadiers moved down the hillside, and plunged into the
+valley, they looked like masses of men disappearing into the depths of
+ocean. The anxiety now grew intense. I hardly breathed; and yet I had
+a mingled sensation of delight, eagerness, and yet of uncertainty, to
+which nothing that I had ever felt before was comparable. I longed to
+follow those brave men to the assault, and probably would have made
+some such extravagant blunder, but for seeing Varnhorst's broad
+visage turned on me with a look of that quiet humour which, of all
+things on earth, soonest brings a man to his senses. "My good friend,"
+said he, "however fine this affair may be, live in hope of seeing
+something finer. Never be shot at Longwy, when you may have a chance
+of scaling the walls of Paris. I have made a vow never to be hanged in
+the beginning of a revolution, nor to be shot in the beginning of a
+war. But come, the duke is beckoning to us. Let us follow him."
+
+We saw the general and his staff galloping from the ground where he
+had remained from the beginning of the assault, to a height still more
+exposed, and where the guns from the fortress were tearing up the
+soil. From this spot a large body of troops were seen rushing from the
+gate of the fortress, and plunging into the valley. The result of this
+powerful sortie was soon heard, for every thing was invisible under
+the thick cloud, which grew thicker every moment, in the volleys of
+musketry, and the shouts of the troops on both sides. Varnhorst now
+received an order from the chief of the staff, which produced its
+effect, in the rush of a squadron of Prussian cavalry on the flank of
+the enemy's column. In a few minutes it was broken, and we saw its
+wrecks swept along the side of the hill. An universal shout was sent
+up from the army, and our next sight was the ascent of the Austrian
+and Prussian standards, gradually rising through the smoke, and making
+their way towards the glacis. They had reached the foot of the breach,
+when the fire of the town suddenly ceased. A white flag waved on the
+rampart, and the drums of the garrison beat the _chamade_. Longwy had
+surrendered! All now was triumph and congratulation. We flocked round
+the duke, and hailed his first conquest as a promise of perpetual
+success. He was in high spirits at an achievement which was so
+important to the national impression of his talents and resources. The
+sortie of the garrison had given the capture an _éclât_ which could
+not have been obtained by the mere surrender of a strong place. But
+the most important point of all was, the surrender before the assault.
+"The sight of our troops is enough," was the universal conclusion. If
+the fortified barrier of France cannot resist, what will be done by
+troops as raw as peasants, and officers as raw as their troops? The
+capitulation was a matter of half an hour, and by nightfall I followed
+the duke and his escort into the town. It was illuminated by order of
+the conquerors, and, whether _bongrè_ or _malgrè_, it looked showy; we
+had gazers in abundance, as the dashing staff caracoled their way
+through the streets. I observed, however, that we had no acclamations.
+To have hissed us, might be a hazardous experiment, while so many
+Hulans were galloping through the Grande Rue; but we got no smiles. In
+the midst of the crowd, I met Varnhorst steering his charger with no
+small difficulty, and carrying a packet of notes in his hand. "Go to
+your quarters, and dress," said my good-humoured friend. "You will
+have a busy night of it. The duke has invited the French commandant
+and his officers to dine with him, and we are to have a ball and
+supper afterwards for the ladies. Lose no time." He left me wondering
+at the new world into which I had fallen, and strongly doubting, that
+he would be able to fill up his ball-room. But I was mistaken. The
+dinner was handsomely attended, and the ball more handsomely still.
+"Fortune de la guerre," reconciled the gallant captains of the
+garrison to the change; and they fully enjoyed the contrast between a
+night on the ramparts, and the hours spent at the Prussian
+generalissimo's splendidly furnished table. The ball which followed
+exhibited a crowd of the _belles_ of Longwy, all as happy as dress and
+dancing could make them. It was a charming episode in the sullen
+history of campaigning, and before I flung myself on the embroidered
+sofa of the mayor's drawing-room, where my billet had been given for
+the night, I was on terms of eternal "friendship" with a whole group
+of classic beauties--Aspasias, Psyches and Cleopatras.
+
+But neither love nor luxury, neither the smiles of that fair
+_Champagnaises_, nor the delight of treading on the tesselated floors,
+and feasting on the richness of municipal tables, could now detain us.
+We were in our saddles by daybreak, and with horses that outstripped
+the wind, with hearts light as air, and with prospects of endless
+victory and orders and honours innumerable before us, we galloped
+along, preceded, surrounded, and followed by the most showy squadrons
+that ever wore lace and feathers. The delight of this period was
+indescribable. It was to me a new birth of faculties that resembled a
+new sense of being, a buoyant and elastic lightness of feelings and
+frame. The pure air; the perpetual change of scene; the novelty of the
+landscape; the restless and vivid variety of events, and those too of
+the most powerful and comprehensive nature; the superb display of the
+finest army that the Continent had sent to war for the last hundred
+years; and all this excitement and enjoyment, with an unrivaled vista
+of matchless conquest in the horizon, a triumphal march through the
+provinces, to be consummated by the peace of Europe in Paris, filled
+even my vexed and wearied spirit with new life. If I am right in my
+theory, that the mind reaches stages of its growth with as much
+distinctness as the frame, this was one of them. I was conscious from
+this time of a more matured view of human being, of a clearer
+knowledge of its impulses, of a more vigorous, firm, and enlarged
+capacity for dealing with the real concerns of life. I still loved;
+and, strange, hopeless, and bewildering as that passion was in the
+breast of one who seemed destined to all the diversities of
+fortune--it remained without relief, or relaxation through all. It was
+the vein of gold, or perhaps the stream of fire, beneath the soil,
+inaccessible to the power of change on the surface, but that surface
+undergoing every impulse and influence of art and nature.
+
+The army now advanced unopposed. Still we received neither cheers nor
+reinforcements from the population. Yet we had now begun to be
+careless on the topic. The intelligence from Paris was favourable in
+all the leading points. The king was resuming his popularity, though
+still a prisoner. The Jacobins were exhibiting signs of terror, though
+still masters of every thing. The recruits were running away, though
+the decree for the general rising of the country was arming the
+people. In short, the news was exactly of that checkered order which
+was calculated to put us all in the highest spirits. The submission of
+Paris, at least until we were its conquerors, would have deprived us
+of a triumph on the spot, and the proclamation of a general peace
+would have been received as the command for a general mourning.
+
+The duke was in the highest animation, and he talked to every one
+round him, as we marched along, with more than condescension. He was
+easy, familiar, and flushed with approaching victory. "We have now,"
+said he, "broken through the 'iron barrier,' the pride of Vauban, and
+the boast of France for these hundred years. To-morrow Verdun will
+fall. The commandant of Thionville, in desperation at the certainty of
+our taking the town by assault, has shot himself, and the keys are on
+their way to me. Nothing but villages now lie in our road, and once
+past those heights," and he pointed to a range of woody hills on the
+far horizon, "and we shall send our light troops _en promenade_ to
+Paris." We all responded in our various ways of congratulation.
+
+"Apropos," said the duke, applying to me, "M. Marston, you have been
+later on the spot than any of us. What can you tell of this M.
+Dumourier, who, I see from my letters, is appointed to the forlorn
+hope of France--the command of the broken armies of Lafayette and
+Luckner?"
+
+My answer was briefly a hope that the new general would be as much
+overmatched by the duke's fortunes in the field, as he had been by
+party in the capital. "Still, he seemed to me a clever, and even a
+remarkable man, however inexperienced as a soldier."
+
+"If he is the officer of that name who served in the last French war,
+he is an old acquaintance of mine," observed the duke. "I remember him
+perfectly. He was a mere boy, who, in a rash skirmish with some of our
+hussars, was wounded severely and taken prisoner. But as I learned
+that he was the son of a French _literateur_ of some eminence whom I
+had met in Paris, and as I had conceived a favourable opinion of the
+young soldier's gallantry, I gave him his parole and sent him back to
+his family, who, I think, were Provencals. He was unquestionably
+spirited and intelligent, and with experience might make either
+minister or general; but as he has begun by failure in the one
+capacity, it will be our business to show him that he may find success
+equally difficult in another. At all events, we have nothing but this
+minister-general between us and Notre-Dame. He has taken up a position
+on the Argonne ridge in our front. To force it will be but an affair
+of three hours. Adieu, gentlemen." He put spurs to his horse, and
+galloped to one of the columns which approached with trumpets
+sounding, bearing the captured banner of the church tower of Longwy.
+
+The world was now before us, and we enjoyed it to the full. Varnhorst
+and I were inseparable, and feasted on the scene, the gaiety, the
+oddity of the various characters, which campaigning developes more
+than any mode of existence. The simple meal, the noon-rest under a
+tree, the songs of our troopers, the dance in the villages, as soon as
+the peasantry had discovered that we did not eat women and
+children--even the consciousness of a life wholly without care, formed
+a delicious state of being. "If this is the life of the Arab," I often
+was ready to exclaim, "what folly would it be in him to leave the
+wilderness! If the Esquimaux can sleep through one half of the year
+and revel through the other, is he not the true philosopher in the
+midst of his frost and snow?" Guiscard, who sometimes joined our
+party, was now and then moved to smile at our unripe conceptions of
+the nature of things. But we laughed at his gravity, and he returned
+to pore over the mysteries of that diplomacy which evidently thickened
+on him hour by hour. I recollect, however, one of his expressions--"My
+friend, you think that all the battle is to be fought in front: I can
+assure you that a much more severe battle is to be fought in the rear.
+Argonne will be much more easily mastered than the King's closet and
+the Aulic Council." We had good reason to remember the oracle.
+
+One morning as, with half a dozen hussars, I was ranging the thickets
+on the flank of the advance, with the spirit of an English fox-hunter,
+on reaching the summit of a rising ground, I saw, some miles off, a
+party of horsemen making their way at full speed across the country.
+The perfect level of the plains, particularly in Champagne, makes the
+ground as open as a race-course. I called my hussars, and we galloped
+forward to intercept. On seeing us, they slackened their speed, and
+were evidently in consultation. At length the sight of our uniforms
+reassured then, and one of their number came forward to meet us. To
+our enquiry, the answer was, that "General Lafayette desired to be led
+to the headquarters." I now saw this memorable man for the first time,
+and was busy, in my usual style, in looking for the hero or the
+revolutionist in his physiognomy. I was disappointed in both. I saw a
+quiet visage, and a figure of moderate size, rather _embonpoint_, and
+altogether the reverse of that fire-eyed and lean-countenanced
+"Cassius" which I had pictured in my imagination. But his manners
+perplexed me as much as his features. They were calm, easy, and almost
+frank. It was impossible to recognize in him the Frenchman, except by
+his language; and he was the last man in whom I could ever have
+detected that pride of the theatre, the "French _marquis_." His
+manners were English, and I had a fellow-feeling for him even in our
+short ride to the camp, and congratulated myself on being thrown into
+the intercourse of one who had played so conspicuous a part in the
+most conspicuous scene of our day.
+
+But on his introduction to the duke, my ardour received a sudden
+chill. I saw instantly, by the utter absence of all cordiality in his
+reception, that the French fugitive had taken a dangerous step, and
+that his Parisian ill fortune had deprived his retreat of all merit in
+the sight of the commander-in-chief. My doubts were soon confirmed by
+a message from his tent. I obeyed; and as I passed the lines, saw
+Lafayette surrounded by a troop of Hulans of the Guard. I found the
+duke pacing uneasily in front of the tent.
+
+"M. Marston," said he, with a vexed manner, "your capture of this
+morning has added to our perplexities. You acted zealously, and with
+the spirit that distinguishes your nation; but I heartily wish that
+M. La Fayette had taken any other direction than towards us. His fall
+has been contemplated for some time, and even the possibility of his
+being arrested by some of our parties. I have received a communication
+from the Allied cabinets on the contingency; and the question now is,
+how to execute my order without public weakness or personal severity."
+
+I proposed to accompany him, while we were on the march, and to pledge
+myself for his honour when we arrived at quarters.
+
+"Generously offered," was the reply. "But my duty, in the first
+instance, prohibits his remaining in the camp; and in the next, my
+feelings for himself would spare a man who has commanded the enemy's
+troops, the sight of that actual collision which must immediately take
+place. We attack the defiles of the Argonne to-morrow."
+
+He entered the tent, wrote a few lines, and returned to me.
+
+"M. Lafayette must consider himself as a prisoner; but as my wish is
+to treat him with honour, I must beg of you, M. Marston, to take
+charge of him for the time. Your offer has relieved me from an
+embarrassment; and I shall take care to make honourable mention of
+your conduct in this instance, as in all others, to both the courts of
+Berlin and St James's. The marquis must be sent to Berlin, and I must
+request that you will be ready to set out with him this evening."
+
+The sound was a thunder-stoke. "This evening!" when the decisive
+action of the war was to be fought next morning. "To Berlin!" when all
+my gallant friends were to be on the march to Paris. Impossible! I
+retracted my offer at once. But the prince, not accustomed to be
+resisted, held his purpose firmly; representing that, as the French
+general was actually _my_ prisoner, and as _my_ court was equally
+interested with those of the Allied powers, in preventing his return
+to embroil France, "it was my duty, as her commissioner, to see that
+the measure was effectively performed." But the appearance of leaving
+the army, on the very eve of important service, was not to be argued,
+or even commanded, away. The duke was equally inflexible, though his
+sentences were perhaps shorter than mine; and I finally left his
+presence, declaring, that if the request were persisted in, I should
+throw up my commission at once, volunteer as a common trooper into the
+first squadron which would admit me, and then, his highness, might, of
+course, order me wherever he pleased."
+
+A stately smile was the answer to this tirade. I bowed, and retired.
+
+Within a hundred yards I met my two friends, Varnhorst and Guiscard,
+and poured out my whole catalogue of wrongs at once. Varnhorst shared
+my indignation, fiercely pulled his thick mustaches, and muttered some
+phrases about oppression, martinetism, and other dangerous topics,
+which fortunately were scattered on the air. Guiscard neither raged
+nor smiled, but walked into the ducal tent. After a few minutes he
+returned, and then his sallow countenance wore a smile. "You have
+offended the duke desperately," said he. "And as a sovereign prince, I
+dare say that banishment from his territories for life would be the
+least reparation; but as a general, we think that we cannot have too
+many good troops, and your proposal to take a Hulan's lance and pistol
+in your hand, is irresistible. In short, he receives you as a
+volunteer into his own hussars, and as you are henceforth at his
+disposal, he orders."--My tormentor here made a malicious pause, which
+threw me into a fever. I gazed on his countenance, to anticipate his
+mission. It wore the same deep and moveless expression. "His highness
+orders, that you shall escort, with a squadron, General Lafayette, to
+the Chateau, our former headquarters, and where we first met; there
+deliver over the Frenchman to an officer of the staff, who will be in
+readiness to escort him further; and, in the mean time, if the very
+fiery and independent M. Marston should have no objection to travel at
+night, he may return, and be in time for whatever is to be done here
+to-morrow."
+
+"Bravo, bravo!" exclaimed good-natured Varnhorst. "Guiscard, you are
+the first of negotiators!"
+
+"No," was the quiet reply. "I pretend to nothing more than the art of
+being a good listener. I merely waited until the duke had spoken his
+will, and then interposed my suggestion. It was adopted at once; and
+now our young friend has only to ride hard to-night, and come to shade
+his brow with a share of any laurels which we may pluck in the forest
+of Argonne, in the next twenty-four hours."
+
+I was enraptured--the communication was made in the most courteous
+manner to the marquis. He had at once perceived the difficulties of
+his position, and was glad to leave them behind as far as possible.
+Our escort was mounted within a few minutes, and we were in full
+gallop over the fruitful levels of Champagne.
+
+To speed of this order, time and space were of little importance; and
+with the rapidity of a flock of falcons, we reached the foot of the
+noble hill, on which, embosomed in the most famous vineyards of the
+vine country, stood the Chateau. It was blazing with lights, and had
+evidently lost nothing of its population by the change of
+headquarters. We were soon brought to a stand by a challenge in
+French, and found that we were no longer among the jovial Jägers of
+Deutchland. We had fallen in with the advanced corps of the Emigrant
+army under the command of the Prince of Condé.
+
+Here was a new dilemma. Our prisoner's was perhaps the most startling
+name which could have been pronounced among those high-blooded and
+headlong men. The army was composed almost wholly of the _noblesse_;
+and Lafayette, under all his circumstances of birth, sentiments, and
+services, had been the constant theme of noble indignation. The
+champion of the American Republic, the leader of the Parisian
+movement, the commandant of the National Guard, the chief of the rebel
+army in the field--all was terribly against him. Even the knowledge of
+his fall could not have appeased their resentment; and the additional
+knowledge that he was within their hands, might have only produced
+some unfortunate display of what the philosopher calls "wild justice."
+In this difficulty, while the officer of the patrol was on his way to
+the Chateau to announce our coming, I consulted the captain of my
+escort. But, though a capital _sabreur_, he was evidently not made to
+solve questions in diplomacy. After various grimaces of thinking, and
+even taking the meersham from his mouth, I was thrown on my own
+resources. My application to the captive general was equally
+fruitless: it was answered with the composure of one prepared for all
+consequences, but it amounted simply to--"Do just as you please."
+
+But no time was to be lost, and leaving the escort to wait till my
+return, I rode up the hill alone, and desired an interview with the
+officer in command of the division. Fortunately I found him to be one
+of my gayest Parisian companions, now transformed into a fierce
+chevalier, colonel des chasseurs, bronzed like an Arab, and mustached
+like a tiger. But his inner man was the same as ever. I communicated
+my purpose to him as briefly as possible. His open brow lowered, and
+his fingers instinctively began playing with the hilt of his sabre.
+And if the rencontre could have been arranged on the old terms of man
+to man, my gallant friend would have undoubtedly made me the bearer of
+a message on the spot. But I had come for other objects, and gradually
+brought him round; he allowed that "a prisoner was something entitled
+to respect." The "request of his distinguished and valued friend, M.
+Marston, dear to him by so many charming recollections of Paris, &c.,
+was much more;" and we finally arranged that the general should be
+conveyed unseen to an apartment in the Chateau, while I did him and
+his "_braves camarades_" the honour of sharing their supper. I gave
+the most willing consent; a ride of thirty miles had given me the
+appetite of a hunter.
+
+I was now introduced to a new scene. The room was filled with muskets
+and knapsacks piled against the walls, and three-fourths of those who
+sat down were private soldiers; yet there was scarcely a man who did
+not wear some knightly decoration, and I heard the noblest names of
+France everywhere round me. Thus extremes meet: the Faubourg St
+Germains had taken the equality of the new order of things, and the
+very first attempt to retain an exclusive rank had brought all to the
+same level. But it was a generous, a graceful, and a gallant level.
+All was good-humour under their privations, and the fearful chances
+which awaited them were evidently regarded with a feeling which had
+all the force of physical courage without its roughness. I was much
+struck, too, with the remarkable appearance of the military figures
+round me. Contrary to our general notions of the foreign noblesse
+those exhibited some of the finest-looking men whom I had ever seen.
+This was perhaps, in a considerable degree, owing to the military
+life. In countries where the nobility are destitute of public
+employment, they naturally degenerate--become the victims of the
+diseases of indolence and profligacy, transmit their decrepitude to
+their descendants, and bequeath dwarfishness and deformity to their
+name. But in France, the young noble was destined for soldiership from
+his cradle. His education partook of the manly preparations for the
+soldier's career. The discipline of the service, even in peace, taught
+him some superiority to the effeminate habits of opulence; and a sense
+of the actual claims of talents, integrity, and determination, gave
+them all an importance which, whatever might be the follies of an
+individual, from time to time, powerfully shaped the general character
+of the nobles. In England, the efforts for political power, and the
+distinctions of political fame, preserve our nobility from relaxing
+into the slavery of indulgence. The continual ascent of accomplished
+minds from the humbler ranks, at once reinforces their ability and
+excites their emulation; and if England may proudly boast of men of
+intellectual vigour, worthy of rising to the highest rank from the
+humblest condition, she may, with not less justice, boast of her
+favourites of fortune fitted to cope with her favourites of nature.
+
+Among these showy and high-bred soldiers, the hours passed
+delightfully. Anecdotes of every court of Europe, where most of them
+had been, either as tourists or envoys; the piquant tales of the court
+of their unfortunate sovereign; narratives--sufficiently contemptuous
+of the present possessors of power; and _chansons_--some gay, and some
+touching--made us all forget the flight of time. Among their military
+choruses was one which drew tears from many a bold eye. It was a
+species of brief elegy to the memory of Turenne, whom the French
+soldier still regarded as his tutelar genius. It was said to have been
+written on the spot where that great leader fell:--
+
+     "Reçois, O Turenne, où tu perdis lavie,
+      Les transports d'un soldat, qui te plaint et t'envie.
+      Dans l'Elysee assis, près du cef des Césars,
+      Ou dans le ciel, peutêtre entre Bellone et Mars.
+      Fais-moi te suivre en tout, exauce ma prière;
+      Puis se-je ainsi remplir, et finir ma carrière."
+
+The application to the immediate circumstances of those brave
+gentlemen was painfully direct. What to-morrow might bring was
+unknown, further than that they would probably soon be engaged with
+their countrymen; and whether successful or not, they must be embarked
+in war against France. But my intelligence that an action was expected
+on the next day awoke the soldier within them again; the wrongs of
+their order, the plunders of the ruling faction, their hopeless
+expatriation, if some daring effort was not made, and the triumphant
+change from exiles to possessors and conquerors, stirred them all into
+enthusiasm. The army of the Allies, the enemy's position, the public
+feeling of Paris, and the hope of sharing in the honours of an
+engagement which was to sweep the revolutionary "canaille" before the
+"gentlemen of France," were the rapid and animating topics. All were
+ardent, all eloquent; fortune was at their feet, the only crime was to
+doubt--the only difficulty was to choose in what shape of splendid
+vengeance, of matchless retribution, and of permanent glory, they
+should restore the tarnished lustre of the diadem, and raise the
+insulted name of France to its ancient rank among the monarchies of
+the world. I never heard among men so many brilliancies of speech--so
+many expressions of feeling full of the heart--so glowing a display of
+what the heart of man may unconsciously retain for the time when some
+great emotion rouses all its depths, and opens them to the light of
+day. It was to me a new chapter in the history of man.
+
+The news which I had brought of the positions of the armies rendered
+me an object of marked interest. I was questioned on every point;
+first, and especially, of the intention of the commander-in-chief,
+with the most anxious yet most polished minuteness. But, as on this
+subject my lips were comparatively sealed, the state of the troops
+with whom they were so soon to be brought into contact became the more
+manageable topic. On mentioning that Dumourier was placed in command,
+I received free and full communications on the subject of his
+qualities for being the last hope of revolutionary France. One had
+known him in his early career in the engineers, another had served
+along with him in Corsica, a third had met him at the court of
+Portugal; the concurring report being, that he was a coxcomb of the
+first water, showy but superficial, and though personally brave, sure
+to be bewildered when he found himself for the first time working the
+wheels and springs of that puzzling machine, an army in the field. A
+caustic old Provençal marquis, with his breast glittering with the
+stars of a whole constellation of knighthood, yet who sat with the
+cross-belts and cartouche-box of the rank and file upon him, agreeing
+with all the premises, stoutly denied the conclusions. "He is a
+coxcomb," said the old Marquis. "Well, he is only the fitter to
+command an army of upstarts. He has seen nothing but Corsican service;
+well, he is the fitter to command an army of banditti. And he has been
+an _espion_ of the Government in Portugal; what better training could
+he have for heading an army of traitors? Rely upon it, gentlemen, that
+you have mistaken his character; if you think that he is not the very
+man whom the mob of Paris ought to have chosen for their general, I
+merely recommend, that when you go into action you should leave your
+watches in camp, and, if you charge any of their battalions, look well
+to your purses."
+
+The old soldier's sally restored our gaiety; but the man best
+acquainted with the French commander-in-chief was my friend the
+chevalier, at the head of the table. "It has singularly enough
+happened to me to have met M. Dumourier in almost every scene of his
+life, since his return from his first service in Germany. Our first
+meeting was in the military hospital in Toulouse, where he had been
+sent, like myself, to recover, in his native air, from the wounds of
+our last German campaign. He was then a coxcomb, but a clever one,
+full of animal spirits, and intoxicated with the honour of having
+survived the German bullets, of being appointed to a company, and
+wearing a _croix_. Our next meeting was in Portugal. Our Minister had
+adopted some romantic idea of shaking the English influence, and
+Dumourier had been sent as an engineer to reconnoitre the defences of
+the country. The word _espion_ was not wholly applicable to his
+mission, yet there can be no doubt that the memoir published on his
+return, was _not_ a volume of travels. His services had now
+recommended him to the Government, and he was sent to Corsica. There
+again I met him, as my regiment formed part of the force in the
+island. He was high on the staff, our intercourse was renewed, and he
+was regarded as a very expert diplomatist. A few years after, I found
+him in a still higher situation, a favourite of De Choiseul, and
+managing the affairs of the Polish confederation. On his return to
+Paris, such was the credit in which he stood, that he was placed by
+the minister of war at the head of a commission to reform the military
+code; thus he has been always distinguished; and has at least had
+experience."
+
+Even this slight approach to praise was evidently not popular among
+the circle, and I could hear murmurs.
+
+"Distinguished!--yes, more with the pen than the sword."
+
+"Diplomacy!--the business of a clerk. Command is another affair."
+
+"Mon cher Chevalier," said the old Marquis, with a laugh, "pray, after
+being in so many places with him, were you with him in the Bastile?"
+This was followed with a roar.
+
+I saw my friend's swarthy cheek burn. He started up, and was about to
+make some fierce retort, when a fine old man, a general, with as many
+orders as the marquis, and a still whiter head, averted the storm, by
+saying, "Whether the chevalier was with M. Dumourier in that
+predicament, I know not; but I can say that I was. I was sent there
+for the high offence of kicking a page of the court down the grande
+escalier at Versailles for impertinence, at the time when M. Dumourier
+was sent there by the Duc d'Acquillon, for knowing more than the
+minister. I assure you that I found him a most agreeable
+personage--very gay, very witty, and very much determined to pass his
+time in the pleasantest manner imaginable. But our companionship was
+too brief for a perfect union of souls," said he laughing; "for I was
+liberated within a week, while he was left behind for, I think, the
+better part of a year."
+
+"But his talents?" was the question down the table.
+
+"Gentlemen," said the old man, "my experience in life has always made
+me judge of talents by circumstances. If, for example, I find that a
+man has the talent exactly fitted for his position, I give him credit
+for all--he had the talent for making the Bastile endurable, and I
+required no other. But there were times when graver topics varied our
+pleasantry, and he exhibited very various intelligence, a practical
+experience of the chief European courts, and, I am sorry to say, a
+very striking contempt for their politics and their politicians alike.
+He was especially indignant at the selfish perfidy with which the late
+king had given him up to the ignorant jealousy of the minister, and
+looked forward to the new reign with a resolute, and sometimes a
+gloomy determination to be revenged. If that man is a republican, it
+is the Bastile that has made him one; and if he ever shall have a fair
+opportunity of displaying his genius, unless a cannonball stops his
+career I should conceive him capable of producing a powerful
+impression on Europe."
+
+The conversation might again have become stormy but for the entrance
+of a patrol, for whom a vacant space at the table had been left. Forty
+or fifty fine tall fellows now came rushing into the room, flinging
+down shakos, knapsacks, and sabres, and fully prepared to enjoy the
+good cheer provided for them. I heard the names of the first families
+of France among those privates--the Montmorencies, the Lamaignons, the
+Nivernois, the Rochefoucaults, the De Noailles, "familiar as household
+words." All was good-humour again. They had a little adventure in
+scaring away a corps of the rustic national guards who, to expedite
+their escape, had flung away their arms, which were brought in as good
+prize. The festivity and frolic of youth, engaged in a cause which
+conferred a certain dignity even on their _tours de page_, renewed the
+pleasantry of the night. We again had the _chansons_; and I recollect
+one, sung with delicious taste by a handsome Italian-faced youth, a
+nephew of the writer, the Duc de Nivernois.
+
+The duke had requested a ringlet from a beautiful woman. She answered,
+that she had just found a grey hair among her locks, and could now
+give then away no more. The gallant reply was--
+
+     "Quoi! vous parlez de cheveux blancs!
+      Laissez, laissez courir le temps;
+      Que vous importe son ravage?
+      Les tendres coeurs en sont exempts;
+      _Les Amours sont toujours enfants,
+      Et les Graces sont de tout age._
+      Pour moi, Thémire, je le sens.
+      Je suis toujours dans mon printemps,
+      Quand je vous offre mon hommage.
+      Si je n'avais que dixhuit ans,
+      Je pourrais aimer plus longtemps,
+      Mais, non pas aimer davantage."[10]
+
+    [10]
+
+      Lovely and loved! shall one slight hair
+      Touch thy delicious lip with care?
+      A heart like thine may laugh at Time--
+      The Soul is ever in its prime.
+      All Loves, you know, have infant faces,
+      A thousand years can't chill the Graces!
+      While thou art in my soul enshrined,
+      I give all sorrows to the wind.
+      Were I this hour but gay eighteen,
+      Thou couldst be but my bosom's queen;
+      I might for longer years adore,
+      But could not, could not love thee more.
+
+On returning to look for my distinguished prisoner, I found a packet
+lying on the table of my apartment; it had arrived in my absence with
+the troops in advance; and I must acknowledge that I opened it with a
+trembling hand, when I saw that it came from London and Mordecai.
+
+It was written in evident anxiety, and the chief subject was the
+illness of his daughter. She had some secret on her mind, which
+utterly baffled even the Jew's paternal sagacity. No letters had
+reached either of them from France, and he almost implored me to
+return, or, if that were impossible, to write without delay. Mariamne
+had grown more fantastic, and capricious, and wayward than ever. Her
+eyes had lost their brightness, and her cheek its colour. Yet she
+complained of nothing, beyond a general distaste to existence. She had
+seen the Comtesse de Tourville, and they had many a long conference
+together, from which, however, Mariamne always returned more
+melancholy than ever. She had refused the match which he had provided
+for her, and declared her determination to live, like the daughter of
+Jephthah, single to her grave.
+
+The letter then turned to my own circumstances, and entered into them
+with the singular mixture of ardour and sneering which formed this
+extraordinary character.
+
+    "I am doing your business here as indefatigably as if I were
+    robbing nabobs in India, or setting up republics at home. The
+    tardiness of the Horse-Guards is to be moved by nothing but an
+    invasion; and it would be almost as rational to wait the
+    growth of an oak, as to wait the signing of your commission;
+    but it shall be done in my own way. I have means which can
+    make the tardy quick, and open the eyes of the blind. You
+    _shall_ be a subaltern in the Guards, unless you are in too
+    much haste to be a general, and get yourself shot by some
+    Parisian cobbler in the purloined uniform of a rifleman. But,
+    let me tell you one fact, and I might indorse this piece of
+    intelligence, 'Secret and Confidential,' to the English
+    cabinet, for even our great minister has yet to learn it--_the
+    Allies will never reach Paris_. Rely, and _act_ upon this.
+    They might now enter the capital, if, instead of bayonets,
+    they carried only trusses of straw. The road is open before
+    them, but they will look only behind. The war was almost a
+    feint from the beginning. The invasion was the second act of
+    the farce--the retreat will be the third. Poland has been the
+    _true object_; and, to cover the substantial seizures there,
+    has been the trick of the French invasion. I predict that, in
+    one month from the date of this letter, there will not be an
+    Austrian or Prussian cartridge found in France. Potsdam and
+    Schoenbrunn know more on the subject at this moment than the
+    duke. I write to you as a friend, and by Mariamne's especial
+    order, to take care of yourself. I have seen the retreats of
+    continental armies in my time; they are always a scene of
+    horrors. Follow the army so long as it advances; then all is
+    well, and even the experience of service may be of use to you.
+    But, in this instance, the moment that you find it come to a
+    stop, turn your horse's head to any point of the compass but
+    the front, and ride to the nearest seaport. The duke is a
+    brave man, and his army is a brave army; but both will be
+    instantly covered with all the obloquy of all the libelers on
+    earth. If you have met him as man with man, you have doubtless
+    been captivated with his manners, his wit, his animation, and
+    his accomplishments. I have known him long and well. But
+    Europe, within a month, will decry him, as a fugitive, a fool,
+    and a dastard. Such is popular wisdom, justice, and knowledge.
+    A pupil of the first warrior of Prussia and of modern ages,
+    and wanting only experience to do honour to the lessons of
+    Frederick, he will be laughed at by the loose loungers of the
+    Palais Royal, as ignorant of the art of war, and branded by
+    the graver loungers of courts and councils, as ignorant of the
+    art of government. Once more, I say, take care of yourself.
+    The first step in retreat will raise all France against the
+    Allies. Ten victories would not cost as much as the first
+    week's march towards the frontier. Every thicket will have its
+    troop; every finger, for a hundred leagues round, will be on
+    the trigger. Robbery and murder, famine and fatigue; disease
+    and death, will be upon the troops; the retreat will become a
+    flight, and happy is the man who will ever see the Rhine
+    again. Be wise in time."
+
+Enclosed within this long epistle was a brief note from Mariamne.
+
+    "You must not think me dying, because I importune you no
+    longer. But, _can_ you give me any tidings of Lafontaine? I
+    know that he is rash, and even enthusiastic; but I equally
+    know that he is faithful and true. _Yet_, if he _has_
+    forgotten me, or is married, or is any thing that, as a preux
+    chevalier, he ought not to be, tell me at once, and you shall
+    see how grateful I can be, before I cease to be any thing. But
+    if he has fallen--if, in the dreadful scenes now acting in
+    Paris, Lafontaine is no more--_tell me not_. Write some
+    deluding thing to me--conceal your terrible knowledge. I
+    should not wish to drop down dead before my father's face. He
+    is looking at me while I write this, and I am trying to laugh,
+    with a heart as heavy as lead, and eyes that can scarcely see
+    the paper. No--for mercy's sake, do not tell me _that he is
+    dead_. Give me gentle words, give me hope, deceive me--as they
+    give laudanum, not to prolong life, but to lull agony. Do
+    this, and with my last pulse I shall be grateful--with my last
+    breath I shall bless you."
+
+Poor Mariamne! I had, at least, better hopes than those for her. But
+within this billet was a third. It was but a few lines; yet at the
+foot of those lines was the signature--"Clotilde de Tourville." The
+light almost forsook my eyes; my head swam; if the paper had been a
+talisman, and every letter written with the pen of magic, it could not
+have produced a more powerful effect upon me. My hands trembled, and
+my ears thrilled; and yet it contained but a few unimportant words--an
+enquiry addressed to Mariamne, whether she could forward a letter to
+the Chateau Montauban in Champagne, or whether her father had any
+correspondent in the vicinity who could send her the picture of a
+beloved relative, which, in the haste of their flight to England, they
+had most reluctantly left behind.
+
+The note at once threw every thing else into the background. What were
+invasions and armies--what were kings and kingdoms--to the slightest
+wish of the being who had written this billet? All this I admit to be
+the fever of the mind--a waking dream--an illusion to which mesmerism
+or magic is but a frivolity. Like all fevers, it is destined to pass
+away, or to kill the patient; yet for the time, what on earth is so
+strange, or so powerful--so dangerous to the reason--so delicious to
+the soul!
+
+But, after the long reverie into which I sank, with the writing of
+Clotilde in my hand, I recollected that fortune had for once given me
+the power of meeting the wishes of this noble and beautiful creature.
+The resemblance of the picture that had so much perplexed and
+attracted me, was now explained. I _was_ in the Chateau de Montauban,
+and I now blessed the chance which had sent me to its honoured walls.
+
+To hasten to the chamber where I was again to look upon the exquisite
+resemblance of features which, till then, I had thought without a
+similar in the world, was a matter of instinct; and, winding my way
+through the intricacies of galleries and corridors, loaded with the
+baggage of the emigrant army, and strewed with many a gallant noble
+who had exchanged the down bed of his ancestral mansion for the bare
+floor, or the open bivouac, I at length reached the apartment to which
+the captive general had been consigned. To my utter astonishment,
+instead of the silence which I expected under the circumstances, I
+heard the jingling of glasses and roars of laughter. Was this the
+abode of solitude and misfortune? I entered, and found M. Lafayette,
+indeed, conducting himself with the composure of a personage of his
+rank; but the other performers exhibiting a totally different
+temperament. A group of Polish officers, who had formerly borne
+commissions in the royal service, and now followed the Emigrant
+troops, had recognized Lafayette, and insisted on paying due honours
+to the "noble comrade" with whom they had served beyond the Atlantic.
+Hamlet's menace to his friend, that he would "teach him to drink deep
+ere he depart," had been adopted in the amplest sense by those jovial
+sons of the north, and "healths bottle-deep" were sent round the board
+with rapid circulation.
+
+My entrance but slightly deranged the symposium, and I was soon
+furnished with all the freemasonry of the feast, by being called on to
+do honour to the toast of "His Majesty the King of Great Britain." My
+duty was now done, my initiation was complete, and while my eyes were
+fixed on the portrait which, still in its unharmed beauty, looked
+beaming on the wild revel below, I heard, in the broken queries, and
+interjectional panegyrics of these hyperborean heroes, more of the
+history of Lafayette than I had ever expected to reach my ears.
+
+His life had been the strangest contrast to the calm countenance which
+I saw so tranquilly listen to its own tale. It was Quixotic, and two
+hundred years ago could scarcely have escaped the pen of some French
+Cervantes. He had begun life as an officer in the French household
+troops in absolute boyhood. At sixteen he had married! at eighteen he
+had formed his political principles, and begun his military career by
+crossing the Atlantic, and offering his sword to the Republic. To meet
+the thousand wonderings at his conduct, he exchanged the ancient motto
+of the Lafayettes for a new one of his own. The words, "Why not?" were
+his answer to all, and they were sufficient. On reaching America, he
+asked but two favours, to be suffered to serve, and to serve without
+pay.
+
+In America he was more republican than the Republicans. He toiled,
+traveled, and bled, with an indefatigable zeal for the independence of
+the colonists; his zeal was a passion, his love of liberty a romance,
+his hostility to the dominion of England an universal scorn of
+established power. But if fantastic, he was bold; and if too hot for
+the frigidity of America, he was but preparing to touch France with
+kindred fire. He refused rank in the French army coupled with the
+condition of leaving the service of the Republic; and it was only on
+the French alliance in 1788 that he returned to Paris, to be received
+with feigned displeasure by the King, and even put under arrest by the
+minister, but to be welcomed by the praises of the true sovereign, the
+Queen, feted by the court, the sovereign of that sovereign, and
+huzzaed by the mob of Paris, already the sovereign of them all; from
+his military prison he emerged, colonel of the King's regiment of
+dragoons.
+
+While this narrative was going on, mingled with bumpers, and bursts of
+Slavonic good-fellowship, I could not help asking myself whether
+Lavater was not quack and physiognomy a folly? Could this be the
+dashing Revolutionist? No plodder over the desk ever wore a more
+broadcloth countenance; an occasional smile was the only indication of
+his interest in what was passing around him. He evidently avoided
+taking a share in the discussion of his Transatlantic career, probably
+from delicacy to his English auditor. But when the conversation turned
+upon France, the man came forth, and he vindicated his conduct with a
+spirit and fulness that told me what he might have been when the blood
+of youth was added to the glow of the imagination. He was now
+evidently exhausted by toil, and dispirited by disappointment. No man
+could be more thoroughly ruined; baffled in theory, undone in
+practice--an exile from his country, a fugitive from his
+troops--overwhelmed by the hopelessness of giving a constitution to
+France, and with nothing but the dungeon before him, and the crash of
+the guillotine behind.
+
+"What was to be done?" said Lafayette. "France was bankrupt--the
+treasury was empty--the profligate reign of Louis XV. had at once
+wasted the wealth, dried up the revenues, and corrupted the energies
+of France. Ministers wrung their hands, the king sent for his
+confessor, the queen wept--but the nation groaned. There was but one
+expedient, to call on the people. In 1787 the Assembly of the Notables
+was summoned. It was the first time since the reign of Henry IV.
+France had been a direct and formal despotism for almost two hundred
+years. She had seen England spread from an island into an empire; she
+had seen America spread from a colony into an empire. What had been
+the worker of the miracle?--Liberty. While all the despotisms remained
+within the boundaries fixed centuries ago, like vast dungeons, never
+extending, and never opening to the light and air, except through the
+dilapidations of time, I saw England and America expanding like
+fertile fields, open to every breath of heaven and every beam of day,
+expanding from year to year by the cheerful labour of man, and every
+year covered with new productiveness for the use of universal mankind.
+I own that there may have been rashness in urging the great
+experiment--there may have been a dangerous disregard of the actual
+circumstances of the people, the time, and the world--the daring hand
+of the philosopher may have drawn down the lightning too suddenly to
+be safe; the patriot may have flashed the blaze of his torch too
+strongly on eyes so long trained to the twilight of the dungeon. The
+leader of this enterprise himself, like the first discoverer of fire,
+may have brought wrath upon his own head, and be condemned to have his
+vitals gnawed in loneliness and chains; but nothing shall convince
+Lafayette that a great work has not been begun for the living race,
+for all nations, and for all posterity."
+
+I could not suppress the question--"But when will the experiment be
+complete? When will the tree, planted thus in storms, take hold of the
+soil? When will the tremendous tillage which begins by clearing with
+the conflagration, and ploughing with the earthquake, bring forth the
+harvest of peace to the people?"
+
+"These must be the legacy to our children," was the reply, in a grave
+and almost contrite tone. "The works of man are rapid only when they
+are meant for decay. The American savage builds his wigwam in a week,
+to last for a year. The Parthenon took half an age and the treasures
+of a people, to last for ever."
+
+We parted for the night--and for thirty years. My impression of this
+remarkable man was, that he had more heart than head; that a single
+idea had engrossed his faculties, to the exclusion of all others; that
+he was following a phantom, with the belief that it was a substantial
+form, and that, like the idolaters of old, who offered their children
+to their frowning deity, he imagined that the costlier the sacrifice,
+the surer it was of propitiation. Few men have been more misunderstood
+in his own day or in ours. Lifted to the skies for an hour by popular
+adulation, he has been sunk into obscurity ever since by historic
+contempt. Both were mistaken. He was the man made for the
+time--precisely the middle term between the reign of the nobility and
+the reign of the populace. Certainly not the man to "ride on the
+whirlwind and direct the storm;" but as certainly altogether superior
+to the indolent luxury of the class among whom he was born. Glory and
+liberty, the two highest impulses of our common nature, sent him at
+two and twenty from the most splendid court of Europe, to the swamps
+and snows, the desperate service and dubious battles of America. Eight
+years of voyages, negotiations, travels, and exposure to the chances
+of the field, proved his energy, and at the age of thirty he had drawn
+upon himself the eyes of the world. Here he ought to have rested, or
+have died. But the Revolution swept him off his feet. It was an
+untried region--a conflict of elements unknown to the calculation of
+man; he was whirled along by a force which whirled the monarchy, the
+church, and the nation with him, and sank only when France plunged
+after him.
+
+I have no honour for a similar career, and no homage for a similar
+memory; but it is from those mingled characters that history derives
+her deepest lesson, her warnings for the weak, her cautions for the
+ambitious, and her wisdom for the wise.
+
+On the retiring of the party for the night, my first act was to summon
+the old Swiss and his wife who had been left in charge of the mansion,
+and collect from them all their feeble memories could tell Clotilde.
+But Madame la Maréchale was a much more important personage in their
+old eyes, than the "charmante enfant" whom they had dandled on their
+knees, and who was likely to remain a "charmante enfant" to them
+during their lives. The chateau had been the retreat of the Maréchale
+after the death of her husband; and it was in its stately solitudes,
+and in the woods and wilds which surrounded it for many a league, that
+Clotilde had acquired those accomplished tastes, and that
+characteristic dignity and force of mind, which distinguished her from
+the frivolity of her country-women, however elegant and attractive,
+who had been trained in the _salons_ of the court. The green glades
+and fresh air of the forest had given beauty to her cheek and grace
+to her form; and scarcely conceiving how the rouged and jewelled
+Maréchale could have endured such an absence from the circles of the
+young queen, and the "_beaux restes_" of the wits and beauties of the
+court of Louis the 15th, I thanked in soul the fortunate necessity
+which had driven her from the atmosphere of the Du Barris to the
+shades thus sacred to innocence and knowledge.
+
+But the grand business of the thing was still to be done. The picture
+was taken down at last, to the great sorrow of the old servants, who
+seemed to regard it as a patron saint, and who declared that its
+presence, and its presence alone, could have saved the mansion, in the
+first instance, from being burned by the "patriots," who generally
+began their reforms of the nobility by laying their chateaux in ashes,
+and in the next, from being plundered by the multitudes of whiskered
+savages speaking unknown tongues, and came to leave France without
+"_ni pain ni vin_" for her legitimate sons. But the will of Madame la
+Maréchale was to them as the laws of the Medes and Persians,
+irresistible and unchangeable; and with heavy hearts they dismounted
+the portrait, and assisted in enfolding and encasing it, with much the
+same feeling that might have been shown in paying the last honours to
+a rightful branch of the beloved line.
+
+But, in the wall which the picture had covered, I found a small
+recess, closed by an iron door, and evidently unknown to the Swiss and
+his old wife. I might have hesitated about extending my enquiry
+further, but Time, the great discoverer of all things, saved my
+conscience: with a slight pressure against the lock it gave way; the
+door flew open, and dropped off the hinges, a mass of rust and decay.
+Within was a casket of a larger size than that generally used for
+jewels; but my curiosity durst not go beyond the superscription, which
+was a consignment of the casket, in the name of the Maréchale, to her
+banker in London. Whatever might be the contents, it was clear that,
+like the picture, it had been left behind in the hurry of flight, and
+that to transmit it to England was fairly within my commission. Before
+our busy work was done, day was glancing in through the coloured panes
+of the fine old chamber. I hurried off the Swiss, with my precious
+possessions, to the next town, in one of the baggage carts, with a
+trooper in front to prevent his search by hands still more hazardous
+than those of a custom-house officer; and then, mounting my horse, and
+bidding a brief farewell to the brave and noble fellows who were
+already mustering for the march, and envying me with all their souls,
+I set off at full speed to rejoin the army.
+
+With all my speed, the action had begun for some hours before I came
+in sight of the field. With what pangs of heart I heard the roar of
+the cannon, for league on league, while I was threading my bewildered
+way, and spurring my tired horse through the miry paths of a country
+alternately marsh and forest; with what pantings I looked from every
+successive height, to see even to what quarter the smoke of the firing
+might direct me; with what eager vexation I questioned every hurrying
+peasant, who either shook his moody head and refused to answer, or who
+answered with the fright of one who expected to have his head swept
+off his shoulders by some of my fierce-looking troop, I shall not now
+venture to tell; but it was as genuine a torture as could be felt by
+man. At length, exhausted by mortal fatigue, and ready to lie down and
+die, I made a last effort, would listen no more to the remonstrances
+of the troop, whose horses were sinking under them. I ordered them to
+halt where they were, pushed on alone, and, winding my way through a
+forest covering the side of a low but abrupt hill, or rather
+succession of hills, I suddenly burst out into the light, and saw the
+whole battle beneath, around, and before me. It was magnificent.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+LETTER FROM LEMUEL GULLIVER.
+
+TO THE EDITOR.
+
+
+Sir--At the request of my four-footed friends, I forward to you a free
+translation of the proceedings of a meeting of Houynhyms, recently
+held for the protection of their interests in corn. As the language
+appears more temperate, and the propositions quite as rational, as
+those which are ordinarily brought forward in the other Corn-law
+meetings which still continue to agitate the county, I have no
+difficulty in complying with their wishes; and if you can afford space
+for the insertion of the report in your valuable Magazine, you will
+greatly oblige the Houynhym race, and confer a favour upon, sir, your
+obedient servant,
+
+LEMUEL GULLIVER.
+
+_Stable-Yard, Nov. 10th, 1843._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+ADVERTISEMENT.
+
+A meeting of delegates from the different classes of consumers of oats
+was held on Friday last, at the Nag's Head in the Borough, pursuant to
+public advertisement in the _Hors-Lham Gazette_. The object of the
+meeting was to take into consideration the present consumption of the
+article, and to devise means for its increase. The celebrated horse
+Comrade, of Drury-Lane Theatre, presided on the occasion.
+
+The business of the meeting was opened by a young Racer of great
+promise, who said it was his anxious desire to protect the interests
+of the horse community, and to promote any measure which might
+contribute to the increase of the consumption of oats, and improve the
+condition of his fellow-quadrupeds. He was not versed in political
+economy, nor, indeed, economy of any kind. He had heard much of demand
+and supply, and the difficulty of regulating them properly; but, for
+his own part, he found the latter always equalled the former, though
+he understood such was not the case with his less fortunate brethren.
+He warmly advocated the practice of sowing wild oats, and considered
+that much of the decrease of consumption complained of arose from the
+undue encouragement given to the growth of other grain; and that the
+horse interest would be best promoted by imposing a maximum as to the
+growth of wheat and barley, according to the acreage of each
+particular farm.
+
+A HACKNEY-COACH HORSE declared himself in favour of the sliding-scale,
+which he understood from Sir Peter Lawrie to mean the wooden pavement.
+He admitted it was not well adapted for rainy seasons, but it was
+impossible to doubt that things went much more smoothly wherever it
+was established; and that he, and the working classes whom he
+represented, found in it a considerable relief from the heavy duties
+daily imposed upon them. He wished that some measure could be devised
+for superseding the use of nosebags, which he designated as an
+intolerable nuisance, especially during the summer months; but he
+principally relied for an improvement in condition on the prohibition
+of the mixture of chaff with oats; which latter article, he contended,
+was unfit for the use of able-bodied horses, who earned their daily
+food, and ought to be limited to those cattle who spent an idle
+existence in straw-yards.
+
+A BRIGHT CHESTNUT HORSE, of great power, and well-known in the parks,
+warmly replied to the last neigher. He denounced the sliding-scale as
+a slippery measure, unworthy of a horse of spirit, and adding greatly
+to the burdens with which horses like himself were saddled. He daily
+saw steeds of the noblest blood and most undaunted action humbled to
+the dust by its operation; and if Sir Peter Lawrie was to be believed,
+it was more dreaded by the household troops than Napoleon's army on
+the field of Waterloo. He yielded to no horse in an anxious desire to
+promote the true interests of the horse community; but he could not
+give his support to measures so unsafe, merely because they enabled a
+small and inferior section of their community to move more smoothly.
+He reprobated, in strong terms, the unfeeling allusion of the last
+neigher to the unfortunate inmates of union straw-yards, whom, for his
+own part, he looked upon as nowise inferior to the hackney-coach
+horse himself, of whose right to be present at a meeting of consumers
+of oats he entertained serious doubts. (Loud neighs of "Order!
+Order!")
+
+A SCOTCH HORSE feared that, strictly speaking, he was included in the
+same category with the hackney-coach horse, and had no right to be
+heard, having no personal interest in the question; but he trusted he
+might be permitted to speak as the delegate of the horses of Scotland,
+who were ignorant of the Houynhym language, and not entitled to
+attend. Permission being granted, to the surprise of the assembly he
+descanted with much asperity upon the gross oppression to which horses
+in Scotland were subject, as their rough coats and ragged appearance
+plainly manifested; and stated, in conclusion, that no hope or
+expectation of bettering the condition of the Scotch horse could be
+entertained until their lawful food was restored to them, and
+Scotchmen were compelled, by act of Parliament, to abstain from the
+use of oatmeal, and live like the rest of the civilized world.
+
+Several worn-out horses belonging to members of the Whig
+administration then endeavoured to address the meeting, with an
+evident intention of converting the proceedings into a party question;
+but they were informed by the president, in the midst of loud snorting
+and neighing, that they had not the slightest right to be present, as
+they were all undoubtedly turned out for life. This decision appeared
+to give universal satisfaction.
+
+AN IRISH HORSE was of opinion that the great cause of the present
+difficulties arose from deficiency in the quality and not the quantity
+of the article, and strongly recommended the growth of Irish oats in
+England. To the surprise of the English delegates, he warmly eulogized
+the superiority of the Irish oat; but it afterwards appeared, upon the
+production of a sample, that he had mistaken the potatoe oat for the
+Irish oat.
+
+AN OLD ENGLISH HUNTER next addressed the meeting, and was listened to
+with deep attention. He impressed upon the young delegates the good
+old adage of "Look before you leap," and cautioned them against the
+delusive hope that their condition would be improved by change of
+measures. In the course of his long life he had experienced measures
+of every description, and had invariably found that his supplies
+depended, not on the measure itself; but on the hand that filled it.
+He had ever given his willing support to his employers, and served
+them faithfully; and if they were as well acquainted as quadrupeds
+with the secrets of the stable, they would learn the fallacy of their
+favourite maxim of "Measures, not men," and trust the administration
+of their affairs to upright and steady grooms, rather than those
+fanciful half-educated gentlemen who were perpetually changing the
+rules of the stables, and altering the form of the measures, whereby
+they embarrassed the regular feeding and training of the inmates,
+without producing any practical good.
+
+A STAGE-COACH HORSE imputed their want of condition to the misconduct
+of their leaders, who, he said, could never be kept in the right path,
+or made to do one-half of the work which properly belonged to them. By
+a strange fatality, they were generally purblind, and always shyed
+most fearfully when an Opposition coach approached them. Indeed, it
+was well known that the horses selected for these duties were,
+generally speaking, vicious and unsound, and not taken from the most
+able and powerful, but from the most showy classes. He then proceeded
+to descant upon the general wrongs of horses. He congratulated the
+community upon the abolition of bearing reins, those grievous burdens
+upon the necks of all free-going horses; and he trusted the time would
+soon arrive when the blinkers would also be taken off, every corn-binn
+thrown open, and every horse his own leader.
+
+Several other delegates addressed the meeting, and various plans were
+discussed; but it invariably turned out, upon investigation, that the
+change would only benefit the class of animals by whom it was
+proposed. A post-horse was of opinion, that the true remedy lay in
+decreasing the amount of speed, and shortening the spaces between
+milestones. A Welsh pony was for the abolition of tolls, which, he
+said, exhausted the money intended for repairs; whilst some
+plough-horses from Lincolnshire proposed the encouragement of pasture
+land, the abolition of tillage, and the disuse of oats altogether. The
+harmony of the meeting was, at one period, interrupted, by the
+unfortunate use of the word "_blackguard_" by a delegate from the
+collieries, which caused a magnificent charger from the Royal Horse
+Guards, Blue, to rear up, and, with great indignation, demand if the
+allusion was personal; but who was satisfied with the explanation of
+the president, that it was applicable only in a warlike sense. A long,
+lean, bay horse, with a sour head, demanded a similar explanation of
+the word "_job_," and was told it was used in a _working_ sense.
+Several resolutions, drawn by two dray-horses, embodying the supposed
+grievances of the community, were finally agreed upon, and a petition,
+under the hoof of the president, founded upon them, having been
+prepared, and ordered to be presented to the House of Commons by the
+members for Horsham, the meeting separated, and the delegates returned
+to their respective stables.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+THE PROCLAMATION.
+
+
+      Bold warriors of Erin, I hereby _proclaim_,
+      That the world never witness'd your rivals in fame;
+      Bold sons of Macmurraugh, Macarthy, O'Neill,
+      The armies of earth at your sight would turn pale.
+      A flash from your eyes would light England's last pile,
+      And a touch give her sceptre to Erin's green isle.
+
+      Hurrah for the vengeance of old Mullaghmast,
+      On the blood-bolter'd ground where your gauntlet was cast;
+      Hurrah for the vengeance of Tara's proud hill,
+      Where the bones of our monarchs are blood-sprinkled still.
+      Hurrah for Clontarf, though the Saxon may smile,
+      The last, greatest triumph of Erin's green isle!
+
+      Let the scoffer scoff on, while I hereby _proclaim_,
+      That flight may be courage, and fear but a name;
+      That boasting is good, when 'tis good for the cause,
+      But, in sight of cold steel, _we should honour the laws_;
+      That powder and shot make men swallow their bile--
+      So, hurrah for the glory of Erin's green isle!
+
+      If they ask for your leader, the land's sword and shield,
+      At least none can say that _he fled from the field_.
+      _He_ kept a whole skin--for the service of Rome;
+      So he fix'd his headquarters in quiet at home.
+      They might just as well hunt for the head of the Nile,
+      While he reckon'd his beads for St Patrick's green isle.
+
+      If beggars on horseback will ride--to Clontarf;
+      If tailors will caper with truncheon and scarf,
+      At Sunday carousels, all know, I'm in flower,
+      My taste for the grape don't extend to the shower.
+      Besides, those blue pills disagree with my chyle,
+      So, hurrah!--pence and peace for the grand Emerald Isle!
+
+      If the scoffer should ask, what the deuce brought you there?
+      Of course, it was only to taste the fresh air;
+      To pick cowslips and daisies; and brush off the dew,
+      Or drink gin o'er the tombstone of Brian Boru.
+      As to flags, and all that; 'twas but doing in style,
+      The honours of Freedom to Erin's green isle.
+
+
+      Then, as to your "Squadrons," your "Mount for Repeal,"
+      'Twas merely to teach them the "Right about wheel,"
+      By the word of command from the Saxon to run,
+      As your leader would fly from a bailiff or dun;
+      In short, since a miss is as good as a mile,
+      Swear the whole was a humbug for Erin's green isle.
+
+      Besides, these are delicate moments to croak,
+      Since the Saxon's new plan of a word and a stroke.
+      My mind is made up, like a poodle or pug,
+      No longer to stir from my berth on the rug;
+      Though the bold may revile me, so let them revile--
+      I'm determined to _live_ for old Erin's green isle.
+
+      I _proclaim_--that the Saxon will tremble to meet
+      The heroes of Erin; but, boys, life is sweet.
+      I _proclaim_--that your shout frightens Europe's base thrones;
+      But remember, my boys, there is luck in whole bones;
+      So, take the advice of a friend--wait a while,
+      In a century or two you'll revenge the Green Isle.
+
+      I know in my soul, at the very first shot
+
+      That your whole monster meeting would fly at full trot;
+      What horrid mêlée, then, of popping and flashing!
+      At least I'LL not share in your holiday thrashing;
+      Brawl at Sugden and Smith, but beware "rank and file"--
+      They're too rough for the lambkins of Erin's green isle.
+
+      Observe, my dear boys, if you once get me hang'd,
+      'Tis fifty to one if you'll e'er be harangued.
+      Farewell to the pleasure of paying the "Rint"--
+      Farewell to all earth's vilest nonsense in print--
+      Farewell to the feast of your gall and your guile--
+      All's over at once with the grand Emerald Isle.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+THE FIREMAN'S SONG.
+
+
+      "Ho, comrade, up! awake, arise! look forth into the night:
+      Say, is yon gleam the morning-beam, yon broad and bloody light?
+      Say, does it tell--yon clanging bell--of mass or matin song?
+      Yon drum-roll--calls it to parade the soldier's armèd throng?"
+
+      "No, brother, no! no morning-beam is yonder crimson glare!
+      Yon deep bell tolls no matin--'tis the tocsin's hurried blare!
+      Yon sullen drum-roll mutters out no summons to parade:
+      To fight the flame it summons us--the valiant Fire-Brigade!"
+
+      Then fast the Fireman rose, and waked his mate that lay beside;
+      And each man gripp'd his trusty axe, and donn'd his coat of hide--
+      There bounds beneath that leather coat a heart as strange to fear
+      As ever swell'd beneath the steel of gilded cuirassier.
+
+      And from beneath the leather casque that guards the Fireman's brow,
+      A bolder, sterner glance shines out than plumy crest can show;
+      And oft shall ply the Fireman's axe, though rude and rough it be,
+      Where sabre, lance, and bayonet, right soon would turn and flee!
+
+      Off dash the thundering engines, like goblin jäger-chase--
+      The sleeper shudders as they pass, and pallid grows his face:
+      Away, away! though close and bright yon ruddy glow appear,
+      Far, far we have to gallop yet, or e'er our work we near!
+
+      A plain of upturn'd faces--pale brows and quivering lips,
+      All flickering like the tropic sea in the green light of eclipse;
+      And the multitude waves to and fro, as in the tropic sea,
+      After a tempest, heaves and falls the ground-swell sleeplessly.
+
+      Now, by my faith! goodly sight you mansion fast asleep--
+      Those winking lamps beside the gate a dull watch seem to keep--
+      But a gay awaking waits them, when the crash of blazing beam,
+      And the Fireman's stern réveille, shall mingle with their dream!
+
+      And sound as sleeps that mansion, ye may mark in every chink
+      A gleam, as in the lava-cracks by the volcano's brink;
+      Through key-hole and through window-slit, a white and sullen glow--
+      And all above is rolling smoke, and all is dark below.
+
+      Hark! hear ye not that murmur, that hush and hollow roar,
+      As when to the south-wester bow the pines upon the shore;
+      And that low crackling intermix'd, like wither'd twig that breaks,
+      When in the midnight greenwood the startled squirrel wakes!
+
+      Lo, how the fire comes roaring on, like a host in war array!
+      Nor lacks it gallant music to cheer it on its way,
+      Nor flap of flame-tongued banner, like the Oriflamme of old,
+      Its vanward cohorts heralding, in crimson, green, and gold.
+
+      The engines now are ranged a-row--hark, how they sob and pant!
+      How gallantly the water-jets curve soaringly aslant!
+      Up spins the stream--it meets the flame--it bursts in fleecy rain,
+      Like the last spout of the dying whale, when the lance is in
+          his brain.
+
+      Ha, ha! from yon high window thrill'd the wild shriek of despair,
+      And gibbering phantoms seem to dance within the ruddy glare;
+      And as a valiant captain leads his boarders to the fray,
+      "Up, up, my sons!" our foreman shouts--"up firemen, and away!"
+
+      Their arms are strong and sinewy--see how the splinters fly--
+      Their axes they are sharp and good--"Back, comrades! or ye die--
+      Look to the walls!"--a rending crash--they topple--down they come--
+      A cloud of sparks--a feeble cheer--again!--and all is dumb.
+
+      A pause--as on that battle-day, 'twixt France and England's might,
+      When huge L'Orient blew up at once, in the hottest of the fight:
+      There was not one, they say, but wink'd, and held his breath
+          the while,
+      Though brave were they that fought that day with Nelson at the Nile.
+
+      And by to-morrow's sunrise, amid the steaming stones,
+      A chain of gold half-melted, and a few small white bones,
+      And a few rags of roasted flesh, alone shall show where died--
+      The noble and the beautiful, the baby and the bride!
+
+      O fire, he is a noble thing!--the sot's pipe gives him birth;
+      Or from the livid thunder-cloud he leaps alive on earth;
+      Or in the western wilderness devouring silently;
+      Or on the lava rocking in the womb of Stromboli.
+
+      Right well in Hamburg revell'd he--though Elbe ran rolling by--
+      He could have drain'd--so fierce his thirst--the mighty river dry!
+      With silk, and gold, and diamond, he cramm'd his hungry maw;
+      And he tamed the wild republicans, who knew nor lord nor law!
+
+      He feasted well in Moscow--in the city of the Tsar--
+      When 'fore the northern streamers paled Napoleon's lurid star:
+      Around the hoary Kremlin, where Moscow once had stood,
+      He pass'd, and left a heap behind, of ashes slaked in blood!
+
+      He feasted once in London--he feasted best of all--
+      When through the close-packed city, he swept from wall to wall:
+      Even as of old the wrath of God came down in fiery rain,
+      On Sodom and Gomorrha, on the Cities of the Plain!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+POSITION AND PROSPECTS OF THE GOVERNMENT.
+
+
+A recruited revenue; reviving trade and commerce; reduction in the
+price of provisions; the triumphant termination of hostilities in all
+parts of the world, with its great immediate prospective advantages: a
+general feeling of confidence, arising from the steady administration
+of public affairs, in spite of persevering and atrocious efforts to
+excite dissatisfaction and alarm; nay, even the stern repose
+prevailing in Ireland, preserved though it be, for a while, under
+cover of artillery, and at the bayonet's point, but affording a
+precious respite from agitation, and a foretaste of the blessings that
+may be expected from its permanent suppression: all these
+circumstances unequivocally attest the existence of a powerful
+Government acting upon a comprehensive and enduring policy, which is
+becoming daily better appreciated by the strong good sense which ever
+distinguishes the British character, when a fair opportunity is
+afforded for its exercise.
+
+Upwards of two years have now elapsed since the accession of the
+present Government to power, at a period of universally admitted
+difficulty and danger. We have been, during this critical interval,
+dispassionate and independent observers of Ministers, and their
+conduct of public affairs, anxious to see whether they were really
+equal to the occasion, and worthy of the confidence of the Sovereign
+and the country. We are ourselves satisfied, and undertake to
+demonstrate to our readers, that this question must be answered in the
+affirmative. We say all this advisedly, and with no disposition to
+deny the existence of difficulties, which, if serious to the present,
+would be absolutely insuperable to any other Government. During the
+interval in question, Ministers have triumphed over more formidable
+difficulties than any which they have at present to encounter. _That_,
+also, we say advisedly--cheerfully, confidently--with Ireland before
+our eyes, and the din of the audacious and virulent Anti-corn-law
+League in our ears.
+
+Passing these topics for the present, let us proceed to examine
+carefully the real position of Sir Robert Peel and his Government,
+with a view to ascertaining its prospects of a continuance in power.
+This enquiry cannot be successfully conducted, without referring for a
+moment to the immense changes in principles and parties effected by
+the Reform Bill in 1832--a period of quite as great a revolution as
+that of 1688. The Tory party it nearly annihilated!--The first Reform
+Parliament consisting of only 187 Tories to 471 Whigs and
+Radicals--the former being thus in the fearful minority of 284. We
+recollect sharing in the despondency, and even despair, which
+paralysed our party. There was, however, one signal exception in the
+person of Sir Robert Peel, whose conduct on that occasion entitles him
+to the eternal gratitude of every man pretending to the character of a
+Conservative, nay, of every true lover of his country and its
+institutions. With surprising energy, calmness, and foresight, he
+instantly addressed himself to the formation, even under those
+inauspicious and disheartening circumstances, of that _great_
+CONSERVATIVE _party_ of which he is now the acknowledged head. In
+1841, just _before_ the general election, he thus _reminded that
+party_, and apprized the country at large of the principle on which he
+had acted in 1832. We beg our readers to ponder his words, and the
+period when he uttered them.
+
+    "I then foresaw the good that might result from laying the
+    foundation of a great Conservative party in the state,
+    attached to the fundamental institutions of the country--not
+    opposed to any rational change in it which the lapse of years,
+    or the altered circumstances of society might require, but
+    determined to maintain, on their ancient footing and
+    foundation, our great institutions in church and state. In
+    order to form that party, however, it was necessary, in the
+    first instance, to widen the foundation on which it should
+    stand: to call into our connexion men from whom we had been
+    separated in consequence of differences which no longer
+    existed. My grand object was to build up that great party
+    which has been gradually acquiring strength in this
+    country--which has been gradually widening the foundation on
+    which it stands, and which has drawn, from time to time, its
+    support from its opponents."[11]
+
+    [11] Speech to the Tamworth Electors on 28th June 1841,
+    (Painter, Strand.)
+
+The shortest and best evidence of the success which has attended the
+unwearied exertions of Sir Robert Peel during the ensuing then years,
+is afforded by the following summary of the results of the four
+general elections since the passing of the Reform Bill; three of them
+under the auspices and with the unscrupulously exercised patronage of
+the Reform Government. Observe the ascending and descending scales:--
+
+           C.   L.
+          187  471  (1832)
+          275  383  (1835)
+          314  344  (1837)
+          373  283  (1841)
+
+Who was it but its founder, that led the Conservative party through
+these successive stages of triumph? Who did so much as he to effect
+that gradual but decisive change in public opinion which, in 1841,
+routed the Liberal Ministry in spite of their extraordinary exertions
+and advantages, and placed a Conservative Government at the head of
+affairs? To enable us to appreciate the importance of that great
+victory, and also the decision of character evinced on that occasion
+by Sir Robert Peel, let us for a moment advert to the calm
+self-reliance with which, amidst the breathless apprehensions and
+misgivings of his whole party, he gave battle to the enemy--proposed
+the memorable vote of want of confidence, and carried it by a majority
+of one.[12] A more critical move never was followed by more signal
+success; every ensuing event serving to show, that so far from his
+movements having been impelled by rash and desperate party
+speculations, they had been based upon a profound and accurate
+knowledge of his resources, and of the state of feeling and opinion in
+the country. "I gave the Government every advantage," said he, "to
+make their appeal to the country. They boast of the confidence of the
+crown--they have every means at their disposal which official
+influence can command to exert in their own behalf. An appeal has been
+made by them from the House of Commons to you, and it is for the
+country to decide the question at issue. They have made an appeal to
+public feeling on account of cheap sugar and cheap bread. My firm
+belief is, that the people of this country have not at all responded
+to that cry." How well-founded was that "firm belief," was proved by
+the glorious result:--the "people of this country did" _not_ "respond
+to that cry"--they rejected--they repudiated it, and they would do so
+again if another such appeal were made to them to-morrow.
+
+    [12] Ayes, 312; Noes, 311--4th June 1841.
+
+Let us now proceed to show what pretence there is for the injurious
+insinuations and assertions of Sir Robert Peel's traducers--whether
+treacherous friends or open enemies--that, in order to obtain power,
+he hung out false colours to the nation; that his declarations before
+the general election have been disregarded and falsified by his acts
+on attaining office. We will for ever demolish all such calumnies and
+false pretences by going, step by step, through a document which we
+made a point of procuring at the time, and preserving hitherto, and to
+which we have since frequently referred, on hearing uttered the
+slanderous charges to which we allude. That document is a copy of the
+speech which Sir Robert Peel, on the 28th June 1841, addressed
+formally to his constituents, but virtually, of course, to the whole
+nation.
+
+One of his earliest declarations was the following:--"Gentlemen, _I
+have ever professed moderate opinions on politics_. The principles I
+professed, and adhered to, I shall adhere to during my public life,
+whether in opposition or in power, are, I believe, in perfect
+conformity with the prevailing good sense, the moderation, and the
+intelligence of the great body of the people of England." This was a
+sufficiently distinct notice to all men, especially to those of
+extreme opinions, whether Tory, Liberal, or Radical, of the course of
+action which was to be looked for from the expectant Prime Minister.
+
+Then, first, he proceeded to admit the existence of manufacturing
+distress.
+
+"I admit and deplore it, but I do not despair. I have seen distress in
+manufactures and in commerce before now. I think the causes of the
+present distress are but temporary--that the cloud will soon blow
+over--and that the great foundations of manufacturing prosperity are
+not affected; and I hope I shall very shortly see the day when our
+manufactures will once more revive, and when we shall again fill the
+place we have always occupied--that of producers for the markets of
+the world."
+
+Now for its _cause_.
+
+"Now let us consider the important question, as to how far the
+distress in the manufactures and commerce of the country is fairly
+attributable to the corn-laws." He proceeded to show, from Lord
+Palmerston's official statement in Parliament on the 22d July 1840,
+that, between the years 1830 and 1839, the _exports_ had risen from
+the value of L.38,000,000 to L.53,000,000, and the _imports_ from
+L.46,000,000 to L.62,000,000, "a clear proof that, notwithstanding the
+local and temporary checks which our commerce had experienced, on the
+whole it had gone on steadily improving, and that between the two
+periods it had increased not much less than from two to three."
+
+He then took the _shipping_ and _navigation_ of the country for the
+preceding three years; and in looking at them, I cannot help thinking
+that, if there was any thing like an absolute decrease in trade and
+commerce, there would also be a decrease in the shipping of the
+country. "Well," said Sir Robert Peel, "What do I find?" The returns
+"showed an increase, presented within the last three years, from
+4,000,000 tons to 4,780,000 tons." Now mark--"during the whole of this
+period the corn-laws were in operation; how then can they be fairly or
+honestly assigned as the cause of the present manufacturing and
+commercial distress?"
+
+But if the corn-laws were _not_, what _was_ the cause?
+
+"I see causes enough in the world, as well as in this country, why
+there should be manufacturing and commercial distress at the present
+moment, irrespective and totally independent of the corn-laws."
+
+These were--
+
+1st, "_I do fear that, in the north of England, an undue stimulus has
+been given to manufacturing industry by the accommodation system
+pursued by the joint-stock banks. I think the connexion of the
+manufacturer with the joint-stock banks gave an undue and an improper
+impulse to trade in that quarter of the county; and I think that, in
+consequence of this, there have been more manufactures produced within
+the last two years than were necessary to supply the demand for
+them._"
+
+2ndly, "Look to the state of some of the foreign countries, which
+took, at one time, the greatest quantity of our manufactures;" South
+America, its ports strictly blockaded by France; the United States of
+North America, "in a state of nascent hostility," and also labouring
+under "a distress similar to our own, and arising from similar causes.
+The facility of accommodation afforded by certain banks there gave an
+undue stimulus to industry; this produced extravagant speculations;
+many persons failed in consequence, and trade necessarily then came to
+a stand-still." Canada--the peninsula, France, the great Kingdoms of
+the middle and north of Europe--Syria, Egypt, China, had been, and
+were, in such a state, as occasioned all interruption of our trade
+thither; "a stoppage in the demand for manufactured goods, and a
+correspondent depression in commerce." "When you put all these things
+together, all causes, mind you, affecting the market for your goods,
+and then combine them with the two or three defective harvests we have
+had of late, I ask you to answer me the question, Whether or not they
+have been sufficient to account for the depression of manufacturing
+industry."
+
+Then came Sir Robert Peel to the two grand and suddenly discovered
+panaceas of the late Government, for recruiting the exhausted revenue,
+and relieving the general distress--viz. "cheap sugar," and "cheap
+bread."
+
+1st, As to foreign sugar:--
+
+"I clearly and freely admit that those restrictions which cannot be
+justified should be removed, and that the commerce of the country
+should be perfectly free, whenever it can possibly be so; but I
+consider the article of sugar to be wholly exempt from the principle
+of free trade." * * * "The question now is this--whether, after the
+sacrifices which this country has made for the suppression of the
+slave trade and the abolition of slavery, and the glorious
+results that have ensued, and are likely to ensue, from these
+sacrifices--whether we shall run the risk of losing the benefit of
+those sacrifices, and tarnishing for ever that glory, by admitting to
+the British market sugar the produce of foreign slavery." * * * "If
+you admit it, it will come from Brazil and Cuba. In Brazil, the
+slave-trade exists in full force; in Cuba, it is unmitigated in its
+extent and horrors. The sugar of Cuba is the finest in the world; but
+in Cuba, slavery is unparalleled in its horrors. I do not at all
+overstate the fact, when I say, that 50,000 slaves are annually landed
+in Cuba. That is the yearly importation into the island; but, when you
+take into consideration the vast numbers that perish before they leave
+their own coasts, the still greater number that die amidst the horrors
+of the middle passage, and the number that are lost at sea, you will
+come to the inevitable conclusion, that the number landed in
+Cuba--50,000 annually--is but a slight indication of the number
+shipped in Africa, or of the miseries and destruction that have taken
+place among them during their transport thither. If you open the
+markets of England to the sugar of Cuba, you may depend on it that you
+give a great stimulus to slavery, and the slave-trade." Sir Robert
+Peel then pointed out peculiar and decisive distinctions between the
+case of sugar, and that of cotton, tobacco, and coffee; that, though
+all of them were the produce of slave labour--First, we cannot now
+reject the _cotton_ of the United States, without endangering to the
+last degree the manufacturing prosperity of the kingdom. Secondly, of
+all the descriptions of slave produce, sugar is the most cruelly
+destructive of human life--the proportion of deaths in a sugar
+plantation being infinitely greater than on those of cotton or coffee.
+Thirdly, slave grown sugar has _never_ been admitted to consumption in
+this country.[13] He also assigned two great co-operating reasons for
+rejecting slave-grown sugar:--"That the people of England required the
+great experiment of emancipation to be fairly tried; and they would
+_not_ think it fairly tried, if, at this moment, when the colonies
+were struggling with such difficulties, we were to open the floodgates
+of a foreign supply, and inundate the British market with sugar, the
+produce of slave-labour;" adopting the very words of the Whig
+Vice-President of the Board of Trade, Mr Labouchere, on the 25th June
+1840. The other reason was, "that our immense possessions in the East
+Indies give us the means, and afford us every facility, for acquiring
+sugar, the produce of free labour, to an illimitable extent."
+
+    [13] The following striking passage from the writings of the
+    celebrated Dr Channing of America, was quoted by Sir Robert
+    Peel in the speech under consideration. "Great Britain, loaded
+    with an unprecedented debt, and with a grinding taxation,
+    contracted a new debt of a hundred millions of dollars, to
+    give freedom, not to Englishmen, but to the degraded African.
+    I know not that history records an act so disinterested, so
+    sublime. In the progress of ages, England's naval triumphs
+    will shrink into a more and more narrow space in the records
+    of our race--this moral triumph will fill a broader--brighter
+    page." "Take care!" emphatically added Sir Robert Peel, "that
+    this brighter page be not sullied by the admission of slave
+    sugar into the consumption of this country--by our
+    encouragement--and, too, our unnecessary encouragement of
+    slavery and the slave-trade!"--Noble sentiments!
+
+So much for foreign sugar. Now for--
+
+II. FOREIGN CORN; and we beg the special attention of all parties to
+this portion of the manifesto of Sir Robert Peel:--
+
+"Look at the capital invested in land and agriculture in this
+country--look at the interests involved in it--look at the arrangement
+that has been come to for the commutation of tithes--look at your
+importation of corn diminishing for the last ten years--consider the
+burdens on the land peculiar to this country[14]--take all these
+circumstances into consideration, and then you will agree with Mr
+McCulloch, the great advocate of a change in the Corn-law, that
+'considering the vast importance of agriculture, _nearly half the
+population of the empire are directly or indirectly dependent on it
+for employment and the means of subsistence_; a prudent statesman
+would pause before he gave his sanction to any measure however sound
+in principle, or beneficial to the mercantile and manufacturing
+classes, that might endanger the prosperity of agriculture, or check
+the rapid spread of improvement.'"[15]
+
+    [14] "We believe," says _Mr McCulloch_ himself in another part
+    of the pamphlet, (Longman & Co., 1841, p. 23--6th Edit.) from
+    which Sir Robert Peel is quoting, "that land is more heavily
+    taxed than any other species of property in the country--and
+    that its owners are clearly entitled to insist that a duty
+    should be laid on foreign corn when imported, sufficient fully
+    to countervail the excess of burdens laid upon the land."
+
+    [15] Speech, pp. 9, 10.
+
+Now for the "_Sliding Scale_."
+
+"I just here repeat the opinion which I have declared here before, and
+also in the House of Commons, that I cannot consent to substitute a
+fixed duty of 8s. a-quarter on foreign corn, for the present ascending
+and descending scale of duties. I prefer the principle of the
+ascending and descending scale, to such an amount of fixed duty. And
+when I look at the burdens to which the land of this country is
+subject, I do not consider the fixed duty of 8s. a-quarter on corn
+from Poland, and Prussia, and Russia, where no such burdens exist, a
+sufficient protection for it."[16]
+
+    [16] Do. p. 8.
+
+Again--
+
+"If you disturb agriculture, and divert the employment of capital from
+the land, you may not increase your foreign trade--for that is a thing
+to dwell under existing circumstances--_but will assuredly reduce the
+home trade, by reducing the means to meet the demand_, and thus
+permanently injure yourselves also."[17]
+
+    [17] Do. p. 13.
+
+Again--
+
+"I have come to the conclusion, that the existing system of an
+ascending and descending scale of duties, should not be altered: and
+that, moreover, we should as much as possible make ourselves
+independent of a foreign supply--and not disturb the principle of the
+existing corn-laws--of these corn-laws, which, when you have an
+abundance of your own, exclude altogether the foreign supply--and when
+the price rises in this country, freely admits it."[18]
+
+    [18] Speech, p. 15.
+
+Again--he quoted the following remarkable language of Lord Melbourne
+on the 11th June 1840--
+
+"_Whether the object be to have a fixed duty, or an alteration as to
+the ascending and descending scale, I see clearly and distinctly,
+that that object will not be carried without a most violent
+struggle--without causing much ill-blood, and a deep sense of
+grievance--without stirring society to its foundations, and leaving
+behind every sort of bitterness and animosity. I do not think the
+advantages to be gained by the change are worth the evils of the
+struggle_."[19]
+
+    [19] Do. p. 18.
+
+And Sir Robert Peel concluded the foregoing summary of his views, on
+the great questions then proposed to the country for its decision, in
+the following words:--
+
+"I ask your free suffrages, with this frank and explicit declaration
+of my opinions."[20]
+
+    [20] Do. p. 18.
+
+On this, there occur to us three questions--
+
+(1st.) Was this, or was it not, a frank and explicit declaration of
+his opinions? And, (2d.) Did it, or did it not, as tested by the
+result of the general election, completely satisfy the country? (3d.)
+In what respect has the subsequent conduct of Sir Robert Peel been
+inconsistent with these declarations? And we echo the stern enquiry
+of the Duke of Wellington, for "the _when_, the _where_, and the
+_how_," "of Sir Robert Peel's deceiving his supporters or the
+country"--and "pause for a reply." Failing to receive any--for none
+can be given, except in the negative--we shall proceed to condense the
+substance of this memorable manifesto into a few words; offer some
+general observations designed to assist in forming a correct judgment
+upon the topics discussed in the ensuing pages; and then give as fair
+an outline as we know how to present, of the "DOINGS" of Sir Robert
+Peel and his Government, by way of comment upon, and illustration of
+his previous and preparatory "SAYINGS."
+
+What, then, was the substance of Sir Robert Peel's declaration, on
+presenting himself before the country as a candidate for the office
+which he fills? He avowed himself a man of moderate political
+opinions; recognized the existence of manufacturing and commercial
+distress, but referred it to causes of only a temporary nature,
+unconnected with the corn-laws; repudiated the empirical expedients
+proposed by the late ministry; and pledged himself to maintain the
+principle of protection to our agricultural interests; declaring his
+deliberate preference of a sliding scale of duties, to a fixed duty,
+upon foreign corn.
+
+The first of the observations to which we beg the reader's earnest
+attention, is--that Sir Robert Peel has _to govern by means of a
+Reformed House of Commons_. It is for want of well considering this
+circumstance, that one or two respectable sections of the Conservative
+party have conceived some dissatisfaction at the line of policy
+adopted by Sir Robert Peel. They forget that, as we have already
+stated, the _Tory_ party was nearly destroyed by the passing of the
+Reform Bill; that from its ashes rose the CONSERVATIVE party, adapted
+to the totally new political exigencies of the times; its grand object
+being, as it were, out of the elements of democracy to arrest the
+progress of democracy. The bond of its union was correctly described
+by its founder, as consisting in attachment to the fundamental
+institutions of the country--non-opposition to rational changes
+rendered requisite by the altered circumstances of the times--but
+determination to maintain, on their ancient footing and foundation,
+our great institutions in Church and State. Keeping these grand
+objects ever in view, the true policy to be adopted was to widen the
+foundations on which should stand "that new party _which was to draw,
+from time to time, its strength from its opponents_." None saw this
+more clearly than Sir Robert Peel--and hence the "_moderation_,"
+indispensable and all-powerful, which he prescribed to himself, and
+recommended to all those who chose to act with him, and the steady
+acting upon which has at length conducted them to their present
+splendid position of power and responsibility. Could the government of
+the country be now carried on upon principles that were all-powerful
+twenty--or even fewer--years ago? No more than Queen Victoria could
+govern on the principles of Queen Elizabeth! We must look at things,
+not as they were, or as we would wish them to be--but as they are and
+are likely to be. He is unable to take a just and comprehensive view
+of political affairs in this country--of the position of parties, and
+the tendency of the principles respectively advocated by them, who
+does not see that the great and only contest now going on, is between
+_conservative_ and _destructive_. We say boldly--and we are satisfied
+that we say it in conformity with the opinions of the immense majority
+of persons of intelligence and property--that the forces which would
+drive Sir Robert Peel's Government from office would immediately and
+inevitably supply their places by a Government which must act upon
+destructive principles. This will not be believed by many of those
+who, moving in the circumscribed sphere of intense party feeling, can
+contemplate only one object, namely--a return to power, and disregard
+the intentions of the fierce auxiliaries of whose services they would
+avail themselves. To the country at large, however, who breathe a
+freer air, the true nature of the struggle is plain as the sun at
+noonday. The number of those who only nominally belong to parties,
+but have a very deep stake in the preservation of our national
+institutions, and see distinctly the advantages of a Minister acting
+_firmly_ on moderate principles, and who will consequently give him a
+_silent_ but steady support in moments of danger, is infinitely larger
+than is supposed by the opponents of the Conservative party. Such a
+Minister, however, must make up his account with receiving often only
+a cold and jealous support from those of his adherents who incline to
+extreme opinions; while his opponents will increase their zeal and
+animosity in proportion to their perception of the unobjectionableness
+of his measures, the practical _working_ of his moderation, viz.--his
+continuance in power, and their own exclusion from it. Such a Minister
+must possess a large share of fortitude, careless of its exhibition,
+and often exposing him to the charge of insensibility, as he moves
+steadily on amongst disaffected supporters and desperate
+opponents, mindless equally of taunts, threats, reproaches, and
+misrepresentations. He must resolve to _bide his time_, while his
+well-matured measures are slowly developing themselves, relying on the
+conscious purity of his motives. Such a man as this the country will
+prize and support, and such a man we sincerely believe that the
+country possesses in the present Prime Minister. He may view,
+therefore, with perfect equanimity, a degree of methodized clamour and
+violence, which would overthrow a Minister of a different
+stamp. Such are the inconveniences--such the consolations and
+advantages--attending that course of _moderation_ which alone can be
+adopted with permanent success, by a Conservative Minister governing
+with a reformed House of Commons.
+
+Another observation we would offer, has for its object to abate the
+pique and vexation under which the ablest volunteer advisers of the
+Minister are apt to suffer, on his disregard of their counsels, and
+sometimes to revenge themselves by bitter and indiscriminate censure
+of his general policy. They should remember, that while they are
+irresponsible volunteers, he acts under a tremendous responsibility;
+to sustain which, however, he has advantages which none but those in
+his situation can possibly possess--the co-operation of able brother
+Ministers, with all those sources and means of universal information
+which the constitution has placed at his disposal. The superior
+knowledge of the circumstances of the country thus acquired, enable
+him to see insuperable objections to schemes and suggestions, which
+their proposers reasonably deem to be palpably just and feasible. We
+have often thought that if Sir Robert Peel, or any other Prime
+Minister, were to take one of these eager and confident advisers into
+his cabinet, and calmly exhibit to him the actual impossibility--the
+imminent danger--of adopting the course of procedure which that
+adviser has been strenuously recommending, he would go away with
+slightly increased distrust of himself, and consideration for the
+Minister. Neither Sir Robert Peel, nor any other Minister, would be so
+arrogantly stupid as to disregard free information and advice,
+_merely_ because it came from such persons, who, if they have no right
+to expect their advice to be followed, have yet a clear right to offer
+it, and urge it with all their force.
+
+Again--The present Ministers had the disadvantage (in some respects)
+of succeeding to those, who, if they could _do_ nothing, made up for
+it by _promising_ every thing. Sir Robert Peel and his friends, on the
+contrary, made no promises whatever, beyond what would indeed be
+implied by acceptance of office--namely, honestly to endeavour to
+govern the country, for the permanent good of the country. While
+admitting the existence of great distress, they expressly admitted
+also, that they saw no mode of sudden relief for that distress, but
+would trust to the energies of the country gradually recovering
+themselves, under steady and cautious management. Sir Robert Peel
+frankly stated in the House of Commons, just previously to the
+dissolution in 1841, that he had no hope of an immediate return of
+prosperity; and that such had become the state of our domestic and
+foreign embarrassments, that "we must for years expect to struggle
+with difficulty." This was their language on the eve of the general
+election, yet the country placed confidence in their honour and
+capacity, heartily sickened of the prodigal _promises_ of their
+opponents. The extravagant visionary hopes which they held forth at
+the eleventh hour, in their frenzied eagerness to obtain a majority at
+the last election, are still gleaming brightly before the eyes of
+numbers of their deluded supporters; imposing on the present
+Government the painful and ungracious duty of proving to them that
+such hopes and expectations cannot be realized, even for a brief
+space, without breaking up the foundations of our national existence
+and greatness.
+
+Lastly. Can the Conservatives be expected in TWO years' time to repair
+all the evils resulting from a TEN years' gross mismanagement of the
+national affairs by their predecessors? "The evil that they did,
+_lives after them_." But for the fortunate strength of the
+Conservative party, moreover, in opposition, and the patriotism and
+wisdom of the house of Lords, the late Ministers would, by the time of
+their expulsion from office, have rendered the condition of the
+country _utterly_ desperate--for very nearly desperate it assuredly
+was. Their vacillating, inconsistent, wild, and extravagant conduct
+during these ten years, had generated an universal sense of insecurity
+and want of confidence among all the great interests of the country,
+which locked up capital--palsied enterprise. Trade and commerce
+drooped daily, and the revenue melted away rapidly every year. Great
+things were justly expected from the practical skill and experience
+possessed by the new Government; but _time_ is requisite for the
+development of a policy which had, and still has, to contend against
+such numerous and formidable obstacles. Confidence, especially
+mercantile confidence, is a delicate flower, of slow growth, and very
+difficult to rear. A breath may blight it. It will bloom only in a
+tranquil and temperate air. If ever there was a man entitled to speak,
+however, with authority upon this subject, it was Mr Baring, the late
+candidate, and unquestionably the future member, for the city of
+London--a man constantly engaged in vast mercantile transactions in
+all parts of the globe, and whose ability equals his experience. In
+the presence of a great number of gentlemen, representing two-thirds
+of the wealth and intelligence of the city of London, thus spoke Mr
+Baring, on the 6th October 1843:--"I rejoice that Sir Robert Peel did
+not hold out to the country the fallacious hope, that, by any
+particular measure, he could restore prosperity, or cure sufferings
+which were beyond the reach of legislation, and that he patiently
+relied upon the resources and energies of the country to set trade and
+commerce right. That expectation is already beginning to be realized.
+That calm reliance is already justified. I am speaking in the presence
+of those who are as much as, if not more conversant with business
+than, myself, and they will contradict me if I am not right when I
+say, that great symptoms of improvement in the trade and industry of
+the country have manifested themselves; which symptoms are of such a
+nature, that they do not appear to be the result of momentary
+excitement produced by some fallacious experiment, but of the
+paramount re-establishment of commerce, and of a fresh era in the
+prosperity of the empire. I am asked what have the Government done?
+Why, they have _restored_ CONFIDENCE to the country! They have
+terminated wars, they have restored confidence at home, and commanded
+respect abroad."
+
+Now, however, for the DOINGS of the Government; and of those we shall
+take no more detailed or extended notice than is requisite, in our
+opinion, to exhibit the general system and _plan_ of their procedure,
+and show its complete consistency with the declaration of opinions
+made by Sir Robert Peel previous to the general election of 1841.
+
+It will be borne in mind, that the then existing distress in our
+commercial and manufacturing interests he referred to three
+_temporary_ causes:--the undue stimulus which had been given to
+industry in the manufacturing districts--by the accommodation system
+pursued in the joint-stock banks, the troubled and hostile condition
+of almost all those foreign countries which used to be the best
+customers for our manufactures, and the two or three preceding
+defective harvests. The first of these was not of a nature to call
+for, or perhaps admit of, direct and specific legislative
+interference. It originated in a vicious system of contagious private
+speculation, which has involved many thousands of those engaged in it
+in irredeemable, shall we add _deserved_, disgrace and ruin--and which
+had better, perhaps, be left to work its own cure. The last of the
+three causes was one to which all mankind is every where subject, and
+which is in a great measure beyond the reach of effective human
+interference. Before proceeding to explain the steps taken to remedy
+the second, viz., our distracted foreign relations, let us premise
+briefly for the present, that the very earliest acts of Ministers
+showed how profoundly sensible they were of the necessity of doing
+_something_, and that promptly, to relieve the grievous distress under
+which the lower orders were suffering, and at the same time afford a
+safe, effective, and permanent stimulus to trade and commerce. A
+comprehensive survey of the state, not only of our own but foreign
+commercial countries, satisfied them, as practical men, of the serious
+difficulties to be here contended with. The steps they took, after due
+deliberation--viz., the proposing the new tariff and the new
+corn-law--we shall presently refer to. Let us now point out _the
+income-tax_ as a measure reflecting infinite credit upon those who had
+the sagacity and resolution to propose it. We shall not dwell upon
+this great _temporary_ measure, which in one year has poured upwards
+of _five millions_ into the exhausted exchequer, further than to say,
+that as soon as ever it was known among the monied classes, that the
+Minister, environed as he was with financial difficulties, would risk
+any amount of popular odium rather than add to the permanent burdens
+of the country, or permit the ruinous continuance of an excess of
+expenditure over revenue. As soon as this was evident, we say, the
+great monied interests of the kingdom recognized in Sir Robert Peel an
+honest minister, and gave him forthwith its complete confidence, which
+has never since been for an instant withdrawn from him. And how great
+are the obligations of that vast portion of the most suffering classes
+of the community, whom he exempted from this extraordinary
+contribution to the burdens of the state!
+
+But now for _foreign affairs_. May not the present Ministers look with
+just pride towards every quarter of the globe, and exclaim, _Quæ regio
+in terris nostri non plena laboris?_ In truth their success here has
+been sufficient to set up half a dozen Ministers--as is known to no
+man better than Lord Palmerston. The Duke of Wellington and Lord
+Aberdeen have restored peace to the whole world, re-establishing it on
+a footing of dignified security and equality. By the persevering
+energy, the calm determination, and inexhaustible resources of Lord
+Aberdeen, "the winter of our discontent," has been "made glorious
+summer," with all the great powers of the world. Look at our glorious
+but irritable neighbour--France: is there any language too strong to
+express the delight which we feel at the renovated sympathy and
+affection which exist between us?
+
+We cannot answer for France to the extent which we can for England;
+but we know, that through the length and breadth of _this_ land--our
+beloved Queen's familiar visit to the King of the French, their
+affectionate greeting, and her Majesty's enthusiastic reception by the
+people, diffused a feeling of joy and affection towards France, which
+will not soon--nay, should it ever?--subside. But would that visit
+have taken place, if Lord Palmerston, and not Lord Aberdeen, had
+presided over the foreign councils of this country? 'Tis a
+disagreeable question, and we pass on. Then as to America, thanks to
+the mission of Lord Ashburton, peace has been secured between us, on
+terms equally honourable to both. We are now at peace with the United
+States--a peace not to be disturbed by the (to Whiggish eyes)
+_promising_ (!!) aspect of the Oregon difficulties--which we tell our
+aforesaid friends will end in--_nothing at all_--[It is not, by the
+way, _the fault of our Government_, that this disputed matter was not
+embraced by the Washington Treaty.]--While Lord Palmerston and his
+doleful ally, the _Morning Chronicle_, were daily stigmatizing the
+treaty of Washington, as highly dishonourable and disadvantageous to
+this country, it may interest our readers to see what one of the
+disaffected _American_ senators had to say on the subject. Thus spoke,
+in the senate, Mr Benton, a well-known member of congress:--
+
+    "The concessions of Great Britain to the United States are
+    small. The territory granted to the United States, is of such
+    a nature, that it will never be of importance to hold it,
+    while the possessions given up by the United States are
+    important and valuable to them, and have the effect of
+    admitting a foreign power within a territory which was granted
+    to the United States, by the treaty of 1783. * * When I see
+    the Government giving up more than Great Britain demanded, I
+    cannot conceal my amazement and mortification!"
+
+
+Glancing, however, from the West to the East--what do we see?
+Wars in India and China, brought gloriously to an advantageous
+termination.--"Wars," to adopt the language of one of the greatest
+mercantile authorities living, "which have been deranging our money
+transactions, and making our trade a trade of hazard and speculation,
+most injurious to the commerce of the empire at large."
+
+While, on the one hand, we are relieved from the ruinous drain upon
+our resources, occasioned by our protracted warlike operations in
+India and China, on the other, a prospect is opened to us, by the
+immensely important treaty into which the Emperor of China has entered
+with this country, of very great and permanent commercial advantages,
+which are already being realized. Let our manufacturers, however,
+beware of the danger of forfeiting these advantages, by excessive
+eagerness to avail themselves of these newly acquired markets.
+Twelve-months ago, we earnestly warned them on this score,[21] and we
+now as earnestly repeat that warning; "Notwithstanding," observed an
+able French journalist, a few weeks ago, upon this subject, "the
+opening of five ports to European commerce, China will for many years
+preserve her internal laws, her eccentric tastes, her inveterate
+habits. China is the country of routine and immovability. The treaty
+with Great Britain cannot modify the nature of China in a few months.
+_If the English are not prudent in their exports, if they overload the
+newly opened ports with foreign produce, they will injure themselves
+more than they were injured by the war just concluded._" In every word
+of this we concur: but alas! what weight will such considerations have
+with the agitating manufacturers in the north of England? Their fierce
+but short-sighted anxiety to make rapid fortunes, will make most of
+them, in a very few years, melancholy evidences of the justness of our
+observations! We cannot pass from the East without noticing the sound
+statesmanship which is regulating all Lord Ellenborough's leading
+movements in India--a matter now universally admitted. How unspeakably
+contemptible and ridiculous has the lapse of a few months rendered the
+petty clamours against him, with which the ex-ministerial party
+commenced their last year's campaign! Without, however, travelling
+round the entire circle of our foreign connexions and
+operations--there are one or two points to which we will briefly
+refer, as striking instances of the vigilant and indefatigable energy,
+and the powerful diplomatic influence of Lord Aberdeen, especially
+with reference to the securing commercial advantages to this
+country--and which has extorted the following testimony, during the
+present month (December,) from another French journal, by no means
+favourably disposed to this country:--"The English Government is
+incontestably the best served of all Governments in the means of
+obtaining new, and extending old markets, and in the rapid and
+complete knowledge of the course to be adopted to ensure the sale of
+the immense products of Great Britain in different parts of the
+globe." Take for instance the case of Russia. We have actually
+succeeded in wringing from the tenacious and inflexible Cabinet of St
+Petersburg an important commercial advantage! On Lord Aberdeen's
+accession to office, he found Russia in the act of aiming a fatal
+blow at a very important branch of our shipping trade, by levying a
+differential duty on all British vessels conveying to Russian ports
+any goods which were not the produce of the British dominions. After,
+however, a skilful and very arduous negotiation, our foreign secretary
+has succeeded in averting that blow--and we retain the great
+advantages of which we were about to be deprived. Nor has this signal
+advantage been purchased by any sacrifice on the part of Great
+Britain, but only by a permission, founded on most equitable
+principles, for Russian vessels arriving here from Russian ports with
+the produce of Russian Poland, to possess the same privileges as if
+they had come direct from Russian ports: Russian Poland being able to
+communicate effectively with the sea, only through the Prussian
+territory. Look again at Brazil--which has also been recently the
+object of persevering and energetic negotiation on the part of Lord
+Aberdeen. It is true that, at present, his exertions have been
+attended with no direct success; but we have doubts whether the
+importance of the proposed Brazilian treaty has not, after all, been
+greatly exaggerated. However this may be, Lord Aberdeen is, at this
+moment, as strenuously at work with the young emperor, as could be
+desired by the most eager advocate of a commercial treaty with Brazil.
+But, suppose the emperor's advisers should be disposed to continue
+their obstinate and unreasonable opposition, observe the gentle
+pressure upon them, to be felt by and by, which Lord Aberdeen has
+contrived to effect by the commercial treaty which he has concluded
+with the contiguous republic of Monte Video, and other states on the
+right bank of the river Plata, for the admission (on most favourable
+terms) of British imports into these states. One of them is the
+Uruguay republic, which borders through a great extent of country on
+Brazil, the Government of which is utterly unable to prevent the
+transfer of merchandise across the border; whereby the exclusion of
+British goods from the Brazilian territory is rendered a matter of
+physical impossibility.
+
+    [21] Great Britain at the commencement of the 19th
+    Century--January 1843--No. CCC.
+
+It is true, that our efforts to enter into commercial treaties with
+
+France and Portugal have not, as yet, been successful; but, formidable
+as are the obstacles at present in existence, we do not despair. Those
+least wonder at the present position of affairs who are best
+acquainted with the artificial and complicated positions of the
+respective countries, and their relations, and consequent policy,
+towards each other. Whatever can be done by man, is at this moment
+being done by Lord Aberdeen; and sooner than we have at present a
+right to expect, his indefatigable exertions may be crowned with
+success--not only in these, but in other quarters. All foreign
+Governments must be strongly influenced in such matters, by
+contemplating a steady and strong Government established in this
+country; and that object they see more nearly and distinctly every
+day. Such (without entering into details which would be inconsistent
+with either our space or our present object) is the general
+result--namely, the rapidly returning tide of prosperous commercial
+intercourse of the foreign policy of Conservative Government, which
+has raised Great Britain, within the short space of two years, to even
+a higher elevation among the nations of the world, than she had
+occupied before a "Liberal Ministry undertook the government of the
+country"--"a policy," to adopt the equally strong and just language of
+an able writer, "replete with auspicious evidences of the efficacy of
+intellect, combined with firmness, activity, and integrity, in
+restoring to wholesome and honourable order a chaotic jumble of
+anomalies--of humiliations and dangers--of fears, hatred, and
+confusion thrice trebly confounded."[22]
+
+    [22] Thoughts on Tenets of Ministerial Policy. By a Very Quiet
+    Looker-on.--P. 22. Aylott, London, 1843.
+
+While thus successfully active abroad, have Ministers been either idle
+or unsuccessful at home? Let us look at their two main measures--the
+_new tariff_ and the _new corn-law_.
+
+The object of the first of these great measures was twofold--to give a
+healthy and speedy but permanent stimulus to trade and commerce; and,
+at the same time, to effect such a reduction of price in the leading
+articles of consumption as should greatly reduce the cost of living--a
+boon, of course, inexpressibly precious to the poorer classes. Mark
+the moment at which this bold and critical line of policy was
+conceived and carried into execution--namely, a moment when the nation
+was plunged into such a depth of gloom and distress as had very nearly
+induced utter despair! when there was a deficiency of _five millions
+sterling in_ the revenue of the two preceding years, and a certainty
+of greatly augmented expenditure for the future, owing to our wars in
+the East and elsewhere. We say--_mark this_, in order to appreciate a
+display of the true genius of statesmanship. Foreseeing one effect of
+such a measure, namely, a serious reduction in the revenue derived
+from the customs, and which would commence with the bare
+_announcement_ of such a measure, the Government had to consider
+whether it would prove a permanent or only a temporary reduction, and
+to act accordingly. After profound consideration, they satisfied
+themselves (whether justly or not remains to be seen) that the
+diminution of revenue would prove only temporary; and to secure the
+_immediate_ benefits of the measure, they imposed a temporary
+income-tax, the onerous pressure of which was to cease as soon as
+matters should have come round again. That period they fixed at the
+expiration of three years. After an interval of two years, do their
+calculations appear to have been well or ill founded? Let us see.
+Early in March 1842 they announced the proposed new tariff, (instantly
+producing the effect on the customs duties which had been
+anticipated;) and succeeded in bringing it into operation on the 9th
+of the ensuing July. The deficiency of revenue which ensued was so
+very serious that it would have alarmed the whole country, but for
+their confidence in the firmness and sagacity of Ministers,
+particularly as evidenced by their announced measures. We have not at
+the present moment before us the earliest _quarterly_ revenue returns
+of the period referred to; but it will suffice to state, that such had
+been the extent of the reductions effected, that the deficiency on the
+_year_ ending on the 5th October 1843, amounted to no less a sum than
+L.1,136,000; the decrease on the _quarter_ ending on that day being
+L.414,000. Still, however, each succeeding quarter--or at least the
+latter quarters--gave more satisfactory indications of a rallying
+revenue; and we are enabled to announce the highly gratifying fact
+that, up to the 8th of the present month (December,) the customs
+duties returns _are of the most decisively improving character_. The
+receipts of duties for the port of London alone, during that period,
+exceeds the receipt on the corresponding period of last year by
+L.206,000; while the returns from all the outports, especially from
+Liverpool, are of the same cheering character, and warrant us in
+predicting that the returns to be presented on the 5th of the ensuing
+month will afford a most triumphant proof of the accuracy of the
+Minister's calculations and the success of his policy; for be it borne
+in mind, moreover, that his income-tax realized, in the year ending on
+the 5th October last, the immense sum of L.5,052,000. As far,
+therefore, as concerns the direct _financial_ effects of the new
+tariff and its counterbalancing income-tax, the results of Sir Robert
+Peel's policy are such as may stagger and confound the boldest of his
+opponents.
+
+Now, however, for the two great objects of the new tariff, which were
+declared by Sir Robert Peel[23] to be "the revival of commerce, and
+such an improvement in the manufacturing interest, as would react on
+every other interest in the country; and diminishing the prices of the
+articles of consumption and the cost of living."
+
+    [23] Hansard, Vol. lxi. Col. 439.
+
+With respect to the first of these objects, we had prepared a copious
+explanation of the highly satisfactory working of one great portion of
+the machine of the new tariff, viz. _the relaxation of the taxes on
+the raw materials of manufacture_; but it has occurred to us, that the
+necessity of our doing so has been entirely superseded by the
+following very remarkable admission, contained in a number of the
+_Morning Chronicle_ newspaper, published towards the close of
+September last; an invaluable admission, tending to prove, out of the
+mouth of the bitterest opponent of the present Ministry, the general
+success of their domestic policy:--"Notwithstanding insurrection in
+Wales and agitation in Ireland, there are various circumstances in the
+present aspect of our national affairs of an encouraging and cheering
+nature. The first and most prominent thing which strikes an observer,
+is, the undoubted general revival of trade and commerce. Every thing
+seems to indicate that the morning is breaking; that the dreary night
+of disaster and suffering, through which all our material interests
+have been passing since 1836, is now well-nigh over. The hum of busy
+industry is once more heard throughout our manufacturing districts;
+our seaports begin once more to stir with business; merchants on
+'Change have smiling faces; and the labouring population are once more
+finding employment easier of access; and wages are gently, slowly
+rising. This has not come upon us suddenly; it has been in operation
+since the end of last year; but so terrible was the depression, so
+gradual the improvement, that the effects of the revival could not be
+perceptible till within a recent period. Our exports of cotton and
+wool, during the present year, very considerably exceed those of a
+similar period in the preceding; and though there might be increase of
+export without increase of profit, the simple fact that the districts
+of our great manufacturing staples are now more active and busy than
+they have been for a very considerable period, coupled with the
+apparently well-founded belief that this increased activity is
+produced, not by speculative but genuine demand, are indications of
+the most pleasing and gratifying kind to all who are in the least
+concerned about the prosperity of the country. In addition to the
+improvement manifested in our staple articles of industry, other
+important interests are showing symptoms of decided improvement; even
+the iron-trade has got over its 'crisis;' and though we are very far
+indeed from having attained to a condition of prosperity, the steady,
+though slow, revival of every branch of industry, is a proof that the
+cause of the improvement must be a general one, operating
+universally." May we venture to suggest, that the worthy editor of the
+_Morning Chronicle_ need not go about with a lantern to discover this
+_cause_?--that it is every where before his very eyes, under his very
+nose, in the form of the bold, but sagacious and consistent, policy
+pursued by the present Government?
+
+With respect to the second great object of the new tariff, viz., the
+"Diminishing of the prices of the articles of consumption and the cost
+of living."
+
+Has _this_ great object, or has it not, been attained? Why, the
+reduced price of provisions is a matter of universal notoriety, and
+past all question. Unable to contest the existence of this most
+consolatory fact, the Opposition papers endeavoured to get up a
+diversion by frightening the farmers, whom they assured, that the
+admission of foreign live-stock would lead to a fearful depreciation
+in the value of British agricultural produce. The graziers and
+cattle-dealers were forthwith to find "their occupations gone."
+British pasture farming was to be annihilated, and an immense stimulus
+given to that of our continental rivals. Hereat the farmers pricked up
+their ears, and began to consider for a moment whether they should not
+join in the outcry against the new tariff. But the poor beasts that
+have come, doubtless much to their own surprise, across the water to
+us, looked heartily ashamed of themselves, on catching a glimpse of
+their plump, sleek brother beasts in England--and the farmers burst
+out a-laughing at sight of _the lean kine that were to eat up the fat
+ones_! The practical result has been, that between the 9th of July
+1842, and the present time, there have not come over foreign cattle
+enough to make one week's show at Smithfield. But mark, _the power_ of
+admitting foreign cattle and poultry, (on payment, however, of a
+considerable duty,[24]) conferred by the new tariff, is one that must
+be attended with infinite permanent benefits to the public, in its
+_moderating influence upon the prices of animal food_. Its working is
+in beautiful harmony with that of the newly modeled corn-laws, as we
+shall presently explain. In years of abundance, when plenty of meat is
+produced at home, the new tariff will be inoperative, as far as
+regards the actual importations of foreign cattle; but in years of
+scarcity at home, the expectation of a good price will induce the
+foreigner to send us a sufficient supply; for he will then be, and
+then only, able to repay himself the duty, and the heavy cost of
+sea-carriage. As prices fall, the inducement to import also declines.
+In short, "the inducement to importation falls with the fall, and
+rises with the rise of price. The painful contingency of continued bad
+seasons has thus, in some measure, been provided against. The new
+tariff is so adjusted, that when prices threaten to mount to an unfair
+and extravagant height, unjust to consumers, and dangerous to
+producers, in such contingencies a mediating power steps in, and
+brings things to an equilibrium."[25] These great and obvious
+advantages of the new tariff, the opponents of Ministers, and
+especially their reckless and discreditable allies called the
+"Anti-corn-law League," see as plainly as we do; but their anxious aim
+is to conceal these advantages as much as possible from public view;
+and for this purpose they never willingly make _any allusion_ to the
+tariff, or if forced to do so, underrate its value, or grossly
+misrepresent its operation. But we are convinced that _this will not
+do_. Proofs of their humbug and falsehood are, as it were, daily
+forcing themselves into the very stomachs_ of those whom once, when
+an incompetent Ministry was in power, these heartless impostors were
+able to delude. "A single shove of the bayonet," said Corporal Trim to
+Doctor Slop, "is worth all your fine discourses about the art of war;"
+and so the English operative may reply to the hireling "Leaguers,"
+"This good piece of cheap beef and mutton, now smoking daintily before
+me, is worth all your palaver."
+
+    [24] Poultry £5 for every £100 value; oxen and bulls, £1 each;
+    cows, 15s.; calves, 10s.; horses, mares, foals, colts, and
+    geldings, £1 each; sheep, 3s. each; lambs, 2s. each; swine and
+    hogs, 5s. each--(Stat. 5 and 6 Vict. c. 47, Table A.)
+
+    [25] Thoughts, &c., by a Quiet Looker-on, pp. 16, 17.
+
+Before passing from the subject of the new tariff, let us observe,
+that the suddenness and vastness of its changes (some of which we
+consider to be of questionable propriety) for a time unavoidably
+deranged mercantile operations; and in doing so, as necessarily
+produced many cases of individual dissatisfaction and distress. Some
+of the persons thus situated angrily quitted the Conservative ranks
+for those of the Opposition; others, for a position of mortified
+neutrality: but we believe that many more, notwithstanding this sharp
+trial of their constancy, remained true to their principles, faithful
+to their party, and are now rewarded by seeing things coming rapidly
+round again, while unvarying and complete success has attended every
+other branch of the policy of Ministers. We know a good deal of the
+real state of opinion among the mercantile classes of the City of
+London; and believe we correctly represent it averse to further
+changes in our tariff-system, and coincident with the views expressed
+by Mr Baring in his address to the electors, when he deprecated "a
+constant change, unsettling men's minds, baffling all combinations,
+destroying all calculations, paralysing trade, and continuing the
+stagnation from which we are recovering;" and declared his belief
+"that the minister who applies the principles of free-trade with the
+most caution, deliberation, and judgment, is the statesman who merits
+the confidence of the commercial world." We now, however, quit the
+subject--interesting, indeed, and all-important--of the tariff, with
+the deliberate expression of our opinion, that it is, taken as a
+whole, a very bold, masterly, and successful stroke of policy. Now for
+the NEW CORN-LAW.
+
+But how shall we deal with a topic with which the public has been so
+utterly sickened by the people calling themselves "The Anti-corn-law
+League?" We do not, nevertheless, despair of securing the attention of
+our readers to the few observations which we have to offer upon a
+subject which, however hackneyed, is one of paramount importance. We
+are satisfied that nine out of every ten even of newspaper readers
+turn with disgust from the columns headed "Anti-corn-law League,"
+"Doings of the League," "Great Meeting of the Anti-corn-law League,"
+and so forth; and, (making every allowance for the exigencies
+occasioned by the dearth of topics while Parliament is not sitting,)
+we are exceedingly surprised, that the great London newspapers should
+inflict upon their readers so much of the slang and drivel of the
+gentry in question. In the due prosecution of our subject, we cannot
+avoid the topic of the new corn-law, even were we so disposed; and we
+shall at once proceed to our task, with two objects in view--to
+vindicate the course pursued by Sir Robert Peel, and set forth,
+briefly and distinctly, those truly admirable qualities of the
+existing Corn-laws, which are either most imprudently misrepresented,
+or artfully kept out of view, by those who are now making such
+desperate efforts to overthrow it. "Mark how a plain tale shall set
+them down!"
+
+Whether foreign corn should be admitted into this country on payment
+of _fluctuating_ duties, or a _fixed_ duty, or free of all duties, are
+obviously questions of the highest importance, involving extensive and
+complicated considerations. Sir Robert Peel, Lord John Russell, and
+the persons banded together under the name of "The Anti-corn-law
+League," may be taken as representing the classes of opinion which
+would respectively answer these three questions in the affirmative.
+All of them appealed to the nation at large on the last general
+election. The _form_ in which the question was proposed to the
+country, it fell to the lot of the advocates of a fixed duty to
+prescribe, and they shaped it thus in the Queen's speech:--
+
+    "It will be for you to determine whether the corn-laws do not
+    aggravate the natural fluctuations of supply; whether they do
+    not embarrass trade, derange currency, and, by their
+    operation, diminish the comforts and increase the privations
+    of the great body of the community."
+
+To this question the country returned a deliberate and peremptory
+answer in the NEGATIVE; expressing thereby its will, that the existing
+system, which admits foreign corn on payment of _fluctuating_ duties,
+should continue. The country thus adopted the opinions of Sir Robert
+Peel, rejected those of Lord John Russell, and utterly scouted those
+of the "Anti-corn-law League," in spite of all their frantic
+exertions.
+
+We believe that this deliberate decision of the nation, is that to
+which it will come whenever again appealed to; and is supported by
+reasons of cogency. The nation is thoroughly aware of the immense
+importance of upholding and protecting the agriculture of the country,
+and that to secure this grand object, it is necessary to admit foreign
+corn into the country, only when our deficiencies absolutely require
+it. That _in_ the operation of the "_sliding-scale_ of duties," and
+the exact distinction between its effect and that of the proposed
+_fixed_ duty, is demonstrably this: that the former would admit
+foreign corn in dear years, excluding it in seasons of abundance;
+while the latter would admit foreign corn in seasons of abundance, and
+exclude it in dear years. Our _present_ concern, however, is with the
+course taken by the present Government. Have they hitherto yielded to
+the clamour with which they have been assailed, and departed from the
+principle of affording efficient protection to the agriculture of the
+country? Not a hair's breadth; _nor will they_. We have seen that Sir
+Robert Peel, previously to the general election, declared his
+determination to adhere to the existing system of corn-laws,
+regulating the admission of foreign corn by the power of the
+sliding-scale of duties; but both he and the leading members of his
+party, had distinctly stated in Parliament, just before its
+dissolution, that while resolved to adhere to the _principle_ of a
+sliding-scale, they would not pledge themselves to adhere to all the
+_details_ of that scale. And they said well and wisely, for there were
+grave objections to some of those details. These objections they have
+removed, and infinitely added to the efficiency of the sliding-scale;
+but in removing the principal objections, they stirred a hornet's
+nest--they rendered furious a host of sleek gamblers in grain, who
+found their "occupation gone" suddenly! On the other hand, the
+Government conferred a great substantial benefit upon the country, by
+securing a just balance between protection to the British corn
+consumer and producer; removing, at the same time, from the latter, a
+long-existing source of jealousy and prejudice. A few words will
+suffice to explain the general scope of those alterations. Under they
+system established by statute 9 Geo. IV. c. 60, in the year 1828, the
+duty on foreign corn, up to the price of 68s. per quarter, was so
+high, and declined so very slowly, (L.1, 5s. 8d., L.1. 4s. 8d., L.1,
+3s. 8d., L.1, 2s. 8d., L.1, 1s. 8d., L.1, 0s. 8d., 18s. 8d.,) as to
+amount to a virtual prohibition against importation. But when the
+price mounted from 68s. to 72s. per quarter, the duty declined with
+such great rapidity. (16s 8d., 13s. 8d., 10s. 8d., 6s. 8d., 2s. 8d.,)
+as to occasion the alarming and frequently recurring evils of glut and
+panic. Now the following was the mode in which these serious defects
+in the law of 1828 were taken advantage of by the aforesaid desperate
+and greedy "rogues in grain," who are utterly prostrated by the new
+system; they entered into a combination, for the purpose of raising
+the apparent average price of corn, and forcing it up to the point at
+which they could import vast quantities of foreign corn at little or
+no duty. Thus the price of corn was rising in England--the people were
+starving--and turned with execration against those into whose pockets
+the high prices were supposed to go, viz., the poor farmers; whereas
+those high prices really were all the while flowing silently but
+rapidly into the pockets of the aforesaid "rogues in grain"--the
+gamblers of the Corn Exchange!--Ministers effected their salutary
+alterations, by statute 5 and 6 Vict. c. 14, in the following
+manner:--They substituted for the former duties of 10s. 8d. per
+quarter, when the price of corn was 70s. per quarter, and 1s. when the
+price was 73s.; a duty of 4s. when the price of corn is 70s. per
+quarter, and made the duty fall gradually, shilling by shilling, with
+the rise of price, to 3s., 2s., and 1s. Thus are at one blow destroyed
+all the inducements formerly existing for corn-dealers to "hold" their
+foreign corn, in the hopes of forcing up the price of corn to
+starvation-point, viz., the low duty, every inducement being now given
+them to _sell_, and none to speculate. Another important provision for
+preventing fraudulent combinations to raise the price of corn, was
+that of greatly extending the averages, and placing them under
+regulations of salutary stringency.
+
+So far, then, from evincing a disposition to trifle with, or
+surrender, the principle of the sliding-scale, the Government have,
+with infinite pains and skill, applied themselves to effect such
+improvements in it as will secure its permanency, and a better
+appreciation of its value by the country at large, with every
+additional year's experience of its admirable qualities. There is a
+perfect identity of principle, both working to the same good end,
+between the existing corn-law and the new tariff. Their combined
+effect is to oppose every barrier that human wisdom and foresight can
+devise, against dearth and famine in England: securing an abundant
+supply of corn and meat from abroad, whenever our own supply is
+deficient; but up to that point protecting our home producers, whose
+direct interest it will henceforth be to supply us at fair and
+moderate prices. It is the cunning policy of the heterogeneous
+opponents of the existing corn-laws, to speak of them as "doomed" by a
+sort of universal tacit consent; to familiarise the public with the
+notion that the recent remodeling of the system is to be regarded as
+constituting it into nothing more than a sort of transition-measure--a
+stepping-stone towards a great fundamental change, by the adoption of
+"a fixed duty," some say--"a total repeal," say the Anti-corn-law
+League. But those who think thus, must be shallow and short-sighted
+indeed, and have paid very little real attention to the subject, if
+they have failed to perceive in the existing system itself all the
+marks of completeness, solidity, and permanence; and, in the
+successful pains that have been taken to bring it to a higher degree
+of perfection than before, a determination to uphold it--a conviction
+that it will long continue the law of the land, and approved of as
+such by the vast majority of those who represent the wealth and
+intellect of the kingdom, and have the deepest stake in its
+well-being.
+
+As for a total repeal of the corn-laws, no thinking man believes that
+there is the remotest prospect of such a thing; but many imagine that
+a fixed duty would be a great change for the better, and a safe sort
+of compromise between the two extreme parties. Can any thing be more
+fallacious? We hesitate not to express our opinion, that the idea of
+maintaining a fixed duty on corn is an utter absurdity, and that Lord
+John Russell and his friends know it to be so, and are guilty of
+political dishonesty in making such a proposal. They affect to be
+friends of the agricultural interest, and satisfied of the necessity
+for protection to that body; and yet they acknowledge that their
+"_fixity_" of duty is of precisely the same nature as the "finality"
+of the Reform bill, viz.--to last only till the first pressure shall
+call for an order in council. Does any one in his senses believe that
+any Minister could abide by a fixed duty with corn at the price of
+70s., with a starving, and therefore an agitating and rebellious
+population? A fixed duty, under all times and circumstances, is a
+glaring impossibility; and, besides, is it not certain that the period
+for the issue of an order in council will be a grand object of
+speculation to the corn importer; and that he will hoard, and create
+distress, merely to force out that order? And the issuing of that
+order would depend entirely on the strength or the necessity of the
+Minister: on his "Squeezableness"--his anxiety for popularity. Does
+the experience of the last ten years justify the country in placing
+confidence, on such a point, in a _Whig_ Ministry? In every point of
+view, the project of a fixed duty is exposed to insuperable
+objections. It is plain that on the very first instant of there being
+a pressure upon the "fixed duty," it must give way, and for ever. Once
+off, it is gone for ever; it can never be re-imposed. Again, what is
+to govern the _amount_ at which it is to be fixed? Must it be the
+additional burden on land? or the price at which foreign countries,
+with their increased facilities of transport, and improved cultivation
+of their soil, would be able to deliver it in the British markets?
+What _data_ have we, in either case, on which to decide? Let it,
+however, always be borne in mind, by those who are apt too easily to
+entertain the question as to either a fixed duty, or a total repeal of
+duty, that the advantages predicted by the respective advocates of
+those measures are _mere assumptions_. We have no experience by which
+to try the question. The doctrines of free trade are of very recent
+growth; the _data_ on which its laws are founded are few, and also
+uncertain. And does any one out of Bedlam imagine, that any Minister
+of this country would consent to run such tremendous risks--to try
+such experiments upon an article of such immense importance to its
+well-being? Let us never lose sight of Lord Melbourne's memorable
+words:--"Whether the object be to have a fixed duty, or an alteration
+as to the ascending and descending scale, I see clearly and
+distinctly, that the object will not be carried without a most violent
+struggle--without causing much ill-blood, and a deep sense of
+grievance--without stirring society to its foundation, and leaving
+every sort of bitterness and animosity. I do not think the advantages
+to be gained by the change are worth the evils of the struggle."[26]
+
+    [26] Debates, 11th June 1840.
+
+To return, however. Under the joint operation of the three great
+measures of the Government--the income-tax, the new tariff, and the
+new corn-law, our domestic affairs exhibit, at this moment, such an
+aspect of steadily returning prosperity, as not the most sanguine
+person living could have imagined possible two years ago. For the
+first time after a miserable interval, we behold our revenue exceeding
+our expenditure; while every one feels satisfied of the fact, that our
+finances are now placed upon a sound and solid basis, and daily
+improving. Provisions are of unexampled cheapness, and the means of
+obtaining them are--thank Almighty God!--gradually increasing among
+the poorer classes. Trade and commerce are now, and have for the last
+six months been steadily improving; and we perceive that a new era of
+prosperity is beginning to dawn upon us. We have a strong and united
+Government, evidently as firmly fixed in the confidence of the Queen
+as in that of the country, and supported by a powerful majority in the
+House of Commons--an annihilating one in the House of Lords. The reign
+of order and tranquillity has been restored in Wales, and let us also
+add, in Ireland, after an unexampled display of mingled determination
+and forbearance on the part of the Government. Chartism is defunct,
+notwithstanding the efforts made by its dishonoured and discomfited
+leaders to revive it. When, in short, has Great Britain enjoyed a
+state of more complete internal calm and repose than that which at
+present exists, notwithstanding the systematic attempts made to
+diffuse alarm and agitation? Do the public funds exhibit the slightest
+symptoms of uneasiness or excitement? On the contrary, ever since the
+accession of the present Government, there has been scarce any
+variation in them, even when the disturbances in the manufacturing
+districts in the north of England, and in Wales, and in Ireland, were
+respectively at their height. Her Majesty moves calmly to and
+fro--even quitting England--her Ministers enjoy their usual intervals
+of relaxation and absence from town--all the movements of Government
+go on like clockwork--no symptoms visible any where of feverish
+uneasiness. But what say you, enquires a timid friend, or a bitter
+opponent, to the Repeal agitation in Ireland, and the Anti-corn-law
+agitation in England? Why, we say this--that we sincerely regret the
+mischief which the one has done, and is doing, in Ireland, and the
+other in England, among their ignorant and unthinking dupes; but with
+no degree of alarm for the stability of the Government, or the
+maintenance of public tranquillity and order. Ministers are perfectly
+competent to deal with both the one and the other of these two
+conspiracies, as the chief actors in the one have found already, and
+those in the other will find, perhaps, by and by; if, indeed, they
+should ever become important or successful enough to challenge the
+notice and interference of the Government. A word, however, about
+each, in its turn.
+
+The Anti-corn-law League has in view a two-fold object--the overthrow
+of the present Ministry whom they abhor for their steadfast and
+powerful support of the agricultural interest;--and the depression of
+the wages of labour, to enable our manufacturers (of whom the league
+almost exclusively consists) to compete with the manufacturers on the
+Continent. Their engine for effecting their purposes, is the Repeal of
+the corn-laws; and they are working it with such a desperate energy,
+as satisfies any disinterested observer, that they themselves perceive
+the task to be all but utterly hopeless. They were confounded by the
+result of the general election, and dismayed at the accession to power
+of men whom they knew to be thoroughly acquainted with their true
+objects and intentions, and resolved to frustrate them, and able to
+carry their resolutions into effect. The ominous words of Sir Robert
+Peel--"I think that the connexion of the manufacturers in the north of
+England with the joint-stock banks, gave an undue and improper impulse
+to trade in that quarter of the country"--rang in their ears as a
+knell; and told them that they were _found out_ by a firm and
+sagacious Minister, whom, therefore, their sole object thenceforth
+must be to overthrow _per fas aut nefas_. For this purpose they
+adopted such an atrocious course of action, as instantly deprived them
+of the countenance of all their own moderate and reasoning friends,
+and earned for themselves the execration of the bulk of the
+community:--they resolved to inflame the starving thousands in the
+manufacturing districts into acts of outrage and rebellion. They felt
+it necessary, in the language of Mr Grey, one of their own principal
+men, in order "_to raise the stubborn enthusiasm of the people_," (!)
+to resort to some desperate expedient--which was--immediately on Sir
+Robert Peel's announcing his determination, early in 1842, to
+preserve, but improve, the existing system of the corn-laws--to reduce
+the wages of all their work-people to the amount of from ten to twenty
+per cent. This move originated with the _Stockport_ manufacturers. We
+have little doubt but it was the suggestion of Mr Cobden; and are
+quite prepared for a similar move during the ensuing session of
+Parliament. But was not--is not--this a species of moral arson? The
+Government calmly carried their measure: the outbreak (which we firmly
+believe to have been concerted by the Anti-corn-law League) in
+Lancashire arrived, and was promptly and resolutely, but mercifully
+repressed; and thus was extinguished the guilty hopes and expectations
+of its contrivers; and Ministers were left stronger at the close of
+the session than they had been at its commencement. They resolved to
+open a new campaign against Ministers and the Corn-laws--greatly to
+augment their numbers and pecuniary resources--to redouble their
+exertions, and immensely to extend the sphere of their operations.
+They _did_ augment their pecuniary resources, by large forced
+contributions among the few persons most deeply interested in the
+success of their schemes; namely, the Lancashire manufacturers--they
+_did_ redouble their exertions--they _did_ extend the sphere of their
+operations, spreading themselves over the whole length and breadth of
+the land, even as did the plague of lice over Egypt. But did they
+augment the number of their friends? Not a person of the least
+political or personal importance could be prevailed upon to join their
+discreditable ranks; it remained as before:--Cobden and Bright--Bright
+and Cobden--Wilson, Bright, and Cobden--Milner Gibson, Fox, Bright and
+Cobden--_ad nauseam usque_; but, like a band of travelling
+incendiaries, they presented themselves with indefatigable energy in
+places which had never known their presence before. And how comes it
+to pass that they have not long since kindled at least the
+manufacturing population into a blaze? Is it any fault of the
+aforesaid incendiaries? No--but because there is too much intelligence
+abroad, they could not do what they would--"_raise the stubborn
+enthusiasm_" of the people. In one quarter they were suspected--in
+another despised--in another hated; and it became a very general
+impression that they were, in fact, a knot of double dealers, who
+certainly contrived to make a great noise, and keep themselves
+perpetually before the public; but as for getting the steam "up," in
+the nation at large, they found it impossible. In truth, the
+"Anti-corn-law League" would have long ago been dissolved amidst the
+indifference or contempt of the public, but for the countenance they
+received, from time to time, and on which they naturally calculated,
+from the party of the late Ministers, whose miserable object was to
+secure their own return to power by means of any agency that they
+could press into their service. But, to return to our sketch of the
+progress of the "League." Admitting that, by dint of very great and
+incessant exertion, they kept their ground, they made little or no
+progress among the mercantile part of the community; and they resolved
+to try their fortune with the agricultural constituencies--to sow
+dissension between the landlords and the tenants, the farmers and
+their labourers, and combine as many of the disaffected as they could,
+in support of the clamour for free trade. This was distinctly avowed
+by Cobden, at a meeting of the Anti-corn-law deputies, in the
+following very significant terms: "_We can never carry the measure
+ourselves_: WE MUST HAVE THE AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS WITH US!!"[27]
+
+    [27] League Circular, No. xxx. p. 3.
+
+They therefore proceeded to commence operations upon the agricultural
+constituencies. They knew they could always reckon upon a share of
+support wherever they went--it being hard to find any country without
+its cluster of bitter and reckless opponents of a Conservative
+government, who would willingly aid in any demonstration against it.
+With such aid, and indefatigable efforts to collect a crowd of noisy
+non-electors: with a judicious choice of localities, and profuse
+bribery of the local Radical newspapers, in order to procure copious
+accounts of their proceedings--they commenced their "grand series of
+country triumphs!" Their own organs, from time to time, gave out that
+in each and every county visited by the League, the _farmers_ attended
+their meetings, and joined in a vote condemnatory of the corn-laws,
+and pledged themselves to vote thereafter for none but the candidates
+of the Anti-corn-law League!
+
+The following are specimens of the flattering appellations which had
+till now been bestowed, by their new friends, upon these selfsame
+farmers--"_Bull-frogs!"_ "_chaw-bacons!" _"_clod-poles!_"
+"_hair-bucks!_" "_deluded slaves!_" "_brute drudges!_"[28] Now,
+however, they and their labourers were addressed in terms of
+respectful sympathy and flattery, as the victims of the rapacity of
+their landlords--on whom were poured the full phials of Anti-corn-law
+wrath. The following are some of the scalding drops let fall upon
+their devoted heads--_"Monster of impiety!" "inhuman fiend!"
+"heartless brutes!" "rapacious harpies!" "relentless demons!"
+"plunderers of the people!" "merciless footpads!" "murderers!"
+"swindlers!" "insatiable!" "insolent!" "flesh-mongering!" "scoundrel!"
+"law-making landlords!" "a bread-taxing oligarchy!"_[29] Need we say
+that the authors of these very choice and elegant expressions were
+treated with utter contempt by both landlords and tenants--always
+making the few allowances above referred to? Was it very likely that
+the landlord or the farmer should quit their honourable and important
+avocations at the bidding of such creatures as had thus intruded
+themselves into their counties? should consent to be yoked to the car,
+or to follow in the train of these enlightened, disinterested, and
+philanthropic cotton-spinners and calico-printers? Absurd! It became,
+in fact, daily more obvious to even the most unreflecting, that these
+worthies were not likely to be engaged in their "labours of _love_;"
+were not _exactly_ the kind of persons to desert their own businesses,
+to attend out of pure benevolence that of others--to let succumb their
+own interest to promote those of others; to subscribe out of the gains
+which they had wrung from their unhappy factory slaves, their L.10,
+L.20, L.30, L.50, L.100, out of mere public spirit and philanthropy.
+
+    [28] League Circular, No. 10.
+
+    [29] Ibid. Nos. 26, 29, 44, 50, 71, 83, 94, 99, 100.
+
+Still, we say, the whole thing was really a failure--the "steam," even
+yet, could not be "got up," in spite of all their multiplied agencies
+and machinery, incessantly at work--the unprecedented personal
+exertions of the members of the league--the large pecuniary sacrifices
+of the Lancashire subscribers to its funds. One more desperate
+exertion was therefore felt necessary--and they resolved to attempt
+getting up a _sensation_, by the sudden subscription of splendid sums
+of money, by way of starting a vast fund, with which to operate
+directly upon the entire electoral body--in what way, it is not very
+difficult to guess. Accordingly, they began--but where? At the old
+place--Manchester!--Manchester!--_Manchester!_ Many thousands were
+subscribed at an hour's notice by a mere handful of manufacturers; the
+news came up to London--and the editor of the _Times_, in a transient
+fit of excitement, pronounced "the existence of the League" to be a
+GREAT FACT. Upon this phrase they have lived ever since--till somewhat
+roughly reminded the other day, by Mr Baring, that "great _facts_" are
+very "_great follies!_" Now let us once more ask the question--would
+all these desperate and long-continued exertions and sacrifices--(all
+proceeding, be it ever observed, from _one_ quarter, and from the same
+class of people--nay, the same individuals of that class)--be
+requisite, were there any _real movement of the public mind and
+feeling_ against the Corn-laws? Are they not requisite solely because
+of the _absence_ of any such movement? Nay, are they not evidence that
+the public feeling and opinion are against them? And that, perhaps,
+they will by and by succeed in rousing the "stubborn enthusiasm of the
+people" against themselves? Where has there been called one single
+spontaneous public meeting of any importance, and where exhibited a
+spark of enthusiasm, for the total repeal of the Corn-laws? Surely the
+_topic_ is capable of being handled in a sufficiently exciting manner!
+But no; wherever a "meeting," or "demonstration," is heard of--there,
+also, are the eternal Cobden, Bright and Wilson, and their miserable
+fellow-agitators, who alone have got up--who alone harangue the
+meetings. Was it so with Catholic Emancipation?--with the abolition of
+Negro Slavery?--with the Reform Bill? Right or wrong, the public
+feeling was then roused, and exhibited itself unequivocally,
+powerfully, and spontaneously; but _here_--bah! common sense revolts
+at the absurd supposition that even hundreds of thousands of pounds
+can of themselves get up a real demonstration of public feeling in
+favour of the object, for which so much Manchester money has been
+already subscribed.
+
+      "'Tis not in _thousands_ to command success."
+
+If the public opinion of this great country--this great enlightened
+nation--were _really_ roused against the Corn-laws, they would
+disappear like snow under sunshine. But, as the matter _now_ stands,
+if their dreary drivellers Cobden, Bright, Wilson, Acland, W.J. Fox,
+were withdrawn from the public scene in which they are so anxious to
+figure, and sent to enjoy the healthy exercise of the tread-mill for
+one single three months, would this eternal "_brutum fulmen_" about
+the repeal of the Corn-laws be heard of any more? We verily believe
+not. "But look at our triumphs!"--quoth Cobden--"Look at our glorious
+victories at Durham, London, and Kendal!--our virtual victory at
+Salisbury!" Moonshine, gentlemen, and you know it;--and that you have
+spent your money in vain. Let us see how the matter stands.
+
+
+I. _Durham_. True, Mr Bright was returned; but to what is the House of
+Commons indebted for the acquisition of that distinguished senator,
+except the personal pique and caprice of that eccentric Tory peer,
+Lord Londonderry? This is notorious, and admitted by all parties; and
+these causes will not be in operation at another election.
+
+
+II. _London_. And do you really call this a "great triumph?"
+Undoubtedly Mr Pattison was returned; but is it a matter of
+congratulation that this notorious political nonentity, who openly, we
+understand, entertains and will support _Chartist_ opinions, is
+returned instead of such a man as Mr Baring? What was the majority of
+Mr Pattison? One hundred and sixty-five, out of twelve thousand eight
+hundred and eighty-nine who actually voted. And how was even that
+majority secured? By the notorious absence from London--as is always
+the case at that period of the year (21st October 1843)--of vast
+numbers of the stanchest Conservative electors. There is no doubt
+whatever, that had the election happened one fortnight later than it
+did, Mr Baring would have been returned by a large majority, in spite
+of the desperate exertions of the Anti-corn-law League and Mr
+Rothschild and the Jews. As it was, Mr Baring polled more (6367) than
+had ever been polled by a Conservative candidate for London before;
+and had an immense majority over his competitor, among the superior
+classes of the constituency.[30] At another election, we can
+confidently predict that Mr Baring will be returned, and by a large
+majority, unless, indeed, the Charter should be the law of the land;
+in which case Mr Pattison will probably enjoy another ovation.
+
+    [30] Among the _Livery_, the numbers were--Baring, 3196;
+    Pattison, 2367;--majority for Baring, 889!
+
+    Among the _Templars_--Baring, 258; Pattison, 78!!--majority
+    for Baring, 180!
+
+
+III. _Kendal_. Is this, too, a victory? "Another such, and you are
+undone." Why? Till Mr Bentinck presented himself before that
+enlightened little constituency, no Conservative dared even to offer
+himself; 'twas a snug little stronghold of the Anti-corn-law League
+interest, and yet the gallant Conservative gave battle against the
+whole force of the League; and after a mortal struggle of some
+fourteen days, was defeated by a far smaller majority than either
+friends or enemies had expected, and has pledged himself to fight the
+battle again. Here, then, the League and their stanch friends have
+sustained an unexpected and serious shock.
+
+
+IV. _Salisbury_.--We have not the least desire to magnify this into a
+mighty victory for the Conservative party; but the interference of
+the Anti-corn-law League certainly made the struggle a very critical
+and important one. We expected to succeed, but not by a large
+majority; for ever since 1832, the representation had (till within the
+last year) been divided between a Conservative and a Liberal. However,
+the Anti-corn-law League, flushed with their "triumphs" at London and
+Kendal, flung all their forces ostentatiously into the borough, and
+exhibited a disgusting and alarming specimen of the sort of
+interference which it seems we are to expect in all future elections,
+in all counties and boroughs. It was, however, in vain; the ambitious
+young gentleman who had the benefit of their services, and who is a
+law-student in London, but the son of the great Earl of Radnor, lost
+his election by a large majority, and the discomfited League retired
+ridiculously to Manchester. When we heard of their meditated descent
+upon Salisbury, we fancied we saw Cobden and his companions waddling
+back, geese-like, and exclaimed--
+
+      "Geese! if we had you but on Sarum plain,
+      We'd drive you cackling back to Camelot!"
+
+So much for the boasted electoral triumphs of the Anti-corn-law
+League--we repeat, that they are all mere moonshine, and challenge
+them to disprove our assertion.
+
+They are now making another desperate effort to raise a further sum of
+a hundred thousand pounds; and beginning, as usual, at Manchester,
+have raised there alone, within a few days' time, upwards of L.20,000!
+The fact (if _true_) is at once ludicrous and disgusting: ludicrous
+for its transparency of humbug--disgusting for its palpable
+selfishness. Will these proverbially hard-hearted men put down their
+L.100, L.200, L.300, L.400, L.500, for nothing? Alas, the great sums
+they have expended in this crusade against the Corn-laws, will have to
+be wrung out of their wretched and exhausted factory slaves! For how
+otherwise but by diminishing wages can they repay themselves for lost
+time, for trouble, and for expense?
+
+Looked at in its proper light, the Corn-law League is nothing but _an
+abominable conspiracy against labour_. Cheap _bread_ means cheap
+_labour_; those who cannot see this, must be blind indeed! The
+melancholy fact of the continually-decreasing price of labour in this
+country, rests on undisputable authority--on, amongst others, that of
+Mr Fielding. In 1825, the price of labour was 51 per cent less than in
+1815; in 1830 it was 65 per cent less than in 1815, though the
+consumption of cotton had increased from 80,000,000 lbs. to
+240,000,000 lbs.! In 1835 it was 318,000,000 lbs., but the operative
+received 70 per cent less than in 1815. In 1840 the consumption of
+cotton was 415,000,000 lbs., and the unhappy operative received 75 per
+cent less than in 1815!
+
+If proofs be required to show that in reality the deadly snake, _cheap
+labour_, lurks among the flourishing grass, _cheap bread_, we will
+select one or two out of very many now lying before us, and prepared
+to be presented to the reader.
+
+"If grain be high," said Mr Ricardo, in the House of Commons,[31] "the
+price of labour would necessarily be a deduction from the _profits of
+stock_." "The Corn-laws raise the price of sustenance--that has
+_raised the price of labour_; which, of course, diminishes the profit
+in capital."[32]
+
+    [31] Debates, May 30, 1820.
+
+    [32] Ib. Dec. 24, 1819.
+
+"Until the price of food in this country," said Mr Hume, in the House
+of Commons on the 12th of May last, in the presence of all the leading
+free-trade members, "is placed on a level with that on the Continent,
+it will be impossible for us to compete with the growing manufactures
+of Belgium, Germany, France, and America!!"
+
+Hear a member of the League, and of the Manchester Chamber of
+Commerce, Mr G. Sandars:--
+
+    "If three loaves instead of two could be got for 2s., in
+    consequence of a repeal of the Corn-laws, another consequence
+    would be, that the workman's 2s. would be reduced to 1s. 4d.,
+    which would leave matters, as far as he was concerned, just
+    as they were!!"[33]
+
+    [33] Authentic Discussions on the Corn-law, (Ridgway, 1839,)
+    p. 86.
+
+Hear a straightforward manufacturer--Mr Muntz, M.P.--in the debate on
+the 17th May last:--
+
+    "If the Corn-laws were repealed, the benefit which the
+    manufacturer expected was, that he could produce at a lower
+    price; and this he could do only by reducing wages to the
+    continental level!!"
+
+If the above fail to open the eyes of the duped workmen of this
+country, what will succeed in doing so? Let us conclude this portion
+of our subject--disgusting enough, but necessary to expose
+imposture--with the following tabular view, &c., of the gross
+contradiction of the men, whom we wish to hold up to universal and
+deserved contempt, on even the most vital points of the controversy in
+which they are engaged; and then let our readers say whether any thing
+proceeding from such a quarter is worthy of notice:--
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+The _League Oracle_ says--
+
+
+1. "If we have free trade, the landlords' rents will fall 100 per
+cent."--(_League Circular_, No. 15. p. 3.)
+
+2. "Provisions will fall one-third."--(Ib. No. 34, p. 4.)
+
+"The Corn-laws makes the labourer pay double the price for his
+food."--(Ib. No. 15.)
+
+3. "The Corn-law compels us to pay _three times the value for a loaf
+of bread_."--(Ib. No. 13.)
+
+"If the Corn-laws were abolished, the working man WOULD SAVE 31/2d. UPON
+EVERY LOAF OF BREAD."--(Ib. No. 75.)
+
+"As a consequence of the repeal of the Corn-laws, _we promise cheaper
+food_, and our hand-loom weavers would get _double_ the rate of
+wages!"--(Ib. No. 7.)
+
+"We shall have _cheap bread_, and its price will be reduced 33 per
+cent."--(Ib. No. 34.)
+
+4. Messrs Villiers, Muntz, Hume, Roche, Thornton, Rawson, Sandars,
+(all Leaguers,) say, and the oracle of the _League_ itself has said,
+that "We want free trade, to enable us to _reduce wages_, that we may
+compete with foreigners."--(_Post_, pp. 13-16.)
+
+5. The _League Oracle_ admits that "a repeal would _injure_ the
+farmer, but not so much as he fears."--(_League Circular_, No. 58.)
+
+
+Mr Cobden says--
+
+
+1. "If we have free trade, the landlords will have as good rents as
+now."--(Speech in the House of Commons, 15th May last.)
+
+2. "Provisions will be no cheaper."--(Speech at Bedford, _Hertford
+Reformer_, 10th June last.)
+
+3. "THE ARGUMENT FOR CHEAP BREAD WAS NEVER MINE."--(_Morning
+Chronicle_, 30th June 1843, Speech on Penenden Heath.)
+
+"THE IDEA OF LOW-PRICED FOREIGN CORN IS ALL A DELUSION."--SPEECH AT
+Winchester, _Salisbury Herald_, July 29, 1843, p. 3.
+
+4. Messrs Cobden, Bright, and Moore, now affirm--"It is a base
+falsehood to say we want free trade, to enable us to reduce the rate
+of wages."--(Mr Cobden on Penenden Heath. Messrs Bright and Moore at
+Huntingdon.)
+
+5. Cobden, Moore, and Bright, say, that it is to the _interest_ of the
+farmer to have a total and _immediate_ repeal.--(Uxbridge, Bedford,
+Huntingdon.[34])
+
+    [34] Extracted from a very admirable speech by Mr Day of
+    Huntingdon, (Ollivier, 1843,) and which we earnestly recommend
+    for perusal.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The disgusting selfishness and hypocrisy of such men as Cobden and his
+companions, in veiling their real objects under a pretended enmity to
+"Monopoly" and "Class Legislation"--and disinterested anxiety to
+procure for the poor the blessings of "cheap bread"--fills us with a
+just indignation; and we never see an account of their hebdomadal
+proceedings, but we exclaim, in the language of our immortal bard--
+
+      "Oh, Heaven! that such impostors thoud'st unfold,
+      And put in every honest hand a whip,
+      To lash the rascals naked through the land!"
+
+While we repeat our deliberate opinion, that the Anti-corn-law League,
+as a body, is, in respect of actual present influence, infinitely less
+formidable than the vanity and selfish purposes of its members would
+lead them to wish the country to believe--we must add, that it is
+quite another question how long it will continue so. It may soon be
+converted--if indeed it has not already been secretly converted, into
+an engine of tremendous mischief, for other purposes than any ever
+contemplated by its originators. Suppose, in the next session of
+parliament, Ministers were to offer a law-fixed duty on corn: would
+that concession dissolve the League? Absurd--they have long ago
+scouted the idea of so ridiculous a compromise. Suppose they effected
+their avowed object of a total repeal of the Corn-laws--is any one
+weak enough to imagine that they would _then_ dissolve? No--nor do
+they _now_ dream of such a thing; but are at the present moment, as we
+are informed, "_fraternizing_" with other political societies of a
+very dangerous character, and on the eve of originating serious and
+revolutionary movements. Their present organization is precisely that
+of the French Jacobins; their plan of operation the same. Let any one
+turn to _The League Circular_ of the 18th November, and he will see
+announced a plan of action on the part of this Association, precisely
+analagous, in all its leading features, to that of the French
+Jacobins: and we would call the attention of the legislature to the
+question, whether the Anti-corn-law League, in its most recent form of
+organization and plan of action, be not clearly within the provisions
+of statutes 57 Geo. III., c. 19, § 25 and 39; Geo. III., c. 79? What
+steps, if any, the legislature may take, is one thing; it is quite
+another, what course shall be adopted by the friends of the
+Conservative cause--the supporters of the British constitution. It is
+impossible to assign limits to the mischief which may be effected by
+the indefatigable and systematic exertions of the League to diffuse
+pernicious misrepresentations, and artful and popular fallacies, among
+all classes of society. That they entertain a fearfully envenomed
+hatred of the agricultural interest, is clear; and their evident
+object is to render the landed proprietors of this country objects of
+fierce hatred to the inferior orders of the community. "If a man tells
+me his story every morning of my life, by the year's end he will be my
+master," said Burke, "and I shall believe him, however untrue and
+improbable his story may be;" and if, whilst the Anti-corn-law League
+can display such perseverance, determination, and system, its
+opponents obstinately remain supine and silent, can any one wonder if
+such progress be not made by the League, in their demoralizing and
+revolutionary enterprize, that it will soon be too late to attempt
+even to arrest?
+
+If this Journal has earned, during a quarter of a century's career of
+unwavering consistency and independence, any title to the respect of
+the Conservative party, we desire now to rely upon that title for the
+purpose of adding weight to our solemn protest against the want of
+union and energy--against the apathy, from whatever cause arising--now
+but too visible. In vain do we and others exert ourselves to the
+uttermost to diffuse sound political principles by means of the press;
+in vain do the distinguished leaders of our party fight the battles of
+the constitution with consummate skill and energy in parliament--if
+their exertions be not supported by corresponding energy and activity
+on the part of the Conservative constituencies, and those persons of
+talent and influence professing the same principles, by whom they can,
+and ought to be, easily set in motion. It is true that persons of
+liberal education, of a high and generous tone of feeling, of
+intellectual refinement, are entitled to treat such men as Cobden,
+Bright, and Acland, with profound contempt, and dislike the notion of
+personal contact or collision with them, as representatives of the
+foulest state of ill feeling that can be generated in the worst
+manufacturing regions--of sordid avarice, selfishness, envy, and
+malignity; but they are active--ever up and doing, and steadily
+applying themselves, with palatable topics, to the corruption of the
+hearts of the working classes. So, unless the persons to whom we
+allude choose to cast aside their morbid aversions--to be "UP AND AT
+them," in the language of the Duke of Waterloo--why then will be
+verified the observation of Burke--that "if, when bad men combine, the
+good do not associate, they will fall, one by one--an unpitied
+sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." Vast as are our forces, they
+can effect comparatively nothing without union, energy, and system:
+_with_ these, their power is tremendous and irresistible. What we
+would say, therefore, is--ORGANIZE! ORGANIZE! ORGANIZE! Let every
+existing Conservative club or association be stirred up into increased
+action, and _put into real working trim_ forthwith; and where none
+such clubs or associations exist, let them be immediately formed, and
+set into cheerful and spirited motion. Let them all be placed under
+the vigilant superintendence of one or two _real men of business_--of
+local knowledge, of ability, and influence. We would point out
+Conservative solicitors as auxiliaries of infinite value to those
+engaged in the good cause; men of high character, of business habits,
+extensive acquaintance with the character and circumstances of the
+electors--and capable of bringing legitimate influence to bear upon
+them in a far more direct and effective manner than any other class of
+persons. One such gentleman--say a young and active solicitor, with a
+moderate salary, as permanent secretary in order to secure and, in
+some measure, requite his services throughout the year--would be worth
+fifty _dilletante_ "friends of the good cause dropping in every now
+and then," but whose "friendship" evaporates in mere _talk_. Let every
+local Conservative newspaper receive constant and substantial
+patronage; for they are worthy of the very highest consideration, on
+account of the ability with which they are generally conducted, and
+their great influence upon local society. Many of them, to our own
+knowledge, display a degree of talent and knowledge which would do
+honour to the very highest metropolitan journals. Let them, then, be
+vigorously supported, their circulation extended through the influence
+of the resident nobility and gentry, and the clergy of every
+particular district throughout the kingdom. Let no opportunity be
+missed of exposing the true character of the vile and selfish
+agitators of the Anti-corn-law league. Let not the league have all the
+"publishing" to themselves; but let their impudent fallacies and
+falsehoods be _instantly_ encountered and exposed on the spot, by
+means of small and cheap tracts and pamphlets, which shall bring
+plain, wholesome, and important truths home to the businesses and
+bosoms of the very humblest in the land. Again, let the resident
+gentry seek frequent opportunities of mingling with their humbler
+neighbours, friends, and dependents, by way of keeping up a cordial
+and hearty good understanding with them, so as to rely upon their
+effective co-operation whenever occasions may arise for political
+action.
+
+Let all this be done, and we may defy a hundred Anti-corn-law Leagues.
+Let these objects be kept constantly in view, and the Anti-corn-law
+League will be utterly palsied, had it a hundred times its present
+funds--a thousand times its present members!
+
+Let us now, however, turn for a brief space to Ireland; the present
+condition of which we contemplate with profound concern and anxiety,
+but with neither surprise nor dismay. As far as regards the
+Government, the state of affairs in Ireland bears at this moment
+unquestionable testimony to the stability and strength of the
+Government; and no one know this better than the gigantic impostor, to
+whom so much of the misery of that afflicted portion of the empire is
+owing. He perceives, with inexpressible mortification, that neither he
+nor his present position awake any sympathy or excitement whatever in
+the kingdom at large, where the enormity of his misconduct is fully
+appreciated, and every movement of the Government against him
+sanctioned by public opinion. The general feeling is one of profound
+disgust towards him, sympathy and commiseration for his long-plundered
+dupes and of perfect confidence that the Government will deal firmly
+and wisely with both. As for a _Repeal of the Union_! Pshaw! Every
+child knows that it is a notion too absurd to be seriously dealt with;
+that Great Britain would rather plunge _instanter_ into the bloodiest
+civil war that ever desolated a country, than submit to the
+dismemberment of the empire by repealing the union between Great
+Britain and Ireland. This opinion has had, from time to time, every
+possible mode of authentic and solemn expression that can be given to
+the national will; in speeches from the Throne; in Parliamentary
+declarations by the leaders of both the Whig and Conservative
+Governments; the members of both Houses of Parliament are (with not a
+single exception worth noticing) unanimous upon the subject; the
+press, whether quarterly, monthly, weekly, or daily, of all classes
+and shades of political opinions, is unanimous upon the subject; in
+society, whether high or low, the subject is never broached, except to
+enquire whether any one can, for one moment, seriously believe the
+Repeal of the Union to be possible. In Ireland itself, the vast
+majority of the intellect, wealth, and respectability of the island,
+without distinction of religion or politics, entertains the same
+opinion and determination which prevail in Great Britain. Is Mr
+O'Connell ignorant of all this? He knows it as certainly as he knows
+that Queen Victoria occupies the throne of these realms; and yet, down
+to his very last appearance in public, he has solemnly and
+perseveringly asseverated that the Repeal of the Union is an
+absolutely certain and inevitable event, and one that will happen
+within a few months! _Is he in his senses?_ If so, he is speaking from
+his knowledge of some vast and dreadful conspiracy, which he has
+organized himself, which has hitherto escaped detection. The idea is
+too monstrous to be entertained for a moment. What, then, can Mr
+O'Connell be about? Our opinion is, that his sole object in setting on
+foot the Repeal agitation, was to increase his pecuniary resources,
+and at the same time overthrow Sir Robert Peel's Government, by
+showing the Queen and the nation that his admitted "_chief_
+difficulty"--Ireland--was one _insuperable_; and that he must
+consequently retire. We believe, moreover, that he is, to a certain
+extent, acting upon a secret understanding with the party of the late
+Government, who, however, never contemplated matters being carried to
+their present pitch; but that the Ministry would long ago have
+retired, terrified before the tremendous "demonstration" in Ireland.
+We feel as certain as if it were a past event, that, had the desperate
+experiment succeeded so far as to replace the present by the late
+Government, Mr O'Connell's intention was to have announced his
+determination to "_give England_ ONE MORE trial"--to place Repeal once
+more in abeyance--in order to see whether England would really, at
+length, do "_justice_ to _Ireland_;" in other words, restore the
+halcyon days of Lord Normanby's nominal, and Mr O'Connell's real, rule
+in Ireland, and enable him, by these means, to provide for himself,
+his family, and dependents; for old age is creeping rapidly upon
+him--his physical powers are no longer equal to the task of vigorous
+agitation--and he is known to be in utterly desperate circumstances.
+The reckless character of his proceedings during the last fifteen
+months, is, in our opinion, fully accounted for, by his unexpected
+discovery, that the ministry were strong enough to defy any thing that
+he could do, and to continue calmly in their course of administering,
+not _pseudo_, but real "justice to Ireland," supported in that course
+by the manifest favour and countenance of the Crown, overwhelming
+majorities in Parliament, and the decided and unequivocal expression
+of public opinion. His personal position was, in truth, inexpressibly
+galling and most critical, and he must have agitated, or sunk at once
+into ignominious obscurity and submission to a Government whom,
+individually and collectively, he loathed and abhorred. Vain were the
+hopes which, doubtless, he had entertained, that, as his agitation
+assumed a bolder form, it would provoke formidable demonstrations in
+England against Ministers and their policy; not a meeting could be got
+up to petition her Majesty for the dismissal of her Ministers! But it
+is quite conceivable that Mr O'Connell, in the course he was pursuing,
+forgot to consider the possibility of developing a power which might
+be too great for him, which would not be wielded by him, but carry
+_him_ along with _it_. The following remarkable expressions fell from
+the perplexed and terrified agitator, at a great dinner at Lismore in
+the county of Waterford, in the month of September last:--"Like the
+heavy school-boy on the ice, _my pupils are overtaking me_. It is now
+my duty to regulate the vigour and temper the energy of the people--to
+compress, as it were, the exuberance of both."
+
+We said that Mr O'Connell revived the Repeal agitation; and the fact
+was so. He first raised it in 1829--having, however, at various
+previous periods of his life, professed a desire to struggle for
+Repeal; but Mr Shiel, in his examination before the House of Commons
+in 1825, characterized such allusions as mere "rhetorical artifices."
+"What were his real motives," observes the able and impartial author
+of _Ireland and its Rulers_[35], "when he announced his new agitation
+in 1829, can be left only to him to determine." It is probable that
+they were of so mixed a nature, that he himself could not accurately
+define them.... It is, however, quite possible, that, after having so
+long tasted of the luxuries of popularity, he could not consent that
+the chalice should pass from his lips. Agitation had, perhaps, begun
+to be necessary to his existence: a tranquil life would have been a
+hell to him." It would seem that Mr O'Connell's earliest recorded
+manifesto on Repeal was on the 3d June 1829, previous to the Clare
+election, on which occasion he said--"We want political excitement, in
+order that we may insist on our rights as Irishmen, but not as
+Catholics;" and on the 20th of the same month in the same year, 1829,
+he predicted--listen to this, ye his infatuated dupes!--"_that_ BEFORE
+THREE YEARS THERE WOULD BE A PARLIAMENT IN DUBLIN!!!" In the general
+elections of 1832, it was proclaimed by Mr O'Connell, that no member
+should be returned unless he solemnly pledged himself to vote for the
+Repeal of the Union; but it was at the same time hinted, that _if they
+would only enter the House as professed Repealers, they would never be
+required to_ VOTE _for Repeal_. On the hustings at the county of
+Waterford election, one of these gentry, Sir Richard Keave, on being
+closely questioned concerning the real nature of his opinion on
+Repeal, let out the whole truth:--"_I will hold it as an imposing
+weapon to get justice to Ireland_." This has held true ever since, and
+completely exemplifies all the intervening operations of Mr O'Connell.
+It has been his practice ever since "to connect every grievance with
+the subject of Repeal--to convert every wrongful act of any Government
+into an argument for the necessity of an Irish Legislature." Can it be
+wondered at that the present Government, thoroughly aware of the true
+state of the case--_knowing their man_--should regard the cry for
+Repeal simply as an imposture, its utterers as impostors? They did and
+do so regard it and its utterers--never allowing either the one or the
+other to disturb their administration of affairs with impartiality and
+firmness; but, nevertheless, keeping a most watchful eye upon all their
+movements.
+
+    [35] pp. 43, 50.
+
+At length, whether emboldened by a conviction that the
+non-interference of the Government was occasioned solely by their
+incapacity to grapple with an agitation becoming hourly more
+formidable, and that thus his schemes were succeeding--or impelled
+onwards by those whom he had roused into action, but could no longer
+restrain--his movements became daily characterized by more astounding
+audacity--more vivid the glare of sedition, and even treason, which
+surrounded them: still the Government interfered not. Their apparent
+inaction most wondered, very many murmured, some were alarmed, and Mr
+O'Connell laughed at. Sir Robert Peel, on one occasion, when his
+attention was challenged to the subject in the House of Commons,
+replied, that "he was not in the least degree moved or disturbed by
+what was passing in Ireland." This perfect calmness of the Government
+served to check the rising of any alarm in the country; which felt a
+confidence of the Ministry's being equal to any exigency that could be
+contemplated. Thus stood matters till the 11th July last, when, at the
+close of the debate on the state of Ireland, Sir Robert Peel delivered
+a very remarkable speech. It consisted of a calm demonstration of the
+falsehood of all the charges brought by the Repealers against the
+imperial Parliament; of the impolicy and the impracticability of the
+various schemes for the relief of Ireland proposed by the Opposition;
+of the absolute impossibility of Parliament entertaining the question
+of a Repeal of the Union; and a distinct answer to the question--"What
+course do you intend to pursue?" That answer is worthy of being
+distinctly brought under the notice of the reader. "I am prepared to
+administer the law in Ireland upon principles of justice and
+impartiality. I am prepared to recognise the principle established by
+law--that there shall be equality in civil privileges. I am prepared
+to respect the franchise, to give substantially, although not
+nominally, equality. In respect to the social condition of
+Ireland--_as to the relation of landlord and tenant_[36]--I am
+prepared to give the most deliberate consideration to the important
+matters involved in those questions. With respect to the Established
+Church, I have already stated that we are not prepared to make an
+alteration in the law by which that Church is maintained."
+
+    [36] In conformity with this declaration, has been issued the
+    recent commission, for "enquiring into the state of the law
+    and practice in respect to the occupation of land in Ireland,
+    and in respect also to the burdens of county cess and other
+    charges, which fall respectively on the landlord and occupying
+    tenant, and for reporting as to the amendments, if any, of the
+    existing laws, which, having due regard to the just rights of
+    property, may be calculated to encourage the cultivation of
+    the soil, to extend a better system of agriculture, and to
+    improve the relation between landlord and tenant, in that part
+    of the United Kingdom."
+
+We recollect being greatly struck with the ominous calmness
+perceptible in the tone of this speech. It seemed characterised by a
+solemn declaration to place the agitation of Ireland for ever in the
+_wrong_--to deprive them of all pretence for accusing England of
+having misgoverned Ireland since the Union. It appeared to us as if
+that speech had been designed to lay the basis of a contemplated
+movement against the agitation of the most decisive kind. The
+Government acted up to the spirit of the declaration, on that
+occasion, of Sir Robert Peel, with perfect dignity and resolution,
+unmoved by the taunts, the threats, the expostulations, or fears of
+either enemies or friends. Mr O'Connell's tone increased in audacity;
+but we greatly doubt whether in his heart he had not frequent
+misgivings as to the real nature of the "_frightful silence_"--"_cette
+affreuse silence_"--of a Government in whose councils the Duke of
+Wellington took a decided part, and which was actually at that moment
+taking complete military occupation of Ireland. On what information
+they were acting, no one knew; but their preparations were _for the
+worst_. During all this time nothing could exceed the tranquillity
+which prevailed in England. None of these threatening appearances,
+these tremendous preparations, caused the least excitement or alarm;
+the funds did not vary a farthing per cent in consequence of them; and
+to what could all this be ascribed but to the strength of public
+confidence in the Government? At length the harvest in Ireland had
+been got in; ships of war surrounded the coast; thirty thousand picked
+and chosen troops, ready for instant action, were disposed in the most
+masterly manner all over Ireland. With an almost insane audacity, Mr
+O'Connell appointed his crowning monster meeting to take place at
+Clontarf, in the immediate vicinity of the residence and presence of
+the Queen's representative, and of such a military force as rendered
+the bare possibility of encountering it appalling. The critical
+moment, however, for the interference of Government had at length
+arrived, and it spoke out in a voice of thunder, prohibiting the
+monster meeting. The rest is matter of history. The monster demagogue
+fell prostrate and confounded among his panic-stricken confederates;
+and, in an agony of consternation, declared their implicit obedience
+to the proclamation, and set about dispersing the myriad dupes, as
+fast as they arrived to attend the prohibited meeting. Thus was the
+Queen's peace preserved, her crown and dignity vindicated, without one
+sword being drawn or one shot being fired. Mr O'Connell had repeatedly
+"defied the Government to go to law with him." They _have_ gone to law
+with him; and by this time we suspect that he finds himself in an
+infinitely more serious position than he has ever been in, during the
+whole of a long and prosperous career of agitation. Here, however, we
+leave him and his fellow defendants.
+
+We may, however, take this opportunity of expressing our opinion, that
+there is not a shadow of foundation for the charges of blundering and
+incompetency which have been so liberally brought against the Irish
+Attorney-General. He certainly appears, in the earlier stages of the
+proceedings, to have evinced some little irritability--but, only
+consider, under what unprecedented provocation! His conduct has since,
+however, been characterised by calmness and dignity; and as for his
+legal capabilities, all competent judges who have attended to the
+case, will pronounce them to be first-rate; and we feel perfectly
+confident that his future conduct of the proceedings will convince the
+public of the justness of our eulogium.
+
+The selection by the Government of the moment for interference with Mr
+O'Connell's proceedings, was unquestionably characterised by
+consummate prudence. When the meetings commenced in March or April,
+this year, they had nothing of outward character which could well be
+noticed. They professed to be meetings to petition Parliament for
+Repeal; and, undoubtedly, no lawyer could say that such a meeting
+would _per se_ be illegal, any more than a meeting to complain of
+Catholic relief, or to pray for its repeal--or for any other matter
+which is considered a settled part of the established constitution.
+The mere numbers were certainly alarming, but the meetings quietly
+dispersed without any breach of the peace: and after two or three such
+meetings, without any disturbance attending them, no one could with
+truth swear that he expected a breach of the peace as a _direct_
+consequence of such a meeting, though many thought they saw a civil
+war as a _remote_ consequence. The meetings went on: some ten, twelve,
+fifteen occurred,--still no breach of the peace, no disturbance. The
+language, indeed, became gradually more seditious--more daring and
+ferocious: but, as an attempt to put down the first meeting by _force_
+would have been considered a wanton act of oppression, and a direct
+interference with the subject's right to petition, it became a very
+difficult _practical_ question, at what moment any _legal_ notice
+could be taken by prosecution, or _executive_ notice by proclamation,
+to put down such meetings. Notwithstanding several confident opinions
+to the contrary advanced by the newspaper press at the time, a greater
+mistake--indeed a grosser blunder--could not have been made, than to
+have prosecuted those who attended the early meetings, or to have sent
+the police or the military to put those meetings down. An acquittal in
+the one case, or a conflict in the other, would have been attended
+with most mischievous consequences; and, as to the latter, it is clear
+that the executive never ought to interfere unless with a _force which
+renders all resistance useless_. It appears perfectly clear to us,
+_even now_, that a prosecution for the earlier meetings must have
+failed; for there existed then none of that evidence which would prove
+the object and the nature of the association: and to proclaim a
+meeting, without using force to prevent or disperse it if it defied
+the proclamation; and to use force without being certain that the
+extent of the illegality would carry public opinion along with the use
+of force; further, to begin to use force without being sure that you
+have enough to use--would be acts of madness, and, at least, of great
+and criminal disregard of consequences. Now, when meeting after
+meeting had taken place, and the general design, and its mischief,
+were unfolded, it became necessary that _some new feature should
+occur_ to justify the interference of Government; and that occurred at
+the Clontarf meeting. No meeting had, before that, ventured to call
+itself "_Repeal infantry_;" and to Clontarf _horsemen_ also were
+summoned, and were designated "_Repeal cavalry_;" and, in the orders
+for their assembling, marching, and conducting themselves, _military
+directions were given_; and the meeting, had it been permitted to
+assemble, would have been a parade of cavalry, ready for civil war. It
+would have been a sort of review--in the face of the city of Dublin,
+in open defiance of all order and government. Let us add, that, just
+at that time, Mr O'Connell had published his "Address to all her
+Majesty's subjects, in all parts of her dominions," (a most libellous
+and treasonable publication;) and the arrangements to secure the peace
+were more complete, and could be brought to bear more easily, on the
+Clontarf than on any of the preceding meetings. The occasion presented
+itself, and as soon as possible the Irish authorities assembled at
+Dublin; the proclamation appeared; the ground was pre-occupied, and a
+force that was irresistible went out to keep the peace, and prevent
+the meeting. The result showed the perfect success of the Government's
+enterprise.
+
+As the foregoing topics will doubtless occupy much of the attention of
+parliament during the ensuing session, we were anxious to place on
+record our own opinions, as the result of much reflection, during a
+period when events were transpiring which threw upon the Government an
+awful responsibility, and rendered their course one of almost
+unprecedented difficulty. Modern times, we are convinced, have
+witnessed but few instances of such a masterly policy, combined with
+signal self-reliance.
+
+One or two general topics connected with Ireland, we have time only to
+glance at. First.--From the faint reluctant disavowal and
+discouragement of Mr O'Connell and his Repeal agitation, by the
+leading ex-Ministers during the last session, when emphatically
+challenged by Sir Robert Peel to join him in denouncing the attempted
+dismemberment of the empire, irrespective and independent of all party
+consideration, we are prepared to expect that in the ensuing session,
+the Opposition will, to a great extent, make common cause with Mr
+O'Connell, out of mingled fear, and gratitude, and hope towards their
+late friend and patron. Such a course will immensely strengthen the
+hands of the Queen's Government.
+
+Secondly.--To any thoughtful and independent politician, the present
+Sovereign state of Ireland demonstrates the utter impossibility of
+governing it upon the principle of breaking down or disparaging the
+Protestant interest. Such a course would tend only to bloody and
+interminable anarchy.
+
+Thirdly.--Ireland's misery springs from social more than political
+evils; and the greatest boon that Providence could give her, would be
+a powerful government inflexibly resolved to _put down agitation_.
+
+Lastly.--Can we wonder at the exasperation of the peasantry, who have
+for so many years had their money extorted from them, without ever
+having had, up to this moment, the shadow of an equivalent? And how
+long is this disgraceful pillage to go on? But we must conclude. The
+ensuing session of parliament may, and probably will, be a stormy one,
+and harassing to the Government; but they may prepare to encounter it
+with cheerful confidence. Their measures, during their brief tenure of
+office, have been attended with extraordinary success--and of that
+both the sovereign and the country are thoroughly aware, and we
+entertain high hopes concerning the future. We expect to see their
+strong majority in the House of Commons rather augmented than
+diminished by reason of the events which have happened during the
+recess. If the Ministers remain firm in their determination--and who
+doubts it?--to support the agricultural interests of the country, and
+persevere in their present vigorous policy towards Ireland, the
+Government is impregnable, and the surges of Repeal agitation in
+Ireland, and Anti-corn-law agitation in England, will dash against it
+in vain. So long as they pursue this course, they will be cheered by
+augmented indications of the national good-will, and of that implicit
+and affectionate confidence in their councils, which, we rejoice to
+know, is vouchsafed to her Ministers by our gracious Sovereign.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
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+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No.
+CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV., by Various
+
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+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
+<head>
+  <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
+
+  <title>BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE, VOL LV. January-June 1844.</title>
+
+  <style type="text/css">
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No.
+CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV., by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: August 27, 2004 [EBook #13306]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Jon Ingram, Victoria Woosley and PG Distributed
+Proofreaders. Produced from page images provided by The Internet
+Library of Early Journals.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+<h1>BLACKWOOD'S</h1>
+
+<h1>Edinburgh</h1>
+
+<h1>MAGAZINE.</h1>
+
+<h1>VOL. LV.</h1>
+
+<h1>JANUARY-JUNE, 1844</h1>.
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width:320;"><a href="images/title.png"><img width="320" src="images/title.png" alt="" /></a></div>
+
+
+<h1>1844.</h1>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h1>BLACKWOOD'S</h1>
+
+<h1>EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.</h1>
+
+
+<hr />
+
+<h3>No. CCCXXXIX. JANUARY, 1844. VOL. LV.</h3>
+
+<hr />
+
+
+
+<h4>CONTENTS.</h4>
+
+<p class="note">
+STATE PROSECUTIONS,                             <a href="#page1"> 1</a><br />
+ADVENTURES IN TEXAS. NO. III. THE STRUGGLE,       <a href="#page18"> 18</a><br />
+CLITOPHON AND LEUCIPPE,                          <a href="#page33"> 33</a><br />
+THE NEW ART OF PRINTING. BY A DESIGNING DEVIL,   <a href="#page45"> 45</a><br />
+THE BANKING-HOUSE. PART THE LAST,                <a href="#page50"> 50</a><br />
+K&#205;EFF, FROM THE RUSSIAN OF KOZL&#211;FF,      <a href="#page80"> 80</a><br />
+MARSTON; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF A STATESMAN. PART VII.  <a href="#page81"> 81</a><br />
+LETTER FROM LEMUEL GULLIVER,                       <a href="#page98"> 98</a><br />
+THE PROCLAMATION,                               <a href="#page100"> 100</a><br />
+THE FIREMAN'S SONG,                             <a href="#page101"> 101</a><br />
+POSITION AND PROSPECTS OF THE GOVERNMENT,        <a href="#page103"> 103</a><br />
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<div class="center">EDINBURGH:<br />
+<br />
+WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, 45, GEORGE STREET;<br />
+AND 22, PALL-MALL, LONDON.<br />
+<br />
+To whom all Communications (post paid) must be addressed.<br />
+<br />
+SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS THE UNITED KINGDOM.<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<br />
+PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND HUGHES, EDINBURGH.<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+</div>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page1" id="page1"></a>[pg 1]</span>
+
+
+
+
+
+<h1>BLACKWOOD'S</h1>
+
+<h1>EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.</h1>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h3>No. CCCXXIX. JANUARY, 1844. VOL. LV.</h3>
+
+<hr />
+
+
+
+<h2>STATE PROSECUTIONS.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The Englishman who, however
+well inclined to defer to the wisdom
+"of former ages," should throw a
+glance at the stern realities of the
+past, as connected with the history of
+his country, will be little disposed to
+yield an implicit assent to the opinions
+or assertions of those, who maintain
+the superiority of the past, to the
+disparagement and depreciation of the
+present times. Maxims and sayings
+of this tendency have undoubtedly
+prevailed from periods of remote antiquity.
+The wise monarch of the
+Jewish nation even forbade his people
+to ask "the cause that the former
+days were better than these;"
+"for," he adds, "thou dost not enquire
+wisely concerning this." Far
+different would be the modern precept
+of a British monarch. Rather
+let the English subject "enquire <i>diligently</i>
+concerning this," for he cannot
+fail to enquire wisely. Let him
+enquire, and he will find that "the
+former days" of England were days
+of discord, tyranny, and oppression;
+days when an Empson and a Dudley
+could harass the honest and well-disposed,
+through the medium of the
+process of the odious star-chamber;
+when the crown was possessed of almost
+arbitrary power, and when the
+liberty and personal independence of
+individuals were in no way considered
+or regarded; days when the severity
+of our criminal laws drew down from
+a French philosopher the sneer, that a
+history of England was a history of
+the executioner; when the doomed
+were sent out of the world in bands of
+twenty, and even thirty, at a time,
+at Tyburn or at "Execution dock;"
+and when, in the then unhealthy tone
+of public morals, criminals famous for
+their deeds of violence and rapine,
+were regarded rather as the heroes
+of romance, than as the pests and
+scourges of society. Let him enquire,
+and he will find that all these things
+have now long since passed away;
+that the rigours of the criminal law
+have been entirely mitigated, and that
+the great charters of our liberties, the
+fruits of accumulated wisdom and experience,
+have now been long confirmed.
+These facts, if universally
+known and duly pondered over, would
+go far to banish discontent and disaffection,
+and would tend to produce a
+well-founded confidence in the inherent
+power of adaptation to the necessities
+of the people, possessed by the
+constitution of our country. Thus,
+the social wants of the outer man having
+been in a great measure supplied,
+the philanthropy of modern times has
+been chiefly employed on the mental
+and moral improvement of the species;
+the wants of the inner man are now
+the objects of universal attention, and
+education has become the great necessity
+of the age. Hitherto, the municipal
+laws and institutions of this
+country have been defective; inasmuch
+as they have made little or no
+provision for the adequate instruction
+of the people. Much, no doubt, has
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page2" id="page2"></a>[pg 2]</span>
+been already done, and education,
+even now, diffuses her benignant light
+over a large portion of the population;
+among whom, the children of the ignorant
+are able to instruct their parents,
+and impart, to those who gave
+them being, a share in the new-found
+blessing of modern times. Much,
+however, remains still to be done, and
+the splendid examples of princely munificence
+which a great minister of the
+crown has recently shown the wealthier
+classes of this wealthy nation,
+may, in the absence of a state provision,
+have the effect of stimulating
+private exertion and generosity. In
+spite, however, of the moral and intellectual
+advancement of the present
+age, the passions and evil designs of
+the vicious and discontented are still
+able to influence vast masses of the
+people. The experience of the last
+few years unfortunately teaches us,
+that increased knowledge has not yet
+banished disaffection, and that though,
+during the last quarter of a century,
+the general standard of the nation's
+morality may have been elevated
+above its former resting-place, that
+education, in its present state of advancement,
+has not as yet effectually
+disarmed discontent or disaffection,
+by showing the greater evil which ever
+attends the endeavour to effect the
+lesser good, by violent, factious, or
+seditious means.</p>
+
+<p>Within the last thirteen years, the
+government has been compelled, on
+several occasions, to curb the violence
+and to repress the outbreaks of men
+who had yet to learn the folly of such
+attempts; and the powers of the executive
+have been frequently evoked
+by those who, of late years, have
+wielded the destinies of this country.
+Several state prosecutions have taken
+place during this period. They never
+occur without exciting a lively interest;
+the public eye is critically intent upon
+the minutest detail of these proceedings;
+and the public attention is concentrated
+upon those to whom is
+confided the vindication of the public
+rights and the redressing of the public
+wrongs. It has been often asked by
+some of these critical observers, How
+is it that, when great crimes or misdemeanours
+are to be punished, when
+the bold and daring offender is to be
+brought to justice, when the body
+politic is the offended party, when
+the minister honours a supposed offender
+with his notice in the shape of
+criminal proceedings, and the government
+condescends to prosecute&mdash;how
+is it, it has been asked on such occasions,
+when the first talent, science,
+and practical skill, are all arranged
+against the unfortunate object of a
+nation's vengeance, that the course of
+justice should be ever broken or impeded?
+Is the machinery then set
+in motion in truth defective&mdash;is there
+some inherent vice in the construction
+of the state engine? Is the law
+weak when it should be strong? Is
+its boasted majesty, after all, nothing
+but the creation of a fond imagination,
+or a delusion of the past? Are
+the wheels of the state-machine no
+longer bright, polished, and fit for use
+as they once were? or are they choked
+and clogged with the rust and dust
+of accumulated ages? Or, if not in
+the machine, does the fault, ask others
+of these bold critics, rest with the
+workmen who guide and superintend
+its action? Are the principles of its
+construction now no longer known or
+understood? Are they, like those of
+the engines of the Syracusan philosopher,
+lost in the lapse of time? Is
+the crown less efficiently served than
+private individuals? and can it be
+possible, it has even been demanded,
+that those who are actively employed
+on these occasions have been so long
+removed on the practice of what is
+often deemed the simpler portion of
+the law, and so long employed in the
+higher and more abstruse branches of
+the science, that they have forgotten
+the practice of their youth, and have
+lost the knowledge acquired in the
+commencement of their professional
+career? Lesser criminals, it is said,
+are every day convicted with ease
+and expedition&mdash;how is it, therefore,
+that the cobweb of the law holds fast
+the small ephemer&#230; which chance to
+stray across its filmy mesh, but that
+the gaudy insect of larger form and
+greater strength so often breaks
+through, his flight perhaps arrested for
+a moment, as he feels the insidious toil
+fold close about him? It is, however,
+only for a moment; one mighty effort
+breaks his bonds&mdash;he is free&mdash;and flies
+off in triumph and derision, trumpeting
+forth his victory, and proclaiming
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page3" id="page3"></a>[pg 3]</span>
+his escape from the snare, in which it
+was hoped to encompass him. The
+astute and practised gentlemen thus
+suspected, strong in the consciousness
+of deep legal knowledge, and ready
+practical skill and science, may justly
+despise the petty attacks of those who
+affect to doubt their professional ability
+and attainments. Some in high
+places have not hesitated to hint, on
+one occasion, at collusion, and to assert,
+that a certain prosecution failed,
+because there was no real desire to
+punish.</p>
+
+<p>Such is the substance of the various
+questions and speculations to which
+the legal events of the last thirteen
+years have given rise. We have now
+collected and enumerated them in a
+condensed form, for the purpose of
+tracing their rise and progress, and in
+order that we may demonstrate that,
+though there may possibly exist some
+reasons for these opinions, founded
+often on a misapprehension of the
+real circumstances of the cases quoted
+in their support, that they have, in
+fact, little or no substantial foundation.
+With this view, therefore, we
+shall briefly notice those trials, within
+the period of which we speak, which
+form the groundwork of these charges
+against the executive, before we proceed
+to state the real obstacles which
+do, in fact, occasionally oppose the
+smooth and <i>rapid</i> progress of a "State
+Prosecution."</p>
+
+<p>The first of these proceedings, which
+occurred during the period of the last
+thirteen years, was the trial of Messrs
+O'Connell, Lawless, Steel, and others.
+This case perhaps originated the opinions
+which have partially prevailed,
+and was, in truth, not unlikely to make
+a permanent impression on the public
+mind. In the month of January 1831,
+true bills were found against these parties
+by the Grand Jury of Dublin, for
+assembling and meeting together for
+purposes prohibited by a proclamation
+of the Lord Lieutenant; and for conspiring
+to do an act forbidden by the
+law. By every possible device, by
+demurrers and inconsistent pleas, delays
+were interposed; and though Mr
+O'Connell withdrew a former plea of
+not guilty, and pleaded guilty to the
+counts to which he had at first demurred&mdash;though
+Mr Stanley, in the
+House of Commons, in reply to a
+question put by the Marquis of Chandos,
+emphatically declared, that it was
+impossible for the Irish government,
+consistently with their dignity as a
+government, to enter into any negotiation
+implying the remotest compromise
+with the defendants&mdash;and that it
+was the unalterable determination of
+the law-officers of Ireland to let the
+law take its course against Mr O'Connell&mdash;and
+that, let him act as he pleased,
+judgment would be passed against
+him&mdash;still, in spite of this determination
+of the government, so emphatically
+announced by the Irish Secretary,
+the statute on which the proceedings
+were founded was actually
+suffered to expire, without any previous
+steps having been taken against
+the state delinquents. There has ever
+been that degree of mystery about this
+event, which invariably rouses attention
+and excites curiosity; the escape
+of those parties was a great triumph
+over the powers, or the expressed inclinations
+of the government, which
+was well calculated to set the public
+mind at work to discover the latent
+causes which produced such strange
+and unexpected results. After an interval
+of seven years, another case
+occurred, which was not calculated
+materially to lessen the impression
+already made upon the public; for
+although, in the following instance,
+the prosecution was conducted to a
+successful termination, yet questions
+of such grave importance were raised,
+and fought with such ability, vigour,
+and determination, that the accomplishment
+of the ends of justice, if
+not prevented, was certainly long delayed.</p>
+
+<p>On the 17th December 1838, twelve
+prisoners were brought to Liverpool,
+charged in execution of a sentence of
+transportation to Van Diemen's Land
+for having been concerned in the
+Canadian revolt. Here the offenders
+had been tried, convicted, sentenced,
+and actually transported. The prosecutors,
+therefore, might naturally be
+supposed to have got fairly <i>into</i> port,
+when they saw the objects of their
+tender solicitude fairly <i>out</i> of port, on
+their way to the distant land to which
+the offended laws of their country had
+consigned them.</p>
+
+<p>If justice might not account her
+work as done, at a time when her
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page4" id="page4"></a>[pg 4]</span>
+victims had already traversed a thousand
+leagues of the wide Atlantic,
+when could it be expected that the
+law might take its course without further
+let or hindrance? On the 17th
+of December, as has been observed,
+the prisoners arrived at Liverpool, and
+were straightway consigned to the
+care and custody of Mr Batcheldor,
+the governor of the borough jail of
+Liverpool; by whom they were duly
+immured in the stronghold of the
+borough, and safely placed under lock
+and key. Things, however, did not
+long continue in this state. In a few
+days twelve writs of <i>habeas corpus</i>
+made their sudden and unexpected
+appearance, by which Mr Batcheldor
+was commanded forthwith to bring the
+bodies of his charges, together with
+the causes of detention, before the
+Lord Chief Justice of England. Mr
+Batcheldor obeyed the command in
+both particulars; the judges of the
+Court of Queen's Bench met; counsel
+argued and re-argued the matter before
+them, but in vain&mdash;the prisoners
+were left in the governor's care,
+in which they remained, as if no effort
+had been made to remove then from
+his custody. All, however, was not
+yet over; for, as though labouring
+under a strange delusion, four of the
+prisoners actually made oath that they
+had never been arraigned, tried, convicted,
+or sentenced at all, either in
+Canada or elsewhere! Upon this four
+more writs of <i>habeas corpus</i> issued,
+commanding the unhappy Mr Batcheldor
+to bring the four deluded convicts
+before the Barons of the Exchequer.
+This was done; arguments,
+both old and new, were heard with
+exemplary patience and attention;
+the play was played over again; but
+the Barons were equally inexorable
+with the Court of Queen's Bench, and
+the four prisoners, after much consideration,
+were again remanded to the custody
+of the governor of the jail, and,
+together with their eight fellow-prisoners,
+were, in course of time, duly
+conveyed to the place of their original
+destination.</p>
+
+<p>The next of these cases, in chronological
+order, is that of the Monmouthshire
+riots in 1839. This case,
+also, might tend to corroborate the
+opinion, that the service of the state,
+in legal matters, is attended with
+much difficulty and embarrassment.
+It will, however, be seen upon examination
+of the facts of the case, that
+the difficulty which then arose, proceeded
+solely from the lenity and indulgence
+shown to the prisoners by
+the crown. On New-Year's day 1840,
+John Frost and others, were brought
+to trial, on a charge of high treason,
+before a special commission at Monmouth.
+The proceedings were interrupted
+by an objection taken by the
+prisoners' counsel, that the terms of a
+statute, which requires that a list of
+witnesses should be delivered to the
+prisoners <i>at the same time</i> with a copy
+of the indictment, had not been complied
+with. The indictment had, in
+fact, been delivered five days before
+the list of witnesses. This had been
+done in merciful consideration to the
+prisoners, in order that they might be
+put in possession of the charge, to be
+brought against them, as early as it
+was in the power of the crown to give
+them the information, and probably before
+it was <i>possible</i> that the list
+of witnesses could have been made out.
+The trial, however, proceeded, subject
+to the decision of the fifteen judges
+upon the question, thus raised upon
+the supposed informality, which nothing
+but the <i>anxious mercy</i> of the
+crown had introduced into the proceedings;
+and the parties were found
+guilty of the offence laid to their
+charge. In the ensuing term, all
+other business was, for a time, suspended;
+and the fifteen judges of the
+land, with all the stately majesty of
+the judicial office, were gathered together
+in solemn conclave in Westminster
+Hall. A goodly array, tier above
+tier they sat&mdash;the heavy artillery of a
+vast legal battery about to open the
+fire of their learning, with that imposing
+dignity which becomes the avengers
+of the country's and the sovereign's
+wrongs. Day after day they
+met, heard, and deliberated upon arguments,
+which were conspicuous
+from their consummate learning and
+ability. At length these learned persons
+delivered their judgments, and,
+amid much diversity of opinion, the
+majority thought, upon the whole, that
+the conviction was right, and that the
+terms of the statute had been virtually
+complied with. The criminals, however,
+probably in consequence of the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page5" id="page5"></a>[pg 5]</span>
+doubts and difficulty of the case, were
+absolved on the most highly penal
+consequences of their crime, and were,
+by a sort of compromise, transported
+for life to one of the penal settlements.</p>
+
+<p>The doubt which some have entertained
+of the real insanity of Oxford,
+and others who have recently attempted
+the same crime which he so nearly
+committed, has caused these cases
+also to be brought forward in confirmation
+of the opinions, which we contend
+rest upon no real foundation.
+The insanity of a prisoner is, however,
+a fact, upon which it is the province
+of the jury to decide, under the direction
+of the presiding judge. In each
+case the law was luminously laid down
+by the judge for the guidance of the
+jury, who were fully instructed as to
+what the law required to establish the
+insanity of its prisoner, and to prove
+that "lesion of the will" which would
+render a human being irresponsible
+for his acts. These verdicts, undoubtedly,
+gave rise to a grave discussion,
+whether the law, as it now stands,
+was sufficiently stringent to have
+reached these cases; and though this
+question was decided in the affirmative,
+the mere entertaining of the doubt
+afforded another specious confirmation
+of the impression, that a singular
+fatality was attendant upon a state
+prosecution. This idea received another
+support from the case of Lord
+Cardigan, who, about this period, was
+unexpectedly acquitted, on technical
+grounds, from a grave and serious
+charge. This, however, was no state
+prosecution, and we do but notice it,
+<i>en passant</i>, in corroboration of our general
+argument.</p>
+
+<p>We now come to the case of the
+Chartists in 1842. For some time
+previous to the summer of 1842, great
+distress, it will be remembered, prevailed
+among the manufacturing population
+of the northern and midland
+counties. The misery of the preceding
+winter had been dreadful in the
+extreme; emaciated, haggard beings
+might be daily seen wandering about
+the country half naked, in the coldest
+weather; sufferings, almost without a
+parallel, were borne with patience and
+resignation. Despair there might be
+in the hearts of thousands, but those
+thousands were mute and passive in
+their misery; all was dark, all was
+hopeless; the wintry wind of penury
+blew untempered, keen upon them,
+but still they cried not; hunger preyed
+upon their very vitals, but they uttered
+no complaint. Let us not, even
+now, refuse a passing tribute of honour
+and respect to the passive heroism
+which in many an instance marked
+the endurance of the hopeless misery
+of those dreadful times. At length,
+however, evil and designing men came
+among the sufferers&mdash;remedies for the
+pressing evil, and means of escape
+from the wretchedness of their condition,
+were darkly hinted at; redress
+was whispered to be near, and they,
+the hungry fathers of famished children,
+lent a greedy ear to the fair
+promises of men whom they deemed
+wiser than themselves. The tempter's
+seedtime had arrived, the ground was
+ready, and the seed was sown. Day
+by day, nay, hour by hour, was the
+bud of disaffection fostered with the
+greatest care; and, day by day, its
+strength and vitality increased. When,
+at length, the people were deemed
+ripe for action, the mask was thrown
+off, treasonable schemes and projects
+were openly proclaimed by the leaders
+of the coming movement, and echoed,
+from a hundred hills, by vast multitudes
+of their deluded followers. Large
+meetings were daily held on the neighbouring
+moors, where bodies of men
+were openly trained and armed for active
+and offensive operations. At length
+the insurrection, for such in truth it was,
+broke forth. Then living torrents of
+excited and exasperated men poured
+down those hillsides; the peaceful
+and well-affected were compelled to
+join the insurgent ranks, busy in
+the work of destruction and intimidation;
+when each evening brought the
+work of havoc to a temporary close,
+they laid them down to rest where
+the darkness overtook them. The
+roads were thus continually blockaded,
+and those who, under cover of the
+night, sought to obtain aid and assistance
+from less disturbed districts, were
+often interrupted and turned back by
+bodies of these men. Authority was
+at an end, and a large extensive district
+was completely at the mercy of
+reckless multitudes, burning to avenge
+the sufferings of the past, and bent on
+preventing, as they thought, a recurrence
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page6" id="page6"></a>[pg 6]</span>
+of them in future. The very
+towns were in their hands; "in an
+evil hour" a vast body of insurgents
+was "admitted" into one of the
+largest mercantile towns of the kingdom,
+where they pillaged and laid
+waste in every direction. In another
+town of the district a fearful riot was
+put down by force, some of the leaders
+of the mob being shot dead while heading
+a charge upon the military. The
+ascendancy of the law was at length
+asserted; many arrests took place;
+the jails were crowded with prisoners;
+and the multitudes without, deserted
+by those to whom they had looked
+up for advice, their friends in prison,
+with the unknown terrors of the law
+suspended over them, probably then
+felt that, miserable and lost as they
+had been before, they had now fallen
+even lower in the scale of human
+misery. Criminal proceedings were
+quickly instituted. Several commissions
+were sent down to the districts
+in which these disturbances had take
+place, in order that the offenders
+might meet with <i>speedy</i> punishment.
+The law officers of the crown, with
+many and able assistants, in person
+conducted the proceedings. Temperate,
+mild, dignified, and forbearing
+was their demeanour; in no case was
+the individual the object of prosecution;
+it was the <i>crime</i>, through the
+person of the criminal, against which
+the government proceeded. No feelings
+of a personal nature were there
+exhibited; and a mild, but firm, as it
+were, a parental correction of erring
+and misguided children, seemed to be
+the sole object of those who then represented
+the government. Conviction
+was heaped upon conviction&mdash;sentence
+followed sentence&mdash;the miserable tool
+was distinguished from the man who
+made him what he was&mdash;the active
+emissary, the secret conspirator, also
+received each their proportionate
+amount of punishment. True, a few
+of the more cautious and crafty, all
+included in one indictment, eventually
+escaped the penalty due to their
+crimes; but, among the multitude of
+cases which were then tried, this was,
+we believe, the only instance even of
+partial failure. In spite of this single
+miscarriage of the government, the
+great object of these proceedings was
+completely answered; the end of all
+punishment was attained; the vengeance
+which the law then took had
+all the effect which the most condign
+punishment of these few men could
+have accomplished; the constitutional
+maxim of "<i>poena ad paucos, metus ad
+omnes</i>," has been amply illustrated by
+these proceedings; Chartism has been
+suppressed, by the temperate application
+of the constitutional means which
+were then resorted to for the correction
+of its violence, and the prevention of
+its seditious schemes.</p>
+
+<p>We must not omit to mention the
+instances of signal and complete success
+which have been, from time to time,
+exhibited in other prosecutions against
+Feargus O'Connor and different members
+of the Chartist body, within the
+period of which we speak. On none
+of these occasions has the course of
+justice been hindered, or even turned
+aside; but the defendants have, we
+believe, without exception, paid the
+penalty of their crimes by enduring the
+punishments awarded by the court.</p>
+
+<p>The recent trials of the Rebecca
+rioters were also signally successful
+and effective; and the prejudices of a
+Welsh jury, which some feared would
+prove a fatal stumblingblock, were
+overcome by the dispassionate appeal
+to their better judgment then made by
+the officers of the crown.</p>
+
+<p>From a review of the cases, it therefore
+appears, that the failures of a state
+prosecution have been comparatively
+few; and that the crown has met
+with even more than the average success
+which the "glorious uncertainty
+of the law" in general permits to those
+who tempt its waywardness, and risk
+the perils of defeat. The welfare and
+interest of the nation, however, lie in
+the <i>general</i> results of these proceedings,
+rather than the <i>particular event</i> of
+an individual trial. Therefore, though
+we should assume that a part only of
+what was intended has been accomplished,
+still if that portion produces
+the same general results as were
+hoped for from the successful accomplishment
+of the whole, the object of
+the government has been attained.
+Now, it may be observed, that, with
+perhaps the single exception of the
+case of Mr O'Connell in 1831, the end
+and object of all state prosecution has
+been uniformly and completely accomplished,
+by the suppression of the evil
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page7" id="page7"></a>[pg 7]</span>
+which the crown in each instance was
+anxious to put down. When this has
+taken place, there can have been no
+failure. Beyond what is necessary
+for the welfare of the state, and the
+general safety and security of the persons
+and property of individuals, the
+crown has no interest in inflicting punishment;
+it never asks for more than
+is required to effect <i>these objects</i>, and
+it can scarcely be content with less.</p>
+
+<p>There are, however, difficulties almost
+peculiar to the more serious offences
+against the state, but which are
+entirely different, in their nature, from
+those imaginary difficulties which have
+formed the subject of so much declamation.
+A passing glance at the proceedings
+now pending in Ireland, will
+give the most casual observer some
+idea of what is sometimes to be encountered
+by those to whom is entrusted
+the arduous duty of conducting
+a state prosecution. Look back on
+the "tempest of provocation," which
+recently assailed the Irish Attorney-General,
+on the vexatious delays and
+frivolous objections which sprang up
+at every move of the crown lawyers,
+called forth by one who, though "<i>not
+valiant</i>," was well known to the government
+to be "most cunning offence"
+ere they challenged him, but
+who, "despite his cunning fence and
+active practice," may perhaps find,
+that this time the law has clutched
+him with a grasp of iron. In ordinary
+cases, criminals may, no doubt, be
+easily convicted; and in the great
+majority of the more common crimes
+and misdemeanours, the utmost legal
+ingenuity and acumen might be unable
+to detect a single error in the proceedings,
+from first to last. Still it
+must be remembered, that even among
+the more common of ordinary cases,
+in which the forms are simple, the
+practice certain, and in which the
+law may be supposed to be already
+defined beyond the possibility of doubt,
+error, or misconception&mdash;even in such
+cases, questions occasionally arise which
+scarcely admit of any satisfactory solution&mdash;questions
+in which the fifteen
+judges, to whom they may be referred,
+often find it impossible to agree, and
+which may therefore be reasonably
+supposed to be sufficiently perplexing
+to the rest of the world. State offences,
+such as treason and sedition,
+which are of comparatively rare occurrence,
+present many questions of
+greater intricacy than any other class
+of crimes. In treason especially, a
+well-founded jealousy of the power
+and prerogatives of the crown has intrenched
+the subject behind a line of
+outposts, in the shape of forms and
+preliminary proceedings; the accused,
+for his greater security against a power
+which, if unwatched, might become
+arbitrary and oppressive, has been
+invested with rights which must be
+respected and complied with, and by
+the neglect of which the whole proceedings
+are rendered null and void.
+At this moment, in all treasons, except
+attempts upon the person of the
+sovereign, "the prisoner," in the language
+of Lord Erskine, "is covered
+all over with the armour of the
+law;" and there must be twice the
+amount of evidence which would be
+legally competent to establish his
+guilt in a criminal prosecution for any
+other offence, even by the meanest
+and most helpless of mankind.
+Sedition is a head of crime of a somewhat
+vague and indeterminate character,
+and, in many cases, it may he
+extremely difficult, even for an acute
+and practised lawyer, to decide whether
+the circumstances amount to
+sedition. Mr East, in his pleas of
+the crown, says, that "sedition is
+understood in a more general sense
+than treason, and extends to other
+offences, not capital, of a like tendency,
+but without any actual design
+against the king in contemplation,
+such as contempts of the king and his
+government, riotous assemblings for
+political purposes, and the like; and
+in general all contemptuous, indecent,
+or malicious observations upon his
+person and government, whether by
+writing or speaking, or by tokens,
+calculated to lessen him in the esteem
+of his subjects, or weaken his government,
+or raise jealousies of him
+amongst the people, will fall under the
+notion of seditious acts." An offence
+which admits of so little precision in
+the terms in which it is defined, depending
+often upon the meaning to be
+attached to words, the real import of
+which is varied by the tone or gesture
+of the speaker, by the words which
+precede, and by those which follow,
+depending also upon the different ideas
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page8" id="page8"></a>[pg 8]</span>
+which men attach to the same words,
+evidently rests on very different
+grounds from those cases, where actual
+crimes have been perpetrated and
+deeds committed, which leave numerous
+traces behind, and which may be
+proved by the permanent results of
+which they have been the cause.
+Technical difficulties without number
+also exist: the most literal accuracy,
+which is indispensable&mdash;the artful inuendoes,
+the artistical averments, which
+are necessary, correctly to shape the
+charge ere it is submitted to the grand
+jury, may be well conceived to involve
+many niceties and refinements, on
+which the case may easily be wrecked.
+It must also be remembered that the
+utmost legal ingenuity is called into
+action, and the highest professional
+talent is engaged in the defence of the
+accused. The enormous pressure
+upon the accused himself, who, probably
+from the higher or middle classes,
+with ample means at his command,
+an ignominious death perhaps impending,
+or, at the least, imprisonment
+probably for years in threatening
+prospect close before him; his friends
+active, moving heaven and earth in
+his behalf, no scheme left untried, no
+plan or suggestion rejected, by which
+it may, even in the remotest degree
+be possible to avert the impending
+doom; the additional rancour which
+politics sometimes infuse into the proceedings,
+the partisanship which has
+occasioned scenes such as should never
+be exhibited in the sacred arena of
+the halls of justice, animosities which
+give the defence the character of a
+party conflict, and which cause a conviction
+to be looked upon as a political
+defeat, and an acquittal to be regarded
+as a party triumph&mdash;all these
+circumstances, in their combined and
+concentrated force, must also be take
+into consideration. In such a case
+every step is fought with stern and
+dogged resolution; even mere delay is
+valuable, for when all other hope is
+gone, the chapter of accidents <i>may</i> befriend
+the accused; it is one chance
+more; and even one chance, however
+slight, is not to be thrown away.
+Such is a faint picture of the defensive
+operations on such occasions: how is
+this untiring, bitter energy met by
+those who represent the crown?</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>
+"Look on this picture and on that."
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Here all is calm, dignified, generous,
+and forbearing; every consideration
+is shown, every indulgence is
+granted, to the unfortunate being who
+is in jeopardy. The crown has no
+interest to serve beyond that which
+the state possesses in the vindication
+of the law, and in that cool, deliberate,
+and impartial administration of
+justice which has so long distinguished
+this country. Nothing is unduly
+pressed against the prisoner, but every
+extenuating fact is fairly laid before
+the jury by the crown; it is, in short,
+generosity, candor, and forbearance,
+on the one side, matched against craft,
+cunning and the resolution <i>by any
+means</i> to win, upon the other. Such
+are the real difficulties which may be
+often felt by those who conduct a state
+prosecution. Surely it is better far
+that these difficulties should, in some
+instances, be even wholly insuperable,
+and that the prosecution should be
+defeated, than that any change should
+come over the spirit in which these
+trials are now conducted; or that the
+crown should ever even attempt to
+make the criminal process of the law
+an instrument of tyranny and oppression,
+as it was in the days of Scroggs
+and Jefferies, and when juries, through
+intimidation, returned such verdicts
+as the crown desired. Our very tenacity
+of our liberties may tend to render
+these proceedings occasionally
+abortive; and the twelve men composing
+a jury of the country, though
+possibly all their sympathies would
+be at once enlisted in behalf of a wronged
+and injured subject, may, unconsciously
+to themselves, demand more
+stringent proof, in cases where the sovereign
+power appears before then
+as the party; and more especially,
+when the offence is of an impersonal
+nature, and where the theory of the
+constitution, rather than the person
+or property of individuals, is the object
+of aggression. In the olden time
+such was the power of the crown, that,
+whenever the arm of the state was
+uplifted, the blow fell with unerring
+accuracy and precision; but now,
+when each object of a state prosecution
+is a sort of modern Briareus, the
+blow must be dealt with consummate
+skill, or it will fail to strike where it was
+meant to fall. On this account, perhaps,
+in addition to then own intrinsic
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page9" id="page9"></a>[pg 9]</span>
+paramount importance, the proceedings
+now pending in Ireland, have become
+the object of universal and absorbing
+interest throughout the whole of the
+United Kingdom. Under these circumstances
+it has occurred to us, that
+a popular and accurate review of the
+several stages of a criminal prosecution,
+by which the general reader will
+be able, in some degree, to understand
+the several steps of that proceeding
+which is now pending, might not be
+unacceptable or uninstructive at the
+present moment. It must, however,
+be observed, that it is scarcely possible
+to divest a subject so technical in
+it very nature from those terms of
+art which, however familiar they may
+be to many of our readers, cannot be
+understood by all without some explanation,
+which we shall endeavour
+to supply as we proceed.</p>
+
+<p>The general importance of information
+of this nature has been well
+summed up by a great master of criminal
+law. "The learning touching
+these subjects," says Sir Michael Foster,
+"is a matter of great and universal
+concernment. For no rank, no
+elevation in life, and, let me add, no
+conduct, how circumspect soever,
+ought to tempt a reasonable man to
+conclude that these enquiries do not,
+nor possibly can, concern him. A
+moment's cool reflection on the utter
+instability of human affairs, and the
+numberless unforeseen events which
+a day may bring forth, will be sufficient
+to guard any man, conscious of
+his own infirmities, against a delusion
+of this kind."</p>
+
+<p>Let us suppose the minister of the
+day, having before been made aware
+that, in a portion of the kingdom, a
+state of things existed that demanded
+his utmost vigilance and attention,
+to have ascertained the reality of the
+apparent danger, and to have procured
+accurate information as to the
+real character of the proceedings, and
+to find that acts apparently treasonable
+or seditious, as the case may be,
+had been committed. Suppose him,
+charged with the safety of the state,
+and responsible for the peace, order,
+and well-being of the community, to
+set the constitutional process of the
+law in motion against the offending
+individuals; his first step, under such
+circumstances, must be to procure
+full and satisfactory evidence of the
+facts as they really exist. For this
+purpose agents must he employed,
+necessarily in secret, or the very end
+and object of their mission would be
+frustrated, to collect and gather information
+from every authentic source,
+and to watch, with their own eyes
+the proceedings which have attracted
+attention. This is a work of time,
+perhaps; but suppose that it is complete,
+and that the minister having
+before him in evidence, true and unmistakable,
+a complete case of crime
+to lay before a jury, what, under these
+circumstances, is the first step to be
+taken by the crown? Either of two
+distinct modes of procedure may be
+chosen; the one mode is by an <i>ex officio</i>
+information, the other is by indictment.
+An indictment is the mode
+by which all treasons and felonies
+must be proceeded against, and
+by which ordinary misdemeanours
+are usually brought to punishment.
+An <i>ex officio</i> information is an information
+at the suit of the sovereign,
+filed by the Attorney-General, as by
+virtue of his office, without applying
+to the court where filed for leave, and
+without giving the defendant any opportunity
+of showing cause why it
+should not be filed. The principal
+difference between this form of procedure
+and that by indictment, consists
+in the manner in which the proceedings
+are commenced; in the latter
+case, the law requires that the accusation
+should be warranted by the
+oath of twelve men, before he be put
+to answer it&mdash;or in other words that
+the grand jury must give that information
+to the court, which, in the
+former case, is furnished by the law
+officer of the crown. The cases which
+are prosecuted by <i>ex officio</i> information,
+are properly such enormous misdemeanours
+as peculiarly tend to disturb
+and endanger the government
+or to molest or affront the sovereign
+in the discharge of the functions of
+the royal office. The necessity for
+the existence of a power of this nature
+in the state, is thus set forth by
+that learned and illustrious judge, Sir
+William Blackstone. "For offences
+so highly dangerous, in the punishment
+or prevention of which a moment's
+delay would be fatal, the law
+has given to the crown the power of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page10" id="page10"></a>[pg 10]</span>
+an immediate prosecution, without
+waiting for any previous application
+to any other tribunal: which power,
+thus necessary, not only to the ease
+and safety, but even to the very existence
+of the executive magistrate, was
+originally reserved in the great plan
+of the English constitution, wherein
+provision is wisely made for the preservation
+of all its parts."</p>
+
+<p>The crown, therefore, in a case such
+as we have imagined, must first make
+choice between these two modes of
+procedure. The leniency of modern
+governments has of late usually resorted
+to the process by indictment;
+and the crown, waiving all the privileges
+which appertain to the kingly
+office, appears before the constituted
+tribunals of the land, as the redresser
+of the public wrongs, invested with
+no powers, and clothed with no
+authority beyond the simple rights
+possessed by the meanest of its subjects.
+We shall, for this reason, take
+no further notice of the <i>ex officio</i> information;
+and as treasons form a class
+of offences governed by laws and rules
+peculiar to itself, we shall also exclude
+this head of crime from our consideration,
+and confine ourselves solely to
+the ordinary criminal process by which
+offenders are brought to justice.</p>
+
+<p>In, general, the first step in a criminal
+prosecution, is to obtain a warrant
+for the apprehension of the accused
+party. In ordinary cases, a warrant is
+granted by any justice of the peace upon
+information, on the oath of some credible
+witness, of facts from which it
+appears that a crime has been committed,
+and that the person against
+whom the warrant is sought to be obtained,
+is probably the guilty party,
+and is a document under the hand and
+seal of the justice, directed generally
+to the constable or other peace-officer,
+requiring him to bring the accused,
+either generally before <i>any</i> justice
+of the county, or only before the justice
+who granted it. This is the practice
+in ordinary cases; but in extraordinary
+cases, the warrant may issue
+from the Lord Chief Justice, or the
+Privy Council, the Secretaries of State,
+or from any justice of the Court of
+Queen's Bench. These latter warrants
+are, we believe, all tested, or dated England,
+and extend over the whole kingdom.
+So far the proceedings have
+been all <i>ex parte</i>, one side only has
+been heard, one party only has appeared,
+and all that has been done, is
+to procure or compel the appearance
+of the other. The warrant is delivered
+to the officer, who is bound to obey
+the command which it contains. It
+would seem, however, that, as was
+done in a recent case in Ireland, it is
+sufficient if the appearance of the accused
+be virtually secured, even without
+the intervention of an actual arrest.</p>
+
+<p>When the delinquent appears, in
+consequence of this process, before the
+authorities, they are bound immediately
+to examine into the circumstances
+of the alleged crime; and they
+are to take down in writing the examinations
+of the witnesses offered in
+support of the charge. If the evidence
+is defective, and grave suspicion
+should attach to the prisoner, he
+may be remanded, in order that fresh
+evidence may be procured; or the
+magistrate, if the case be surrounded
+with doubt and difficulty, may adjourn
+it for a reasonable time, in order to
+consider his final decision. The accused
+must also be examined, but not
+upon oath; and his examination also
+must be taken down in writing, and
+may be given in evidence against him
+at the trial; for although the maxim
+of the common law is "<i>nemo tenebitur
+prodere seipsum</i>," the legislature, as
+long ago as the year 1555, directed
+that, in cases of felony, the examination
+of the prisoner should be taken;
+which provision has recently been extended
+to misdemeanours also. Care
+must be taken that his examination
+should not even <i>appear</i> to have been
+taken on oath; for in a very recent
+case, in which <i>all</i> the examinations
+were contained upon one sheet of paper,
+and under one general heading&mdash;from which they all purported to have
+been taken upon oath, the prisoner's
+admission of his guilt contained in
+that examination, was excluded on
+the trial, and the rest of the evidence
+being slight, he was accordingly acquitted.
+Now, if upon the enquiry
+thus instituted, and thus conducted,
+it appears, either that no such crime
+was committed, or that the suspicion
+entertained against the accused is
+wholly groundless, or that, however
+positively accused, if the balance of
+testimony be strongly in favour of his
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page11" id="page11"></a>[pg 11]</span>
+innocence, it is the duty of the magistrate
+to discharge him. But if, on
+the other hand, the case seems to have
+been entirely made out, or even if it
+should appear probable, that the alleged
+crime has in fact been perpetrated
+by the defendant, he must either be
+committed to prison, there to he kept,
+in safe custody, until the sitting of the
+court before which the trial is to be
+heard; or, he may be allowed to give
+bail&mdash;that is, to put in securities for his
+appearance to answer the charge
+against him. In either of these alternatives,
+whether the accused be committed
+or held to bail, it is the duty
+of the magistrate to subscribe the
+examinations, and cause them to be
+delivered to the proper officer, at, or
+before, the opening of the court. Bail
+may be taken by two justices in cases
+of felony, and by one in cases of misdemeanour.
+In this stage of the proceedings,
+as the commitment is only
+for safe custody, whenever bail will
+answer the same intention, it ought
+to be taken, as in inferior crimes and
+misdemeanours; but in offences of a
+capital nature, such as the heinous
+crimes of treason, murder, and the
+like, no bail can be a security equivalent
+to the actual custody of the person.
+The nature of bail has been explained,
+by Mr Justice Blackstone, to
+be "a delivery or bailment of a person
+to his sureties, upon their giving,
+together with himself, sufficient security
+for his appearance: he being supposed
+to continue in their friendly
+custody, instead of going to gaol."
+To refuse, or even to delay bail to any
+person bailable, is an offence against
+the liberty of the subject, in any magistrate,
+by the common law. And
+the Court of Queen's Bench will grant
+a criminal information against the
+magistrate who improperly refuses
+bail in a case in which it ought to have
+been received. It is obviously of great
+importance, in order to ensure the appearance
+of the accused at the time
+and place of trial, that the sureties
+should be men of substance; reasonable
+notice of bail, in general twenty-four
+or forty-eight hours, may be ordered
+to be given to the prosecutor, in order
+that he may have time to examine into
+their sufficiency and responsibility.
+When the bail appear, evidence may
+be heard on oath, and they may themselves
+be examined on oath upon this
+point; if they do not appear to possess
+property to the amount required
+by the magistrates, they may be rejected,
+and others must be procured,
+or the defender must go to prison.
+Excessive bail must not be required;
+and, on the other hand, the magistrate,
+if he take insufficient bail, is liable
+to be fined, if the criminal do not appear
+to take his trial. When the securities
+are found, the bail enter into
+a recognizance, together with the accused,
+by which they acknowledge
+themselves bound to the Queen in the
+required sums, if the accused does not
+appear to take his trial, at the appointed
+time and place. This recognizance
+must be subscribed by the
+magistrates, and delivered with the
+examinations to the officer of the
+court in which the trial is to take
+place. With this, the preliminary proceedings
+close: the accused has had
+one opportunity of refuting the charge,
+or of clearing himself from the suspicion
+which has gathered round him;
+but as yet, there is no written accusation,
+no written statement of the offence
+which it is alleged he has committed.
+True, he has heard evidence&mdash;he has
+heard a charge made orally against
+him&mdash;but the law requires greater
+particularity than this before a man
+shall be put in peril upon a criminal
+accusation. The facts disclosed in
+the evidence before the magistrates
+must be put in a legal form; the offence
+must be clearly and accurately
+defined in writing, by which the accused
+may be informed what specific
+charge he is to answer, and from which
+he may be able to learn what liability
+he incurs; whether his life is put in
+peril, or whether he is in danger of
+transportation or of imprisonment, or
+merely of a pecuniary fine. This is
+done by means of the indictment. The
+indictment is a written accusation of
+one or more several persons, preferred
+to and presented upon oath by a grand
+jury. This written accusation, before
+being presented to the grand jury, is
+properly termed a "bill;" and, in
+ordinary cases, it is generally prepared
+by the clerk of the arraigns at the
+assizes, and by the clerk of the peace
+at the quarter sessions; but, in cases
+of difficulty, it is drawn by counsel.
+It consists of a formal technical statement
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page12" id="page12"></a>[pg 12]</span>
+of the offence, which is engrossed
+upon parchment, upon the back
+of which the names of the witnesses
+for the prosecution are indorsed. In
+England it is delivered to the crier of
+the court, by whom the witnesses are
+sworn to the truth of the evidence
+they are about to give before the
+grand jury. In the trial now pending
+in the Court of Queen's Bench in Ireland,
+a great question was raised as
+to whether a recent statute, which,
+on the ground of convenience, enabled
+grand juries in Ireland themselves
+to swear the witnesses, extended to
+trials before the Queen's Bench.
+This question was decided in the affirmative;
+therefore, in that country,
+the oath, in every case, must be administered
+by the grand jury themselves;
+whereas, in this country, the
+witnesses are sworn <i>in court</i>, and by
+the crier, as we have already mentioned.
+The grand jury, ever since
+the days of King Ethelred, must consist
+of twelve at least, and not more
+than twenty-three. In the superior
+courts they are generally drawn from
+the magistracy or superior classes of
+the community, being, as Mr Justice
+Blackstone expresses it, "usually
+gentlemen of the best figure in the
+county." They are duly sworn and
+instructed in the articles of their enquiry
+by the judge who presides upon
+the bench. They then withdraw, to sit
+and receive all bills which may be presented
+to them. When a bill is thus
+presented, the witnesses are generally
+called in the order in which their names
+appear upon the back of the bill. The
+grand jury is, at most, to hear evidence
+only on behalf of the prosecution;
+"for," says the learned commentator
+already quoted, "the finding of an indictment
+is only in the nature of an
+enquiry or accusation, which is afterwards
+to be tried and determined;
+and the grand jury are only to enquire
+upon their oaths, whether there be
+sufficient cause to call upon a party to
+answer it." They ought, however, to
+be fully persuaded of the truth of an
+indictment as far as the evidence
+goes, and not to rest satisfied with
+remote probabilities; for the form of
+the indictment is, that they, "<i>upon
+their oath</i>, present" the party to have
+committed the crime. This form, Mr
+Justice Coleridge observes, is perhaps
+stronger than may be wished, and we
+believe that the criminal law commissioners
+are now seriously considering
+the propriety of abolishing it.</p>
+
+<p>After hearing the evidence, the
+grand jury endorse upon the bill their
+judgment of the truth or falsehood of
+the charge. If they think the accusation
+groundless, they write upon it,
+"not found," or "not a true bill;"
+in which case the bill is said to be
+ignored: but, on the other hand, if
+twelve at least are satisfied of the
+truth of the accusation, the words
+"true bill" are placed upon it. The
+bill is then said to be found. It then
+becomes an indictment, and is brought
+into court by the grand jury, and publicly
+delivered by the foreman to the
+clerk of arraigns, or clerk of the peace,
+as the case may be, who states to the
+court the substance of the indictment
+and of the indorsement upon it. If
+the bill is ignored, and no other bill
+is preferred against the party, he is
+discharged, without further answer,
+when the grand jury have finished
+their labours, and have been themselves
+discharged. To find a bill,
+twelve at least of the jury must agree;
+for no man, under this form of proceeding
+at least, can be convicted
+even of a misdemeanour, unless by
+the unanimous voice of twenty-four
+of his equals; that is, by twelve at
+least of the grand jury assenting to
+the accusation, and afterwards by the
+whole petit jury of twelve more finding
+him guilty upon the trial.</p>
+
+<p>This proceeding is wholly <i>ex parte</i>.
+As the informal statement of the
+crime brought the supposed criminal
+to answer before the inferior tribunal,
+so does the formal accusation call
+upon him to answer before the superior
+court. The preliminary proceedings
+being now complete, and every
+step having been taken which is necessary
+to put the accused upon his
+trial, the <i>ex parte</i> character of the
+proceedings is at an end. The time approaches
+when the accused must again
+be brought face to face with his accusers;
+and when, if he has been admitted
+to bail, his sureties must deliver
+him up to the proper authorities, or
+their bond is forfeited; in which case, a
+bench warrant for the apprehension
+of the delinquent may issue; and if
+he cannot still be found, he may be
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page13" id="page13"></a>[pg 13]</span>
+pursued to outlawry. It may be here
+mentioned, that the proceedings may
+be, at any period, removed from any
+inferior court into the Queen's Bench,
+by what is called a writ of <i>certiorari</i>.
+When the offender appears voluntarily
+to an indictment, or was before in
+custody, or is brought in upon criminal
+process to answer it in the proper
+court, he is to be immediately arraigned.
+The arraignment is simply the
+calling upon the accused, at the bar of
+the court, to answer the matter charged
+upon him in the indictment, the substantial
+parts, at least, of which are
+then read over to him. This is indispensable,
+in order that he may fully
+understand the charge. So voluminous
+are the counts of the indictment
+recently found against Mr O'Connell
+and others, that the reading of the
+charges they contained was the work
+of many hours. The accused is not
+always compelled immediately to answer
+the indictment; for if he appear
+in term-time to an indictment for a
+misdemeanour in the Queen's Bench,
+it is sufficient if he plead or demur
+within four days; the court has a discretionary
+power to enlarge the time;
+but if he neither pleads nor demurs
+within the time prescribed, judgment
+may be entered against him as for
+want of a plea. It he appear to such
+an indictment, having been committed
+or held to bail within twenty days
+before the assizes or sessions at which
+he is called upon to answer, he has
+the option of <i>traversing</i>, as it is termed,
+or of postponing his trial to the
+next assizes or sessions. He is also
+always entitled, before the trial, on
+payment of a trifling charge, to have
+copies of the examinations of the witnesses
+on whose evidence he was committed
+or held to bail; and at the
+trial he has a right to inspect the originals
+gratuitously. In prosecutions
+for misdemeanours at the suit of the
+Attorney-General, a copy of indictment
+must be delivered, free of expense,
+if demanded by the accused.
+These seem to be all the privileges
+except that of challenge, which we
+shall explain hereafter, which the accused
+possesses, or to which the law
+gives him an absolute indefeasible
+claim as a matter of right. The <i>practice</i>
+of different courts may possibly
+vary in some degree on points such
+as those which have been recently
+mooted in Ireland; for instance, as to
+whether the names of the witnesses
+should be furnished to the accused,
+and whether their address and description
+should also be supplied. In
+such matters the practice might vary,
+in a considerable degree, in the superior
+courts of England and Ireland;
+and yet each course would be strictly
+legal, in the respective courts in which
+it was adopted; for, as it was clearly
+put by one of the Irish judges on a
+recent occasion, the practice of the
+court is the law of the court, and the
+law of the court is the law of the
+land.</p>
+
+<p>When the time has arrived at which
+the accused must put in his answer
+to the indictment, if he do not confess
+the charge, or stand mute of malice,
+he may either plead, 1st, to the jurisdiction,
+which is a good plea when
+the court before whom the indictment
+is taken has no cognizance of the offence,
+as when a case of treason is
+prosecuted at the quarter sessions;
+or, 2dly, he may demur, by which he
+says, that, assuming that he has done
+every thing which the indictment lays
+to his charge, he has, nevertheless,
+been guilty of no crime, and is in nowise
+liable to punishment for the act
+there charged. A demurrer has been
+termed an issue in law&mdash;the question
+to be determined being, what construction
+the law puts upon admitted facts.
+If the question of law be adjudged <i>in
+favour</i> of the accused, it is attended
+with the same results as an acquittal
+in fact, except that he may be indicted
+afresh for the same offence; but if
+the question be determined <i>against</i> the
+prisoner, the law, in its tenderness,
+<i>will not</i> allow him, at least in cases of
+felony, to be punished for his misapprehension
+of the law, or for his mistake
+in the conduct of his pleadings,
+but will, in such case, permit him to
+plead over to the indictment&mdash;that is,
+to plead not guilty; the consequences
+of which plea we will consider hereafter.</p>
+
+<p>A third alternative is a plea of
+abatement, which is a plea praying
+that the indictment may be quashed,
+for some defect which the plea points
+out. This plea, though it was recently,
+made use of by the defendants in the
+case now pending in Ireland, is of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page14" id="page14"></a>[pg 14]</span>
+very rare occurrence in ordinary practice&mdash;a
+recent statute having entirely
+superseded every advantage formerly
+to be derived from this plea, in cases
+of a misnomer, or a wrong name, and
+of a false addition or a wrong description
+of the defendant's rank and
+condition, which were the principal
+occasions on which it was resorted to.</p>
+
+<p>The next alternative which the
+prisoners may adopt, is a special plea
+in bar. These pleas are of four kinds:
+1. a former acquittal; 2. a former conviction;
+3. a former attainder; 4. a
+former pardon, for the same offence.
+The first two of these pleas are founded
+on the maxim of the law of England,
+that no man is to be twice put
+in jeopardy for the same offence. A
+man is attainted of felony, only by
+judgment of death, or by outlawry;
+for by such judgment, the prisoner
+being already dead in law, and having
+forfeited all his property, there remains
+no further punishment to be
+awarded; and, therefore, any further
+proceeding would be superfluous. This
+plea has, however, been practically
+put an end to by a recent statute. A
+plea of pardon, is the converse of a
+plea of attainder; for a pardon at
+once destroys the end and purpose of
+the indictment, by remitting that punishment
+which the prosecution was
+calculated to inflict.</p>
+
+<p>All these pleas may be answered by
+the crown in two ways&mdash;issue may be
+joined on the facts they respectively
+set forth; or they may be demurred
+to; by which step, the facts, alleged in
+the plea, are denied to constitute a
+good and valid defence in law. In
+<i>felony</i>, if any of these pleas are, either
+in fact or in law, determined against
+the prisoner, he cannot be convicted
+or concluded by the adverse judgment;
+and for this reason. Formerly all felonies
+were punishable with death, and,
+in the words of Mr Justice Blackstone,
+"the law allows many pleas by which
+a prisoner may escape death; but only
+one plea in consequence whereof it
+can be inflicted, viz., the general issue,
+after an impartial examination and
+decision of the facts, by the unanimous
+verdict of a jury." The prisoner,
+therefore, although few felonies remain
+still capital, is nevertheless still
+allowed to plead over as before. In
+misdemeanours, however, which are
+never capital, and in which, therefore,
+no such principle could ever have applied,
+the judgment on these pleas appears
+to follow the analogy of a civil
+action. Thus, if, upon issue joined, a
+plea of abatement be found against the
+accused, the judgment, on that indictment,
+is final; though a second indictment
+may be preferred against him;
+but if, upon demurrer, the question of
+law is held to be against him, the judgment
+is, that he do answer the indictment.
+If a plea in bar, either on issue
+joined, or on demurrer, be determined
+against the defendant, the judgment is
+in such case final, and he stands convicted
+of the misdemeanour.</p>
+
+<p>The general issue, or the plea of
+"not guilty," is the last and most
+usual of those answers to the indictment
+which we have enumerated, the
+others being all of extremely rare occurrence
+in the modern practice of the
+criminal law. By this plea, the accused
+puts himself upon his county,
+which county the jury are. The sheriff
+of the county must then return a panel
+of jurors. In England the jurors are
+taken from the "jurors' book" of the
+current year. It must be observed,
+that a new jurors' book comes into
+operation on the first of January in
+each year, having previously been
+copied from the lists of those liable to
+serve on juries, made out in the first
+instance, between the months of July
+and October, both inclusive, by the
+churchwardens and overseers of each
+parish, then reviewed and confirmed
+by the justices of the peace in petty
+sessions, and, through the high constable
+of the district, delivered to the
+next quarter sessions. If the proceedings
+are before the Queen's Bench,
+an interval is allowed by the court, in
+fixing the time of trial, for the impanneling
+of the jury, upon a writ issued
+to the sheriff for that purpose.
+The trial in a case of misdemeanour in
+the Queen's Bench is had at <i>nisi prius</i>,
+unless it be of such consequence as to
+merit a trial at bar, which is invariably
+had when the prisoner is tried
+for any capital offence in that court.
+But before the ordinary courts of
+assize, the sheriff, by virtue of a general
+precept directed to him beforehand,
+returns to the court a panel of
+not less than forty-eight nor more than
+seventy-two persons, unless the judges
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page15" id="page15"></a>[pg 15]</span>
+of assize direct a greater or smaller
+number to be summoned. When the
+time for the trial has arrived, and the
+case is called on, jurors, to the number
+of twelve, are sworn, unless challenged
+as they appear; their names being
+generally taken promiscuously, one
+by one, out of a box containing a
+number of tickets, on each of which a
+juror's name is inserted. Challenges
+may be made, either on the part of
+the crown or on that of the accused,
+and either to the whole array or to
+the separate polls. The challenge to
+the array, which must be made in
+writing, is an exception to the whole
+panel, on account of some partiality
+or default in the sheriff, or his officer,
+who arrayed the panel, the ground of
+which is examined into before the
+court. Challenges to the polls&mdash;<i>in
+capita</i>&mdash;are exceptions to particular
+persons, and must be made in each
+instance, as the person comes to the
+box to be sworn, and before he is
+sworn; for when the oath is once
+taken the challenge is too late.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Edward Coke reduces the heads
+of challenge to four. 1st, <i>propter
+honoris respectum</i>; as if a lord of Parliament
+be impannelled. 2d, <i>propter
+defectum</i>; as if a juryman be an alien
+born, or be in other respects generally
+objectionable. 3d, <i>propter affectum</i>;
+for suspicion of bias or partiality:
+and 4th, <i>propter delictum</i>; or, for
+some crime that affects the juror's
+credit, and renders him infamous;
+In treason and felony, the prisoner
+is allowed the privilege of a limited
+number of <i>peremptory</i> challenges;
+after which, as in misdemeanours,
+there is no limit to the number of
+challenges, if the party shows some
+cause for each challenge to the court.
+This cause is tried by persons appointed
+for that purpose by the court, when
+no jurymen have been sworn; but
+when two jurymen have been sworn,
+they are the parties who must adjudicate
+upon the qualifications of those
+who are afterwards challenged, who,
+except when the challenge is <i>propter
+delictum</i>, may be themselves examined
+upon oath. The crown, also, we
+have seen, can exercise this privilege,
+but with this difference, that no cause
+for challenge need be shown by the
+crown, either in felonies or misdemeanours,
+till the panel is exhausted,
+and unless there cannot be a full jury
+without the persons so challenged.</p>
+
+<p>When twelve men have been found,
+they are sworn to give a true verdict
+"according to the evidence," and the
+jury are then ready to hear the merits
+of the case. To fix their attention
+the closer to the facts which they are
+impannelled and sworn to try, the indictment,
+in cases of importance, is
+usually opened by the junior counsel
+for the crown&mdash;a proceeding, by which
+they are briefly informed of the charge
+which is brought against the accused.
+The leading counsel for the crown
+then lays the <i>facts</i> of the case before
+the jury, in a plain unvarnished statement;
+no appeal is made to the passions
+or prejudices of the twelve men,
+who are to pronounce upon the guilt
+or innocence of the accused; but every
+topic, every observation, which might
+warp their judgment, or direct their
+attention from the simple facts which
+are about to be proved before them,
+is anxiously deprecated and avoided
+by the counsel for the prosecution. The
+witnesses for the crown are called one
+by one, sworn, examined, and cross-examined
+by the accused, or his counsel.
+When the case for the crown has
+been brought to a close, the defence
+commences, and the counsel for the defendant
+addresses the jury. It is the
+duty of the advocate, on such an occasion,
+to put forth all his powers in
+behalf of his client; to obtain acquittal
+is his object: he must sift the hostile
+evidence, he must apply every possible
+test to the accuracy of the testimony,
+and to the credibility of the
+witnesses; he may address himself to
+the reason, to the prejudices, to the
+sympathies, nay, even to the worst
+passions of the twelve men whose opinions
+he seeks to influence in favour
+of his client. He may proceed to call
+witnesses to disprove the facts adduced
+on the other side, or to show
+that the character of the accused
+stands too high for even a suspicion
+of the alleged clime; he has the
+utmost liberty of speech and action
+He may indefinitely protract the
+proceedings, and there seems to be
+scarcely any limit, in point of law,
+beyond which the ultimate event of
+the trial may not be, by these means,
+deferred. Whenever the defence closes,
+in those cases in which the government
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page16" id="page16"></a>[pg 16]</span>
+is the real prosecutor, the representative
+of the crown has the general
+reply; at the close of which the presiding
+judge sums up the evidence
+to the jury, and informs them of the
+legal bearing of the facts, on the effect
+and existence of which the jury has
+to decide. This having been accomplished,
+it becomes the duty of the
+jury to deliberate, decide, and pronounce
+their verdict. If the verdict
+be "Not guilty," the accused is for
+ever quit and discharged of the accusation;
+but if the jury pronounce him
+guilty, he stands convicted of the
+crime which has been thus charged
+and proved against him, and awaits
+the judgment of the court. In felonies
+and ordinary misdemeanours,
+judgment is generally pronounced immediately
+upon, or soon after, the delivery
+of the verdict; in other cases,
+when the trial has been had before
+the Queen's Bench, the judgment may,
+in England, be pronounced either immediately
+or during the ensuing term.
+But whenever this event occurs, the
+prisoner has still one chance more for
+escape: he can move an arrest of
+judgment, on the grounds either that
+the indictment is substantially defective,
+or that he has already been pardoned
+or punished for the same offense.
+These objections, if successful,
+will, even at this late stage of the
+proceedings, save the defendant from
+the consequences of his crime. But
+if these last resources fail, the court
+must give the judgment, or pronounce
+the measure of that punishment, which
+the law annexes to the crime of which
+the prisoner has been convicted.</p>
+
+<p>By the law of this country, the
+<i>species</i> of punishment for every offence
+is always ascertained; but, between
+certain defined limits, the measure
+and degree of that punishment is, with
+very few exceptions, left to the discretion
+of the presiding judge. Treasons
+and some felonies are, indeed,
+capital: but, in the mercy of modern
+times, the great majority of felonies,
+and all misdemeanours, are visited,
+some with various terms of transportation
+or imprisonment, which, in most
+cases, may be with or without hard
+labour, at the discretion of the court.
+In these cases, the punishment is prescribed
+by the statute law; but there
+are some misdemeanours the punishment
+of which has not been interfered
+with by any statute, and to which,
+therefore, the common law punishments
+are still attached. The case of
+Mr O'Connell, which is now in abeyance,
+seems to range itself under this
+head of misdemeanours. Such cases
+are punishable by fine or imprisonment,
+or by both; but the amount of
+the one, or the duration of the other,
+is each left at large to be estimated
+by the court, according to the more
+or less aggravated nature of the offence,
+and, as it is said, also according
+to the quality and condition of the
+parties. That a fine should, in all
+cases, be reasonable, has been declared
+by Magna Charta; and the Bill of
+Rights has also provided, that excessive
+fine, or cruel and unusual punishments,
+should not be inflicted; but
+what may or may not be unreasonable
+or excessive, cruel or unusual, is left
+entirely to the judgment of the executive.</p>
+
+<p>For crimes of a dark political hue,
+which, by their tendency to subvert
+the government or destroy the institutions
+of the country, necessarily
+assume a character highly dangerous
+to the safety and well-being of the
+state, it might be difficult to say what
+degree of punishment would be excessive
+or unusual. It seems probable,
+that in cases of this nature, which include
+crimes, so varied in their circumstances
+that there appears no limit to
+the degree of guilt incurred&mdash;crimes,
+the nature and character of which
+could not possibly be foreseen or provided
+for, in all their infinite multiplicity
+of detail; it seems probable that,
+in such cases, a large discretion may
+have been purposely left by the framers
+of our constitution, in order that the
+degree of guilt, on each occasion,
+should be measured by an expansive
+self-adjusting scale of punishment,
+applied, indeed, and administered by
+the judges of the land, but regulated
+and adjusted, in each succeeding age,
+by the influence of public opinion, and
+by the spirit and temper of the times.</p>
+
+<p>Even at this latest stage of criminal
+prosecution, in the interval which
+must necessarily elapse between the
+pronouncing and the infliction of the
+sentence, the convicted delinquent is
+not without a remedy for any wrong
+he may sustain in the act which terminates
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page17" id="page17"></a>[pg 17]</span>
+the proceedings. If any judgement
+not warranted by law be given
+by the court, it may be reversed upon
+a <i>writ of error</i>, which lies from all
+inferior criminal jurisdictions to the
+Queen's Bench, and from the Queen's
+Bench to the House of Peers. These
+writs, however, in cases of misdemeanour,
+are not allowed, of course,
+but on probable cause shown to the
+Attorney General; and then they are
+understood to be grantable of common
+right, and <i>ex debito justiti&#230;</i>. The
+crown, if every other resource has
+failed the prisoner, has always the
+power of exercising the most amiable
+of its prerogatives. Though the sovereign
+herself condemns no man, "the
+great operation of her sceptre is mercy,"
+and the chief magistrate, in the
+words of Sir William Blackstone,
+"holding a court of equity in his own
+breast, to soften the rigour of the general
+law, in such criminal cases as
+merit an exemption from punishment,"
+is ever at liberty to grant a free, unconditional,
+and gracious pardon to
+the injured or repentant convict.</p>
+
+<p>We have now rapidly traced the
+progress of a criminal prosecution
+from its commencement to its close,
+and we have given a summary of the
+<i>ordinary</i> proceedings on such occasions.
+Although it may be possible
+that the practice of the courts in Ireland
+on minor points, should occasionally
+differ in some degree from the
+practice of the English Courts, we may,
+nevertheless, have rendered the proceedings
+now pending in the sister
+isle, more intelligible to the general
+reader, who may now, perhaps, be enabled
+to see the bearing, and understand
+the importance of many struggles,
+which, to the unlearned, might
+probably appear to be wholly beside
+the real question now at issue between
+the crown and Mr O'Connell.
+Whatever be the result of that prosecution,
+whether those indicted be
+found guilty, or acquitted, of the misdemeanours
+laid to their charge; we
+feel assured, on the one hand, however
+long and grievous may have been
+the "provocation," that while there
+will be "nothing extenuate," neither
+will there be "set down aught in
+malice;" but that the measure of the
+retribution now demanded by the
+state, will be so temperately and equitably
+adjusted, that while the very
+semblance of oppression is carefully
+avoided, the majesty of the law, and
+the powers of the executive, will be
+amply and entirely vindicated. On
+the other hand, if Mr O'Connell, and
+his companions, in guilt or misfortune,
+should break through the cobwebs of
+the law, and hurl a <i>retrospective</i> defiance
+at the Government; we feel the
+utmost confidence, that the learning,
+foresight, and ability, of the eminent
+lawyers who represent the crown, together
+with the firmness and integrity
+of the Irish bench, "<i>sans peur et sans
+reproche</i>," will demonstrate to the millions
+who look on, that the constitutional
+powers of the state still remain
+uninjured and unimpaired in all their
+pristine and legitimate energy and vigour;
+and that neither in the machinery
+now set in motion, nor with
+those who conduct or superintend its
+action, but with others on whom, in
+the course of these proceedings, will
+be thrown the execution of a grave
+and all-important duty, must rest
+the real blame, if blame there be, of
+the failure of <i>this</i> "State Prosecution."</p>
+
+<hr />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page18" id="page18"></a>[pg 18]</span>
+
+
+
+
+<h2>ADVENTURES IN TEXAS.</h2>
+
+<h3>No. III.</h3>
+
+<h3>THE STRUGGLE.</h3>
+
+
+<p>I had been but three or four months
+in Texas, when, in consequence of the
+oppressive conduct of the Mexican
+military authorities, symptoms of discontent
+showed themselves, and several
+skirmishes occurred between the
+American settlers and the soldiery.
+The two small forts of Velasco and
+Nacogdoches were taken by the former,
+and their garrisons and a couple
+of field-officers made prisoners; soon
+after which, however, the quarrel was
+made up by the intervention of Colonel
+Austin on the part of Texas, and
+Colonel Mejia on the part of the
+Mexican authorities.</p>
+
+<p>But in the year '33 occurred Santa
+Anna's defection from the liberal party,
+and the imprisonment of Stephen F.
+Austin, the Texian representative in
+the Mexican congress, by the vice-president,
+Gomez Farias. This was
+followed by Texas adopting the constitution
+of 1824, and declaring itself
+an independent state of the Mexican
+republic. Finally, towards the close
+of 1835 Texas threw off the Mexican
+yoke altogether, voted itself a free and
+sovereign republic, and prepared to
+defend by arms its newly asserted
+liberty.</p>
+
+<p>The first step to be taken was, to
+secure our communications with the
+United States by getting possession
+of the sea-ports. General Cos had
+occupied Galveston harbour, and built
+and garrisoned a block-fort, nominally
+for the purpose of enforcing the customs
+laws, but in reality with a view
+to cut off our communications with
+New Orleans and the States. This
+fort it was necessary to get possession
+of, and my friend Fanning and myself
+were appointed to that duty by the
+Alcalde, who had taken a prominent
+part in all that had occurred.</p>
+
+<p>Our whole force and equipment
+wherewith to accomplish this enterprise,
+consisted in a sealed despatch,
+to be opened at the town of Columbia,
+and a half-breed, named Agostino,
+who acted as our guide. On reaching
+Columbia, we called together the principal
+inhabitants of the place, and of
+the neighbouring towns of Bolivar and
+Marion, unsealed the letter in their
+presence, and six hours afterwards the
+forces therein specified were assembled,
+and we were on our march towards
+Galveston. The next day the fort
+was taken, and the garrison made
+prisoners, without our losing a single
+man.</p>
+
+<p>We sent off our guide to the government
+at San Felipe with news of
+our success. In nine days he returned,
+bringing us the thanks of congress,
+and fresh orders. We were to leave
+a garrison in the fort, and then ascend
+Trinity river, and march towards San
+Antonio de Bexar. This route was
+all the more agreeable to Fanning and
+myself, as it would bring us into the
+immediate vicinity of the <i>haciendas</i>, or
+estates, of which we had some time
+previously obtained a grant from the
+Texian government; and we did not
+doubt that we were indebted to our
+friend the Alcalde for the orders which
+thus conciliated our private convenience
+with our public duty.</p>
+
+<p>As we marched along we found the
+whole country in commotion, the settlers
+all arming, and hastening to the
+distant place of rendezvous. We arrived
+at Trinity river one afternoon,
+and immediately sent messengers for
+forty miles in all directions to summon
+the inhabitants. At the period
+in question, the plantations in that
+part of the country were very few and
+far between, but nevertheless by the
+afternoon of the next day we had got
+together four-and-thirty men, mounted
+on mustangs, each equipped with
+rifle and bowie-knife, powder-horn
+and bullet-bag, and furnished with
+provisions for several days. With
+these we started for San Antonio de
+Bexar, a march of two hundred and
+fifty miles, through trackless prairies
+intersected with rivers and streams,
+which, although not quite so big as
+the Mississippi or Potomac, were yet
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page19" id="page19"></a>[pg 19]</span>
+deep and wide enough to have offered
+serious impediment to regular armies.
+But to Texian farmers and backwoodsmen,
+they were trifling obstacles.
+Those we could not wade through we
+swam over; and in due time, and without
+any incident worthy of note,
+reached the appointed place of rendezvous,
+which was on the river Salado,
+about fifteen miles from San
+Antonio, the principal city of the province.
+This latter place it was intended
+to attack&mdash;an enterprise of
+some boldness and risk, considering
+that the town was protected by a
+strong fort, amply provided with
+heavy artillery, and had a garrison of
+nearly three thousand men, commanded
+by officers who had, for the
+most part, distinguished themselves
+in the revolutionary wars against the
+Spaniards. Our whole army, which
+we found encamped on the Salado,
+under the command of General Austin,
+did not exceed eight hundred men.</p>
+
+<p>The day after that on which Fanning
+and myself, with our four and
+thirty recruits, reached headquarters,
+a council of war was held, and it was
+resolved to advance as far as the mission
+of Santa Espada. The advanced
+guard was to push forward immediately;
+the main body would follow
+the next day. Fanning and myself
+were appointed to the command of the
+vanguard, in conjunction with Mr
+Wharton, a wealthy planter, who had
+brought a strong party of volunteers
+with him, and whose mature age and
+cool judgment, it was thought, would
+counterbalance any excess of youthful
+heat and impetuosity on our part.
+Selecting ninety-two men out of the
+eight hundred, who, to a man, volunteered
+to accompany us, we set out
+for the mission.</p>
+
+<p>These missions are a sort of picket-houses
+or outposts of the Catholic
+church, and are found in great numbers
+in all the frontier provinces of
+Spanish America, especially in Texas,
+Santa Fe, and Cohahuila. They are
+usually of sufficient strength to afford
+their inmates security against any predatory
+party of Indians or other marauders,
+and are occupied by priests,
+who, while using their endeavours to
+spread the doctrines of the Church of
+Rome, act also as spies and agents of
+the Mexican government.</p>
+
+<p>On reaching San Espada we held a
+discussion as to the propriety of remaining
+there until the general came
+up, or of advancing at once towards
+the river. Wharton inclined to the
+former plan, and it was certainly the
+most prudent, for the mission was a
+strong building, surrounded by a high
+wall, and might have been held against
+very superior numbers. Fanning and
+I, however, did not like the idea of
+being cooped up in a house, and at last
+Wharton yielded. We left our horses
+and mustangs in charge of eight men,
+and with the remainder set out in the
+direction of the Salado, which flows
+from north to south, a third of a mile
+to the westward of the mission. About
+half-way between the latter and the
+river, was a small group, or island, of
+muskeet trees, the only object that
+broke the uniformity of the prairie.
+The bank of the river on our side was
+tolerably steep, about eight or ten feet
+high, hollowed out here and there, and
+covered with a thick network of wild
+vines. The Salado at this spot describes
+a sort of bow-shaped curve,
+with a ford at either end, by which
+alone the river can be passed, for
+although not very broad, it is rapid
+and deep. We resolved to take up a
+position within this bow, calculating
+that we might manage to defend the
+two fords, which were not above a
+quarter of a mile apart.</p>
+
+<p>At the same time we did not lose
+sight of the dangers of such a position,
+and of the almost certainty that if the
+enemy managed to cross the river, we
+should be surrounded and cut off.
+But our success on the few occasions
+on which we had hitherto come to
+blows with the Mexicans, at Velasco,
+Nacogdoches, and Galveston, had inspired
+us with so much confidence,
+that we considered ourselves a match
+for thousands of such foes, and actually
+began to wish the enemy would
+attack us before our main body came
+up. We reconnoitred the ground,
+stationed a picket of twelve men at
+each ford, and an equal number in the
+island of muskeet trees; and established
+ourselves with the remainder
+amongst the vines and in the hollows
+on the river bank.</p>
+
+<p>The commissariat department of the
+Texian army was, as may be supposed,
+not yet placed upon any very
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page20" id="page20"></a>[pg 20]</span>
+regular footing. In fact, every man
+was, for the present, his own commissary-general.
+Finding our stock of
+provisions to be very small, we sent
+out a party of foragers, who soon returned
+with three sheep, which they
+had taken from a <i>rancho</i>, within a
+mile of San Antonio. An old priest,
+whom they found there, had threatened
+them with the anger of Heaven
+and of General Cos; but they paid
+little attention to his denunciations,
+and, throwing down three dollars,
+walked off with the sheep. The priest
+became furious, got upon his mule,
+and trotted away in the direction of
+the City to complain to General Cos
+of the misconduct of the heretics.</p>
+
+<p>After this we made no doubt that
+we should soon have a visit from the
+worthy Dons. Nevertheless the evening
+and the night passed away without
+incident. Day broke&mdash;still no
+signs of the Mexicans. This treacherous
+sort of calm, we thought, might
+forbode a storm, and we did not allow
+it to lull us into security. We let the
+men get their breakfast, which they
+had hardly finished when the picket
+from the upper ford came in with news
+that a strong body of cavalry was
+approaching the river, and that their
+vanguard was already in the hollow
+way leading to the ford. We had
+scarcely received this intelligence when
+we heard the blare of the trumpets,
+and the next moment we saw the
+officers push their horses up the declivitous
+bank, closely followed by their
+men, whom they formed up in the
+prairie. We counted six small squadrons,
+about three hundred men in all.
+They were the Durango dragoons&mdash;smart
+troops enough to all appearance,
+capitally mounted and equipped,
+and armed with carbines and sabres.</p>
+
+<p>Although the enemy had doubtless
+reconnoitred us from the opposite
+shore, and ascertained our position, he
+could not form any accurate idea of our
+numbers, for with a view to deceive him,
+we kept the men in constant motion,
+sometimes showing a part of them on
+the prairie, then causing them to disappear
+again behind the vines and bushes.
+This was all very knowing for young
+soldiers such as we were; but, on the
+other hand, we had committed a
+grievous error, and sinned against all
+established military rules, by not placing
+a picket on the further side of the
+river, to warn us of the approach of
+the enemy, and the direction in which
+he was coming. There can be little
+doubt that if we had earlier notice
+of their approach, thirty or forty
+good marksmen&mdash;and all our people
+were that&mdash;might not only have delayed
+the advance of the Mexicans,
+but perhaps even totally disgusted
+them of their attempt to cross the Salado.
+The hollow way on the other
+side of the river, leading to the ford,
+was narrow and tolerably steep, and
+the bank was at least six times as high as
+on our side. Nothing would have
+been easier than to have stationed a
+party, so as to pick off the cavalry as
+they wound through this kind of pass,
+and emerged two by two upon the
+shore. Our error, however, did not
+strike us till it was too late to repair
+it; so we were fain to console ourselves
+with the reflection that the Mexicans
+would be much more likely to attribute
+our negligence to an excess of
+confidence in our resources, than to
+the inexperience in military matters,
+which was its real cause. We resolved
+to do our best to merit the good
+opinion which we thus supposed them
+to entertain of us.</p>
+
+<p>When the whole of the dragoons
+had crossed the water, they marched
+on for a short distance in an easterly
+direction: then, wheeling to the right,
+proceeded southward, until within
+some five hundred paces of us, where
+they halted. In this position, the
+line of cavalry formed the chord of the
+arc described by the river, and occupied
+by us.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as they halted, they opened
+their fire, although the could not
+see one of us, for we were completely
+sheltered by the bank. Our Mexican
+heroes, however, apparently did
+not think it necessary to be within
+sight or range of their opponents before
+firing, for they gave us a rattling
+volley at a distance which no carbine
+would carry. This done, others
+galloped on for about a hundred yards,
+halted again, loaded, fired another
+volley, and then giving another gallop,
+fired again. They continued this
+sort of <i>man&#232;ge</i> till they found themselves
+within two hundred and fifty
+paces of us, and then appeared inclined
+to take a little time for reflection.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page21" id="page21"></a>[pg 21]</span>
+
+<p>We kept ourselves perfectly still.
+The dragoons evidently did not like
+the aspect of matters. Our remaining
+concealed, and not replying to their
+fire, seemed to bother them. We saw
+the officers taking a deal of pains to
+encourage their men, and at last two
+squadrons advanced, the others following
+more slowly, a short distance
+in rear. This was the moment we
+had waited for. No sooner had the
+dragoons got into a canter, than six
+of our men who had received orders to
+that effect, sprang up the bank, took
+steady aim at the officers, fired, and
+then jumped down again.</p>
+
+<p>As we had expected, the small
+numbers that had shown themselves,
+encouraged the Mexicans to advance.
+They seemed at first taken rather
+aback by the fall of four of their officers;
+but nevertheless, after a moment's
+hesitation, they came thundering
+along full speed. They were
+within sixty or seventy yards of us,
+when Fanning and thirty of our riflemen
+ascended the bank, and with a
+coolness and precision that would have
+done credit to the most veteran troops,
+poured a steady fire into the ranks of
+the dragoons.</p>
+
+<p>It requires some nerve and courage
+for men who have never gone through
+any regular military training, to stand
+their ground singly and unprotected,
+within fifty yards of an advancing line
+of cavalry. Our fellows did it, however,
+and fired, not all at once, or in
+a hurry, but slowly and deliberately;
+a running fire, every shot of which
+told. Saddle after saddle was emptied;
+the men, as they had been ordered,
+always picking out the foremost
+horsemen, and as soon as they
+had fired, jumping down the bank to
+reload. When the whole of the thirty
+men had discharged their rifles,
+Wharton and myself, with the reserve
+of six and thirty more, took their
+places; but the dragoons had almost
+had enough already, and we had
+scarcely fired ten shots when they
+executed a right-about turn, with an
+uniformity and rapidity which did infinite
+credit to their drill, and went
+off at a pace that soon carried them
+out of reach of our bullets. They had
+probably not expected so warm a reception.
+We saw their officers doing
+every thing they could to check their
+flight, imploring, threatening, even
+cutting at them with their sabres, but
+it was no use; if they were to be
+killed, it must be in their own way,
+and they preferred being cut down by
+their officers to encountering the
+deadly precision of rifles, in the hands
+of men who, being sure of hitting a
+squirrel at a hundred yards, were not
+likely to miss a Durango dragoon at
+any point within range.</p>
+
+<p>Our object in ordering the men to
+fire slowly was, always to have thirty
+or forty rifles loaded, wherewith to
+receive the enemy should he attempt
+a charge <i>en masse</i>. But our first greeting
+had been a sickener, and it appeared
+almost doubtful whether he
+would venture to attack us again, although
+the officers did every thing in
+their power to induce their men to
+advance. For a long time, neither
+threats, entreaties, nor reproaches
+produced any effect. We saw the officers
+gesticulating furiously, pointing
+to us with their sabres, and impatiently
+spurring their horses, till the
+fiery animals plunged and reared, and
+sprang with all four feet from the
+ground. It is only just to say, that
+the officers exhibited a degree of
+courage far beyond any thing we had
+expected from them. Of the two
+squadrons that charged us, two-thirds
+of the officers had fallen; but those
+who remained, instead of appearing
+intimidated by their comrades' fate,
+redoubled their efforts to bring their
+men forward.</p>
+
+<p>At last there appeared some probability
+of their accomplishing this, after
+a most curious and truly Mexican
+fashion. Posting themselves in front
+of their squadrons, they rode on alone
+for a hundred yards or so, halted,
+looked round, as much as to say&mdash;"You
+see there is no danger as far
+as this," and then galloping back, led
+their men on. Each time that they
+executed this manoeuvre, the dragoons
+would advance slowly some
+thirty or forty paces, and then halt as
+simultaneously as if the word of command
+had been given. Off went the
+officers again, some distance to the
+front, and then back again to their
+men, and got them on a little further.
+In this manner these heroes were inveigled
+once more to within a hundred
+and fifty yards of our position.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page22" id="page22"></a>[pg 22]</span>
+
+<p>Of course, at each of the numerous
+halts which they made during their
+advance, they favoured us with a general,
+but most innocuous discharge of
+their carbines; and at last, gaining
+confidence, I suppose, from our passiveness,
+and from the noise and
+smoke they themselves had been making,
+three squadrons which had not
+yet been under fire, formed open column
+and advanced at a trot. Without
+giving them time to halt or reflect&mdash;"Forward!
+Charge!" shouted
+the officers, urging their own horses
+to their utmost speed; and following
+the impulse thus given, the three
+squadrons came charging furiously
+along.</p>
+
+<p>Up sprang thirty of our men to receive
+them. Their orders were to fire
+slowly, and not throw away a shot,
+but the gleaming sabres and rapid approach
+of the dragoons flurried some
+of them, and firing a hasty volley,
+they jumped down the bank again.
+This precipitation had nearly been fatal
+to us. Several of the dragoons
+fell, and there was some confusion and
+a momentary faltering amongst the
+others; but they still came on. At this
+critical moment, Wharton and myself,
+with the reserves, showed ourselves
+on the bank. "Slow and
+sure-mark your men!" shouted we
+both. Wharton on the right and I
+on the left. The command was obeyed:
+rifle after rifle cracked off, always
+aimed at the foremost of the dragoons,
+and at every report a saddle was emptied.
+Before we had all fired, Fanning
+and a dozen of his sharpest men
+had again loaded, and were by our
+side. For nearly a minute the Mexicans
+remained, as if stupefied by our
+murderous fire, and uncertain whether
+to advance or retire; but as those
+who attempted the former, were invariably
+shot down, they at last began
+a retreat, which was soon converted
+into a rout. We gave them a farewell
+volley, which eased a few more
+horses of their riders, and then got
+under cover again, to await what
+might next occur.</p>
+
+<p>But the Mexican caballeros had no
+notion of coming up to the scratch a
+third time. They kept patrolling
+about, some three or four hundred
+yards off, and firing volleys at us,
+which they were able to do with perfect
+impunity, as at that distance we
+did not think proper to return a shot.</p>
+
+<p>The skirmish had lasted nearly
+three quarters of an hour. Strange
+to say, we had not had a single man
+wounded, although at times the bullets
+had fallen about us as thick as
+hail. We could not account for this.
+Many of us had been hit by the balls,
+but a bruise or a graze of the skin was
+the worst consequence that had ensued.
+We were in a fair way to deem
+ourselves invulnerable.</p>
+
+<p>We were beginning to think that
+the fight was over for the day, when
+our videttes at the lower ford brought
+us the somewhat unpleasant intelligence
+that large masses of infantry
+were approaching the river, and would
+soon be in sight. The words were
+hardly uttered, when the roll of the
+drums, and shrill squeak of the fifes
+became audible, and in a few minutes
+the head of the column of infantry,
+having crossed the ford, ascended
+the sloping bank, and defiled in the
+prairie opposite the island of muskeet
+trees. As company after company
+appeared, we were able to form a
+pretty exact estimate of their numbers.
+There were two battalions, together
+about a thousand men; and
+they brought a field-piece with them.</p>
+
+<p>These were certainly rather long odds
+to be opposed to seventy-two men and
+three officers' for it must be remembered
+that we had left twenty of our
+people at the mission, and in the island
+of trees. Two battalions of infantry,
+and six squadrons of dragoons&mdash;the
+latter, to be sure, disheartened
+and diminished by the loss of some
+fifty men, but nevertheless formidable
+opponents, now they were supported
+by the foot soldiers. About twenty
+Mexicans to each of us. It was getting
+past a joke. We were all capital
+shots, and most of us, besides our
+rifles, had a brace of pistols in our
+belts; but what were seventy-five
+rifles, and five or six score of pistols
+against a thousand muskets and bayonets,
+two hundred and fifty dragoons,
+and a field-piece loaded with canister?
+If the Mexicans had a spark of
+courage or soldiership about them,
+our fate was sealed. But it was
+exactly this courage and soldiership,
+which we made sure would be wanting.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page23" id="page23"></a>[pg 23]</span>
+
+<p>Nevertheless we, the officers, could
+not repress a feeling of anxiety and
+self-reproach, when we reflected that
+we had brought our comrades into
+such a hazardous predicament. But
+on looking around us, our apprehensions
+vanished. Nothing could exceed
+the perfect coolness and confidence
+with which the men were cleaning
+and preparing their rifles for the
+approaching conflict; no bravado&mdash;no
+boasting, talking, or laughing, but
+a calm decision of manner, which at
+once told us, that if it were possible
+to overcome such odds as were brought
+against us, those were the men to do
+it.</p>
+
+<p>Our arrangements for the approaching
+struggle were soon completed.
+Fanning and Wharton were to make
+head against the infantry and cavalry.
+I was to capture the field-piece&mdash;an
+eight-pounder.</p>
+
+<p>This gun was placed by the Mexicans
+upon their extreme left, close to
+the river, the shores of which it commanded
+for a considerable distance.
+The bank on which we were posted
+was, as before mentioned, indented
+by caves and hollows, and covered
+with a thick tapestry of vines and
+other plants, which was now very useful
+in concealing us from the artillerymen.
+The latter made a pretty good
+guess at our position however, and at
+the first discharge, the canister whizzed
+past us at a very short distance.
+There was not a moment to lose, for
+one well-directed shot might exterminate
+half of us. Followed by a
+dozen men, I worked my way as well
+as I could through the labyrinth of
+vines and bushes, and was not more
+than fifty yards from the gun, when
+it was again fired. No one was hurt,
+although the shot was evidently intended
+for my party. The enemy
+could not see us; but the notion of
+the vines, as we passed through them,
+had betrayed our whereabout: so, perceiving
+that we were discovered, I
+sprang up the bank into the prairie
+followed by my men, to whom I
+shouted, above all to aim at the artillerymen.</p>
+
+<p>I had raised my own rifle to my
+shoulder, when I let it fall again in
+astonishment at an apparition that
+presented itself to my view. This was
+a tall, lean, wild figure, with a face
+overgrown by long beard that hung
+down upon his breast, and dressed in
+a leather cap, jacket, and mocassins.
+Where this man had sprung from was
+a perfect riddle. He was unknown to
+any of us, although I had some vague
+recollection of having seen him before,
+but where or when, I could not call
+to mind. He had a long rifle in his
+hands, which he must have fired once
+already, for one of the artillerymen
+lay dead by the gun. At the moment
+I first caught sight of him, he shot
+down another, and then began reloading
+with a rapid dexterity, that proved
+him to be well used to the thing.
+My men were as much astonished as I
+was by this strange apparition, which
+appeared to have started out of the
+earth; and for a few seconds they forgot
+to fire, and stood gazing at the
+stranger. The latter did not seem to
+approve of their inaction.</p>
+
+<p>"D&mdash;&mdash; yer eyes, ye starin' fools,"
+shouted he in a rough hoarse voice,
+"don't ye see them art'lerymen?
+Why don't ye knock 'em on the
+head?"</p>
+
+<p>It certainly was not the moment to
+remain idle. We fired; but our astonishment
+had thrown us off our
+balance, and we nearly all missed.
+We sprang down the bank again to
+load, just as the men serving the gun
+were slewing it around, so as to bring
+it to bear upon us. Before this was
+accomplished, we were under cover,
+and the stranger had the benefit of
+the discharge, of which he took no
+more notice than if he had borne a
+charmed life. Again we heard the
+crack of his rifle, and when, having
+reloaded, we once more ascended the
+bank, he was taking aim at the last
+artilleryman, who fell, as his companions
+had done.</p>
+
+<p>"D&mdash;&mdash; ye, for laggin' fellers!"
+growled the stranger. "Why don't
+ye take that 'ere big gun?"</p>
+
+<p>Our small numbers, the bad direction
+of our first volley, but, above all,
+the precipitation with which we had
+jumped down the bank after firing it,
+had so encouraged the enemy, that a
+company of infantry, drawn up some
+distance in rear of the field-piece,
+fired a volley, and advanced at double-quick
+time, part of them making a
+small <i>d&#233;tour</i> with the intention of cutting
+us off from our friends. At this
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page24" id="page24"></a>[pg 24]</span>
+moment, we saw Fanning and thirty
+men coming along the river bank to
+our assistance; so without minding
+the Mexicans who were getting behind
+us, we rushed forward to within
+twenty paces of those in our front,
+and taking steady aim, brought down
+every man his bird. The sort of desperate
+coolness with which this was
+done, produced the greater effect on
+our opponents, as being something
+quite out of their way. They would,
+perhaps, have stood firm against a
+volley from five times our number, at
+a rather greater distance; but they did
+not like having their mustaches singed
+by our powder; and after a moment's
+wavering and hesitation, they
+shouted out "Diabolos! Diabolos!"
+and throwing away their muskets,
+broke into precipitate flight.</p>
+
+<p>Fanning and Wharton now came up
+with all the men. Under cover of
+the infantry's advance, the gun had
+been re-manned, but, luckily for us,
+only by infantry soldiers; for had
+there been artillerymen to seize the
+moment when we were all standing
+exposed on the prairie, they might
+have diminished our numbers not a
+little. The fuse was already burning,
+and we had just time to get under the
+bank when the gun went off. Up we
+jumped again, and looked about us to
+see what was next to be done.</p>
+
+<p>Although hitherto all the advantages
+had been on our side, our situation
+was still a very perilous one.
+The company we had put to flight had
+rejoined its battalion, which was now
+beginning to advance by <i>&#233;chelon</i> of
+companies. The second battalion,
+which was rather further from us, was
+moving forward in like manner, and
+in a parallel direction. We should
+probably, therefore, have to resist the
+attack of a dozen companies, one after
+the other; and it was to be feared
+that the Mexicans would finish by
+getting over their panic terror of our
+rifles, and exchange their distant and
+ineffectual platoon-firing for a charge
+with the bayonet, in which their superior
+numbers would tell. We observed,
+also, that the cavalry, which
+had been keeping itself at a safe distance,
+was now put in motion, and
+formed up close to the island of muskeet
+trees, to which the right flank of
+the infantry was also extending itself.
+Thence they had clear ground for a
+charge down upon us.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, what had become of the
+twelve men whom we had left in the
+island? Were they still there, or had
+they fallen back upon the mission in
+dismay at the overwhelming force of
+the Mexicans? If the latter, it was
+a bad business for us, for they were
+all capital shots, and well armed with
+rifles and pistols. We heartily wished
+we had brought them with us, as well
+as the eight men at the mission. Cut
+off from us as they were, what could
+they do against the whole of the cavalry
+and two companies of infantry
+which were now approaching the
+island? To add to our difficulties,
+our ammunition was beginning to run
+short. Many of us had only had
+enough powder and ball for fifteen or
+sixteen charges, which were now reduced
+to six or seven. It was no use
+desponding, however; and, after a
+hurried consultation, it was agreed
+that Fanning and Wharton should
+open a fire upon the enemy's centre,
+while I made a dash at the field-piece
+before any more infantry had time to
+come up for its protection.</p>
+
+<p>The infantry-men who had re-manned
+the gun were by this time shot
+down, and, as none had come to replace
+them, it was served by an officer
+alone. Just as I gave the order
+to advance to the twenty men who
+were to follow me, this officer fell.
+Simultaneously with his fall, I heard
+a sort of yell behind me, and, turning
+round, saw that it proceeded
+from the wild spectre-looking stranger,
+whom I had lost sight of during the last
+few minutes. A ball had struck him,
+and he fell heavily to the ground, his
+rifle, which had just been discharged,
+and was still smoking from muzzle and
+touchhole, clutched convulsively in
+both hands; his features distorted,
+his eyes rolling frightfully. There was
+something in the expression of his
+face at that moment which brought
+back to me, in vivid colouring, one of
+the earliest and most striking incidents
+of my residence in Texas. Had
+I not myself seen him hung, I could
+have sworn that <i>Bob Rock, the murderer</i>,
+now lay before me.</p>
+
+<p>A second look at the man gave additional
+force to this idea.</p>
+
+<p>"Bob!" I exclaimed.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page25" id="page25"></a>[pg 25]</span>
+
+<p>"Bob!" repeated the wounded
+man, in a broken voice, and with a
+look of astonishment, almost of dismay.
+"Who calls Bob?"</p>
+
+<p>A wild gleam shot from his eyes,
+which the next instant closed. He
+had become insensible.</p>
+
+<p>It was neither the time nor the
+place to indulge in speculations on
+this singular resurrection of a man
+whose execution I had myself witnessed.
+With twelve hundred foes
+around us, we had plenty to occupy
+all our thoughts and attention. My
+people were already masters of the
+gun, and some of them drew it forwards
+and pointed it against the enemy,
+while the others spread out right
+and left to protect it with their rifles.
+I was busy loading the piece when an
+exclamation of surprise from one of
+the men made me look up.</p>
+
+<p>There seemed to be something extraordinary
+happening amongst the
+Mexicans, to judge from the degree
+of confusion which suddenly showed
+itself in their ranks, and which, beginning
+with the cavalry and right
+flank of the infantry, soon became
+general throughout their whole force.
+It was a sort of wavering and unsteadiness
+which, to us, was quite
+unaccountable, for Fanning and Wharton
+had not yet fired twenty shots,
+and, indeed, had only just come within
+range of the enemy. Not knowing
+what it could portend, I called in my
+men, and stationed them round the
+gun, which I had double-shotted, and
+stood ready to fire.</p>
+
+<p>The confusion in the Mexican ranks
+increased. For about a minute they
+waved and reeled to and fro, as if uncertain
+which way to go; and, at last,
+the cavalry and right of the line fairly
+broke, and ran for it. This example
+was followed by the centre, and presently
+the whole of the two battalions
+and three hundred cavalry were scattered
+over the prairie, in the wildest
+and most disorderly flight. I gave
+them a parting salute from the eight-pounder,
+which would doubtless have
+accelerated their movements had it
+been possible to run faster than they
+were already doing.</p>
+
+<p>We stood staring after the fugitives
+in perfect bewilderment, totally unable
+to explain their apparently causeless
+panic. At last the report of several
+rifles from the island of trees gave us
+a clue to the mystery.</p>
+
+<p>The infantry, whose left flank extended
+to the Salado, had pushed their
+right into the prairie as far as the island
+of muskeet trees, in order to connect
+their line with the dragoons, and then
+by making a general advance, to attack
+us on all sides at once, and get
+the full advantage of their superior
+numbers. The plan was not a bad
+one. Infantry and cavalry approached
+the island, quite unsuspicious of its
+being occupied. The twelve riflemen
+whom we had stationed there remained
+perfectly quiet, concealed behind
+the trees; allowed squadrons and companies
+to come within twenty paces of
+them, and then opened their fire, first
+from their pistols, then from their
+rifles.</p>
+
+<p>Some six and thirty shots, every
+one of which told, fired suddenly from
+a cover close to their rear, were enough
+to startle even the best troops, much
+more so our Mexican dons, who, already
+sufficiently inclined to a panic,
+now believed themselves fallen into
+an ambuscade, and surrounded on all
+sides by the incarnate <i>diabolos</i>, as they
+called us. The cavalry, who had not
+yet recovered the thrashing we had
+given them, were ready enough for a
+run, and the infantry were not slow
+to follow them.</p>
+
+<p>Our first impulse was naturally to
+pursue the flying enemy, but a discovery
+made by some of the men, induced
+us to abandon that idea. They
+had opened the pouches of the dead
+Mexicans in order to supply themselves
+with ammunition, ours being
+nearly expended; but the powder of
+the cartridges turned out so bad as to
+be useless. It was little better than
+coal dust, and would not carry a ball
+fifty paces to kill or wound. This
+accounted for our apparent invulnerability
+to the fire of the Mexicans. The
+muskets also were of a very inferior
+description. Both they and the cartridges
+were of English make; the former
+being stamped Birmingham, and
+the latter having the name of an English
+powder manufactory, with the significant
+addition, "for exportation."</p>
+
+<p>Under these circumstances, we had
+nothing to do but let the Mexicans
+run. We sent a detachment to the
+muskeet island, to unite itself with the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page26" id="page26"></a>[pg 26]</span>
+twelve men who had done such good
+service there, and thence advance towards
+the ford. We ourselves proceeded
+slowly in the latter direction.
+This demonstration brought the fugitives
+back again, for they had, most
+of them, in the wild precipitation of
+their flight, passed the only place
+where they could cross the river.
+They began crowding over in the
+greatest confusion, foot and horse all
+mixed up together; and by the time
+we got within a hundred paces of the
+ford, the prairie was nearly clear of
+them. There were still a couple of
+hundred men on our side of the water,
+completely at our mercy, and Wharton,
+who was a little in front with
+thirty men, gave the word to fire
+upon them. No one obeyed. He repeated
+the command. Not a rifle was
+raised. He stared at his men, astonished
+and impatient at this strange
+disobedience. An old weather-beaten
+bear-hunter stepped forward, squirting
+out his tobacco juice with all imaginable
+deliberation.</p>
+
+<p>"I tell ye what, capting!" said he,
+passing his quid over from his right
+cheek to his left; "I calkilate, capting,"
+he continued, "we'd better
+leave the poor devils of dons alone."</p>
+
+<p>"The poor devils of dons alone!"
+repeated Wharton in a rage. "Are
+you mad, man?"</p>
+
+<p>Fanning and I had just come
+up with our detachment, and were
+not less surprised and angry than
+Wharton was, at this breach of discipline.
+The man, however, did not
+allow himself to be disconcerted.</p>
+
+<p>"There's a proverb, gentlemen,"
+said he, turning to us, "which says,
+that one should build a golden bridge
+for a beaten enemy; and a good proverb
+it is, I calkilate&mdash;a considerable
+good one."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean, man, with
+your golden bridge?" cried Fanning.
+"This is no time for proverbs."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know that you are liable
+to be punished for insubordination?"
+said I. "It's your duty to fire, and
+do the enemy all the harm you can;
+not to be quoting proverbs."</p>
+
+<p>"Calkilate it is," replied the man
+very coolly. "Calkilate I could shoot
+'em without either danger or trouble;
+but I reckon that would be like Spaniards
+or Mexicans; not like Americans&mdash;not
+prudent."</p>
+
+<p>"Not like Americans? Would you
+let the enemy escape, then, when we
+have him in our power?"</p>
+
+<p>"Calkilate I would. Calkilate we
+should do ourselves more harm than
+him by shooting down his people. That
+was a considerable sensible commandment
+of yourn, always to shoot the
+foremost of the Mexicans when they
+attacked. It discouraged the bold
+ones, and was a sort of premium on
+cowardice. Them as lagged behind
+escaped, them as came bravely on
+were shot. It was a good calkilation.
+If we had shot 'em without discrimination,
+the cowards would have got
+bold, seein' that they weren't safer
+in rear than in front. The cowards
+are our best friends. Now them
+runaways," continued he, pointing to
+the Mexicans, who were crowding
+over the river, "are jest the most cowardly
+of 'em all, for in their fright
+they quite forgot the ford, and it's
+because they ran so far beyond it, that
+they are last to cross the water. And
+if you fire at 'em now, they'll find
+that they get nothin' by bein' cowards,
+and next time, I reckon, they'll
+sell their hides as dear as they can."</p>
+
+<p>Untimely as this palaver, to use a
+popular word, undoubtedly was, we
+could scarcely forbear smiling at the
+simple <i>na&#239;ve</i> manner in which the old
+Yankee spoke his mind.</p>
+
+<p>"Calkilate, captings," he concluded,
+"you'd better let the poor devils
+run. We shall get more profit by it
+than if we shot five hundred of 'em.
+Next time they'll run away directly
+to show their gratitude for our ginerosity."</p>
+
+<p>The man stepped back into the
+ranks, and his comrades nodded approvingly,
+and calculated and reckoned
+that Zebediah had spoke a true
+word; and meanwhile the enemy had
+crossed the river, and was out of our
+reach. We were forced to content
+ourselves with sending a party across
+the water to follow up the Mexicans,
+and observe the direction they took.
+We then returned to our old position.</p>
+
+<p>My first thought on arriving there
+was to search for the body of Bob
+Rock&mdash;for he it undoubtedly was, who
+had so mysteriously appeared amongst
+us. I repaired to the spot where I
+had seen him fall; but could discover
+no signs of him, either dead or alive.
+I went over the whole scene of the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page27" id="page27"></a>[pg 27]</span>
+fight, searched amongst the vines and
+along the bank of the river; there were
+plenty of dead Mexicans&mdash;cavalry,
+infantry, and artillery, but no Bob was
+to be found, nor could any one inform
+me what had become of him, although
+several had seen him fall.</p>
+
+<p>I was continuing my search, when
+I met Wharton, who asked me what
+I was seeking, and on learning, shook
+his head gravely. He had seen the
+wild prairieman, he said, but whence
+he came, or whither he was gone, was
+more than he could tell. It was a
+long time since any thing had startled
+and astonished him so much as this
+man's appearance and proceedings.
+He (Wharton,) had been stationed
+with his party amongst the vines,
+about fifty paces in rear of Fanning's
+people, when just as the Mexican infantry
+had crossed the ford, and were
+forming up, he saw a man approaching
+at a brisk trot from the north side
+of the prairie. He halted about a
+couple of hundred yards from Wharton,
+tied his mustang to a bush, and
+with his rifle on his arm, strode along
+the edge of the prairie in the direction
+of the Mexicans. When he passed
+near Wharton, the latter called out to
+him to halt, and say who he was,
+whence he came, and whither going.</p>
+
+<p>"Who I am is no business of yourn,"
+replied the man: "nor where I come
+from neither. You'll soon see where
+I'm goin'. I'm goin' agin' the enemy."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you must come and join us,"
+cried Wharton.</p>
+
+<p>This the stranger testily refused to
+do. He'd fight on his own hook, he
+said.</p>
+
+<p>Wharton told him he must not do
+that.</p>
+
+<p>He should like to see who'd hinder
+him, he said, and walked on. The
+next moment he shot the first artilleryman.
+After that they let him take
+his own way.</p>
+
+<p>Neither Wharton, nor any of his
+men, knew what had become of him;
+but at last I met with a bear-hunter,
+who gave me the following information.</p>
+
+<p>"Calkilatin'," said he, "that the wild
+prairieman's rifle was a capital good
+one, as good a one as ever killed a
+bear, he tho't it a pity that it should
+fall into bad hands, so went to secure
+it himself, although the frontispiece of
+its dead owner warn't very invitin'.
+But when he stooped to take the gun,
+he got such a shove as knocked him
+backwards, and on getting up, he saw
+the prairieman openin' his jacket and
+examinin' a wound on his breast,
+which was neither deep nor dangerous,
+although it had taken away the man's
+senses for a while. The ball had
+struck the breast bone, and was quite
+near the skin, so that the wounded
+man pushed it out with his fingers;
+and then supporting himself on his
+rifle, got up from the ground, and
+without either a thankye, or a d&mdash;&mdash;nye,
+walked to where his mustang was tied
+up, got on its back, and rode slowly
+away in a northerly direction.</p>
+
+<p>This was all the information I could
+obtain on the subject, and shortly
+afterwards the main body of our army
+came up, and I had other matters to
+occupy my attention. General Austin
+expressed his gratitude and approbation
+to our brave fellows, after a
+truly republican and democratic fashion.
+He shook hands with all the
+rough bear and buffalo hunters, and
+drank with them. Fanning and myself
+he promoted, on the spot, to the
+rank of colonel.</p>
+
+<p>We were giving the general a detailed
+account of the morning's events,
+when a Mexican priest appeared with
+a flag of truce and several waggons,
+and craved permission to take away
+the dead. This was of course granted,
+and we had some talk with the padr&#233;,
+who, however, was too wily a customer
+to allow himself to be pumped.
+What little we did get out of him, determined
+us to advance the same
+afternoon against San Antonio. We
+thought there was some chance, that
+in the present panic-struck state of
+the Mexicans, we might obtain possession
+of the place by a bold and
+sudden assault.</p>
+
+<p>In this, however, we were mistaken.
+We found the gates closed, and the
+enemy on his guard, but too dispirited
+to oppose our taking up a position
+at about cannon-shot from the great
+redoubt. We had soon invested all
+the outlets from the city.</p>
+
+<p>San Antonio de Bexar lies in a fertile
+and well-irrigated valley, stretching
+westward from the river Salado.
+In the centre of the town rises the
+fort of the Alamo, which at that time
+was armed with forty-eight pieces of
+artillery of various calibre. The garrison
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page28" id="page28"></a>[pg 28]</span>
+of the town and fortress was
+nearly three thousand strong.</p>
+
+<p>Our artillery consisted of two batteries
+of four six, and five eight-pounders;
+our army of eleven hundred men,
+with which we had not only to carry
+on the siege, but also to make head
+against the forces that would be sent
+against us from Cohahuila, on the frontier
+of which province General Cos was
+stationed, with a strong body of troops.</p>
+
+<p>We were not discouraged, however,
+and opened our fire upon the city.
+During the first week, not a day
+passed without smart skirmishes. General
+Cos's dragoons were swarming
+about us like so many Bedouins. But
+although well-mounted, and capital
+horsemen, they were no match for our
+backwoodsmen. Those from the western
+states especially, accustomed to
+Indian warfare and cunning, laid traps
+and ambuscades for the Mexicans,
+and were constantly destroying their
+detachments. As for the besieged, if
+one of them showed his head for ten
+seconds above the city wall, he was
+sure of getting a rifle bullet through
+it. I cannot say that our besieging
+army was a perfect model of military
+discipline; but any deficiencies in that
+respect were made good by the intelligence
+of the men, and the zeal and
+unanimity with which they pursued
+the accomplishment of one great object&mdash;the
+capture of the city&mdash;the liberty
+and independence of Texas.</p>
+
+<p>The badness of the gunpowder used
+by the Mexicans, was again of great
+service to us. Many of their cannon
+balls that fell far short of us,
+were collected and returned to them
+with powerful effect. We kept a sharp
+look-out for convoys, and captured no
+less than three&mdash;one of horses, another
+of provisions, and twenty thousand
+dollars in money.</p>
+
+<p>After an eight weeks' siege, a breach
+having been made, the city surrendered,
+and a month later the fort followed
+the example. With a powerful
+park of artillery, we then advanced
+upon Goliad, the strongest fortress in
+Texas, which likewise capitulated in
+about four weeks' time. We were now
+masters of the whole country, and the
+war was apparently at an end.</p>
+
+<p>But the Mexicans were not the people
+to give up their best province so
+easily. They have too much of the
+old Spanish character about them&mdash;that determined obstinacy which sustained
+the Spaniards during their protracted
+struggle against the Moors.
+The honour of their republic was compromised,
+and that must be redeemed.
+Thundering proclamations were issued,
+denouncing the Texians as rebels,
+who should be swept off the face of
+the earth, and threatening the United
+States for having aided us with money
+and volunteers. Ten thousand of the
+best troops in Mexico entered Texas
+and were shortly to be followed by
+ten thousand more. The President,
+General Santa Anna, himself came to
+take the command, attended by a numerous
+and brilliant staff.</p>
+
+<p>The Texians laughed at the fanfarronades
+of the dons, and did not attach
+sufficient importance to these
+formidable preparations. Their good
+opinion of themselves, and contempt
+of their foes, had been increased to an
+unreasonable degree by their recent
+and rapid successes. They forgot that
+the troops to which they had hitherto
+been opposed were for the most part
+militia, and that those now advancing
+against them were of a far better description,
+and had probably better
+powder. The call to arms made by
+our president, Burnet, was disregarded
+by many, and we could only get
+together about two thousand men, of
+whom nearly two-thirds had to be
+left to garrison the forts of Goliad and
+Alamo. In the first named place we
+left seven hundred and sixty men,
+under the command of Fanning; in
+the latter, something more than five
+hundred. With the remaining seven
+or eight hundred, we took the field.
+The Mexicans advanced so rapidly,
+that they were upon us before we
+were aware of it, and we were compelled
+to retreat, leaving the garrisons
+of the two forts to their fate, and a
+right melancholy one it proved to be.</p>
+
+<p>One morning news was brought to
+Goliad, that a number of country people,
+principally women and children,
+were on their way to the fort, closely
+pursued by the Mexicans. Fanning,
+losing sight of prudence in his compassion
+for these poor people, immediately
+ordered a battalion of five hundred
+men, under the command of
+Major Ward, to go and meet the fugitives
+and escort them in. The
+major, and several officers of the garrison,
+doubted as to the propriety of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page29" id="page29"></a>[pg 29]</span>
+this measure; but Fanning, full of
+sympathy for his unprotected country-women,
+insisted, and the battalion
+moved out. They soon came in sight
+of the fugitives, as they thought, but
+on drawing nearer, the latter turned
+out to be Mexican dragoons, who
+sprang upon their horses, which were
+concealed in the neighbouring islands
+of trees, and a desperate fight began.
+The Mexicans, far superior in numbers,
+received every moment accessions
+to their strength. The Louis-Potosi
+and Santa F&#233; cavalry, fellows
+who seem born on horseback, were
+there. Our unfortunate countrymen
+were hemmed in on all sides. The
+fight lasted two days, and only two
+men out of the five hundred escaped
+with their lives.</p>
+
+<p>Before the news of this misfortune
+reached us, orders had been sent to
+Fanning to evacuate the fort and join
+us with six pieces of artillery. He
+received the order, and proceeded to
+execute it. But what might have
+been very practicable for eight hundred
+and sixty men, was impossible
+for three hundred and sixty. Nevertheless,
+Fanning began his march
+through the prairie. His little band
+was almost immediately surrounded
+by the enemy. After a gallant defence,
+which lasted twelve hours, they
+succeeded in reaching an island, but
+scarcely had they established themselves
+there, when they found that
+their ammunition was expended.
+There was nothing left for them, but
+to accept the terms offered by the
+Mexicans, who pledged themselves,
+that if they laid down their arms, they
+should be permitted to return to their
+homes. But the rifles were no sooner
+piled, than the Texians found themselves
+charged by their treacherous
+foes, who butchered them without
+mercy. Only an advanced post of
+three men succeeded in escaping.</p>
+
+<p>The five hundred men whom we had
+left in San Antonio de Bexar, fared
+no better. Not being sufficiently numerous
+to hold out the town as well
+as the Alamo, they retreated into the
+latter. The Mexican artillery soon
+laid a part of the fort in ruins. Still
+its defenders held out. After eight
+days' fighting, during which the loss
+of the besiegers was tremendously severe,
+the Alamo was taken, and not
+a single Texian left alive.</p>
+
+<p>We thus, by these two cruel blows,
+lost two-thirds of our army, and little
+more than seven hundred men remained
+to resist the numerous legions
+of our victorious foe. The prospect
+before us, was one well calculated to
+daunt the stoutest heart.</p>
+
+<p>The Mexican general, Santa Anna,
+moved his army forward in two divisions,
+one stretching along the coast
+towards Velasco, the other advancing
+towards San Felipe de Austin.
+He himself, with a small force, marched
+in the centre. At Fort Bend,
+twenty miles below San Felipe, he
+crossed the Brazos, and shortly afterwards
+established himself with about
+fifteen hundred men in an entrenched
+camp. Our army, under the command
+of General Houston, was in front of
+Harrisburg, to which place the congress
+had retreated.</p>
+
+<p>It was on the night of the twentieth
+of April, and our whole disposable
+force, some seven hundred men, was
+bivouacking in and about an island of
+sycamores. It was a cloudy, stormy
+evening: high wind was blowing,
+and the branches of the trees groaned
+and creaked above our heads. The
+weather harmonized well enough with
+our feelings, which were sad and desponding
+when we thought of the desperate
+state of our cause. We (the
+officers) were sitting in a circle round
+the general and Alcalde, both of whom
+appeared uneasy and anxious. More
+than once they got up, and walked
+backwards and forwards, seemingly
+impatient, and as if they were waiting
+for or expecting something. There
+was a deep silence throughout the
+whole bivouac; some were sleeping,
+and those who watched were in no
+humour for idle chat.</p>
+
+<p>"Who goes there?" suddenly
+shouted one of the sentries. The answer
+we did not hear, but it was apparently
+satisfactory, for there was no
+further challenge, and a few seconds
+afterwards an orderly came up, and
+whispered something in the ear of the
+Alcalde. The latter hurried away,
+and, presently returning, spoke a few
+words in a low tone to the general,
+and then to us officers. In an instant
+we were all upon our feet. In less
+than ten minutes, the bivouac was
+broken up, and our little army on the
+march.</p>
+
+<p>All our people were well mounted,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page30" id="page30"></a>[pg 30]</span>
+and armed with rifles, pistols, and
+bowie-knives. We had six field-pieces,
+but we only took four, harnessed wit
+twice the usual number of horses. We
+marched at a rapid trot the whole
+night, led by a tall, gaunt figure of a
+man who acted as our guide, and kept
+some distance in front. I more than
+once asked the Alcalde who this was.
+"You will know by and by," was his
+answer.</p>
+
+<p>Before daybreak we had ridden
+five and twenty miles, but had been
+compelled to abandon two more guns.
+As yet, no one knew the object of this
+forced march. The general commanded
+a halt, and ordered the men to refresh
+and strengthen themselves by
+food and drink. While they were
+doing this, he assembled the officers
+around him, and the meaning of our
+night march was explained to us. The
+camp in which the Mexican president
+and general-in-chief had entrenched
+himself was within a mile of us; General
+Parza, with two thousand men,
+was twenty miles further to the rear;
+General Filasola, with one thousand,
+eighteen miles lower down on the
+Brazos; Viesca, with fifteen hundred,
+twenty-five miles higher up. One
+bold and decided blow, and Texas
+might yet be free. There was not a
+moment to lose, nor was one lost.
+The general addressed the men.</p>
+
+<p>"Friends! Brothers! Citizens!
+General Santa Anna is within a mile
+of us with fifteen hundred men. The
+hour that is to decide the question of
+Texian liberty is now arrived. What
+say you? Do we attack?"</p>
+
+<p>"We do!" exclaimed the men
+with one voice, cheerfully and decidedly.</p>
+
+<p>In the most perfect stillness, we
+arrived within two hundred paces of
+the enemy's camp. The <i>reveill&#233;e</i> of
+the sleeping Mexicans was the discharge
+of our two field-pieces loaded
+with canister. Rushing on to within
+twenty-five paces of the entrenchment,
+we gave them a deadly volley from
+our rifles, and then, throwing away
+the latter, bounded up the breast-works,
+a pistol in each hand. The
+Mexicans, scared and stupefied by
+this sudden attack, were running
+about in the wildest confusion, seeking
+their arms, and not knowing which
+way to turn. After firing our pistols,
+we threw them away as we had done
+our rifles, and, drawing our bowie-knives,
+fell, with a shout, upon the
+masses of the terrified foe. It was
+more like the boarding of a ship than
+any land fight I had ever seen or imagined.</p>
+
+<p>My station was on the right of the
+line, where the breastwork, ending in
+a redoubt, was steep and high. I
+made two attempts to climb up, but
+both times slipped back. On the third
+trial I nearly gained the summit; but
+was again slipping down, when a hand
+seized me by the collar, and pulled me
+up on the bank. In the darkness and
+confusion I did not distinguish the
+face of the man who rendered me this
+assistance. I only saw the glitter of
+a bayonet which a Mexican thrust
+into his shoulder, at the very moment
+he was helping me up. He neither
+flinched nor let go his hold of me till
+I was fairly on my feet; then, turning
+slowly round, he levelled a pistol at
+the soldier, who, at that very moment,
+was struck down by the Alcalde.</p>
+
+<p>"No thanks to ye, squire!" exclaimed
+the man, in a voice which
+made me start, even at that moment
+of excitement and bustle. I looked
+at the speaker, but could only see his
+back, for he had already plunged into
+the thick of the fight, and was engaged
+with a party of Mexicans, who
+defended themselves desperately. He
+fought like a man more anxious to be
+killed than to kill, striking furiously
+right and left, but never guarding a
+blow, though the Alcalde, who was by
+his side, warded off several which
+were aimed at him.</p>
+
+<p>By this time my men had scrambled
+up after me. I looked round to
+see where our help was most wanted,
+and was about to lead them forward,
+when I heard the voice of the Alcalde.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you badly hurt, Bob?" said
+he in an anxious tone.</p>
+
+<p>I glanced at the spot whence the
+voice came. There lay Bob Rock,
+covered with blood, and apparently
+insensible. The Alcalde was supporting
+his head on his arm. Before I
+had time to give a second look I was
+hurried forward with the rest towards
+the centre of the camp, where the fight
+was at the hottest.</p>
+
+<p>About five hundred men, the pick
+of the Mexican army, had collected
+round a knot of staff-officers, and were
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page31" id="page31"></a>[pg 31]</span>
+making a most gallant defence. General
+Houston had attacked them with
+three hundred of our people, but had
+not been able to break their ranks.
+His charge, however, had shaken
+them a little, and, before they had
+time to recover from it, I came up.
+Giving a wild hurrah, my men fired
+their pistols, hurled them at their enemies'
+heads, and then springing over
+the carcasses of the fallen, dashed like
+a thunderbolt into the broken ranks
+of the Mexicans.</p>
+
+<p>A frightful butchery ensued. Our
+men, who were for the most part, and
+at most times, peaceable and humane
+in disposition, seemed converted into
+perfect fiends. Whole ranks of the
+enemy fell under their knives. Some
+idea may be formed of the horrible
+slaughter from the fact, that the fight,
+from beginning to end, did not last
+above ten minutes, and in that time
+nearly eight hundred Mexicans were
+shot or cut down. "No quarter!"
+was the cry of the infuriated assailants:
+"Remember Alamo! Remember
+Goliad! Think of Fanning, Ward!"
+The Mexicans threw themselves on
+their knees, imploring mercy. "<i>Misericordia!
+Cuartel, por el amor de
+Dios!</i>" shrieked they in heart-rending
+tones but their supplications were
+not listened to, and every man of
+them would inevitably have been butchered,
+had not General Houston and
+the officers dashed in between the victors
+and the vanquished, and with the
+greatest difficulty, and by threats of
+cutting down our own men if they did
+not desist, put an end to this scene
+of bloodshed, and saved the Texian
+character from the stain of unmanly
+cruelty.</p>
+
+<p>When all was over, I hurried back
+to the place where I had left the Alcalde
+with Bob&mdash;the latter lay, bleeding
+from six wounds, only a few paces
+from the spot where he had helped
+me up the breastwork. The bodies of
+two dead Mexicans served him for a
+pillow. The Alcalde was kneeling by
+his side, gazing sadly and earnestly
+into the face of the dying man.</p>
+
+<p>For Bob was dying; but it was no
+longer the death of the despairing
+murderer. The expression of his features
+was calm and composed, and
+his eyes were raised to heaven with a
+look of hope and supplication.</p>
+
+<p>I stooped down and asked him how
+he felt himself, but he made no answer,
+and evidently did not recollect
+me. After a minute or two,</p>
+
+<p>"How goes it with the fight?" he
+asked in a broken voice.</p>
+
+<p>"We have conquered, Bob. The
+enemy killed or taken. Not a man
+escaped."</p>
+
+<p>He paused a little, and then spoke
+again.</p>
+
+<p>"Have I done my duty? May I
+hope to be forgiven?"</p>
+
+<p>The Alcalde answered him in an
+agitated voice.</p>
+
+<p>"He who forgave the sinner on the
+cross, will doubtless be merciful to
+you, Bob. His holy book says: There
+is more joy over one sinner that repenteth
+than over ninety and nine just
+men. Be of good hope, Bob! the
+Almighty will surely be merciful to
+you!"</p>
+
+<p>"Thank ye, squire," gasped Bob
+"you're a true friend, a friend in life
+and in death. Well, it's come at last,"
+said he, while a resigned and happy
+smile stole over his features. "I've
+prayed for it long enough. Thank
+God, it's come at last!"</p>
+
+<p>He gazed up at the Alcalde with a
+kindly expression of countenance.
+There was a slight shuddering movement
+of his whole frame&mdash;Bob was
+dead.</p>
+
+<p>The Alcalde remained kneeling for
+a short time by the side of the corpse,
+his lips moving in prayer. At last he
+rose to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>"God desireth not the death of a
+sinner, but rather that he may turn
+from his wickedness and live," said
+he, in a low and solemn tone. "I
+had those words in my thoughts four
+years ago, when I cut him down from
+the branch of the Patriarch."</p>
+
+<p>"Four years ago!" cried I. "Then
+you cut him down, and were in time
+to save him! Was it he who yesterday
+brought us the news of the
+vicinity of the foe?"</p>
+
+<p>"It was, and much more than that
+has he done," replied the Alcalde, no
+longer striving to conceal the tears
+that fell from his eyes. "For four
+years has he dragged on his wretched
+existence, weary of the world, and
+despised of all men. For four years
+has he served us, lived, fought, and
+spied for us, without honour, reward,
+hope, or consolation&mdash;without a single
+hour of tranquillity, or a wish for
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page32" id="page32"></a>[pg 32]</span>
+aught except death. All this to serve
+Texas and his countrymen. Who
+shall say this man was not a true
+patriot? God will surely be merciful
+to his soul," said the Alcalde after a
+pause.</p>
+
+<p>"I trust he will," answered I,
+deeply affected.</p>
+
+<p>We were interrupted at this moment
+by a message from General
+Houston, to whom we immediately
+hastened. All was uproar and confusion.
+Santa Anna could not be found
+amongst the prisoners.</p>
+
+<p>This was a terrible disappointment,
+for the capture of the Mexican president
+had been our principal object,
+and the victory we had gained was
+comparatively unimportant if he escaped.
+Indeed, the hope of putting
+an end to the war by his capture, had
+more than any thing encouraged and
+stimulated us to the unequal conflict.</p>
+
+<p>The moment was a very critical
+one. Amongst our men were some
+thirty or forty most desperate characters,
+who began handling their knives,
+and casting looks upon the prisoners,
+the meaning of which it was impossible
+to mistake. Selecting some of our
+trustiest men, we stationed them as a
+guard over the captives, and, having
+thus assured the safety of the latter,
+began questioning them as to what
+had become of their general.</p>
+
+<p>They had none of them seen Santa
+Anna since the commencement of the
+fight, and it was clear that he must
+have made his escape while we were
+getting over the breastworks. He
+could not be very far off, and we at
+once took measures to find him. A
+hundred men were sent off with the
+prisoners to Harrisburg, and a hundred
+others, capitally mounted on
+horses found in the Mexican camp,
+started to scour the country in search
+of the fugitive chief. I accompanied
+the latter detachment.</p>
+
+<p>We had been twelve hours in the
+saddle, and had ridden over nearly a
+hundred miles of ground. We began
+to despair of finding the game we
+were in quest of, and were thinking
+of abandoning the chase, when at a
+distance of about seven miles from the
+camp, one of our most experienced
+hunters discovered the print of a small
+and delicate boot upon some soft
+ground leading to a marsh. Following
+this trail, it at last led us to a
+man sunk up to his waist in the
+swamp, and so covered with mud and
+filth, as to be quite unrecognizable.
+We drew him from his hiding-place,
+half dead with cold and terror, and,
+having washed the dirt from his face,
+we found him to be a man of about
+forty years of age, with blue eyes, of
+a mild, but crafty expression; a narrow,
+high forehead; long, thin nose,
+rather fleshy at the tip; projecting upper
+lip, and long chin. These features
+tallied too exactly with the description
+we had had of the Mexican president,
+for us to doubt that our prisoner
+was Santa Anna himself.</p>
+
+<p>The only thing that at all tended to
+shake this conviction, was the extraordinary
+poltroonery of our new captive.
+He threw himself on his knees,
+begging us, in the name of God and all
+the saints, to spare his life. Our reiterated
+assurances and promises were
+insufficient to convince him of his
+being in perfect safety, or to induce
+him to adopt a demeanour more consistent
+with his dignity and high
+station.</p>
+
+<p>The events which succeeded this
+fortunate capture are too well known
+to require more than a very brief recapitulation.
+The same evening a
+truce was agreed upon between Houston
+and Santa Anna, the latter sending
+orders to his different generals to
+retire upon San Antonio de Bexar,
+and other places in the direction of
+the Mexican frontier. These orders,
+valueless as emanating from a prisoner,
+most of the generals were weak
+or cowardly enough to obey, an obedience
+for which they were afterwards
+brought to trial by the Mexican congress.
+In a few days, two-thirds of
+Texas were in our possession.</p>
+
+<p>The news of these successes brought
+crowds of volunteers to our standard.
+In three weeks, we had an army of
+several thousand men, with which we
+advanced against the Mexicans. There
+was no more fighting, however, for
+our antagonists had had enough, and
+allowed themselves to be driven from
+one position to another, till, in a
+month's time, there was not one of
+them left in the country.</p>
+
+<p>The Struggle was over, and Texas
+was Free!</p>
+
+<hr />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page33" id="page33"></a>[pg 33]</span>
+
+
+
+<h2>CLITOPHON AND LEUCIPPE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>When enumerating (in our number
+for July, last year) the principal
+Greek romances which succeeded the
+<i>Ethiopics</i> of Heliodorus, we placed
+next to the celebrated production of
+the Bishop of Trica in point of merit
+(as it is generally held to have been
+also in order of time) the "Adventures
+of Clitophon and Leucippe," by Achilles
+Tatius. Though far inferior, both
+in the delineation of the characters
+and the contrivance of the story, to
+the <i>Ethiopics</i>, (from which, indeed,
+many of the incidents are obviously
+borrowed,) and not altogether free
+from passages offensive to delicacy,
+"Clitophon and Leucippe" is well
+entitled to a separate notice, not only
+from the grace of its style and diction,
+and the curious matter with which
+the narrative is interspersed, but from
+its presenting one of the few pictures,
+which have come down to these times,
+of the social and domestic life of the
+Greeks. In the <i>Ethiopics</i>, which may
+be considered as an <i>heroic</i> romance,
+the scene lies throughout in palaces,
+camps, and temples; kings, high-priests,
+and satraps, figure in every
+page; the hero himself is a prince of
+his own people; and the heroine, who
+at first appears of no lower rank than
+a high-priestess of Delphi, proves, in
+the sequel, the heiress of a mighty
+kingdom. In the work of Achilles
+Tatius, on the contrary, (the plot of
+which is laid at a later period of time
+than that of its predecessor,) the characters
+are taken, without exception,
+from the class of Grecian citizens, who
+are represented in the ordinary routine
+of polished social existence, amidst
+their gardens of villas, and occupied
+by their banquets and processions,
+and the business of their courts of law.
+There are no unexpected revelations,
+no talismanic rings, no mysterious
+secret affecting the fortunes of any of
+the personages, who are all presented
+to us at the commencement in their
+proper names and characters. The
+interest of the story, as in the <i>Ethiopics</i>,
+turns chiefly on an elopement,
+and the consequent misadventures of
+the hero and heroine among various
+sets of robbers and treacherous friends;
+but the lovers, after being thus duly
+punished for their undutiful escapade,
+are restored, at the finale, to their
+original position, and settle quietly in
+their native home, under their own
+vines and fig-trees.</p>
+
+<p>Of the author himself little appears
+to be certainly known. Fabricius and
+other writers have placed him in the
+"third or fourth" century of our era;
+but this date will by no means agree
+with his constant imitations of Heliodorus,
+who is known to have lived at
+the end of the fourth and beginning of
+the fifth century; and Tatius, if not
+his contemporary, probably lived not
+long after him. Suidas (who calls him
+<i>Statius</i>) informs us that he was a native
+of Alexandria; and attributes to
+his pen several other works on various
+subjects besides the romance now in
+question, a fragment only of which&mdash;a
+treatise on the sphere&mdash;has been
+preserved. He adds, that he was a
+pagan when he wrote "Clitophon and
+Leucippe," but late in life embraced
+Christianity, and even became a
+bishop. This latter statement, however,
+is unsupported by any other
+authority, and would seem to be opposed
+by the negative testimony of
+the patriarch Photius, who (in his
+famous <i>Bibliotheca</i>, 118, 130) passes
+a severe censure on the immorality of
+certain passages in the works of Tatius,
+and would scarcely have omitted
+to inveigh against the further scandal
+of their having proceeded from the
+pen of an ecclesiastic. "In style and
+composition this work is of high excellence;
+the periods are generally
+well rounded and perspicuous, and
+gratify the ear by their harmony ...
+but, except in the names of the
+personages, and the unpardonable
+breaches of decorum of which he is
+guilty, the author appears to have
+closely copied Heliodorus both in the
+plan and execution of his narrative."
+In another passage, when treating of
+the <i>Babylonica</i><a id="footnotetag1" name="footnotetag1"></a><a href="#footnote1"><sup>1</sup></a> of Iamblichus, he
+repeats this condemnation:&mdash;"Of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page34" id="page34"></a>[pg 34]</span>
+these three principal writers of amorous
+tales. Heliodorus has treated the
+subject with due gravity and decorum.
+Iamblichus is not so unexceptionable
+on these points; and Achilles Tatius
+is still worse, in his eight books of
+<i>Clitophon and Leucippe</i>, the very diction
+of which is soft and effeminate,
+as if intended to relax the vigour of
+the reader's mind." This last denunciation
+of the patriarch, however, is
+somewhat too sweeping and indiscriminate,
+since, though some passages
+are certainly indefensible, they appear
+rather as interpolations, and are in no
+manner connected with the main
+thread of the story, the general tendency
+of which is throughout innocent
+and moral; and whatever may be
+said of these blemishes, it must be
+allowed that the pages of Achilles
+Tatius are purity itself when compared
+with the depravity of Longus,
+and some of his followers and imitators
+among the Greek romancists.</p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote1" name="footnote1"></a><a href="#footnotetag1">[1] </a>
+This work is now lost, and we know it only by the abstract given by Photius
+in the passage quoted.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>The period of time at which the
+adventures of <i>Clitophon and Leucippe</i>
+are supposed to take place, appears to
+be in the later ages of Grecian independence,
+when the successors of
+Alexander reigned in Syria and Egypt,
+and the colonized cities in Thrace and
+Asia Minor still preserved their municipal
+liberties. The story is related
+in the first person by the hero himself;
+a mode of narration which, though
+the best adapted for affording scope
+to the expression of the feelings of the
+principal personages, is, in this instance,
+very awkwardly introduced.
+A stranger, while contemplating a
+famous picture of the Rape of Europa
+in the Temple of Astarte at Sidon, is
+accosted by a young man, who, after
+a few incidental remarks, proceeds,
+without further preface, to recount his
+adventures at length to this casual
+acquaintance. This communicative
+gentleman is, of course, Clitophon;
+but before we proceed to the narrative
+of his loves and woes, we shall
+give a specimen of the author's powers
+in the line which appears to be his
+forte, by quoting his description of
+the painting above referred to:&mdash;"On
+entering the temple, my attention was
+attracted by a picture representing
+the story of Europa, in which sea and
+land were blended&mdash;the Phoenician
+Sea and the coasts of Sidon. On the
+land was seen a band of maidens in a
+meadow, while in the sea a bull was
+swimming, who bore on his shoulders
+a beautiful virgin, and was making
+his way in the direction of Crete.
+The meadow was decked with a profusion
+of bright flowers, to which a
+grateful shelter was afforded by the
+dense overhanging foliage of the shrubs
+and clumps of trees, which were interspersed
+at intervals throughout its
+extent; while so skilfully had the
+artist represented the appearance of
+light and shade, that the rays of the
+sun were seen to pass here and there
+through the interstices of the leaves, and
+cast a softened radiance on the ground
+underneath. A spring was seen bubbling
+up in the midst, and refreshing
+the flowers and plants with its cool
+waters; while a labourer with a spade
+was at work opening a fresh channel
+for the stream. At the extremity of
+the meadow, where it bordered on the
+sea, the maidens stood grouped together,
+in attitudes expressive of mingled
+joy and terror; their brows were
+bound with chaplets, and their hair
+floated in loose locks over their shoulders;
+but their features were pale,
+and their cheeks contracted, and they
+gazed with lips apart and opened eyes
+on the sea, as if on the point of uttering
+a cry half-suppressed by fear. They
+were standing on tiptoe on the very
+verge of the shore, with their tunics
+girt up to the knee, and extending
+their arms towards the bull, as if meditating
+to rush into the sea in pursuit
+of him, and yet shrinking from the
+contact of the waves. The sea was
+represented of a reddish tint inshore,
+but further out the colour changed to
+deep azure; while in another part the
+waves were seen running in with a
+swell upon the rocks, and breaking
+against them into clouds of foam and
+white spray. In the midst of the sea the
+bull was depicted, breasting the lofty
+billows which surged against his sides,
+with the damsel seated on his back,
+not astride, but with both her feet
+disposed on his right side, while with
+her left hand she grasped his horn, by
+which she guided his motions as a
+charioteer guides a horse by the rein.
+She was arrayed in a white tunic,
+which did not extend much below her
+waist, and an under-garment of purple,
+reaching to her feet; but the outline
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page35" id="page35"></a>[pg 35]</span>
+of her form, and the swell of her bosom,
+were distinctly defined through her garments.
+Her right hand rested on the
+back of the bull, with the left she retained
+her hold of his horn, while with
+both she grasped her veil, which was
+blown out by the wind, and expanded
+in an arch over her head and shoulders,
+so that the bull might be compared
+to a ship, of which the damsel's
+veil was the sail. Around them dolphins
+were sporting in the water, and
+winged loves fluttering in the air, so
+admirably depicted, that the spectator
+might fancy he saw them in motion.
+One Cupid guided the bull, while
+others hovered round bearing bows
+and quivers, and brandishing nuptial
+torches, regarding Jupiter with arch
+and sidelong glances, as if conscious
+that it was by their influence that the
+god had assumed the form of an animal."</p>
+
+<p>To return to Clitophon and his tale.
+He begins by informing his hearer,
+that he is the son of Hippias, a noble
+and wealthy denizen of Tyre, and that
+he had been betrothed from his childhood,
+as was not unusual in those
+times,<a id="footnotetag2" name="footnotetag2"></a><a href="#footnote2"><sup>2</sup></a> to his own half-sister Calligone:&mdash;but
+Leucippe, the daughter of
+Sostratus, a brother of Hippias, resident
+at Byzantium, having arrived
+with her mother Panthia, to claim the
+hospitality of their Tyrian relatives
+during a war impending between their
+native city and the Thracian tribes,
+Clitophon at once becomes enamoured
+of his cousin, whose charms are described
+in terms of glowing panegyric:&mdash;"She
+seemed to me like the representation
+of Europa, which I see in
+the picture before me&mdash;her eye beaming
+with joy and happiness&mdash;her locks
+fair,<a id="footnotetag3" name="footnotetag3"></a><a href="#footnote3"><sup>3</sup></a> and flowing in natural ringlets,
+but her eyebrows and eyelashes jetty
+black&mdash;her complexion fair, but with
+a blush in her cheeks like that faint
+crimson with which the Lydian women
+stain ivory, and her lips like the
+hue of a fresh-opened rose." Love is
+not, however, in this case, as in that
+of Theagenes and Chariclea, instantaneous
+on both sides; and the expedient
+adopted by Clitophon, with the
+aid of his servant Satyrus, (a valet of
+the <i>Scapin</i> school,) to win the good
+graces of the lady, are detailed at
+length, evincing much knowledge of
+the human heart in the author, and
+affording considerable insight into the
+domestic arrangements of a Grecian
+family.<a id="footnotetag4" name="footnotetag4"></a><a href="#footnote4"><sup>4</sup></a> An understanding is at last
+effected between them, and Clitophon
+is in sad perplexity how to defer or
+evade his approaching nuptials with
+his sister-bride, when Calligone is
+most opportunely carried off by a band
+of pirates employed by Callisthenes,
+a young Byzantine, who, having fallen
+in love with Leucippe from the mere
+report of her beauty, and having been
+refused her hand by her father, has
+followed her to Tyre, and seeing Calligone
+in a public procession chaperoned
+by Panthia, has mistaken her
+for Leucippe! The lovers are thus
+left in the unrestrained enjoyment of
+each other's society; but Clitophon is
+erelong detected by Panthia in an attempt
+to penetrate by night into her
+daughter's chamber; and though the
+darkness prevents the person of the
+intruder from being recognised, the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page36" id="page36"></a>[pg 36]</span>
+confusion which this untoward occurrence
+occasions in the family is such,
+that Clitophon and Leucippe, feeling
+their secret no longer safe, determine
+on an elopement. Accompanied by
+the faithful Satyrus, and by Clinias,
+a kinsman and confident of Clitophon,
+who generously volunteers to share
+their adventures, they accordingly set
+sail for Egypt; and the two gentlemen,
+having struck up an acquaintance
+with a fellow passenger, a young
+Alexandrian named Menelaus, beguile
+the voyage by discussing with their
+new friend the all-engrossing subject
+of love, the remarks on which at last
+take so antiplatonic a tone, that we
+can only hope Leucippe was out of
+hearing. These disquisitions are interrupted,
+on the third day of the
+voyage, by a violent tempest; and
+the sailors, finding the ship on the
+point of coming to pieces, betake themselves
+to the boat, leaving the passengers
+to their fate. But Clitophon
+and Leucippe, clinging to the forecastle,
+are comfortably wafted by the
+winds and waves to the coast of
+Egypt, and landed near Pelusium,
+where they hire a vessel to carry them
+to Alexandria; but their voyage
+through the tortuous branches of the
+Nile is intercepted by marauders of
+the same class, <i>Bucoli</i> or buccaniers,
+as those who figure so conspicuously
+in the adventures of <i>Chariclea</i> and
+<i>Theagenes</i>. The robbers are at this
+juncture in expectation of an attack
+from the royal troops; and, having
+been ordered by their priests to propitiate
+the gods by the sacrifice of a
+virgin, are greatly at a loss for a victim,
+when chance throws Leucippe in
+their way. She is forthwith torn from
+her lover, and sent off to the headquarters
+of the banditti; and Clitophon
+is on his way to another of their
+retreats, when his captors are attacked
+and cut to pieces by a detachment
+of troops, whose commander, Charmides,
+commiserates the misfortunes
+of our hero, and hospitably entertains
+him in his tent.</p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote2" name="footnote2"></a><a href="#footnotetag2">[2]</a>
+ The laws of Athens permitted the marriage of a brother with his sister by the
+father's side only&mdash;thus Cimon married his half sister Elpinice; and several
+marriages of the same nature occur in the history of the Egyptian Ptolemies.</p></blockquote>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote3" name="footnote3"></a><a href="#footnotetag3">[3]</a>
+ Fair hair, probably from its rarity in southern climates, seems to have been
+at all times much prized by the ancients; witness the [Greek: Xanthos Menelaos] of Homer,
+and the "Cui <i>flavam</i> religas comam?" of Horace. The style of Leucippe's
+beauty seems to have resembled that of Haidee&mdash;</p></blockquote>
+
+<div class="poem">  <div class="stanza">
+<p>"Her hair, I said, was auburn; but her eyes</p>
+<p>Were black as night, their lashes the same hue."</p>
+  </div>  </div>
+
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote4" name="footnote4"></a><a href="#footnotetag4">[4]</a>
+ One incident, where Clitophon pretends to have been stung on the lip by a
+bee, and to be cured by a kiss from Leucippe, has been borrowed by Tasso in the
+Aminta, (Act I. Scene 2.) "Che fingendo ch'un ape avesse morso il mio labbro
+di sotto," &amp;c., whence the idea has been again copied by a host of later poetasters.
+This is not Tasso's only obligation to the Greek romances, as we have already seen
+that he was indebted to Heliodorus for the hint of his story of Clorinda.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>A general attack on the buccanier
+force is projected for the next day, but
+the advance of the troops is found to
+be barred by a trench so wide and deep
+as to be impassable; and while preparations
+are made for filling it up,
+Leucippe is brought to the opposite
+brink by two officiating priests, sheathed
+in armor; and there, to the horror
+of Clitophon, apparently ripped up
+alive before the altar. After completing
+the sacrifice, and depositing the
+body in a sarcophagus, the robbers
+disperse; the passage of the trench is
+at length effected; and Clitophon is
+preparing to fall on his sword at the
+tomb of his murdered love, when his
+hand is stayed by the appearance of
+his faithful friends, Menelaus and Satyrus,
+whom he had supposed lost in
+the ship. The mystery is now explained.
+They had reached the shore,
+like Clitophon, on pieces of the wreck
+and having also fallen into the power
+of the robbers, (as appears to have
+been the inevitable fate of every one
+landing in Egypt at the time of this
+narrative,) were surprised by finding
+Leucippe among their fellow captives,
+and learning from her the dreadful fate
+which awaited her. Menelaus, however,
+having recognized some former
+acquaintances among the buccaniers,
+was released from his bonds; and
+having gained their confidence by proposing
+to enrol himself in their band,
+offered his services as sacrificer, which
+were accepted. He now contrived to
+equip Leucippe with an artfully constructed
+<i>false stomach</i>, and being further
+assisted in his humane stratagem
+by the discovery of a knife with a
+sliding blade, among some theatrical
+<i>properties</i> which the robbers had acquired
+in the course of casual plunder,
+succeeded in appearing to perform the
+sacrifice without any real injury to the victim,
+who at his call rises from the sarcophagus, and throws herself into her lover's arms.</p>
+
+<p>It might be supposed, that after so
+portentously marvellous an escape as
+the one just related, the unlucky couple
+might be allowed a short respite
+at least from the persecutions of adverse
+fortune. But perils in love succeed
+without an interval to perils in
+war. It is the invariable rule of all
+Greek romances, as we have remarked
+in a previous number, that the attractions
+both of the hero and heroine,
+should be perfectly irresistible by those
+of the other sex; and accordingly, the
+Egyptian officer Charmides no sooner
+beholds Leucippe, than he falls in love
+with her, and endeavours to gain over
+Menelaus to further his views. Menelaus
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page37" id="page37"></a>[pg 37]</span>
+feigns compliance, but privately
+gives information of the designs of
+Charmides to Clitophon, who is thrown
+into a dreadful state of consternation
+by his apprehensions of this powerful
+rival. At this juncture, however,
+Leucippe is suddenly seized with a fit
+of extravagant frenzy, which defies all
+the skill of the Egyptian camp; and
+under the influence of which she violently
+assaults her friends, and is guilty
+of sundry vagaries not altogether seemly
+in a well-bred young lady. Both her
+admirers, Charmides and Clitophon,
+are in despair, and equally in ignorance
+of the cause of her malady; but before
+any symptoms of amendment are perceptible,
+Charmides receives orders<a id="footnotetag5" name="footnotetag5"></a><a href="#footnote5"><sup>5</sup></a>
+to march with his whole force against
+the buccaniers, by whom he is inveigled
+into an ambuscade, and with most
+of his men either slain or drowned by
+the breaking of the dykes of the Nile.
+The madness of Leucippe is still incurable,
+till a stranger named Choereas
+makes his appearance, and introducing
+himself to Clitophon, informs him that
+he has discovered from the confession
+of a domestic, that Gorgias, an officer
+who fell in the late action with the
+<i>Bucoli</i>, captivated, like every one else,
+by the resistless charms of the heroine,
+had administered to her a philtre, the
+undue strength of which had excited
+frenzy instead of love. By the administration
+of proper remedies, the
+fair patient is now restored to her
+senses: and the total destruction of
+the robber-colony by a stronger force
+sent against them having rendered the
+navigation of the Nile again secure,
+the lovers once more embark for Alexandria,
+accompanied by Menelaus and
+Choereas, and at length arrive in safety
+at the city, which they find illuminated
+for the great feast of Serapis.
+The first sight of the glories of Alexandria,
+at the supposed period of the
+narrative the largest and most magnificent
+city in the world, and many
+ages subsequently second only to Imperial
+Rome herself, excites the astonishment
+and admiration of the newcomers:&mdash;and
+the author takes the opportunity
+to dilate, with pardonable
+complacency, on the magnitude and
+grandeur of the place of his birth.
+"When I entered the city," (says
+Clitophon,) "by the gates called those
+of the sun, its wonderful beauty flashed
+at once upon my sight, almost dazzling
+my eyes with the excess of gratification.
+A lofty colonnade of pillars,
+on each side of the street,<a id="footnotetag6" name="footnotetag6"></a><a href="#footnote6"><sup>6</sup></a> runs right
+from the gates of the sun on one side,
+to those of the moon, (for these are
+its guardian deities,) on the other;
+and the distance is such, that a walk
+through the city is in itself a journey.
+When we had proceeded several stadia,
+we arrived at the square named after
+Alexander, whence other colonnades,
+like those I saw extending in a right
+line before me, branched off right and
+left at right angles; and my eyes,
+never weary of wandering from one
+street to another, were unable to contemplate
+separately the various objects
+of attraction which presented themselves.
+Some I had before my eyes,
+some I was hastening to gaze upon,
+when I found myself unable to pass
+by others, while a fresh series of marvels
+still awaited me, so that my
+powers of vision were at last fairly
+exhausted, and obliged to confess
+themselves beaten. The vast extent
+of the city, and the innumerable multitude
+of the population, produced on
+the mind the effect of a double paradox;
+for regarding the one, the stranger
+wondered where such a city, which
+seemed as large as a continent, could
+find inhabitants; but when his attention
+was drawn to the other, he was
+again perplexed how so many people,
+more numerous than a nation, could
+find room in any single city. Thus
+the two conflicting feelings of amazement
+remained in equilibrio."</p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote5" name="footnote5"></a>
+<a href="#footnotetag5">[5] </a> These orders are said to have come from the "<i>satrap</i>," the Persian title
+having been retained under the Ptolemies, for the governors of the <i>nomes</i> or provinces.
+The description of the stronghold of the buccaniers, in the deep recesses
+of a marsh, and approachable only by a single hidden path, (like the stockades of
+the North-American Indians in the swamps, as described by Cotton Mather,) if
+not copied, like most of the other Egyptian scenes, from the <i>Ethiopics</i>, presents a
+curious picture of a class of men of whom few details are in authentic history.</p></blockquote>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote6" name="footnote6"></a>
+<a href="#footnotetag6">[6] </a> The main street, according to Diodorus, was "forty stadia in length, and a
+<i>plethrum</i> (100 feet) in breadth; adorned through its whole extent by a succession
+of palaces and temples of the most costly magnificence. Alexander also erected a
+royal palace, which was an edifice wonderful both for its magnitude and the solidity
+of its architecture, and all the kings who have succeeded him, even up to our
+times, have spent great sums in further adorning and making additions to it.
+On the whole, the city may be fairly reckoned as the first in the world, whether
+for magnitude and beauty, for traffic, or for the greatness of its revenues."&mdash;"It comprehended," says Gibbon, speaking of it under the Roman Emperors, "a
+circumference of fifteen miles, and was peopled by 300,000 free inhabitants, besides,
+at least, an equal number of slaves."</p></blockquote>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page38" id="page38"></a>[pg 38]</span>
+
+<p>Choereas, himself a native of the
+city, who had been called upon to take
+service in the late expedition against
+the buccaniers, does the honours of
+the locale to his new friends:&mdash;but he
+is not proof against the fatal charms
+of Leucippe, and resorts to the old
+expedient of procuring her abduction
+by a crew of pirates while on an excursion
+to the Pharos. The vessel of
+the captors is, however, chased by a
+guard-boat, and on the point of being
+taken, when Leucippe is brought on
+deck and decapitated by the pirates,
+who throw the headless body into the
+sea, and make their escape; while
+Clitophon stays the pursuit, to recover
+the remains of his mistress for
+sepulture. Clitophon now returns to
+Alexandria to mourn for his lost love,
+and is still inconsolable at the end of
+six months, when he is surprised by
+the appearance of Clinias, whom he
+had supposed to have perished when
+the vessel foundered at sea. Clinias
+relates that having, like the others,
+floated on a piece of the wreck, he
+had been picked up by a ship, which
+brought him back to Sidon; and as
+his absence from home had been so
+short as not to have been generally
+noticed, he had thought it best not to
+mention it, especially as he had no
+good account to give of his fellow-fugitives.
+In the mean time, as Calligone
+is given up for lost, Sostratus,
+who has heard of his daughter's attachment
+to Clitophon, but not of the
+elopement, writes from Byzantium to
+give his consent to their union; and
+diligent enquiries are made in every
+direction for the runaway couple, till
+information is at length obtained that
+Clitophon has been seen in Egypt.
+His father, Hippias, is therefore preparing
+to set sail for Alexandria to
+bring back the truant, when Clinias,
+thinking it would be as well to forewarn
+Clitophon of what had occurred
+in his absence, starts without delay,
+unknown to Hippias, and reaches
+Alexandria before him.</p>
+
+<p>The intelligence thus received throws
+Clitophon into fresh agonies of grief
+and remorse: he curses his own impatience
+in carrying off Leucippe,
+when a short delay would have crowned
+his happiness; accuses himself
+anew as the cause of her death; and
+declares his determination not to remain
+in Egypt and encounter his
+father. His friends, Menelaus and
+Clinias, in vain endeavour to combat
+this resolve; till the over-ready Satyrus
+finds an expedient for evading
+the difficulty. A young "Ephesian
+widow," named Melissa, fair and
+susceptible, who has lately lost her
+husband at sea, and become the
+heiress of his immense wealth, has recently
+(in obedience to the above-mentioned
+invariable law of Greek
+romance) fixed an eye of ardent affection
+on Clitophon; and it is suggested
+by his friends that, by marrying this
+new inamorata, and sailing with her
+forthwith on her return to Ephesus,
+his departure would at once be satisfactorily
+explained to his father on his
+arrival, and he might return to his
+friends at Tyre after their emotions at
+the tragical catastrophe of Leucippe
+had in some measure subsided. After
+much persuasion, Clitophon accedes to
+this arrangement, with the sole proviso
+that nothing but the <i>fian&#231;ailles</i>, or
+betrothal, shall take place in Egypt,
+and that the completion of the marriage
+shall be deferred till their arrival
+in Ephesus&mdash;on the plea that he
+cannot pledge his faith to another in
+the land where his beloved Leucippe
+met with her fate. This proposal,
+after vehement opposition on the part
+of the amorous Ephesian, is at last
+agreed to; and Clitophon, with his
+half-married bride, sets sail for Ephesus,
+accompanied by Clinias; while
+Menelaus, who remains in Egypt, undertakes
+the task of explaining matters
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page39" id="page39"></a>[pg 39]</span>
+to Hippias. The voyage is prosperously
+accomplished; and Melissa
+becomes urgent for the formal solemnization
+of the nuptials; while Clitophon
+continues to oppose frivolous
+delays which might have roused the
+anger of a lady even of a less ardent
+temperament. Her affection, however,
+continues undiminished; but
+Clitophon, while visiting, in her company,
+her country residence in the
+neighbourhood of the city, is thunderstruck
+by fancying that he recognizes,
+in the disfigured lineaments of a female
+slave, said to be a Thessalian of
+the name of Lacoena, who approaches
+Melissa to complain of the ill-treatment
+she has received from the steward,
+Sosthenes, the features of his lost
+Leucippe. His suspicions are confirmed
+by a billet which Leucippe
+conveys to him through Satyrus; and
+his situation becomes doubly perplexing,
+as Melissa, more than ever at a
+loss to comprehend the cause of his indifference,
+applies to Leucippe, (whom
+she supposes to possess the skill of the
+Thessalians in magic,) for a love-charm
+to compel his affections, promising
+her liberty as a reward. Leucippe
+is delighted by the proof which
+this request affords of the constancy
+of her lover; but the preparations for
+his marriage with Melissa still proceed,
+and evasion appears impossible;
+when at the preliminary banquet, the
+return of her husband, Thersander, is
+announced, who had been falsely reported
+to have perished by shipwreck.
+A terrible scene of confusion ensues,
+in which Thersander,</p>
+
+<div class="poem">  <div class="stanza">
+<p>&mdash;&mdash; "proceeding at a very high rate,</p>
+<p>Shows the imperial penchant of a pirate."</p>
+  </div>  </div>
+
+<p>Clitophon gets a violent beating, to
+which he submits with the utmost
+tameness, and is thrown into fetters
+by the enraged husband; and though
+Melissa, on certain conditions, furnishes
+him with the means of escape
+from the house in the disguise of a
+female, he again unluckily encounters
+Thersander, and is lodged in the prison
+of Ephesus. Leucippe, meanwhile,
+of whose unrivalled charms
+Thersander has been informed by Sosthenes,
+is still detained in bondage,
+and suffers cruel persecution from her
+brutal master; who, at last, having
+learned from an overheard soliloquy her
+true parentage and history, as well as
+her attachment for Clitophon, (of her
+relations with whom he was not previously
+aware,) forms a scheme of
+ridding himself of this twofold rival,
+by sending one of his emissaries into
+the prison, who gives out that he has
+been arrested on suspicion of being
+concerned in the murder of Leucippe,
+who has been dispatched by assassins
+employed by the jealous Melissa. Clitophon
+at once gives full credence to
+this awkwardly devised tale, and determines
+not to survive his mistress,
+in spite of the remonstrances of Clinias,
+who argues with much reason,
+that one who had so often been miraculously
+preserved from death, might
+have escaped also on the present occasion.
+But Clitophon refuses to be
+comforted; and when brought before
+the assembly in the forum to stand
+his trial, on the charge, (apparently,
+for it is not very clearly specified,) of
+having married another man's wife,
+he openly declares himself guilty of
+Leucippe's murder, which he affirms
+to have been concerted between Melissa
+and himself, in order to remove
+the obstacle to their amours, and now
+revealed by him from remorse. He
+is, of course, condemned to death
+forthwith, and Thersander is triumphing
+in the unexpected success of his
+schemes, when the judicial proceedings
+are interrupted by the appearance
+of a religious procession, at the
+head of which Clitophon is astonished
+by recognizing his uncle Sostratus, the
+father of Leucippe, who had been deputed
+by the Byzantines to offer sacrifices
+of thanksgiving, at the Temple
+of Diana, for their victory over the
+Thracians. On hearing the state of
+affairs, he furiously denounces the
+murderer of his daughter; but at this
+moment it is announced that Leucippe,
+whom Thersander had believed to be
+in safe custody, has escaped, and
+taken refuge in the Temple of Diana!</p>
+
+<p>The interest of the story is now at an
+end; but much yet remains before the
+conclusion. Thersander, maddened
+at the prospect of being thus doubly
+baulked of his prey, throws gross
+aspersions on the purity of Leucippe,
+and even demands that Clitophon, in
+spite of his now manifest innocence,
+shall be executed in pursuance of the
+previous sentence! but the high-priest
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page40" id="page40"></a>[pg 40]</span>
+of Diana takes the lovers under his
+protection, and the cause is adjourned
+to the morrow. Leucippe now relates
+the circumstances of her captivity:&mdash;the
+Alexandrian pirates, having deceived
+their pursuers by beheading
+another captive dressed in her garments,
+had next fallen out with and
+murdered their base employer Choereas,
+and finally sold her for two
+thousand drachmas to Sosthenes:
+while from Sostratus, on the other
+hand, Clitophon receives tidings that
+his long-lost sister Calligone is on the
+point of marriage to Callisthenes,
+who, it will be remembered, had carried
+her off from Tyre by mistake for
+Leucippe, (having become enamoured
+of the latter without ever having seen
+her,) and on the discovery of his
+error, had made her all the amends
+in his power by an instant transfer of
+his affections. Thus everything is on
+the point of ending happily; but the
+sentence passed against Clitophon still
+remains unreversed, and Thersander,
+in the assembly of the following day,
+vehemently calls for its ratification.
+But the cause of the defendant is espoused
+by the high-priest, who lavishes
+on the character and motives of Thersander
+a torrent of abuse, couched in
+language little fitting his sacred character;
+while Thersander shows himself
+in this respect fully a match for his
+reverend antagonist, and, moreover,
+reiterates with fresh violence his previous
+charge against Leucippe. The
+debates are protracted to an insufferably
+tedious length; but the character
+of Leucippe is at last vindicated by
+her descent into a cavern, whence
+sounds of more than human melody
+are heard on the entrance of a damsel
+of untainted fame. The result of this
+ordeal is, of course, triumphant; and
+Thersander, overwhelmed with confusion
+makes his escape from the
+popular indignation, and is condemned
+to exile by acclamation as a suborner
+of false evidence; while the lovers,
+freed at length from all their troubles,
+sail for Byzantium in company with
+Sostratus; and after there solemnizing
+their own nuptials, return to Tyre to
+assist at those of Callisthenes and
+Calligone.</p>
+
+<p>The leading defects observable in
+this romance are obviously the glaring
+improbability of many of the incidents,
+and the want of connexion and necessary
+dependence between the several
+parts of the story. Of the former&mdash;the
+device of the false stomach and
+theatrical dagger, by means of which
+Menelaus and Satyrus (after gaining,
+moreover, in a moment the full confidence
+of the buccaniers,) save the life
+of Leucippe when doomed to sacrifice,
+is the most flagrant instance; though
+her second escape from supposed death,
+when Clitophon imagines that he sees
+her head struck off by the Alexandrian
+pirates, is almost equally liable to the
+same objection; while in either case
+the deliverance of the heroine might
+as well have been managed, without
+prejudice either to the advancement
+or interest of the narrative, by more
+rational and probable methods. The
+too frequent introduction of incidents
+and personages not in any way connected
+with, or conducive to the progress
+of the main plot, is also objectionable,
+and might almost induce the
+belief that the original plan was in
+some measure altered or departed from
+in the course of composition. It is difficult
+to conceive for what purpose the
+character of Calligone, the sister and
+fianc&#233;e of Clitophon, is introduced
+among the dramatic personae. She appears
+at the beginning only to be carried
+off by Callisthenes as soon as Clitophon's
+passion for Leucippe makes her
+presence inconvenient, and we incidentally
+hear of her as on the point of becoming
+his bride at the conclusion; but she
+is seen only for a moment, and never
+permitted to speak, like a walking gentlewoman
+on the stage, and exercises
+not the smallest influence on the fortunes
+of the others. Gorgias is still
+worse used: he is a mere <i>nominis umbra</i>,
+of whose bodily presence nothing is
+made visible; nor is so much as his name
+mentioned, except for the purpose of
+informing us that it was through his
+agency that the love-potion was administered
+to Leucippe, and that he
+has since been killed in the action
+against the buccaniers. The whole
+incident of the philtre, indeed, and the
+consequent madness of the heroine, is
+unnatural and revolting, and serves no
+end but to introduce Choereas to effect
+a cure. But even had it been indispensable
+to the plot, it might have
+been far more probably ascribed to the
+Egyptian commander Charmides, with
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page41" id="page41"></a>[pg 41]</span>
+whose passion for Leucippe we were
+already acquainted, and who had,
+moreover, learned from Menelaus that
+he had little chance of success by ordinary
+methods, from the pre-engagement
+of the lady to Clitophon.</p>
+
+<p>Nor are these defects compensated
+by any high degree of merit in the
+delineation of the characters. With
+the exception of Leucippe herself, they
+are all almost wholly devoid of individual
+or distinguishing traits, and
+insipid and uninteresting to the last
+degree. Menelaus and Clinias, the
+confidants and trusted friends of the
+hero, are the dullest of all dull mortals&mdash;a
+qualification which perhaps fits
+them in some measure for the part
+they are to bear in the story, as affording
+some security against their falling
+in love with Leucippe, a fate which
+they, of all the masculine personages,
+alone escape. Their active intervention
+is confined to the preservation
+of Leucippe from the <i>bucoli</i> by Menelaus,
+and a great deal of useless
+declamation in behalf of Clitophon
+before the assembly of Ephesus from
+Clinias. Satyrus, also, from whose
+knavish ingenuity in the early part of
+the tale something better was to be
+expected, soon subsides into a well-behaved
+domestic, and hands his master
+the letter in which poor Leucippe
+makes herself known to him at Ephesus,
+when she imagines him married to
+Melissa, with all the nonchalance of
+a modern footman. Clitophon himself
+is hardly a shade superior to his
+companions. He is throughout a mere
+passive instrument, leaving to chance,
+or the exertions of others, his extrication
+from the various troubles in which
+he becomes involved: even of the
+qualities usually regarded as inseparable
+from a hero of romance, spirit
+and personal courage, he is so utterly
+destitute as to suffer himself to be
+beaten and ill treated, both by Thersander
+and Sostratus, without an
+attempt to defend himself; and his
+lamentations, whenever he finds himself
+in difficulties, or separated from
+his ladye-love, are absolutely puerile.
+As to the other characters, Thersander
+is a mere vulgar ruffian&mdash;"a rude and
+boisterous captain of the sea,"&mdash;whose
+brutal violence on his first appearance,
+and subsequent unprincipled machinations,
+deprive him of the sympathy
+which might otherwise have been
+excited in behalf of one who finds his
+wife and his property unceremoniously
+taken possession of during his absence;
+while, on the other hand, the language
+used by the high-priest of Diana, in
+his invectives against Thersander and
+his accomplices, gives but a low idea
+of the dignity or refinement of the
+Ephesian hierarchy. But the female
+characters, as is almost always the case
+in the Greek romances, are far better
+drawn, and infinitely more interesting,
+than the men. Even Melissa, though
+apparently intended only as a foil to
+the perfections of Leucippe, wins upon
+us by her amorous weakness, and the
+invincible kindness of heart which
+impels her, even when acquainted with
+the real state of affairs, to protect the
+lovers against her husband's malpractices.
+Leucippe herself goes far to
+make amends for the general insipidity
+of the other characters. Though not
+a heroine of so lofty a stamp as Chariclea,
+in whom the spirit of her royal
+birth is all along apparent, she is
+endowed with a mingled gentleness
+and firmness, which is strongly contrasted
+with the weakness and pusillanimity
+of her lover:&mdash;her uncomplaining
+tenderness, when she finds
+Clitophon at Ephesus (as she imagines)
+the husband of another, and the calm
+dignity with which she vindicates
+herself from the injurious aspersions
+of Thersander, are represented with
+great truth and feeling, and attach a
+degree of interest to her, which the
+other personages of the narrative are
+very far from inspiring.</p>
+
+<p>In the early part of the story, during
+the scenes in Tyre and Egypt, the
+action is carried on with considerable
+spirit and briskness; the author having
+apparently thus far kept before
+him, as a model, the narrative of
+Heliodorus. But towards the conclusion,
+and, indeed from the time of the
+arrival of Clitophon and Melissa at
+Ephesus, the interest flags wofully.
+The <i>d&#233;nouement</i> is inevitably foreseen
+from the moment Clitophon is made
+aware that Leucippe is still alive and
+in his neighbourhood, and the arrival
+of Thersander, almost immediately
+afterwards, disposes of the obstacle of
+his engagement to Melissa; but the
+reader is acquainted with all these
+circumstances before the end of the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page42" id="page42"></a>[pg  42]</span>
+fifth book; the three remaining books
+being entirely occupied by the proceedings
+in the judicial assembly, the
+recriminations of the high-priest, and
+the absurd ordeal to which Leucippe
+is subjected&mdash;all apparently introduced
+for no other purpose than to show the
+author's skill in declamation. The
+display of his own acquirements in
+various branches of art and science,
+and of his rhetorical powers of language
+in describing them, is indeed an
+object of which Achilles Tatius never
+loses sight; and continual digressions
+from the thread of the story for this
+purpose occur, often extremely <i>mal-&#224;-propos</i>,
+and sometimes entirely without
+reference to the preceding narrative.
+Thus, when Clitophon is relating the
+terms of an oracle addressed to the
+Byzantines, previous to their war with
+the Thracians, he breaks off at once
+into a dissertation on the wonderful
+qualities of the element of water, the
+inflammable springs of Sicily, the gold
+extracted from the lakes of Africa,
+&amp;c.&mdash;all which is supposed to be introduced
+into a conversation on the
+oracle between Sostratus and his colleague
+in command, and could only
+have come to the knowledge of Clitophon
+by being repeated to him <i>verbatim</i>,
+after a considerable interval of
+time, by Sostratus. Again, in the
+midst of the hero's perplexities at his
+threatened marriage with Calligone,
+we are favoured with a minute enumeration
+of the gems set in an ornament
+which his father purchased as
+part of the trousseau; and this again
+leads to an account of the discovery
+and application of the purple dye.
+The description of objects of natural
+history is at all times a favourite topic;
+and the sojourn of the lovers in
+Egypt affords the author an opportunity
+of indulging in details relative to
+the habits and appearances of the various
+strange animals found in that
+country&mdash;the crocodile, the hippopotamus,
+and the elephant, are described
+with considerable spirit and fidelity;
+and even the form and colours of the
+fabulous phoenix, are delineated with
+all the confidence of an eyewitness.</p>
+
+<p>Many of these episodical sketches,
+though out of place when thus awkwardly
+inserted in the midst of the
+narrative, are in themselves curious
+and well written; but the most valuable
+and interesting among them are
+the frequent descriptions of paintings,
+a specimen of which has already been
+given. On this subject especially, the
+author dwells <i>con amore</i>, and his remarks
+are generally characterised by
+a degree of good taste and correct feeling,
+which indicates a higher degree
+of appreciation of the pictorial art than
+is generally ascribed to the age in
+which Achilles Tatius wrote. Even
+in the latter part of the first century
+of our era, Pliny, when enumerating
+the glorious names of the ancient
+Greek painters, laments over the total
+decline, in his own days, of what he
+terms (<i>Nat. Hist</i>. xxxv. 11) "an aspiring
+art;" but the monarchs of the
+Macedonian dynasties in Asia, and,
+above all, the Egyptian Ptolemies,
+were both munificent patrons of the
+fine arts among their own subjects,
+and diligent collectors of the great
+works of past ages; and many of the
+<i>chefs-d'oeuvres</i> of the Grecian masters
+were thus transferred from their native
+country to adorn, the temples and
+palaces of Egypt and Syria. We find,
+from Plutarch, that when Aratus was
+exerting himself to gain for the
+Ach&#230;an league the powerful alliance
+of Ptolemy Euergetes, he found no
+means so effectual in conciliating the
+good-will of the monarch, as the procuring
+for him some of the master-pieces
+of Pamphilus<a id="footnotetag7" name="footnotetag7"></a><a href="#footnote7"><sup>7</sup></a> and Melanthius,
+the most renowned of the famous
+school of Sicyon; and the knowledge
+of the high estimation in which the
+arts were held, under the Egyptian
+kings, gives an additional value to the
+accounts given by Tatius of these treasures
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page43" id="page43"></a>[pg  43]</span>
+of a past age, his notices of
+which are the latest, in point of time,
+which have come down to us from an
+eyewitness. We have already quoted
+the author's vivid description of the
+painting of Europa at Sidon&mdash;we shall
+now subjoin, as a pendant to the former
+notice, his remarks on a pair of
+pictures at Pelusium:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote7" name="footnote7"></a>
+<a href="#footnotetag7"> [7] </a> Pamphilus was a Macedonian by birth, and a pupil of Eupompus, the founder
+of the school of Sicyon; to the presidency of which he succeeded. His pupils
+paid each a talent a year for instruction; and Melanthius, and even Apelles himself,
+for a time, were among the number.&mdash;Pliny, <i>Hist. Nat</i>. xxxv. 36. The great
+talent of Melanthius, like that of his master Pamphilus, lay in composition and
+grouping; and so highly were his pictures esteemed, that Pliny, in another passage,
+says, that the wealth of a city would hardly purchase one.</p></blockquote>
+
+<blockquote><p>
+"In this temple (of Jupiter Casius)
+were two famous works of Evanthes,
+illustrative of the legends of Andromeda
+and Prometheus, which the
+painter had probably selected as a
+pair, from the similarity of the Subjects&mdash;the
+principal figure in each being
+bound to a rock and exposed to
+the attack of a terrific animal; in one
+case a denizen of the air, in the other
+a monster of the sea; and the deliverers
+of both being Argives, and of
+kindred blood to each other, Hercules
+and Perseus&mdash;the former of whom
+encountered, on foot, the savage bird
+sent by Jove, while the latter mounted
+on borrowed wings into the air, to
+assail the monster which issued from
+the sea at the command of Neptune.
+In the picture of Andromeda, the virgin
+was laid in a hollow of the rock,
+not fashioned by art, but rough like a
+natural cavity; and which, if viewed
+only with regard to the beauty of that
+which it contained, looked like a niche
+holding an exquisite fresh from
+the chisel; but the sight of her bonds,
+and of the monster approaching to
+devour her, gave it rather the aspect
+of a sepulchre. On her features extreme
+loveliness was blended with
+deadly terror, which was seated on
+her pallid cheeks, while beauty beamed
+forth from her eyes; but, as even amid
+the pallor of her cheeks a faint tinge
+of colour was yet perceptible, so was
+the brightness of her eyes, on the other
+hand, in some measure dimmed, like
+the bloom of lately blighted violets.
+Her white arms were extended, and
+lashed to the rock; but their whiteness
+partook of a livid hue, and her fingers
+were like those of a corpse. Thus lay
+she, expecting death, but arrayed like
+a bride, in a long white robe, which
+seemed not as if woven from the fleece
+of the sheep, but from the web of the
+spider, or of those winged insects, the
+long threads spun by which are gathered
+by the Indian women from
+the trees of their own country. The
+monster was just rising out of the
+sea opposite to the damsel, his head
+alone being distinctly visible, while
+the unwieldy length of his body
+was still in a great measure concealed
+by the waves, yet so as partially to
+discover his formidable array of spines
+and scales, his swollen neck, and his
+long flexible tail, while the gape of
+his horrible jaws extended to his
+shoulder, and disclosed the abyss of
+his stomach. But between the monster
+and the damsel, Perseus was depicted
+descending to the encounter
+from the upper regions of the air&mdash;his
+body bare, except a mantle floating
+round his shoulders, and winged sandals
+on his feet&mdash;a cap resembling the
+helmet of Pluto was on his head, and
+in his left hand he held before him,
+like a buckler, the head of the Gorgon,
+which even in the pictured representation
+was terrible to look at, shaking
+its snaky hair, which seemed to erect
+itself and menace the beholder. His
+right hand grasped a weapon, in shape
+partaking of both a sickle and a sword;
+for it had a single hilt, and to the middle
+of the blade resembled a sword;
+but there it separated into two parts,
+one continuing straight and pointed,
+like a sword, while the other was curved
+backwards, so that with a single
+stroke, it might both inflict a wound,
+and fix itself in the part struck. Such
+was the picture of Andromeda; the
+design of the other was thus:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Prometheus was represented bound
+down to a rock, with fetters of iron,
+while Hercules, armed with a bow
+and arrow, was seen approaching.
+The vulture, supporting himself by
+fixing his talons in the thigh of Prometheus,
+was tearing open the stomach
+of his victim, and apparently
+searching with his beak for the liver,
+which it was his destiny daily to devour,
+and which the painter had shown
+through the aperture of the wound.
+The whole frame of the sufferer was
+convulsed, and his limbs contracted
+with torture, so that, by raising his
+thigh, he involuntarily presented his
+side to the bird&mdash;while the other limb
+was visibly quivering in its whole
+length, with agony&mdash;his teeth were
+clenched, his lips parted, and his
+brows winkled. Hercules had already
+fitted the arrow to the bow, and
+aimed it against his tormentor: his
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page44" id="page44"></a>[pg  44]</span>
+left arm was thrown forward grasping
+the stock, while the elbow of the right
+was bent in the attitude of drawing
+the arrow to his breast; while Prometheus,
+full of mingled hope and fear,
+was endeavouring to fix his undivided
+gaze on his deliverer, though his eyes,
+in spite of himself, were partially diverted
+by the anguish of his wound."
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>The work of Achilles Tatius, with
+all its blemishes and defects, appears
+to have been highly popular among
+the Greeks of the lower empire. An
+epigram is still extant, attributed to
+the Emperor Leo, the philosopher,<a id="footnotetag8" name="footnotetag8"></a><a href="#footnote8"><sup>8</sup></a>
+in which it is landed as an example of
+chaste and faithful love: and it was
+esteemed as a model of romantic composition
+from the elegance of its style
+and diction, in which Heretius ranks
+the author above Heliodorus, though
+he at the same time severely criticizes
+him for want of originality, accusing
+him of having borrowed all the
+interesting passages in his work from
+the <i>Ethiopics</i>. In common with Heliodorus,
+Tatius has found a host of
+followers among the later Greeks,
+some of whom (as the learned critic
+just quoted, observes) have transcribed,
+rather than imitated him. In the
+"Hysminias and Hysmine" of Eumathius,
+a wretched production of the
+twelfth century, not only many of the
+incidents, but even of the names, as
+Sostratus, Sosthenes, and Anthia*, are
+taken from Clitophon and Leucippe:
+and to so servile an extent is this plagiarism
+carried, that two books out of
+the nine, of which the romance consists,
+are filled with descriptions of
+paintings; while the plot, not very intelligible
+at the best, is still further
+perplexed by the extraordinary affectation
+of making nearly all the names
+alike; thus, the hero and heroine are
+Hysminias and Hysmine, the towns
+are Aulycomis, Eurycomis, Artycomis,
+&amp;c. In all these works, the outline
+is the same; the lovers undergo endless
+buffetings by sea and land, imaginary
+deaths, and escapes from marauders;
+but not a spark of genius or
+fancy enlivens these dull productions,
+which, sometimes maudlin and bombastic,
+often indecent, would defy the
+patience of the most determined novel
+reader. One of these writers, Xenophon
+of Ephesus, the author of the
+"Ephesiacs, or Habrocomas and Anthia,"
+is commended by Politian for
+the classical purity of his language, in
+which he considers him scarcely inferior
+to his namesake the historian:
+but the work has little else to recommend
+it. The two principal personages
+are represented as miracles of
+personal beauty; and the women fall
+in love with Habrocomas, as well as
+the men with Anthia, literally by dozens
+at a time: the plot, however
+differs from that of the others in marrying
+them at the commencement, and
+sending them through the ordinary
+routine of dangers afterwards. The
+<i>Ephesiacs</i> are, however, noticeable
+from its having been supposed by Mr
+Douce, (<i>Illustrations of Shakspeare</i>, ii.
+198,) that the catastrophe in Romeo
+and Juliet was originally borrowed
+from one of the adventures of Anthia,
+who, when separated from her husband,
+is rescued from banditti by Perilaus,
+governor of Cilicia, and by him
+destined for his bride. Unable to
+evade his solicitations, she procures
+from the "poverty, not the will" of
+an aged physician named Eudoxus,
+what she supposes to be a draught of
+poison, but which is really an opiate.
+She is laid with great pomp, loaded
+with gems and costly ornaments, in a
+vault; and on awakening, finds herself
+in the hands of a crew of pirates,
+who have broken open her sepulchre
+in order to rifle the treasures which
+they knew to have been deposited
+there. "This work," (observes Mr
+Douce,) "was certainly not published
+nor translated in the time of Luigi
+da Porto, the original narrator of the
+story of Romeo and Juliet: but there
+is no reason why he might not have
+seen a copy of the original in MS.
+We might enumerate several more of
+these later productions of the same
+school; but a separate analysis of
+each would be both tedious and needless,
+as none present any marked features
+of distinction from those already
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page45" id="page45"></a>[pg 45]</span>
+noticed. They are all, more or less,
+indifferent copies either from Heliodorus
+or Achilles Tatius; the outline
+of the story being generally borrowed
+from one or the other of these sources,
+while in point of style, nearly all appear
+to have taken as their model the
+florid rhetorical display and artificial
+polish of language which characterize
+the latter. Their redeeming point is
+the high position uniformly assigned
+to the female characters, who are neither
+immured in the Oriental seclusion
+of the harem, nor degraded to household
+drudges, like the Athenian ladies
+in the polished age of Pericles:<a id="footnotetag9" name="footnotetag9"></a><a href="#footnote9"><sup>9</sup></a> but
+mingle without restraint in society as
+the friends and companions of the
+other sex, and are addressed in the
+language of admiration and respect.
+But these pleasing traits are not sufficient
+to atone for the improbability of
+the incidents, relieved neither by the
+brilliant fancy of the East, nor the
+lofty deeds of the romances of chivalry:
+and the reader, wearied by the
+repetition of similar scenes and characters,
+thinly disguised by change of
+name and place, finds little reason to
+regret that "the children of the marriage
+of Theagenes and Chariclea," as
+these romances are termed by a writer
+quoted by d'Israeli in the "Curiosities
+of Literature"&mdash;have not continued
+to increase and multiply up to
+our own times.</p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote8" name="footnote8"></a>
+<a href="#footnotetag8"> [8] </a> Some bibliographers have assigned it to Photius; but the opinion of Achilles
+Tatius expressed by the patriarch, and quoted at the commencement of this article,
+precludes the possibility of its being from his pen.</p></blockquote>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote9" name="footnote9"></a>
+<a href="#footnotetag9"> [9] </a> See Mitford's <i>History of Greece</i>, ch. xiii, sect. 1.</p></blockquote>
+
+<hr />
+
+
+
+
+<h2>THE NEW ART OF PRINTING.</h2>
+
+<h3>BY A DESIGNING DEVIL.</h3>
+
+<h4>"Aliter non fit, avite, liber."&mdash;MARTIAL.</h4>
+
+
+<p>It is more than probable that, at
+the first discovery of that mightiest
+of arts, which has so tended to facilitate
+every other&mdash;the art of printing&mdash;many
+old-fashioned people looked with
+a jealous eye on the innovation. Accustomed
+to a written character, their
+eyes became wearied by the crabbedness
+and formality of type. It was
+like travelling on the paved and rectilinear
+roads of France, after winding
+among the blooming hedgerows of
+England; and how dingy and graceless
+must have appeared the first
+printed copy of the Holy Bible, to
+those accustomed to luxuriate in
+emblazoned missals, amid all the
+pride, pomp, and vellum of glorious
+MS.!</p>
+
+<p>Dangerous and democratic, too,
+must have appeared the new art,
+which, by plebeianizing knowledge
+and enlightening the mass, deprived
+the law and the prophets of half their
+terrors, and disrobed priestcraft and
+kingcraft of their mystery. We can
+imagine that, as soon as a printed book
+ceased to be a great rarity, it became
+an object of great abhorrence.</p>
+
+<p>There were many, no doubt, to
+prophesy, as on occasion of every new
+invention, that it was all very well for
+a novelty; but that the thing would
+not, and could not last! How were
+the poor copyists to get their living if
+their occupation was taken from them?
+How were so many monasteries to be
+maintained which had subsisted on
+<i>manuscriptum</i>? And, then, what prince
+in his right senses would allow a printing-press
+to be set up in his dominions&mdash;a
+source of sedition and heresy&mdash;an
+implement of disaffection and schism?
+The free towns, perhaps, might foster
+this pernicious art, and certain evilly-disposed
+potentates wink at the establishment
+of type-founderies in their
+states. But the great powers of Europe
+knew better! They would never connive
+at this second sowing of the dragon's
+teeth of Cadmus.</p>
+
+<p>Thus, probably, they argued; becoming
+reconciled, in process of time,
+to the terrible novelty. Print-books
+became almost as easy to read as
+manuscript; soon as cheap, and at
+length of a quarter the price, or even
+less; till, two centuries later, benefit
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page46" id="page46"></a>[pg 46]</span>
+of clergy ceased to be a benefit, books
+were plenty as blackberries, and learning
+a thing for the multitude. According
+to Dean Swift's account, the
+chaplain's time hung heavy on his
+hands, for my lady had sermon books
+of her own, and could read; nay, my
+lady's woman had jest books of her
+own, and wanted none of his nonsense!
+The learned professions, or
+black arts, lost at least ninety-five
+per cent in importance; and so rapid
+as been the increase of the evil, that,
+at this time of day, it is a hard matter
+to impose on any clodpole in Europe!
+Instead of signing with their marks,
+the kings of modern times have turned
+ushers; instead of reading with difficulty,
+we have a mob of noblemen
+who write with ease; and, now-a-days,
+it is every duke, ay, and every
+duchess her own book-maker!</p>
+
+<p>A year or two hence, however, and
+all this will have become obsolete.&mdash;<i>Nous avons chang&#233; tout cela</i>!&mdash;No
+more letter-press! Books, the <i>small</i>
+as well as the great, will have been
+voted a great evil. There will be no
+gentlemen of the press. The press itself
+will have ceased to exist.</p>
+
+<p>For several years past it has been
+frankly avowed by the trade that
+books have ceased to sell; that the
+best works are a drug in the market;
+that their shelves groan, until themselves
+are forced to follow the example.</p>
+
+<p>Descend to what shifts they may in
+order to lower their prices, by piracy
+from other booksellers, or clipping and
+coining of authors&mdash;no purchasers!
+Still, the hope prevailed for a time
+among the lovers of letters, that a
+great glut having occurred, the world
+was chewing the cud of its repletion;
+that the learned were shut up in the
+Bodleian, and the ignorant battening
+upon the circulating libraries; that
+hungry times would come again!</p>
+
+<p>But this fond delusion has vanished.
+People have not only ceased to purchase
+those old-fashioned things called
+books, but even to read them! Instead
+of cutting new works, page by page,
+people cut them altogether! To far-sighted
+philosophers, indeed, this was
+a state of things long foreshown. It
+could not be otherwise. The reading
+world was a sedentary world. The
+literary public was a public lying at
+anchor. When France delighted in
+the twelve-volume novels of Mademoiselle
+de Scud&#233;ri, it drove in coaches
+and six, at the rate of four miles an
+hour; when England luxuriated in
+those of Richardson, in eight, it drove
+in coaches and four, at the rate of five.
+A journey was then esteemed a family
+calamity; and people abided all the
+year round in their cedar parlours,
+thankful to be diverted by the arrival
+of the <i>Spectator</i>, or a few pages of the
+<i>Pilgrim's Progress</i>, or a new sermon.
+To their unincidental lives, a book
+was an event.</p>
+
+<p>Those were the days worth writing
+for! The fate of Richardson's heroines
+was made a national affair; and
+people interceded with him by letter
+to "spare Clarissa," as they would
+not now intercede with her Majesty
+to spare a new Effie Deans. The successive
+volumes of <i>Pope's Iliad</i> were
+looked for with what is called "breathless"
+interest, while such political
+sheets as the <i>Drapier's Letters</i>, or <i>Junius</i>,
+set the whole kingdom in an
+uproar! And now, if Pope, or Swift,
+or Fielding, or Johnson, or Sterne,
+were to rise from the grave, MS. in
+hand, the most adventurous publisher
+would pass a sleepless night before he
+undertook the risk of paper and print;
+would advise a small edition, and exact
+a sum down in ready money, to
+be laid out in puffs and advertisements!
+"Even then, though we may
+get rid of a few copies to the circulating
+libraries," he would observe, "do
+not expect, sir, to obtain readers. A
+few old maids in the county towns,
+and a few gouty old gentlemen at the
+clubs; are the only persons of the present
+day who ever open a book!"</p>
+
+<p>And who can wonder? <i>Who</i> has
+leisure to read? <i>Who</i> cares to sit
+down and spell out accounts of travels
+which he can make at less cost than
+the cost of the narrative? <i>Who</i> wants
+to peruse fictitious adventures, when
+railroads and steamboats woo him to
+adventures of his own? Egypt was
+once a land of mystery; now, every
+lad, on leaving Eton, yachts it to the
+pyramids. India was once a country
+to dream of over a book. Even quartoes,
+if tolerably well-seasoned with
+suttees and sandalwood, went down;
+now, every genteel family has its
+"own correspondent," per favour of
+the Red Sea; and the best printed
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page47" id="page47"></a>[pg 47]</span>
+account of Cabul would fall stillborn
+from the press. As to Van Dieman's
+Land, it is vulgar as the Isle of Dogs;
+and since people have steamed it
+backwards and forwards across the
+Atlantic more easily than formerly
+across the Channel, every woman
+chooses to be her own Trollope&mdash;every
+man his own Boz!</p>
+
+<p>For some time after books had
+ceased to find a market, the periodicals
+retained their vogue; and even
+till very lately, newspapers found
+readers. But the period at length arrived,
+when even the leisure requisite
+for the perusal of these lighter pages,
+is no longer forthcoming. People are
+busy ballooning or driving; shooting
+like stars along railroads; or migrating
+like swallows or wild-geese. It
+has been found, within the current
+year, impossible to read even a newspaper!</p>
+
+<p>The march of intellect, however,
+luckily keeps pace with the necessities
+of the times; and no sooner was
+it ascertained, that reading-made-easy
+was difficult to accomplish, than a
+new art was invented for the more
+ready transmission of ideas. The fallacy
+of the proverb, that "those who
+run may read," being established, modern
+science set about the adoption of
+a medium, available to those sons of
+the century who are always on the
+run. Hence, the grand secret of ILLUSTRATION.&mdash;Hence the new art of
+printing!</p>
+
+<p>The pictorial printing-press is now
+your only wear! Every thing is communicated
+by delineation. We are
+not <i>told</i>, but <i>shown</i> how the world is
+wagging. The magazines sketch us
+a lively article, the newspapers vignette
+us, step by step, a royal tour.
+The beauties of Shakspeare are imprinted
+on the minds of the rising
+generation, in woodcuts; and the
+poetry of Byron engraver in their
+hearts, by means of the graver. Not
+a boy in his teens has read a line of
+Don Quixote or Gil Blas, though all
+have their adventures by heart; while
+Goldsmith's "Deserted Village" has
+been committed to memory by our
+daughters and wives, in a series of
+exquisite illustrations. Every body
+has La Fontaine by heart, thanks to
+the pencil of Granville, which requires
+neither grammar nor dictionary to aid
+its interpretations; and even Defoe&mdash;even
+the unparalleled Robinson Crusoe&mdash;is
+devoured by our ingenuous
+youth in cuts and come again.</p>
+
+<p>At present, indeed, the new art of
+printing is in its infancy, but it is progressing
+so rapidly, that the devils of
+the old will soon have a cold birth of
+it! Views of the Holy Land are superseding
+even the Holy Scriptures;
+and a pictorial Blackstone is teaching
+the ideas of the sucking lawyers how
+to shoot. Nay, Buchan's "Domestic
+Medicine" has (<i>proh pudor!</i>) its illustrated
+edition.</p>
+
+<p>The time saved to an active public
+by all this, is beyond computation.
+All the world is now instructed by
+symbols, as formerly the deaf and
+dumb; and instead of having to peruse
+a tedious penny-a-line account of
+the postilion of the King of the French
+misdriving his Majesty, and his Majesty's
+august family, over a draw-bridge
+into a moat at Tr&#233;port, a single
+glance at a single woodcut places the
+whole disaster graphically before us;
+leaving us nine minutes and a half of
+the time we must otherwise have devoted
+to the study of the case, to dispose
+of at our own will and pleasure;
+to start, for instance, for Chelsea, and
+be back again by the steam-boat, before
+our mother knows we are out.</p>
+
+<p>The application of the new art is
+of daily and hourly extension. The
+scandalous Sunday newspapers have
+announced an intention of evading
+Lord Campbell's act, by veiling their
+libels in caricature. Instead of <i>writing</i>
+slander and flat blasphemy, they
+propose to <i>draw</i> it, and not draw it
+mild. The daily prints will doubtless
+follow their example. No more Jenkinsisms
+in the <i>Morning Post</i>, concerning
+fashionable parties. A view
+of the duchess's ball-room, or of the
+dining-table of the earl, will supersede
+all occasion for lengthy fiddle-faddle.
+The opera of the night before
+will be described in a vignette&mdash;the
+ballet in a tail-piece; and we shall
+know at a glance whether Cerito and
+Elssler performed their <i>pas</i> meritoriously,
+by the number of bouquets depicted
+at their feet.</p>
+
+<p>On the other hand, instead of column
+after column of dry debates, we
+shall know sufficiently who were the
+speakers of the preceding night, by a
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page48" id="page48"></a>[pg 48]</span>
+series of portraits&mdash;each having an
+annexed trophy, indicative of the
+leading points of his oration. Members
+of both Houses will be, of course,
+daguerreotyped for the use of the
+morning papers; and photographic
+likenesses of the leaders of <i>ton</i> be supplied
+gratis to the leaders of the press.</p>
+
+<p>How far more interesting a striking
+sketch of a banquet, containing portraits
+of undoubted authenticity, to
+the matter-of-fact announcements of
+the exploded letter-press&mdash;that "yesterday
+his Grace the Duke of Wellington
+entertained at dinner, at Apsley
+House, the Earls of Aberdeen and
+Liverpool, the Dukes of Richmond and
+Buccleuch, the Master of the Horse,
+the Lord Chancellor, Sir Robert Peel,
+Sir James Graham, Sir Frederick
+Trench, Colonel Gurwood, and M.
+Algernon Greville!" Who has patience
+for the recapitulation of a string
+of names, when a group of faces may
+be placed simultaneously before him?</p>
+
+<p>And then, accounts of races! How
+admirably will they be concentrated
+into a delineation of the winner passing
+the post&mdash;the losers distances;
+and what disgusting particulars of
+boxing matches shall we avoid by a
+spirited etching. Think of despatches
+from India, (one of Lord Ellenborough's
+XXXX,) published in a series
+of groupings worthy the frescoes of
+the tomb of Psammis. As to the
+affairs of China, we shall henceforward
+derive as much pleasure from
+the projects of Sir Henry Pottinger,
+cut in wood by the <i>Morning Herald</i>,
+as in surveying the Mandarins sailing
+on buffaloes through the air, or driving
+in junks over meadows, in one of
+Wedgewood's soup plates!</p>
+
+<p>It has long been the custom for
+advertisers in the continental journals
+to typify their wares. The George
+Robinses of Brussels, for instance, embody
+their account of some exquisite
+villa in a charming perspective of the
+same, or of a capital town mansion in
+a grim likeness; while the <i>carossiers</i>,
+who have town chariots or family
+coaches to dispose of, make it known
+in the most designing manner. The
+consequence is, that the columns of
+certain foreign papers bear a striking
+likeness to a child's alphabet, such as
+"A was an archer, and shot at a
+frog." Among ourselves, this practice
+is at present only partially adopted.
+We are all familiar with the shape of
+Mr Cox Savory's tea-pots, and Messrs
+Dondney's <i>point-device</i> men in buckram;
+while Mordan acquaints us,
+with much point, how many varieties
+he has invented of pencil-cases and
+toothpicks. As to the London Wine
+Company, the new art has long imprinted
+upon our minds a mysterious
+notion of a series of vaults in the style
+of the Thames tunnel, frequented by
+figures armed with spigots and dark
+lanterns, that remind us of Guy
+Fawkes, and make us tremble for
+ourselves and Father Mathew! Loose
+notions of the stay-making trade have
+been circulated by the same medium;
+and we have noticed wood-blocks of
+wig-blocks, deservedly immortalizing
+the pernquier.</p>
+
+<p>But consider what it will be when
+the system is adopted on a more comprehensive
+scale. The daily papers
+will present a series of designs, remarkable
+as those of the Glyptothek and
+Pinacothek at Munich; and in all probability,
+the artists of the prize cartoons
+will be engaged in behalf of the
+leading journals of Europe. Who cannot
+foresee her Majesty's drawing-room
+illustrated by Parris! Who cannot
+conceive the invasion of Britain
+outdone in an allegorical leading article:
+"Louis Philippe (in a Snooks-like
+attitude) inviting Queen Victoria
+to St Cloud; and the British
+lion lashing out its tail at the Coq
+Gaulois!"</p>
+
+<p>As to the affairs of Spain, they will
+be a mine of wealth to the new press&mdash;<i>L'Espagne
+Pittoresque</i> will sell
+thousands more copies than Spain
+Constitutionalized; and let us trust
+that Sir George Hayter will instantly
+"walk his chalks," and secure us the
+Cortes in black and white.</p>
+
+<p>The Greek character will now become
+easy to decipher; and the evening
+papers may take King Otho both
+off the throne and on. The designs of
+Russia have long been proverbial;
+but the exercise of the new art of
+printing may assign them new features.
+The representations of impartial
+periodicals will cut out, or out-cut
+De Custine; and while contemplating
+the well-favoured presentment
+of Nicholas I., we shall exclaim&mdash;"Is
+this a tyrant that I see before
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page49" id="page49"></a>[pg 49]</span>
+me?" Nothing will be easier then to
+throw the Poles into the shade of the
+picture, or to occupy the foreground
+with a brilliant review.</p>
+
+<p>As to Germany, to embody her in
+the hieroglyphics of the new press,
+might be a study for Retsch; and
+who will care for the lumbering pages
+of Von Raumer, or the wishy-washy
+details of Kohl, when able, in an <i>augenblick</i>,
+to bring Berlin and Vienna
+before him; to study the Zollverein
+in the copy of the King of Prussia's
+cogitative countenance, and ascertain
+the views of Metternich concerning
+the elder branch of the Bourbons, by
+a <i>cul de lampe</i> in the <i>Morning Chronicle</i>!</p>
+
+<p>We have little doubt of shortly seeing
+announcements&mdash;standing like
+tombstones in those literary cemeteries,
+the Saturday papers&mdash;of "A new
+work upon America, from the graver
+of George Cruickshank;" or "A new
+fashionable novel, (diamond edition,)
+from the accomplished pencil of H.B."
+Kenny Meadows will become the Byron
+of the day, Leech the Scott, Forrester
+the Marryatt, Phiz the Trollope;
+Stanfield and Turner will be
+epic poets, Landseer preside over
+the belles-lettres, and Webster and
+Stone become the epigrammatists and
+madrigalists of the press.</p>
+
+<p>All this will, doubtless, throw a
+number of deserving persons out of
+employ. The writers, whose stock in
+trade consists of words rather than
+ideas, will find their way to Basinghall
+Street, prose will be at a discount, and
+long-windedness be accounted a distemper.
+A great variety of small
+Sapphos must turn seamstresses*, at
+three-halfpence a shirt instead of a
+penny a line; while the minor poets
+will have to earn a livelihood by writing
+invoice, instead of in verse. But
+this transposition of talent, and transition
+of gain, is no more than arose
+from the substitution of railroads for
+turnpike roads. By that innovation
+thousands of hard-working post-horses
+were left without rack or manger;
+and by the present arrangement,
+Clowes, Spottiswoode, and the authors
+who have served to afford matter
+for their types, will be driven from
+the field.</p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p>* Transcriber's Note: Original "semstresses"</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>But the world (no longer to be called
+of letters, but of emblems) will be
+the gainer. It will be no longer a form
+of speech to talk of having "<i>glanced</i>
+at the morning papers," whose city
+article will, of course, be composed by
+artists skilled in drawing figures. The
+biographies of contemporary or deceased
+statesmen will be limned, not by
+Lord Brougham or Macaulay, but by
+the impartial hand of the Royal Academy;
+and the catacombs at Kensal
+Green, like those discovered by Belzoni
+on the banks of the Nile, exhibit
+their eulogistic inscriptions in hieroglyphics.
+By this new species of
+shorthand we might have embodied
+this very article in half a dozen sprightly
+etchings! But as the hapless inventor
+of the first great art of printing
+incurred, among his astounded contemporaries,
+the opprobrium of being in
+compact with the evil one, (whence,
+probably, the familiar appellation of
+printers' devils,) it behoves the early
+practitioners of the new art to look to
+their reputations! By economizing the
+time of the public, they may squander
+their own good repute. It is not
+every printer who can afford, like
+Benjamin Franklin, to be a reformer;
+and pending the momentum when (the
+schoolmasters being all abroad) the
+grand causeway of the metropolis
+shall become, as it were, a moving
+diorama, inflicting knowledge upon
+the million whether it will or no&mdash;let
+us content ourselves with birds'-eye
+views of passing events, by way of
+exhibiting the first rudiments of THE
+NEW ART OF PRINTING!</p>
+
+<hr />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page50" id="page50"></a>[pg 50]</span>
+
+
+
+<h2>THE BANKING HOUSE</h2>
+
+<h3>A HISTORY IN THREE PARTS. PART III</h3>.
+
+
+<h3>CHAPTER I.</h3>
+
+<h4>SYMPTOMS OF ROTTENNESS.</h4>
+
+
+<p>Michael Allcroft returned to
+his duties, tuned for labour, full of
+courage, and the spirit of enterprise
+and action. Discharged from the
+thrall which had hitherto borne hard
+upon his energies, and kept them
+down, he felt the blessed influence of
+perfect Liberty, and the youthful elasticity
+of mind and body that liberty
+and conscious strength engender. Devoted
+to the task that he had inflicted
+upon himself, he grudged every
+hour that kept him from the field of
+operations. Firm in his determination
+to realize, by his exertions, a
+sum of money equal to his parent's
+debts, and to redeem the estate from
+its insolvency, he was uneasy and impatient
+until he could resume his yoke,
+and press resolutely forward. Rich
+and independent as he was, in virtue
+of the fortune of his wife, he still
+spurned the idea of relying upon her
+for his release&mdash;for the means of rescuing
+his fathers name and house
+from infamy. No; he saw&mdash;he fancied
+that he saw a brighter way
+marked out before him. Industry,
+perseverance, and extreme attention
+would steer his bark steadily through
+the difficult ocean, and bring her
+safely into harbour: these he could
+command, for they depended upon
+himself whom he might trust. He had
+looked diligently into the transactions
+of the house for many years past,
+and the investigation was most satisfactory.
+Year after year, the business
+had increased&mdash;the profits had
+improved. The accumulations of his
+father must have been considerable
+when he entered upon his ruinous
+speculations. What was the fair inference
+to draw from this result? Why&mdash;that
+with the additional capital of
+his partners&mdash;the influx and extension
+of good business, and the application
+of his own resolute mind, a sum
+would be raised within a very few
+years, sufficient to reinstate the firm,
+to render it once more stable and secure.
+And then&mdash;this desirable object
+once effected, and the secret of
+the unfortunate position of the house
+never divulged&mdash;the income which
+would afterwards follow for his partners
+and himself, must be immense.
+It was this view of the subject that
+justified, to his mind, the means which
+he had used&mdash;that silenced self-reproof,
+when it accused him of artifice,
+and called him to account for the deception
+he had practised upon his colleagues.
+It must be acknowledged,
+that the plan which he proposed held
+out fair promise of ultimate success
+and that, reckoning upon the united
+will and assistance of his partners, he
+had good reason to look for an eventual
+release from all his difficulties and
+cares. Yet it was not to be. "<i>We
+still have judgment here.</i>" Punishment
+still comes to us from those
+whom we would circumvent. It was
+in vain that Michael set foot in the
+Bank with an indomitable and eager
+spirit; in vain that he longed to grapple
+with his fate&mdash;resolute to overcome
+it. The world was against him.
+The battle was already decided. His
+first hard struggle for deliverance was
+coincident with his last hour of
+earthly peace.</p>
+
+<p>Before one year had passed over
+the respectable heads of our notable
+Banking-House, Allcraft was involved
+in a net of perplexity, from which
+it required all the acuteness of his
+apprehending mind to work out a
+mode of extrication. Augustus Brammel
+continued abroad, spending his
+money, and drawing upon the house,
+with the impudent recklessness which
+we have already seen to be a prime
+ingredient in his character. He did
+not condescend to communicate with
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page51" id="page51"></a>[pg 51]</span>
+his partners, or to give them any information
+touching his whereabouts,
+except such as might be gathered
+from his cheques, which came, week
+after week, with alarming punctuality,
+for sums as startling. From this
+one source of misery, where was a
+promise or a chance of a final rescue?
+Michael saw none. What if he refused
+to cash his partner's drafts?
+What if he permitted them to find
+their way back, as best they might,
+through the various channels by which
+they had travelled on their previous
+journey&mdash;dishonoured and disgraced?
+Who but himself would be the loser
+by the game? Such a refusal would
+lead to quick enquiry&mdash;enquiry to
+information&mdash;information to want of
+confidence and speedy ruin. What
+reliance could repose upon a house,
+divided against itself&mdash;not safe from
+the extravagance and pillage of its
+own members? The public eye, ever
+watchful and timid, waits scarcely for
+the show of danger to take alarm and
+withdraw its favour. Michael shrunk
+from the bare conception of an act of
+violence. It was more agreeable, in
+an hour of self-collectedness, to devise
+a remedy, which, if it did not cure the
+disease, helped at least to cicatrize
+the immediate wounds. He looked
+from Brammel to Brammel's father
+for indemnification. And the old
+man was in truth a rare temptation.
+Fond, pitiable father of a false and
+bloodless child! doting, when others
+would have hated, loving his prodigal
+with a more anxious fondness as
+his ingratitude grew baser&mdash;as the
+claims upon a parent's heart dwindled
+more and more away. The grey-haired
+man was a girl in tenderness
+and sensibility. He remembered the
+mother of the wayward child, and the
+pains she had taken to misuse and
+spoil her only boy; his own conduct
+returned to him in the shape of heavy
+reproaches, and he could not forget,
+or call to mind without remorse, the
+smiles of encouragement he had given,
+the flattering approbation he had bestowed
+when true love, justice, duty,
+mercy, all called loudly for rebuke,
+restraint, wholesome correction, solemn
+chastisement. Could he be conscious
+of all this, and not excuse the
+unsteady youth&mdash;accuse himself? It
+was he who deserved punishment&mdash;not
+the sufferer with his calamities
+<i>imposed</i> upon him by his erring sire.
+He was ready to receive his punishment.
+Oh, would that at any cost&mdash;at
+any expense of bodily and mental
+suffering, he could secure his child
+from further sorrow and from deeper
+degradation! To such a heart and
+mind, Michael might well carry his
+complaints with some expectation of
+sympathy and reimbursement. Aggrieved
+as he was, he did not fail to
+paint his disappointment and sense of
+injury in the strongest colours; but
+blacker than all&mdash;and he was capable
+of such a task, he pictured the gross
+deception of which he had so cruelly
+been made the subject.</p>
+
+<p>"I could," he said to the poor father,
+in whose aged eyes, turned to
+the earth, tears of shame were gushing,
+"I could have forgiven any thing
+but that. You deceived me meanly
+and deliberately. The character you
+gave with him was false. You knew
+it to be so, and you were well aware
+that nothing but mischief and ruin
+could result from a connexion with
+him."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, Mr Allcraft," replied the
+unhappy man, "I had great hopes of
+his reformation. He had improved of
+late years a little, and he gave me his
+word that he would be steady. If I
+had not thought so, I should certainly
+not have permitted you to receive
+him. What can we do, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! what, Mr Brammel. It is
+that I wish to know. The present
+state of things cannot continue. Where
+is he now?"</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, I do not know. He is a
+bad boy to hide himself from his father.
+I do not deserve it of him. I
+cannot guess."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you aware, sir, that he is
+married?"</p>
+
+<p>"They have told me something of
+it. I am, in truth, glad to hear it. It
+will be to his wife's interest to lead
+him back to duty."</p>
+
+<p>"You have not seen her, then?"</p>
+
+<p>The old man shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, well, sir," continued Allcraft,
+"this is not to the purpose.
+We must protect ourselves. His profligacy
+must be checked; at all events,
+we must have no connexion with it.
+Hitherto we have honoured his drafts,
+and kept your name and his free from
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page52" id="page52"></a>[pg 52]</span>
+disgrace. I can do so no longer. We
+have paid his last cheque this very
+day. To-morrow I shall advertise
+publicly our determination, to honour
+his demands no more."</p>
+
+<p>"No&mdash;no, no, Mr Allcraft," interposed
+old Brammel anxiously, taking
+every word for granted, "that must
+not be done&mdash;I cannot allow it; for
+the poor boy's sake, that determination
+must not be made at present. I
+am sure he will reform at last. I
+should not be surprised if he returned
+to business in a day or two, and settled
+steadily to work for the remainder
+of his life. It is likely enough,
+now that he is married. I have much
+to answer for on account of that youth,
+Mr Allcraft, and I should never forgive
+myself if I suffered any thing to
+be done that is likely to render him
+desperate, just when a glimmering of
+hope is stealing upon us. You shake
+your head, sir, but I am confident he
+will yet make up for all his folly."</p>
+
+<p>"Heaven grant it, sir, for your
+sake!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and for his own, poor child&mdash;for what will become of him if he
+does not! Now, as to these cheques,
+Mr Allcraft, let me have them all. I
+will restore every farthing that you
+have paid on his account; and should
+any more be presented, let them be
+duly honoured. I hold myself responsible
+for their discharge. I am
+sure this is the wisest course to pursue.
+It is quite reasonable for you
+to demur, and to object to these demands.
+I like you the better, Mr
+Allcraft, for your scruples: you are
+an honourable man, sir. I would lose
+my last drop of blood to make my
+poor boy like you. It is wise and
+praiseworthy in you to look so carefully
+to the good credit of your house;
+and it is fair and right that I should
+take this matter upon myself. I do
+it, persuaded of the propriety of the
+step, and satisfied that all will go
+well with him yet. Be lenient with
+the unhappy boy, sir, and have yet a
+little patience."</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid, sir, that he will but
+presume on your generosity and good
+nature."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, but he is never to know it,
+Mr Allcraft; I would not for the world
+have him hear of what I have done.
+Should you discover his abode, write
+to him, I pray&mdash;tell him that I am
+enraged at his proceedings&mdash;that I do
+not think that I can ever be reconciled
+to him again. Say that my anger
+has no bounds&mdash;that my heart is
+breaking&mdash;will break and kill me, if
+he persists in his ingratitude and
+cruelty. Implore him to come home
+and save me."</p>
+
+<p>The old man stopped and wept.
+Michael was not yet a father and
+could not understand the tears: it appears
+that he understood business
+much better; for, taking leave of
+Brammel as soon as he could after the
+latter had expressed a wish to cash
+the cheques, he went immediately to
+the bank and procured the documents.
+He presented them with his own
+hand to the astounded father, from
+whom, also with his own hand, he received
+one good substantial draft in
+fair exchange.</p>
+
+<p>So far, so good; but, in another
+quarter, Allcraft suddenly discovered
+that he had committed an egregious
+blunder. He had entrusted Planner
+with the secret of his critical position&mdash;had made him acquainted with the
+dishonest transactions of his father,
+and the consequent bankruptcy of the
+firm. Not that this disclosure had
+been made in any violent ebullition of
+unguarded feeling&mdash;from any particular
+love to Planner&mdash;from an inability
+on the part of the divulger to keep
+his own good counsel. Michael, when
+he raised Planner from poverty to
+comparative affluence, was fully sensible
+of the value of his man&mdash;the dire
+necessity for him. It was indispensable
+that the tragic underplot of the
+play should never be known to either
+Bellamy or Brammel, and the only
+safe way of concealing it from them,
+was to communicate it unreservedly
+to their common partner, and his peculiar
+<i>prot&#233;g&#233;</i>. He did so with much
+solemnity, and with many references
+to the extraordinary liberality he had
+himself displayed in admitting him to
+his confidence, and to a share of his
+wealth. "Maintain my secret," he
+said to Planner, "and your fortune
+shall be made; betray me, and you
+are thrown again into a garret. You
+cannot hurt me; nothing shall save
+you." He repeated these words over
+and over again, and he received from
+his confidant assurance upon assurance
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page53" id="page53"></a>[pg 53]</span>
+of secrecy and unlimited devotion.
+And up to the period of Allcraft's
+return from France, the gentleman
+had every reason to rely upon
+the probity and good faith of his associate;
+nor in fact had he less reason
+<i>after</i> his return. Were it not
+that "the thief doth fear each bush
+an officer," he had no cause whatever
+to suspect or tremble: his mind, for
+any actual danger, might have been
+at rest. But what did he behold?
+Why, Planner and Bellamy, whom he
+had left as distant as stage-coach
+acquaintances, as intimate and loving,
+as united and inseparable, as the
+tawny twins of Siam. Not a week
+passed which did not find the former,
+once, twice, or three times a guest at
+the proud man's table. The visits
+paid to the bank were rather to Mr
+Planner than for any other object.
+Mr Planner only could give advice as
+to the alteration of the south wing
+of the hall: Mr Planner's taste
+must decide upon the internal
+embellishments: then there were private
+and mysterious conversations
+in the small back room&mdash;the parlour;
+nods and significant looks
+when they met and separated; and
+once, Michael called to see Planner
+after the hours of business, and whom
+should he discover in his room but
+Mr Bellamy himself, sitting in conclave
+with the schemer, and manifestly
+intent upon some serious matter.
+What was the meaning of all
+this? Oh, it was too plain! The
+rebel Planner had fallen from his allegiance,
+and was making his terms
+with the enemy. Allcraft cursed himself
+a thousand times for his folly in
+placing himself at the mercy of so unstable
+a character, and immediately
+became aware that there had never
+been any cogent reason for such a
+step, and that his danger would have
+been infinitely smaller had he never
+spoken to a human being on the subject.
+But it was useless to call himself,
+by turns, madman and fool,
+for his pains. What could be done
+now to repair the error? Absolutely
+nothing; and, at the best, he had
+only to prepare himself, for the remainder
+of his days, to live in doubt,
+fear, anxiety, and torture.</p>
+
+<p>In the meanwhile, Planner grew
+actually enamoured of the <i>Pantamorphica</i>
+Association. The more he examined
+it, the more striking appeared
+its capabilities, the fairer seemed the
+prospect of triumphant unequivocal
+success. In pursuance of his generous
+resolution, he communicated his designs
+to Allcraft. They were received
+with looks of unaffected fright. Without
+an instant's hesitation, Michael
+implored his partner to desist&mdash;to give
+up at once, and for ever, all thoughts
+of the delusion&mdash;to be faithful to his
+duty, and to think well of his serious
+engagement. "Your Association, sir,"
+he exclaimed in the anger of the moment,
+"is like every other precious
+scheme you have embarked in&mdash;impracticable,
+ridiculous, absurd!" Planner,
+in these three words, could only
+read&mdash;<i>ingratitude</i>&mdash;the basest it had
+ever been his lot to meet. Here was
+a return for his frankness&mdash;his straightforward
+conduct&mdash;his unequalled liberality.
+Here was the affectionate
+expression of thanks which he had so
+proudly looked forward to&mdash;the acknowledgment
+of superior genius
+which he had a right to expect from
+the man who was to profit so largely
+by the labour of his brains. Very
+well. Then let it be so. He would
+prosecute the glorious work alone&mdash;he would himself supply the funds
+needful for the undertaking, and alone
+he would receive the great reward that
+most assuredly awaited him. Very
+delicately did Michael hint to his partner,
+that his&mdash;Planner's&mdash;funds existed,
+with his castles and associations,
+in the unsubstantial air, and no where
+else; but not so delicately as to avoid
+heaping fuel on the fire which he had
+already kindled in the breast of the
+offended schemer. The latter bristled
+at the words, lost for an instant his
+self-possession, said in his anger more
+than he intended&mdash;more than he might
+easily unsay&mdash;enough to bruise the
+already smarting soul of Allcraft. A
+threat escaped his lips&mdash;a reproach&mdash;a
+taunt. He spoke of his <i>power</i>, and
+touched cuttingly upon the deep
+schemes of <i>other</i> men, more feasible
+than his own perhaps, and certainly
+more honest. Allcraft winced, as every
+syllable made known the speaker's
+actual strength&mdash;his own dependence
+and utter weakness. He made no
+reply to the attack of the man whom
+he had drawn from beggary; but he
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page54" id="page54"></a>[pg 54]</span>
+looked him in the face steadily and
+reproachfully, and shamed him into
+vexation and regret.</p>
+
+<p>"I did not mean to speak unkindly,
+Michael," he stammered with a view
+to apologize. "I am sorry that I lost
+my temper. You need not fear me.
+Don't remember what I have said."</p>
+
+<p>"You have threatened me, Planner,"
+answered Allcraft, trembling
+with irritation. "You have attempted
+to frighten me into compliance
+with your demands. I say, sir, you
+have threatened me. It is the first
+time&mdash;it shall be the last."</p>
+
+<p>"It shall, Michael&mdash;I promise you
+it shall."</p>
+
+<p>"I ask no promise from you," continued
+the excited and suspicious man,
+writhing under a sense of his helplessness.
+"You have betrayed the cloven
+foot. I thank you for it. I am aware
+of what is to follow&mdash;I expect it&mdash;I
+shall hold myself prepared!"</p>
+
+<p>"Do nothing of the kind, Allcraft.
+You know me better. You are safe
+with me. I am ashamed of myself
+for what I have spoken. Forgive
+me"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"But never mind," proceeded the
+unhappy Michael. "I defy you: do
+your worst. Let this be your acknowledgment
+of past favours&mdash;the fulfilment
+of your sacred promise. Betray
+me to Bellamy, and be at ease."</p>
+
+<p>"Michael, you do not use me well.
+I spoke angrily, and without consideration.
+I am sorry that I did so, and
+I have asked your forgiveness. What
+can I do more? You should allow
+for wounded feelings. It was hard to
+hear you ridiculing an affair that occupies
+my serious thoughts. I was irritated&mdash;think no more about it."</p>
+
+<p>"Answer me this, How much does
+Mr Bellamy already know?"</p>
+
+<p>"From me&mdash;nothing. Make your
+mind happy on that score. It is not
+to the interest of any one of us that
+secrets should be known. You need
+not fear. Shake hands."</p>
+
+<p>Michael took his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"And as to this Association," continued
+Planner, "let me have my way
+for once&mdash;the thing is clear, and cannot
+fail. The elements of success are
+there, and a splendid fortune must be
+realized. I am not greedy. I don't
+want to grasp every thing for myself.
+I told you just now that we would
+share and share alike. You are not
+up to projects of this nature. I am.
+Trust to me. I will engage to enter
+upon no new affair if I am disappointed
+in this. The truth is, I cannot quietly
+let a fortune slide through my fingers,
+when a little skill and energy only are
+necessary to secure it. Come, Michael,
+this once you must not say <i>no</i>."</p>
+
+<p>The hope, however faint, of making
+money by this speculation, and the
+fear of offending the depositary of his
+great secret, compelled at length from
+Allcraft a reluctant acquiescence. He
+consented to the trial, receiving Planner's
+solemn promise that, in the event
+of failure, it should be the last. Planner
+himself, overjoyed at his victory,
+prepared himself for action, and contemplated
+the magnificent resources of
+the bank with a resolute and daring
+spirit that would have gratified exceedingly
+the customers of the house,
+could they have but known it. Planner
+conscientiously believed that he
+had hitherto failed in all his schemes,
+because he had never commanded cash
+sufficient to carry out his views. This
+great obstacle being removed, he
+wisely determined to make the most
+of his good fortune. And in truth
+he was without the shadow of an excuse
+for timidity and forbearance.
+The anxiety which might have accompanied
+his ventures, had the money
+been his own, was mercifully spared
+him; the thought of personal danger
+and ruin could never come to cloud
+his intellect, or oppress his energy.
+As for the ruin of any other party, the
+idea, by a very happy dispensation,
+never once occurred to him. It took
+a very few months to make Mr Planner
+the largest shareholder&mdash;the principal
+director&mdash;the president and first
+man in the famous "<i>Joint-Stock Pantamorphica
+Association.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>And whilst he was busy in the purchase
+of lands required for the extensive
+undertaking, his dear friend Mr</p>
+
+<p>Bellamy was agreeably occupied in
+paying off, by degrees, the heavy
+mortgages which, for many years, had
+been weighing on his beautiful estate.
+In addition to the ten thousand pounds
+which he had abstracted during the
+absence of Mr Allcraft, he had not
+hesitated to draw large sums under
+the very nose of his too easy and
+unsuspecting partner. The manner of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page55" id="page55"></a>[pg 55]</span>
+Mr Bellamy threw Michael off his
+guard. He walked so erect&mdash;looked
+upon every body so superciliously&mdash;spoke
+even to Allcraft in so high a
+tone, and with so patronizing an air,
+that it was quite impossible to suspect
+him of being any thing but real coin,
+a sound man, and worthy of all trust.
+It is certainly true that Mr Bellamy
+had not brought into the concern as
+he had engaged, some twenty, or forty
+thousand pounds&mdash;it does not matter
+which&mdash;but the reasons which he condescended
+to give for this failure were
+perfectly satisfactory, and accounted
+for the delay&mdash;so well accounted for
+it that Michael entreated Mr Bellamy
+not to think about it, but to take
+his time. And how very natural it
+was for a man of Mr Bellamy's consideration
+and enormous wealth to
+secure the little property that adjoined
+his own, and to borrow from the bank
+any sum of money that he might
+want to complete so desirable a purchase!
+And how very natural, likewise,
+on the part of Allcraft, ever
+fearful of discovery, ever desirous to
+keep upon the best terms with Mr
+Bellamy (the great man of the country,
+the observed of all observers)&mdash;to
+be at all times anxious to oblige his
+friend, to render him sensible of his
+desire to please him, and of the obligation
+under which, by these repeated
+acts of kindness and indulgence, he
+was insensibly brought.</p>
+
+<p>And so they reached the close of
+the first year of partnership; and who
+shall say that the situation of Michael
+was an enviable one, or that the persevering
+man had not good cause for
+despondency and dread? He was already
+deeply indebted to his wife;
+not one of his three partners had
+proved to be such as he expected and
+required. Danger threatened from
+two of them: Mr Bellamy had not
+afforded the support which he had
+promised. A stronger heart than
+Michael's might have quailed in his
+position; yet the pressure from without
+animated and invigorated <i>him</i>. In
+the midst of his gloom, he was not
+without a gleam of hope and consolation.
+As he had foreseen, the business
+of the house rapidly increased:
+its returns were great. Day and night
+he laboured to improve them, and to
+raise the reputation of the tottering concern;
+for tottering it was, though looking
+most secure. For himself, he did not
+draw one farthing from the bank; he
+resided with his wife in a small cottage,
+lived economically, and sacrificed
+to his engrossing occupation
+every joy of the domestic hearth. The
+public acknowledged with favour the
+exertions of the labouring man; pronounced
+him worthy of his sire;
+vouchsafed him their respect and confidence.
+Bravely the youth proceeded
+on his way&mdash;looking ever to the future&mdash;straining to his object&mdash;prepared to
+sacrifice his life rather than yield or
+not attain it. Noble ambition&mdash;worthy
+of a less ignoble cause&mdash;a better
+fate!</p>
+
+<p>The second year passed on, and
+then the third: at the close of this,
+Michael looked again at his condition.
+During the last year the business of
+the house had doubled. Had not the
+profits, and more than the profits,
+been dragged away by Bellamy and
+Planner&mdash;his ardent mind would have
+been satisfied, his ceaseless toil well-paid.
+But the continual drafts had
+kept ever in advance of the receipts,
+draining the exchequer&mdash;crippling its
+faculties. Even at this melancholy
+exhibition, his sanguine spirit refused
+to be cast down, and to resign the
+hope of ultimate recovery and success.
+He built upon the promise of Mr Bellamy,
+who at length had engaged to
+refund his loans upon a certain day,
+and to add, at the same time, his long-expected
+and long-promised quota of
+floating capital: he built upon the illusions
+of Planner's strong imagination&mdash;Planner,
+who suddenly becoming sick
+of his speculation, alarmed at his responsibility,
+and doubtful of success,
+had been for some time vigorously
+looking out for a gentleman, willing
+to purchase his share and interest in
+the unrivaled <i>Pantamorphica</i>, and to
+relieve him of his liabilities; and had
+at last persuaded himself into the belief
+that he had found one. <i>He</i> likewise
+fixed a period for the restoration
+of a fearful sum of money, which Michael,
+madman that he was, had suffered
+him to expend&mdash;to fling away
+like dirt. Upon such expectation,
+Allcraft stood&mdash;upon such props suffered
+his aching soul to rest. There
+wanted but a month to the acceptable
+season when claims upon the house
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page56" id="page56"></a>[pg 56]</span>
+poured in which could not be put off.
+Michael borrowed money once more
+from his wife to meet them. He did
+it without remorse or hesitation. Why
+should he have compunction&mdash;why
+think about it, when the hour of repayment
+was so near at hand? It was
+a proper question for a man who could
+slumber on a mine that was ready to
+burst, and shatter him to atoms.</p>
+
+
+<h3>CHAPTER II.</h3>
+
+<h4>A MEETING.</h4>
+
+
+<p>It was a constant saying of old Mr
+Brammel, that if his time were to
+come over again, he would adopt a
+very different plan from that which he
+had pursued in the education of his son.
+Now, a different plan it might have
+been; but one leading to a more satisfactory
+result, I must take the liberty
+to deny. Of what use is experience
+to one who, with sixty years of life in
+him, still feels and thinks, reasons
+and acts, like a child? Who but a
+child would have thought of paying
+the wholesale demands of that dissolute,
+incorrigible youth, with the
+notion of effecting by such subtle
+means his lasting reformation: who
+but a child would have made the
+concealment of his name a condition
+of the act? As may be guessed, the
+success of this scheme was equal to
+its wisdom. Augustus Theodore, too
+grateful for the facilities afforded him,
+showed no disposition to abridge his
+pleasures, or to hasten his return. In
+the regular and faithful discharge of
+his drafts, his vulgar soul rejoiced to
+detect a fear of offending, and an
+eagerness to conciliate, on the part of
+his partner, Michael Allcraft. He
+would see and acknowledge nothing
+else. And the idea once fixed in his
+mind, he was not likely to rest contented
+with half the glory of his victory.
+"No.&mdash;He would punish the
+fellow.&mdash;He would make him smart;
+he would teach him to come all the
+way to France on purpose to bully
+him. He hadn't done with the gentleman
+yet. Master Allcraft should
+cry loud enough before he had. He'd
+sicken him." Still the hopeful youth
+pursued his travels&mdash;still he transmitted
+his <i>orders at sight</i>&mdash;still they were
+honoured punctually&mdash;still Augustus
+Theodore chuckled with stupid delight
+over what he considered the pitiful
+submission of his partner, who had
+not courage to reject his drafts, and
+dared not utter now one brief expostulatory
+word. Mr Brammel, junior,
+like the rest of the firm, lived in his
+own delusions. The fourth year dawned,
+and Mr Brammel suddenly appeared
+amongst his friends. He and his
+lady had travelled over Europe; they
+had seen the world&mdash;the world had
+seen them; they were sick of wandering&mdash;they
+desired to settle. A noble
+villa, with parks and paddocks, was
+quickly taken and sumptuously furnished;
+hunters were got from Tattersall's&mdash;nursery-maids
+from France&mdash;an establishment worthy of the
+name rose like magic, almost within
+sight of Michael's humble dwelling,
+taking the neighbourhood by surprise,
+startling and affrighting Allcraft.
+Again the latter visited the fond old
+man&mdash;remonstrated, complained; and
+once more the father entreated on behalf
+of his son, begged for time and
+patience, and undertook to satisfy the
+prodigal's extravagance. He gave his
+money as before, willingly and eagerly,
+and stipulated only, with unmeaning
+earnestness, for secrecy and silence.
+And the fourth year closed as drearily
+as it had opened. The promises of
+Bellamy and Planner were as far from
+fulfilment as ever; their performance
+as vigorous and disastrous as at first.
+The landed proprietor still redeemed,
+day after day, portions of his involved
+estate. The schemer, disappointed in
+his expectations of a purchaser, returned
+to his speculation with redoubled
+ardour, and with fresh supplies of
+gold. His only chance of ultimate recovery
+was to push boldly forward,
+and to betray no fear of failure. One
+retrograde or timid step would open
+the eyes of men, and bring down ruin
+on the <i>Pantamorphica</i>. Planner became
+conscious of all this to his dismay,
+and he had nothing to do in the
+very extremity of his distress, but to
+proceed in his venture with the best
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page57" id="page57"></a>[pg 57]</span>
+spirits he could command, and to trust
+himself fairly to the swelling tide.&mdash;Allcraft looked on and trembled.</p>
+
+<p>It is wonderful how long a withered
+leaf will sometimes cling to its branch.
+It will hold tenaciously there, the last
+of its race, days after the decay of
+its greener and more healthy-looking
+mates. "A creaking door," the proverb
+has it, "hangs long upon its
+hinges;" and many a wheezing, parchment-looking
+gentleman, as we all
+know, who ought to have died every
+year of his life since he was born,
+draws his difficult breath through
+threescore years and ten; whilst the
+young, the hardy, and the sound are
+smitten in their pride, and fall in heaps
+about him. It is no less strange that
+a house of business like that of our
+friend Mr Allcraft, should assert its
+existence for years, rotten as it was,
+during the whole of the time, at its
+very heart's core. And yet such is
+the case. Eight years elapsed, and
+found it still in the land of the living:
+yes, and to the eye external, as
+proper and as good a house of business
+as any you shall name. Its vitals were
+going&mdash;were gone, before the smallest
+indications of mischief appeared upon
+the surface. Life must have been
+well nourished to maintain itself so
+long. And was it not? Answer, thou
+kind physician, gentle Margaret! Answer,
+thou balm and life's elixir&mdash;Margaret's
+<i>gold</i>!</p>
+
+<p>Eight weary years have passed, and
+we have reached a miserable day in
+the month of November. The wind
+is howling, and the rain is pelting
+against the parlour windows of the
+Banking-house, whose blinds are
+drawn close down. The partners are
+all assembled. Michael, whose hair is
+as grey as his father's on the day of
+his death, and whom care and misery
+have made haggard and old, sits at a
+table, with a heap of papers before
+him, and a pen in his hand&mdash;engaged,
+as it appears, in casting up accounts.
+Mr Bellamy, who looks remarkably
+well&mdash;very glossy and very fat&mdash;sits
+at the table likewise, perusing leisurely
+the county newspapers through golden
+eyeglasses. He holds them with the
+air of a gentleman, comfortable and at
+ease in all respects, mentally and bodily.
+Augustus Theodore swings on
+a chair before the fire, which he keeps
+at work for his own especial consolation.
+His feet stretch along the fender&mdash;his
+amusement is the poker. He
+has grown insufferably vain, is dressed
+many degrees above the highest fashionable
+point, and looks a dissipated,
+hopeless blackguard. Planner, very
+subdued, very pale, and therefore very
+unlike himself, stands behind the chair
+of Allcraft; and ever and anon he casts
+a rueful glance over the shoulder of
+his friend, upon the papers which his
+friend is busy with. No one speaks.
+At intervals Mr Bellamy coughs extensively
+and loudly, just to show his
+dignity and independence, and to assure
+the company that <i>his</i> conscience
+is very tranquil on the occasion&mdash;that
+his firm "withers are unwrung;" and
+Mr Brammel struggles like an ill-taught
+bullfinch, to produce a whistle,
+and fails in the attempt. With these
+exceptions, we have a silent room. A
+quarter of an hour passes. Michael
+finishes his work. He spends one
+moment in reflection, and then he
+speaks:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Now, gentlemen," he begins with
+a deep sigh, that seems to carry from
+his heart a load of care&mdash;"Now, if
+you please"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>The paper and the poker are abandoned,
+chairs are drawn towards the
+baize-covered table. The partners sit
+and look at one another, face to face.</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen," said Michael, at first
+slowly and seriously, and in a tone
+which none might hear beyond their
+walls&mdash;"you do not, I am sure, require
+me to advert to <i>all</i> the causes
+which have rendered this meeting necessary.
+I have no desire to use reproaches,
+and I shall refer as little as
+I may to the past. I ask you all to do
+me justice. Have I not laboured like
+a slave for the common good? Have
+I not toiled in order to avoid the evil
+hour that has come upon us? Have I
+not given every thing&mdash;have I not
+robbed another in order to prop up our
+house and keep its name from infamy?"</p>
+
+<p>"Be calm, be calm," interposed Mr
+Bellamy gently, remarking that Allcraft
+slightly raised his voice at the
+concluding words.</p>
+
+<p>"Calm! calm, Mr Bellamy!" exclaimed
+the unhappy speaker, renouncing
+without hesitation all attempts at
+the <i>suaviter in modo</i>, and yet fearful of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page58" id="page58"></a>[pg 58]</span>
+showing his indignation and of being
+overheard&mdash;"Calm! It is well for you
+to talk so. Had I been less calm, less
+easy; had I done my duty&mdash;had I
+been determined seven years ago,
+this cruel day would never have arrived.
+You are my witness that it
+never would."</p>
+
+<p>Mr Bellamy rose with much formality
+from his seat.</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen," he said, "I cannot
+submit to dark and plebeian innuendoes.
+I have come here to-day, at
+great personal inconvenience, and I am
+prepared to listen respectfully to any
+thing which Mr Allcraft thinks it his
+duty to bring before us. But I must have
+you remember that a gentleman and a
+man of honour cannot brook an insult."</p>
+
+<p>"I ask your pardon, sir," added
+Allcraft, in a tone of bitterness&mdash;"I
+meant no insult. Pray be seated. I
+have the honour to present you with
+a statement of our affairs. We have
+claims upon us, amounting to several
+thousand pounds, which must be met
+within a week. A third of the sum
+required will not be at our command.
+How is it to be obtained? and, if obtained,
+how is it to repair the inroads
+which, year after year, have been
+made upon the house, and how secure
+it from further spoliation? It is useless
+and absurd to hide from ourselves
+any longer the glaring fact that we are
+on the actual verge of bankruptcy."</p>
+
+<p>"Well! I have had nothing to do
+with that. You can't say it's me,"
+ejaculated Mr Brammel. "You have
+had the management in your own
+hands, and so you have nobody but
+yourself to thank for it. I thought
+from the beginning how the concern
+would turn out!"</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Your</i> share, sir, in furthering the
+interests of the bank we will speak of
+shortly," said Michael, turning to the
+speaker with contempt. "We have
+little time for recrimination now."</p>
+
+<p>"As for recrimination, Mr Allcraft,"
+interposed Mr Bellamy, "I must be
+allowed to say, that you betray a very
+improper spirit in this business&mdash;very&mdash;very. You are far from being temperate."</p>
+
+<p>"Temperate!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; I said so."</p>
+
+<p>"Mr Bellamy," said Allcraft, bursting
+with rage, "I have been your
+partner for eight years. I have not
+for a moment deserted my post, or
+slackened in my duty. I have given
+my strength, my health, my peace of
+mind, to the house. I have drawn
+less than your clerk from its resources;
+but I have added to them, wrongfully,
+cruelly, and unpardonably, from means
+not my own, which, in common honesty,
+I ought never to have touched&mdash;which"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Really, really, Mr Allcraft," said
+Bellamy, interrupting him, "you have
+told us every word of this before."</p>
+
+<p>"Wait, sir," continued the other.
+"I am <i>intemperate</i>, and you shall have
+my excuse for being so. <i>You</i>, Mr
+Bellamy, have never devoted one moment
+of your life to the interests of
+the house; no, not a moment. You
+have, year after year, without the
+slightest hesitation or remorse, sucked
+its life-blood from it. You have borrowed,
+as these accounts will show,
+thousands of pounds, and paid them
+back with promises and words. You
+engaged to produce your fair proportion
+of capital; you have given nothing.
+You made grand professions
+of adding strength and stability to the
+firm; you have been its stumbling-block
+and hinderance."</p>
+
+<p>"Mr Allcraft," said Bellamy coolly,
+"you are still a very young man."</p>
+
+<p>"Have I told the truth?"</p>
+
+<p>"Pshaw, man! Speak to the point.
+Speak to the point, sir. We have
+heavy payments due next week. Are
+we prepared to meet them?"</p>
+
+<p>"No&mdash;nor shall we be."</p>
+
+<p>"That's unfortunate," added Mr
+Bellamy, very quietly. "You are
+sure of that? You cannot help us&mdash;with
+another loan, for instance?"</p>
+
+<p>Michael answered, with determination&mdash;"No."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well. No violence, Mr Allcraft,
+pray. Such being the case, I
+shall decline, at present, giving any
+answer to the unjust, inhuman observations
+which you have made upon
+my conduct. Painful as it is to pass
+this barbarous treatment over for the
+present, still my own private affairs
+shall be as nothing in comparison with
+the general good. This provided for,
+I will protect myself from future
+insult, depend upon it. You are
+wrong, Mr Allcraft&mdash;very wrong. You
+shall acknowledge it. You will be
+sorry for the expressions which you
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page59" id="page59"></a>[pg 59]</span>
+have cast upon a gentleman, your senior
+in years, and [here a very loud
+cough] let me add&mdash;in social station.
+Now, sir, let me beg a word or two in
+private."</p>
+
+<p>It was very unfortunate that the
+whole establishment stood in unaffected
+awe of the redoubted Mr Bellamy.
+Allcraft, notwithstanding his knowledge
+of the man, and his previous attack
+upon his character, was not, at
+this moment, free from the fascination;
+and at the eleventh hour he found it
+difficult to withdraw entirely his confidence
+in Mr Bellamy's ultimate desire
+and capability to deal honorably
+and justly by him. Much of the Mogul's
+power was unquestionably derived
+from his massive <i>physique</i>; but
+his chief excellence lay in that peculiar
+off-hand, patronizing, take-it-for-granted
+air, which he made it a point
+to assume towards every individual
+with whom he came in contact. He
+had scarcely requested a few minutes'
+private conversation with Allcraft, before
+Planner and Brammel jumped
+involuntarily from their seats, as if in
+obedience to a word of command, and
+edged towards the door.</p>
+
+<p>"If you please," continued Mr
+Bellamy, nodding to them very graciously;
+and they departed. In the
+course of ten minutes they were recalled
+by the autocrat himself. The
+gentlemen resumed their seats, and
+this time, Mr Bellamy addressed them.</p>
+
+<p>"You see, my dear sirs," he began
+with, for him, peculiar gentleness,
+"it is absolutely necessary to provide
+against the immediate exigency, and
+to postpone all discussion on the past,
+until this is met, and satisfactorily disposed
+of."</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly!" said Augustus Brammel,
+who, for his part, never wished
+to talk or think about the past again.
+"Certainly. Hear, hear! I agree to
+that"&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I knew you would, dear Mr
+Brammel&mdash;a gentleman of your discretion
+would not fail to do so."</p>
+
+<p>Augustus looked up at Mr Bellamy
+to find if he were jeering him; but he
+saw no reason to believe it.</p>
+
+<p>"Such being the case," continued
+the worthy speaker; "it behoves us
+now to look about for some assistance.
+Our friend, Mr Allcraft, I am sorry
+to say, does not feel disposed to help
+us once more through the pressure. I
+am very sorry to say so. Perhaps he
+will think better of it, (Allcraft shook
+his head.) Ah; just so. He desponds
+a little now. He takes the dark side
+of things. For my own part, I prefer
+the bright. He believes, as you
+have heard, that we are on the verge
+of bankruptcy. Upon my honour as a
+gentleman, I really can believe in no
+such thing. There is a general gloom
+over the mercantile world; it will break
+off in time; and we, with the rest of
+mankind, shall pass into the sunshine."</p>
+
+<p>"Hear, hear!" exclaimed Augustus
+Brammel; "that's the way to look at
+things!"</p>
+
+<p>"Taking it for granted, then&mdash;which,
+positively, I an not inclined to do;
+for really, Mr Allcraft, it is against
+your interest not to help us in this
+emergency&mdash;but, however, taking it,
+I say, for granted, that our friend here
+will not succour us&mdash;it appears to me,
+that only one legitimate course is open
+to us. If we are refused at home, let
+us apply for aid as near our home as
+possible. There are our London
+friends"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, yes, to be sure&mdash;so there
+are," cried Theodore Augustus.</p>
+
+<p>"We surely cannot hesitate to apply
+to them. Our name stands&mdash;and
+deservedly so&mdash;very high. They will
+be glad to accommodate us with a
+temporary loan. We will avail ourselves
+of it&mdash;say for three months.
+That will give us time to turn about
+us, and to prepare ourselves against
+similar unpleasant casualties. See
+what we want, Mr Allcraft: let the
+sum be raised in London without delay,
+and let us look forward with the
+hearts of men."</p>
+
+<p>"Capital, capital," continued Brammel;
+"I second that motion."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, sir," said Mr Bellamy,
+with a gracious smile. "There remains
+then to consider only who shall
+be the favoured individual deputed to
+this important business. One of us
+must certainly go to London, and I do
+think it due to our youngest member,
+Brammel, to concede to him the
+honour of representing us in the metropolis.
+No offence will, I trust, be
+taken by our other friends, and I hope
+that in my zeal for Mr Brammel, I
+shall not be suspected of betraying
+an undue preference."</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page60" id="page60"></a>[pg 60]</span>
+
+<p>Mr Bellamy turned towards Augustus
+Theodore with an almost affectionate
+expression of countenance, as
+he spoke these words; but perceived,
+to his mortification, that the latter, instead
+of being pleasantly affected by
+his address, wriggled in his chair most
+impatiently, and assumed the complexion
+and aspect of a man with
+whom something has suddenly and
+violently disagreed.</p>
+
+<p>"No&mdash;no&mdash;no!" he bellowed out,
+as soon as he could; "none of that
+soft-soap, Mr Bellamy; make up your
+mind at once&mdash;I sha'n't go. I can't
+borrow money. I do not know how
+to do it. I don't want the honour,
+thank you. It's very good of you,
+and I am much obliged to you&mdash;that's
+a fact. But you'll look out for some
+body else, if you please. I beg to say
+I decline&mdash;pos"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>Mr Bellamy cast upon Theodore one
+of his natural and annihilating glances,
+and said deliberately,</p>
+
+<p>"Mr Brammel, for the first time in
+your life you are honoured by being
+made a useful individual. You are to
+go to London.&mdash;Go you shall"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Go, I sha'n't," answered Brammel,
+in his accustomed easy style and
+manner.</p>
+
+<p>"Very well. You are aware, Mr
+Brammel, that your respected parent
+has yet to be made acquainted with
+sundry lively doings of your own,
+which you would rather, I believe,
+keep from his ears at present; you likewise
+are aware that if any thing happens
+to the serious injury of the bank
+through your imprudence&mdash;your inheritance
+from that respected parent
+would be dearly purchased for a shilling.
+I shall be sorry to hurt your
+feelings, or your pocket. I have no
+wish to do it; but depend upon me,
+sir, your father shall be a wiser man
+to-night, if you are obstinate and disobedient."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't borrow money&mdash;I can't&mdash;I
+don't know how to do it," said Brammel
+peevishly.</p>
+
+<p>"And who reproaches you for your
+inability, my dear sir," said Bellamy
+coaxingly. "No one, I am sure. You
+shall be taught. Every thing shall be
+made easy and agreeable. You will
+carry your credentials from the house,
+and your simple task shall be beforehand
+well explained to you."</p>
+
+<p>"I am not used to it."</p>
+
+<p>"And you never will be, Mr Brammel,
+if you don't begin to practise.
+Come, I am sure you don't wish me
+to see your father to-day. I am certain
+you are not anxious to part with
+your patrimony. You are too sensible
+a man. Pray let us have no delay,
+Mr Allcraft. See what we want. Mr
+Brammel will go to London to-morrow.
+We must take time by the forelock.
+Let us meet these heavy payments,
+and then we can think, and
+breathe, and talk. Till then it is idle
+to wrangle, and to lose one's temper.
+Very well: then there's little more, I
+imagine, to be done at present."</p>
+
+<p>Augustus Theodore still opposed his
+nomination, like an irritable child;
+but a fly kicking against a stone wall,
+was as likely to move it, as Brammel
+to break down the resolution of such
+a personage as Mr Bellamy. After an
+hour's insane remonstrance, he gave
+in to his own alarm, rather than to
+the persuasion of his partner. He was
+fearfully in debt; his only hope of
+getting out of it rested in the speedy
+decease of his unfortunate parent,
+whom he had not seen for months, and
+who, he had reason to believe, had
+vowed to make him pay with his
+whole fortune for any calamity that
+might happen to the bank through his
+misconduct or extravagance. It was
+not from the lips of Mr Bellamy that
+he heard this threat for the first time.
+What he should do, if it were carried
+out, heaven only knows. He consented
+to go to London on this disgusting
+mission, and he could have
+bitten his tongue out for speaking his
+acquiescence, so enraged was he with
+himself, and all the world, at his defeat.
+He did not affect to conceal his
+anger; and yet, strange to say, it was
+not visible to Mr Bellamy. On the
+contrary, he thanked Mr Brammel for
+the cheerful and excellent spirit in
+which he had met his partners' wishes,
+and expressed himself delighted at
+the opportunity which now presented
+itself for introducing their young friend
+to life. Then, turning to Michael Allcraft,
+he begged him to prepare their
+deputation for his work immediately,
+and to place no obstacle in the way of
+his departure. Then he moved the
+adjournment of the meeting until the
+return of Mr Brammel; and then he
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page61" id="page61"></a>[pg 61]</span>
+finished by inviting all his partners to
+dine with him at the hall that day,
+and to join him in drinking success
+and happiness to their young adventurer.
+The invitation was accepted;
+and Mr. Bellamy's grand carriage drew
+up immediately with splash and clatter
+to the door.</p>
+
+
+
+<h3>CHAPTER III.</h3>
+
+<h4>A CHAPTER OF LOANS.</h4>
+
+
+<p>Augustus Brammel hated his partners
+with all his heart and soul. He
+had never been very fond of them, but
+the result of this interview gave an
+activity and a form to feelings which
+it required only sufficient occasion to
+bring into play. Notwithstanding the
+polite tone which Mr Bellamy had cunningly
+adopted in placing his mission
+before him, even he, the ignorant and
+obtuse Brammel, could not fail to see
+that he had been made the tool, the
+cat's-paw in a business from which his
+partners shrank. Now, had the young
+man been as full of courage as he was
+of vulgar conceit, he might, I verily
+believe, have turned his hatred, and
+his knowledge of affairs, to very good
+account. Lacking the spirit of the
+smallest animal that crawls, he was
+content to eject his odious malice in
+oaths and execrations, and to submit
+to his beating after all. No sooner
+was the meeting at an end, than he
+left the Banking-house, and turned
+his steps towards home. He had become&mdash;as
+it was very natural he should&mdash;a
+brute of a husband, and the terror
+of his helpless household. He remembered,
+all at once, that he had
+been deeply aggrieved in the morning
+by Mrs Brammel; that as many as
+two of his shirt buttons had given way
+whilst he was in the act of dressing,
+and unable to contain himself after the
+treatment of Mr Bellamy, he resolved
+forthwith to have his vengeance out
+upon his wife. But he had not walked
+a hundred yards, before his rancour
+and fury increased to such a height,
+that he was compelled to pull up short
+in the street, and to vow, with a horrible
+oath, that he would see all his
+partners roasting in the warmest place
+that he could think of, before he'd
+move one inch to save their souls from
+rotting. So, instead of proceeding
+homeward, he turned back again, with
+a view to make this statement; but
+before he could reach the Banking-house,
+a wiser thought entered his
+head, and induced him to retrace his
+steps. "He would go," he said, "to
+his father; and lay his complaint there.
+He would impeach all his partners,
+acknowledge his errors, and promise
+once more to reform. His father,
+easy old fool, would believe him, forgive
+him, and do any thing else, in his
+joy." It was certainly a bright idea&mdash;but,
+alas! his debts were so very
+extensive. Bellamy's threatening look
+rose before him, and made them appear
+even larger and more terrible
+than they were. What if his father
+insisted upon his going to London,
+and doing any other dirty work which
+these fellows chose to put upon him?
+Bellamy, he was sure, could make the
+old man do any thing. No, it wouldn't
+do. He stamped his foot to the ground
+in vexation, and recurred to his original
+determination. It was all he
+could do. He must go to London, and
+take what indemnification he might in
+the domestic circle previously to starting.
+And the miserable man did have
+his revenge, and did go to London.
+He was empowered to borrow twenty
+thousand pounds from the London
+house, and he was furnished by Michael
+Allcraft with particulars explanatory
+of his commission. And he
+walked into Lombard Street with the
+feelings of a culprit walking up the
+scaffold to his execution. His pitiful
+heart deserted him at the very instant
+when he most needed its support. He
+passed and repassed the large door of
+the establishment, which he saw opened
+and shut a hundred tines in a minute,
+by individuals, whose self-collectedness
+and independence, he would
+have given half his fortune to possess.
+He tried, time after time, to summon
+courage for his entry, and, as he afterwards
+expressed it, a ball rose in his
+throat&mdash;just as he got one foot upon
+the step&mdash;large enough to choke him.
+Impudent and reckless us he had been
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page62" id="page62"></a>[pg 62]</span>
+all his life, he was now more timid and
+nervous than an hysterical girl. Oh,
+what should he do! First, he thought
+of going to a neighbouring hotel, and
+writing at once to Allcraft; swearing
+that he was very ill, that he couldn't
+move, and was utterly unable to perform
+his duties. If he went to bed,
+and sent for a doctor, surely Allcraft
+would believe him; and in pity would
+come up and do the business. He
+dwelt upon this contrivance, until it
+seemed too complicated for success.
+Would it not be more advisable to write
+to the London house itself, and explain
+the object of his coming up?
+But if he could write, why couldn't he
+<i>call</i>? They would certainly ask that
+question, and perhaps refuse the loan.
+Oh, what was he to do! He could
+hit upon no plan, and he couldn't
+muster confidence to turn in. The
+porter of the firm mercifully interposed
+to rescue Mr Brammel from his
+dilemma. That functionary had watched
+the stranger shuffling to and fro
+in great anxiety and doubt, and at
+length he deemed it proper to enquire
+whether the gentleman was looking
+for the doorway of the house of Messrs &mdash;&mdash; and &mdash;&mdash;, or not. Augustus,
+frightened, answered <i>yes</i> at random,
+and in another instant found himself in what he called
+"THE SWEATING ROOM of the awfullest
+house of business he had ever seen in
+all his life." It was a large square
+apartment, very lofty and very naked-looking.
+There was an iron chest, and two shelves
+filled with giant books; and there was
+nothing else in the room but a stillness,
+and a mouldiness of smell, that hung
+upon his spirits like pounds of lead,
+dragging them down, and freezing
+them. Yet, cold as were his spirits,
+the perspiration that oozed from the
+pores of his skin was profuse and
+steady during the quarter of an hour
+that elapsed whilst he waited for the
+arrival of the worthy principal. During
+those memorable fifteen minutes&mdash;the
+most unpleasant of his life&mdash;Augustus,
+for two seconds together,
+could neither sit, stand nor walk with
+comfort. He knew nothing of the
+affairs of his house; he was not in a
+condition to answer the most trivial
+business question; he had heard that
+his firm was on the eve of bankruptcy,
+(and, judging from the part he had
+taken in its affairs, he could easily
+believe it;) he felt that his partners
+had thrown the odium of the present
+application upon him, not having courage
+to take it upon themselves; and
+he had an indistinct apprehension that
+this very act of borrowing money
+would lead to transportation or the
+gallows, should the business go to
+rack and ruin, as he could see it
+shortly would. All these considerations
+went far to stultify the otherwise
+weak and feeble Mr Brammel; when,
+in addition, he endeavoured to arrange
+in his mind the terms on which he
+would request the favour of a temporary
+loan of only (!) twenty thousand
+pounds, a sensation of nausea completely
+overpowered him, and the
+table, the chairs, the iron chest, swam
+round him like so many ships at sea.
+To recover from his sickness, and to
+curse the banking-house, every member
+of the same, and his own respectable
+parent for linking him to it, was
+one and the same exertion. To the
+infinite astonishment of Augustus Theodore,
+the acquisition of these twenty
+thousand pounds proved the most
+amusing and easiest transaction of his
+life. Mr Cutbill, the managing partner
+of the London house, received
+him with profound respect and pleasure.
+He listened most attentively to
+the stammering request, and put the
+deputation at his ease at once, by
+expressing his readiness to comply
+with Mr Allcraft's wishes, provided a
+note of hand, signed by all the partners,
+and payable in three months,
+was given as security for the sum
+required. Augustus wrote word home
+to that effect; the note of hand arrived&mdash;the
+twenty thousand pounds were
+paid&mdash;the dreaded business was transacted
+with half the trouble that it
+generally cost Augustus Theodore to
+effect the purchase of a pair of gloves.</p>
+
+<p>Mr Bellamy remained at the hall
+just one week after the receipt of the
+cash, and then was carried to the
+north by pressing business. Before
+he started he complimented Allcraft
+upon their success, trusted that they
+should now go smoothly on, promised
+to return at the very earliest moment,
+and gave directions on his route by
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page63" id="page63"></a>[pg 63]</span>
+which all letters of importance might
+safely reach him. And Allcraft, relieved
+for a brief season, indefatigable
+as ever, strained every nerve and
+muscle to sustain his credit and increase
+his gains. As heretofore, he
+denied himself all diversion and
+amusement. The first at the bank,
+the last to leave it, he had his eye for
+ever on its doings. Visible at all
+times to the world, and most conspicuous
+there where the world was
+pleased to find him, he maintained his
+reputation as a thorough man of business,
+and held, with hooks of steel, a
+confidence as necessary to existence
+as the vital air around him. To lose
+a breath of the public approbation in
+his present state, were to give up
+fatally the only stay on which he
+rested. Wonderful that, as the prospects
+of the man grew darker, his
+courage strengthened, his spirit roused,
+his industry increased! And a bitter
+reflection was it, that reward still came
+to him&mdash;still a fair return for time and
+strength expended. He could not
+complain of the neglect of mankind,
+or of the ingratitude of those he served.
+In the legitimate transactions of the
+house, he was a prosperous and a prospering
+man. Such, to the outer world,
+did he appear in all respects, and such
+he would have been but for the hidden
+and internal sores already past cure or
+reparation. Who had brought them
+there? Michael did not ask the question&mdash;yet.
+Never did three months
+pass away so rapidly as those which
+came between the day of borrowing
+and the day of paying back those
+twenty thousand pounds. The moment
+the money had arrived, Michael's
+previous anxieties fled from his bosom,
+and left him as happy as a boy without
+a care. It came like a respite
+from death. Sanguine to the last, he
+congratulated himself upon the overthrow
+of his temporary difficulties, and
+relied upon the upturning of some
+means of payment, on the arrival of
+the distant day. But distant as it
+looked at first, it crept nearer and
+nearer, until at the end of two months,
+when&mdash;as he saw no possibility of relieving
+himself from the engagement&mdash;it
+appeared close upon him, haunting
+him morning, noon, and night, wheresoever
+he might be, and sickening him
+with its terrible and desperate aspect.
+When there wanted only a week to
+the fatal day, Michael's hope of meeting
+the note of hand was slighter than
+ever. He became irritable, distressed,
+and anxious&mdash;struggled hard to get
+the needful sum together, struggled
+and strove; but failed. Hours and
+minutes were now of vital consequence;
+and, in a rash and unprotected
+moment, he permitted himself
+to write a letter to the London house,
+begging them, as a particular favour,
+just for one week to retire the bill they
+held against him. The London house
+civilly complied with the request, and
+five days of that last and dreary week
+swept by, leaving poor Allcraft as ill
+prepared for payment as they had
+found him. What could he do? At
+length the gulf had opened&mdash;was
+yawning&mdash;to receive him. How should
+he escape it?</p>
+
+<p>Heaven, in its infinite mercy, has
+vouchsafed to men <i>angels</i> to guide
+and cheer them on their difficult and
+thorny paths. Could Michael suffer,
+and Margaret not sympathize? Could
+he have a sorrow which she might
+chase away, and, having the power,
+lack the heart to do it? Impossible!
+Oh! hear her in her impassioned supplications;
+hear her at midnight, in
+their disturbed and sleepless bedchamber,
+whilst the doomed man sits at her
+side in agony, clasps his face, and
+buries it within his hand for shame
+and disappointment.</p>
+
+<p>"Michael, do not break my heart.
+Take, dearest, all that I possess; but,
+I entreat you, let me see you cheerful.
+Do not take this thing to heart. Whatever
+may be your trouble, confide it,
+love, to me. I will try to kill it!"</p>
+
+<p>"No, no, no," answered Allcraft
+wildly; "it must not be&mdash;it shall not
+be, dear Margaret. You shall be imposed
+upon no longer. You shall not
+be robbed. I am a villain!"</p>
+
+<p>"Do not say so, Michael. You are
+kind and good; but this cruel business
+has worn you out. Leave it, I implore
+you, if you can, and let us live
+in peace."</p>
+
+<p>"Margaret, it is impossible. Do
+not flatter yourself or me with the
+vain hope of extrication. Release will
+never come. I am bound to it for
+my life; it will take longer than a life
+to effect deliverance. You know not
+my calamities."</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page64" id="page64"></a>[pg 64]</span>
+
+<p>"But I <i>will</i> know them, Michael,
+and share them with you, if they must
+be borne. I am your wife, and have
+a right to this. Trust me, Michael,
+and do not kill me with suspense.
+What is this new affliction? Whatsoever
+it may be, it is fitting that I
+should know it&mdash;yes, will know it,
+dearest, or I am not worthy to lie beside
+you there. Tell me, love, how is
+it that for these many days you have
+looked so sad, and sighed, and frowned
+upon me. I am conscious of no
+fault. Have I done amiss? Say so,
+and I will speedily repair the fault?"</p>
+
+<p>Michael pressed his Margaret to his
+heart, and kissed her fondly.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, oh why, my Margaret, did
+you link your fate with mine?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, having done so, Michael,
+do you not love and trust me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Love?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;<i>love</i>! Say what you will,
+you do not love me, if you hide your
+griefs from me. We are one. Let us
+be truly so. One in our joys and in
+our sufferings."</p>
+
+<p>"Dearest Margaret, why should I
+distress you? Why should I call upon
+you for assistance? Why drag your
+substance from you?&mdash;why prey upon
+you until you have parted with your
+all? I have taken too much already."</p>
+
+<p>"Answer me one simple question,
+Michael. Can money buy away this
+present sorrow? Can it bring to you
+contentment and repose? Can it restore
+to me the smile which is my
+own? Oh, if it can, be merciful and
+kind; take freely what is needful, and
+let me purchase back my blessings!"</p>
+
+<p>"Margaret, you deserve a better
+fate!"</p>
+
+<p>"Name the sum, dear. Is it my
+fortune? Not more? Then never
+were peace of mind and woman's happiness
+so cheaply bought. Take it,
+Michael, and let us thank Heaven that
+it is enough. My fortune never gave
+me so much joy as now. I do not
+remember, Michael, that you have
+ever refused my smallest wish. It
+is not in your nature to be unkind.
+Come, dearest, smile a little. We
+have made the bargain&mdash;be generous,
+and pay me in advance."</p>
+
+<p>He smiled and wept in gratitude.</p>
+
+<p>Now Michael retired to rest, determined
+not to take advantage of the
+generous impulses of his confiding
+wife; yet, although he did so, it could
+not but be very satisfactory to his
+marital feelings to discover, and to be
+assured of the existence of, such devotedness
+and disregard of self and
+fortune as she displayed. Indeed,
+he was very much tranquillized and
+comforted; so much so, in fact, that
+he was enabled, towards morning, to
+wake up in a condition to review his
+affairs with great serenity of mind,
+and (notwithstanding his determination)
+to contrive some mode of turning
+the virtuous magnanimity of his
+wife to good account, without inflicting
+any injury upon herself. Surely
+if he could do this, he was bound to
+act. To save himself by her help, and,
+at the same time, without injuring her
+at all, was a very defensible step, to
+say the least of it. Who should say
+it wasn't his absolute duty to adopt
+it? Whatever repugnance he might
+have felt in asking a further loan from
+one who had already helped him beyond
+his expectations, it was certainly
+very much diminished since she had
+offered to yield to him, without reserve,
+every farthing that she possessed.
+Not that he would ever suffer
+her to do any thing so wild and inexcusable;
+still, after such an expression
+of her wishes, he was at liberty
+to ask her aid, provided always that
+he could secure her from any loss or
+risk. When Michael got thus far in
+his proposition, it was not very difficult
+to work it to the end. Once
+satisfied that it was just and honourable,
+and it was comparatively child's
+work to arrange the <i>modus operandi</i>.
+A common trick occurred to him. In
+former transactions with his wife, he
+had pledged his word of honour to
+repay her. It had become a stale
+pledge, and very worthless, as Michael
+felt. What if he put his <i>life</i> in pawn!
+Ah, capital idea! This would secure
+to her every farthing of her debt.
+Dear me, how very easy! He had
+but to insure his life for the amount
+he wanted, and let what would happen,
+she was safe. His spirit rejoiced.
+Oh, it was joy to think that she could
+save him from perdition, and yet not
+suffer a farthing's loss. Loss! So
+far from this, his ready mind already
+calculated how she might be a gainer
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page65" id="page65"></a>[pg 65]</span>
+by the arrangement. He was yet
+young. Let him insure his life at present
+for twenty thousand pounds, and
+how much more would it be worth&mdash;say
+that he lived for twenty years to
+come? He explained it to his lady&mdash;to
+his own perfect satisfaction. The
+willing Margaret required no more.
+He could not ask as freely as the
+woman's boundless love could grant.
+He, with all his reasoning, could not
+persuade his conscience to pronounce
+the dealing just. She, with her beating
+heart for her sole argument and
+guide, looked for no motive save her
+strong affection&mdash;no end but her beloved's
+happiness and peace. Woe is
+me, the twenty thousand pounds were
+griped&mdash;the precious life of Mr Allcraft
+was insured&mdash;the London house was
+satisfied. A very few weeks flew over
+the head of the needy man, before he
+was reduced to the same pitiable
+straits. Money was again required
+to carry the reeling firm through unexpected
+difficulties. Brammel was
+again dispatched to London. The
+commissioner, grown bolder by his
+first success, was ill prepared for hesitation
+and reproof, and awkward references
+to "that last affair." Ten
+thousand pounds were the most they
+could advance, and all transactions of
+the kind must close with this, if there
+should be any deviation from the
+strictest punctuality. Brammel attempted
+to apologise, and failed in the
+attempt, of course. He came home
+disgusted, shortening his journey by
+swearing over half the distance, and
+promising his partners his cordial forgiveness,
+if ever they persuaded him
+again to go to London on a begging
+expedition!</p>
+
+<p>Oh, Margaret! Margaret! Oh,
+spirit of the mild and gentle Mildred!
+Must I add, that your good money
+paid this second loan&mdash;and yet a third&mdash;a
+fourth&mdash;a fifth? When shall fond
+woman cease to give&mdash;when shall
+mean and sordid man be satisfied with
+something less than all she has to
+grant?</p>
+
+
+
+<h3>CHAPTER IV.</h3>
+
+<h4>A DISSOLUTION OF PARTNERSHIP.</h4>
+
+
+<p>The most remarkable circumstance
+in that meeting of the partners, which
+ended in Brammel's first visit to London,
+was the behaviour of our very
+dear friend and ally&mdash;the volatile
+Planner&mdash;volatile, alas! no longer.
+His best friend would not have recognized
+him on that deeply interesting
+occasion. He was a subdued, a shaken
+man. Every drop of his brave spirit
+had been squeezed out of him, and he
+stood the mere pulp and rind of his
+former self. He who, for years, had
+been accustomed to look at men, not
+only in the face, but very impertinently
+over their heads, could not drag
+his shambling vision now higher than
+men's shoe-strings. His eye, his
+heart, his soul was on the ground.
+He was disappointed, crushed. Not
+a syllable did he utter; not a single
+word of remonstrance and advice did
+he presume to offer in the presence of
+his associates. He had a sense of
+guilt, and men so situated are sometimes
+tongue-tied. He had, in truth,
+a great deal to answer for, and enough
+to make a livelier man than he dissatisfied and
+wretched. Every farthing
+which had passed from the bank
+to the <i>Pantamorphica</i> Association was
+irrecoverably gone. The Association
+itself was in the same condition&mdash;gone
+irrecoverably likewise. Nothing remained
+of that once beautiful and promising
+vision, but some hundred acres
+of valueless land, a half-finished and
+straggling brick wall, falling rapidly
+to decay, the foundations of a theatre,
+and the rudiments of a temple dedicated
+to Apollo. Planner had gazed
+upon the scene once, when dismal rain
+was pouring down upon the ruins, and
+he burst into bitter tears, and sobbed
+like a child at the annihilation of his
+hopes. He had not courage to look a
+second time upon that desolation, and
+yet he found courage to turn away
+from it, and to do a thing more
+desperate. Ashamed to be beaten, afraid
+to meet the just rebuke of Allcraft, he
+flung himself recklessly into the hands
+of a small band of needy speculators,
+and secretly engaged in schemes that
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page66" id="page66"></a>[pg 66]</span>
+promised restitution of the wealth he
+had expended, or make his ruin perfect
+and complete. One adventure
+after another failed, cutting the thread
+of his career shorter every instant,
+and rendering him more hot-brained
+and impatient. He doubled and trebled
+his risks, and did the like, as
+may be guessed, to his anxieties and
+failures. He lived in a perpetual fear
+and danger of discovery; and discovery
+now was but another name, for
+poison&mdash;prison&mdash;death. Here was
+enough, and more than enough, to extinguish
+every spark of joy in the
+bosom of Mr Planner, and to account
+for his despondency and settled gloom.
+And yet Planner, in this, his darkest
+hour, was nearer to deliverance and
+perfect peace, than at any previous
+period of his history. Planner was
+essentially "a lucky dog." Had he
+fallen from a house-top, he would
+have reached <i>terra firma</i> on his feet.
+Had he been conducted to the gallows,
+according to his desserts, the noose
+would have slipped, and his life would
+certainly have been spared.</p>
+
+<p>It happened, that whilst Michael
+was immersed in the management of
+his loans, a hint was forwarded to
+him of the pranks of his partner; a
+letter, written by an anonymous hand,
+revealed his losses in one transaction,
+amounting to many hundred pounds.
+The news came like a thunderbolt to
+Allcraft. It was a death-blow. Iniquitous,
+unpardonable as were the
+acts of his colleague&mdash;serious as was
+the actual sum of money gone; yet
+these were as nothing compared with
+the distressing fact, that intelligence
+of the evil work had already gone
+abroad, was in circulation, and might
+at any moment put a violent end to
+his own unsteady course. He carried
+the note to Planner&mdash;he thrust it into
+his face, and called him to account for
+his baseness and ingratitude. He
+could have struck his friend and partner
+to the earth, and trod him there
+to death, as he confronted and upbraided
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, sir," roared Allcraft in his
+fury&mdash;"What excuse&mdash;what lie have
+you at your tongue's end to palliate
+this? What can justify this? Will
+you never be satisfied until you have
+rendered me the same hopeless, helpless
+creature that I found you, when
+I dragged you from your beggaring.§
+Answer me!"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>There is nothing like a plaintive
+retort when your case is utterly indefensible.
+Planner looked at the letter,
+read it&mdash;then turned his eyes
+mildly and reproachfully upon his
+accuser.</p>
+
+<p>"Michael Allcraft," he said affectingly,
+"you treat me cruelly."</p>
+
+<p>"I!" answered the other astounded.
+"I treat <i>you</i>! Planner, I intrusted
+you years ago with a secret. I paid
+you well for keeping it. Could I
+dream that nothing would satisfy your
+rapacity but my destruction? Could
+I suppose it? I have fed your ravenous
+desires. I have submitted to
+your encroachments. Do you ask my
+soul as well as body? Let me know
+what it is you ask&mdash;what I have to
+pay&mdash;let me hear the worst, and&mdash;prepare
+for all my punishment."</p>
+
+<p>"I have listened to all you have
+said," continued Planner, "and I
+consider myself an ill-used man."</p>
+
+<p>Michael stared.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;I mean it. I have worked
+like a negro for you Allcraft, and this
+is the return you make me. I get
+your drift; do not attempt to disguise
+it&mdash;it is cruel&mdash;most, most cruel!</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"Have I not always promised to
+share my gains with you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Pshaw&mdash;<i>your</i> gains&mdash;where are
+they?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's nothing to the point. Did
+I not promise?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well&mdash;well."</p>
+
+<p>"And now, after all my labour and
+struggling, because I have <i>failed</i>, you
+wish to turn me off, and throw me to
+the world. Now, speak the truth,
+man&mdash;is it not so?"</p>
+
+<p>Oh! Planner was a cunning creature,
+and so was Michael Allcraft.
+Mark them both! This idea, which
+Planner deemed too good to be seriously
+entertained by his colleague,
+had never once occurred to Michael;
+but it seemed so promising, and so
+likely, if followed up, to relieve him
+effectually of his greatest plague, and
+of any floating ill report, that he found
+no hesitation in adopting it at once.
+He did not answer, but he tried to
+look as if his partner had exactly
+guessed his actual intention. Such §*
+gentlemen both!</p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p>* Transcriber's Note: Original cut off between §s&mdash;Section completed with best guess of correct wording.</p></blockquote>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page67" id="page67"></a>[pg 67]</span>
+
+<p>"I thought so," continued the injured
+Planner. "Michael, you do
+not know me. You do not understand
+my character. I am a child to
+persuade, but a rock if you attempt to
+force me. I shall <i>not</i> desert the bank,
+whilst there is a chance of paying back
+all that we have drawn."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>We</i>, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;we. You and I together
+for our schemes, and you alone for
+private purposes. You recollect your
+father's debts"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Planner, do not think to threaten
+me into further compromise. You
+can frighten me no longer&mdash;be sure
+of that. Your transactions are the
+common talk of the city&mdash;the bank
+is stigmatized by its connexion with
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"Curse the bank!" said Planner
+fretfully. "Would to Heaven I had
+never heard of it!"</p>
+
+<p>"Leave it then, and rid yourself of
+the annoyance. You are free to do
+it!"</p>
+
+<p>"What! and leave behind me every
+chance of realizing a competency for
+my old age! Oh, Michael, Michael&mdash;shame, shame!"</p>
+
+<p>"Competency! Are you serious?
+Are you sane? Competency! Why,
+the labour of your life will not make
+good a tithe of what you have squandered."</p>
+
+<p>"Come, come, Michael, you know
+better. You know well enough that
+one lucky turn would set us up at last.
+Speak like a man. Say that you want
+to grasp all&mdash;that you are tired of me&mdash;that
+you are sick of the old face,
+and wish to see my back. Put the
+thing in its proper light, and you shall
+not find me hard to deal with."</p>
+
+<p>"Planner, you are deceived. Your
+mind is full of fancy and delusion,
+and that has been your curse and
+mine."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well. Have your way;
+but look you, Michael, you are anxious
+to get rid of me&mdash;there's no denying
+that. There is no reason why we
+should quarrel on that account. I
+would sacrifice my prospects, were
+they double what they are, rather
+than beg you to retain me. I did not
+ask for a share in your bank. You
+sought me, and I came at your request.
+Blot out the past. Release
+me from the debt that stands against
+my name, and I am gone. As I came
+at your bidding, so, at your bidding,
+I am ready to depart."</p>
+
+<p>"Agreed," said Allcraft, almost before
+the wily Planner finished. "It
+is done. I consent to your proposal.
+A dissolution shall be drawn up without
+delay, and shall be published in
+the next gazette."</p>
+
+<p>"And publish with it," said Planner,
+like a martyr as he was, "the
+fate of him who gave up all to his own
+high sense of honour, and his friend's
+ingratitude."</p>
+
+<p>So Planner spake, scarcely crediting
+his good fortune, and almost mad
+with joy at his deliverance. He had
+no rest until the seals were fixed to
+parchment, and the warrant of his release
+appeared in public print. Within
+a week, the fettered man was free.
+Within another week, his bounding
+spirits came like a spring-tide back to
+him, and in less than eight-and-twenty
+days of freedom and repose, he recovered
+quite as many years of sweet
+and precious life. He made quick use
+of his wings. At first, like a wild and
+liberated bird, he sported and tumbled
+in the air, and fixed upon no particular
+aim; a thousand captivating objects
+soon caught his eagle eye, and
+then he mounted, dazzled by them
+all, and soon eluded mortal sight and
+reach. But, glad as was the schemer,
+his delight and sense of freedom were
+much inferior to those of his misguided
+and unlucky partner. Michael
+breathed as a man relieved from nightmare.
+The encumbrance which had
+for years prevented him from rising,
+that had so lately threatened his existence,
+was gone, could no longer hang
+upon him, haunt and oppress him.
+What a deliverance!&mdash;Yet, what a
+price had he paid for it! True, but
+was not the money already sacrificed?
+Would it have been restored, had the
+luckless speculator himself remained?
+Never! Well, fearful then as was the
+sum, let it go, taking the incubus
+along with it. Allcraft took care to
+obtain the consent of Bellamy to his
+arrangement. He wrote to him, explaining
+the reasons for parting with
+their partner; and an answer came
+from the landed proprietor, acquiescing
+in the plan, but slightly doubting
+the propriety of the movement. As
+for Brammel, he consented, as he was
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page68" id="page68"></a>[pg 68]</span>
+ready to agree to any thing but a personal
+visit to the great metropolis.
+And then, what was Michael's next
+step? A proper one&mdash;to put out effectually
+the few sparks of scandal
+which might, possibly, be still flying
+about after the discovery of Planner's
+scheme. He worked fiercer than ever&mdash;harder
+than the day-labourer&mdash;at his
+place of business. It was wise in him
+to do so, and thus to draw men's
+thoughts from Planner's faults to his
+own unquestioned merits. And here
+he might have stopped with safety;
+but his roused, suspicious, sensitive
+nature, would not suffer him. He began
+to read, then to doubt and fear
+men's looks; to draw conclusions from
+their innocent words; to find grounds
+of uneasiness and torture in their silence.
+A vulgar fellow treated him
+with rudeness, and for days he treasured
+up the man's words, and repeated
+them to himself. What could they
+mean? Did people smell a rat? Were
+they on the watch? Did they suspect
+that he was poor? Ah, that was
+it! He saw it&mdash;he believed he did&mdash;that
+was equivalent to sight, and
+enough for him. Men did not understand
+him. He would not die so
+easily&mdash;they must be undeceived. Miserable
+Allcraft! He speedily removed
+from his small cottage&mdash;took a
+mansion, furnished it magnificently,
+and made it a palace in costliness and
+hospitality. Ah! <i>was</i> he poor? The
+trick answered. The world was not
+surprised, but satisfied. There was
+but one opinion. He deserved it all,
+and more. The only wonder was, that
+he had hitherto lived so quietly, rich
+as he was, in virtue of his wife's inheritance,
+and from his own hard-earned
+gains. His increasing business
+still enlarged. Customers brought
+guests, and, in their turn, the guests
+became good customers. It was a
+splendid mansion, with its countless
+rooms and gorgeous appointments.
+What pleasure-grounds&mdash;gardens&mdash;parks&mdash;preserves!
+Noble establishment,
+with its butler, under-butler,
+upper-servant, and my lady's (so the
+working people called poor Margaret)
+footman! In truth, a palace; but,
+alas! although it took a prince's revenue
+to maintain it, and although the
+lady's purse was draining fast to keep
+it and the bank upon its legs, yet was
+there not a corner, a nook, a hole in
+the building, in which master or mistress
+could find an hour's comfort, or
+a night's unmingled sleep. As for
+the devoted woman, it made very
+little difference to her whether she
+dwelt in a castle or a hovel, provided
+she could see her husband
+cheerful, and know that he was happy.
+This was all she looked for&mdash;cared for&mdash;lived
+for. <i>He</i> was her life. What
+was her money&mdash;the dross which mankind
+yearned after&mdash;but for its use to
+him, but for the power it might exercise
+amongst men to elevate and ennoble
+<i>him</i>? What was her palace but
+a dungeon if it rendered her beloved
+more miserable than ever, if it added
+daily to the troubles he had brought
+there&mdash;to the cares which had accumulated
+on his head from the very hour
+she had become his mate?
+Michael Allcraft! you never deserved
+this woman for your wife; you told
+her so many times, and perhaps you
+meant what was wrung from your
+heart in its anguish. It was the truth.
+Why, if not in rank cowardice and
+pitiful ambition, entangle yourself in
+the perplexities of such a household
+with all that heap of woe already on
+your soul? Why, when your London
+agents refused, in consequence of your
+irregularity and neglect, to advance
+your further loans&mdash;why take a base
+advantage of that heroic generosity
+that placed its all, unquestioning, at
+your command? Why, when you
+pretended with so much ceremony and
+regard, to effect an insurance on your
+worthless life, did you fail to pay up
+the policy even for a second year, and
+so resign all claim and right to such
+assurance, making it null and void?
+Let it stand here recorded to your
+disgrace, that, in the prosecution of
+your views, in the working out of your
+insane ambition, no one single thought
+of her, who gave her wealth as freely
+as ever fount poured forth its liberal
+stream, deterred you in your progress
+for an instant; that no one glow or
+gush of feeling towards the fond and
+faithful wife interposed to save her
+from the consequences of your selfishness,
+and to humble you with shame
+for inhumanity as vile as it was undeserved.
+It is not surprising, that
+after the taking of the great house
+the demands upon the property of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page69" id="page69"></a>[pg 69]</span>
+Margaret were made without apology
+or explanation. He asked, and he
+obtained. The refusal of aid, on the
+part of the London house, terrified
+him when it came, and caused him to
+rush, with a natural instinct, to the
+quarter whence he had no fear of denial
+and complaint. He drew largely
+from her resources. The money was
+sucked into the whirlpool; there was
+a speedy cry for more; and more
+was got and sacrificed. It would
+have been a miracle had Allcraft, in
+the midst of his crushing cares, retained
+his early vigour of mind and
+body, and passed through ten years of
+such an existence without suffering
+the penalties usually inflicted upon
+the man prodigal of the blessings and
+good gifts of Providence. In his appearance,
+and in his temperament, he
+had undergone a woful change. His
+hair&mdash;all that remained of it, for the
+greater part had fallen away&mdash;was
+grey; and, thin, weak, and straggling,
+dropped upon his wrinkled forehead&mdash;wrinkled
+with a frown that had taken
+root there. His face was sickly, and
+never free from the traces of acute
+anxiety that was eating at his heart.
+His body was emaciated, and, at
+times, his hand shook like a drunkard's.
+It was even worse with the
+spiritual man. He had become irritable,
+peevish, and ill-natured; he
+had lost, by degrees, every generous
+sentiment. As a young man he had
+been remarkable for his liberality in
+pecuniary matters. He had been
+wont to part freely with his money.
+Inconsistent as it may seem, notwithstanding
+his heavy losses through his
+partners, and his fearful expenditure,
+he was as greedy of gain as though
+he were stinting himself of every farthing,
+and secretly hoarding up his
+chests of gold. He would haggle in
+a bargain for a shilling, and economize
+in things beneath a wise man's
+notice or consideration. For a few
+years, as it has been seen, Allcraft
+had denied himself the customary recreations
+of a man of business, and
+had devoted himself entirely to his
+occupation. It was by no means a
+favourable indication of his state of
+mind, that he derived no satisfaction
+at the grand mansion, either alone or
+in the mere society of his wife. He
+quitted the bank daily at a late hour,
+and reached his home just in time for
+dinner. That over, he could not sit
+or rest&mdash;he must be moving. He
+could not live in quiet. "Quietness"&mdash;it
+was his own expression&mdash;"stunned
+him." He rushed to the theatre,
+to balls, concerts, wherever there was
+noise, talk, excitement, crowds of people;
+wherever there was release from
+his own pricking conscience and miserable
+thoughts. And then to parties;
+of course there was no lack of them,
+for their society was in great request,
+and every one was eager for an invitation
+in return to <i>Eden</i>&mdash;such being
+the strange misnomer of their magnificent
+prison-house. And, oh, rare
+entertainments were they which the
+suffering pair provided for the cold-hearted
+crew that flocked to partake
+of their substance! How the poor
+creature smiled upon her guests as
+they arrived, whilst her wounded
+heart bled on! How she sang&mdash;exquisitely
+always&mdash;for their amusement
+and nauseous approbation, until her
+sweet voice almost failed to crush the
+rising tears! How gracefully she led
+off the merry dance whilst clogs were
+on her spirits, weighing upon every
+movement. Extravagant joyousness!
+Dearly purchased pleasure! Yes,
+dearly purchased, if only with that
+half hour of dreadful silence and remorse
+that intervened between the
+banquet and the chamber&mdash;not of
+sweet slumber and benevolent repose
+but of restlessness and horrid dreams!</p>
+
+
+
+<h3>CHAPTER V.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE CRISIS.</h4>
+
+
+<p>Michael was half mad in the midst of
+his troubles; and, in truth, they
+gathered so thickly and rapidly about
+him, that he is to be admired for the
+little check which he contrived to keep
+over his reason, saving him from absolute
+insanity and a lunatic asylum.
+Mr Bellamy, although away, made free
+with the capital of the bank, and applied
+it to his own private uses. Mr
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page70" id="page70"></a>[pg 70]</span>
+Brammel, senior, after having, for
+many years, made good to Allcraft
+the losses the latter had sustained
+through his son's extravagance, at
+length grew tired of the work, and
+left the neighbourhood, in disgust, as
+Michael thought, but, in sad truth,
+with a bruised and broken heart. At
+last he had dismissed the long-cherished
+hope of the prodigal's reformation,
+and with his latest hope departed
+every wish to look upon his
+hastening decay and fall. He crawled
+from the scene&mdash;the country; no one
+knew his course; not a soul was cognizant
+of his intentions, or could guess
+his resting-place. Augustus Theodore
+did not, in consequence of his father's
+absence, draw less furiously upon the
+bank! He had never heard of that
+father's generosity&mdash;how should he
+know of it now? And, if he knew it,
+was he very likely to profit by the
+information? Michael honoured his
+drafts for many reasons; two may be
+mentioned, founded on hope and fear&mdash;the
+hope of frightening the unfortunate
+Brammel senior into payment
+when he met with him again, the
+fear of making Brammel junior desperate
+by his refusal, and of his divulging
+all he knew. Could a man,
+not crazy, carry more care upon his
+brain? Yes, for demands on account
+of Planner poured in, the very instant
+that fortunate speculator had taken
+his lucky leave of the establishment&mdash;demands
+for which Michael had rendered
+himself liable in law, by the undertaking
+which he had drawn up and
+signed in his alarm and haste. Oh, why
+had he overwhelmed himself with partners&mdash;why
+had he married&mdash;why had
+he taken upon himself the responsibility
+of his parent's debts&mdash;why had he
+not explained every thing when he
+might have done it with honour and
+advantage&mdash;why had he not relied
+upon his own integrity&mdash;and why had
+he attempted, with cunning and duplicity,
+to overreach his neighbours?
+Why, oh why, had he done all this?
+When Michael was fairly hemmed in
+by his difficulties, and, as it is vulgarly
+said, had not a leg to stand
+upon, or a hole to creep through, then,
+and not till then, did he put these
+various questions to himself; and
+since it is somewhat singular that so
+shrewd a man should have waited
+until the last moment to put queries
+of such vast importance to himself, I
+shall dwell here for one brief moment
+on the fact, be it only to remind and
+to warn others, equally shrewd and
+equally clever, of the mischief they
+are doing when they postpone the
+consideration of their motives and
+acts until motives and acts both have
+brought them into a distress, out of
+which all their consideration will not
+move them an inch. "Why have I
+<i>done</i>?" was, is, and ever will be, the
+whining interrogative of stricken <i>inability</i>;
+"Why am I about <i>to do</i>?" the
+provident question of thoughtful, far-seeing
+<i>success</i>. Remember that.</p>
+
+<p>I am really afraid to say how much
+of poor Margaret's fortune was dragged
+from her&mdash;how little of it still remained.
+It must have been a trifle,
+indeed, when Michael, with a solemn
+oath, swore that he would not touch
+one farthing more, let the consequences
+be what they might. Could it be
+possible that the whole of her splendid
+inheritance had shrunk to so paltry a
+sum, that the grasping man had ceased
+to think it worth his while to touch
+it? or did the dread of beholding the
+confiding woman, beggar'd at last, induce
+him to leave at her disposal
+enough to purchase for her&mdash;necessary
+bread? Whatever was his motive, he
+persisted in his resolution, and to the
+end was faithful to his oath. Not
+another sixpence did he take from
+her. And how much the better was
+he for all that he had taken already?
+Poor Michael had not time to enquire
+and answer the question. He could
+not employ his precious moments in
+retrospection. He lived from hand to
+mouth; struggled every hour to meet
+the exigencies of the hour that followed.
+He was absorbed in the agitated
+present, and dared not look an
+inch away from it. Now, thanks to
+the efforts of her people, England is a
+Christian country; and whenever fortune
+goes very hard with a man who
+has received all the assistance that
+his immediate connexions can afford
+him, there is a benevolent brotherhood
+at hand, eager to relieve the sufferer's
+wants, and to put an end to his anxiety.
+This charitable band is known
+by the name of <i>Money-lenders&mdash;Jewish</i>
+money-lenders; so called, no doubt,
+in profound humility and self-denial,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page71" id="page71"></a>[pg 71]</span>
+displayed in the Christian's wish to
+give the <i>honour</i> of the work elsewhere,
+reserving to himself the labour and&mdash;the
+profit. When Michael needed
+fresh supplies, he was not long in
+gathering a gang of harpies about him.
+They kept their victim for a while
+well afloat. They permitted their
+principal to accumulate in his hands,
+whilst they received full half of their
+advances back in the form of interest.
+So he went on; and how long this
+game would have lasted, it is impossible
+to say, because it was cut short
+in its heighth by a circumstance that
+brought the toppling house down, as
+it were, with a blow and a run.</p>
+
+<p>When Allcraft, one morning at his
+usual hour, presented himself at the
+bank, his confidential clerk approached
+him with a very serious face, and
+placed a newspaper in his hand. Michael
+had grown very timid and excitable;
+and when the clerk put his
+finger on the particular spot to which
+he desired to call his superior's attention,
+the heart of the nervous man
+leapt into his throat, and the blood
+rushed from his cheek, as if it were its
+duty to go and look after it. He literally
+wanted the courage to read the
+words. He attempted to smile indifferently,
+and to thank his servant as
+courteously as if he had given him a
+pleasant pinch of snuff; but at the
+same time, he pressed his thumb upon
+the paragraph, and made his way
+straight to his snug and private room.
+He was ready to drop when he reached
+it, and his heart beat like a hammer
+against his ribs. He placed the paper
+on the table, and, ere he read a syllable,
+he laboured to compose himself.
+What could it be? Was the thing
+exploded? Was he already the common
+talk and laugh of men? Was he
+ruined and disgraced? He read at
+length&mdash;<i>The property and estates of
+Walter Bellamy, Esq., were announced
+for sale by auction.</i> His first sensation
+on perusing the advertisement
+was one of overpowering sickness.
+Here, then, was his destruction sealed!
+Here was the declaration of poverty
+trumpeted to the world. Here
+was the alarum sounded&mdash;here was
+his doom proclaimed. Let there be a
+run upon the bank&mdash;and who could
+stop it now?&mdash;let it last for four-and-twenty
+hours, and he is himself a
+bankrupt, an outcast, and a beggar.
+The tale was told&mdash;the disastrous history
+was closed. He had spun his
+web&mdash;had been his own destiny. God
+help and pardon him for his transgressions!
+There he sat, unhappy
+creature, weeping, and weeping like a
+heart-broken boy, sobbing aloud from
+the very depths of his soul, frantic
+with distress. For a full half hour he
+sat there, now clenching his fists in
+silent agony, now accusing himself of
+crime, now permitting horrible visions
+to take possession of his brain, and to
+madden it with their terrible and truth-like
+glare. He saw himself&mdash;whilst
+his closed eyes were pressed upon his
+paralysed hands&mdash;saw himself as palpably
+as though he stood <i>before</i> himself,
+crawling through the public streets,
+an object for men's pity, scorn, and
+curses. Now men laughed at him,
+pointed to him with their fingers, and
+made their children mock and hoot the
+penniless insolvent. Labouring
+men, with whose small savings he
+had played the thief, prayed for maledictions
+on his head; and mothers
+taught their little ones to hate the
+very name he bore, and frightened
+them by making use of it. Miserable
+pictures, one upon the other, rose before
+him&mdash;dark judgments, which he
+had never dreamed of or anticipated;
+and he stood like a stricken coward,
+and he yearned for the silence and
+concealment of the <i>grave</i>. Ay&mdash;the
+grave! Delightful haven to pigeon-hearted
+malefactors&mdash;inconsistent criminals,
+who fear the puny look of mortal man, and, unabashed, stalk
+beneath the eternal and the killing
+frown of God. Michael fixed upon
+his remedy, and the delusive opiate
+gave him temporary ease; but, in an another
+instant, he derived even hope
+and consolation from another and altogether
+opposite view of things. A
+thought suddenly occurred to him, as
+thoughts will occur to the tossed and
+working mind&mdash;how, why, or whence
+we know not; and the drowning man,
+catching sight of the straw, did not
+fail to clutch it. What if, after all,
+Mr. Bellamy proposed to sell his property
+<i>in favour of the bank</i>!! Very
+likely, certainly; and yet Allcraft,
+sinking, could believe it possible&mdash;yes
+possible, and (by a course of happy
+reasoning and self-persuasion) not only
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page72" id="page72"></a>[pg 72]</span>
+so&mdash;but <i>true</i>. And if this were Mr.
+Bellamy's motive and design, how
+cruel had been his own suspicions&mdash;how vain and wicked his previous disturbance
+and complaints! And why
+should it not be? Had he not engaged
+to restore the money which he
+had borrowed; and had he not given
+his word of honour to pay in a large
+amount of capital? At the memorable
+meeting, had he not promised to
+satisfy Allcraft of the justice of his
+own proceedings, and the impropriety
+of Michael's attack upon his character?
+And had not the time arrived
+for the redemption of his word, and
+the payment of every farthing that
+was due from him? Yes; it had arrived&mdash;it
+had come&mdash;it was here. Mr
+Bellamy was about to assert his integrity,
+and the banking-house was
+saved. Michael rose from his chair&mdash;wiped
+the heavy sweat-drops from his
+brow&mdash;dried his tears, and gave one
+long and grateful sigh for his deliverance
+from that state of horror, by
+which, for one sad, sickening moment,
+he had been bewildered and betrayed.
+But, satisfied as he was, and rejoiced
+as he pretended to be, it could hardly
+be expected that a gentleman possessed
+of so lively a temperament as
+that enjoyed by Mr. Allcraft would
+rest quietly upon his convictions, and
+take no steps to strengthen and establish
+them. Michael for many days
+past had had no direct communication
+with his absent partner, and, at the
+present moment, he was ignorant of
+his movements. He resolved to make
+his way at once to the Hall, and to
+get what intelligence he could of its
+lord and master, from the servants left
+in charge of that most noble and encumbered
+property. Accordingly he
+quitted his apartment, threw a ghastly
+smile into his countenance, and
+then came quickly upon his clerks,
+humming a few cheerful notes, with
+about as much spirit and energy as a
+man might have if forced to sing a
+comic song just before his execution.
+Thoroughly persuaded that the officials
+had not obtained an inkling of what
+had transpired in his <i>sanctum</i>, and
+that he left them without a suspicion
+of evil upon their minds, he started
+upon his errand, and waited not for
+breath until he reached his destination.
+He arrived at the lodge&mdash;he arrived at
+the Hall. He rang the loud bell, and
+a minute afterwards he learned that
+Mr Bellamy was within&mdash;had made
+his appearance at home late on the
+evening before, and, at the present
+moment, was enjoying his breakfast.
+Michael, for sudden joy and excitement,
+was wellnigh thrown from his
+equilibrium. Here was confirmation
+stronger than ever! Would he have
+returned to the estate upon the very
+eve of disposing of it, if he had not
+intended to deal well and honestly
+in the transaction? Would he not
+have been ashamed to do it? Would
+he have subjected himself to the just
+reproaches and upbraidings of his
+partner, when, by his absence, he
+might so easily have avoided them?
+Certainly not. Michael Allcraft, for
+a few brief seconds, was a happier
+man than he had been for years. His
+eyes were hardly free of the tears
+which he had shed in the extremity of
+his distress, and he was now ready to
+weep again in the very exuberance
+and wildness of his delight. He presented
+his card to the corpulent and
+powdered footman; he was announced;
+he was ushered in. Walter Bellamy,
+Esquire, sitting in state, received
+his friend and partner with many
+smiles and much urbanity. He was
+still at breakfast, and advancing slowly
+in the meal, like a gentleman whose
+breakfast was his greatest care in life.
+Nothing could be more striking than
+the air of stately repose visible in the
+proprietor himself, and in the specious
+and solemn serving-man, who stood
+behind him&mdash;less a <i>serving</i>-man than
+a sublime dumb waiter. Michael was
+affected by it, and he approached his
+colleague with a rising sentiment of
+awe&mdash;partly, perhaps, the effect of the
+scene&mdash;partly the result of natural
+apprehension.</p>
+
+<p>"Most glad to see you, my very
+good friend," began the master&mdash;"most
+glad&mdash;most happy&mdash;pray, be
+seated. A lovely morning this! A
+plate for Mr. Allcraft."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you&mdash;I have breakfasted," said
+Michael, declining the kind offer.
+"I had no thought of finding you at
+home."</p>
+
+<p>"Ay&mdash;a mutual and unexpected
+pleasure. Just so. I had no thought
+of coming home until I started, and I
+arrived here only late last night. Business
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page73" id="page73"></a>[pg 73]</span>
+seldom suites itself to one's convenience."</p>
+
+<p>"Seldom, indeed&mdash;very seldom,"
+answered Michael, with a friendly
+smile, and a look of meaning, which
+showed that he had taken hope from
+Mr Bellamy's expression&mdash;"and," he
+continued, "having returned, I presume
+you spend some time amongst us."</p>
+
+<p>"Not a day, my friend. To-morrow
+I am on the wing again. I have
+left a dozen men behind me, who'll
+hunt me over the country, if I don't
+rejoin them without delay. No. I
+am off again to-morrow." (Michael
+moved uneasily in his chair.) "But,
+how are you, Mr Allcraft? How are
+all our friends? Nothing new, I'll
+venture to say. This world is a stale
+affair at the best. Life is seen and
+known at twenty. Live to sixty, and
+it is like reading a dull book three
+times over. You had better take a
+cup of coffee, Mr Allcraft!"</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you&mdash;no. You surprise
+me by your determination."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be surprised at any thing,
+Mr Allcraft. Take things as they
+come, if you wish to be happy."</p>
+
+<p>Michael, very uneasy indeed, wished
+to make a remark, but he looked
+at the man in crimson plush, and held his
+tongue. Mr Bellamy observed him.</p>
+
+<p>"You have something to say? Can
+I give you any advice, my friend?
+Pray, command me, and speak without
+reserve. As much as you please,
+and as quickly as you please, for I
+assure you time is precious. In half
+an hour I have twenty men to see,
+and twice as many things to do."</p>
+
+<p>Again Michael glanced at the stout
+footman, who was pretending to throw
+his mind into the coming week, and
+to appear oblivious of every thing
+about him.</p>
+
+<p>"I have a question to ask," proceeded
+Michael hesitatingly; "but it
+can be answered in a moment, and at
+another opportunity&mdash;in a little while,
+when you are <i>quite</i> at leisure."</p>
+
+<p>"As you please; only remember
+I have no end of engagements, and if
+I am called away I cannot return to
+you."</p>
+
+<p>Poor Michael! His expectations
+were again at a fearful discount. The
+language and demeanor of Mr Bellamy
+seemed decisive of his intentions.
+What could he do? What&mdash;but fasten
+on his man, and not suffer him to
+leave his sight without an explanation,
+which he dreaded to receive.
+Mr Bellamy continued to be very polite
+and very talkative, and to prosecute
+his repast with unyielding equanimity.
+At the close of the meal the
+servant removed the cloth, and departed.
+At the same instant the
+landed proprietor rose from his chair,
+and was about to depart likewise.
+Michael, alarmed at the movement,
+touched Mr Bellamy gently on the
+sleeve, and then, less gently, detained
+him by the wrist.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean, sir?" asked
+Bellamy, turning sharply upon his
+partner: "What do you mean? What
+is your object?"</p>
+
+<p>"Mr Bellamy," said Allcraft, pale
+as death, and much excited; "you
+must not go until you have satisfied
+me on a point of life and death to both
+of us. Your conduct is a mystery.
+I cannot explain it. I know not what
+are the motives which actuate you.
+These are known to yourself. Let
+them be so. But I have a question
+to ask, and you must and shall answer it."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Must</i> and <i>shall</i>, Mr Allcraft! Take
+care&mdash;pray, take care of your expressions.
+You will commit yourself.
+When will you cease to be a very
+young man? I will answer voluntarily
+any questions put to me by any
+gentleman. <i>Must</i> and <i>shall</i> never
+forced a syllable from my lips yet.
+Now, sir&mdash;ask what you please."</p>
+
+<p>"Mr Bellamy," continued Allcraft,
+"your property is announced for public
+sale."</p>
+
+<p>"It is," said Bellamy.</p>
+
+<p>"And the announcement has your sanction?"</p>
+
+<p>"It has."</p>
+
+<p>"And with the sum realized by
+that sale, you propose to"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>Michael stopped, as though he wished
+his partner to fill up the sentence.</p>
+
+<p>"Go on, sir," said the proprietor.</p>
+
+<p>"With the sum thus realized, I
+say, you propose to make good the
+losses which the bank has suffered by
+your improvidence?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not exactly. Is there any thing
+else?"</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page74" id="page74"></a>[pg 74]</span>
+
+<p>"Oh, Mr Bellamy, you cannot
+mean what you say? I am sure you
+cannot. You are aware of our condition.
+You know that there needs
+only a breath to destroy us in one
+moment for ever. At this very time
+your purpose is known to the world;
+and, before we can prevent it, the
+bank may be run upon and annihilated.
+What will be said of your
+proceedings? How can you reconcile
+the answer which you have just now
+given to me, with your vaunted high
+sense of honour, or even with your
+own most worldly interests?"</p>
+
+<p>"Have you finished, sir?" said
+Bellamy, in a quiet voice.</p>
+
+<p>"No!" exclaimed Michael, in as
+angry a tone of indignation: "no! I
+have not finished. I call upon you,
+Mr Bellamy, to mark my words; to
+mark and heed them&mdash;for, so Heaven
+help me, I bid you listen to the truth.
+Quiet and easy as you profess to be,
+I will be cozened by you no longer.
+If you carry out your work, your doings
+shall be told to every human
+soul within a hundred miles of where
+you stand. You shall be exhibited as
+you are. If every farthing got from
+the sale of this estate be not given up
+to defray your past extravagance, you
+shall be branded as you deserve. Mr
+Bellamy, you have deceived me for
+many years. Do not deceive yourself
+now."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you finished, sir?" repeated
+Mr Bellamy.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;with a sentence. If you
+are mad&mdash;I will be resolute. Persist
+in your determination, and the bank
+shall stop this very night."</p>
+
+<p>"And let it stop," said Bellamy;
+"by all means let it stop. If it be a
+necessary, inevitable arrangement, I
+would not interfere with it for the
+world. Act, Mr Allcraft, precisely as
+you think proper. It is all I ask on
+my own account. I have unfortunately
+private debts to a very large
+amount. What is still more unfortunate,
+they must be paid. I have no
+means of paying them except by selling
+my estate, and therefore it must
+go. I hope you are satisfied?"</p>
+
+<p>Michael threw himself into a chair,
+and moved about in it, groaning. Mr
+Bellamy closed the door, and approached
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"This is a very unnecessary display
+of feeling, Mr Allcraft," said the
+imperturbable Bellamy; "very&mdash;and
+can answer no good end. The thing,
+as I have told you, is inevitable."</p>
+
+<p>"No&mdash;no&mdash;no," cried Allcraft, imploringly;
+"Not so, Mr Bellamy.
+Think again&mdash;ponder well our dreadful
+situation. Reflect that, before another
+day is gone, we may be ruined,
+beggared, and that this very property
+may be wrested from you by our
+angry creditors. What will become
+of us? For Heaven's sake, my dear,
+good sir, do not rush blindly upon
+destruction. Do not suffer us to be
+hooted, trampled upon, despised, cursed
+by every man that meets us. You
+can save us if you will&mdash;do it then&mdash;be
+generous&mdash;be just."</p>
+
+<p>"As for being <i>just</i>, Mr Allcraft,"
+replied Bellamy composedly, "the
+less we speak about that matter the
+better. Had <i>justice</i> been ever taken
+into account, you and I would, in all
+probability, not have met on the present
+business. I cannot help saying,
+that, when you are ready to justify to
+me your conduct in respect of your
+late father's liabilities, I shall be more
+disposed to listen to any thing you
+may have to urge in reason touching
+the produce of this estate. Until that
+time, I am an unmoved man. You
+conceive me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Michael, changing
+colour, "I see&mdash;I perceive your drift&mdash;I
+am aware&mdash;Mr Bellamy,"
+continued the unhappy speaker,
+stammering until he almost burst
+with rage. "You are a villain!
+You have heard of my misfortunes,
+and you take a mean advantage of
+your knowledge to crush and kill
+me. You are a villain and I defy
+you!"</p>
+
+<p>Mr Bellamy moved leisurely to the
+fire-place, and rang the bell. The
+stout gentleman in plush walked in,
+and the landed proprietor pointed to
+the door.</p>
+
+<p>"For Mr Allcraft, William," said
+the squire.</p>
+
+<p>"Very well!" said Michael, white
+with agitation; "Very well! As sure
+as you are a living man, your ruin
+shall be coincident with mine. Not a
+step shall I fall, down which you shall
+not follow and be dragged yourself.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page75" id="page75"></a>[pg 75]</span>
+You shall not be spared one pang. I
+warn you of your fate, and it shall
+come sooner than you look for it."</p>
+
+<p>"Pooh, pooh; you have been drinking,
+Mr. Allcraft."</p>
+
+<p>"You lie, sir, as you have lied for
+months and years&mdash;lived upon lies,
+and"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"You need not say another word.
+You shall finish your sentence, sir,
+elsewhere. Begone! William, show
+Mr. Allcraft to the door."</p>
+
+<p>William pretended to look very
+absent again, and bowed. Michael
+stared at him for a second or two, as
+if confounded, and then, like a madman,
+rushed from the room and house.</p>
+
+
+
+<h3>CHAPTER VI.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE CRASH.</h4>
+
+
+<p>The plans and objects of Mr Walter
+Bellamy were best known to himself.
+Whatever they might be, he diverged
+from them for a few hours in order to
+give his miserable partner the opportunity
+he had promised him, of completing
+that very inauspicious sentence&mdash;the
+last which he had uttered in Mr.
+Bellamy's house previously to his abrupt
+departure. Michael had not been
+in the banking-house an hour after
+his return from the Hall before he was
+visited by a business-like gentleman,
+who introduced himself as the particular
+friend of Mr. Bellamy, on whose
+particular business he professed to
+come. Allcraft, with his brain on fire,
+received the visit of this man with
+secret glee. All the way home he had
+prayed that Bellamy might prove as
+good as his word, and not fail to
+demand immediate satisfaction. He
+longed for death with a full and yearning
+desire, and he could kiss the hand
+that would be merciful and give the
+fatal blow. A suicide at heart, it was
+something to escape the guilt and
+punishment of self-murder. Bellamy
+was reputed a first-rate shot. Michael
+was aware of the fact, and hugged the
+consciousness to his soul. He would
+not detract from his reputation; the
+duellist should add another laurel to
+his chaplet of <i>honour</i>, and purchase it
+with his blood. He had resolved to
+fight and fall. It was very evident
+that the friend of Mr Bellamy expected
+rather to frighten Michael into a
+humble and contrite apology, than to
+find him ready and eager for the
+battle; for he commenced his mission
+by a very long and high-flown address,
+and assured Mr Allcraft, time
+after time, that nothing but the most
+ample and the most public <i>amende</i>
+could be received by his friend after
+what had taken place. Michael listened
+impatiently, and interrupted
+the speaker in the midst of his oration.</p>
+
+<p>"You are quite right, sir," said he.
+"If an apology is to be made, it
+should be an ample one. But I decline
+to make any whatever. I am
+prepared to give Mr Bellamy all the
+satisfaction that he asks. I will refer
+you at once to my friend, and the
+sooner the affair is settled the better."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, but surely, Mr Allcraft,
+you must regret the strong expression"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Which I uttered to your friend?
+By no means. I told him that he lied.
+I repeat the word to you. I would
+say it in his teeth again if he stood
+here. What more is necessary?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing," said the gentleman,
+certainly unprepared for Michael's
+resolution. "Nothing; name your
+friend, sir."</p>
+
+<p>Michael had already fixed upon a
+second, and he told his name. His
+visitor went to seek him, and the poor
+bewildered man rubbed his hands
+gleefully, as though he had just saved
+his life, instead of having placed it in
+such fearful jeopardy.</p>
+
+<p>That day passed like a dream. The
+meeting was quickly arranged. Six
+o'clock on the following morning was
+the hour fixed. The place was a field,
+the first beyond the turnpike gate,
+and within a mile of the city. As soon
+as Michael made sure of the duel, he
+saw his confidential clerk. His name
+was Burrage. He had been a servant
+in the banking-house for forty years,
+and had known Michael since his
+birth. It was he who gave the newspaper
+into Allcraft's hands, on the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page76" id="page76"></a>[pg 76]</span>
+first arrival of the latter at the bank
+that morning. He was a quiet old
+man of sixty, an affectionate creature,
+and as much a part of the banking-house
+as the iron chest, the desk, the
+counter, or any other solid fixture.
+He stepped softly into his master's
+room after he had been summoned
+there, and he gazed at his unhappy
+principal as a father might at his own
+child in misfortune&mdash;a beloved and
+favourite child.</p>
+
+<p>"You are not well this morning,
+sir," said Burrage most respectfully.
+"You look very pale and anxious."</p>
+
+<p>"My looks belie me, Burrage. I
+am very well. I have not been so
+well for years. I am composed and
+happy. I have been ill, but the time
+is past. How old are you, Burrage?"</p>
+
+<p>"Turned threescore, sir; old
+enough to die."</p>
+
+<p>"Die&mdash;die! death is a sweet thing,
+old man, when it comes to the care-worn.
+I have had my share of trouble."</p>
+
+<p>"Too much, sir&mdash;too much!" said
+Burrage, his eyes filling with water.
+"You have half killed yourself here.
+I am sure your poor father never expected
+this. Nobody could have expected
+it in his time, when you were
+a little, fat, rosy-cheeked boy, running
+about without a thought, except
+a thought of kindness for other people."</p>
+
+<p>Michael Allcraft burst into a flood
+of tears&mdash;they gushed faster and faster
+into his eyes, and he sobbed as only
+men sob who have reached the climax
+of earthly suffering and trial.</p>
+
+<p>"Do not take on so, my dear sir,"
+said Burrage, running to him. "Pray,
+be calm. I am sure you are unwell.
+You have been ill for some time. You
+should see a doctor&mdash;although I am
+very much afraid that your disease is
+beyond their cure&mdash;in truth I am."</p>
+
+<p>"Burrage," said Michael in a
+whisper, and still sighing convulsively&mdash;"It
+is all over. It is finished. Prepare
+for the crash&mdash;look to your own
+safety. Hide yourself from the gaze
+of men. It will strike us all dead."</p>
+
+<p>"You frighten me, Mr Allcraft.&mdash;You
+are really very ill. Your brain
+is overworked&mdash;you want a little repose
+and recreation."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, you are right Burrage&mdash;the
+recreation of a jail&mdash;the repose of a
+tomb. We will have one, at least&mdash;yes,
+one&mdash;and I have made the selection."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you heard any bad news to-day, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"None&mdash;excellent news to-day.
+No more hopes and fears&mdash;no alarms&mdash;no
+lying and knavery&mdash;eternal
+peace now, and not eternal wretchedness."</p>
+
+<p>"Had you not better leave the
+bank, Mr Allcraft, and go home? Your
+hands are burning hot. You are in a
+high fever."</p>
+
+<p>"Put up the shutters&mdash;put up the
+shutters," muttered Michael, more to
+himself than to his clerk. "Write
+<i>bankrupt</i> on the door&mdash;write it in large
+letters&mdash;in staring capitals&mdash;that the
+children may read the word, and know
+why they are taught to curse me.
+You hear me, Burrage?"</p>
+
+<p>"I hear what you say, sir, but I
+do not understand you. You want
+rest&mdash;you are excited."</p>
+
+<p>"I tell you, Burrage, I am quiet&mdash;I
+never was so quiet&mdash;never sounder
+in body and mind. Will you refuse
+to listen to the truth? Man," he continued,
+raising his voice and looking
+the clerk steadily in the face. "I am
+ruined&mdash;a beggar. The bank is at its
+last gasp. The doors are closed to-night&mdash;never
+to be re-opened."</p>
+
+<p>"God forbid, sir!"</p>
+
+<p>"Why so?&mdash;Would you drive me
+mad? Am I to have no peace&mdash;no
+rest? Am I to be devoured, eaten
+away by anxiety and trouble? Have
+you no human blood&mdash;no pity for me?
+Are you as selfish as the rest?"</p>
+
+<p>"Is it possible, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is the truth. But speak not of
+it. I will have your life if you betray
+me until the event tells its own tale.
+We close the door to-night, to open
+it no more. You hear the words.
+They are very simple words. Why
+do you stare so, as if you couldn't
+guess their meaning?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh&mdash;I have dreaded this&mdash;I have
+suspected it!" said Burrage, wringing
+his hands; "but it has always seemed
+impossible. Poor Mr Allcraft!"</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Poor!</i>" exclaimed Michael. "Do
+you begin already? Do you throw it
+in my teeth so soon? You are in the
+right, man&mdash;go with the stream&mdash;taunt
+me&mdash;spit in my face&mdash;trample
+me in the dust!"</p>
+
+<p>"Do not speak unkindly to me,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page77" id="page77"></a>[pg 77]</span>
+master," said the old clerk. "You
+will break my heart at once if you do.
+What you have told me is hard enough
+to bear in one day."</p>
+
+<p>Michael took the good fellow's hand,
+and answered, whilst his lips quivered
+with grief, "It is&mdash;it is enough, old
+friend. Go your ways. Leave me to
+myself. I have told you a secret&mdash;keep
+it whilst it remains one. Oh,
+what a havoc! What devastation!
+Go, Burrage&mdash;go&mdash;seal your lips&mdash;do
+not breathe a syllable&mdash;go to your work."</p>
+
+<p>The clerk went as he was bid, but
+stupified and stunned by the information
+he had received. He took his
+accustomed seat at the desk, and
+placed a large ledger before him. He
+was occupied with one trifling account
+for half the day, and did not finish it
+at last. A simple sum of compound
+addition puzzled the man who, an
+hour before, could have gone through
+the whole of the arithmetic in his
+sleep. Oh, boasted intellect of man!
+How little is it thou canst do when
+the delicate and feeling heart is out of
+tune! How impotent thou art! How
+like a rudderless ship upon a stormy
+sea! Poor Burrage was helpless and
+adrift! And Michael sat for hours
+together alone, in his little room. He
+was literally afraid to creep out of it.
+He struggled to keep his mind steadily
+and composedly fixed upon the fate
+that awaited him&mdash;a fate which he
+had marked out for himself, and resolved
+not to escape. He forced himself to
+regard the great Enemy of Man
+as <i>his</i> best friend&mdash;his only comforter
+and refuge. But just when he deemed
+himself well armed, least vulnerable,
+and most secure, the awful <i>reality</i> of
+death&mdash;its horrible accompaniments&mdash;dissolution,
+corruption, rottenness, decay,
+and its still more awful and obscure
+<i>uncertainties</i>, started suddenly before
+him, and sent a sickening chill through
+every pore of his unnerved flesh. Then
+he retreated from his position&mdash;fled,
+as it were, for life, and dared not
+look behind, so terrible was the
+sight of his grim adversary. He
+leaped from his chair, as if unable
+to sit there; and, whilst he paced the
+room, he drew his breath, as though
+he needed air for respiration&mdash;his heart
+throbbed, and his brain grew tight and
+hot within his skull. The fit passing
+away, Michael hastened to review the
+last few years of his existence, and to
+bribe himself to quietness and resignation,
+by contrasting the hateful life
+which he had spent with the desirable
+repose offered to him in the grave;
+and by degrees the agitation ceased&mdash;the
+alarm subsided, and the deluded
+man was once more cozened into hardened
+and unnatural tranquillity. In
+this way flew the hours&mdash;one train of
+feeling succeeding to another, until
+the worn-out spirit of the man gave
+in, and would be moved no longer.
+At last, the unhappy banker grew sullen
+and silent. He ceased to sigh,
+and groan, and weep. His brain refused
+to think. He drew his seat to
+the window of the room, which permitted
+him, unperceived, to observe
+the movements in the bank&mdash;and, folding
+his arms, he looked doggedly on,
+and clenched his teeth, and frowned.
+He saw the fortunate few who came
+for money and received it&mdash;and the
+unfortunate many, who brought their
+money&mdash;left, and lost it. He was
+indifferent to all. He beheld&mdash;as the
+spirits fair may be supposed to look
+upon the earth a moment before the
+sweeping pestilence that comes to thin
+it&mdash;life, vigorous and active, in that
+house of business, whose latest hour
+had come&mdash;whose knell was already
+sounding; but it moved him not. He
+heard men speak his name in tones of
+kindness, whose lips on the morrow
+would deal out curses. He saw others,
+hat in hand, begging for an audience,
+who would avoid him with a sneer and
+a scorning when he passed them in
+the street. He looked upon his own
+servants, who could not flatter their
+master too highly to-day, and would
+be the first to-morrow to cry him
+down, and rail against his unpardonable
+extravagance and recklessness;
+but he heeded nothing. His mind had
+suspended its operations, whilst his
+physical eye stared upon vacancy.</p>
+
+<p>It was very strange. He continued
+in this fashion for a long time, and
+suddenly sensibility seemed restored
+to him; for an ashy paleness came
+over him&mdash;his eyelid trembled, and
+his lips were drawn down convulsively,
+as if through strong and heavy grief.
+He rose instantly, rushed to the bell,
+and rang it violently.</p>
+
+<p>Burrage came to answer it.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page78" id="page78"></a>[pg 78]</span>
+
+<p>"Monster!" exclaimed his master,
+gazing at him spitefully, "have you
+no heart&mdash;no feeling left within you?
+How could you do it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Do what, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"Rob that poor old man. Plunder
+and kill that hoary unoffending creature.
+Why did you take his miserable
+earnings? Why did you rob his little
+ones? Why clutch the bread from
+his starving grandchildren? He will
+die of a broken heart, and will plead
+against me at the judgment-seat.
+Why was that old man's money
+taken?"</p>
+
+<p>"We must take all, or nothing, sir.
+You forbade me to speak a syllable."</p>
+
+<p>"Speak&mdash;speak! Yes, but could
+you not have given him a look, one
+merciful look, to save his life, and my
+soul from everlasting ruin? You might,
+you could have done it, but you conspire
+to overthrow me. Go&mdash;but
+mark me&mdash;breathe not a word, if you
+hope to live."</p>
+
+<p>The poor clerk held up his hands,
+shook them piteously, sighed, and went
+his way again.</p>
+
+<p>It was six o'clock in the evening,
+and every soul connected with the
+bank, except Michael and Burrage,
+had left it. They were both in the
+private room, which the former had
+not quitted during the day. Michael
+was writing a letter; the clerk was
+standing mournfully at his side. When
+the note was finished, directed, and
+sealed, Allcraft turned to his old friend
+and spoke&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I shall not sleep at home to-night,
+Burrage. I have business which must
+be seen to."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, sir, you had better go
+home. You are very unwell."</p>
+
+<p>"Silence, once more. I tell you,
+Burrage, it cannot be. This business
+must not be neglected. I have written
+to Mrs Allcraft, explaining the
+reason of my absence. You will yourself
+deliver the letter to her, with your
+own hands, Burrage. You hear me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir," faltered Burrage, wishing
+himself deaf.</p>
+
+<p>"Very well. I have no more to
+say. Good-by&mdash;good-night."</p>
+
+<p>"Good-night, sir," said the man,
+walking slowly off.</p>
+
+<p>"Stay, Burrage. You are a true
+old friend&mdash;my oldest. Give me your
+hand. I have spoken unkindly&mdash;very
+harshly and cruelly to-day. Do not
+think ill of me. My temper has been
+soured by the troubles of life. You forgive
+me for my anger&mdash;do you not?"</p>
+
+<p>The old man did not answer. He
+could not. He held the hand of his
+master tightly in his own. He drew
+it to his lips and kissed it; and then,
+ashamed not of the act, but of his
+unmanly tears, he walked slowly to
+the door, and quitted the room&mdash;his
+head bending to the earth, whence it
+never again was raised.</p>
+
+<p>Two hours later Michael was many
+miles away. He had followed to his
+humble home the aged man who had
+that morning paid his substance into
+the bank. Much as he had to answer
+for, Michael could not bear to carry
+about with him the knowledge that
+he had ruined and destroyed the grey-haired
+labourer. Why and how it
+was that he felt so acutely for the
+stranger, and selected him from the
+hundreds who were beggared by his
+failure, it is impossible to guess. It
+is certain that he restored every sixpence
+that had been deposited in the
+morning, and could not die until he
+had done so. Where Allcraft passed
+the night was never known. He was
+punctual to his appointment on the
+following morning; and so was Mr
+Bellamy. It is due to the latter to
+state, that, at the latest moment, he
+was willing, as far as in him lay, to
+settle the difference without proceeding
+to extreme measures. All that a
+man could offer, who did not wish to
+be suspected of rank cowardice, he offered
+without reservation. But Allcraft
+was inexorable. He repeated
+his insult on the field; and there was
+nothing to be done but to make him
+accountable for his words at the point
+of the pistol&mdash;to receive and give
+THE SATISFACTION OF A GENTLEMAN.
+Whatever satisfaction the mangled
+corpse of a man whom he had deeply
+injured, could afford the high-born Mr
+Bellamy, that gentleman enjoyed in a
+very few minutes after his arrival; for
+he shot his antagonist in the mouth,
+saw him spinning in the air, and afterwards
+lying at his feet&mdash;an object that
+he could not recognize&mdash;a spectacle
+for devils to rejoice in. Happy the
+low-born man who may not have or
+feel such exquisite and noble SATISFACTION!</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page79" id="page79"></a>[pg 79]</span>
+
+<p>Allcraft was not cold before Mr
+Bellamy was at sea, sailing for France.
+The latter had not put his feet upon
+foreign soil, before his property was
+seized by hungry creditors. The bank
+was closed. Burrage himself pasted
+on the shutters the paper that notified
+its failure. Augustus Theodore Brammel
+heard of the stoppage whilst he
+was at breakfast, sipping chocolate;
+and greatly he rejoiced thereat. His
+delight was sensibly diminished in the
+course of the morning, when he received
+a letter informing him of his
+father's death, and an intimation from
+a lawyer, that every farthing which
+he inherited would be taken from him,
+as goods and chattels, for the discharge
+of claims which the creditors
+of the bank might have against him.
+Later in the day, he heard of Allcraft's
+death and Bellamy's escape, and then
+he rushed into a chemist's shop and
+bought an ounce of arsenic; but after
+he had purchased it, he had not heart
+enough to swallow it. Enraged beyond
+expression&mdash;knowing not what
+to do, nor upon whom to vent his rage&mdash;it
+suddenly occurred to him to visit
+Mrs Allcraft, and to worry her with
+his complaints. He hurried to her
+house, and forced himself into her presence.
+We will not follow him, for
+grief is sacred; and who that had the
+heart of man, would desecrate the
+hearth hallowed by affliction, deep
+and terrible as that of our poor Margaret?</p>
+
+
+
+<h3>CHAPTER VII.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE VICARAGE.</h4>
+
+
+<p>Our history began at the Vicarage;
+there let it end. It is a cheerful summer's
+morning, and Margaret sits in
+the study of her friend Mr. Middleton,
+who has learned to look upon his
+charge as upon a daughter. She is
+still attired in widow's weeds, but
+looks more composed and happy than
+when we saw her many months ago
+there.</p>
+
+<p>"You will not leave us, then," said
+the good vicar; "we have not tired
+you yet?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," answered Margaret, with a
+sweet contented smile, "here must I
+live and die. My duties will not suffer
+me to depart, even were I so inclined.
+What would my children do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, what indeed? The school
+would certainly go to rack and ruin."</p>
+
+<p>"And my old friends, the Harpers
+and the Wakefields?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, the old ladies would very
+soon die of a broken heart, no doubt
+of it; and then, there's our dispensary
+and little hospital. Why, where should
+we look for a new apothecary?"</p>
+
+<p>"These are but the worst days of
+my life, Mr. Middleton, which I dedicate
+to usefulness. How am I to make
+good the deficiency of earlier years?"</p>
+
+<p>"By relying, my dear madam,
+upon the grace and love of Heaven,
+who in mercy regards not what we
+have been, but what we are."</p>
+
+<p>"And is there pardon for so great
+a sinner?"</p>
+
+<p>"Doubt it not, dear lady. Had
+you not been loved, you never would
+have been chastised&mdash;you would never
+have become an obedient and willing
+child. Be sure, dear Mrs Allcraft,
+that having repented, you are pardoned
+and reconciled to your Father. Pray,
+hold fast to this conviction. You have
+reason to believe it; for truly <i>you have
+not despised the chastening of the Lord,
+nor fainted when you were rebuked of him</i>."</p>
+
+<hr />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page80" id="page80"></a>[pg 80]</span>
+
+
+
+<h2>K&#205;EFF.</h2>
+
+<h3>TRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN OF IV&#193;N KOZL&#211;FF. <br/>BY T.B. SHAW.</h3>
+
+
+<div class="poem">  <div class="stanza">
+<p>O Ki&#233;ff! where religion ever seemeth</p>
+<p>To light existence in our native land;</p>
+<p>Where o'er Petch&#233;rskoi's dome the bright cross gleameth,</p>
+<p>Like some fair star, that still in heaven doth stand;</p>
+<p>Where, like a golden sheet, around thee streameth</p>
+<p>Thy plain, and meads that far away expand;</p>
+<p>And by thy hoary wall, with ceaseless motion,</p>
+<p>Old Dni&#233;per's foaming swell sweeps on to ocean.</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>How oft to thee in spirit have I panted,</p>
+<p>O holy city, country of my heart!</p>
+<p>How oft, in vision, have I gazed enchanted</p>
+<p>On thy fair towers&mdash;a sainted thing thou art!&mdash;</p>
+<p>By L&#225;vra's walls or Dni&#233;per's wave, nor wanted</p>
+<p>A spell to draw me from this life apart;</p>
+<p>In thee my country I behold, victorious,</p>
+<p>Holy and beautiful, and great and glorious.</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>The moon her soft ray on Petch&#233;rskoi poureth,</p>
+<p>Its domes are shining in the river's wave;</p>
+<p>The soul the spirit of the past adoreth,</p>
+<p>Where sleeps beneath thee many a holy grave:</p>
+<p>Vlad&#237;mir's shade above thee calmly soareth,</p>
+<p>Thy towers speak of the sainted and the brave;</p>
+<p>Afar I gaze, and all in dreamy splendour</p>
+<p>Breathes of the past&mdash;a spell sublime and tender.</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>There fought the warriors in the field of glory,</p>
+<p>Strong in the faith, against their country's foe;</p>
+<p>And many a royal flower yon palace hoary,</p>
+<p>In virgin loveliness, hath seen to blow.</p>
+<p>And B&#225;yan sang to them the noble story,</p>
+<p>And secret rapture in their breast did glow;</p>
+<p>Hark! midnight sounds&mdash;that brazen voice is dying&mdash;</p>
+<p>A day to meet the vanish'd days is flying.</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>Where are the valiant?&mdash;the resistless lances&mdash;</p>
+<p>The brands that were as lightning when they waved?</p>
+<p>Where are the beautiful&mdash;whose sunny glances</p>
+<p>Our fathers, with such potency, enslaved?</p>
+<p>Where is the bard, whose song no more entrances?</p>
+<p>Ah! that deep bell hath answer'd what I craved:</p>
+<p>And thou alone, by these grey walls, O river!</p>
+<p>Murmurest, Dni&#233;per, still, and flow'st for ever.</p>
+  </div>  </div>
+<hr />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page81" id="page81"></a>[pg 81]</span>
+
+
+
+<h2>MARSTON; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF A STATESMAN.</h2>
+
+
+<h3>PART VII.</h3>
+
+
+<div class="poem">  <div class="stanza">
+<p>Have I not in my time heard lions roar?</p>
+<p>Have I not heard the sea, puft up with wind,</p>
+<p>Rage like an angry boar chafed with sweat?</p>
+<p>Have I not heard great ordnance in the field,</p>
+<p>And heaven's artillery thunder in the skies?</p>
+<p>Have I not in the pitched battle heard</p>
+<p>Loud 'larums, neighing steeds, and trumpets clang?"</p>
+  </div></div>
+<p class="right"> SHAKSPEARE.</p>
+
+
+<p>At daybreak, the bustle of the
+camp awoke me. I rose hastily,
+mounted my horse, and spurred to the
+rendezvous of the general staff. Nothing
+could be more animated than
+the scene before me, and which spread
+to the utmost reach of view. The
+advance of the combined forces had
+moved at early dawn, and the columns
+were seen far away, ascending the
+sides of a hilly range by different
+routes, sometimes penetrating through
+the forest, and catching the lights of
+a brilliant rising sun on their plumes
+and arms. The sound of their trumpets
+and bands was heard from time
+to time, enriched by the distance, and
+coming on the fresh morning breeze,
+with something of its freshness, to the
+ear and the mind. The troops now
+passing under the knoll on which the
+commander-in-chief and his staff had
+taken their stand, were the main
+body, and were Austrian, fine-looking
+battalions, superbly uniformed, and
+covered with military decorations, the
+fruits of the late Turkish campaigns,
+and the picked troops of an empire of
+thirty millions of men. Nothing could
+be more brilliant, novel, or picturesque,
+than the display of this admirable
+force, as it moved in front of the rising
+ground on which our <i>cort&#232;ge</i> stood.</p>
+
+<p>"You will now see," said Varnhorst,
+who sat curbing, with no slight
+difficulty, his fiery Ukraine charger at
+my side, "the troops of countries of
+which Europe, in general, knows no
+more than of the tribes of the new
+world. The Austrian sceptre brings
+into the field all the barbaric arms
+and costumes of the border land of
+Christendom and the Turk."</p>
+
+<p>Varnhorst, familiar with every service
+of the continent, was a capital
+cicerone, and I listened with strong
+interest as he pronounced the names,
+and gave little characteristic anecdotes,
+of the gallant regiments that successively
+wheeled at the foot of the slope&mdash;the
+Archducal grenadiers&mdash;the
+Eugene battalion, which had won
+their horse-tails at the passage of the
+Danube&mdash;the Lichtensteins, who
+had stormed Belgrade&mdash;the Imperial
+Guard, a magnificent corps, who had
+led the last assault on the Grand
+Vizier's lines, and finished the war.
+The light infantry of Maria Theresa,
+and the Hungarian grenadiers and
+cuirassiers, a mass of steel and gold,
+closed the march of the main body.
+Nothing could be more splendid. And
+all this was done under the perpetual
+peal of trumpets, and the thunder of
+drums and gongs, that seemed absolutely
+to shake the air. It was completely
+the Miltonic march and harmony&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>
+"Sonorous metal blowing martial sounds."
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>But I was now to witness a still more
+spirit-stirring scene.</p>
+
+<p>The trampling of a multitude of
+horse, and the tossing of lances and
+banners in the distance, suddenly
+turned all eyes in their direction.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, prepare," said the Count,
+"for a sight, perhaps not altogether
+so soldierlike, but fully as much to my
+taste, as the buff-belt and grenadiers'-cap
+formality of the line. You shall
+see the Austrian flankers&mdash;every corps
+equipped after its native fashion. And
+whatever our martinets may say,
+there is nothing that gives such spirits
+to the soldier, as dressing according
+to the style of his own country. My
+early service was in Transylvania;
+and if I were to choose troops for a
+desperate service, I say&mdash;give me either
+the man of the hill, or the man of the
+forest, exactly in the coat of the chamois-shooter,
+or the wolf-hunter."</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page82" id="page82"></a>[pg 82]</span>
+
+<p>He had scarcely pointed my attention
+to the movement, when the whole
+body of the rearguard was in full and
+rapid advance. The plain was literally
+covered with those irregulars, who
+swept on like a surge, or rather, from
+the diversity of their colours, and the
+vast half-circle which they formed on
+the ground, a living rainbow. Part
+were infantry and part cavalry, but
+they were so intermingled, and the
+motion of all was so rapid, that it was
+difficult to mark the distinction. From
+my recollection of the history of the
+Seven Years' War, I felt a double
+interest in the sight of the different
+castes and classes of the service, which
+I had hitherto known only by name.
+Thus passed before me the famous
+Croatian companies&mdash;the Pandours,
+together forming the finest outpost
+troops of the army&mdash;the free companies
+of the Tyrol, the first marksmen
+of the empire, a fine athletic race, with
+the eagle's feather in their broad hats,
+and the sinewy step of the mountaineer&mdash;the
+lancers of the Bannat, first-rate
+videttes, an Albanian division, which
+had taken service with Austria on the
+close of the war; and, independently
+of all name and order, a cloud of
+wild cavalry, Turk, Christian, and
+barbarian, who followed the campaign
+for its chances, and galloped, sported,
+and charged each other like the Arabs
+of the desert.</p>
+
+<p>The late triumphs of the Imperial
+arms in Turkey had even enhanced
+the customary display, and the standards
+of the cavalry and colours of the
+battalions, were stiff with the embroidered
+titles of captured fortresses and
+conquered fields. Turkish instruments
+of music figured among the troops,
+and the captive horse-tails were conspicuous
+in more than one corps,
+which had plucked down the pride of
+the Moslem. The richness and variety
+of this extraordinary spectacle struck
+me as so perfectly Oriental, that I
+might have imagined myself suddenly
+transferred to Asia, and looked for the
+pasha and his spahis; or even for the
+rajah, his elephants, and his turbaned
+spearmen. But all this gay splendour
+has long since been changed. The
+Croats are now regulars, and all the
+rest have followed their example.</p>
+
+<p>My admiration was so loud, that it
+caught the ear of the duke. He turned
+his quick countenance on me, and
+said&mdash;"Tell our friends at home, M.
+Marston, what you have seen to-day.
+I presume you know that Maria Theresa
+was a first-rate soldier; or, at
+least, she had the happy art of finding
+them. You may see Laudohn's hand
+in her battalions. As for the light troops,
+Europe can show nothing superior
+in their kind. Trenk's Pandours, and
+Nadasti's hussars were worth an army
+to Austria, from the first Silesian war
+down to the last shot fired in Germany.
+But follow me, and you shall
+see the work of another great master."</p>
+
+<p>We spurred across the plain to the
+mouth of a deep, wooded defile,
+through which the Prussian grand
+<i>corps d'arm&#233;e</i> were advancing. The
+brigades which now met our view
+were evidently of a different character
+from the Austrian; their uniforms
+of the utmost simplicity; their
+march utterly silent; the heads of the
+columns observing their distances with
+such accuracy, that, on a signal, they
+could have been instantly formed in
+order of battle; every movement of
+the main body simply directed by a
+flag carried from hill to hill, and even
+the battalion movements marked by
+the mere waving of a sword. Even
+their military music was of a peculiarly
+soft and subdued character. On
+my observing this to Varnhorst, his
+reply was&mdash;"That this was one of
+the favourite points of the Great Frederick.
+'I hate drums in the march,'
+said the king, 'they do nothing but
+confuse the step. Every one knows
+that the beat at the head of the column
+takes time to reach the rear.
+Besides, the drum deafens the ear.
+Keep it, therefore, for the battle, when
+the more noise the better.' He also
+placed the band in the centre of the
+column. 'If they are fond of music,'
+said he, 'why should not every man
+have his share?'"</p>
+
+<p>The steady advance, the solid
+force, and the sweet harmony, almost
+realized the noble poetic conception&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem">  <div class="stanza">
+<p class="i6">"Anon they move</p>
+<p>In perfect phalanx, to the Dorian mood</p>
+<p>Of flutes and soft recorders, such as raised</p>
+<p>To heights of noblest temper heroes old</p>
+<p>Arming to battle; and instead of rage,</p>
+<p>Deliberate valour breathed, firm and unmoved</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page83" id="page83"></a>[pg 83]</span>
+<p>With dread of death to flight or foul retreat."</p>
+  </div>  </div>
+
+<p>It is true that they wanted the
+picturesque splendour of ancient
+warfare. The ten thousand banners,
+with orient colours waving, the
+"forest huge of spears," the "thronging
+helms," and "serried shields, in
+thick array of depth immeasurable."
+But if the bayonet, the lance, and even
+the cannon offered less to the eye,
+the true source of the grandeur of war
+was there&mdash;the power, the tremendous
+impulse, the <i>materiel</i> of those
+shocks which convulse nations&mdash;the
+marshalled strength, fierce science,
+and stern will, before which the works
+of man perish like chaff before the
+wind, and the glory of nations vanishes
+like a shade.</p>
+
+<p>While the last of the troops were
+defiling before the duke and his staff,
+a courier brought up despatches.</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen," said the duke, after
+glancing at one of the papers, "the
+army of the Prince de Cond&#233; is in
+march to join us. They have already
+reached the neighbourhood. We must
+now lose no time. M. Marston, you
+will report to your Government what
+you have seen to-day. We <i>are</i> in
+march for Paris."</p>
+
+<p>Varnhorst and Guiscard were now
+summoned to the side of the duke; a
+spot was found where we might shelter
+ourselves from the overpowering blaze
+of the sun; the successive despatches
+were opened; a large map of the
+routes from Champagne to the capital
+was laid on the ground; and we
+dismounted, and, sitting together, like
+old comrades, we held our little council
+of war.</p>
+
+<p>"I can make nothing of my French
+correspondents in general," said the
+duke, after perusing a long letter, "but
+M. le Comte writes like Cagliostro.
+He has evidently some prodigious
+secret, which he is determined to envelope
+in still deeper secrecy. He
+tells me that La Fayette has fled;
+but when, where, or for what purpose,
+is all equally an enigma. In one
+sentence of his letter he would persuade
+me that all France is disorganized,
+and in the next, that it is more
+resolved to resist than ever. Paris
+is prepared to rise at the first sight of
+the white flag, and Paris is sending
+out six thousand men every three
+hours to join the republican force in
+the field. Paris is in despair. Paris
+is in furious exultation. How am I
+to understand all this? Even in his
+postscript he tells me, in one breath,
+that the whole of the strong places in
+our front are filled with national guards,
+and that no less than seven corps of
+troops of the line are prepared to fight
+us in the plains of Champagne; and
+that we have only to push on to take
+the towns&mdash;charge the troops of the
+line to see them disperse&mdash;and advance
+within ten leagues of Paris to extinguish
+the rebellion, set the royal family
+free, and restore the monarchy."</p>
+
+<p>The mysterious letter was handed
+round our circle in succession, and
+seemed equally beyond comprehension
+to us all. We had yet to learn the temperament
+of a capital, where every half-hour
+produced a total change of the
+popular mind. The letter, fantastically
+expressed as it was, conveyed
+the true condition of the hour. The
+picture was true, but the countenance
+changed every moment. He might
+as well have given the colours of
+cloud.</p>
+
+<p>I had now entered on a course of
+adventure the most exciting of all
+others, and at the most exciting time
+of life. But all the world round me
+was in a state of excitement. Every
+nation of Europe was throwing open
+its armoury, and preparing its weapons
+for the field. The troops invading
+France were palpably no more
+than the advanced guards of Prussia
+and Austria. Even with all my inexperience,
+I foresaw that the war would
+differ from all the past; that it would
+be, not a war of tactics, but a war of
+opinion; that not armies, but the people
+marshalled into hosts, would be
+ultimately the deciders of the victory;
+and that on whichever side the popular
+feeling was more serious, persevering,
+and intense, there the triumph would
+be gained. I must still confess, however,
+in disparagement to my military
+sagacity, that I was totally unprepared
+for the gallant resistance of the
+French recruits. What can they do
+without officers?&mdash;ten thousand of
+whom had been noblesse, and were
+now emigrants? What can they do
+without a commissariat, what can
+they do without pay, and who is to
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page84" id="page84"></a>[pg 84]</span>
+pay them in a bankrupt nation? Those
+were the constant topics at headquarters.
+We were marching to an assured
+victory. France was at an end.
+We should remodel the Government,
+and teach the <i>sans culottes</i> the hazard
+of trying the trade of politicians.</p>
+
+<p>There was but one man in the camp
+who did not coincide in those glittering
+visions. Let me once more do
+justice to a prince whose character
+has been affected by the caprices of
+fortune. The Duke of Brunswick's
+language to me, as we saw the Tricolor
+waving on the walls of Longwy,
+the first fortress which lay in our road,
+was&mdash;"Sir, your court must not be
+deceived. We shall probably take the
+town, and defeat its wavering army;
+but up to this moment, we have not
+been joined by a single peasant. The
+population are against us. This is not
+a German war; it is more like yours
+in America. I have but one hundred
+and twenty thousand men against
+twenty-five millions." To my remark,
+"that there might be large body of
+concealed loyalty in France, which
+only waited the advance of the Allies
+to declare itself," his calm and
+grave reply was: "That I must not
+suffer my Government to suppose
+him capable of abandoning the royal
+cause, while there was hope in military
+means. That it was his determination
+to hazard all things rather
+than chill the coalition. But this let
+me impress upon your Ministry," said
+he, with his powerful eye turned full
+on me; "that if intrigue in the German
+cabinets, or tardiness on the part
+of yours, shall be suffered to impede
+my progress, all is at an end. I know
+the French; if we pause, they will
+pour on. If we do not reach Paris,
+we must prepare to defend Berlin and
+Vienna. If the war is not ended
+within a month, it may last for those
+twenty years."</p>
+
+<p>The commander-in-chief was true
+to his word. He lost no time. Before
+night our batteries were in full
+play upon the bastions of Longwy,
+and as our tents had not yet overtaken
+us, I lay down under a vineyard shed
+in a circle of the staff, with our cloaks
+for our pillows, listening to the roar
+of our artillery; until it mingled with
+my dreams.</p>
+
+<p>We were on horse an hour before
+daybreak, and the cannonade still continued
+heavy. It was actively returned,
+and the ramparts were a circuit of
+fire. As a spectacle, nothing could be
+more vivid, striking, and full of interest.
+To wait for the slow approaches
+of a formal siege was out of the question.
+Intelligence had reached us that
+the scattered French armies, having
+now ascertained the point at which
+the burst over the frontier was to be
+made, had been suddenly combined,
+and had taken a strong position directly
+in our way to the capital. A
+protracted siege would raise the country
+in our rear, and, thus placed between
+two fires, the grand army might
+find itself paralysed at the first step
+of the campaign. The place must be
+battered until a breach was made, and
+stormed <i>&#224; la Turque</i>. Our anxiety during
+the day was indescribable. With
+our telescopes constantly in our hands,
+we watched the effect of every new
+discharge; we galloped from hill to
+hill with the impatience of men in actual
+combat, and every eye and tongue
+was busy in calculating the distances,
+the power of guns, and the time which
+the crumbling works would take to fill
+up the ditch. The reports of the engineers,
+towards evening, announced
+that a practicable breach was made,
+and three battalions of Austrian grenadiers,
+and as many of Prussians,
+were ordered under arms for the assault.
+To make this gallant enterprize
+more conspicuous, the whole
+army was formed in columns, and
+marched to the heights, which commanded
+a view of the fortress. The
+fire from the batteries now became a
+continued roar, and the guns of Longwy,
+whose fire had slackened during
+the day, answered them with an equal
+thunder; the space between was soon
+covered with smoke, and when the
+battalions of grenadiers moved down
+the hillside, and plunged into the valley,
+they looked like masses of men
+disappearing into the depths of ocean.
+The anxiety now grew intense. I
+hardly breathed; and yet I had a
+mingled sensation of delight, eagerness,
+and yet of uncertainty, to which
+nothing that I had ever felt before
+was comparable. I longed to follow
+those brave men to the assault, and
+probably would have made some such
+extravagant blunder, but for seeing
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page85" id="page85"></a>[pg 85]</span>
+Varnhorst's broad visage turned on
+me with a look of that quiet humour
+which, of all things on earth, soonest
+brings a man to his senses. "My
+good friend," said he, "however fine
+this affair may be, live in hope of
+seeing something finer. Never be
+shot at Longwy, when you may have
+a chance of scaling the walls of Paris.
+I have made a vow never to be hanged
+in the beginning of a revolution,
+nor to be shot in the beginning of a
+war. But come, the duke is beckoning
+to us. Let us follow him."</p>
+
+<p>We saw the general and his staff
+galloping from the ground where he
+had remained from the beginning of
+the assault, to a height still more exposed,
+and where the guns from the
+fortress were tearing up the soil. From
+this spot a large body of troops were
+seen rushing from the gate of the fortress,
+and plunging into the valley.
+The result of this powerful sortie was
+soon heard, for every thing was invisible
+under the thick cloud, which
+grew thicker every moment, in the
+volleys of musketry, and the shouts
+of the troops on both sides. Varnhorst
+now received an order from
+the chief of the staff, which produced
+its effect, in the rush of a squadron of
+Prussian cavalry on the flank of the
+enemy's column. In a few minutes
+it was broken, and we saw its wrecks
+swept along the side of the hill. An
+universal shout was sent up from the
+army, and our next sight was the
+ascent of the Austrian and Prussian
+standards, gradually rising through the
+smoke, and making their way towards
+the glacis. They had reached the foot
+of the breach, when the fire of the
+town suddenly ceased. A white flag
+waved on the rampart, and the drums
+of the garrison beat the <i>chamade</i>.
+Longwy had surrendered! All now
+was triumph and congratulation. We
+flocked round the duke, and hailed his
+first conquest as a promise of perpetual
+success. He was in high spirits at an
+achievement which was so important
+to the national impression of his talents
+and resources. The sortie of the
+garrison had given the capture an <i>&#233;cl&#226;t</i>
+which could not have been obtained
+by the mere surrender of a strong
+place. But the most important point
+of all was, the surrender before the
+assault. "The sight of our troops is
+enough," was the universal conclusion.
+If the fortified barrier of France cannot
+resist, what will be done by troops
+as raw as peasants, and officers as raw
+as their troops? The capitulation was
+a matter of half an hour, and by nightfall
+I followed the duke and his escort
+into the town. It was illuminated by
+order of the conquerors, and, whether
+<i>bongr&#232;</i> or <i>malgr&#232;</i>, it looked showy;
+we had gazers in abundance, as the
+dashing staff caracoled their way
+through the streets. I observed, however,
+that we had no acclamations.
+To have hissed us, might be a hazardous
+experiment, while so many Hulans
+were galloping through the Grande
+Rue; but we got no smiles. In the
+midst of the crowd, I met Varnhorst
+steering his charger with no small
+difficulty, and carrying a packet of
+notes in his hand. "Go to your quarters,
+and dress," said my good-humoured
+friend. "You will have a busy
+night of it. The duke has invited the
+French commandant and his officers
+to dine with him, and we are to have
+a ball and supper afterwards for the
+ladies. Lose no time." He left me
+wondering at the new world into
+which I had fallen, and strongly
+doubting, that he would be able to fill
+up his ball-room. But I was mistaken.
+The dinner was handsomely
+attended, and the ball more handsomely
+still. "Fortune de la guerre,"
+reconciled the gallant captains of the
+garrison to the change; and they
+fully enjoyed the contrast between a
+night on the ramparts, and the hours
+spent at the Prussian generalissimo's
+splendidly furnished table. The ball
+which followed exhibited a crowd of
+the <i>belles</i> of Longwy, all as happy as
+dress and dancing could make them.
+It was a charming episode in the sullen
+history of campaigning, and before
+I flung myself on the embroidered
+sofa of the mayor's drawing-room,
+where my billet had been given for the
+night, I was on terms of eternal
+"friendship" with a whole group of
+classic beauties&mdash;Aspasias, Psyches
+and Cleopatras.</p>
+
+<p>But neither love nor luxury, neither
+the smiles of that fair <i>Champagnaises</i>,
+nor the delight of treading on the
+tesselated floors, and feasting on the
+richness of municipal tables, could
+now detain us. We were in our saddles
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page86" id="page86"></a>[pg 86]</span>
+by daybreak, and with horses
+that outstripped the wind, with hearts
+light as air, and with prospects of
+endless victory and orders and honours
+innumerable before us, we galloped
+along, preceded, surrounded, and
+followed by the most showy squadrons
+that ever wore lace and feathers.
+The delight of this period was indescribable.
+It was to me a new birth
+of faculties that resembled a new sense
+of being, a buoyant and elastic lightness
+of feelings and frame. The pure
+air; the perpetual change of scene; the
+novelty of the landscape; the restless
+and vivid variety of events, and those
+too of the most powerful and comprehensive
+nature; the superb display of
+the finest army that the Continent had
+sent to war for the last hundred
+years; and all this excitement and
+enjoyment, with an unrivaled vista of
+matchless conquest in the horizon, a
+triumphal march through the provinces,
+to be consummated by the peace
+of Europe in Paris, filled even my vexed
+and wearied spirit with new life.
+If I am right in my theory, that the
+mind reaches stages of its growth with
+as much distinctness as the frame,
+this was one of them. I was conscious
+from this time of a more matured
+view of human being, of a clearer
+knowledge of its impulses, of a more
+vigorous, firm, and enlarged capacity
+for dealing with the real concerns of
+life. I still loved; and, strange, hopeless,
+and bewildering as that passion
+was in the breast of one who seemed
+destined to all the diversities of fortune&mdash;it remained without relief, or
+relaxation through all. It was the
+vein of gold, or perhaps the stream of
+fire, beneath the soil, inaccessible to
+the power of change on the surface,
+but that surface undergoing every impulse
+and influence of art and nature.</p>
+
+<p>The army now advanced unopposed.
+Still we received neither cheers
+nor reinforcements from the population.
+Yet we had now begun to be
+careless on the topic. The intelligence
+from Paris was favourable in
+all the leading points. The king was
+resuming his popularity, though still
+a prisoner. The Jacobins were exhibiting
+signs of terror, though still
+masters of every thing. The recruits
+were running away, though the decree
+for the general rising of the country
+was arming the people. In short, the
+news was exactly of that checkered
+order which was calculated to put us
+all in the highest spirits. The submission
+of Paris, at least until we
+were its conquerors, would have deprived
+us of a triumph on the spot,
+and the proclamation of a general
+peace would have been received as
+the command for a general mourning.</p>
+
+<p>The duke was in the highest animation,
+and he talked to every one round
+him, as we marched along, with more
+than condescension. He was easy,
+familiar, and flushed with approaching
+victory. "We have now," said he,
+"broken through the 'iron barrier,'
+the pride of Vauban, and the boast of
+France for these hundred years. To-morrow
+Verdun will fall. The commandant
+of Thionville, in desperation
+at the certainty of our taking the town
+by assault, has shot himself, and the
+keys are on their way to me. Nothing
+but villages now lie in our road, and
+once past those heights," and he
+pointed to a range of woody hills on
+the far horizon, "and we shall send
+our light troops <i>en promenade</i> to Paris."
+We all responded in our various ways
+of congratulation.</p>
+
+<p>"Apropos," said the duke, applying
+to me, "M. Marston, you have been
+later on the spot than any of us. What
+can you tell of this M. Dumourier,
+who, I see from my letters, is appointed
+to the forlorn hope of France&mdash;the command of the broken armies
+of Lafayette and Luckner?"</p>
+
+<p>My answer was briefly a hope that
+the new general would be as much
+overmatched by the duke's fortunes in
+the field, as he had been by party in
+the capital. "Still, he seemed to me
+a clever, and even a remarkable man,
+however inexperienced as a soldier."</p>
+
+<p>"If he is the officer of that name
+who served in the last French war, he is
+an old acquaintance of mine," observed
+the duke. "I remember him perfectly.
+He was a mere boy, who, in a rash
+skirmish with some of our hussars, was
+wounded severely and taken prisoner.
+But as I learned that he was the son
+of a French <i>literateur</i> of some eminence
+whom I had met in Paris, and as
+I had conceived a favourable opinion
+of the young soldier's gallantry, I gave
+him his parole and sent him back to
+his family, who, I think, were Provencals.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page87" id="page87"></a>[pg 87]</span>
+He was unquestionably spirited
+and intelligent, and with experience
+might make either minister or general;
+but as he has begun by failure in the one
+capacity, it will be our business to show
+him that he may find success equally
+difficult in another. At all events, we
+have nothing but this minister-general
+between us and Notre-Dame. He
+has taken up a position on the Argonne
+ridge in our front. To force it
+will be but an affair of three hours.
+Adieu, gentlemen." He put spurs to
+his horse, and galloped to one of the
+columns which approached with trumpets
+sounding, bearing the captured
+banner of the church tower of Longwy.</p>
+
+<p>The world was now before us, and
+we enjoyed it to the full. Varnhorst
+and I were inseparable, and feasted
+on the scene, the gaiety, the oddity
+of the various characters, which campaigning
+developes more than any
+mode of existence. The simple meal,
+the noon-rest under a tree, the songs
+of our troopers, the dance in the villages,
+as soon as the peasantry had
+discovered that we did not eat women
+and children&mdash;even the consciousness
+of a life wholly without care, formed
+a delicious state of being. "If this is
+the life of the Arab," I often was ready
+to exclaim, "what folly would it be
+in him to leave the wilderness! If
+the Esquimaux can sleep through one
+half of the year and revel through the
+other, is he not the true philosopher
+in the midst of his frost and snow?"
+Guiscard, who sometimes joined our
+party, was now and then moved to
+smile at our unripe conceptions of the
+nature of things. But we laughed at
+his gravity, and he returned to pore
+over the mysteries of that diplomacy
+which evidently thickened on him
+hour by hour. I recollect, however,
+one of his expressions&mdash;"My friend,
+you think that all the battle is to be
+fought in front: I can assure you that
+a much more severe battle is to be
+fought in the rear. Argonne will be
+much more easily mastered than the
+King's closet and the Aulic Council."
+We had good reason to remember the
+oracle.</p>
+
+<p>One morning as, with half a dozen
+hussars, I was ranging the thickets
+on the flank of the advance, with the
+spirit of an English fox-hunter, on
+reaching the summit of a rising ground,
+I saw, some miles off, a party of horsemen
+making their way at full speed
+across the country. The perfect level of
+the plains, particularly in Champagne,
+makes the ground as open as a race-course.
+I called my hussars, and we
+galloped forward to intercept. On
+seeing us, they slackened their speed,
+and were evidently in consultation.
+At length the sight of our uniforms
+reassured then, and one of their number
+came forward to meet us. To our
+enquiry, the answer was, that "General
+Lafayette desired to be led to
+the headquarters." I now saw this
+memorable man for the first time, and
+was busy, in my usual style, in looking
+for the hero or the revolutionist
+in his physiognomy. I was disappointed
+in both. I saw a quiet visage,
+and a figure of moderate size, rather
+<i>embonpoint</i>, and altogether the reverse
+of that fire-eyed and lean-countenanced
+"Cassius" which I had pictured
+in my imagination. But his
+manners perplexed me as much as his
+features. They were calm, easy, and
+almost frank. It was impossible to
+recognize in him the Frenchman, except
+by his language; and he was the
+last man in whom I could ever have
+detected that pride of the theatre, the
+"French <i>marquis</i>." His manners were
+English, and I had a fellow-feeling
+for him even in our short ride to the
+camp, and congratulated myself on
+being thrown into the intercourse of
+one who had played so conspicuous a
+part in the most conspicuous scene of
+our day.</p>
+
+<p>But on his introduction to the
+duke, my ardour received a sudden
+chill. I saw instantly, by the utter
+absence of all cordiality in his reception,
+that the French fugitive had taken
+a dangerous step, and that his Parisian
+ill fortune had deprived his retreat
+of all merit in the sight of the
+commander-in-chief. My doubts were
+soon confirmed by a message from his
+tent. I obeyed; and as I passed the
+lines, saw Lafayette surrounded by
+a troop of Hulans of the Guard. I
+found the duke pacing uneasily in front
+of the tent.</p>
+
+<p>"M. Marston," said he, with a
+vexed manner, "your capture of this
+morning has added to our perplexities.
+You acted zealously, and with the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page88" id="page88"></a>[pg 88]</span>
+spirit that distinguishes your nation;
+but I heartily wish that M. La Fayette
+had taken any other direction than
+towards us. His fall has been contemplated
+for some time, and even
+the possibility of his being arrested by
+some of our parties. I have received
+a communication from the Allied cabinets
+on the contingency; and the
+question now is, how to execute my
+order without public weakness or
+personal severity."</p>
+
+<p>I proposed to accompany him, while
+we were on the march, and to pledge
+myself for his honour when we arrived
+at quarters.</p>
+
+<p>"Generously offered," was the reply.
+"But my duty, in the first instance,
+prohibits his remaining in the
+camp; and in the next, my feelings
+for himself would spare a man who
+has commanded the enemy's troops,
+the sight of that actual collision which
+must immediately take place. We
+attack the defiles of the Argonne to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>He entered the tent, wrote a few
+lines, and returned to me.</p>
+
+<p>"M. Lafayette must consider himself
+as a prisoner; but as my wish is
+to treat him with honour, I must beg
+of you, M. Marston, to take charge of
+him for the time. Your offer has relieved
+me from an embarrassment;
+and I shall take care to make honourable
+mention of your conduct in this
+instance, as in all others, to both the
+courts of Berlin and St James's. The
+marquis must be sent to Berlin, and
+I must request that you will be ready
+to set out with him this evening."</p>
+
+<p>The sound was a thunder-stoke.
+"This evening!" when the decisive
+action of the war was to be fought
+next morning. "To Berlin!" when
+all my gallant friends were to be on
+the march to Paris. Impossible! I
+retracted my offer at once. But the
+prince, not accustomed to be resisted,
+held his purpose firmly; representing
+that, as the French general was actually
+<i>my</i> prisoner, and as <i>my</i> court
+was equally interested with those of
+the Allied powers, in preventing his
+return to embroil France, "it was
+my duty, as her commissioner, to see
+that the measure was effectively performed."
+But the appearance of leaving
+the army, on the very eve of
+important service, was not to be argued,
+or even commanded, away. The duke
+was equally inflexible, though his sentences
+were perhaps shorter than
+mine; and I finally left his presence,
+declaring, that if the request were
+persisted in, I should throw up my
+commission at once, volunteer as a
+common trooper into the first squadron
+which would admit me, and then,
+his highness, might, of course, order
+me wherever he pleased."</p>
+
+<p>A stately smile was the answer
+to this tirade. I bowed, and retired.</p>
+
+<p>Within a hundred yards I met my
+two friends, Varnhorst and Guiscard,
+and poured out my whole catalogue
+of wrongs at once. Varnhorst shared
+my indignation, fiercely pulled his
+thick mustaches, and muttered some
+phrases about oppression, martinetism,
+and other dangerous topics,
+which fortunately were scattered on
+the air. Guiscard neither raged nor
+smiled, but walked into the ducal tent.
+After a few minutes he returned, and
+then his sallow countenance wore a
+smile. "You have offended the duke
+desperately," said he. "And as a sovereign
+prince, I dare say that banishment
+from his territories for life
+would be the least reparation; but as
+a general, we think that we cannot have
+too many good troops, and your proposal
+to take a Hulan's lance and pistol
+in your hand, is irresistible. In short,
+he receives you as a volunteer into
+his own hussars, and as you are henceforth
+at his disposal, he orders."&mdash;My tormentor here made a malicious
+pause, which threw me into a fever.
+I gazed on his countenance, to anticipate
+his mission. It wore the same
+deep and moveless expression. "His
+highness orders, that you shall escort,
+with a squadron, General Lafayette,
+to the Chateau, our former headquarters,
+and where we first met; there
+deliver over the Frenchman to an officer
+of the staff, who will be in readiness
+to escort him further; and, in the
+mean time, if the very fiery and independent
+M. Marston should have no
+objection to travel at night, he may
+return, and be in time for whatever is
+to be done here to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"Bravo, bravo!" exclaimed good-natured
+Varnhorst. "Guiscard, you
+are the first of negotiators!"</p>
+
+<p>"No," was the quiet reply. "I pretend
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page89" id="page89"></a>[pg 89]</span>
+to nothing more than the art of
+being a good listener. I merely waited
+until the duke had spoken his will,
+and then interposed my suggestion.
+It was adopted at once; and now our
+young friend has only to ride hard to-night,
+and come to shade his brow
+with a share of any laurels which we
+may pluck in the forest of Argonne,
+in the next twenty-four hours."</p>
+
+<p>I was enraptured&mdash;the communication
+was made in the most courteous
+manner to the marquis. He had at
+once perceived the difficulties of his
+position, and was glad to leave them
+behind as far as possible. Our escort
+was mounted within a few minutes,
+and we were in full gallop over the
+fruitful levels of Champagne.</p>
+
+<p>To speed of this order, time and
+space were of little importance; and
+with the rapidity of a flock of falcons,
+we reached the foot of the noble hill,
+on which, embosomed in the most famous
+vineyards of the vine country,
+stood the Chateau. It was blazing
+with lights, and had evidently lost nothing
+of its population by the change
+of headquarters. We were soon
+brought to a stand by a challenge in
+French, and found that we were no
+longer among the jovial J&#228;gers of
+Deutchland. We had fallen in with
+the advanced corps of the Emigrant
+army under the command of the
+Prince of Cond&#233;.</p>
+
+<p>Here was a new dilemma. Our
+prisoner's was perhaps the most startling
+name which could have been
+pronounced among those high-blooded
+and headlong men. The army was
+composed almost wholly of the <i>noblesse</i>;
+and Lafayette, under all his
+circumstances of birth, sentiments,
+and services, had been the constant
+theme of noble indignation. The
+champion of the American Republic,
+the leader of the Parisian movement,
+the commandant of the National
+Guard, the chief of the rebel army in
+the field&mdash;all was terribly against
+him. Even the knowledge of his fall
+could not have appeased their resentment;
+and the additional knowledge
+that he was within their hands, might
+have only produced some unfortunate
+display of what the philosopher calls
+"wild justice." In this difficulty,
+while the officer of the patrol was on
+his way to the Chateau to announce
+our coming, I consulted the captain
+of my escort. But, though a capital
+<i>sabreur</i>, he was evidently not made
+to solve questions in diplomacy. After
+various grimaces of thinking, and even
+taking the meersham from his mouth,
+I was thrown on my own resources.
+My application to the captive general
+was equally fruitless: it was answered
+with the composure of one prepared
+for all consequences, but it amounted
+simply to&mdash;"Do just as you please."</p>
+
+<p>But no time was to be lost, and
+leaving the escort to wait till my
+return, I rode up the hill alone, and
+desired an interview with the officer
+in command of the division. Fortunately
+I found him to be one of my
+gayest Parisian companions, now
+transformed into a fierce chevalier,
+colonel des chasseurs, bronzed like an
+Arab, and mustached like a tiger.
+But his inner man was the same as
+ever. I communicated my purpose to
+him as briefly as possible. His open
+brow lowered, and his fingers instinctively
+began playing with the hilt of
+his sabre. And if the rencontre could
+have been arranged on the old terms
+of man to man, my gallant friend
+would have undoubtedly made me the
+bearer of a message on the spot. But
+I had come for other objects, and
+gradually brought him round; he allowed
+that "a prisoner was something
+entitled to respect." The "request
+of his distinguished and valued
+friend, M. Marston, dear to him by so
+many charming recollections of Paris,
+&amp;c., was much more;" and we finally
+arranged that the general should be
+conveyed unseen to an apartment in
+the Chateau, while I did him and
+his "<i>braves camarades</i>" the honour
+of sharing their supper. I gave the
+most willing consent; a ride of thirty
+miles had given me the appetite of a
+hunter.</p>
+
+<p>I was now introduced to a new
+scene. The room was filled with muskets
+and knapsacks piled against the
+walls, and three-fourths of those who
+sat down were private soldiers; yet
+there was scarcely a man who did not
+wear some knightly decoration, and I
+heard the noblest names of France
+everywhere round me. Thus extremes
+meet: the Faubourg St Germains had
+taken the equality of the new order of
+things, and the very first attempt to
+retain an exclusive rank had brought
+all to the same level. But it was a
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page90" id="page90"></a>[pg 90]</span>
+generous, a graceful, and a gallant
+level. All was good-humour under
+their privations, and the fearful chances
+which awaited them were evidently
+regarded with a feeling which had all
+the force of physical courage without
+its roughness. I was much struck,
+too, with the remarkable appearance
+of the military figures round me.
+Contrary to our general notions of the
+foreign noblesse those exhibited some
+of the finest-looking men whom I had
+ever seen. This was perhaps, in a
+considerable degree, owing to the
+military life. In countries where the
+nobility are destitute of public employment,
+they naturally degenerate&mdash;become the victims of the diseases of
+indolence and profligacy, transmit their
+decrepitude to their descendants, and
+bequeath dwarfishness and deformity
+to their name. But in France, the
+young noble was destined for soldiership
+from his cradle. His education
+partook of the manly preparations for
+the soldier's career. The discipline of
+the service, even in peace, taught him
+some superiority to the effeminate
+habits of opulence; and a sense of
+the actual claims of talents, integrity,
+and determination, gave them all an
+importance which, whatever might be
+the follies of an individual, from time
+to time, powerfully shaped the general
+character of the nobles. In England,
+the efforts for political power, and the
+distinctions of political fame, preserve
+our nobility from relaxing into the
+slavery of indulgence. The continual
+ascent of accomplished minds from
+the humbler ranks, at once reinforces
+their ability and excites their emulation;
+and if England may proudly
+boast of men of intellectual vigour,
+worthy of rising to the highest rank
+from the humblest condition, she may,
+with not less justice, boast of her favourites
+of fortune fitted to cope with
+her favourites of nature.</p>
+
+<p>Among these showy and high-bred
+soldiers, the hours passed delightfully.
+Anecdotes of every court of Europe,
+where most of them had been, either
+as tourists or envoys; the piquant
+tales of the court of their unfortunate
+sovereign; narratives&mdash;sufficiently
+contemptuous of the present possessors
+of power; and <i>chansons</i>&mdash;some
+gay, and some touching&mdash;made us all
+forget the flight of time. Among their
+military choruses was one which
+drew tears from many a bold eye. It
+was a species of brief elegy to the
+memory of Turenne, whom the French
+soldier still regarded as his tutelar
+genius. It was said to have been
+written on the spot where that great
+leader fell:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem">  <div class="stanza">
+<p>Re&#231;ois, O Turenne, o&#249; tu perdis lavie,</p>
+<p>Les transports d'un soldat, qui te plaint et t'envie.</p>
+<p>Dans l'Elysee assis, pr&#232;s du cef des C&#233;sars,</p>
+<p>Ou dans le ciel, peut&#234;tre entre Bellone et Mars.</p>
+<p>Fais-moi te suivre en tout, exauce ma pri&#232;re;</p>
+<p>Puis se-je ainsi remplir, et finir ma carri&#232;re."</p>
+  </div>  </div>
+
+<p>The application to the immediate circumstances
+of those brave gentlemen
+was painfully direct. What to-morrow
+might bring was unknown, further
+than that they would probably soon be
+engaged with their countrymen; and
+whether successful or not, they must
+be embarked in war against France.
+But my intelligence that an action
+was expected on the next day awoke
+the soldier within them again; the
+wrongs of their order, the plunders of
+the ruling faction, their hopeless expatriation,
+if some daring effort was
+not made, and the triumphant change
+from exiles to possessors and conquerors,
+stirred them all into enthusiasm.
+The army of the Allies, the enemy's
+position, the public feeling of Paris,
+and the hope of sharing in the honours
+of an engagement which was to sweep
+the revolutionary "canaille" before
+the "gentlemen of France," were the
+rapid and animating topics. All were
+ardent, all eloquent; fortune was at
+their feet, the only crime was to
+doubt&mdash;the only difficulty was to
+choose in what shape of splendid vengeance,
+of matchless retribution, and
+of permanent glory, they should restore
+the tarnished lustre of the diadem,
+and raise the insulted name of
+France to its ancient rank among the
+monarchies of the world. I never
+heard among men so many brilliancies
+of speech&mdash;so many expressions of
+feeling full of the heart&mdash;so glowing a
+display of what the heart of man may
+unconsciously retain for the time
+when some great emotion rouses all
+its depths, and opens them to the light
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page91" id="page91"></a>[pg 91]</span>
+of day. It was to me a new chapter
+in the history of man.</p>
+
+<p>The news which I had brought of
+the positions of the armies rendered
+me an object of marked interest. I was
+questioned on every point; first, and
+especially, of the intention of the commander-in-chief,
+with the most anxious
+yet most polished minuteness. But,
+as on this subject my lips were comparatively sealed,
+the state of the troops
+with whom they were so soon to be
+brought into contact became the more
+manageable topic. On mentioning
+that Dumourier was placed in command,
+I received free and full communications
+on the subject of his qualities
+for being the last hope of revolutionary
+France. One had known him
+in his early career in the engineers,
+another had served along with him in
+Corsica, a third had met him at the
+court of Portugal; the concurring report
+being, that he was a coxcomb of
+the first water, showy but superficial,
+and though personally brave, sure to
+be bewildered when he found himself
+for the first time working the wheels
+and springs of that puzzling machine,
+an army in the field. A caustic old
+Proven&#231;al marquis, with his breast
+glittering with the stars of a whole
+constellation of knighthood, yet who
+sat with the cross-belts and cartouche-box
+of the rank and file upon him,
+agreeing with all the premises,
+stoutly denied the conclusions. "He
+is a coxcomb," said the old Marquis.
+"Well, he is only the fitter to command
+an army of upstarts. He has
+seen nothing but Corsican service;
+well, he is the fitter to command an
+army of banditti. And he has been
+an <i>espion</i> of the Government in Portugal;
+what better training could he
+have for heading an army of traitors?
+Rely upon it, gentlemen, that you have
+mistaken his character; if you think
+that he is not the very man whom the
+mob of Paris ought to have chosen
+for their general, I merely recommend,
+that when you go into action
+you should leave your watches
+in camp, and, if you charge any
+of their battalions, look well to your
+purses."</p>
+
+<p>The old soldier's sally restored our
+gaiety; but the man best acquainted
+with the French commander-in-chief
+was my friend the chevalier, at the
+head of the table. "It has singularly
+enough happened to me to have met M.
+Dumourier in almost every scene of his
+life, since his return from his first service
+in Germany. Our first meeting was
+in the military hospital in Toulouse,
+where he had been sent, like myself,
+to recover, in his native air, from the
+wounds of our last German campaign.
+He was then a coxcomb, but a clever
+one, full of animal spirits, and intoxicated
+with the honour of having survived
+the German bullets, of being
+appointed to a company, and wearing
+a <i>croix</i>. Our next meeting was in
+Portugal. Our Minister had adopted
+some romantic idea of shaking the
+English influence, and Dumourier had
+been sent as an engineer to reconnoitre
+the defences of the country. The
+word <i>espion</i> was not wholly applicable
+to his mission, yet there can be no
+doubt that the memoir published on
+his return, was <i>not</i> a volume of travels.
+His services had now recommended
+him to the Government, and
+he was sent to Corsica. There again
+I met him, as my regiment formed
+part of the force in the island. He
+was high on the staff, our intercourse
+was renewed, and he was regarded as
+a very expert diplomatist. A few
+years after, I found him in a still
+higher situation, a favourite of De
+Choiseul, and managing the affairs of
+the Polish confederation. On his return
+to Paris, such was the credit in
+which he stood, that he was placed by
+the minister of war at the head of a
+commission to reform the military
+code; thus he has been always distinguished;
+and has at least had experience."</p>
+
+<p>Even this slight approach to praise
+was evidently not popular among
+the circle, and I could hear murmurs.</p>
+
+<p>"Distinguished!&mdash;yes, more with
+the pen than the sword."</p>
+
+<p>"Diplomacy!&mdash;the business of a
+clerk. Command is another affair."</p>
+
+<p>"Mon cher Chevalier," said the old
+Marquis, with a laugh, "pray, after
+being in so many places with him,
+were you with him in the Bastile?"
+This was followed with a roar.</p>
+
+<p>I saw my friend's swarthy cheek
+burn. He started up, and was about
+to make some fierce retort, when a
+fine old man, a general, with as many
+orders as the marquis, and a still
+whiter head, averted the storm, by
+saying, "Whether the chevalier was
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page92" id="page92"></a>[pg 92]</span>
+with M. Dumourier in that predicament,
+I know not; but I can say
+that I was. I was sent there for the
+high offence of kicking a page of the
+court down the grande escalier at
+Versailles for impertinence, at the
+time when M. Dumourier was sent
+there by the Duc d'Acquillon, for
+knowing more than the minister. I
+assure you that I found him a most
+agreeable personage&mdash;very gay, very
+witty, and very much determined to
+pass his time in the pleasantest manner
+imaginable. But our companionship
+was too brief for a perfect union
+of souls," said he laughing; "for I
+was liberated within a week, while he
+was left behind for, I think, the better
+part of a year."</p>
+
+<p>"But his talents?" was the question
+down the table.</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen," said the old man,
+"my experience in life has always
+made me judge of talents by circumstances.
+If, for example, I find that
+a man has the talent exactly fitted for
+his position, I give him credit for all&mdash;he had the talent for making the
+Bastile endurable, and I required no
+other. But there were times when
+graver topics varied our pleasantry,
+and he exhibited very various intelligence,
+a practical experience of the
+chief European courts, and, I am sorry
+to say, a very striking contempt for
+their politics and their politicians
+alike. He was especially indignant
+at the selfish perfidy with which the
+late king had given him up to the
+ignorant jealousy of the minister, and
+looked forward to the new reign with
+a resolute, and sometimes a gloomy
+determination to be revenged. If that
+man is a republican, it is the Bastile
+that has made him one; and if he ever
+shall have a fair opportunity of displaying
+his genius, unless a cannonball
+stops his career I should conceive
+him capable of producing a powerful
+impression on Europe."</p>
+
+<p>The conversation might again have
+become stormy but for the entrance
+of a patrol, for whom a vacant space
+at the table had been left. Forty or
+fifty fine tall fellows now came rushing
+into the room, flinging down
+shakos, knapsacks, and sabres, and
+fully prepared to enjoy the good cheer
+provided for them. I heard the names
+of the first families of France among
+those privates&mdash;the Montmorencies,
+the Lamaignons, the Nivernois, the
+Rochefoucaults, the De Noailles, "familiar
+as household words." All was
+good-humour again. They had a
+little adventure in scaring away a
+corps of the rustic national guards
+who, to expedite their escape, had
+flung away their arms, which were
+brought in as good prize. The festivity
+and frolic of youth, engaged in a
+cause which conferred a certain dignity
+even on their <i>tours de page</i>,
+renewed the pleasantry of the night.
+We again had the <i>chansons</i>; and I recollect
+one, sung with delicious taste
+by a handsome Italian-faced youth, a
+nephew of the writer, the Duc de Nivernois.</p>
+
+<p>The duke had requested a ringlet
+from a beautiful woman. She answered,
+that she had just found a grey hair
+among her locks, and could now give
+then away no more. The gallant reply
+was&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem">  <div class="stanza">
+<p>Quoi! vous parlez de cheveux blancs!</p>
+<p>Laissez, laissez courir le temps;</p>
+<p>Que vous importe son ravage?</p>
+<p>Les tendres coeurs en sont exempts;</p>
+<p><i>Les Amours sont toujours enfants,</i></p>
+<p><i>Et les Graces sont de tout age.</i></p>
+<p>Pour moi, Th&#233;mire, je le sens.</p>
+<p>Je suis toujours dans mon printemps,</p>
+<p>Quand je vous offre mon hommage.</p>
+<p>Si je n'avais que dixhuit ans,</p>
+<p>Je pourrais aimer plus longtemps,</p>
+<p>Mais, non pas aimer davantage.<a id="footnotetag10" name="footnotetag10"></a><a href="#footnote10"><sup>10</sup></a></p>
+  </div>  </div>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote10" name="footnote10"></a><a href="#footnotetag10"> [10] </a>
+<div class="poem">
+Lovely and loved! shall one slight hair<br />
+Touch thy delicious lip with care?<br />
+A heart like thine may laugh at Time&mdash;<br />
+The Soul is ever in its prime.<br />
+All Loves, you know, have infant faces,<br />
+A thousand years can't chill the Graces!<br />
+While thou art in my soul enshrined,<br />
+I give all sorrows to the wind.<br />
+Were I this hour but gay eighteen,<br />
+Thou couldst be but my bosom's queen;<br />
+I might for longer years adore,<br />
+But could not, could not love thee more.<br />
+ </div> </blockquote>
+
+
+<p>On returning to look for my distinguished
+prisoner, I found a packet
+lying on the table of my apartment;
+it had arrived in my absence with the
+troops in advance; and I must acknowledge
+that I opened it with a
+trembling hand, when I saw that it
+came from London and Mordecai.</p>
+
+<p>It was written in evident anxiety,
+and the chief subject was the illness of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page93" id="page93"></a>[pg 93]</span>
+his daughter. She had some secret on
+her mind, which utterly baffled even
+the Jew's paternal sagacity. No letters
+had reached either of them from
+France, and he almost implored me to
+return, or, if that were impossible, to
+write without delay. Mariamne had
+grown more fantastic, and capricious,
+and wayward than ever. Her eyes
+had lost their brightness, and her
+cheek its colour. Yet she complained
+of nothing, beyond a general distaste
+to existence. She had seen the Comtesse
+de Tourville, and they had many
+a long conference together, from which,
+however, Mariamne always returned
+more melancholy than ever. She had
+refused the match which he had provided
+for her, and declared her determination
+to live, like the daughter of
+Jephthah, single to her grave.</p>
+
+<p>The letter then turned to my own
+circumstances, and entered into them
+with the singular mixture of ardour
+and sneering which formed this extraordinary
+character.</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>
+"I am doing your business here as
+indefatigably as if I were robbing nabobs
+in India, or setting up republics
+at home. The tardiness of the Horse-Guards
+is to be moved by nothing but
+an invasion; and it would be almost
+as rational to wait the growth of an
+oak, as to wait the signing of your
+commission; but it shall be done in
+my own way. I have means which
+can make the tardy quick, and open
+the eyes of the blind. You <i>shall</i> be a
+subaltern in the Guards, unless you
+are in too much haste to be a general,
+and get yourself shot by some Parisian
+cobbler in the purloined uniform of a
+rifleman. But, let me tell you one
+fact, and I might indorse this piece of
+intelligence, 'Secret and Confidential,'
+to the English cabinet, for even
+our great minister has yet to learn it&mdash;<i>the
+Allies will never reach Paris</i>.
+Rely, and <i>act</i> upon this. They might
+now enter the capital, if, instead of
+bayonets, they carried only trusses of
+straw. The road is open before them,
+but they will look only behind. The
+war was almost a feint from the beginning.
+The invasion was the second
+act of the farce&mdash;the retreat will be
+the third. Poland has been the <i>true
+object</i>; and, to cover the substantial
+seizures there, has been the trick of
+the French invasion. I predict that,
+in one month from the date of this letter,
+there will not be an Austrian or
+Prussian cartridge found in France.
+Potsdam and Schoenbrunn know more
+on the subject at this moment than
+the duke. I write to you as a friend,
+and by Mariamne's especial order, to
+take care of yourself. I have seen the
+retreats of continental armies in my
+time; they are always a scene of horrors.
+Follow the army so long as it
+advances; then all is well, and even
+the experience of service may be of
+use to you. But, in this instance, the
+moment that you find it come to a
+stop, turn your horse's head to any point
+of the compass but the front, and
+ride to the nearest seaport. The duke
+is a brave man, and his army is a
+brave army; but both will be instantly
+covered with all the obloquy of all the
+libelers on earth. If you have met
+him as man with man, you have
+doubtless been captivated with his
+manners, his wit, his animation, and
+his accomplishments. I have known
+him long and well. But Europe, within
+a month, will decry him, as a fugitive,
+a fool, and a dastard. Such is
+popular wisdom, justice, and knowledge.
+A pupil of the first warrior of
+Prussia and of modern ages, and wanting
+only experience to do honour to
+the lessons of Frederick, he will be
+laughed at by the loose loungers of
+the Palais Royal, as ignorant of the
+art of war, and branded by the graver
+loungers of courts and councils, as
+ignorant of the art of government.
+Once more, I say, take care of yourself.
+The first step in retreat will
+raise all France against the Allies.
+Ten victories would not cost as much
+as the first week's march towards the
+frontier. Every thicket will have its
+troop; every finger, for a hundred
+leagues round, will be on the trigger.
+Robbery and murder, famine and fatigue;
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page94" id="page94"></a>[pg 94]</span>
+disease and death, will be upon the
+troops; the retreat will become a flight,
+and happy is the man who will ever
+see the Rhine again. Be wise in time."
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Enclosed within this long epistle
+was a brief note from Mariamne.</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>
+"You must not think me dying,
+because I importune you no longer.
+But, <i>can</i> you give me any tidings of
+Lafontaine? I know that he is rash,
+and even enthusiastic; but I equally
+know that he is faithful and true.
+<i>Yet</i>, if he <i>has</i> forgotten me, or is married,
+or is any thing that, as a preux
+chevalier, he ought not to be, tell me
+at once, and you shall see how grateful
+I can be, before I cease to be any
+thing. But if he has fallen&mdash;if, in the
+dreadful scenes now acting in Paris,
+Lafontaine is no more&mdash;<i>tell me not</i>.
+Write some deluding thing to me&mdash;conceal
+your terrible knowledge. I
+should not wish to drop down dead
+before my father's face. He is looking
+at me while I write this, and
+I am trying to laugh, with a heart
+as heavy as lead, and eyes that can
+scarcely see the paper. No&mdash;for mercy's
+sake, do not tell me <i>that he is dead</i>.
+Give me gentle words, give me hope,
+deceive me&mdash;as they give laudanum,
+not to prolong life, but to lull agony.
+Do this, and with my last pulse I
+shall be grateful&mdash;with my last breath
+I shall bless you."
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Poor Mariamne! I had, at least,
+better hopes than those for her. But
+within this billet was a third. It was
+but a few lines; yet at the foot of those
+lines was the signature&mdash;"Clotilde de
+Tourville." The light almost forsook
+my eyes; my head swam; if the paper
+had been a talisman, and every letter
+written with the pen of magic, it could
+not have produced a more powerful
+effect upon me. My hands trembled,
+and my ears thrilled; and yet it contained
+but a few unimportant words&mdash;an
+enquiry addressed to Mariamne,
+whether she could forward a letter to
+the Chateau Montauban in Champagne,
+or whether her father had any
+correspondent in the vicinity who
+could send her the picture of a beloved
+relative, which, in the haste of their
+flight to England, they had most reluctantly
+left behind.</p>
+
+<p>The note at once threw every thing
+else into the background. What were
+invasions and armies&mdash;what were
+kings and kingdoms&mdash;to the slightest
+wish of the being who had written
+this billet? All this I admit to be
+the fever of the mind&mdash;a waking dream&mdash;an
+illusion to which mesmerism or
+magic is but a frivolity. Like all
+fevers, it is destined to pass away, or
+to kill the patient; yet for the time,
+what on earth is so strange, or so
+powerful&mdash;so dangerous to the reason&mdash;so
+delicious to the soul!</p>
+
+<p>But, after the long reverie into
+which I sank, with the writing of
+Clotilde in my hand, I recollected
+that fortune had for once given me
+the power of meeting the wishes of
+this noble and beautiful creature. The
+resemblance of the picture that had
+so much perplexed and attracted me,
+was now explained. I <i>was</i> in the
+Chateau de Montauban, and I now
+blessed the chance which had sent me
+to its honoured walls.</p>
+
+<p>To hasten to the chamber where I
+was again to look upon the exquisite
+resemblance of features which, till
+then, I had thought without a similar
+in the world, was a matter of instinct;
+and, winding my way through the
+intricacies of galleries and corridors,
+loaded with the baggage of the emigrant
+army, and strewed with many
+a gallant noble who had exchanged
+the down bed of his ancestral mansion
+for the bare floor, or the open
+bivouac, I at length reached the apartment
+to which the captive general had
+been consigned. To my utter astonishment,
+instead of the silence which I
+expected under the circumstances, I
+heard the jingling of glasses and roars
+of laughter. Was this the abode of
+solitude and misfortune? I entered,
+and found M. Lafayette, indeed,
+conducting himself with the composure
+of a personage of his rank; but
+the other performers exhibiting a
+totally different temperament. A
+group of Polish officers, who had formerly
+borne commissions in the royal
+service, and now followed the Emigrant
+troops, had recognized Lafayette,
+and insisted on paying due
+honours to the "noble comrade" with
+whom they had served beyond the
+Atlantic. Hamlet's menace to his
+friend, that he would "teach him to
+drink deep ere he depart," had been
+adopted in the amplest sense by those
+jovial sons of the north, and "healths
+bottle-deep" were sent round the
+board with rapid circulation.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page95" id="page95"></a>[pg 95]</span>
+
+<p>My entrance but slightly deranged
+the symposium, and I was soon furnished
+with all the freemasonry of the
+feast, by being called on to do honour
+to the toast of "His Majesty the King
+of Great Britain." My duty was now
+done, my initiation was complete, and
+while my eyes were fixed on the portrait
+which, still in its unharmed
+beauty, looked beaming on the wild
+revel below, I heard, in the broken
+queries, and interjectional panegyrics
+of these hyperborean heroes, more of
+the history of Lafayette than I had
+ever expected to reach my ears.</p>
+
+<p>His life had been the strangest contrast
+to the calm countenance which
+I saw so tranquilly listen to its own
+tale. It was Quixotic, and two hundred
+years ago could scarcely have escaped
+the pen of some French Cervantes.
+He had begun life as an officer
+in the French household troops in
+absolute boyhood. At sixteen he had
+married! at eighteen he had formed
+his political principles, and begun his
+military career by crossing the Atlantic,
+and offering his sword to the Republic.
+To meet the thousand wonderings
+at his conduct, he exchanged
+the ancient motto of the Lafayettes
+for a new one of his own. The words,
+"Why not?" were his answer to all,
+and they were sufficient. On reaching
+America, he asked but two favours,
+to be suffered to serve, and to serve
+without pay.</p>
+
+<p>In America he was more republican
+than the Republicans. He toiled, traveled,
+and bled, with an indefatigable
+zeal for the independence of the colonists;
+his zeal was a passion, his love
+of liberty a romance, his hostility to
+the dominion of England an universal
+scorn of established power. But if
+fantastic, he was bold; and if too hot
+for the frigidity of America, he was
+but preparing to touch France with
+kindred fire. He refused rank in the
+French army coupled with the condition
+of leaving the service of the Republic;
+and it was only on the French
+alliance in 1788 that he returned to
+Paris, to be received with feigned displeasure
+by the King, and even put
+under arrest by the minister, but to be
+welcomed by the praises of the true
+sovereign, the Queen, feted by the
+court, the sovereign of that sovereign,
+and huzzaed by the mob of Paris, already
+the sovereign of them all; from
+his military prison he emerged, colonel
+of the King's regiment of dragoons.</p>
+
+<p>While this narrative was going on,
+mingled with bumpers, and bursts of
+Slavonic good-fellowship, I could not
+help asking myself whether Lavater
+was not quack and physiognomy a
+folly? Could this be the dashing Revolutionist?
+No plodder over the desk
+ever wore a more broadcloth countenance;
+an occasional smile was the
+only indication of his interest in what
+was passing around him. He evidently
+avoided taking a share in the
+discussion of his Transatlantic career,
+probably from delicacy to his English
+auditor. But when the conversation
+turned upon France, the man
+came forth, and he vindicated his
+conduct with a spirit and fulness that
+told me what he might have been
+when the blood of youth was added to
+the glow of the imagination. He was
+now evidently exhausted by toil, and
+dispirited by disappointment. No man
+could be more thoroughly ruined; baffled
+in theory, undone in practice&mdash;an
+exile from his country, a fugitive from
+his troops&mdash;overwhelmed by the hopelessness
+of giving a constitution to
+France, and with nothing but the dungeon
+before him, and the crash of the
+guillotine behind.</p>
+
+<p>"What was to be done?" said Lafayette.
+"France was bankrupt&mdash;the
+treasury was empty&mdash;the profligate
+reign of Louis XV. had at once wasted
+the wealth, dried up the revenues, and
+corrupted the energies of France.
+Ministers wrung their hands, the king
+sent for his confessor, the queen wept&mdash;but the nation groaned. There was
+but one expedient, to call on the
+people. In 1787 the Assembly of the
+Notables was summoned. It was the
+first time since the reign of Henry IV.
+France had been a direct and formal despotism
+for almost two hundred years.
+She had seen England spread from an
+island into an empire; she had seen
+America spread from a colony into an
+empire. What had been the worker
+of the miracle?&mdash;Liberty. While all
+the despotisms remained within the
+boundaries fixed centuries ago, like
+vast dungeons, never extending, and
+never opening to the light and air,
+except through the dilapidations of
+time, I saw England and America
+expanding like fertile fields, open to
+every breath of heaven and every
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page96" id="page96"></a>[pg 96]</span>
+beam of day, expanding from year to
+year by the cheerful labour of man,
+and every year covered with new productiveness
+for the use of universal
+mankind. I own that there may have
+been rashness in urging the great experiment&mdash;there
+may have been a dangerous
+disregard of the actual circumstances
+of the people, the time, and
+the world&mdash;the daring hand of the
+philosopher may have drawn down
+the lightning too suddenly to be safe;
+the patriot may have flashed the blaze
+of his torch too strongly on eyes so
+long trained to the twilight of the dungeon.
+The leader of this enterprise
+himself, like the first discoverer of fire,
+may have brought wrath upon his own
+head, and be condemned to have his
+vitals gnawed in loneliness and chains;
+but nothing shall convince Lafayette
+that a great work has not been begun
+for the living race, for all nations, and
+for all posterity."</p>
+
+<p>I could not suppress the question&mdash;"But
+when will the experiment be
+complete? When will the tree, planted
+thus in storms, take hold of the
+soil? When will the tremendous tillage
+which begins by clearing with
+the conflagration, and ploughing with
+the earthquake, bring forth the harvest
+of peace to the people?"</p>
+
+<p>"These must be the legacy to
+our children," was the reply, in a
+grave and almost contrite tone.
+"The works of man are rapid only
+when they are meant for decay. The
+American savage builds his wigwam
+in a week, to last for a year. The
+Parthenon took half an age and the
+treasures of a people, to last for ever."</p>
+
+<p>We parted for the night&mdash;and for
+thirty years. My impression of this
+remarkable man was, that he had
+more heart than head; that a single
+idea had engrossed his faculties, to
+the exclusion of all others; that he
+was following a phantom, with the
+belief that it was a substantial form,
+and that, like the idolaters of old,
+who offered their children to their
+frowning deity, he imagined that the
+costlier the sacrifice, the surer it was
+of propitiation. Few men have been
+more misunderstood in his own day or
+in ours. Lifted to the skies for an
+hour by popular adulation, he has
+been sunk into obscurity ever since by
+historic contempt. Both were mistaken.
+He was the man made for the
+time&mdash;precisely the middle term between
+the reign of the nobility and
+the reign of the populace. Certainly
+not the man to "ride on the whirlwind
+and direct the storm;" but as certainly
+altogether superior to the indolent
+luxury of the class among whom he
+was born. Glory and liberty, the two
+highest impulses of our common nature,
+sent him at two and twenty
+from the most splendid court of Europe,
+to the swamps and snows, the
+desperate service and dubious battles
+of America. Eight years of voyages,
+negotiations, travels, and exposure to
+the chances of the field, proved his
+energy, and at the age of thirty he
+had drawn upon himself the eyes of
+the world. Here he ought to have
+rested, or have died. But the Revolution
+swept him off his feet. It was
+an untried region&mdash;a conflict of elements
+unknown to the calculation of
+man; he was whirled along by a
+force which whirled the monarchy,
+the church, and the nation with him,
+and sank only when France plunged
+after him.</p>
+
+<p>I have no honour for a similar
+career, and no homage for a similar
+memory; but it is from those mingled
+characters that history derives her
+deepest lesson, her warnings for the
+weak, her cautions for the ambitious,
+and her wisdom for the wise.</p>
+
+<p>On the retiring of the party for the
+night, my first act was to summon the
+old Swiss and his wife who had been left
+in charge of the mansion, and collect
+from them all their feeble memories
+could tell Clotilde. But Madame
+la Mar&#233;chale was a much more important
+personage in their old eyes,
+than the "charmante enfant" whom
+they had dandled on their knees, and
+who was likely to remain a "charmante
+enfant" to them during their
+lives. The chateau had been the retreat
+of the Mar&#233;chale after the death
+of her husband; and it was in its
+stately solitudes, and in the woods
+and wilds which surrounded it for
+many a league, that Clotilde had acquired
+those accomplished tastes, and
+that characteristic dignity and force of
+mind, which distinguished her from
+the frivolity of her country-women,
+however elegant and attractive, who
+had been trained in the <i>salons</i> of the
+court. The green glades and fresh
+air of the forest had given beauty to
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page97" id="page97"></a>[pg 97]</span>
+her cheek and grace to her form; and
+scarcely conceiving how the rouged
+and jewelled Mar&#233;chale could have
+endured such an absence from the circles
+of the young queen, and the
+"<i>beaux restes</i>" of the wits and beauties
+of the court of Louis the 15th,
+I thanked in soul the fortunate necessity
+which had driven her from the
+atmosphere of the Du Barris to the
+shades thus sacred to innocence and
+knowledge.</p>
+
+<p>But the grand business of the thing
+was still to be done. The picture was
+taken down at last, to the great sorrow
+of the old servants, who seemed
+to regard it as a patron saint, and
+who declared that its presence, and
+its presence alone, could have saved
+the mansion, in the first instance,
+from being burned by the "patriots,"
+who generally began their reforms of
+the nobility by laying their chateaux
+in ashes, and in the next, from
+being plundered by the multitudes of
+whiskered savages speaking unknown
+tongues, and came to leave France
+without "<i>ni pain ni vin</i>" for her legitimate
+sons. But the will of Madame
+la Mar&#233;chale was to them as the laws
+of the Medes and Persians, irresistible
+and unchangeable; and with heavy
+hearts they dismounted the portrait,
+and assisted in enfolding and encasing
+it, with much the same feeling that
+might have been shown in paying
+the last honours to a rightful branch
+of the beloved line.</p>
+
+<p>But, in the wall which the picture
+had covered, I found a small recess,
+closed by an iron door, and evidently
+unknown to the Swiss and his old
+wife. I might have hesitated about
+extending my enquiry further, but
+Time, the great discoverer of all things,
+saved my conscience: with a slight
+pressure against the lock it gave way;
+the door flew open, and dropped off
+the hinges, a mass of rust and decay.
+Within was a casket of a larger size
+than that generally used for jewels;
+but my curiosity durst not go beyond
+the superscription, which was a consignment
+of the casket, in the name of
+the Mar&#233;chale, to her banker in London.
+Whatever might be the contents,
+it was clear that, like the picture, it
+had been left behind in the hurry of
+flight, and that to transmit it to England
+was fairly within my commission.
+Before our busy work was done, day
+was glancing in through the coloured
+panes of the fine old chamber. I
+hurried off the Swiss, with my precious
+possessions, to the next town, in one
+of the baggage carts, with a trooper
+in front to prevent his search by hands
+still more hazardous than those of a
+custom-house officer; and then, mounting
+my horse, and bidding a brief
+farewell to the brave and noble fellows
+who were already mustering for the
+march, and envying me with all their
+souls, I set off at full speed to rejoin
+the army.</p>
+
+<p>With all my speed, the action had
+begun for some hours before I came
+in sight of the field. With what pangs
+of heart I heard the roar of the cannon,
+for league on league, while I was
+threading my bewildered way, and
+spurring my tired horse through the
+miry paths of a country alternately
+marsh and forest; with what pantings
+I looked from every successive height,
+to see even to what quarter the smoke
+of the firing might direct me; with
+what eager vexation I questioned
+every hurrying peasant, who either
+shook his moody head and refused to
+answer, or who answered with the
+fright of one who expected to have
+his head swept off his shoulders by
+some of my fierce-looking troop, I
+shall not now venture to tell; but it
+was as genuine a torture as could be
+felt by man. At length, exhausted by
+mortal fatigue, and ready to lie down
+and die, I made a last effort, would
+listen no more to the remonstrances
+of the troop, whose horses were sinking
+under them. I ordered them to
+halt where they were, pushed on alone,
+and, winding my way through a forest
+covering the side of a low but abrupt
+hill, or rather succession of hills, I
+suddenly burst out into the light, and
+saw the whole battle beneath, around,
+and before me. It was magnificent.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page98" id="page98"></a>[pg 98]</span>
+
+
+
+<h2>LETTER FROM LEMUEL GULLIVER.</h2>
+
+<h3>TO THE EDITOR.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Sir&mdash;At the request of my four-footed friends, I forward to you a free translation
+of the proceedings of a meeting of Houynhyms, recently held for the
+protection of their interests in corn. As the language appears more temperate,
+and the propositions quite as rational, as those which are ordinarily brought
+forward in the other Corn-law meetings which still continue to agitate the
+county, I have no difficulty in complying with their wishes; and if you can
+afford space for the insertion of the report in your valuable Magazine, you will
+greatly oblige the Houynhym race, and confer a favour upon, sir, your obedient
+servant,</p>
+
+<p class="right">LEMUEL GULLIVER.<br />
+
+<i>Stable-Yard, Nov. 10th, 1843.</i></p>
+
+<hr class="short" />
+
+<h2>ADVERTISEMENT.</h2>
+
+<p>A meeting of delegates from the
+different classes of consumers of oats
+was held on Friday last, at the Nag's
+Head in the Borough, pursuant to
+public advertisement in the <i>Hors-Lham
+Gazette</i>. The object of the
+meeting was to take into consideration
+the present consumption of the
+article, and to devise means for its
+increase. The celebrated horse Comrade,
+of Drury-Lane Theatre, presided
+on the occasion.</p>
+
+<p>The business of the meeting was
+opened by a young Racer of great
+promise, who said it was his anxious
+desire to protect the interests of the
+horse community, and to promote any
+measure which might contribute to
+the increase of the consumption of
+oats, and improve the condition of his
+fellow-quadrupeds. He was not versed
+in political economy, nor, indeed, economy
+of any kind. He had heard
+much of demand and supply, and the
+difficulty of regulating them properly;
+but, for his own part, he found the
+latter always equalled the former,
+though he understood such was not
+the case with his less fortunate brethren.
+He warmly advocated the practice
+of sowing wild oats, and considered
+that much of the decrease of consumption
+complained of arose from
+the undue encouragement given to the
+growth of other grain; and that the
+horse interest would be best promoted
+by imposing a maximum as to the
+growth of wheat and barley, according
+to the acreage of each particular
+farm.</p>
+
+<p>A HACKNEY-COACH HORSE declared
+himself in favour of the sliding-scale,
+which he understood from Sir Peter
+Lawrie to mean the wooden pavement.
+He admitted it was not well adapted
+for rainy seasons, but it was impossible
+to doubt that things went much
+more smoothly wherever it was established;
+and that he, and the working
+classes whom he represented,
+found in it a considerable relief from
+the heavy duties daily imposed upon
+them. He wished that some measure
+could be devised for superseding the
+use of nosebags, which he designated
+as an intolerable nuisance, especially
+during the summer months; but he
+principally relied for an improvement
+in condition on the prohibition of the
+mixture of chaff with oats; which latter
+article, he contended, was unfit for
+the use of able-bodied horses, who
+earned their daily food, and ought to
+be limited to those cattle who spent
+an idle existence in straw-yards.</p>
+
+<p>A BRIGHT CHESTNUT HORSE, of great
+power, and well-known in the parks,
+warmly replied to the last neigher.
+He denounced the sliding-scale as a
+slippery measure, unworthy of a horse
+of spirit, and adding greatly to the
+burdens with which horses like himself
+were saddled. He daily saw
+steeds of the noblest blood and most
+undaunted action humbled to the dust
+by its operation; and if Sir Peter
+Lawrie was to be believed, it was
+more dreaded by the household troops
+than Napoleon's army on the field of
+Waterloo. He yielded to no horse
+in an anxious desire to promote the
+true interests of the horse community;
+but he could not give his support to
+measures so unsafe, merely because
+they enabled a small and inferior section
+of their community to move more
+smoothly. He reprobated, in strong
+terms, the unfeeling allusion of the
+last neigher to the unfortunate inmates
+of union straw-yards, whom, for his
+own part, he looked upon as nowise
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page99" id="page99"></a>[pg 99]</span>
+inferior to the hackney-coach horse
+himself, of whose right to be present
+at a meeting of consumers of oats he
+entertained serious doubts. (Loud
+neighs of "Order! Order!")</p>
+
+<p>A SCOTCH HORSE feared that, strictly
+speaking, he was included in the
+same category with the hackney-coach
+horse, and had no right to be heard,
+having no personal interest in the
+question; but he trusted he might be
+permitted to speak as the delegate of
+the horses of Scotland, who were ignorant
+of the Houynhym language, and
+not entitled to attend. Permission
+being granted, to the surprise of the
+assembly he descanted with much
+asperity upon the gross oppression to
+which horses in Scotland were subject,
+as their rough coats and ragged appearance
+plainly manifested; and
+stated, in conclusion, that no hope or
+expectation of bettering the condition
+of the Scotch horse could be entertained
+until their lawful food was restored
+to them, and Scotchmen were
+compelled, by act of Parliament, to
+abstain from the use of oatmeal, and
+live like the rest of the civilized
+world.</p>
+
+<p>Several worn-out horses belonging
+to members of the Whig administration
+then endeavoured to address the
+meeting, with an evident intention of
+converting the proceedings into a
+party question; but they were informed
+by the president, in the midst
+of loud snorting and neighing, that
+they had not the slightest right to be
+present, as they were all undoubtedly
+turned out for life. This decision
+appeared to give universal satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>AN IRISH HORSE was of opinion
+that the great cause of the present
+difficulties arose from deficiency in the
+quality and not the quantity of the
+article, and strongly recommended the
+growth of Irish oats in England. To
+the surprise of the English delegates,
+he warmly eulogized the superiority
+of the Irish oat; but it afterwards appeared,
+upon the production of a sample,
+that he had mistaken the potatoe
+oat for the Irish oat.</p>
+
+<p>AN OLD ENGLISH HUNTER next addressed
+the meeting, and was listened
+to with deep attention. He impressed
+upon the young delegates the good
+old adage of "Look before you leap,"
+and cautioned them against the delusive
+hope that their condition would
+be improved by change of measures.
+In the course of his long life he had
+experienced measures of every description,
+and had invariably found
+that his supplies depended, not on the
+measure itself; but on the hand that
+filled it. He had ever given his willing
+support to his employers, and
+served them faithfully; and if they
+were as well acquainted as quadrupeds
+with the secrets of the stable,
+they would learn the fallacy of their
+favourite maxim of "Measures, not
+men," and trust the administration of
+their affairs to upright and steady
+grooms, rather than those fanciful
+half-educated gentlemen who were
+perpetually changing the rules of the
+stables, and altering the form of the
+measures, whereby they embarrassed
+the regular feeding and training of
+the inmates, without producing any
+practical good.</p>
+
+<p>A STAGE-COACH HORSE imputed
+their want of condition to the misconduct
+of their leaders, who, he said,
+could never be kept in the right path,
+or made to do one-half of the work
+which properly belonged to them. By
+a strange fatality, they were generally
+purblind, and always shyed most
+fearfully when an Opposition coach
+approached them. Indeed, it was well
+known that the horses selected for
+these duties were, generally speaking,
+vicious and unsound, and not taken
+from the most able and powerful, but
+from the most showy classes. He then
+proceeded to descant upon the general
+wrongs of horses. He congratulated
+the community upon the abolition of
+bearing reins, those grievous burdens
+upon the necks of all free-going horses;
+and he trusted the time would soon
+arrive when the blinkers would also be
+taken off, every corn-binn thrown
+open, and every horse his own leader.</p>
+
+<p>Several other delegates addressed
+the meeting, and various plans were
+discussed; but it invariably turned out,
+upon investigation, that the change
+would only benefit the class of animals
+by whom it was proposed. A post-horse
+was of opinion, that the true
+remedy lay in decreasing the amount
+of speed, and shortening the spaces
+between milestones. A Welsh pony
+was for the abolition of tolls, which,
+he said, exhausted the money intended
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page100" id="page100"></a>[pg 100]</span>
+for repairs; whilst some plough-horses
+from Lincolnshire proposed the
+encouragement of pasture land, the
+abolition of tillage, and the disuse of
+oats altogether. The harmony of the
+meeting was, at one period, interrupted,
+by the unfortunate use of the word
+"<i>blackguard</i>" by a delegate from the
+collieries, which caused a magnificent
+charger from the Royal Horse Guards,
+Blue, to rear up, and, with great indignation,
+demand if the allusion was
+personal; but who was satisfied with
+the explanation of the president, that
+it was applicable only in a warlike
+sense. A long, lean, bay horse, with
+a sour head, demanded a similar explanation
+of the word "<i>job</i>," and
+was told it was used in a <i>working</i>
+sense. Several resolutions, drawn by
+two dray-horses, embodying the supposed
+grievances of the community,
+were finally agreed upon, and a petition,
+under the hoof of the president,
+founded upon them, having been prepared,
+and ordered to be presented to
+the House of Commons by the members
+for Horsham, the meeting separated,
+and the delegates returned to
+their respective stables.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+
+
+
+<h2>THE PROCLAMATION.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">  <div class="stanza">
+<p>Bold warriors of Erin, I hereby <i>proclaim</i>,</p>
+<p>That the world never witness'd your rivals in fame;</p>
+<p>Bold sons of Macmurraugh, Macarthy, O'Neill,</p>
+<p>The armies of earth at your sight would turn pale.</p>
+<p>A flash from your eyes would light England's last pile,</p>
+<p>And a touch give her sceptre to Erin's green isle.</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>Hurrah for the vengeance of old Mullaghmast,</p>
+<p>On the blood-bolter'd ground where your gauntlet was cast;</p>
+<p>Hurrah for the vengeance of Tara's proud hill,</p>
+<p>Where the bones of our monarchs are blood-sprinkled still.</p>
+<p>Hurrah for Clontarf, though the Saxon may smile,</p>
+<p>The last, greatest triumph of Erin's green isle!</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>Let the scoffer scoff on, while I hereby <i>proclaim</i>,</p>
+<p>That flight may be courage, and fear but a name;</p>
+<p>That boasting is good, when 'tis good for the cause,</p>
+<p>But, in sight of cold steel, <i>we should honour the laws</i>;</p>
+<p>That powder and shot make men swallow their bile&mdash;</p>
+<p>So, hurrah for the glory of Erin's green isle!</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>If they ask for your leader, the land's sword and shield,</p>
+<p>At least none can say that <i>he fled from the field</i>.</p>
+<p><i>He</i> kept a whole skin&mdash;for the service of Rome;</p>
+<p>So he fix'd his headquarters in quiet at home.</p>
+<p>They might just as well hunt for the head of the Nile,</p>
+<p>While he reckon'd his beads for St Patrick's green isle.</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>If beggars on horseback will ride&mdash;to Clontarf;</p>
+<p>If tailors will caper with truncheon and scarf,</p>
+<p>At Sunday carousels, all know, I'm in flower,</p>
+<p>My taste for the grape don't extend to the shower.</p>
+<p>Besides, those blue pills disagree with my chyle,</p>
+<p>So, hurrah!&mdash;pence and peace for the grand Emerald Isle!</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>If the scoffer should ask, what the deuce brought you there?</p>
+<p>Of course, it was only to taste the fresh air;</p>
+<p>To pick cowslips and daisies; and brush off the dew,</p>
+<p>Or drink gin o'er the tombstone of Brian Boru.</p>
+<p>As to flags, and all that; 'twas but doing in style,</p>
+<p>The honours of Freedom to Erin's green isle.</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>Then, as to your "Squadrons," your "Mount for Repeal,"</p>
+<p>'Twas merely to teach them the "Right about wheel,"</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page101" id="page101"></a>[pg 101]</span>
+<p>By the word of command from the Saxon to run,</p>
+<p>As your leader would fly from a bailiff or dun;</p>
+<p>In short, since a miss is as good as a mile,</p>
+<p>Swear the whole was a humbug for Erin's green isle.</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>Besides, these are delicate moments to croak,</p>
+<p>Since the Saxon's new plan of a word and a stroke.</p>
+<p>My mind is made up, like a poodle or pug,</p>
+<p>No longer to stir from my berth on the rug;</p>
+<p>Though the bold may revile me, so let them revile&mdash;</p>
+<p>I'm determined to <i>live</i> for old Erin's green isle.</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>I <i>proclaim</i>&mdash;that the Saxon will tremble to meet</p>
+<p>The heroes of Erin; but, boys, life is sweet.</p>
+<p>I <i>proclaim</i>&mdash;that your shout frightens Europe's base thrones;</p>
+<p>But remember, my boys, there is luck in whole bones;</p>
+<p>So, take the advice of a friend&mdash;wait a while,</p>
+<p>In a century or two you'll revenge the Green Isle.</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>I know in my soul, at the very first shot</p>
+<p>That your whole monster meeting would fly at full trot;</p>
+<p>What horrid m&#234;l&#233;e, then, of popping and flashing!</p>
+<p>At least I'LL not share in your holiday thrashing;</p>
+<p>Brawl at Sugden and Smith, but beware "rank and file"&mdash;</p>
+<p>They're too rough for the lambkins of Erin's green isle.</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>Observe, my dear boys, if you once get me hang'd,</p>
+<p>'Tis fifty to one if you'll e'er be harangued.</p>
+<p>Farewell to the pleasure of paying the "Rint"&mdash;</p>
+<p>Farewell to all earth's vilest nonsense in print&mdash;</p>
+<p>Farewell to the feast of your gall and your guile&mdash;</p>
+<p>All's over at once with the grand Emerald Isle.</p>
+  </div>  </div>
+<hr />
+
+
+<h2>THE FIREMAN'S SONG.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="poem">  <div class="stanza">
+<p>"Ho, comrade, up! awake, arise! look forth into the night:</p>
+<p>Say, is yon gleam the morning-beam, yon broad and bloody light?</p>
+<p>Say, does it tell&mdash;yon clanging bell&mdash;of mass or matin song?</p>
+<p>Yon drum-roll&mdash;calls it to parade the soldier's arm&#232;d throng?"</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>"No, brother, no! no morning-beam is yonder crimson glare!</p>
+<p>Yon deep bell tolls no matin&mdash;'tis the tocsin's hurried blare!</p>
+<p>Yon sullen drum-roll mutters out no summons to parade:</p>
+<p>To fight the flame it summons us&mdash;the valiant Fire-Brigade!"</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>Then fast the Fireman rose, and waked his mate that lay beside;</p>
+<p>And each man gripp'd his trusty axe, and donn'd his coat of hide&mdash;</p>
+<p>There bounds beneath that leather coat a heart as strange to fear</p>
+<p>As ever swell'd beneath the steel of gilded cuirassier.</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>And from beneath the leather casque that guards the Fireman's brow,</p>
+<p>A bolder, sterner glance shines out than plumy crest can show;</p>
+<p>And oft shall ply the Fireman's axe, though rude and rough it be,</p>
+<p>Where sabre, lance, and bayonet, right soon would turn and flee!</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>Off dash the thundering engines, like goblin j&#228;ger-chase&mdash;</p>
+<p>The sleeper shudders as they pass, and pallid grows his face:</p>
+<p>Away, away! though close and bright yon ruddy glow appear,</p>
+<p>Far, far we have to gallop yet, or e'er our work we near!</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>A plain of upturn'd faces&mdash;pale brows and quivering lips,</p>
+<p>All flickering like the tropic sea in the green light of eclipse;</p>
+<p>And the multitude waves to and fro, as in the tropic sea,</p>
+<p>After a tempest, heaves and falls the ground-swell sleeplessly.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page102" id="page102"></a>[pg 102]</span>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>Now, by my faith! goodly sight you mansion fast asleep&mdash;</p>
+<p>Those winking lamps beside the gate a dull watch seem to keep&mdash;</p>
+<p>But a gay awaking waits them, when the crash of blazing beam,</p>
+<p>And the Fireman's stern r&#233;veille, shall mingle with their dream!</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>And sound as sleeps that mansion, ye may mark in every chink</p>
+<p>A gleam, as in the lava-cracks by the volcano's brink;</p>
+<p>Through key-hole and through window-slit, a white and sullen glow&mdash;</p>
+<p>And all above is rolling smoke, and all is dark below.</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>Hark! hear ye not that murmur, that hush and hollow roar,</p>
+<p>As when to the south-wester bow the pines upon the shore;</p>
+<p>And that low crackling intermix'd, like wither'd twig that breaks,</p>
+<p>When in the midnight greenwood the startled squirrel wakes!</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>Lo, how the fire comes roaring on, like a host in war array!</p>
+<p>Nor lacks it gallant music to cheer it on its way,</p>
+<p>Nor flap of flame-tongued banner, like the Oriflamme of old,</p>
+<p>Its vanward cohorts heralding, in crimson, green, and gold.</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>The engines now are ranged a-row&mdash;hark, how they sob and pant!</p>
+<p>How gallantly the water-jets curve soaringly aslant!</p>
+<p>Up spins the stream&mdash;it meets the flame&mdash;it bursts in fleecy rain,</p>
+<p>Like the last spout of the dying whale, when the lance is in his brain.</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>Ha, ha! from yon high window thrill'd the wild shriek of despair,</p>
+<p>And gibbering phantoms seem to dance within the ruddy glare;</p>
+<p>And as a valiant captain leads his boarders to the fray,</p>
+<p>"Up, up, my sons!" our foreman shouts&mdash;"up firemen, and away!"</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>Their arms are strong and sinewy&mdash;see how the splinters fly&mdash;</p>
+<p>Their axes they are sharp and good&mdash;"Back, comrades! or ye die&mdash;</p>
+<p>Look to the walls!"&mdash;a rending crash&mdash;they topple&mdash;down they come&mdash;</p>
+<p>A cloud of sparks&mdash;a feeble cheer&mdash;again!&mdash;and all is dumb.</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>A pause&mdash;as on that battle-day, 'twixt France and England's might,</p>
+<p>When huge L'Orient blew up at once, in the hottest of the fight:</p>
+<p>There was not one, they say, but wink'd, and held his breath the while,</p>
+<p>Though brave were they that fought that day with Nelson at the Nile.</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>And by to-morrow's sunrise, amid the steaming stones,</p>
+<p>A chain of gold half-melted, and a few small white bones,</p>
+<p>And a few rags of roasted flesh, alone shall show where died&mdash;</p>
+<p>The noble and the beautiful, the baby and the bride!</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>O fire, he is a noble thing!&mdash;the sot's pipe gives him birth;</p>
+<p>Or from the livid thunder-cloud he leaps alive on earth;</p>
+<p>Or in the western wilderness devouring silently;</p>
+<p>Or on the lava rocking in the womb of Stromboli.</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>Right well in Hamburg revell'd he&mdash;though Elbe ran rolling by&mdash;</p>
+<p>He could have drain'd&mdash;so fierce his thirst&mdash;the mighty river dry!</p>
+<p>With silk, and gold, and diamond, he cramm'd his hungry maw;</p>
+<p>And he tamed the wild republicans, who knew nor lord nor law!</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>He feasted well in Moscow&mdash;in the city of the Tsar&mdash;</p>
+<p>When 'fore the northern streamers paled Napoleon's lurid star:</p>
+<p>Around the hoary Kremlin, where Moscow once had stood,</p>
+<p>He pass'd, and left a heap behind, of ashes slaked in blood!</p>
+  </div><div class="stanza">
+<p>He feasted once in London&mdash;he feasted best of all&mdash;</p>
+<p>When through the close-packed city, he swept from wall to wall:</p>
+<p>Even as of old the wrath of God came down in fiery rain,</p>
+<p>On Sodom and Gomorrha, on the Cities of the Plain!</p>
+  </div>  </div>
+
+<hr />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page103" id="page103"></a>[pg 103]</span>
+
+
+
+<h2>POSITION AND PROSPECTS OF THE GOVERNMENT.</h2>
+
+
+<p>A recruited revenue; reviving trade
+and commerce; reduction in the price
+of provisions; the triumphant termination
+of hostilities in all parts of the
+world, with its great immediate prospective
+advantages: a general feeling
+of confidence, arising from the
+steady administration of public affairs,
+in spite of persevering and atrocious
+efforts to excite dissatisfaction and
+alarm; nay, even the stern repose
+prevailing in Ireland, preserved though
+it be, for a while, under cover of artillery,
+and at the bayonet's point, but
+affording a precious respite from agitation,
+and a foretaste of the blessings
+that may be expected from its permanent
+suppression: all these circumstances
+unequivocally attest the existence
+of a powerful Government acting
+upon a comprehensive and enduring
+policy, which is becoming daily better
+appreciated by the strong good sense
+which ever distinguishes the British
+character, when a fair opportunity is
+afforded for its exercise.</p>
+
+<p>Upwards of two years have now
+elapsed since the accession of the present
+Government to power, at a period
+of universally admitted difficulty and
+danger. We have been, during this
+critical interval, dispassionate and independent
+observers of Ministers, and
+their conduct of public affairs, anxious
+to see whether they were really equal
+to the occasion, and worthy of the confidence
+of the Sovereign and the country.
+We are ourselves satisfied, and
+undertake to demonstrate to our readers,
+that this question must be answered
+in the affirmative. We say all this
+advisedly, and with no disposition to
+deny the existence of difficulties, which,
+if serious to the present, would be absolutely
+insuperable to any other Government.
+During the interval in question,
+Ministers have triumphed over
+more formidable difficulties than any
+which they have at present to encounter.
+<i>That</i>, also, we say advisedly&mdash;cheerfully,
+confidently&mdash;with Ireland
+before our eyes, and the din of the
+audacious and virulent Anti-corn-law
+League in our ears.</p>
+
+<p>Passing these topics for the present,
+let us proceed to examine carefully the
+real position of Sir Robert Peel and his
+Government, with a view to ascertaining
+its prospects of a continuance in
+power. This enquiry cannot be successfully
+conducted, without referring for a
+moment to the immense changes in
+principles and parties effected by the
+Reform Bill in 1832&mdash;a period of quite
+as great a revolution as that of 1688.
+The Tory party it nearly annihilated!&mdash;The
+first Reform Parliament consisting
+of only 187 Tories to 471 Whigs
+and Radicals&mdash;the former being thus
+in the fearful minority of 284. We
+recollect sharing in the despondency,
+and even despair, which paralysed our
+party. There was, however, one signal
+exception in the person of Sir
+Robert Peel, whose conduct on that
+occasion entitles him to the eternal
+gratitude of every man pretending to
+the character of a Conservative, nay,
+of every true lover of his country
+and its institutions. With surprising
+energy, calmness, and foresight, he
+instantly addressed himself to the formation,
+even under those inauspicious
+and disheartening circumstances, of
+that <i>great</i> CONSERVATIVE <i>party</i> of
+which he is now the acknowledged
+head. In 1841, just <i>before</i> the general
+election, he thus <i>reminded that
+party</i>, and apprized the country at
+large of the principle on which he had
+acted in 1832. We beg our readers
+to ponder his words, and the period
+when he uttered them.</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>
+"I then foresaw the good that might
+result from laying the foundation of a
+great Conservative party in the state,
+attached to the fundamental institutions
+of the country&mdash;not opposed to
+any rational change in it which the
+lapse of years, or the altered circumstances
+of society might require, but
+determined to maintain, on their ancient
+footing and foundation, our great
+institutions in church and state. In
+order to form that party, however, it
+was necessary, in the first instance, to
+widen the foundation on which it
+should stand: to call into our connexion
+men from whom we had been
+separated in consequence of differences
+which no longer existed. My grand
+object was to build up that great party
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page104" id="page104"></a>[pg 104]</span>
+which has been gradually acquiring
+strength in this country&mdash;which has
+been gradually widening the foundation
+on which it stands, and which
+has drawn, from time to time, its support
+from its opponents."<a id="footnotetag11" name="footnotetag11"></a><a href="#footnote11"><sup>11</sup></a>
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote11" name="footnote11"></a>
+<a href="#footnotetag11"> [11] </a> Speech to the Tamworth Electors on 28th June 1841, (Painter, Strand.)</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>The shortest and best evidence of
+the success which has attended the
+unwearied exertions of Sir Robert
+Peel during the ensuing then years,
+is afforded by the following summary
+of the results of the four general elections
+since the passing of the Reform
+Bill; three of them under the auspices
+and with the unscrupulously exercised
+patronage of the Reform Government.
+Observe the ascending and descending
+scales:&mdash;</p>
+
+<table summary="Seats in Parliament" align="center" cellspacing="5">
+<thead>
+<tr><th> C. </th><th> L.</th></tr>
+</thead>
+<tbody>
+<tr><td>187 </td><td> 471 </td><td> (1832)</td></tr>
+<tr><td>275 </td><td> 383 </td><td> (1835)</td></tr>
+<tr><td>314 </td><td> 344 </td><td> (1837)</td></tr>
+<tr><td>373 </td><td> 283 </td><td> (1841)</td></tr>
+</tbody>
+</table>
+
+<p>Who was it but its founder, that led
+the Conservative party through these
+successive stages of triumph? Who
+did so much as he to effect that gradual
+but decisive change in public
+opinion which, in 1841, routed the Liberal
+Ministry in spite of their extraordinary
+exertions and advantages,
+and placed a Conservative Government
+at the head of affairs? To enable us
+to appreciate the importance of that
+great victory, and also the decision of
+character evinced on that occasion by
+Sir Robert Peel, let us for a moment
+advert to the calm self-reliance with
+which, amidst the breathless apprehensions
+and misgivings of his whole
+party, he gave battle to the enemy&mdash;proposed
+the memorable vote of want
+of confidence, and carried it by a majority
+of one.<a id="footnotetag12" name="footnotetag12"></a><a href="#footnote12"><sup>12</sup></a> A more critical move
+never was followed by more signal
+success; every ensuing event serving
+to show, that so far from his movements
+having been impelled by rash
+and desperate party speculations, they
+had been based upon a profound and
+accurate knowledge of his resources,
+and of the state of feeling and opinion
+in the country. "I gave the Government
+every advantage," said he, "to
+make their appeal to the country.
+They boast of the confidence of the
+crown&mdash;they have every means at
+their disposal which official influence
+can command to exert in their own
+behalf. An appeal has been made by
+them from the House of Commons to
+you, and it is for the country to decide
+the question at issue. They
+have made an appeal to public feeling
+on account of cheap sugar and cheap
+bread. My firm belief is, that the
+people of this country have not at all
+responded to that cry." How well-founded
+was that "firm belief," was
+proved by the glorious result:&mdash;the
+"people of this country did" <i>not</i> "respond
+to that cry"&mdash;they rejected&mdash;they
+repudiated it, and they would do
+so again if another such appeal were
+made to them to-morrow.</p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote12" name="footnote12"></a>
+<a href="#footnotetag12"> [12] </a> Ayes, 312; Noes, 311&mdash;4th June 1841.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Let us now proceed to show what
+pretence there is for the injurious insinuations
+and assertions of Sir Robert
+Peel's traducers&mdash;whether treacherous
+friends or open enemies&mdash;that,
+in order to obtain power, he hung out
+false colours to the nation; that his
+declarations before the general election
+have been disregarded and falsified
+by his acts on attaining office.
+We will for ever demolish all such calumnies
+and false pretences by going,
+step by step, through a document
+which we made a point of procuring
+at the time, and preserving hitherto,
+and to which we have since frequently
+referred, on hearing uttered the slanderous
+charges to which we allude.
+That document is a copy of the speech
+which Sir Robert Peel, on the 28th
+June 1841, addressed formally to his
+constituents, but virtually, of course,
+to the whole nation.</p>
+
+<p>One of his earliest declarations was
+the following:&mdash;"Gentlemen, <i>I have ever
+professed moderate opinions on politics</i>.
+The principles I professed, and adhered
+to, I shall adhere to during my public
+life, whether in opposition or in power,
+are, I believe, in perfect conformity
+with the prevailing good sense, the
+moderation, and the intelligence of the
+great body of the people of England."
+This was a sufficiently distinct notice
+to all men, especially to those of extreme
+opinions, whether Tory, Liberal,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page105" id="page105"></a>[pg 105]</span>
+or Radical, of the course of action
+which was to be looked for from
+the expectant Prime Minister.</p>
+
+<p>Then, first, he proceeded to admit
+the existence of manufacturing distress.</p>
+
+<p>"I admit and deplore it, but I do
+not despair. I have seen distress in
+manufactures and in commerce before
+now. I think the causes of the present
+distress are but temporary&mdash;that
+the cloud will soon blow over&mdash;and
+that the great foundations of manufacturing
+prosperity are not affected;
+and I hope I shall very shortly see the
+day when our manufactures will once
+more revive, and when we shall again
+fill the place we have always occupied&mdash;that
+of producers for the markets
+of the world."</p>
+
+<p>Now for its <i>cause</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"Now let us consider the important
+question, as to how far the distress
+in the manufactures and commerce of
+the country is fairly attributable to the
+corn-laws." He proceeded to show,
+from Lord Palmerston's official statement
+in Parliament on the 22d July
+1840, that, between the years 1830
+and 1839, the <i>exports</i> had risen from the
+value of L.38,000,000 to L.53,000,000,
+and the <i>imports</i> from L.46,000,000 to
+L.62,000,000, "a clear proof that,
+notwithstanding the local and temporary
+checks which our commerce had
+experienced, on the whole it had gone
+on steadily improving, and that between
+the two periods it had increased
+not much less than from two to three."</p>
+
+<p>He then took the <i>shipping</i> and <i>navigation</i>
+of the country for the preceding
+three years; and in looking at
+them, I cannot help thinking that, if
+there was any thing like an absolute
+decrease in trade and commerce, there
+would also be a decrease in the shipping
+of the country. "Well," said
+Sir Robert Peel, "What do I find?"
+The returns "showed an increase,
+presented within the last three years,
+from 4,000,000 tons to 4,780,000
+tons." Now mark&mdash;"during the
+whole of this period the corn-laws
+were in operation; how then can
+they be fairly or honestly assigned as
+the cause of the present manufacturing
+and commercial distress?"</p>
+
+<p>But if the corn-laws were <i>not</i>,
+what <i>was</i> the cause?</p>
+
+<p>"I see causes enough in the world,
+as well as in this country, why there
+should be manufacturing and commercial
+distress at the present moment,
+irrespective and totally independent
+of the corn-laws."</p>
+
+<p>These were&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>1st, "<i>I do fear that, in the north of
+England, an undue stimulus has been
+given to manufacturing industry by the
+accommodation system pursued by the
+joint-stock banks. I think the connexion
+of the manufacturer with the joint-stock
+banks gave an undue and an improper
+impulse to trade in that quarter of the
+county; and I think that, in consequence
+of this, there have been more
+manufactures produced within the last
+two years than were necessary to supply
+the demand for them.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>2ndly, "Look to the state of some
+of the foreign countries, which took,
+at one time, the greatest quantity of
+our manufactures;" South America,
+its ports strictly blockaded by France;
+the United States of North America,
+"in a state of nascent hostility," and
+also labouring under "a distress similar
+to our own, and arising from similar
+causes. The facility of accommodation
+afforded by certain banks there
+gave an undue stimulus to industry;
+this produced extravagant speculations;
+many persons failed in consequence,
+and trade necessarily then
+came to a stand-still." Canada&mdash;the
+peninsula, France, the great Kingdoms
+of the middle and north of Europe&mdash;Syria,
+Egypt, China, had been,
+and were, in such a state, as occasioned
+all interruption of our trade
+thither; "a stoppage in the demand
+for manufactured goods, and a correspondent
+depression in commerce."
+"When you put all these things together,
+all causes, mind you, affecting
+the market for your goods, and then
+combine them with the two or three
+defective harvests we have had of late,
+I ask you to answer me the question,
+Whether or not they have been sufficient
+to account for the depression
+of manufacturing industry."</p>
+
+<p>Then came Sir Robert Peel to the
+two grand and suddenly discovered
+panaceas of the late Government, for
+recruiting the exhausted revenue, and
+relieving the general distress&mdash;viz.
+"cheap sugar," and "cheap bread."</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page106" id="page106"></a>[pg 106]</span>
+
+<p>1st, As to foreign sugar:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I clearly and freely admit that
+those restrictions which cannot be
+justified should be removed, and that
+the commerce of the country should
+be perfectly free, whenever it can possibly
+be so; but I consider the article
+of sugar to be wholly exempt from the
+principle of free trade." * * * "The
+question now is this&mdash;whether, after
+the sacrifices which this country has
+made for the suppression of the slave
+trade and the abolition of slavery, and
+the glorious results that have ensued,
+and are likely to ensue, from these
+sacrifices&mdash;whether we shall run the
+risk of losing the benefit of those sacrifices,
+and tarnishing for ever that
+glory, by admitting to the British
+market sugar the produce of foreign
+slavery." * * * "If you admit it, it
+will come from Brazil and Cuba. In
+Brazil, the slave-trade exists in full
+force; in Cuba, it is unmitigated in its
+extent and horrors. The sugar of
+Cuba is the finest in the world; but
+in Cuba, slavery is unparalleled in its
+horrors. I do not at all overstate the
+fact, when I say, that 50,000 slaves
+are annually landed in Cuba. That
+is the yearly importation into the
+island; but, when you take into consideration
+the vast numbers that perish
+before they leave their own coasts,
+the still greater number that die
+amidst the horrors of the middle passage,
+and the number that are lost at
+sea, you will come to the inevitable
+conclusion, that the number landed in
+Cuba&mdash;50,000 annually&mdash;is but a
+slight indication of the number shipped
+in Africa, or of the miseries and destruction
+that have taken place among
+them during their transport thither.
+If you open the markets of England
+to the sugar of Cuba, you may depend
+on it that you give a great stimulus to
+slavery, and the slave-trade." Sir
+Robert Peel then pointed out peculiar
+and decisive distinctions between the
+case of sugar, and that of cotton, tobacco,
+and coffee; that, though all of
+them were the produce of slave labour&mdash;First,
+we cannot now reject the <i>cotton</i>
+of the United States, without endangering
+to the last degree the
+manufacturing prosperity of the kingdom.
+Secondly, of all the descriptions
+of slave produce, sugar is the most
+cruelly destructive of human life&mdash;the
+proportion of deaths in a sugar plantation
+being infinitely greater than on
+those of cotton or coffee. Thirdly,
+slave grown sugar has <i>never</i> been admitted
+to consumption in this country.<a id="footnotetag13" name="footnotetag13"></a><a href="#footnote13"><sup>13</sup></a>
+He also assigned two great co-operating
+reasons for rejecting slave-grown
+sugar:&mdash;"That the people of
+England required the great experiment
+of emancipation to be fairly
+tried; and they would <i>not</i> think it
+fairly tried, if, at this moment, when
+the colonies were struggling with such
+difficulties, we were to open the floodgates
+of a foreign supply, and inundate the British market with sugar,
+the produce of slave-labour;" adopting
+the very words of the Whig Vice-President
+of the Board of Trade, Mr Labouchere,
+on the 25th June 1840.
+The other reason was, "that our immense
+possessions in the East Indies
+give us the means, and afford us
+every facility, for acquiring sugar, the
+produce of free labour, to an illimitable
+extent."</p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote13" name="footnote13"></a><a href="#footnotetag13"> [13] </a>  The following striking passage from the writings of the celebrated Dr Channing
+of America, was quoted by Sir Robert Peel in the speech under consideration.
+"Great Britain, loaded with an unprecedented debt, and with a grinding taxation,
+contracted a new debt of a hundred millions of dollars, to give freedom, not to
+Englishmen, but to the degraded African. I know not that history records an act
+so disinterested, so sublime. In the progress of ages, England's naval triumphs will
+shrink into a more and more narrow space in the records of our race&mdash;this moral
+triumph will fill a broader&mdash;brighter page." "Take care!" emphatically added Sir
+Robert Peel, "that this brighter page be not sullied by the admission of slave sugar
+into the consumption of this country&mdash;by our encouragement&mdash;and, too, our unnecessary
+encouragement of slavery and the slave-trade!"&mdash;Noble sentiments!</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>So much for foreign sugar. Now
+for&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>II. FOREIGN CORN; and we beg
+the special attention of all parties to
+this portion of the manifesto of Sir
+Robert Peel:&mdash;</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page107" id="page107"></a>[pg 107]</span>
+
+<p>"Look at the capital invested in
+land and agriculture in this country&mdash;look
+at the interests involved in it&mdash;look
+at the arrangement that has been
+come to for the commutation of tithes&mdash;look
+at your importation of corn
+diminishing for the last ten years&mdash;consider
+the burdens on the land
+peculiar to this country<a id="footnotetag14" name="footnotetag14"></a><a href="#footnote14"><sup>14</sup></a>&mdash;take all
+these circumstances into consideration,
+and then you will agree with Mr
+McCulloch, the great advocate of a
+change in the Corn-law, that 'considering
+the vast importance of agriculture,
+<i>nearly half the population of
+the empire are directly or indirectly dependent
+on it for employment and the
+means of subsistence</i>; a prudent statesman
+would pause before he gave his
+sanction to any measure however sound
+in principle, or beneficial to the
+mercantile and manufacturing classes,
+that might endanger the prosperity of
+agriculture, or check the rapid spread
+of improvement.'"<a id="footnotetag15" name="footnotetag15"></a><a href="#footnote15"><sup>15</sup></a></p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote14" name="footnote14"></a><a href="#footnotetag14"> [14] </a>  "We believe," says <i>Mr McCulloch</i> himself in another part of the pamphlet,
+(Longman &amp; Co., 1841, p. 23&mdash;6th Edit.) from which Sir Robert Peel is quoting,
+"that land is more heavily taxed than any other species of property in the country&mdash;and
+that its owners are clearly entitled to insist that a duty should be laid on
+foreign corn when imported, sufficient fully to countervail the excess of burdens
+laid upon the land."</p></blockquote>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote15" name="footnote15"></a><a href="#footnotetag15"> [15] </a> Speech, pp. 9, 10.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Now for the "<i>Sliding Scale</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"I just here repeat the opinion
+which I have declared here before, and
+also in the House of Commons, that I
+cannot consent to substitute a fixed
+duty of 8s. a-quarter on foreign corn,
+for the present ascending and descending
+scale of duties. I prefer the principle
+of the ascending and descending
+scale, to such an amount of fixed
+duty. And when I look at the burdens
+to which the land of this country
+is subject, I do not consider the
+fixed duty of 8s. a-quarter on corn
+from Poland, and Prussia, and Russia,
+where no such burdens exist, a
+sufficient protection for it."<a id="footnotetag16" name="footnotetag16"></a><a href="#footnote16"><sup>16</sup></a></p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote16" name="footnote16"></a><a href="#footnotetag16"> [16] </a> Do. p. 8.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Again&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"If you disturb agriculture, and
+divert the employment of capital from
+the land, you may not increase your
+foreign trade&mdash;for that is a thing to
+dwell under existing circumstances&mdash;<i>but
+will assuredly reduce the home
+trade, by reducing the means to meet
+the demand</i>, and thus permanently injure
+yourselves also."<a id="footnotetag17" name="footnotetag17"></a><a href="#footnote17"><sup>17</sup></a></p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote17" name="footnote17"></a><a href="#footnotetag17"> [17] </a> Do. p. 13.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Again&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I have come to the conclusion,
+that the existing system of an ascending
+and descending scale of duties,
+should not be altered: and that, moreover,
+we should as much as possible
+make ourselves independent of a foreign
+supply&mdash;and not disturb the
+principle of the existing corn-laws&mdash;of
+these corn-laws, which, when you
+have an abundance of your own, exclude
+altogether the foreign supply&mdash;and
+when the price rises in this
+country, freely admits it."<a id="footnotetag18" name="footnotetag18"></a><a href="#footnote18"><sup>18</sup></a></p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote18" name="footnote18"></a><a href="#footnotetag18"> [18] </a> Speech, p. 15.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Again&mdash;he quoted the following
+remarkable language of Lord Melbourne
+on the 11th June 1840&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Whether the object be to have a
+fixed duty, or an alteration as to the
+ascending and descending scale, I see
+clearly and distinctly, that that object
+will not be carried without a most violent
+struggle&mdash;without causing much ill-blood,
+and a deep sense of grievance&mdash;without
+stirring society to its foundations,
+and leaving behind every sort of
+bitterness and animosity. I do not
+think the advantages to be gained by
+the change are worth the evils of the
+struggle</i>."<a id="footnotetag19" name="footnotetag19"></a><a href="#footnote19"><sup>19</sup></a></p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote19" name="footnote19"></a><a href="#footnotetag19"> [19] </a> Do. p. 18.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>And Sir Robert Peel concluded the
+foregoing summary of his views, on
+the great questions then proposed to
+the country for its decision, in the following
+words:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I ask your free suffrages, with
+this frank and explicit declaration of
+my opinions."<a id="footnotetag20" name="footnotetag20"></a><a href="#footnote20"><sup>20</sup></a></p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote20" name="footnote20"></a><a href="#footnotetag20"> [20] </a> Do. p. 18.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>On this, there occur to us three
+questions&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>(1st.) Was this, or was it not, a
+frank and explicit declaration of his
+opinions? And, (2d.) Did it, or did
+it not, as tested by the result of the
+general election, completely satisfy
+the country? (3d.) In what respect
+has the subsequent conduct of Sir
+Robert Peel been inconsistent with
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page108" id="page108"></a>[pg 108]</span>
+these declarations? And we echo the
+stern enquiry of the Duke of Wellington,
+for "the <i>when</i>, the <i>where</i>, and the
+<i>how</i>," "of Sir Robert Peel's deceiving
+his supporters or the country"&mdash;and
+"pause for a reply." Failing to
+receive any&mdash;for none can be given,
+except in the negative&mdash;we shall proceed
+to condense the substance of this
+memorable manifesto into a few
+words; offer some general observations
+designed to assist in forming a
+correct judgment upon the topics discussed
+in the ensuing pages; and then
+give as fair an outline as we know
+how to present, of the "DOINGS" of
+Sir Robert Peel and his Government,
+by way of comment upon, and illustration
+of his previous and preparatory
+"SAYINGS."</p>
+
+<p>What, then, was the substance of
+Sir Robert Peel's declaration, on presenting
+himself before the country as
+a candidate for the office which he
+fills? He avowed himself a man of
+moderate political opinions; recognized
+the existence of manufacturing
+and commercial distress, but referred
+it to causes of only a temporary nature,
+unconnected with the corn-laws;
+repudiated the empirical expedients
+proposed by the late ministry;
+and pledged himself to maintain the
+principle of protection to our agricultural
+interests; declaring his deliberate
+preference of a sliding scale of
+duties, to a fixed duty, upon foreign
+corn.</p>
+
+<p>The first of the observations to which
+we beg the reader's earnest attention,
+is&mdash;that Sir Robert Peel has <i>to govern
+by means of a Reformed House of
+Commons</i>. It is for want of well considering
+this circumstance, that one
+or two respectable sections of the
+Conservative party have conceived
+some dissatisfaction at the line of
+policy adopted by Sir Robert Peel.
+They forget that, as we have already
+stated, the <i>Tory</i> party was nearly
+destroyed by the passing of the Reform
+Bill; that from its ashes rose
+the CONSERVATIVE party, adapted to
+the totally new political exigencies of
+the times; its grand object being, as
+it were, out of the elements of democracy
+to arrest the progress of democracy.
+The bond of its union was
+correctly described by its founder, as
+consisting in attachment to the fundamental
+institutions of the country&mdash;non-opposition
+to rational changes
+rendered requisite by the altered circumstances
+of the times&mdash;but determination
+to maintain, on their ancient
+footing and foundation, our great institutions
+in Church and State. Keeping
+these grand objects ever in view,
+the true policy to be adopted was to
+widen the foundations on which should
+stand "that new party <i>which was to
+draw, from time to time, its strength from
+its opponents</i>." None saw this more
+clearly than Sir Robert Peel&mdash;and
+hence the "<i>moderation</i>," indispensable
+and all-powerful, which he prescribed
+to himself, and recommended
+to all those who chose to act with
+him, and the steady acting upon which
+has at length conducted them to their
+present splendid position of power
+and responsibility. Could the government
+of the country be now carried
+on upon principles that were all-powerful
+twenty&mdash;or even fewer&mdash;years
+ago? No more than Queen
+Victoria could govern on the principles
+of Queen Elizabeth! We must look
+at things, not as they were, or as we
+would wish them to be&mdash;but as they
+are and are likely to be. He is unable
+to take a just and comprehensive
+view of political affairs in this country&mdash;of
+the position of parties, and the
+tendency of the principles respectively
+advocated by them, who does not see
+that the great and only contest now
+going on, is between <i>conservative</i> and
+<i>destructive</i>. We say boldly&mdash;and we
+are satisfied that we say it in conformity
+with the opinions of the
+immense majority of persons of intelligence
+and property&mdash;that the forces
+which would drive Sir Robert
+Peel's Government from office would
+immediately and inevitably supply
+their places by a Government which
+must act upon destructive principles.
+This will not be believed by many of
+those who, moving in the circumscribed
+sphere of intense party feeling,
+can contemplate only one object,
+namely&mdash;a return to power, and disregard
+the intentions of the fierce
+auxiliaries of whose services they
+would avail themselves. To the country
+at large, however, who breathe a
+freer air, the true nature of the struggle
+is plain as the sun at noonday.
+The number of those who only nominally
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page109" id="page109"></a>[pg 109]</span>
+belong to parties, but have a very
+deep stake in the preservation of our
+national institutions, and see distinctly
+the advantages of a Minister acting
+<i>firmly</i> on moderate principles, and
+who will consequently give him a <i>silent</i>
+but steady support in moments of
+danger, is infinitely larger than is supposed
+by the opponents of the Conservative
+party. Such a Minister,
+however, must make up his account
+with receiving often only a cold and
+jealous support from those of his adherents
+who incline to extreme opinions;
+while his opponents will increase
+their zeal and animosity in proportion
+to their perception of the unobjectionableness
+of his measures, the practical
+<i>working</i> of his moderation, viz.&mdash;his
+continuance in power, and their
+own exclusion from it. Such a Minister
+must possess a large share of
+fortitude, careless of its exhibition,
+and often exposing him to the charge
+of insensibility, as he moves steadily
+on amongst disaffected supporters and
+desperate opponents, mindless equally
+of taunts, threats, reproaches, and
+misrepresentations. He must resolve
+to <i>bide his time</i>, while his well-matured
+measures are slowly developing themselves,
+relying on the conscious purity
+of his motives. Such a man as this
+the country will prize and support,
+and such a man we sincerely believe
+that the country possesses in the present
+Prime Minister. He may view,
+therefore, with perfect equanimity, a
+degree of methodized clamour and
+violence, which would overthrow a
+Minister of a different stamp. Such
+are the inconveniences&mdash;such the consolations
+and advantages&mdash;attending
+that course of <i>moderation</i> which alone
+can be adopted with permanent success,
+by a Conservative Minister
+governing with a reformed House of
+Commons.</p>
+
+<p>Another observation we would offer,
+has for its object to abate the pique
+and vexation under which the ablest
+volunteer advisers of the Minister are
+apt to suffer, on his disregard of their
+counsels, and sometimes to revenge
+themselves by bitter and indiscriminate
+censure of his general policy.
+They should remember, that while
+they are irresponsible volunteers, he
+acts under a tremendous responsibility;
+to sustain which, however, he has
+advantages which none but those in
+his situation can possibly possess&mdash;the
+co-operation of able brother Ministers,
+with all those sources and means of
+universal information which the constitution
+has placed at his disposal.
+The superior knowledge of the circumstances
+of the country thus acquired,
+enable him to see insuperable objections
+to schemes and suggestions,
+which their proposers reasonably deem
+to be palpably just and feasible. We
+have often thought that if Sir Robert
+Peel, or any other Prime Minister, were
+to take one of these eager and confident
+advisers into his cabinet, and calmly
+exhibit to him the actual impossibility&mdash;the
+imminent danger&mdash;of adopting
+the course of procedure which that adviser
+has been strenuously recommending,
+he would go away with slightly
+increased distrust of himself, and consideration
+for the Minister. Neither
+Sir Robert Peel, nor any other Minister,
+would be so arrogantly stupid as
+to disregard free information and advice,
+<i>merely</i> because it came from such
+persons, who, if they have no right to
+expect their advice to be followed,
+have yet a clear right to offer it, and
+urge it with all their force.</p>
+
+<p>Again&mdash;The present Ministers had
+the disadvantage (in some respects)
+of succeeding to those, who, if they
+could <i>do</i> nothing, made up for it by
+<i>promising</i> every thing. Sir Robert
+Peel and his friends, on the contrary,
+made no promises whatever, beyond
+what would indeed be implied by acceptance
+of office&mdash;namely, honestly
+to endeavour to govern the country,
+for the permanent good of the country.
+While admitting the existence
+of great distress, they expressly admitted
+also, that they saw no mode of
+sudden relief for that distress, but
+would trust to the energies of the
+country gradually recovering themselves,
+under steady and cautious
+management. Sir Robert Peel frankly
+stated in the House of Commons, just
+previously to the dissolution in 1841,
+that he had no hope of an immediate
+return of prosperity; and that such
+had become the state of our domestic
+and foreign embarrassments, that "we
+must for years expect to struggle with
+difficulty." This was their language on
+the eve of the general election, yet the
+country placed confidence in their honour
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page110" id="page110"></a>[pg 110]</span>
+and capacity, heartily sickened of
+the prodigal <i>promises</i> of their opponents.
+The extravagant visionary hopes which
+they held forth at the eleventh hour,
+in their frenzied eagerness to obtain a
+majority at the last election, are still
+gleaming brightly before the eyes of
+numbers of their deluded supporters;
+imposing on the present Government
+the painful and ungracious duty of
+proving to them that such hopes and
+expectations cannot be realized, even
+for a brief space, without breaking up
+the foundations of our national existence
+and greatness.</p>
+
+<p>Lastly. Can the Conservatives be
+expected in TWO years' time to repair
+all the evils resulting from a TEN years'
+gross mismanagement of the national
+affairs by their predecessors? "The
+evil that they did, <i>lives after them</i>." But
+for the fortunate strength of the Conservative
+party, moreover, in opposition,
+and the patriotism and wisdom
+of the house of Lords, the late Ministers
+would, by the time of their expulsion
+from office, have rendered the
+condition of the country <i>utterly</i> desperate&mdash;for
+very nearly desperate it
+assuredly was. Their vacillating, inconsistent,
+wild, and extravagant conduct
+during these ten years, had generated
+an universal sense of insecurity
+and want of confidence among all the
+great interests of the country, which
+locked up capital&mdash;palsied enterprise.
+Trade and commerce drooped daily,
+and the revenue melted away rapidly
+every year. Great things were justly
+expected from the practical skill and
+experience possessed by the new Government;
+but <i>time</i> is requisite for the
+development of a policy which had,
+and still has, to contend against such
+numerous and formidable obstacles.
+Confidence, especially mercantile confidence,
+is a delicate flower, of slow
+growth, and very difficult to rear. A
+breath may blight it. It will bloom
+only in a tranquil and temperate air.
+If ever there was a man entitled to
+speak, however, with authority upon
+this subject, it was Mr Baring, the late
+candidate, and unquestionably the future
+member, for the city of London&mdash;a
+man constantly engaged in vast mercantile
+transactions in all parts of the
+globe, and whose ability equals his
+experience. In the presence of a great
+number of gentlemen, representing
+two-thirds of the wealth and intelligence
+of the city of London, thus
+spoke Mr Baring, on the 6th October
+1843:&mdash;"I rejoice that Sir Robert
+Peel did not hold out to the country
+the fallacious hope, that, by any particular
+measure, he could restore prosperity,
+or cure sufferings which were
+beyond the reach of legislation, and
+that he patiently relied upon the resources
+and energies of the country to
+set trade and commerce right. That
+expectation is already beginning to
+be realized. That calm reliance is
+already justified. I am speaking in
+the presence of those who are as much
+as, if not more conversant with business
+than, myself, and they will contradict
+me if I am not right when I
+say, that great symptoms of improvement
+in the trade and industry of the
+country have manifested themselves;
+which symptoms are of such a nature,
+that they do not appear to be the result
+of momentary excitement produced
+by some fallacious experiment,
+but of the paramount re-establishment
+of commerce, and of a fresh era in the
+prosperity of the empire. I am asked
+what have the Government done?
+Why, they have <i>restored</i> CONFIDENCE
+to the country! They have terminated
+wars, they have restored confidence
+at home, and commanded respect
+abroad."</p>
+
+<p>Now, however, for the DOINGS of
+the Government; and of those we
+shall take no more detailed or extended
+notice than is requisite, in our
+opinion, to exhibit the general system
+and <i>plan</i> of their procedure, and show
+its complete consistency with the declaration
+of opinions made by Sir Robert
+Peel previous to the general election
+of 1841.</p>
+
+<p>It will be borne in mind, that the
+then existing distress in our commercial
+and manufacturing interests he
+referred to three <i>temporary</i> causes:&mdash;the
+undue stimulus which had been
+given to industry in the manufacturing
+districts&mdash;by the accommodation system
+pursued in the joint-stock banks,
+the troubled and hostile condition of
+almost all those foreign countries
+which used to be the best customers for
+our manufactures, and the two or three
+preceding defective harvests. The
+first of these was not of a nature to call
+for, or perhaps admit of, direct and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page111" id="page111"></a>[pg 111]</span>
+specific legislative interference. It
+originated in a vicious system of contagious
+private speculation, which has
+involved many thousands of those engaged
+in it in irredeemable, shall we
+add <i>deserved</i>, disgrace and ruin&mdash;and
+which had better, perhaps, be left to
+work its own cure. The last of the
+three causes was one to which all
+mankind is every where subject, and
+which is in a great measure beyond
+the reach of effective human interference.
+Before proceeding to explain
+the steps taken to remedy the second,
+viz., our distracted foreign relations,
+let us premise briefly for the present,
+that the very earliest acts of Ministers
+showed how profoundly sensible they
+were of the necessity of doing <i>something</i>,
+and that promptly, to relieve the
+grievous distress under which the
+lower orders were suffering, and at the
+same time afford a safe, effective, and
+permanent stimulus to trade and commerce.
+A comprehensive survey of
+the state, not only of our own but
+foreign commercial countries, satisfied
+them, as practical men, of the serious
+difficulties to be here contended with.
+The steps they took, after due deliberation&mdash;viz.,
+the proposing the new
+tariff and the new corn-law&mdash;we shall
+presently refer to. Let us now point
+out <i>the income-tax</i> as a measure reflecting
+infinite credit upon those who
+had the sagacity and resolution to propose
+it. We shall not dwell upon this
+great <i>temporary</i> measure, which in
+one year has poured upwards of <i>five
+millions</i> into the exhausted exchequer,
+further than to say, that as soon as
+ever it was known among the monied
+classes, that the Minister, environed
+as he was with financial difficulties,
+would risk any amount of popular
+odium rather than add to the permanent
+burdens of the country, or permit
+the ruinous continuance of an excess
+of expenditure over revenue. As soon
+as this was evident, we say, the great
+monied interests of the kingdom recognized
+in Sir Robert Peel an honest
+minister, and gave him forthwith its
+complete confidence, which has never
+since been for an instant withdrawn
+from him. And how great are the obligations
+of that vast portion of the
+most suffering classes of the community,
+whom he exempted from this
+extraordinary contribution to the burdens
+of the state!</p>
+
+<p>But now for <i>foreign affairs</i>. May
+not the present Ministers look with
+just pride towards every quarter
+of the globe, and exclaim, <i>Qu&#230; regio
+in terris nostri non plena laboris?</i> In
+truth their success here has been sufficient
+to set up half a dozen Ministers&mdash;as
+is known to no man better
+than Lord Palmerston. The Duke of
+Wellington and Lord Aberdeen have
+restored peace to the whole world,
+re-establishing it on a footing of dignified
+security and equality. By the
+persevering energy, the calm determination,
+and inexhaustible resources
+of Lord Aberdeen, "the winter of
+our discontent," has been "made glorious
+summer," with all the great
+powers of the world. Look at our
+glorious but irritable neighbour&mdash;France:
+is there any language too
+strong to express the delight which
+we feel at the renovated sympathy
+and affection which exist between us?</p>
+
+<p>We cannot answer for France to the
+extent which we can for England;
+but we know, that through the length
+and breadth of <i>this</i> land&mdash;our beloved
+Queen's familiar visit to the King of
+the French, their affectionate greeting,
+and her Majesty's enthusiastic reception
+by the people, diffused a feeling
+of joy and affection towards France,
+which will not soon&mdash;nay, should it
+ever?&mdash;subside. But would that visit
+have taken place, if Lord Palmerston,
+and not Lord Aberdeen, had presided
+over the foreign councils of this country?
+'Tis a disagreeable question,
+and we pass on. Then as to America,
+thanks to the mission of Lord
+Ashburton, peace has been secured
+between us, on terms equally honourable
+to both. We are now at peace
+with the United States&mdash;a peace not
+to be disturbed by the (to Whiggish
+eyes) <i>promising</i> (!!) aspect of the
+Oregon difficulties&mdash;which we tell our
+aforesaid friends will end in&mdash;<i>nothing
+at all</i>&mdash;[It is not, by the way, <i>the
+fault of our Government</i>, that this disputed
+matter was not embraced by
+the Washington Treaty.]&mdash;While Lord
+Palmerston and his doleful ally, the
+<i>Morning Chronicle</i>, were daily stigmatizing
+the treaty of Washington, as
+highly dishonourable and disadvantageous
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page112" id="page112"></a>[pg 112]</span>
+to this country, it may interest
+our readers to see what one of
+the disaffected <i>American</i> senators had
+to say on the subject. Thus spoke,
+in the senate, Mr Benton, a well-known
+member of congress:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>
+"The concessions of Great Britain
+to the United States are small. The
+territory granted to the United States,
+is of such a nature, that it will never
+be of importance to hold it, while the
+possessions given up by the United
+States are important and valuable to
+them, and have the effect of admitting
+a foreign power within a territory
+which was granted to the United
+States, by the treaty of 1783. * *
+When I see the Government giving up
+more than Great Britain demanded,
+I cannot conceal my amazement and
+mortification!"
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Glancing, however, from the West
+to the East&mdash;what do we see? Wars
+in India and China, brought gloriously
+to an advantageous termination.&mdash;"Wars,"
+to adopt the language of
+one of the greatest mercantile authorities
+living, "which have been deranging
+our money transactions, and
+making our trade a trade of hazard
+and speculation, most injurious to the
+commerce of the empire at large."</p>
+
+<p>While, on the one hand, we are relieved
+from the ruinous drain upon
+our resources, occasioned by our protracted
+warlike operations in India
+and China, on the other, a prospect is
+opened to us, by the immensely important
+treaty into which the Emperor of
+China has entered with this country,
+of very great and permanent commercial
+advantages, which are already
+being realized. Let our manufacturers,
+however, beware of the danger of forfeiting
+these advantages, by excessive
+eagerness to avail themselves of these
+newly acquired markets. Twelve-months
+ago, we earnestly warned them
+on this score,<a id="footnotetag21" name="footnotetag21"></a><a href="#footnote21"><sup>21</sup></a> and we now as earnestly
+repeat that warning; "Notwithstanding,"
+observed an able French
+journalist, a few weeks ago, upon this
+subject, "the opening of five ports to
+European commerce, China will for
+many years preserve her internal laws,
+her eccentric tastes, her inveterate
+habits. China is the country of routine
+and immovability. The treaty
+with Great Britain cannot modify the
+nature of China in a few months. <i>If
+the English are not prudent in their exports,
+if they overload the newly opened
+ports with foreign produce, they will
+injure themselves more than they were
+injured by the war just concluded.</i>" In
+every word of this we concur: but
+alas! what weight will such considerations
+have with the agitating manufacturers
+in the north of England?
+Their fierce but short-sighted anxiety
+to make rapid fortunes, will make most
+of them, in a very few years, melancholy
+evidences of the justness of our
+observations! We cannot pass from
+the East without noticing the sound
+statesmanship which is regulating all
+Lord Ellenborough's leading movements
+in India&mdash;a matter now universally
+admitted. How unspeakably
+contemptible and ridiculous has the
+lapse of a few months rendered the
+petty clamours against him, with which
+the ex-ministerial party commenced
+their last year's campaign! Without,
+however, travelling round the entire
+circle of our foreign connexions and
+operations&mdash;there are one or two points
+to which we will briefly refer, as striking
+instances of the vigilant and indefatigable
+energy, and the powerful
+diplomatic influence of Lord Aberdeen,
+especially with reference to the securing
+commercial advantages to this
+country&mdash;and which has extorted the
+following testimony, during the present
+month (December,) from another
+French journal, by no means favourably
+disposed to this country:&mdash;"The
+English Government is incontestably
+the best served of all Governments in
+the means of obtaining new, and extending
+old markets, and in the rapid
+and complete knowledge of the course
+to be adopted to ensure the sale of the
+immense products of Great Britain in
+different parts of the globe." Take
+for instance the case of Russia. We
+have actually succeeded in wringing
+from the tenacious and inflexible Cabinet
+of St Petersburg an important
+commercial advantage! On Lord
+Aberdeen's accession to office, he found
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page113" id="page113"></a>[pg 113]</span>
+Russia in the act of aiming a fatal
+blow at a very important branch of
+our shipping trade, by levying a differential
+duty on all British vessels
+conveying to Russian ports any goods
+which were not the produce of the
+British dominions. After, however,
+a skilful and very arduous negotiation,
+our foreign secretary has succeeded
+in averting that blow&mdash;and we retain
+the great advantages of which
+we were about to be deprived. Nor
+has this signal advantage been purchased
+by any sacrifice on the part of
+Great Britain, but only by a permission,
+founded on most equitable principles,
+for Russian vessels arriving here
+from Russian ports with the produce
+of Russian Poland, to possess the
+same privileges as if they had come
+direct from Russian ports: Russian
+Poland being able to communicate effectively
+with the sea, only through
+the Prussian territory. Look again
+at Brazil&mdash;which has also been recently
+the object of persevering and
+energetic negotiation on the part of
+Lord Aberdeen. It is true that, at
+present, his exertions have been attended
+with no direct success; but we
+have doubts whether the importance
+of the proposed Brazilian treaty has
+not, after all, been greatly exaggerated.
+However this may be, Lord
+Aberdeen is, at this moment, as strenuously
+at work with the young emperor,
+as could be desired by the most
+eager advocate of a commercial treaty
+with Brazil. But, suppose the emperor's
+advisers should be disposed to
+continue their obstinate and unreasonable
+opposition, observe the gentle
+pressure upon them, to be felt by and
+by, which Lord Aberdeen has contrived
+to effect by the commercial
+treaty which he has concluded with
+the contiguous republic of Monte Video,
+and other states on the right bank
+of the river Plata, for the admission
+(on most favourable terms) of British
+imports into these states. One of
+them is the Uruguay republic, which
+borders through a great extent of
+country on Brazil, the Government of
+which is utterly unable to prevent the
+transfer of merchandise across the
+border; whereby the exclusion of British
+goods from the Brazilian territory
+is rendered a matter of physical
+impossibility.</p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote21" name="footnote21"></a><a href="#footnotetag21"> [21] </a> Great Britain at the commencement of the 19th Century&mdash;January 1843&mdash;No. CCC.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>It is true, that our efforts to enter
+into commercial treaties with France
+and Portugal have not, as yet, been
+successful; but, formidable as are the
+obstacles at present in existence, we
+do not despair. Those least wonder
+at the present position of affairs who
+are best acquainted with the artificial
+and complicated positions of the respective
+countries, and their relations,
+and consequent policy, towards each
+other. Whatever can be done by man,
+is at this moment being done by
+Lord Aberdeen; and sooner than we
+have at present a right to expect, his
+indefatigable exertions may be crowned
+with success&mdash;not only in these,
+but in other quarters. All foreign
+Governments must be strongly influenced
+in such matters, by contemplating
+a steady and strong Government
+established in this country; and
+that object they see more nearly and
+distinctly every day. Such (without
+entering into details which would be
+inconsistent with either our space or
+our present object) is the general result&mdash;namely, the rapidly returning
+tide of prosperous commercial intercourse
+of the foreign policy of Conservative
+Government, which has
+raised Great Britain, within the short
+space of two years, to even a higher
+elevation among the nations of the
+world, than she had occupied before a
+"Liberal Ministry undertook the government
+of the country"&mdash;"a policy,"
+to adopt the equally strong and
+just language of an able writer, "replete
+with auspicious evidences of the
+efficacy of intellect, combined with
+firmness, activity, and integrity, in
+restoring to wholesome and honourable
+order a chaotic jumble of anomalies&mdash;of
+humiliations and dangers&mdash;of
+fears, hatred, and confusion thrice trebly
+confounded."<a id="footnotetag22" name="footnotetag22"></a><a href="#footnote22"><sup>22</sup></a></p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote22" name="footnote22"></a><a href="#footnotetag22"> [22] </a> Thoughts on Tenets of Ministerial Policy. By a Very Quiet Looker-on.&mdash;P. 22. Aylott, London, 1843.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>While thus successfully active
+abroad, have Ministers been either idle
+or unsuccessful at home? Let us look
+at their two main measures&mdash;the <i>new
+tariff</i> and the <i>new corn-law</i>.</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page114" id="page114"></a>[pg 114]</span>
+
+<p>The object of the first of these great
+measures was twofold&mdash;to give a
+healthy and speedy but permanent
+stimulus to trade and commerce; and,
+at the same time, to effect such a reduction
+of price in the leading articles
+of consumption as should greatly reduce
+the cost of living&mdash;a boon, of
+course, inexpressibly precious to the
+poorer classes. Mark the moment
+at which this bold and critical line
+of policy was conceived and carried
+into execution&mdash;namely, a moment
+when the nation was plunged into
+such a depth of gloom and distress as
+had very nearly induced utter despair!
+when there was a deficiency
+of <i>five millions sterling in</i> the revenue
+of the two preceding years,
+and a certainty of greatly augmented
+expenditure for the future, owing to
+our wars in the East and elsewhere.
+We say&mdash;<i>mark this</i>, in order to appreciate
+a display of the true genius of
+statesmanship. Foreseeing one effect
+of such a measure, namely, a serious
+reduction in the revenue derived from
+the customs, and which would commence
+with the bare <i>announcement</i> of
+such a measure, the Government had
+to consider whether it would prove
+a permanent or only a temporary reduction,
+and to act accordingly. After
+profound consideration, they satisfied
+themselves (whether justly or not remains
+to be seen) that the diminution
+of revenue would prove only temporary;
+and to secure the <i>immediate</i> benefits
+of the measure, they imposed a
+temporary income-tax, the onerous
+pressure of which was to cease as soon
+as matters should have come round
+again. That period they fixed at the
+expiration of three years. After an
+interval of two years, do their calculations
+appear to have been well or ill
+founded? Let us see. Early in
+March 1842 they announced the proposed
+new tariff, (instantly producing
+the effect on the customs duties which
+had been anticipated;) and succeeded
+in bringing it into operation on the 9th
+of the ensuing July. The deficiency
+of revenue which ensued was so very
+serious that it would have alarmed the
+whole country, but for their confidence
+in the firmness and sagacity of Ministers,
+particularly as evidenced by their
+announced measures. We have not at
+the present moment before us the earliest
+<i>quarterly</i> revenue returns of the
+period referred to; but it will suffice
+to state, that such had been the extent
+of the reductions effected, that the deficiency
+on the <i>year</i> ending on the 5th
+October 1843, amounted to no less a
+sum than L.1,136,000; the decrease
+on the <i>quarter</i> ending on that day being
+L.414,000. Still, however, each
+succeeding quarter&mdash;or at least the
+latter quarters&mdash;gave more satisfactory
+indications of a rallying revenue;
+and we are enabled to announce the
+highly gratifying fact that, up to the
+8th of the present month (December,)
+the customs duties returns <i>are
+of the most decisively improving character</i>.
+The receipts of duties for the
+port of London alone, during that period,
+exceeds the receipt on the corresponding
+period of last year by
+L.206,000; while the returns from all
+the outports, especially from Liverpool,
+are of the same cheering character,
+and warrant us in predicting that
+the returns to be presented on the
+5th of the ensuing month will afford a
+most triumphant proof of the accuracy
+of the Minister's calculations and
+the success of his policy; for be it
+borne in mind, moreover, that his income-tax
+realized, in the year ending
+on the 5th October last, the immense
+sum of L.5,052,000. As far, therefore,
+as concerns the direct <i>financial</i>
+effects of the new tariff and its counterbalancing
+income-tax, the results
+of Sir Robert Peel's policy are such as
+may stagger and confound the boldest
+of his opponents.</p>
+
+<p>Now, however, for the two great objects
+of the new tariff, which were declared
+by Sir Robert Peel<a id="footnotetag23" name="footnotetag23"></a><a href="#footnote23"><sup>23</sup></a> to be "the
+revival of commerce, and such an improvement
+in the manufacturing interest,
+as would react on every other
+interest in the country; and diminishing
+the prices of the articles of consumption
+and the cost of living."</p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote23" name="footnote23"></a><a href="#footnotetag23"> [23] </a> Hansard, Vol. lxi. Col. 439.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>With respect to the first of these
+objects, we had prepared a copious
+explanation of the highly satisfactory
+working of one great portion of the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page115" id="page115"></a>[pg 115]</span>
+machine of the new tariff, viz. <i>the
+relaxation of the taxes on the raw materials
+of manufacture</i>; but it has occurred
+to us, that the necessity of our
+doing so has been entirely superseded
+by the following very remarkable admission,
+contained in a number of the
+<i>Morning Chronicle</i> newspaper, published
+towards the close of September
+last; an invaluable admission, tending
+to prove, out of the mouth of the bitterest
+opponent of the present Ministry,
+the general success of their domestic
+policy:&mdash;"Notwithstanding
+insurrection in Wales and agitation
+in Ireland, there are various circumstances
+in the present aspect of our
+national affairs of an encouraging and
+cheering nature. The first and most
+prominent thing which strikes an observer,
+is, the undoubted general revival
+of trade and commerce. Every
+thing seems to indicate that the morning
+is breaking; that the dreary night
+of disaster and suffering, through
+which all our material interests have
+been passing since 1836, is now well-nigh
+over. The hum of busy industry
+is once more heard throughout our
+manufacturing districts; our seaports
+begin once more to stir with business;
+merchants on 'Change have smiling
+faces; and the labouring population
+are once more finding employment
+easier of access; and wages are gently,
+slowly rising. This has not come
+upon us suddenly; it has been in operation
+since the end of last year; but
+so terrible was the depression, so gradual
+the improvement, that the effects
+of the revival could not be perceptible
+till within a recent period. Our exports
+of cotton and wool, during the
+present year, very considerably exceed
+those of a similar period in the preceding;
+and though there might be
+increase of export without increase of
+profit, the simple fact that the districts
+of our great manufacturing staples
+are now more active and busy than
+they have been for a very considerable
+period, coupled with the apparently
+well-founded belief that this increased
+activity is produced, not by speculative
+but genuine demand, are indications
+of the most pleasing and gratifying
+kind to all who are in the least
+concerned about the prosperity of the
+country. In addition to the improvement
+manifested in our staple articles
+of industry, other important interests
+are showing symptoms of decided improvement;
+even the iron-trade has
+got over its 'crisis;' and though we
+are very far indeed from having attained
+to a condition of prosperity,
+the steady, though slow, revival of
+every branch of industry, is a proof
+that the cause of the improvement
+must be a general one, operating universally."
+May we venture to suggest,
+that the worthy editor of the
+<i>Morning Chronicle</i> need not go about
+with a lantern to discover this <i>cause</i>?&mdash;that it is every where before his very
+eyes, under his very nose, in the form
+of the bold, but sagacious and consistent,
+policy pursued by the present
+Government?</p>
+
+<p>With respect to the second great
+object of the new tariff, viz., the
+"Diminishing of the prices of the articles
+of consumption and the cost of
+living."</p>
+
+<p>Has <i>this</i> great object, or has it not,
+been attained? Why, the reduced
+price of provisions is a matter of universal
+notoriety, and past all question.
+Unable to contest the existence of
+this most consolatory fact, the Opposition
+papers endeavoured to get up a
+diversion by frightening the farmers,
+whom they assured, that the admission
+of foreign live-stock would lead
+to a fearful depreciation in the value
+of British agricultural produce. The
+graziers and cattle-dealers were forthwith
+to find "their occupations gone."
+British pasture farming was to be annihilated,
+and an immense stimulus
+given to that of our continental rivals.
+Hereat the farmers pricked up
+their ears, and began to consider for
+a moment whether they should not join
+in the outcry against the new tariff.
+But the poor beasts that have come,
+doubtless much to their own surprise,
+across the water to us, looked
+heartily ashamed of themselves, on
+catching a glimpse of their plump,
+sleek brother beasts in England&mdash;and
+the farmers burst out a-laughing at
+sight of <i>the lean kine that were to eat
+up the fat ones</i>! The practical result
+has been, that between the 9th of
+July 1842, and the present time,
+there have not come over foreign cattle
+enough to make one week's show at
+Smithfield. But mark, <i>the power</i> of
+admitting foreign cattle and poultry,
+(on payment, however, of a considerable
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page116" id="page116"></a>[pg 116]</span>
+duty,<a id="footnotetag24" name="footnotetag24"></a><a href="#footnote24"><sup>24</sup></a>) conferred by the new
+tariff, is one that must be attended
+with infinite permanent benefits to the
+public, in its <i>moderating influence upon
+the prices of animal food</i>. Its working
+is in beautiful harmony with that
+of the newly modeled corn-laws, as
+we shall presently explain. In years
+of abundance, when plenty of meat is
+produced at home, the new tariff will
+be inoperative, as far as regards the
+actual importations of foreign cattle;
+but in years of scarcity at home, the
+expectation of a good price will induce
+the foreigner to send us a sufficient
+supply; for he will then be, and
+then only, able to repay himself the
+duty, and the heavy cost of sea-carriage.
+As prices fall, the inducement
+to import also declines. In short,
+"the inducement to importation falls
+with the fall, and rises with the rise
+of price. The painful contingency of
+continued bad seasons has thus, in
+some measure, been provided against.
+The new tariff is so adjusted, that
+when prices threaten to mount to an
+unfair and extravagant height, unjust
+to consumers, and dangerous to producers,
+in such contingencies a mediating
+power steps in, and brings things
+to an equilibrium."<a id="footnotetag25" name="footnotetag25"></a><a href="#footnote25"><sup>25</sup></a> These great
+and obvious advantages of the new
+tariff, the opponents of Ministers,
+and especially their reckless and discreditable
+allies called the "Anti-corn-law
+League," see as plainly as
+we do; but their anxious aim is to
+conceal these advantages as much as
+possible from public view; and for this
+purpose they never willingly make
+<i>any allusion</i> to the tariff, or if forced
+to do so, underrate its value, or
+grossly misrepresent its operation.
+But we are convinced that <i>this will not
+do</i>. Proofs of their humbug and falsehood
+are, as it were, daily <i>forcing
+themselves into the very stomachs</i> of
+those whom once, when an incompetent
+Ministry was in power, these
+heartless impostors were able to delude.
+"A single shove of the bayonet,"
+said Corporal Trim to Doctor
+Slop, "is worth all your fine discourses
+about the art of war;" and so the
+English operative may reply to the
+hireling "Leaguers," "This good piece
+of cheap beef and mutton, now smoking
+daintily before me, is worth all
+your palaver."</p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote24" name="footnote24"></a><a href="#footnotetag24"> [24] </a>  Poultry £5 for every £100 value; oxen and bulls, £1 each; cows, 15s.;
+calves, 10s.; horses, mares, foals, colts, and geldings, £1 each; sheep, 3s. each;
+lambs, 2s. each; swine and hogs, 5s. each&mdash;(Stat. 5 and 6 Vict. c. 47, Table A.)</p></blockquote>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote25" name="footnote25"></a><a href="#footnotetag25"> [25] </a> Thoughts, &amp;c., by a Quiet Looker-on, pp. 16, 17.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Before passing from the subject of
+the new tariff, let us observe, that the
+suddenness and vastness of its changes
+(some of which we consider to be of
+questionable propriety) for a time
+unavoidably deranged mercantile operations;
+and in doing so, as necessarily
+produced many cases of individual
+dissatisfaction and distress. Some of
+the persons thus situated angrily quitted
+the Conservative ranks for those
+of the Opposition; others, for a position
+of mortified neutrality: but we
+believe that many more, notwithstanding
+this sharp trial of their constancy,
+remained true to their principles,
+faithful to their party, and are
+now rewarded by seeing things coming
+rapidly round again, while unvarying
+and complete success has attended
+every other branch of the policy of Ministers.
+We know a good deal of the
+real state of opinion among the mercantile
+classes of the City of London;
+and believe we correctly represent it
+averse to further changes in our tariff-system,
+and coincident with the views
+expressed by Mr Baring in his address
+to the electors, when he deprecated
+"a constant change, unsettling
+men's minds, baffling all combinations,
+destroying all calculations, paralysing
+trade, and continuing the stagnation
+from which we are recovering;"
+and declared his belief "that the minister
+who applies the principles of
+free-trade with the most caution, deliberation,
+and judgment, is the statesman
+who merits the confidence of the
+commercial world." We now, however,
+quit the subject&mdash;interesting, indeed,
+and all-important&mdash;of the tariff,
+with the deliberate expression of our
+opinion, that it is, taken as a whole,
+a very bold, masterly, and successful
+stroke of policy. Now for the NEW
+CORN-LAW.</p>
+
+<p>But how shall we deal with a topic
+with which the public has been
+so utterly sickened by the people
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page117" id="page117"></a>[pg 117]</span>
+calling themselves "The Anti-corn-law
+League?" We do not, nevertheless,
+despair of securing the attention
+of our readers to the few
+observations which we have to offer
+upon a subject which, however hackneyed,
+is one of paramount importance.
+We are satisfied that nine out of every
+ten even of newspaper readers turn with
+disgust from the columns headed "Anti-corn-law
+League," "Doings of the
+League," "Great Meeting of the Anti-corn-law
+League," and so forth; and,
+(making every allowance for the exigencies
+occasioned by the dearth of
+topics while Parliament is not sitting,)
+we are exceedingly surprised, that the
+great London newspapers should inflict
+upon their readers so much of the
+slang and drivel of the gentry in question.
+In the due prosecution of our
+subject, we cannot avoid the topic of
+the new corn-law, even were we so
+disposed; and we shall at once proceed
+to our task, with two objects in
+view&mdash;to vindicate the course pursued
+by Sir Robert Peel, and set forth,
+briefly and distinctly, those truly admirable
+qualities of the existing Corn-laws,
+which are either most imprudently
+misrepresented, or artfully kept
+out of view, by those who are now
+making such desperate efforts to overthrow
+it. "Mark how a plain tale
+shall set them down!"</p>
+
+<p>Whether foreign corn should be
+admitted into this country on payment
+of <i>fluctuating</i> duties, or a <i>fixed</i>
+duty, or free of all duties, are obviously
+questions of the highest importance,
+involving extensive and complicated
+considerations. Sir Robert
+Peel, Lord John Russell, and the persons
+banded together under the name
+of "The Anti-corn-law League," may
+be taken as representing the classes
+of opinion which would respectively
+answer these three questions in the
+affirmative. All of them appealed to
+the nation at large on the last general
+election. The <i>form</i> in which the question
+was proposed to the country, it
+fell to the lot of the advocates of a
+fixed duty to prescribe, and they
+shaped it thus in the Queen's
+speech:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>
+"It will be for you to determine
+whether the corn-laws do not aggravate
+the natural fluctuations of supply;
+whether they do not embarrass
+trade, derange currency, and, by their
+operation, diminish the comforts and
+increase the privations of the great
+body of the community."
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>To this question the country returned
+a deliberate and peremptory
+answer in the NEGATIVE; expressing
+thereby its will, that the existing system,
+which admits foreign corn on
+payment of <i>fluctuating</i> duties, should
+continue. The country thus adopted
+the opinions of Sir Robert Peel, rejected
+those of Lord John Russell,
+and utterly scouted those of the
+"Anti-corn-law League," in spite of
+all their frantic exertions.</p>
+
+<p>We believe that this deliberate decision
+of the nation, is that to which
+it will come whenever again appealed
+to; and is supported by reasons of
+cogency. The nation is thoroughly
+aware of the immense importance of
+upholding and protecting the agriculture
+of the country, and that to secure
+this grand object, it is necessary
+to admit foreign corn into the country,
+only when our deficiencies absolutely
+require it. That <i>in</i> the operation of
+the "<i>sliding-scale</i> of duties," and the
+exact distinction between its effect
+and that of the proposed <i>fixed</i> duty,
+is demonstrably this: that the former
+would admit foreign corn in dear
+years, excluding it in seasons of abundance;
+while the latter would admit
+foreign corn in seasons of abundance,
+and exclude it in dear years. Our
+<i>present</i> concern, however, is with the
+course taken by the present Government.
+Have they hitherto yielded to
+the clamour with which they have
+been assailed, and departed from the
+principle of affording efficient protection
+to the agriculture of the country?
+Not a hair's breadth; <i>nor will they</i>.
+We have seen that Sir Robert Peel,
+previously to the general election, declared
+his determination to adhere to
+the existing system of corn-laws, regulating
+the admission of foreign corn
+by the power of the sliding-scale of
+duties; but both he and the leading
+members of his party, had distinctly
+stated in Parliament, just before its
+dissolution, that while resolved to adhere
+to the <i>principle</i> of a sliding-scale,
+they would not pledge themselves
+to adhere to all the <i>details</i> of
+that scale. And they said well and
+wisely, for there were grave objections
+to some of those details. These objections
+they have removed, and infinitely
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page118" id="page118"></a>[pg 118]</span>
+added to the efficiency of the
+sliding-scale; but in removing the
+principal objections, they stirred a
+hornet's nest&mdash;they rendered furious
+a host of sleek gamblers in grain,
+who found their "occupation gone"
+suddenly! On the other hand, the
+Government conferred a great substantial
+benefit upon the country,
+by securing a just balance between
+protection to the British corn consumer
+and producer; removing, at the
+same time, from the latter, a long-existing
+source of jealousy and prejudice.
+A few words will suffice to explain
+the general scope of those alterations.
+Under they system established by
+statute 9 Geo. IV. c. 60, in the year
+1828, the duty on foreign corn, up to
+the price of 68s. per quarter, was so
+high, and declined so very slowly,
+(L.1, 5s. 8d., L.1. 4s. 8d., L.1, 3s. 8d.,
+L.1, 2s. 8d., L.1, 1s. 8d., L.1, 0s. 8d.,
+18s. 8d.,) as to amount to a virtual
+prohibition against importation. But
+when the price mounted from 68s. to
+72s. per quarter, the duty declined
+with such great rapidity. (16s 8d.,
+13s. 8d., 10s. 8d., 6s. 8d., 2s. 8d.,)
+as to occasion the alarming and frequently
+recurring evils of glut and
+panic. Now the following was the
+mode in which these serious defects in
+the law of 1828 were taken advantage
+of by the aforesaid desperate and
+greedy "rogues in grain," who are
+utterly prostrated by the new system;
+they entered into a combination,
+for the purpose of raising the
+apparent average price of corn, and
+forcing it up to the point at which
+they could import vast quantities of
+foreign corn at little or no duty. Thus
+the price of corn was rising in England&mdash;the
+people were starving&mdash;and
+turned with execration against those
+into whose pockets the high prices
+were supposed to go, viz., the poor
+farmers; whereas those high prices
+really were all the while flowing silently
+but rapidly into the pockets of
+the aforesaid "rogues in grain"&mdash;the
+gamblers of the Corn Exchange!&mdash;Ministers
+effected their salutary alterations,
+by statute 5 and 6 Vict. c. 14,
+in the following manner:&mdash;They substituted
+for the former duties of 10s.
+8d. per quarter, when the price of
+corn was 70s. per quarter, and 1s.
+when the price was 73s.; a duty of
+4s. when the price of corn is 70s. per
+quarter, and made the duty fall gradually,
+shilling by shilling, with the
+rise of price, to 3s., 2s., and 1s. Thus
+are at one blow destroyed all the inducements
+formerly existing for corn-dealers
+to "hold" their foreign corn,
+in the hopes of forcing up the price of
+corn to starvation-point, viz., the low
+duty, every inducement being now given
+them to <i>sell</i>, and none to speculate.
+Another important provision for preventing
+fraudulent combinations to
+raise the price of corn, was that of
+greatly extending the averages, and
+placing them under regulations of salutary
+stringency.</p>
+
+<p>So far, then, from evincing a disposition
+to trifle with, or surrender, the
+principle of the sliding-scale, the Government
+have, with infinite pains and
+skill, applied themselves to effect such
+improvements in it as will secure its
+permanency, and a better appreciation
+of its value by the country at large,
+with every additional year's experience
+of its admirable qualities. There is a
+perfect identity of principle, both working
+to the same good end, between the
+existing corn-law and the new tariff.
+Their combined effect is to oppose
+every barrier that human wisdom and
+foresight can devise, against dearth
+and famine in England: securing an
+abundant supply of corn and meat from
+abroad, whenever our own supply is
+deficient; but up to that point protecting
+our home producers, whose direct
+interest it will henceforth be to
+supply us at fair and moderate prices.
+It is the cunning policy of the heterogeneous
+opponents of the existing corn-laws,
+to speak of them as "doomed" by
+a sort of universal tacit consent; to
+familiarise the public with the notion
+that the recent remodeling of the system
+is to be regarded as constituting
+it into nothing more than a sort of
+transition-measure&mdash;a stepping-stone
+towards a great fundamental change,
+by the adoption of "a fixed duty,"
+some say&mdash;"a total repeal," say the
+Anti-corn-law League. But those
+who think thus, must be shallow and
+short-sighted indeed, and have paid
+very little real attention to the subject,
+if they have failed to perceive in
+the existing system itself all the marks
+of completeness, solidity, and permanence;
+and, in the successful pains that
+have been taken to bring it to a higher
+degree of perfection than before, a determination
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page119" id="page119"></a>[pg 119]</span>
+to uphold it&mdash;a conviction
+that it will long continue the law of
+the land, and approved of as such by
+the vast majority of those who represent
+the wealth and intellect of the
+kingdom, and have the deepest stake
+in its well-being.</p>
+
+<p>As for a total repeal of the corn-laws,
+no thinking man believes that
+there is the remotest prospect of such
+a thing; but many imagine that a fixed
+duty would be a great change for the
+better, and a safe sort of compromise
+between the two extreme parties. Can
+any thing be more fallacious? We hesitate
+not to express our opinion, that
+the idea of maintaining a fixed duty
+on corn is an utter absurdity, and that
+Lord John Russell and his friends
+know it to be so, and are guilty of
+political dishonesty in making such a
+proposal. They affect to be friends
+of the agricultural interest, and satisfied
+of the necessity for protection to
+that body; and yet they acknowledge
+that their "<i>fixity</i>" of duty is of precisely
+the same nature as the "finality"
+of the Reform bill, viz.&mdash;to last only
+till the first pressure shall call for an
+order in council. Does any one in his
+senses believe that any Minister could
+abide by a fixed duty with corn at
+the price of 70s., with a starving,
+and therefore an agitating and rebellious
+population? A fixed duty, under
+all times and circumstances, is a glaring
+impossibility; and, besides, is it not
+certain that the period for the issue of
+an order in council will be a grand
+object of speculation to the corn importer;
+and that he will hoard, and
+create distress, merely to force out
+that order? And the issuing of that
+order would depend entirely on the
+strength or the necessity of the Minister:
+on his "Squeezableness"&mdash;his
+anxiety for popularity. Does the experience
+of the last ten years justify
+the country in placing confidence, on
+such a point, in a <i>Whig</i> Ministry? In
+every point of view, the project of a
+fixed duty is exposed to insuperable
+objections. It is plain that on the very
+first instant of there being a pressure
+upon the "fixed duty," it must give
+way, and for ever. Once off, it is gone
+for ever; it can never be re-imposed.
+Again, what is to govern the <i>amount</i>
+at which it is to be fixed? Must it be
+the additional burden on land? or the
+price at which foreign countries, with
+their increased facilities of transport,
+and improved cultivation of their soil,
+would be able to deliver it in the
+British markets? What <i>data</i> have
+we, in either case, on which to decide?
+Let it, however, always be borne in
+mind, by those who are apt too easily
+to entertain the question as to either
+a fixed duty, or a total repeal of duty,
+that the advantages predicted by the
+respective advocates of those measures
+are <i>mere assumptions</i>. We
+have no experience by which to try
+the question. The doctrines of free
+trade are of very recent growth; the
+<i>data</i> on which its laws are founded
+are few, and also uncertain. And
+does any one out of Bedlam imagine,
+that any Minister of this country would
+consent to run such tremendous risks&mdash;to
+try such experiments upon an
+article of such immense importance
+to its well-being? Let us never lose
+sight of Lord Melbourne's memorable
+words:&mdash;"Whether the object
+be to have a fixed duty, or an alteration
+as to the ascending and descending
+scale, I see clearly and distinctly,
+that the object will not be carried
+without a most violent struggle&mdash;without
+causing much ill-blood, and a
+deep sense of grievance&mdash;without stirring
+society to its foundation, and
+leaving every sort of bitterness and
+animosity. I do not think the advantages
+to be gained by the
+change are worth the evils of the
+struggle."<a id="footnotetag26" name="footnotetag26"></a><a href="#footnote26"><sup>26</sup></a></p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote26" name="footnote26"></a><a href="#footnotetag26"> [26] </a> Debates, 11th June 1840.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>To return, however. Under the
+joint operation of the three great
+measures of the Government&mdash;the
+income-tax, the new tariff, and the
+new corn-law, our domestic affairs
+exhibit, at this moment, such an
+aspect of steadily returning prosperity,
+as not the most sanguine
+person living could have imagined
+possible two years ago. For the
+first time after a miserable interval,
+we behold our revenue exceeding our
+expenditure; while every one feels
+satisfied of the fact, that our finances
+are now placed upon a sound and solid
+basis, and daily improving. Provisions
+are of unexampled cheapness,
+and the means of obtaining them are&mdash;thank
+Almighty God!&mdash;gradually increasing
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page120" id="page120"></a>[pg 120]</span>
+among the poorer classes.
+Trade and commerce are now, and
+have for the last six months been
+steadily improving; and we perceive
+that a new era of prosperity is beginning
+to dawn upon us. We have a
+strong and united Government, evidently
+as firmly fixed in the confidence
+of the Queen as in that of the
+country, and supported by a powerful
+majority in the House of Commons&mdash;an
+annihilating one in the House of
+Lords. The reign of order and tranquillity
+has been restored in Wales,
+and let us also add, in Ireland, after
+an unexampled display of mingled determination
+and forbearance on the
+part of the Government. Chartism is
+defunct, notwithstanding the efforts
+made by its dishonoured and discomfited
+leaders to revive it. When, in
+short, has Great Britain enjoyed a
+state of more complete internal calm
+and repose than that which at present
+exists, notwithstanding the systematic
+attempts made to diffuse alarm and
+agitation? Do the public funds exhibit
+the slightest symptoms of uneasiness
+or excitement? On the contrary,
+ever since the accession of the present
+Government, there has been scarce
+any variation in them, even when the
+disturbances in the manufacturing districts
+in the north of England, and in
+Wales, and in Ireland, were respectively
+at their height. Her Majesty
+moves calmly to and fro&mdash;even quitting
+England&mdash;her Ministers enjoy
+their usual intervals of relaxation and
+absence from town&mdash;all the movements
+of Government go on like clockwork&mdash;no
+symptoms visible any where
+of feverish uneasiness. But what say
+you, enquires a timid friend, or a bitter
+opponent, to the Repeal agitation
+in Ireland, and the Anti-corn-law
+agitation in England? Why, we say
+this&mdash;that we sincerely regret the mischief
+which the one has done, and is
+doing, in Ireland, and the other in
+England, among their ignorant and
+unthinking dupes; but with no degree
+of alarm for the stability of the Government,
+or the maintenance of public
+tranquillity and order. Ministers are
+perfectly competent to deal with both
+the one and the other of these two
+conspiracies, as the chief actors in the
+one have found already, and those in
+the other will find, perhaps, by and
+by; if, indeed, they should ever become
+important or successful enough
+to challenge the notice and interference
+of the Government. A word,
+however, about each, in its turn.</p>
+
+<p>The Anti-corn-law League has in
+view a two-fold object&mdash;the overthrow
+of the present Ministry whom they
+abhor for their steadfast and powerful
+support of the agricultural interest;&mdash;and
+the depression of the wages of
+labour, to enable our manufacturers
+(of whom the league almost exclusively
+consists) to compete with the
+manufacturers on the Continent.
+Their engine for effecting their purposes,
+is the Repeal of the corn-laws;
+and they are working it with
+such a desperate energy, as satisfies
+any disinterested observer, that they
+themselves perceive the task to be all
+but utterly hopeless. They were confounded
+by the result of the general
+election, and dismayed at the accession
+to power of men whom they
+knew to be thoroughly acquainted
+with their true objects and intentions,
+and resolved to frustrate them, and
+able to carry their resolutions into
+effect. The ominous words of Sir
+Robert Peel&mdash;"I think that the connexion
+of the manufacturers in the
+north of England with the joint-stock
+banks, gave an undue and improper
+impulse to trade in that quarter of the
+country"&mdash;rang in their ears as a
+knell; and told them that they were
+<i>found out</i> by a firm and sagacious
+Minister, whom, therefore, their sole
+object thenceforth must be to overthrow
+<i>per fas aut nefas</i>. For this
+purpose they adopted such an atrocious
+course of action, as instantly
+deprived them of the countenance of
+all their own moderate and reasoning
+friends, and earned for themselves the
+execration of the bulk of the community:&mdash;they
+resolved to inflame the
+starving thousands in the manufacturing
+districts into acts of outrage
+and rebellion. They felt it necessary,
+in the language of Mr Grey, one of
+their own principal men, in order "<i>to
+raise the stubborn enthusiasm of the
+people</i>," (!) to resort to some desperate
+expedient&mdash;which was&mdash;immediately
+on Sir Robert Peel's announcing his
+determination, early in 1842, to preserve,
+but improve, the existing system
+of the corn-laws&mdash;to reduce the
+wages of all their work-people to the
+amount of from ten to twenty per
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page121" id="page121"></a>[pg 121]</span>
+cent. This move originated with the
+<i>Stockport</i> manufacturers. We have
+little doubt but it was the suggestion
+of Mr Cobden; and are quite prepared
+for a similar move during the
+ensuing session of Parliament. But
+was not&mdash;is not&mdash;this a species of moral
+arson? The Government calmly
+carried their measure: the outbreak
+(which we firmly believe to have been
+concerted by the Anti-corn-law
+League) in Lancashire arrived, and
+was promptly and resolutely, but
+mercifully repressed; and thus was
+extinguished the guilty hopes and expectations
+of its contrivers; and Ministers
+were left stronger at the close
+of the session than they had been at
+its commencement. They resolved
+to open a new campaign against Ministers
+and the Corn-laws&mdash;greatly
+to augment their numbers and pecuniary
+resources&mdash;to redouble their exertions,
+and immensely to extend the
+sphere of their operations. They <i>did</i>
+augment their pecuniary resources,
+by large forced contributions among
+the few persons most deeply interested
+in the success of their schemes;
+namely, the Lancashire manufacturers&mdash;they
+<i>did</i> redouble their exertions&mdash;they
+<i>did</i> extend the sphere
+of their operations, spreading themselves
+over the whole length and
+breadth of the land, even as did
+the plague of lice over Egypt. But
+did they augment the number of their
+friends? Not a person of the least
+political or personal importance could
+be prevailed upon to join their discreditable
+ranks; it remained as before:&mdash;Cobden
+and Bright&mdash;Bright and Cobden&mdash;Wilson,
+Bright, and Cobden&mdash;Milner
+Gibson, Fox, Bright
+and Cobden&mdash;<i>ad nauseam usque</i>; but,
+like a band of travelling incendiaries,
+they presented themselves with indefatigable
+energy in places which had
+never known their presence before.
+And how comes it to pass that they
+have not long since kindled at least
+the manufacturing population into a
+blaze? Is it any fault of the aforesaid
+incendiaries? No&mdash;but because
+there is too much intelligence abroad,
+they could not do what they would&mdash;"<i>raise
+the stubborn enthusiasm</i>" of the
+people. In one quarter they were
+suspected&mdash;in another despised&mdash;in
+another hated; and it became a very
+general impression that they were, in
+fact, a knot of double dealers, who
+certainly contrived to make a great
+noise, and keep themselves perpetually
+before the public; but as for getting
+the steam "up," in the nation at
+large, they found it impossible. In
+truth, the "Anti-corn-law League"
+would have long ago been dissolved
+amidst the indifference or contempt of
+the public, but for the countenance
+they received, from time to time, and
+on which they naturally calculated,
+from the party of the late Ministers,
+whose miserable object was to secure
+their own return to power by means
+of any agency that they could press
+into their service. But, to return to our
+sketch of the progress of the "League."
+Admitting that, by dint of very great
+and incessant exertion, they kept their
+ground, they made little or no progress
+among the mercantile part of the
+community; and they resolved to try
+their fortune with the agricultural constituencies&mdash;to
+sow dissension between
+the landlords and the tenants, the farmers
+and their labourers, and combine
+as many of the disaffected as they
+could, in support of the clamour for free
+trade. This was distinctly avowed by
+Cobden, at a meeting of the Anti-corn-law
+deputies, in the following
+very significant terms: "<i>We can
+never carry the measure ourselves</i>: WE
+MUST HAVE THE AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS
+WITH US!!"<a id="footnotetag27" name="footnotetag27"></a><a href="#footnote27"><sup>27</sup></a></p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote27" name="footnote27"></a><a href="#footnotetag27"> [27] </a> League Circular, No. xxx. p. 3.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>They therefore proceeded to commence
+operations upon the agricultural
+constituencies. They knew they
+could always reckon upon a share of
+support wherever they went&mdash;it being
+hard to find any country without its
+cluster of bitter and reckless opponents
+of a Conservative government, who
+would willingly aid in any demonstration
+against it. With such aid, and
+indefatigable efforts to collect a crowd
+of noisy non-electors: with a judicious
+choice of localities, and profuse
+bribery of the local Radical newspapers,
+in order to procure copious
+accounts of their proceedings&mdash;they
+commenced their "grand series of
+country triumphs!" Their own organs,
+from time to time, gave out that
+in each and every county visited by
+the League, the <i>farmers</i> attended their
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page122" id="page122"></a>[pg 122]</span>
+meetings, and joined in a vote condemnatory
+of the corn-laws, and
+pledged themselves to vote thereafter
+for none but the candidates of the
+Anti-corn-law League!</p>
+
+<p>The following are specimens of the
+flattering appellations which had till
+now been bestowed, by their new
+friends, upon these selfsame farmers&mdash;"<i>Bull-frogs!"</i>
+"<i>chaw-bacons!" </i>"<i>clod-poles!</i>"
+"<i>hair-bucks!</i>" "<i>deluded
+slaves!</i>" "<i>brute drudges!</i>"<a id="footnotetag28" name="footnotetag28"></a><a href="#footnote28"><sup>28</sup></a> Now,
+however, they and their labourers were
+addressed in terms of respectful sympathy
+and flattery, as the victims of
+the rapacity of their landlords&mdash;on
+whom were poured the full phials of
+Anti-corn-law wrath. The following
+are some of the scalding drops let fall
+upon their devoted heads&mdash;<i>"Monster
+of impiety!" "inhuman fiend!"
+"heartless brutes!" "rapacious harpies!"
+"relentless demons!" "plunderers
+of the people!" "merciless footpads!"
+"murderers!" "swindlers!"
+"insatiable!" "insolent!" "flesh-mongering!"
+"scoundrel!" "law-making
+landlords!" "a bread-taxing oligarchy!"</i><a id="footnotetag29" name="footnotetag29"></a><a href="#footnote29"><sup>29</sup></a>
+Need we say that the authors
+of these very choice and elegant expressions
+were treated with utter contempt
+by both landlords and tenants&mdash;always
+making the few allowances
+above referred to? Was it very likely
+that the landlord or the farmer should
+quit their honourable and important
+avocations at the bidding of such creatures
+as had thus intruded themselves
+into their counties? should consent
+to be yoked to the car, or to follow in
+the train of these enlightened, disinterested,
+and philanthropic cotton-spinners
+and calico-printers? Absurd!
+It became, in fact, daily more
+obvious to even the most unreflecting,
+that these worthies were not
+likely to be engaged in their "labours
+of <i>love</i>;" were not <i>exactly</i> the kind of
+persons to desert their own businesses,
+to attend out of pure benevolence that
+of others&mdash;to let succumb their own
+interest to promote those of others;
+to subscribe out of the gains which
+they had wrung from their unhappy
+factory slaves, their L.10, L.20, L.30,
+L.50, L.100, out of mere public spirit
+and philanthropy.</p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote28" name="footnote28"></a><a href="#footnotetag28"> [28] </a> League Circular, No. 10.</p></blockquote>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote29" name="footnote29"></a><a href="#footnotetag29"> [29] </a> Ibid. Nos. 26, 29, 44, 50, 71, 83, 94, 99, 100.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Still, we say, the whole thing was
+really a failure&mdash;the "steam," even
+yet, could not be "got up," in spite of
+all their multiplied agencies and machinery,
+incessantly at work&mdash;the unprecedented
+personal exertions of the
+members of the league&mdash;the large
+pecuniary sacrifices of the Lancashire
+subscribers to its funds. One more
+desperate exertion was therefore felt
+necessary&mdash;and they resolved to attempt
+getting up a <i>sensation</i>, by the
+sudden subscription of splendid
+sums of money, by way of starting
+a vast fund, with which to operate
+directly upon the entire electoral
+body&mdash;in what way, it is not
+very difficult to guess. Accordingly,
+they began&mdash;but where? At the old
+place&mdash;Manchester!&mdash;Manchester!&mdash;<i>Manchester!</i>
+Many thousands were
+subscribed at an hour's notice by a
+mere handful of manufacturers; the
+news came up to London&mdash;and the
+editor of the <i>Times</i>, in a transient
+fit of excitement, pronounced "the
+existence of the League" to be a
+GREAT FACT. Upon this phrase
+they have lived ever since&mdash;till somewhat
+roughly reminded the other
+day, by Mr Baring, that "great
+<i>facts</i>" are very "<i>great follies!</i>"
+Now let us once more ask the question&mdash;would
+all these desperate and
+long-continued exertions and sacrifices&mdash;(all
+proceeding, be it ever observed,
+from <i>one</i> quarter, and from the same
+class of people&mdash;nay, the same individuals
+of that class)&mdash;be requisite,
+were there any <i>real movement of the
+public mind and feeling</i> against the
+Corn-laws? Are they not requisite
+solely because of the <i>absence</i> of any
+such movement? Nay, are they not
+evidence that the public feeling and
+opinion are against them? And that,
+perhaps, they will by and by succeed
+in rousing the "stubborn enthusiasm
+of the people" against themselves?
+Where has there been called one single
+spontaneous public meeting of any
+importance, and where exhibited a
+spark of enthusiasm, for the total repeal
+of the Corn-laws? Surely the
+<i>topic</i> is capable of being handled in a
+sufficiently exciting manner! But no;
+wherever a "meeting," or "demonstration,"
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page123" id="page123"></a>[pg 123]</span>
+is heard of&mdash;there, also, are
+the eternal Cobden, Bright and Wilson,
+and their miserable fellow-agitators,
+who alone have got up&mdash;who
+alone harangue the meetings. Was
+it so with Catholic Emancipation?&mdash;with
+the abolition of Negro Slavery?&mdash;with
+the Reform Bill? Right or
+wrong, the public feeling was then
+roused, and exhibited itself unequivocally,
+powerfully, and spontaneously;
+but <i>here</i>&mdash;bah! common sense revolts
+at the absurd supposition that even
+hundreds of thousands of pounds can
+of themselves get up a real demonstration
+of public feeling in favour of the
+object, for which so much Manchester
+money has been already subscribed.</p>
+
+<div class="poem">  <div class="stanza">
+<p>"'Tis not in <i>thousands</i> to command success."</p>
+  </div>  </div>
+
+<p>If the public opinion of this great
+country&mdash;this great enlightened nation&mdash;were
+<i>really</i> roused against the Corn-laws,
+they would disappear like snow
+under sunshine. But, as the matter
+<i>now</i> stands, if their dreary drivellers
+Cobden, Bright, Wilson, Acland, W.J.
+Fox, were withdrawn from the
+public scene in which they are so
+anxious to figure, and sent to enjoy
+the healthy exercise of the tread-mill
+for one single three months, would
+this eternal "<i>brutum fulmen</i>" about the
+repeal of the Corn-laws be heard of
+any more? We verily believe not.
+"But look at our triumphs!"&mdash;quoth
+Cobden&mdash;"Look at our glorious victories
+at Durham, London, and Kendal!&mdash;our
+virtual victory at Salisbury!"
+Moonshine, gentlemen, and you know
+it;&mdash;and that you have spent your
+money in vain. Let us see how the
+matter stands.</p>
+
+<p>I. <i>Durham</i>. True, Mr Bright was
+returned; but to what is the House
+of Commons indebted for the acquisition
+of that distinguished senator, except
+the personal pique and caprice of
+that eccentric Tory peer, Lord Londonderry?
+This is notorious, and admitted
+by all parties; and these causes
+will not be in operation at another
+election.</p>
+
+<p>II. <i>London</i>. And do you really
+call this a "great triumph?" Undoubtedly
+Mr Pattison was returned;
+but is it a matter of congratulation that
+this notorious political nonentity, who
+openly, we understand, entertains and
+will support <i>Chartist</i> opinions, is returned
+instead of such a man as Mr Baring?
+What was the majority of Mr Pattison?
+One hundred and sixty-five,
+out of twelve thousand eight hundred
+and eighty-nine who actually voted.
+And how was even that majority secured?
+By the notorious absence from
+London&mdash;as is always the case at that
+period of the year (21st October 1843)&mdash;of
+vast numbers of the stanchest
+Conservative electors. There is no
+doubt whatever, that had the election
+happened one fortnight later than it
+did, Mr Baring would have been returned
+by a large majority, in spite of
+the desperate exertions of the Anti-corn-law
+League and Mr Rothschild
+and the Jews. As it was, Mr Baring
+polled more (6367) than had ever been
+polled by a Conservative candidate for
+London before; and had an immense
+majority over his competitor, among
+the superior classes of the constituency.<a id="footnotetag30" name="footnotetag30"></a><a href="#footnote30"><sup>30</sup></a>
+At another election, we can
+confidently predict that Mr Baring
+will be returned, and by a large majority,
+unless, indeed, the Charter
+should be the law of the land; in
+which case Mr Pattison will probably
+enjoy another ovation.</p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote30" name="footnote30"></a><a href="#footnotetag30"> [30] </a>  Among the <i>Livery</i>, the numbers were&mdash;Baring, 3196; Pattison, 2367;&mdash;majority
+for Baring, 889!</p>
+
+<p>Among the <i>Templars</i>&mdash;Baring, 258; Pattison, 78!!&mdash;majority for Baring, 180!</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>III. <i>Kendal</i>. Is this, too, a victory?
+"Another such, and you are undone."
+Why? Till Mr Bentinck presented
+himself before that enlightened little
+constituency, no Conservative dared
+even to offer himself; 'twas a snug
+little stronghold of the Anti-corn-law
+League interest, and yet the gallant
+Conservative gave battle against
+the whole force of the League; and
+after a mortal struggle of some fourteen
+days, was defeated by a far
+smaller majority than either friends
+or enemies had expected, and has
+pledged himself to fight the battle
+again. Here, then, the League and
+their stanch friends have sustained
+an unexpected and serious shock.</p>
+
+<p>IV. <i>Salisbury</i>.&mdash;We have not the
+least desire to magnify this into a
+mighty victory for the Conservative
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page124" id="page124"></a>[pg 124]</span>
+party; but the interference of the
+Anti-corn-law League certainly made
+the struggle a very critical and important
+one. We expected to succeed,
+but not by a large majority; for ever
+since 1832, the representation had
+(till within the last year) been divided
+between a Conservative and a Liberal.
+However, the Anti-corn-law League,
+flushed with their "triumphs" at
+London and Kendal, flung all their
+forces ostentatiously into the borough,
+and exhibited a disgusting and alarming
+specimen of the sort of interference
+which it seems we are to expect
+in all future elections, in all counties
+and boroughs. It was, however, in
+vain; the ambitious young gentleman
+who had the benefit of their services,
+and who is a law-student in London,
+but the son of the great Earl of Radnor,
+lost his election by a large majority,
+and the discomfited League
+retired ridiculously to Manchester.
+When we heard of their meditated
+descent upon Salisbury, we fancied
+we saw Cobden and his companions
+waddling back, geese-like, and exclaimed&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem">  <div class="stanza">
+<p>"Geese! if we had you but on Sarum plain,</p>
+<p>We'd drive you cackling back to Camelot!"</p>
+  </div>  </div>
+
+<p>So much for the boasted electoral
+triumphs of the Anti-corn-law League&mdash;we
+repeat, that they are all mere
+moonshine, and challenge them to
+disprove our assertion.</p>
+
+<p>They are now making another desperate
+effort to raise a further sum of
+a hundred thousand pounds; and beginning,
+as usual, at Manchester, have
+raised there alone, within a few days'
+time, upwards of L.20,000! The fact
+(if <i>true</i>) is at once ludicrous and disgusting:
+ludicrous for its transparency
+of humbug&mdash;disgusting for its palpable
+selfishness. Will these proverbially
+hard-hearted men put down their
+L.100, L.200, L.300, L.400, L.500,
+for nothing? Alas, the great sums
+they have expended in this crusade
+against the Corn-laws, will have to
+be wrung out of their wretched and
+exhausted factory slaves! For how
+otherwise but by diminishing wages can
+they repay themselves for lost time,
+for trouble, and for expense?</p>
+
+<p>Looked at in its proper light, the
+Corn-law League is nothing but <i>an
+abominable conspiracy against labour</i>.
+Cheap <i>bread</i> means cheap <i>labour</i>;
+those who cannot see this, must be
+blind indeed! The melancholy fact
+of the continually-decreasing price of
+labour in this country, rests on undisputable
+authority&mdash;on, amongst others,
+that of Mr Fielding. In 1825, the
+price of labour was 51 per cent less
+than in 1815; in 1830 it was 65 per
+cent less than in 1815, though the consumption
+of cotton had increased from
+80,000,000 lbs. to 240,000,000 lbs.!
+In 1835 it was 318,000,000 lbs., but
+the operative received 70 per cent less
+than in 1815. In 1840 the consumption
+of cotton was 415,000,000 lbs.,
+and the unhappy operative received
+75 per cent less than in 1815!</p>
+
+<p>If proofs be required to show that in
+reality the deadly snake, <i>cheap labour</i>,
+lurks among the flourishing grass, <i>cheap
+bread</i>, we will select one or two out of
+very many now lying before us, and
+prepared to be presented to the
+reader.</p>
+
+<p>"If grain be high," said Mr Ricardo,
+in the House of Commons,<a id="footnotetag31" name="footnotetag31"></a><a href="#footnote31"><sup>31</sup></a>
+"the price of labour would necessarily
+be a deduction from the <i>profits of
+stock</i>." "The Corn-laws raise the
+price of sustenance&mdash;that has <i>raised
+the price of labour</i>; which, of course,
+diminishes the profit in capital."<a id="footnotetag32" name="footnotetag32"></a><a href="#footnote32"><sup>32</sup></a></p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote31" name="footnote31"></a><a href="#footnotetag31"> [31] </a> Debates, May 30, 1820.</p></blockquote>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote32" name="footnote32"></a><a href="#footnotetag32"> [32] </a> Ib. Dec. 24, 1819.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>"Until the price of food in this
+country," said Mr Hume, in the House
+of Commons on the 12th of May
+last, in the presence of all the leading
+free-trade members, "is placed
+on a level with that on the Continent,
+it will be impossible for us to
+compete with the growing manufactures
+of Belgium, Germany, France,
+and America!!"</p>
+
+<p>Hear a member of the League, and
+of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce,
+Mr G. Sandars:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>
+"If three loaves instead of two
+could be got for 2s., in consequence
+of a repeal of the Corn-laws, another
+consequence would be, that the workman's
+2s. would be reduced to 1s. 4d.,
+which would leave matters, as far
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page125" id="page125"></a>[pg 125]</span>
+as he was concerned, just as they
+were!!"<a id="footnotetag33" name="footnotetag33"></a><a href="#footnote33"><sup>33</sup></a>
+</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote33" name="footnote33"></a><a href="#footnotetag33"> [33] </a> Authentic Discussions on the Corn-law, (Ridgway, 1839,) p. 86.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Hear a straightforward manufacturer&mdash;Mr
+Muntz, M.P.&mdash;in the debate
+on the 17th May last:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>
+"If the Corn-laws were repealed,
+the benefit which the manufacturer
+expected was, that he could produce
+at a lower price; and this he could
+do only by reducing wages to the continental
+level!!"
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>If the above fail to open the eyes of
+the duped workmen of this country,
+what will succeed in doing so? Let
+us conclude this portion of our subject&mdash;disgusting
+enough, but necessary to
+expose imposture&mdash;with the following
+tabular view, &amp;c., of the gross contradiction
+of the men, whom we wish to
+hold up to universal and deserved
+contempt, on even the most vital
+points of the controversy in which they
+are engaged; and then let our readers
+say whether any thing proceeding from
+such a quarter is worthy of notice:&mdash;</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+
+<p>The <i>League Oracle</i> says&mdash;</p>
+<br/>
+
+<p>1. "If we have free trade, the landlords'
+rents will fall 100 per cent."&mdash;(<i>League
+Circular</i>, No. 15. p. 3.)</p>
+
+<p>2. "Provisions will fall one-third."&mdash;(Ib.
+No. 34, p. 4.)</p>
+
+<p>"The Corn-laws makes the labourer
+pay double the price for his food."&mdash;(Ib.
+No. 15.)</p>
+
+<p>3. "The Corn-law compels us to pay
+<i>three times the value for a loaf of bread</i>."&mdash;(Ib.
+No. 13.)</p>
+
+<p>"If the Corn-laws were abolished, the
+working man WOULD SAVE 31/2d. UPON
+EVERY LOAF OF BREAD."&mdash;(Ib. No. 75.)</p>
+
+<p>"As a consequence of the repeal of
+the Corn-laws, <i>we promise cheaper food</i>,
+and our hand-loom weavers would get
+<i>double</i> the rate of wages!"&mdash;(Ib. No. 7.)</p>
+
+<p>"We shall have <i>cheap bread</i>, and its
+price will be reduced 33 per cent."&mdash;(Ib.
+No. 34.)</p>
+
+<p>4. Messrs Villiers, Muntz, Hume,
+Roche, Thornton, Rawson, Sandars, (all
+Leaguers,) say, and the oracle of the
+<i>League</i> itself has said, that "We want
+free trade, to enable us to <i>reduce wages</i>,
+that we may compete with foreigners."&mdash;(<i>Post</i>,
+pp. 13-16.)</p>
+
+<p>5. The <i>League Oracle</i> admits that "a
+repeal would <i>injure</i> the farmer, but not
+so much as he fears."&mdash;(<i>League Circular</i>,
+No. 58.)</p>
+
+<br/>
+<p>Mr Cobden says&mdash;</p>
+<br/>
+
+<p>1. "If we have free trade, the landlords
+will have as good rents as now."&mdash;(Speech
+in the House of Commons, 15th
+May last.)</p>
+
+<p>2. "Provisions will be no cheaper."&mdash;(Speech
+at Bedford, <i>Hertford Reformer</i>,
+10th June last.)</p>
+
+<p>3. "THE ARGUMENT FOR CHEAP
+BREAD WAS NEVER MINE."&mdash;(<i>Morning
+Chronicle</i>, 30th June 1843, Speech on
+Penenden Heath.)</p>
+
+<p>"THE IDEA OF LOW-PRICED FOREIGN
+CORN IS ALL A DELUSION."&mdash;SPEECH AT
+Winchester, <i>Salisbury Herald</i>, July 29,
+1843, p. 3.</p>
+
+<p>4. Messrs Cobden, Bright, and Moore,
+now affirm&mdash;"It is a base falsehood to
+say we want free trade, to enable us to
+reduce the rate of wages."&mdash;(Mr Cobden
+on Penenden Heath. Messrs
+Bright and Moore at Huntingdon.)</p>
+
+<p>5. Cobden, Moore, and Bright, say,
+that it is to the <i>interest</i> of the farmer to
+have a total and <i>immediate</i> repeal.&mdash;(Uxbridge,
+Bedford, Huntingdon.<a id="footnotetag34" name="footnotetag34"></a><a href="#footnote34"><sup>34</sup></a></p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote34" name="footnote34"></a><a href="#footnotetag34"> [34] </a>  Extracted from a very admirable speech by Mr Day of Huntingdon, (Ollivier,
+1843,) and which we earnestly recommend for perusal.</p></blockquote>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p>The disgusting selfishness and hypocrisy
+of such men as Cobden and
+his companions, in veiling their real
+objects under a pretended enmity to
+"Monopoly" and "Class Legislation"&mdash;and
+disinterested anxiety to
+procure for the poor the blessings of
+"cheap bread"&mdash;fills us with a just
+indignation; and we never see an account
+of their hebdomadal proceedings,
+but we exclaim, in the language
+of our immortal bard&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem">  <div class="stanza">
+<p>"Oh, Heaven! that such impostors thoud'st unfold,</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page126" id="page126"></a>[pg 126]</span>
+<p>And put in every honest hand a whip,</p>
+<p>To lash the rascals naked through the land!"</p>
+  </div>  </div>
+
+<p>While we repeat our deliberate opinion,
+that the Anti-corn-law League,
+as a body, is, in respect of actual present
+influence, infinitely less formidable
+than the vanity and selfish purposes
+of its members would lead them
+to wish the country to believe&mdash;we
+must add, that it is quite another
+question how long it will continue so.
+It may soon be converted&mdash;if indeed
+it has not already been secretly converted,
+into an engine of tremendous
+mischief, for other purposes than any
+ever contemplated by its originators.
+Suppose, in the next session of parliament,
+Ministers were to offer a law-fixed
+duty on corn: would that concession
+dissolve the League? Absurd&mdash;they
+have long ago scouted the idea of so
+ridiculous a compromise. Suppose
+they effected their avowed object of a
+total repeal of the Corn-laws&mdash;is any
+one weak enough to imagine that they
+would <i>then</i> dissolve? No&mdash;nor do they
+<i>now</i> dream of such a thing; but are
+at the present moment, as we are informed,
+"<i>fraternizing</i>" with other political
+societies of a very dangerous
+character, and on the eve of originating
+serious and revolutionary movements.
+Their present organization is
+precisely that of the French Jacobins;
+their plan of operation the same. Let
+any one turn to <i>The League Circular</i>
+of the 18th November, and he will see
+announced a plan of action on the part
+of this Association, precisely analagous,
+in all its leading features, to
+that of the French Jacobins: and
+we would call the attention of the
+legislature to the question, whether
+the Anti-corn-law League, in its most
+recent form of organization and plan
+of action, be not clearly within the
+provisions of statutes 57 Geo. III., c.
+19, § 25 and 39; Geo. III., c. 79?
+What steps, if any, the legislature
+may take, is one thing; it is quite
+another, what course shall be adopted
+by the friends of the Conservative
+cause&mdash;the supporters of the British
+constitution. It is impossible to assign
+limits to the mischief which may
+be effected by the indefatigable and
+systematic exertions of the League to
+diffuse pernicious misrepresentations,
+and artful and popular fallacies, among
+all classes of society. That they entertain
+a fearfully envenomed hatred
+of the agricultural interest, is clear;
+and their evident object is to render
+the landed proprietors of this country
+objects of fierce hatred to the inferior
+orders of the community. "If a man
+tells me his story every morning of my
+life, by the year's end he will be my
+master," said Burke, "and I shall believe
+him, however untrue and improbable
+his story may be;" and if, whilst
+the Anti-corn-law League can display
+such perseverance, determination,
+and system, its opponents obstinately
+remain supine and silent,
+can any one wonder if such progress
+be not made by the League, in their
+demoralizing and revolutionary enterprize,
+that it will soon be too late to
+attempt even to arrest?</p>
+
+<p>If this Journal has earned, during
+a quarter of a century's career of unwavering
+consistency and independence,
+any title to the respect of the
+Conservative party, we desire now to
+rely upon that title for the purpose of
+adding weight to our solemn protest
+against the want of union and energy&mdash;against
+the apathy, from whatever
+cause arising&mdash;now but too visible. In
+vain do we and others exert ourselves
+to the uttermost to diffuse sound political
+principles by means of the press;
+in vain do the distinguished leaders of
+our party fight the battles of the constitution
+with consummate skill and
+energy in parliament&mdash;if their exertions
+be not supported by corresponding
+energy and activity on the part of
+the Conservative constituencies, and
+those persons of talent and influence
+professing the same principles, by
+whom they can, and ought to be,
+easily set in motion. It is true that
+persons of liberal education, of a high
+and generous tone of feeling, of intellectual
+refinement, are entitled to
+treat such men as Cobden, Bright, and
+Acland, with profound contempt, and
+dislike the notion of personal contact
+or collision with them, as representatives
+of the foulest state of ill
+feeling that can be generated in the
+worst manufacturing regions&mdash;of sordid
+avarice, selfishness, envy, and malignity;
+but they are active&mdash;ever up
+and doing, and steadily applying themselves,
+with palatable topics, to the
+corruption of the hearts of the working
+classes. So, unless the persons
+to whom we allude choose to cast
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page127" id="page127"></a>[pg 127]</span>
+aside their morbid aversions&mdash;to be
+"UP AND AT them," in the language
+of the Duke of Waterloo&mdash;why then
+will be verified the observation of
+Burke&mdash;that "if, when bad men combine,
+the good do not associate, they
+will fall, one by one&mdash;an unpitied sacrifice
+in a contemptible struggle."
+Vast as are our forces, they can effect
+comparatively nothing without union,
+energy, and system: <i>with</i> these, their
+power is tremendous and irresistible.
+What we would say, therefore, is&mdash;ORGANIZE!
+ORGANIZE! ORGANIZE!
+Let every existing Conservative club
+or association be stirred up into increased
+action, and <i>put into real working
+trim</i> forthwith; and where none
+such clubs or associations exist, let
+them be immediately formed, and set
+into cheerful and spirited motion.
+Let them all be placed under the vigilant
+superintendence of one or two
+<i>real men of business</i>&mdash;of local knowledge,
+of ability, and influence. We
+would point out Conservative solicitors
+as auxiliaries of infinite value
+to those engaged in the good cause;
+men of high character, of business
+habits, extensive acquaintance with
+the character and circumstances of
+the electors&mdash;and capable of bringing
+legitimate influence to bear upon
+them in a far more direct and effective
+manner than any other class
+of persons. One such gentleman&mdash;say
+a young and active solicitor, with
+a moderate salary, as permanent secretary
+in order to secure and, in
+some measure, requite his services
+throughout the year&mdash;would be worth
+fifty <i>dilletante</i> "friends of the good
+cause dropping in every now and
+then," but whose "friendship" evaporates
+in mere <i>talk</i>. Let every local
+Conservative newspaper receive constant
+and substantial patronage; for
+they are worthy of the very highest
+consideration, on account of the ability
+with which they are generally
+conducted, and their great influence
+upon local society. Many of them, to
+our own knowledge, display a degree
+of talent and knowledge which would
+do honour to the very highest metropolitan
+journals. Let them, then, be
+vigorously supported, their circulation
+extended through the influence of the
+resident nobility and gentry, and the
+clergy of every particular district
+throughout the kingdom. Let no
+opportunity be missed of exposing the
+true character of the vile and selfish
+agitators of the Anti-corn-law league.
+Let not the league have all the "publishing"
+to themselves; but let their
+impudent fallacies and falsehoods be
+<i>instantly</i> encountered and exposed on
+the spot, by means of small and cheap
+tracts and pamphlets, which shall
+bring plain, wholesome, and important
+truths home to the businesses and
+bosoms of the very humblest in the
+land. Again, let the resident gentry
+seek frequent opportunities of mingling
+with their humbler neighbours,
+friends, and dependents, by way of
+keeping up a cordial and hearty good
+understanding with them, so as to
+rely upon their effective co-operation
+whenever occasions may arise for political
+action.</p>
+
+<p>Let all this be done, and we
+may defy a hundred Anti-corn-law
+Leagues. Let these objects be kept
+constantly in view, and the Anti-corn-law
+League will be utterly palsied,
+had it a hundred times its present
+funds&mdash;a thousand times its present
+members!</p>
+
+<p>Let us now, however, turn for a
+brief space to Ireland; the present
+condition of which we contemplate
+with profound concern and anxiety,
+but with neither surprise nor dismay.
+As far as regards the Government,
+the state of affairs in Ireland bears at
+this moment unquestionable testimony
+to the stability and strength of the
+Government; and no one know this
+better than the gigantic impostor, to
+whom so much of the misery of that
+afflicted portion of the empire is owing.
+He perceives, with inexpressible
+mortification, that neither he nor his
+present position awake any sympathy
+or excitement whatever in the kingdom
+at large, where the enormity of
+his misconduct is fully appreciated,
+and every movement of the Government
+against him sanctioned by public
+opinion. The general feeling is
+one of profound disgust towards him,
+sympathy and commiseration for his
+long-plundered dupes and of perfect
+confidence that the Government will
+deal firmly and wisely with both. As
+for a <i>Repeal of the Union</i>! Pshaw!
+Every child knows that it is a notion
+too absurd to be seriously dealt with;
+that Great Britain would rather plunge
+<i>instanter</i> into the bloodiest civil war that
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page128" id="page128"></a>[pg 128]</span>
+ever desolated a country, than submit
+to the dismemberment of the empire
+by repealing the union between Great
+Britain and Ireland. This opinion has
+had, from time to time, every possible
+mode of authentic and solemn expression
+that can be given to the national
+will; in speeches from the Throne;
+in Parliamentary declarations by the
+leaders of both the Whig and Conservative
+Governments; the members
+of both Houses of Parliament are
+(with not a single exception worth
+noticing) unanimous upon the subject;
+the press, whether quarterly, monthly,
+weekly, or daily, of all classes and
+shades of political opinions, is unanimous
+upon the subject; in society,
+whether high or low, the subject is
+never broached, except to enquire
+whether any one can, for one moment,
+seriously believe the Repeal of the
+Union to be possible. In Ireland itself,
+the vast majority of the intellect,
+wealth, and respectability of the island,
+without distinction of religion or politics,
+entertains the same opinion and
+determination which prevail in Great
+Britain. Is Mr O'Connell ignorant of
+all this? He knows it as certainly as
+he knows that Queen Victoria occupies
+the throne of these realms; and
+yet, down to his very last appearance
+in public, he has solemnly and perseveringly
+asseverated that the Repeal
+of the Union is an absolutely certain
+and inevitable event, and one that will
+happen within a few months! <i>Is he
+in his senses?</i> If so, he is speaking
+from his knowledge of some vast and
+dreadful conspiracy, which he has organized
+himself, which has hitherto
+escaped detection. The idea is too
+monstrous to be entertained for a moment.
+What, then, can Mr O'Connell
+be about? Our opinion is, that his
+sole object in setting on foot the Repeal
+agitation, was to increase his
+pecuniary resources, and at the same
+time overthrow Sir Robert Peel's Government,
+by showing the Queen and
+the nation that his admitted "<i>chief</i>
+difficulty"&mdash;Ireland&mdash;was one <i>insuperable</i>;
+and that he must consequently
+retire. We believe, moreover, that
+he is, to a certain extent, acting upon
+a secret understanding with the party
+of the late Government, who, however,
+never contemplated matters being
+carried to their present pitch; but
+that the Ministry would long ago have
+retired, terrified before the tremendous
+"demonstration" in Ireland.
+We feel as certain as if it were a past
+event, that, had the desperate experiment
+succeeded so far as to replace
+the present by the late Government,
+Mr O'Connell's intention was to have
+announced his determination to "<i>give
+England</i> ONE MORE trial"&mdash;to place
+Repeal once more in abeyance&mdash;in
+order to see whether England would
+really, at length, do "<i>justice</i> to <i>Ireland</i>;"
+in other words, restore the
+halcyon days of Lord Normanby's
+nominal, and Mr O'Connell's real,
+rule in Ireland, and enable him, by
+these means, to provide for himself,
+his family, and dependents; for old
+age is creeping rapidly upon him&mdash;his
+physical powers are no longer equal
+to the task of vigorous agitation&mdash;and
+he is known to be in utterly
+desperate circumstances. The reckless
+character of his proceedings during
+the last fifteen months, is, in our
+opinion, fully accounted for, by his
+unexpected discovery, that the ministry
+were strong enough to defy any
+thing that he could do, and to continue
+calmly in their course of administering,
+not <i>pseudo</i>, but real "justice
+to Ireland," supported in that course
+by the manifest favour and countenance
+of the Crown, overwhelming
+majorities in Parliament, and the decided
+and unequivocal expression of
+public opinion. His personal position
+was, in truth, inexpressibly galling
+and most critical, and he must have
+agitated, or sunk at once into ignominious
+obscurity and submission to a
+Government whom, individually and
+collectively, he loathed and abhorred.
+Vain were the hopes which, doubtless,
+he had entertained, that, as his agitation
+assumed a bolder form, it would
+provoke formidable demonstrations in
+England against Ministers and their
+policy; not a meeting could be got up
+to petition her Majesty for the dismissal
+of her Ministers! But it is quite
+conceivable that Mr O'Connell, in the
+course he was pursuing, forgot to consider
+the possibility of developing a
+power which might be too great for
+him, which would not be wielded by
+him, but carry <i>him</i> along with <i>it</i>. The
+following remarkable expressions fell
+from the perplexed and terrified agitator,
+at a great dinner at Lismore in
+the county of Waterford, in the month
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page129" id="page129"></a>[pg 129]</span>
+of September last:&mdash;"Like the heavy
+school-boy on the ice, <i>my pupils are
+overtaking me</i>. It is now my duty to
+regulate the vigour and temper the
+energy of the people&mdash;to compress, as
+it were, the exuberance of both."</p>
+
+<p>We said that Mr O'Connell revived
+the Repeal agitation; and the fact was
+so. He first raised it in 1829&mdash;having,
+however, at various previous
+periods of his life, professed a desire
+to struggle for Repeal; but Mr Shiel,
+in his examination before the House
+of Commons in 1825, characterized
+such allusions as mere "rhetorical
+artifices." "What were his real motives,"
+observes the able and impartial
+author of <i>Ireland and its Rulers</i><a id="footnotetag35" name="footnotetag35"></a><a href="#footnote35"><sup>35</sup></a>,
+"when he announced his new agitation
+in 1829, can be left only to him
+to determine." It is probable that
+they were of so mixed a nature, that
+he himself could not accurately define
+them.... It is, however, quite
+possible, that, after having so long
+tasted of the luxuries of popularity,
+he could not consent that the chalice
+should pass from his lips. Agitation
+had, perhaps, begun to be necessary
+to his existence: a tranquil life would
+have been a hell to him." It would
+seem that Mr O'Connell's earliest recorded
+manifesto on Repeal was on
+the 3d June 1829, previous to the
+Clare election, on which occasion he
+said&mdash;"We want political excitement,
+in order that we may insist on our
+rights as Irishmen, but not as Catholics;"
+and on the 20th of the same
+month in the same year, 1829, he predicted&mdash;listen
+to this, ye his infatuated
+dupes!&mdash;"<i>that</i> BEFORE THREE YEARS
+THERE WOULD BE A PARLIAMENT IN
+DUBLIN!!!" In the general elections
+of 1832, it was proclaimed by Mr
+O'Connell, that no member should be
+returned unless he solemnly pledged
+himself to vote for the Repeal of the
+Union; but it was at the same time
+hinted, that <i>if they would only enter
+the House as professed Repealers, they
+would never be required to</i> VOTE <i>for
+Repeal</i>. On the hustings at the county
+of Waterford election, one of these
+gentry, Sir Richard Keave, on being
+closely questioned concerning the real
+nature of his opinion on Repeal, let
+out the whole truth:&mdash;"<i>I will hold it
+as an imposing weapon to get justice to
+Ireland</i>." This has held true ever
+since, and completely exemplifies all
+the intervening operations of Mr
+O'Connell. It has been his practice
+ever since "to connect every grievance
+with the subject of Repeal&mdash;to convert
+every wrongful act of any Government
+into an argument for the necessity
+of an Irish Legislature." Can
+it be wondered at that the present
+Government, thoroughly aware of
+the true state of the case&mdash;<i>knowing
+their man</i>&mdash;should regard the cry
+for Repeal simply as an imposture,
+its utterers as impostors? They did
+and do so regard it and its utterers&mdash;never
+allowing either the one or the
+other to disturb their administration
+of affairs with impartiality and firmness;
+but, nevertheless, keeping a
+most watchful eye upon all their
+movements.</p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote35" name="footnote35"></a><a href="#footnotetag35"> [35] </a> pp. 43, 50.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>At length, whether emboldened by
+a conviction that the non-interference
+of the Government was occasioned
+solely by their incapacity to grapple
+with an agitation becoming hourly
+more formidable, and that thus his
+schemes were succeeding&mdash;or impelled
+onwards by those whom he had roused
+into action, but could no longer
+restrain&mdash;his movements became daily
+characterized by more astounding
+audacity&mdash;more vivid the glare of
+sedition, and even treason, which
+surrounded them: still the Government
+interfered not. Their apparent
+inaction most wondered, very many
+murmured, some were alarmed, and
+Mr O'Connell laughed at. Sir Robert
+Peel, on one occasion, when his attention
+was challenged to the subject in
+the House of Commons, replied, that
+"he was not in the least degree
+moved or disturbed by what was passing
+in Ireland." This perfect calmness
+of the Government served to
+check the rising of any alarm in the
+country; which felt a confidence of
+the Ministry's being equal to any exigency
+that could be contemplated.
+Thus stood matters till the 11th July
+last, when, at the close of the debate
+on the state of Ireland, Sir Robert
+Peel delivered a very remarkable
+speech. It consisted of a calm demonstration
+of the falsehood of all the
+charges brought by the Repealers
+against the imperial Parliament; of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page130" id="page130"></a>[pg 130]</span>
+the impolicy and the impracticability
+of the various schemes for the relief
+of Ireland proposed by the Opposition;
+of the absolute impossibility of
+Parliament entertaining the question
+of a Repeal of the Union; and a distinct
+answer to the question&mdash;"What
+course do you intend to pursue?"
+That answer is worthy of being distinctly
+brought under the notice of
+the reader. "I am prepared to administer
+the law in Ireland upon principles
+of justice and impartiality. I
+am prepared to recognise the principle
+established by law&mdash;that there
+shall be equality in civil privileges.
+I am prepared to respect the franchise,
+to give substantially, although
+not nominally, equality. In respect to
+the social condition of Ireland&mdash;<i>as to
+the relation of landlord and tenant</i><a id="footnotetag36" name="footnotetag36"></a><a href="#footnote36"><sup>36</sup></a>&mdash;I
+am prepared to give the most deliberate
+consideration to the important
+matters involved in those questions.
+With respect to the Established
+Church, I have already stated that we
+are not prepared to make an alteration
+in the law by which that Church
+is maintained."</p>
+
+<blockquote class="footnote"><p><a id="footnote36" name="footnote36"></a><a href="#footnotetag36"> [36] </a>  In conformity with this declaration, has been issued the recent commission,
+for "enquiring into the state of the law and practice in respect to the occupation
+of land in Ireland, and in respect also to the burdens of county cess and other
+charges, which fall respectively on the landlord and occupying tenant, and for
+reporting as to the amendments, if any, of the existing laws, which, having due
+regard to the just rights of property, may be calculated to encourage the cultivation
+of the soil, to extend a better system of agriculture, and to improve the relation
+between landlord and tenant, in that part of the United Kingdom."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>We recollect being greatly struck with
+the ominous calmness perceptible in
+the tone of this speech. It seemed
+characterised by a solemn declaration
+to place the agitation of Ireland for
+ever in the <i>wrong</i>&mdash;to deprive them of
+all pretence for accusing England of
+having misgoverned Ireland since the
+Union. It appeared to us as if that
+speech had been designed to lay the
+basis of a contemplated movement
+against the agitation of the most decisive
+kind. The Government acted
+up to the spirit of the declaration, on
+that occasion, of Sir Robert Peel, with
+perfect dignity and resolution, unmoved
+by the taunts, the threats, the
+expostulations, or fears of either enemies
+or friends. Mr O'Connell's tone
+increased in audacity; but we greatly
+doubt whether in his heart he had not
+frequent misgivings as to the real nature
+of the "<i>frightful silence</i>"&mdash;"<i>cette
+affreuse silence</i>"&mdash;of a Government in
+whose councils the Duke of Wellington
+took a decided part, and which was
+actually at that moment taking complete
+military occupation of Ireland.
+On what information they were acting,
+no one knew; but their preparations
+were <i>for the worst</i>. During all this
+time nothing could exceed the tranquillity
+which prevailed in England.
+None of these threatening appearances,
+these tremendous preparations, caused
+the least excitement or alarm; the
+funds did not vary a farthing per cent
+in consequence of them; and to what
+could all this be ascribed but to the
+strength of public confidence in the
+Government? At length the harvest
+in Ireland had been got in; ships of
+war surrounded the coast; thirty
+thousand picked and chosen troops,
+ready for instant action, were disposed
+in the most masterly manner all over
+Ireland. With an almost insane
+audacity, Mr O'Connell appointed
+his crowning monster meeting to
+take place at Clontarf, in the immediate
+vicinity of the residence
+and presence of the Queen's representative,
+and of such a military
+force as rendered the bare possibility
+of encountering it appalling. The critical
+moment, however, for the interference
+of Government had at length
+arrived, and it spoke out in a voice of
+thunder, prohibiting the monster meeting.
+The rest is matter of history.
+The monster demagogue fell prostrate
+and confounded among his panic-stricken
+confederates; and, in an agony
+of consternation, declared their implicit
+obedience to the proclamation, and
+set about dispersing the myriad dupes,
+as fast as they arrived to attend the
+prohibited meeting. Thus was the
+Queen's peace preserved, her crown
+and dignity vindicated, without one
+sword being drawn or one shot being
+fired. Mr O'Connell had repeatedly
+"defied the Government to go to law
+with him." They <i>have</i> gone to law
+with him; and by this time we suspect
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page131" id="page131"></a>[pg 131]</span>
+that he finds himself in an infinitely
+more serious position than he
+has ever been in, during the whole of
+a long and prosperous career of agitation.
+Here, however, we leave him
+and his fellow defendants.</p>
+
+<p>We may, however, take this opportunity
+of expressing our opinion, that
+there is not a shadow of foundation for
+the charges of blundering and incompetency
+which have been so liberally
+brought against the Irish Attorney-General.
+He certainly appears, in
+the earlier stages of the proceedings,
+to have evinced some little irritability&mdash;but,
+only consider, under what unprecedented
+provocation! His conduct
+has since, however, been characterised
+by calmness and dignity; and
+as for his legal capabilities, all competent
+judges who have attended to
+the case, will pronounce them to be
+first-rate; and we feel perfectly confident
+that his future conduct of the
+proceedings will convince the public
+of the justness of our eulogium.</p>
+
+<p>The selection by the Government of
+the moment for interference with Mr
+O'Connell's proceedings, was unquestionably
+characterised by consummate
+prudence. When the meetings commenced
+in March or April, this year,
+they had nothing of outward character
+which could well be noticed. They
+professed to be meetings to petition
+Parliament for Repeal; and, undoubtedly,
+no lawyer could say that such a
+meeting would <i>per se</i> be illegal, any
+more than a meeting to complain of
+Catholic relief, or to pray for its repeal&mdash;or
+for any other matter which
+is considered a settled part of the established
+constitution. The mere numbers
+were certainly alarming, but the
+meetings quietly dispersed without any
+breach of the peace: and after two or
+three such meetings, without any disturbance
+attending them, no one could
+with truth swear that he expected a
+breach of the peace as a <i>direct</i> consequence
+of such a meeting, though many
+thought they saw a civil war as a <i>remote</i>
+consequence. The meetings went
+on: some ten, twelve, fifteen occurred,&mdash;still
+no breach of the peace, no disturbance.
+The language, indeed, became
+gradually more seditious&mdash;more
+daring and ferocious: but, as an attempt
+to put down the first meeting by
+<i>force</i> would have been considered a
+wanton act of oppression, and a direct
+interference with the subject's right to
+petition, it became a very difficult <i>practical</i>
+question, at what moment any
+<i>legal</i> notice could be taken by prosecution,
+or <i>executive</i> notice by proclamation,
+to put down such meetings.
+Notwithstanding several confident opinions
+to the contrary advanced by the
+newspaper press at the time, a greater
+mistake&mdash;indeed a grosser blunder&mdash;could
+not have been made, than to
+have prosecuted those who attended
+the early meetings, or to have sent the
+police or the military to put those
+meetings down. An acquittal in the
+one case, or a conflict in the other,
+would have been attended with most
+mischievous consequences; and, as to
+the latter, it is clear that the executive
+never ought to interfere unless with a
+<i>force which renders all resistance useless</i>.
+It appears perfectly clear to us, <i>even
+now</i>, that a prosecution for the earlier
+meetings must have failed; for there
+existed then none of that evidence
+which would prove the object and the
+nature of the association: and to proclaim
+a meeting, without using force
+to prevent or disperse it if it defied
+the proclamation; and to use force
+without being certain that the extent
+of the illegality would carry public
+opinion along with the use of force;
+further, to begin to use force without
+being sure that you have enough to
+use&mdash;would be acts of madness, and,
+at least, of great and criminal disregard
+of consequences. Now, when
+meeting after meeting had taken place,
+and the general design, and its mischief,
+were unfolded, it became necessary
+that <i>some new feature should occur</i>
+to justify the interference of Government;
+and that occurred at the Clontarf
+meeting. No meeting had, before
+that, ventured to call itself "<i>Repeal
+infantry</i>;" and to Clontarf <i>horsemen</i>
+also were summoned, and were designated
+"<i>Repeal cavalry</i>;" and, in the
+orders for their assembling, marching,
+and conducting themselves, <i>military
+directions were given</i>; and the meeting,
+had it been permitted to assemble,
+would have been a parade of cavalry,
+ready for civil war. It would have
+been a sort of review&mdash;in the face of
+the city of Dublin, in open defiance of
+all order and government. Let us add,
+that, just at that time, Mr O'Connell
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page132" id="page132"></a>[pg 132]</span>
+had published his "Address to all her
+Majesty's subjects, in all parts of her
+dominions," (a most libellous and treasonable
+publication;) and the arrangements
+to secure the peace were more
+complete, and could be brought to
+bear more easily, on the Clontarf
+than on any of the preceding meetings.
+The occasion presented itself,
+and as soon as possible the Irish authorities
+assembled at Dublin; the
+proclamation appeared; the ground
+was pre-occupied, and a force that
+was irresistible went out to keep the
+peace, and prevent the meeting. The
+result showed the perfect success of
+the Government's enterprise.</p>
+
+<p>As the foregoing topics will doubtless
+occupy much of the attention of parliament
+during the ensuing session, we
+were anxious to place on record our own
+opinions, as the result of much reflection,
+during a period when events
+were transpiring which threw upon
+the Government an awful responsibility,
+and rendered their course one of
+almost unprecedented difficulty. Modern
+times, we are convinced, have
+witnessed but few instances of such a
+masterly policy, combined with signal
+self-reliance.</p>
+
+<p>One or two general topics connected
+with Ireland, we have time only to
+glance at. First.&mdash;From the faint reluctant
+disavowal and discouragement
+of Mr O'Connell and his Repeal agitation,
+by the leading ex-Ministers during
+the last session, when emphatically challenged
+by Sir Robert Peel to join him in
+denouncing the attempted dismemberment
+of the empire, irrespective and
+independent of all party consideration,
+we are prepared to expect that in the
+ensuing session, the Opposition will, to
+a great extent, make common cause
+with Mr O'Connell, out of mingled
+fear, and gratitude, and hope towards
+their late friend and patron. Such a
+course will immensely strengthen the
+hands of the Queen's Government.</p>
+
+<p>Secondly.&mdash;To any thoughtful and
+independent politician, the present Sovereign
+state of Ireland demonstrates the utter
+impossibility of governing it upon the
+principle of breaking down or disparaging
+the Protestant interest. Such
+a course would tend only to bloody
+and interminable anarchy.</p>
+
+<p>Thirdly.&mdash;Ireland's misery springs
+from social more than political evils;
+and the greatest boon that Providence
+could give her, would be a powerful
+government inflexibly resolved to <i>put
+down agitation</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Lastly.&mdash;Can we wonder at the
+exasperation of the peasantry, who
+have for so many years had their money
+extorted from them, without ever having
+had, up to this moment, the shadow
+of an equivalent? And how long is
+this disgraceful pillage to go on?
+But we must conclude. The ensuing
+session of parliament may, and
+probably will, be a stormy one, and
+harassing to the Government; but they
+may prepare to encounter it with
+cheerful confidence. Their measures,
+during their brief tenure of office, have
+been attended with extraordinary
+success&mdash;and of that both the sovereign
+and the country are thoroughly
+aware, and we entertain high hopes concerning
+the future. We expect to see
+their strong majority in the House of
+Commons rather augmented than diminished
+by reason of the events which
+have happened during the recess. If
+the Ministers remain firm in their determination&mdash;and
+who doubts it?&mdash;to
+support the agricultural interests of
+the country, and persevere in their
+present vigorous policy towards Ireland,
+the Government is impregnable,
+and the surges of Repeal agitation in
+Ireland, and Anti-corn-law agitation
+in England, will dash against it in
+vain. So long as they pursue this
+course, they will be cheered by augmented
+indications of the national
+good-will, and of that implicit and affectionate
+confidence in their councils,
+which, we rejoice to know, is vouchsafed
+to her Ministers by our gracious
+Sovereign.</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No.
+CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV., by Various
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No.
+CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV., by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: August 27, 2004 [EBook #13306]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Jon Ingram, Victoria Woosley and PG Distributed
+Proofreaders. Produced from page images provided by The Internet
+Library of Early Journals.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                         BLACKWOOD'S
+
+                          Edinburgh
+
+                          MAGAZINE.
+
+
+
+                          VOL. LV.
+
+                     JANUARY-JUNE, 1844.
+
+                      [Illustration]
+
+
+                           1844.
+
+
+             *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+                        BLACKWOOD'S
+
+                      EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.
+
+
+             *       *       *       *       *
+
+            No. CCCXXXIX. JANUARY, 1844. VOL. LV.
+
+             *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+                          CONTENTS.
+
+
+        STATE PROSECUTIONS,                                 1
+        ADVENTURES IN TEXAS. NO. III. THE STRUGGLE,        18
+        CLITOPHON AND LEUCIPPE,                            33
+        THE NEW ART OF PRINTING. BY A DESIGNING DEVIL,     45
+        THE BANKING-HOUSE. PART THE LAST,                  50
+        KIEFF, FROM THE RUSSIAN OF KOZLOFF,                80
+        MARSTON; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF A STATESMAN. PART VII. 81
+        LETTER FROM LEMUEL GULLIVER,                       98
+        THE PROCLAMATION,                                 100
+        THE FIREMAN'S SONG,                               101
+        POSITION AND PROSPECTS OF THE GOVERNMENT,         103
+
+
+             *       *       *       *       *
+
+                         EDINBURGH:
+
+         WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, 45, GEORGE STREET;
+                 AND 22, PALL-MALL, LONDON.
+
+      To whom all Communications (post paid) must be addressed.
+
+       SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS THE UNITED KINGDOM.
+
+             *       *       *       *       *
+
+        PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND HUGHES, EDINBURGH.
+
+
+             *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+STATE PROSECUTIONS.
+
+
+The Englishman who, however well inclined to defer to the wisdom "of
+former ages," should throw a glance at the stern realities of the
+past, as connected with the history of his country, will be little
+disposed to yield an implicit assent to the opinions or assertions of
+those, who maintain the superiority of the past, to the disparagement
+and depreciation of the present times. Maxims and sayings of this
+tendency have undoubtedly prevailed from periods of remote antiquity.
+The wise monarch of the Jewish nation even forbade his people to ask
+"the cause that the former days were better than these;" "for," he
+adds, "thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this." Far different
+would be the modern precept of a British monarch. Rather let the
+English subject "enquire _diligently_ concerning this," for he cannot
+fail to enquire wisely. Let him enquire, and he will find that "the
+former days" of England were days of discord, tyranny, and oppression;
+days when an Empson and a Dudley could harass the honest and
+well-disposed, through the medium of the process of the odious
+star-chamber; when the crown was possessed of almost arbitrary power,
+and when the liberty and personal independence of individuals were in
+no way considered or regarded; days when the severity of our criminal
+laws drew down from a French philosopher the sneer, that a history of
+England was a history of the executioner; when the doomed were sent
+out of the world in bands of twenty, and even thirty, at a time, at
+Tyburn or at "Execution dock;" and when, in the then unhealthy tone of
+public morals, criminals famous for their deeds of violence and
+rapine, were regarded rather as the heroes of romance, than as the
+pests and scourges of society. Let him enquire, and he will find that
+all these things have now long since passed away; that the rigours of
+the criminal law have been entirely mitigated, and that the great
+charters of our liberties, the fruits of accumulated wisdom and
+experience, have now been long confirmed. These facts, if universally
+known and duly pondered over, would go far to banish discontent and
+disaffection, and would tend to produce a well-founded confidence in
+the inherent power of adaptation to the necessities of the people,
+possessed by the constitution of our country. Thus, the social wants
+of the outer man having been in a great measure supplied, the
+philanthropy of modern times has been chiefly employed on the mental
+and moral improvement of the species; the wants of the inner man are
+now the objects of universal attention, and education has become the
+great necessity of the age. Hitherto, the municipal laws and
+institutions of this country have been defective; inasmuch as they
+have made little or no provision for the adequate instruction of the
+people. Much, no doubt, has been already done, and education, even
+now, diffuses her benignant light over a large portion of the
+population; among whom, the children of the ignorant are able to
+instruct their parents, and impart, to those who gave them being, a
+share in the new-found blessing of modern times. Much, however,
+remains still to be done, and the splendid examples of princely
+munificence which a great minister of the crown has recently shown the
+wealthier classes of this wealthy nation, may, in the absence of a
+state provision, have the effect of stimulating private exertion and
+generosity. In spite, however, of the moral and intellectual
+advancement of the present age, the passions and evil designs of the
+vicious and discontented are still able to influence vast masses of
+the people. The experience of the last few years unfortunately teaches
+us, that increased knowledge has not yet banished disaffection, and
+that though, during the last quarter of a century, the general
+standard of the nation's morality may have been elevated above its
+former resting-place, that education, in its present state of
+advancement, has not as yet effectually disarmed discontent or
+disaffection, by showing the greater evil which ever attends the
+endeavour to effect the lesser good, by violent, factious, or
+seditious means.
+
+Within the last thirteen years, the government has been compelled, on
+several occasions, to curb the violence and to repress the outbreaks
+of men who had yet to learn the folly of such attempts; and the powers
+of the executive have been frequently evoked by those who, of late
+years, have wielded the destinies of this country. Several state
+prosecutions have taken place during this period. They never occur
+without exciting a lively interest; the public eye is critically
+intent upon the minutest detail of these proceedings; and the public
+attention is concentrated upon those to whom is confided the
+vindication of the public rights and the redressing of the public
+wrongs. It has been often asked by some of these critical observers,
+How is it that, when great crimes or misdemeanours are to be punished,
+when the bold and daring offender is to be brought to justice, when
+the body politic is the offended party, when the minister honours a
+supposed offender with his notice in the shape of criminal
+proceedings, and the government condescends to prosecute--how is it,
+it has been asked on such occasions, when the first talent, science,
+and practical skill, are all arranged against the unfortunate object
+of a nation's vengeance, that the course of justice should be ever
+broken or impeded? Is the machinery then set in motion in truth
+defective--is there some inherent vice in the construction of the
+state engine? Is the law weak when it should be strong? Is its boasted
+majesty, after all, nothing but the creation of a fond imagination, or
+a delusion of the past? Are the wheels of the state-machine no longer
+bright, polished, and fit for use as they once were? or are they
+choked and clogged with the rust and dust of accumulated ages? Or, if
+not in the machine, does the fault, ask others of these bold critics,
+rest with the workmen who guide and superintend its action? Are the
+principles of its construction now no longer known or understood? Are
+they, like those of the engines of the Syracusan philosopher, lost in
+the lapse of time? Is the crown less efficiently served than private
+individuals? and can it be possible, it has even been demanded, that
+those who are actively employed on these occasions have been so long
+removed on the practice of what is often deemed the simpler portion of
+the law, and so long employed in the higher and more abstruse branches
+of the science, that they have forgotten the practice of their youth,
+and have lost the knowledge acquired in the commencement of their
+professional career? Lesser criminals, it is said, are every day
+convicted with ease and expedition--how is it, therefore, that the
+cobweb of the law holds fast the small ephemerae which chance to stray
+across its filmy mesh, but that the gaudy insect of larger form and
+greater strength so often breaks through, his flight perhaps arrested
+for a moment, as he feels the insidious toil fold close about him? It
+is, however, only for a moment; one mighty effort breaks his bonds--he
+is free--and flies off in triumph and derision, trumpeting forth his
+victory, and proclaiming his escape from the snare, in which it was
+hoped to encompass him. The astute and practised gentlemen thus
+suspected, strong in the consciousness of deep legal knowledge, and
+ready practical skill and science, may justly despise the petty
+attacks of those who affect to doubt their professional ability and
+attainments. Some in high places have not hesitated to hint, on one
+occasion, at collusion, and to assert, that a certain prosecution
+failed, because there was no real desire to punish.
+
+Such is the substance of the various questions and speculations to
+which the legal events of the last thirteen years have given rise. We
+have now collected and enumerated them in a condensed form, for the
+purpose of tracing their rise and progress, and in order that we may
+demonstrate that, though there may possibly exist some reasons for
+these opinions, founded often on a misapprehension of the real
+circumstances of the cases quoted in their support, that they have, in
+fact, little or no substantial foundation. With this view, therefore,
+we shall briefly notice those trials, within the period of which we
+speak, which form the groundwork of these charges against the
+executive, before we proceed to state the real obstacles which do, in
+fact, occasionally oppose the smooth and _rapid_ progress of a "State
+Prosecution."
+
+The first of these proceedings, which occurred during the period of
+the last thirteen years, was the trial of Messrs O'Connell, Lawless,
+Steel, and others. This case perhaps originated the opinions which
+have partially prevailed, and was, in truth, not unlikely to make a
+permanent impression on the public mind. In the month of January 1831,
+true bills were found against these parties by the Grand Jury of
+Dublin, for assembling and meeting together for purposes prohibited by
+a proclamation of the Lord Lieutenant; and for conspiring to do an act
+forbidden by the law. By every possible device, by demurrers and
+inconsistent pleas, delays were interposed; and though Mr O'Connell
+withdrew a former plea of not guilty, and pleaded guilty to the counts
+to which he had at first demurred--though Mr Stanley, in the House of
+Commons, in reply to a question put by the Marquis of Chandos,
+emphatically declared, that it was impossible for the Irish
+government, consistently with their dignity as a government, to enter
+into any negotiation implying the remotest compromise with the
+defendants--and that it was the unalterable determination of the
+law-officers of Ireland to let the law take its course against Mr
+O'Connell--and that, let him act as he pleased, judgment would be
+passed against him--still, in spite of this determination of the
+government, so emphatically announced by the Irish Secretary, the
+statute on which the proceedings were founded was actually suffered to
+expire, without any previous steps having been taken against the state
+delinquents. There has ever been that degree of mystery about this
+event, which invariably rouses attention and excites curiosity; the
+escape of those parties was a great triumph over the powers, or the
+expressed inclinations of the government, which was well calculated to
+set the public mind at work to discover the latent causes which
+produced such strange and unexpected results. After an interval of
+seven years, another case occurred, which was not calculated
+materially to lessen the impression already made upon the public; for
+although, in the following instance, the prosecution was conducted to
+a successful termination, yet questions of such grave importance were
+raised, and fought with such ability, vigour, and determination, that
+the accomplishment of the ends of justice, if not prevented, was
+certainly long delayed.
+
+On the 17th December 1838, twelve prisoners were brought to Liverpool,
+charged in execution of a sentence of transportation to Van Diemen's
+Land for having been concerned in the Canadian revolt. Here the
+offenders had been tried, convicted, sentenced, and actually
+transported. The prosecutors, therefore, might naturally be supposed
+to have got fairly _into_ port, when they saw the objects of their
+tender solicitude fairly _out_ of port, on their way to the distant
+land to which the offended laws of their country had consigned them.
+
+If justice might not account her work as done, at a time when her
+victims had already traversed a thousand leagues of the wide
+Atlantic, when could it be expected that the law might take its course
+without further let or hindrance? On the 17th of December, as has been
+observed, the prisoners arrived at Liverpool, and were straightway
+consigned to the care and custody of Mr Batcheldor, the governor of
+the borough jail of Liverpool; by whom they were duly immured in the
+stronghold of the borough, and safely placed under lock and key.
+Things, however, did not long continue in this state. In a few days
+twelve writs of _habeas corpus_ made their sudden and unexpected
+appearance, by which Mr Batcheldor was commanded forthwith to bring
+the bodies of his charges, together with the causes of detention,
+before the Lord Chief Justice of England. Mr Batcheldor obeyed the
+command in both particulars; the judges of the Court of Queen's Bench
+met; counsel argued and re-argued the matter before them, but in
+vain--the prisoners were left in the governor's care, in which they
+remained, as if no effort had been made to remove then from his
+custody. All, however, was not yet over; for, as though labouring
+under a strange delusion, four of the prisoners actually made oath
+that they had never been arraigned, tried, convicted, or sentenced at
+all, either in Canada or elsewhere! Upon this four more writs of
+_habeas corpus_ issued, commanding the unhappy Mr Batcheldor to bring
+the four deluded convicts before the Barons of the Exchequer. This was
+done; arguments, both old and new, were heard with exemplary patience
+and attention; the play was played over again; but the Barons were
+equally inexorable with the Court of Queen's Bench, and the four
+prisoners, after much consideration, were again remanded to the
+custody of the governor of the jail, and, together with their eight
+fellow-prisoners, were, in course of time, duly conveyed to the place
+of their original destination.
+
+The next of these cases, in chronological order, is that of the
+Monmouthshire riots in 1839. This case, also, might tend to
+corroborate the opinion, that the service of the state, in legal
+matters, is attended with much difficulty and embarrassment. It will,
+however, be seen upon examination of the facts of the case, that the
+difficulty which then arose, proceeded solely from the lenity and
+indulgence shown to the prisoners by the crown. On New-Year's day
+1840, John Frost and others, were brought to trial, on a charge of
+high treason, before a special commission at Monmouth. The proceedings
+were interrupted by an objection taken by the prisoners' counsel, that
+the terms of a statute, which requires that a list of witnesses should
+be delivered to the prisoners _at the same time_ with a copy of the
+indictment, had not been complied with. The indictment had, in fact,
+been delivered five days before the list of witnesses. This had been
+done in merciful consideration to the prisoners, in order that they
+might be put in possession of the charge, to be brought against them,
+as early as it was in the power of the crown to give them the
+information, and probably before it was _possible_ that the list of
+witnesses could have been made out. The trial, however, proceeded,
+subject to the decision of the fifteen judges upon the question, thus
+raised upon the supposed informality, which nothing but the _anxious
+mercy_ of the crown had introduced into the proceedings; and the
+parties were found guilty of the offence laid to their charge. In the
+ensuing term, all other business was, for a time, suspended; and the
+fifteen judges of the land, with all the stately majesty of the
+judicial office, were gathered together in solemn conclave in
+Westminster Hall. A goodly array, tier above tier they sat--the heavy
+artillery of a vast legal battery about to open the fire of their
+learning, with that imposing dignity which becomes the avengers of the
+country's and the sovereign's wrongs. Day after day they met, heard,
+and deliberated upon arguments, which were conspicuous from their
+consummate learning and ability. At length these learned persons
+delivered their judgments, and, amid much diversity of opinion, the
+majority thought, upon the whole, that the conviction was right, and
+that the terms of the statute had been virtually complied with. The
+criminals, however, probably in consequence of the doubts and
+difficulty of the case, were absolved on the most highly penal
+consequences of their crime, and were, by a sort of compromise,
+transported for life to one of the penal settlements.
+
+The doubt which some have entertained of the real insanity of Oxford,
+and others who have recently attempted the same crime which he so nearly
+committed, has caused these cases also to be brought forward in
+confirmation of the opinions, which we contend rest upon no real
+foundation. The insanity of a prisoner is, however, a fact, upon which
+it is the province of the jury to decide, under the direction of the
+presiding judge. In each case the law was luminously laid down by the
+judge for the guidance of the jury, who were fully instructed as to what
+the law required to establish the insanity of its prisoner, and to prove
+that "lesion of the will" which would render a human being irresponsible
+for his acts. These verdicts, undoubtedly, gave rise to a grave
+discussion, whether the law, as it now stands, was sufficiently
+stringent to have reached these cases; and though this question was
+decided in the affirmative, the mere entertaining of the doubt afforded
+another specious confirmation of the impression, that a singular
+fatality was attendant upon a state prosecution. This idea received
+another support from the case of Lord Cardigan, who, about this period,
+was unexpectedly acquitted, on technical grounds, from a grave and
+serious charge. This, however, was no state prosecution, and we do but
+notice it, _en passant_, in corroboration of our general argument.
+
+We now come to the case of the Chartists in 1842. For some time
+previous to the summer of 1842, great distress, it will be remembered,
+prevailed among the manufacturing population of the northern and
+midland counties. The misery of the preceding winter had been dreadful
+in the extreme; emaciated, haggard beings might be daily seen
+wandering about the country half naked, in the coldest weather;
+sufferings, almost without a parallel, were borne with patience and
+resignation. Despair there might be in the hearts of thousands, but
+those thousands were mute and passive in their misery; all was dark,
+all was hopeless; the wintry wind of penury blew untempered, keen upon
+them, but still they cried not; hunger preyed upon their very vitals,
+but they uttered no complaint. Let us not, even now, refuse a passing
+tribute of honour and respect to the passive heroism which in many an
+instance marked the endurance of the hopeless misery of those dreadful
+times. At length, however, evil and designing men came among the
+sufferers--remedies for the pressing evil, and means of escape from
+the wretchedness of their condition, were darkly hinted at; redress
+was whispered to be near, and they, the hungry fathers of famished
+children, lent a greedy ear to the fair promises of men whom they
+deemed wiser than themselves. The tempter's seedtime had arrived, the
+ground was ready, and the seed was sown. Day by day, nay, hour by
+hour, was the bud of disaffection fostered with the greatest care;
+and, day by day, its strength and vitality increased. When, at length,
+the people were deemed ripe for action, the mask was thrown off,
+treasonable schemes and projects were openly proclaimed by the leaders
+of the coming movement, and echoed, from a hundred hills, by vast
+multitudes of their deluded followers. Large meetings were daily held
+on the neighbouring moors, where bodies of men were openly trained and
+armed for active and offensive operations. At length the insurrection,
+for such in truth it was, broke forth. Then living torrents of excited
+and exasperated men poured down those hillsides; the peaceful and
+well-affected were compelled to join the insurgent ranks, busy in the
+work of destruction and intimidation; when each evening brought the
+work of havoc to a temporary close, they laid them down to rest where
+the darkness overtook them. The roads were thus continually blockaded,
+and those who, under cover of the night, sought to obtain aid and
+assistance from less disturbed districts, were often interrupted and
+turned back by bodies of these men. Authority was at an end, and a
+large extensive district was completely at the mercy of reckless
+multitudes, burning to avenge the sufferings of the past, and bent on
+preventing, as they thought, a recurrence of them in future. The very
+towns were in their hands; "in an evil hour" a vast body of insurgents
+was "admitted" into one of the largest mercantile towns of the
+kingdom, where they pillaged and laid waste in every direction. In
+another town of the district a fearful riot was put down by force,
+some of the leaders of the mob being shot dead while heading a charge
+upon the military. The ascendancy of the law was at length asserted;
+many arrests took place; the jails were crowded with prisoners; and
+the multitudes without, deserted by those to whom they had looked up
+for advice, their friends in prison, with the unknown terrors of the
+law suspended over them, probably then felt that, miserable and lost
+as they had been before, they had now fallen even lower in the scale
+of human misery. Criminal proceedings were quickly instituted. Several
+commissions were sent down to the districts in which these
+disturbances had take place, in order that the offenders might meet
+with _speedy_ punishment. The law officers of the crown, with many and
+able assistants, in person conducted the proceedings. Temperate, mild,
+dignified, and forbearing was their demeanour; in no case was the
+individual the object of prosecution; it was the _crime_, through the
+person of the criminal, against which the government proceeded. No
+feelings of a personal nature were there exhibited; and a mild, but
+firm, as it were, a parental correction of erring and misguided
+children, seemed to be the sole object of those who then represented
+the government. Conviction was heaped upon conviction--sentence
+followed sentence--the miserable tool was distinguished from the man
+who made him what he was--the active emissary, the secret conspirator,
+also received each their proportionate amount of punishment. True, a
+few of the more cautious and crafty, all included in one indictment,
+eventually escaped the penalty due to their crimes; but, among the
+multitude of cases which were then tried, this was, we believe, the
+only instance even of partial failure. In spite of this single
+miscarriage of the government, the great object of these proceedings
+was completely answered; the end of all punishment was attained; the
+vengeance which the law then took had all the effect which the most
+condign punishment of these few men could have accomplished; the
+constitutional maxim of "_poena ad paucos, metus ad omnes_," has been
+amply illustrated by these proceedings; Chartism has been suppressed,
+by the temperate application of the constitutional means which were
+then resorted to for the correction of its violence, and the
+prevention of its seditious schemes.
+
+We must not omit to mention the instances of signal and complete
+success which have been, from time to time, exhibited in other
+prosecutions against Feargus O'Connor and different members of the
+Chartist body, within the period of which we speak. On none of these
+occasions has the course of justice been hindered, or even turned
+aside; but the defendants have, we believe, without exception, paid
+the penalty of their crimes by enduring the punishments awarded by the
+court.
+
+The recent trials of the Rebecca rioters were also signally successful
+and effective; and the prejudices of a Welsh jury, which some feared
+would prove a fatal stumblingblock, were overcome by the dispassionate
+appeal to their better judgment then made by the officers of the
+crown.
+
+From a review of the cases, it therefore appears, that the failures of
+a state prosecution have been comparatively few; and that the crown
+has met with even more than the average success which the "glorious
+uncertainty of the law" in general permits to those who tempt its
+waywardness, and risk the perils of defeat. The welfare and interest
+of the nation, however, lie in the _general_ results of these
+proceedings, rather than the _particular event_ of an individual
+trial. Therefore, though we should assume that a part only of what was
+intended has been accomplished, still if that portion produces the
+same general results as were hoped for from the successful
+accomplishment of the whole, the object of the government has been
+attained. Now, it may be observed, that, with perhaps the single
+exception of the case of Mr O'Connell in 1831, the end and object of
+all state prosecution has been uniformly and completely accomplished,
+by the suppression of the evil which the crown in each instance was
+anxious to put down. When this has taken place, there can have been no
+failure. Beyond what is necessary for the welfare of the state, and
+the general safety and security of the persons and property of
+individuals, the crown has no interest in inflicting punishment; it
+never asks for more than is required to effect _these objects_, and it
+can scarcely be content with less.
+
+There are, however, difficulties almost peculiar to the more serious
+offences against the state, but which are entirely different, in their
+nature, from those imaginary difficulties which have formed the
+subject of so much declamation. A passing glance at the proceedings
+now pending in Ireland, will give the most casual observer some idea
+of what is sometimes to be encountered by those to whom is entrusted
+the arduous duty of conducting a state prosecution. Look back on the
+"tempest of provocation," which recently assailed the Irish
+Attorney-General, on the vexatious delays and frivolous objections
+which sprang up at every move of the crown lawyers, called forth by
+one who, though "_not valiant_," was well known to the government to
+be "most cunning offence" ere they challenged him, but who, "despite
+his cunning fence and active practice," may perhaps find, that this
+time the law has clutched him with a grasp of iron. In ordinary cases,
+criminals may, no doubt, be easily convicted; and in the great
+majority of the more common crimes and misdemeanours, the utmost legal
+ingenuity and acumen might be unable to detect a single error in the
+proceedings, from first to last. Still it must be remembered, that
+even among the more common of ordinary cases, in which the forms are
+simple, the practice certain, and in which the law may be supposed to
+be already defined beyond the possibility of doubt, error, or
+misconception--even in such cases, questions occasionally arise which
+scarcely admit of any satisfactory solution--questions in which the
+fifteen judges, to whom they may be referred, often find it impossible
+to agree, and which may therefore be reasonably supposed to be
+sufficiently perplexing to the rest of the world. State offences, such
+as treason and sedition, which are of comparatively rare occurrence,
+present many questions of greater intricacy than any other class of
+crimes. In treason especially, a well-founded jealousy of the power
+and prerogatives of the crown has intrenched the subject behind a line
+of outposts, in the shape of forms and preliminary proceedings; the
+accused, for his greater security against a power which, if unwatched,
+might become arbitrary and oppressive, has been invested with rights
+which must be respected and complied with, and by the neglect of which
+the whole proceedings are rendered null and void. At this moment, in
+all treasons, except attempts upon the person of the sovereign, "the
+prisoner," in the language of Lord Erskine, "is covered all over with
+the armour of the law;" and there must be twice the amount of evidence
+which would be legally competent to establish his guilt in a criminal
+prosecution for any other offence, even by the meanest and most
+helpless of mankind. Sedition is a head of crime of a somewhat vague
+and indeterminate character, and, in many cases, it may he extremely
+difficult, even for an acute and practised lawyer, to decide whether
+the circumstances amount to sedition. Mr East, in his pleas of the
+crown, says, that "sedition is understood in a more general sense than
+treason, and extends to other offences, not capital, of a like
+tendency, but without any actual design against the king in
+contemplation, such as contempts of the king and his government,
+riotous assemblings for political purposes, and the like; and in
+general all contemptuous, indecent, or malicious observations upon his
+person and government, whether by writing or speaking, or by tokens,
+calculated to lessen him in the esteem of his subjects, or weaken his
+government, or raise jealousies of him amongst the people, will fall
+under the notion of seditious acts." An offence which admits of so
+little precision in the terms in which it is defined, depending often
+upon the meaning to be attached to words, the real import of which is
+varied by the tone or gesture of the speaker, by the words which
+precede, and by those which follow, depending also upon the different
+ideas which men attach to the same words, evidently rests on very
+different grounds from those cases, where actual crimes have been
+perpetrated and deeds committed, which leave numerous traces behind,
+and which may be proved by the permanent results of which they have
+been the cause. Technical difficulties without number also exist: the
+most literal accuracy, which is indispensable--the artful inuendoes,
+the artistical averments, which are necessary, correctly to shape the
+charge ere it is submitted to the grand jury, may be well conceived to
+involve many niceties and refinements, on which the case may easily be
+wrecked. It must also be remembered that the utmost legal ingenuity is
+called into action, and the highest professional talent is engaged in
+the defence of the accused. The enormous pressure upon the accused
+himself, who, probably from the higher or middle classes, with ample
+means at his command, an ignominious death perhaps impending, or, at
+the least, imprisonment probably for years in threatening prospect
+close before him; his friends active, moving heaven and earth in his
+behalf, no scheme left untried, no plan or suggestion rejected, by
+which it may, even in the remotest degree be possible to avert the
+impending doom; the additional rancour which politics sometimes infuse
+into the proceedings, the partisanship which has occasioned scenes
+such as should never be exhibited in the sacred arena of the halls of
+justice, animosities which give the defence the character of a party
+conflict, and which cause a conviction to be looked upon as a
+political defeat, and an acquittal to be regarded as a party
+triumph--all these circumstances, in their combined and concentrated
+force, must also be take into consideration. In such a case every step
+is fought with stern and dogged resolution; even mere delay is
+valuable, for when all other hope is gone, the chapter of accidents
+_may_ befriend the accused; it is one chance more; and even one
+chance, however slight, is not to be thrown away. Such is a faint
+picture of the defensive operations on such occasions: how is this
+untiring, bitter energy met by those who represent the crown?
+
+    "Look on this picture and on that."
+
+Here all is calm, dignified, generous, and forbearing; every
+consideration is shown, every indulgence is granted, to the
+unfortunate being who is in jeopardy. The crown has no interest to
+serve beyond that which the state possesses in the vindication of the
+law, and in that cool, deliberate, and impartial administration of
+justice which has so long distinguished this country. Nothing is
+unduly pressed against the prisoner, but every extenuating fact is
+fairly laid before the jury by the crown; it is, in short, generosity,
+candor, and forbearance, on the one side, matched against craft,
+cunning and the resolution _by any means_ to win, upon the other. Such
+are the real difficulties which may be often felt by those who conduct
+a state prosecution. Surely it is better far that these difficulties
+should, in some instances, be even wholly insuperable, and that the
+prosecution should be defeated, than that any change should come over
+the spirit in which these trials are now conducted; or that the crown
+should ever even attempt to make the criminal process of the law an
+instrument of tyranny and oppression, as it was in the days of Scroggs
+and Jefferies, and when juries, through intimidation, returned such
+verdicts as the crown desired. Our very tenacity of our liberties may
+tend to render these proceedings occasionally abortive; and the twelve
+men composing a jury of the country, though possibly all their
+sympathies would be at once enlisted in behalf of a wronged and
+injured subject, may, unconsciously to themselves, demand more
+stringent proof, in cases where the sovereign power appears before
+then as the party; and more especially, when the offence is of an
+impersonal nature, and where the theory of the constitution, rather
+than the person or property of individuals, is the object of
+aggression. In the olden time such was the power of the crown, that,
+whenever the arm of the state was uplifted, the blow fell with
+unerring accuracy and precision; but now, when each object of a state
+prosecution is a sort of modern Briareus, the blow must be dealt with
+consummate skill, or it will fail to strike where it was meant to
+fall. On this account, perhaps, in addition to then own intrinsic
+paramount importance, the proceedings now pending in Ireland, have
+become the object of universal and absorbing interest throughout the
+whole of the United Kingdom. Under these circumstances it has occurred
+to us, that a popular and accurate review of the several stages of a
+criminal prosecution, by which the general reader will be able, in
+some degree, to understand the several steps of that proceeding which
+is now pending, might not be unacceptable or uninstructive at the
+present moment. It must, however, be observed, that it is scarcely
+possible to divest a subject so technical in it very nature from those
+terms of art which, however familiar they may be to many of our
+readers, cannot be understood by all without some explanation, which
+we shall endeavour to supply as we proceed.
+
+The general importance of information of this nature has been well
+summed up by a great master of criminal law. "The learning touching
+these subjects," says Sir Michael Foster, "is a matter of great and
+universal concernment. For no rank, no elevation in life, and, let me
+add, no conduct, how circumspect soever, ought to tempt a reasonable
+man to conclude that these enquiries do not, nor possibly can, concern
+him. A moment's cool reflection on the utter instability of human
+affairs, and the numberless unforeseen events which a day may bring
+forth, will be sufficient to guard any man, conscious of his own
+infirmities, against a delusion of this kind."
+
+Let us suppose the minister of the day, having before been made aware
+that, in a portion of the kingdom, a state of things existed that
+demanded his utmost vigilance and attention, to have ascertained the
+reality of the apparent danger, and to have procured accurate
+information as to the real character of the proceedings, and to find
+that acts apparently treasonable or seditious, as the case may be, had
+been committed. Suppose him, charged with the safety of the state, and
+responsible for the peace, order, and well-being of the community, to
+set the constitutional process of the law in motion against the
+offending individuals; his first step, under such circumstances, must
+be to procure full and satisfactory evidence of the facts as they
+really exist. For this purpose agents must he employed, necessarily in
+secret, or the very end and object of their mission would be
+frustrated, to collect and gather information from every authentic
+source, and to watch, with their own eyes the proceedings which have
+attracted attention. This is a work of time, perhaps; but suppose that
+it is complete, and that the minister having before him in evidence,
+true and unmistakable, a complete case of crime to lay before a jury,
+what, under these circumstances, is the first step to be taken by the
+crown? Either of two distinct modes of procedure may be chosen; the
+one mode is by an _ex officio_ information, the other is by
+indictment. An indictment is the mode by which all treasons and
+felonies must be proceeded against, and by which ordinary
+misdemeanours are usually brought to punishment. An _ex officio_
+information is an information at the suit of the sovereign, filed by
+the Attorney-General, as by virtue of his office, without applying to
+the court where filed for leave, and without giving the defendant any
+opportunity of showing cause why it should not be filed. The principal
+difference between this form of procedure and that by indictment,
+consists in the manner in which the proceedings are commenced; in the
+latter case, the law requires that the accusation should be warranted
+by the oath of twelve men, before he be put to answer it--or in other
+words that the grand jury must give that information to the court,
+which, in the former case, is furnished by the law officer of the
+crown. The cases which are prosecuted by _ex officio_ information, are
+properly such enormous misdemeanours as peculiarly tend to disturb and
+endanger the government or to molest or affront the sovereign in the
+discharge of the functions of the royal office. The necessity for the
+existence of a power of this nature in the state, is thus set forth by
+that learned and illustrious judge, Sir William Blackstone. "For
+offences so highly dangerous, in the punishment or prevention of which
+a moment's delay would be fatal, the law has given to the crown the
+power of an immediate prosecution, without waiting for any previous
+application to any other tribunal: which power, thus necessary, not
+only to the ease and safety, but even to the very existence of the
+executive magistrate, was originally reserved in the great plan of the
+English constitution, wherein provision is wisely made for the
+preservation of all its parts."
+
+The crown, therefore, in a case such as we have imagined, must first
+make choice between these two modes of procedure. The leniency of
+modern governments has of late usually resorted to the process by
+indictment; and the crown, waiving all the privileges which appertain
+to the kingly office, appears before the constituted tribunals of the
+land, as the redresser of the public wrongs, invested with no powers,
+and clothed with no authority beyond the simple rights possessed by
+the meanest of its subjects. We shall, for this reason, take no
+further notice of the _ex officio_ information; and as treasons form a
+class of offences governed by laws and rules peculiar to itself, we
+shall also exclude this head of crime from our consideration, and
+confine ourselves solely to the ordinary criminal process by which
+offenders are brought to justice.
+
+In, general, the first step in a criminal prosecution, is to obtain a
+warrant for the apprehension of the accused party. In ordinary cases,
+a warrant is granted by any justice of the peace upon information, on
+the oath of some credible witness, of facts from which it appears that
+a crime has been committed, and that the person against whom the
+warrant is sought to be obtained, is probably the guilty party, and is
+a document under the hand and seal of the justice, directed generally
+to the constable or other peace-officer, requiring him to bring the
+accused, either generally before _any_ justice of the county, or only
+before the justice who granted it. This is the practice in ordinary
+cases; but in extraordinary cases, the warrant may issue from the Lord
+Chief Justice, or the Privy Council, the Secretaries of State, or from
+any justice of the Court of Queen's Bench. These latter warrants are,
+we believe, all tested, or dated England, and extend over the whole
+kingdom. So far the proceedings have been all _ex parte_, one side
+only has been heard, one party only has appeared, and all that has
+been done, is to procure or compel the appearance of the other. The
+warrant is delivered to the officer, who is bound to obey the command
+which it contains. It would seem, however, that, as was done in a
+recent case in Ireland, it is sufficient if the appearance of the
+accused be virtually secured, even without the intervention of an
+actual arrest.
+
+When the delinquent appears, in consequence of this process, before
+the authorities, they are bound immediately to examine into the
+circumstances of the alleged crime; and they are to take down in
+writing the examinations of the witnesses offered in support of the
+charge. If the evidence is defective, and grave suspicion should
+attach to the prisoner, he may be remanded, in order that fresh
+evidence may be procured; or the magistrate, if the case be surrounded
+with doubt and difficulty, may adjourn it for a reasonable time, in
+order to consider his final decision. The accused must also be
+examined, but not upon oath; and his examination also must be taken
+down in writing, and may be given in evidence against him at the
+trial; for although the maxim of the common law is "_nemo tenebitur
+prodere seipsum_," the legislature, as long ago as the year 1555,
+directed that, in cases of felony, the examination of the prisoner
+should be taken; which provision has recently been extended to
+misdemeanours also. Care must be taken that his examination should not
+even _appear_ to have been taken on oath; for in a very recent case,
+in which _all_ the examinations were contained upon one sheet of
+paper, and under one general heading--from which they all purported to
+have been taken upon oath, the prisoner's admission of his guilt
+contained in that examination, was excluded on the trial, and the rest
+of the evidence being slight, he was accordingly acquitted. Now, if
+upon the enquiry thus instituted, and thus conducted, it appears,
+either that no such crime was committed, or that the suspicion
+entertained against the accused is wholly groundless, or that, however
+positively accused, if the balance of testimony be strongly in favour
+of his innocence, it is the duty of the magistrate to discharge him.
+But if, on the other hand, the case seems to have been entirely made
+out, or even if it should appear probable, that the alleged crime has
+in fact been perpetrated by the defendant, he must either be committed
+to prison, there to be kept, in safe custody, until the sitting of the
+court before which the trial is to be heard; or, he may be allowed to
+give bail--that is, to put in securities for his appearance to answer
+the charge against him. In either of these alternatives, whether the
+accused be committed or held to bail, it is the duty of the magistrate
+to subscribe the examinations, and cause them to be delivered to the
+proper officer, at, or before, the opening of the court. Bail may be
+taken by two justices in cases of felony, and by one in cases of
+misdemeanour. In this stage of the proceedings, as the commitment is
+only for safe custody, whenever bail will answer the same intention,
+it ought to be taken, as in inferior crimes and misdemeanours; but in
+offences of a capital nature, such as the heinous crimes of treason,
+murder, and the like, no bail can be a security equivalent to the
+actual custody of the person. The nature of bail has been explained,
+by Mr Justice Blackstone, to be "a delivery or bailment of a person to
+his sureties, upon their giving, together with himself, sufficient
+security for his appearance: he being supposed to continue in their
+friendly custody, instead of going to gaol." To refuse, or even to
+delay bail to any person bailable, is an offence against the liberty
+of the subject, in any magistrate, by the common law. And the Court of
+Queen's Bench will grant a criminal information against the magistrate
+who improperly refuses bail in a case in which it ought to have been
+received. It is obviously of great importance, in order to ensure the
+appearance of the accused at the time and place of trial, that the
+sureties should be men of substance; reasonable notice of bail, in
+general twenty-four or forty-eight hours, may be ordered to be given
+to the prosecutor, in order that he may have time to examine into
+their sufficiency and responsibility. When the bail appear, evidence
+may be heard on oath, and they may themselves be examined on oath upon
+this point; if they do not appear to possess property to the amount
+required by the magistrates, they may be rejected, and others must be
+procured, or the defender must go to prison. Excessive bail must not
+be required; and, on the other hand, the magistrate, if he take
+insufficient bail, is liable to be fined, if the criminal do not
+appear to take his trial. When the securities are found, the bail
+enter into a recognizance, together with the accused, by which they
+acknowledge themselves bound to the Queen in the required sums, if the
+accused does not appear to take his trial, at the appointed time and
+place. This recognizance must be subscribed by the magistrates, and
+delivered with the examinations to the officer of the court in which
+the trial is to take place. With this, the preliminary proceedings
+close: the accused has had one opportunity of refuting the charge, or
+of clearing himself from the suspicion which has gathered round him;
+but as yet, there is no written accusation, no written statement of
+the offence which it is alleged he has committed. True, he has heard
+evidence--he has heard a charge made orally against him--but the law
+requires greater particularity than this before a man shall be put in
+peril upon a criminal accusation. The facts disclosed in the evidence
+before the magistrates must be put in a legal form; the offence must
+be clearly and accurately defined in writing, by which the accused may
+be informed what specific charge he is to answer, and from which he
+may be able to learn what liability he incurs; whether his life is put
+in peril, or whether he is in danger of transportation or of
+imprisonment, or merely of a pecuniary fine. This is done by means of
+the indictment. The indictment is a written accusation of one or more
+several persons, preferred to and presented upon oath by a grand jury.
+This written accusation, before being presented to the grand jury, is
+properly termed a "bill;" and, in ordinary cases, it is generally
+prepared by the clerk of the arraigns at the assizes, and by the clerk
+of the peace at the quarter sessions; but, in cases of difficulty, it
+is drawn by counsel. It consists of a formal technical statement of
+the offence, which is engrossed upon parchment, upon the back of which
+the names of the witnesses for the prosecution are indorsed. In
+England it is delivered to the crier of the court, by whom the
+witnesses are sworn to the truth of the evidence they are about to
+give before the grand jury. In the trial now pending in the Court of
+Queen's Bench in Ireland, a great question was raised as to whether a
+recent statute, which, on the ground of convenience, enabled grand
+juries in Ireland themselves to swear the witnesses, extended to
+trials before the Queen's Bench. This question was decided in the
+affirmative; therefore, in that country, the oath, in every case, must
+be administered by the grand jury themselves; whereas, in this
+country, the witnesses are sworn _in court_, and by the crier, as we
+have already mentioned. The grand jury, ever since the days of King
+Ethelred, must consist of twelve at least, and not more than
+twenty-three. In the superior courts they are generally drawn from the
+magistracy or superior classes of the community, being, as Mr Justice
+Blackstone expresses it, "usually gentlemen of the best figure in the
+county." They are duly sworn and instructed in the articles of their
+enquiry by the judge who presides upon the bench. They then withdraw,
+to sit and receive all bills which may be presented to them. When a
+bill is thus presented, the witnesses are generally called in the
+order in which their names appear upon the back of the bill. The grand
+jury is, at most, to hear evidence only on behalf of the prosecution;
+"for," says the learned commentator already quoted, "the finding of an
+indictment is only in the nature of an enquiry or accusation, which is
+afterwards to be tried and determined; and the grand jury are only to
+enquire upon their oaths, whether there be sufficient cause to call
+upon a party to answer it." They ought, however, to be fully persuaded
+of the truth of an indictment as far as the evidence goes, and not to
+rest satisfied with remote probabilities; for the form of the
+indictment is, that they, "_upon their oath_, present" the party to
+have committed the crime. This form, Mr Justice Coleridge observes, is
+perhaps stronger than may be wished, and we believe that the criminal
+law commissioners are now seriously considering the propriety of
+abolishing it.
+
+After hearing the evidence, the grand jury endorse upon the bill their
+judgment of the truth or falsehood of the charge. If they think the
+accusation groundless, they write upon it, "not found," or "not a true
+bill;" in which case the bill is said to be ignored: but, on the other
+hand, if twelve at least are satisfied of the truth of the accusation,
+the words "true bill" are placed upon it. The bill is then said to be
+found. It then becomes an indictment, and is brought into court by the
+grand jury, and publicly delivered by the foreman to the clerk of
+arraigns, or clerk of the peace, as the case may be, who states to the
+court the substance of the indictment and of the indorsement upon it.
+If the bill is ignored, and no other bill is preferred against the
+party, he is discharged, without further answer, when the grand jury
+have finished their labours, and have been themselves discharged. To
+find a bill, twelve at least of the jury must agree; for no man, under
+this form of proceeding at least, can be convicted even of a
+misdemeanour, unless by the unanimous voice of twenty-four of his
+equals; that is, by twelve at least of the grand jury assenting to the
+accusation, and afterwards by the whole petit jury of twelve more
+finding him guilty upon the trial.
+
+This proceeding is wholly _ex parte_. As the informal statement of the
+crime brought the supposed criminal to answer before the inferior
+tribunal, so does the formal accusation call upon him to answer before
+the superior court. The preliminary proceedings being now complete,
+and every step having been taken which is necessary to put the accused
+upon his trial, the _ex parte_ character of the proceedings is at an
+end. The time approaches when the accused must again be brought face
+to face with his accusers; and when, if he has been admitted to bail,
+his sureties must deliver him up to the proper authorities, or their
+bond is forfeited; in which case, a bench warrant for the apprehension
+of the delinquent may issue; and if he cannot still be found, he may
+be pursued to outlawry. It may be here mentioned, that the
+proceedings may be, at any period, removed from any inferior court
+into the Queen's Bench, by what is called a writ of _certiorari_. When
+the offender appears voluntarily to an indictment, or was before in
+custody, or is brought in upon criminal process to answer it in the
+proper court, he is to be immediately arraigned. The arraignment is
+simply the calling upon the accused, at the bar of the court, to
+answer the matter charged upon him in the indictment, the substantial
+parts, at least, of which are then read over to him. This is
+indispensable, in order that he may fully understand the charge. So
+voluminous are the counts of the indictment recently found against Mr
+O'Connell and others, that the reading of the charges they contained
+was the work of many hours. The accused is not always compelled
+immediately to answer the indictment; for if he appear in term-time to
+an indictment for a misdemeanour in the Queen's Bench, it is
+sufficient if he plead or demur within four days; the court has a
+discretionary power to enlarge the time; but if he neither pleads nor
+demurs within the time prescribed, judgment may be entered against him
+as for want of a plea. It he appear to such an indictment, having been
+committed or held to bail within twenty days before the assizes or
+sessions at which he is called upon to answer, he has the option of
+_traversing_, as it is termed, or of postponing his trial to the next
+assizes or sessions. He is also always entitled, before the trial, on
+payment of a trifling charge, to have copies of the examinations of
+the witnesses on whose evidence he was committed or held to bail; and
+at the trial he has a right to inspect the originals gratuitously. In
+prosecutions for misdemeanours at the suit of the Attorney-General, a
+copy of indictment must be delivered, free of expense, if demanded by
+the accused. These seem to be all the privileges except that of
+challenge, which we shall explain hereafter, which the accused
+possesses, or to which the law gives him an absolute indefeasible
+claim as a matter of right. The _practice_ of different courts may
+possibly vary in some degree on points such as those which have been
+recently mooted in Ireland; for instance, as to whether the names of
+the witnesses should be furnished to the accused, and whether their
+address and description should also be supplied. In such matters the
+practice might vary, in a considerable degree, in the superior courts
+of England and Ireland; and yet each course would be strictly legal,
+in the respective courts in which it was adopted; for, as it was
+clearly put by one of the Irish judges on a recent occasion, the
+practice of the court is the law of the court, and the law of the
+court is the law of the land.
+
+When the time has arrived at which the accused must put in his answer
+to the indictment, if he do not confess the charge, or stand mute of
+malice, he may either plead, 1st, to the jurisdiction, which is a good
+plea when the court before whom the indictment is taken has no
+cognizance of the offence, as when a case of treason is prosecuted at
+the quarter sessions; or, 2dly, he may demur, by which he says, that,
+assuming that he has done every thing which the indictment lays to his
+charge, he has, nevertheless, been guilty of no crime, and is in
+nowise liable to punishment for the act there charged. A demurrer has
+been termed an issue in law--the question to be determined being, what
+construction the law puts upon admitted facts. If the question of law
+be adjudged _in favour_ of the accused, it is attended with the same
+results as an acquittal in fact, except that he may be indicted afresh
+for the same offence; but if the question be determined _against_ the
+prisoner, the law, in its tenderness, _will not_ allow him, at least
+in cases of felony, to be punished for his misapprehension of the law,
+or for his mistake in the conduct of his pleadings, but will, in such
+case, permit him to plead over to the indictment--that is, to plead
+not guilty; the consequences of which plea we will consider hereafter.
+
+A third alternative is a plea of abatement, which is a plea praying
+that the indictment may be quashed, for some defect which the plea
+points out. This plea, though it was recently, made use of by the
+defendants in the case now pending in Ireland, is of very rare
+occurrence in ordinary practice--a recent statute having entirely
+superseded every advantage formerly to be derived from this plea, in
+cases of a misnomer, or a wrong name, and of a false addition or a
+wrong description of the defendant's rank and condition, which were
+the principal occasions on which it was resorted to.
+
+The next alternative which the prisoners may adopt, is a special plea
+in bar. These pleas are of four kinds: 1. a former acquittal; 2. a
+former conviction; 3. a former attainder; 4. a former pardon, for the
+same offence. The first two of these pleas are founded on the maxim of
+the law of England, that no man is to be twice put in jeopardy for the
+same offence. A man is attainted of felony, only by judgment of death,
+or by outlawry; for by such judgment, the prisoner being already dead
+in law, and having forfeited all his property, there remains no
+further punishment to be awarded; and, therefore, any further
+proceeding would be superfluous. This plea has, however, been
+practically put an end to by a recent statute. A plea of pardon, is
+the converse of a plea of attainder; for a pardon at once destroys the
+end and purpose of the indictment, by remitting that punishment which
+the prosecution was calculated to inflict.
+
+All these pleas may be answered by the crown in two ways--issue may be
+joined on the facts they respectively set forth; or they may be
+demurred to; by which step, the facts, alleged in the plea, are denied
+to constitute a good and valid defence in law. In _felony_, if any of
+these pleas are, either in fact or in law, determined against the
+prisoner, he cannot be convicted or concluded by the adverse judgment;
+and for this reason. Formerly all felonies were punishable with death,
+and, in the words of Mr Justice Blackstone, "the law allows many pleas
+by which a prisoner may escape death; but only one plea in consequence
+whereof it can be inflicted, viz., the general issue, after an
+impartial examination and decision of the facts, by the unanimous
+verdict of a jury." The prisoner, therefore, although few felonies
+remain still capital, is nevertheless still allowed to plead over as
+before. In misdemeanours, however, which are never capital, and in
+which, therefore, no such principle could ever have applied, the
+judgment on these pleas appears to follow the analogy of a civil
+action. Thus, if, upon issue joined, a plea of abatement be found
+against the accused, the judgment, on that indictment, is final;
+though a second indictment may be preferred against him; but if, upon
+demurrer, the question of law is held to be against him, the judgment
+is, that he do answer the indictment. If a plea in bar, either on
+issue joined, or on demurrer, be determined against the defendant, the
+judgment is in such case final, and he stands convicted of the
+misdemeanour.
+
+The general issue, or the plea of "not guilty," is the last and most
+usual of those answers to the indictment which we have enumerated, the
+others being all of extremely rare occurrence in the modern practice
+of the criminal law. By this plea, the accused puts himself upon his
+county, which county the jury are. The sheriff of the county must then
+return a panel of jurors. In England the jurors are taken from the
+"jurors' book" of the current year. It must be observed, that a new
+jurors' book comes into operation on the first of January in each
+year, having previously been copied from the lists of those liable to
+serve on juries, made out in the first instance, between the months of
+July and October, both inclusive, by the churchwardens and overseers
+of each parish, then reviewed and confirmed by the justices of the
+peace in petty sessions, and, through the high constable of the
+district, delivered to the next quarter sessions. If the proceedings
+are before the Queen's Bench, an interval is allowed by the court, in
+fixing the time of trial, for the impanneling of the jury, upon a writ
+issued to the sheriff for that purpose. The trial in a case of
+misdemeanour in the Queen's Bench is had at _nisi prius_, unless it be
+of such consequence as to merit a trial at bar, which is invariably
+had when the prisoner is tried for any capital offence in that court.
+But before the ordinary courts of assize, the sheriff, by virtue of a
+general precept directed to him beforehand, returns to the court a
+panel of not less than forty-eight nor more than seventy-two persons,
+unless the judges of assize direct a greater or smaller number to be
+summoned. When the time for the trial has arrived, and the case is
+called on, jurors, to the number of twelve, are sworn, unless
+challenged as they appear; their names being generally taken
+promiscuously, one by one, out of a box containing a number of
+tickets, on each of which a juror's name is inserted. Challenges may
+be made, either on the part of the crown or on that of the accused,
+and either to the whole array or to the separate polls. The challenge
+to the array, which must be made in writing, is an exception to the
+whole panel, on account of some partiality or default in the sheriff,
+or his officer, who arrayed the panel, the ground of which is examined
+into before the court. Challenges to the polls--_in capita_--are
+exceptions to particular persons, and must be made in each instance,
+as the person comes to the box to be sworn, and before he is sworn;
+for when the oath is once taken the challenge is too late.
+
+Sir Edward Coke reduces the heads of challenge to four. 1st, _propter
+honoris respectum_; as if a lord of Parliament be impannelled. 2d,
+_propter defectum_; as if a juryman be an alien born, or be in other
+respects generally objectionable. 3d, _propter affectum_; for
+suspicion of bias or partiality: and 4th, _propter delictum_; or, for
+some crime that affects the juror's credit, and renders him infamous;
+In treason and felony, the prisoner is allowed the privilege of a
+limited number of _peremptory_ challenges; after which, as in
+misdemeanours, there is no limit to the number of challenges, if the
+party shows some cause for each challenge to the court. This cause is
+tried by persons appointed for that purpose by the court, when no
+jurymen have been sworn; but when two jurymen have been sworn, they
+are the parties who must adjudicate upon the qualifications of those
+who are afterwards challenged, who, except when the challenge is
+_propter delictum_, may be themselves examined upon oath. The crown,
+also, we have seen, can exercise this privilege, but with this
+difference, that no cause for challenge need be shown by the crown,
+either in felonies or misdemeanours, till the panel is exhausted, and
+unless there cannot be a full jury without the persons so challenged.
+
+When twelve men have been found, they are sworn to give a true verdict
+"according to the evidence," and the jury are then ready to hear the
+merits of the case. To fix their attention the closer to the facts
+which they are impannelled and sworn to try, the indictment, in cases
+of importance, is usually opened by the junior counsel for the
+crown--a proceeding, by which they are briefly informed of the charge
+which is brought against the accused. The leading counsel for the
+crown then lays the _facts_ of the case before the jury, in a plain
+unvarnished statement; no appeal is made to the passions or prejudices
+of the twelve men, who are to pronounce upon the guilt or innocence of
+the accused; but every topic, every observation, which might warp
+their judgment, or direct their attention from the simple facts which
+are about to be proved before them, is anxiously deprecated and
+avoided by the counsel for the prosecution. The witnesses for the
+crown are called one by one, sworn, examined, and cross-examined by
+the accused, or his counsel. When the case for the crown has been
+brought to a close, the defence commences, and the counsel for the
+defendant addresses the jury. It is the duty of the advocate, on such
+an occasion, to put forth all his powers in behalf of his client; to
+obtain acquittal is his object: he must sift the hostile evidence, he
+must apply every possible test to the accuracy of the testimony, and
+to the credibility of the witnesses; he may address himself to the
+reason, to the prejudices, to the sympathies, nay, even to the worst
+passions of the twelve men whose opinions he seeks to influence in
+favour of his client. He may proceed to call witnesses to disprove the
+facts adduced on the other side, or to show that the character of the
+accused stands too high for even a suspicion of the alleged clime; he
+has the utmost liberty of speech and action He may indefinitely
+protract the proceedings, and there seems to be scarcely any limit, in
+point of law, beyond which the ultimate event of the trial may not be,
+by these means, deferred. Whenever the defence closes, in those cases
+in which the government is the real prosecutor, the representative of
+the crown has the general reply; at the close of which the presiding
+judge sums up the evidence to the jury, and informs them of the legal
+bearing of the facts, on the effect and existence of which the jury
+has to decide. This having been accomplished, it becomes the duty of
+the jury to deliberate, decide, and pronounce their verdict. If the
+verdict be "Not guilty," the accused is for ever quit and discharged
+of the accusation; but if the jury pronounce him guilty, he stands
+convicted of the crime which has been thus charged and proved against
+him, and awaits the judgment of the court. In felonies and ordinary
+misdemeanours, judgment is generally pronounced immediately upon, or
+soon after, the delivery of the verdict; in other cases, when the
+trial has been had before the Queen's Bench, the judgment may, in
+England, be pronounced either immediately or during the ensuing term.
+But whenever this event occurs, the prisoner has still one chance more
+for escape: he can move an arrest of judgment, on the grounds either
+that the indictment is substantially defective, or that he has already
+been pardoned or punished for the same offense. These objections, if
+successful, will, even at this late stage of the proceedings, save the
+defendant from the consequences of his crime. But if these last
+resources fail, the court must give the judgment, or pronounce the
+measure of that punishment, which the law annexes to the crime of
+which the prisoner has been convicted.
+
+By the law of this country, the _species_ of punishment for every
+offence is always ascertained; but, between certain defined limits,
+the measure and degree of that punishment is, with very few
+exceptions, left to the discretion of the presiding judge. Treasons
+and some felonies are, indeed, capital: but, in the mercy of modern
+times, the great majority of felonies, and all misdemeanours, are
+visited, some with various terms of transportation or imprisonment,
+which, in most cases, may be with or without hard labour, at the
+discretion of the court. In these cases, the punishment is prescribed
+by the statute law; but there are some misdemeanours the punishment of
+which has not been interfered with by any statute, and to which,
+therefore, the common law punishments are still attached. The case of
+Mr O'Connell, which is now in abeyance, seems to range itself under
+this head of misdemeanours. Such cases are punishable by fine or
+imprisonment, or by both; but the amount of the one, or the duration
+of the other, is each left at large to be estimated by the court,
+according to the more or less aggravated nature of the offence, and,
+as it is said, also according to the quality and condition of the
+parties. That a fine should, in all cases, be reasonable, has been
+declared by Magna Charta; and the Bill of Rights has also provided,
+that excessive fine, or cruel and unusual punishments, should not be
+inflicted; but what may or may not be unreasonable or excessive, cruel
+or unusual, is left entirely to the judgment of the executive.
+
+For crimes of a dark political hue, which, by their tendency to
+subvert the government or destroy the institutions of the country,
+necessarily assume a character highly dangerous to the safety and
+well-being of the state, it might be difficult to say what degree of
+punishment would be excessive or unusual. It seems probable, that in
+cases of this nature, which include crimes, so varied in their
+circumstances that there appears no limit to the degree of guilt
+incurred--crimes, the nature and character of which could not possibly
+be foreseen or provided for, in all their infinite multiplicity of
+detail; it seems probable that, in such cases, a large discretion may
+have been purposely left by the framers of our constitution, in order
+that the degree of guilt, on each occasion, should be measured by an
+expansive self-adjusting scale of punishment, applied, indeed, and
+administered by the judges of the land, but regulated and adjusted, in
+each succeeding age, by the influence of public opinion, and by the
+spirit and temper of the times.
+
+Even at this latest stage of criminal prosecution, in the interval
+which must necessarily elapse between the pronouncing and the
+infliction of the sentence, the convicted delinquent is not without a
+remedy for any wrong he may sustain in the act which terminates the
+proceedings. If any judgement not warranted by law be given by the
+court, it may be reversed upon a _writ of error_, which lies from all
+inferior criminal jurisdictions to the Queen's Bench, and from the
+Queen's Bench to the House of Peers. These writs, however, in cases of
+misdemeanour, are not allowed, of course, but on probable cause shown
+to the Attorney General; and then they are understood to be grantable
+of common right, and _ex debito justitiae_. The crown, if every other
+resource has failed the prisoner, has always the power of exercising
+the most amiable of its prerogatives. Though the sovereign herself
+condemns no man, "the great operation of her sceptre is mercy," and
+the chief magistrate, in the words of Sir William Blackstone, "holding
+a court of equity in his own breast, to soften the rigour of the
+general law, in such criminal cases as merit an exemption from
+punishment," is ever at liberty to grant a free, unconditional, and
+gracious pardon to the injured or repentant convict.
+
+We have now rapidly traced the progress of a criminal prosecution from
+its commencement to its close, and we have given a summary of the
+_ordinary_ proceedings on such occasions. Although it may be possible
+that the practice of the courts in Ireland on minor points, should
+occasionally differ in some degree from the practice of the English
+Courts, we may, nevertheless, have rendered the proceedings now
+pending in the sister isle, more intelligible to the general reader,
+who may now, perhaps, be enabled to see the bearing, and understand
+the importance of many struggles, which, to the unlearned, might
+probably appear to be wholly beside the real question now at issue
+between the crown and Mr O'Connell. Whatever be the result of that
+prosecution, whether those indicted be found guilty, or acquitted, of
+the misdemeanours laid to their charge; we feel assured, on the one
+hand, however long and grievous may have been the "provocation," that
+while there will be "nothing extenuate," neither will there be "set
+down aught in malice;" but that the measure of the retribution now
+demanded by the state, will be so temperately and equitably adjusted,
+that while the very semblance of oppression is carefully avoided, the
+majesty of the law, and the powers of the executive, will be amply and
+entirely vindicated. On the other hand, if Mr O'Connell, and his
+companions, in guilt or misfortune, should break through the cobwebs
+of the law, and hurl a _retrospective_ defiance at the Government; we
+feel the utmost confidence, that the learning, foresight, and ability,
+of the eminent lawyers who represent the crown, together with the
+firmness and integrity of the Irish bench, "_sans peur et sans
+reproche_," will demonstrate to the millions who look on, that the
+constitutional powers of the state still remain uninjured and
+unimpaired in all their pristine and legitimate energy and vigour; and
+that neither in the machinery now set in motion, nor with those who
+conduct or superintend its action, but with others on whom, in the
+course of these proceedings, will be thrown the execution of a grave
+and all-important duty, must rest the real blame, if blame there be,
+of the failure of _this_ "State Prosecution."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+ADVENTURES IN TEXAS.
+
+No. III.
+
+THE STRUGGLE.
+
+
+I had been but three or four months in Texas, when, in consequence of
+the oppressive conduct of the Mexican military authorities, symptoms
+of discontent showed themselves, and several skirmishes occurred
+between the American settlers and the soldiery. The two small forts of
+Velasco and Nacogdoches were taken by the former, and their garrisons
+and a couple of field-officers made prisoners; soon after which,
+however, the quarrel was made up by the intervention of Colonel Austin
+on the part of Texas, and Colonel Mejia on the part of the Mexican
+authorities.
+
+But in the year '33 occurred Santa Anna's defection from the liberal
+party, and the imprisonment of Stephen F. Austin, the Texian
+representative in the Mexican congress, by the vice-president, Gomez
+Farias. This was followed by Texas adopting the constitution of 1824,
+and declaring itself an independent state of the Mexican republic.
+Finally, towards the close of 1835 Texas threw off the Mexican yoke
+altogether, voted itself a free and sovereign republic, and prepared
+to defend by arms its newly asserted liberty.
+
+The first step to be taken was, to secure our communications with the
+United States by getting possession of the sea-ports. General Cos had
+occupied Galveston harbour, and built and garrisoned a block-fort,
+nominally for the purpose of enforcing the customs laws, but in
+reality with a view to cut off our communications with New Orleans and
+the States. This fort it was necessary to get possession of, and my
+friend Fanning and myself were appointed to that duty by the Alcalde,
+who had taken a prominent part in all that had occurred.
+
+Our whole force and equipment wherewith to accomplish this enterprise,
+consisted in a sealed despatch, to be opened at the town of Columbia,
+and a half-breed, named Agostino, who acted as our guide. On reaching
+Columbia, we called together the principal inhabitants of the place,
+and of the neighbouring towns of Bolivar and Marion, unsealed the
+letter in their presence, and six hours afterwards the forces therein
+specified were assembled, and we were on our march towards Galveston.
+The next day the fort was taken, and the garrison made prisoners,
+without our losing a single man.
+
+
+We sent off our guide to the government at San Felipe with news of our
+success. In nine days he returned, bringing us the thanks of congress,
+and fresh orders. We were to leave a garrison in the fort, and then
+ascend Trinity river, and march towards San Antonio de Bexar. This
+route was all the more agreeable to Fanning and myself, as it would
+bring us into the immediate vicinity of the _haciendas_, or estates,
+of which we had some time previously obtained a grant from the Texian
+government; and we did not doubt that we were indebted to our friend
+the Alcalde for the orders which thus conciliated our private
+convenience with our public duty.
+
+As we marched along we found the whole country in commotion, the
+settlers all arming, and hastening to the distant place of rendezvous.
+We arrived at Trinity river one afternoon, and immediately sent
+messengers for forty miles in all directions to summon the
+inhabitants. At the period in question, the plantations in that part
+of the country were very few and far between, but nevertheless by the
+afternoon of the next day we had got together four-and-thirty men,
+mounted on mustangs, each equipped with rifle and bowie-knife,
+powder-horn and bullet-bag, and furnished with provisions for several
+days. With these we started for San Antonio de Bexar, a march of two
+hundred and fifty miles, through trackless prairies intersected with
+rivers and streams, which, although not quite so big as the
+Mississippi or Potomac, were yet deep and wide enough to have offered
+serious impediment to regular armies. But to Texian farmers and
+backwoodsmen, they were trifling obstacles. Those we could not wade
+through we swam over; and in due time, and without any incident worthy
+of note, reached the appointed place of rendezvous, which was on the
+river Salado, about fifteen miles from San Antonio, the principal city
+of the province. This latter place it was intended to attack--an
+enterprise of some boldness and risk, considering that the town was
+protected by a strong fort, amply provided with heavy artillery, and
+had a garrison of nearly three thousand men, commanded by officers who
+had, for the most part, distinguished themselves in the revolutionary
+wars against the Spaniards. Our whole army, which we found encamped on
+the Salado, under the command of General Austin, did not exceed eight
+hundred men.
+
+The day after that on which Fanning and myself, with our four and
+thirty recruits, reached headquarters, a council of war was held, and
+it was resolved to advance as far as the mission of Santa Espada. The
+advanced guard was to push forward immediately; the main body would
+follow the next day. Fanning and myself were appointed to the command
+of the vanguard, in conjunction with Mr Wharton, a wealthy planter,
+who had brought a strong party of volunteers with him, and whose
+mature age and cool judgment, it was thought, would counterbalance any
+excess of youthful heat and impetuosity on our part. Selecting
+ninety-two men out of the eight hundred, who, to a man, volunteered to
+accompany us, we set out for the mission.
+
+These missions are a sort of picket-houses or outposts of the Catholic
+church, and are found in great numbers in all the frontier provinces
+of Spanish America, especially in Texas, Santa Fe, and Cohahuila. They
+are usually of sufficient strength to afford their inmates security
+against any predatory party of Indians or other marauders, and are
+occupied by priests, who, while using their endeavours to spread the
+doctrines of the Church of Rome, act also as spies and agents of the
+Mexican government.
+
+On reaching San Espada we held a discussion as to the propriety of
+remaining there until the general came up, or of advancing at once
+towards the river. Wharton inclined to the former plan, and it was
+certainly the most prudent, for the mission was a strong building,
+surrounded by a high wall, and might have been held against very
+superior numbers. Fanning and I, however, did not like the idea of
+being cooped up in a house, and at last Wharton yielded. We left our
+horses and mustangs in charge of eight men, and with the remainder set
+out in the direction of the Salado, which flows from north to south, a
+third of a mile to the westward of the mission. About half-way between
+the latter and the river, was a small group, or island, of muskeet
+trees, the only object that broke the uniformity of the prairie. The
+bank of the river on our side was tolerably steep, about eight or ten
+feet high, hollowed out here and there, and covered with a thick
+network of wild vines. The Salado at this spot describes a sort of
+bow-shaped curve, with a ford at either end, by which alone the river
+can be passed, for although not very broad, it is rapid and deep. We
+resolved to take up a position within this bow, calculating that we
+might manage to defend the two fords, which were not above a quarter
+of a mile apart.
+
+At the same time we did not lose sight of the dangers of such a
+position, and of the almost certainty that if the enemy managed to
+cross the river, we should be surrounded and cut off. But our success
+on the few occasions on which we had hitherto come to blows with the
+Mexicans, at Velasco, Nacogdoches, and Galveston, had inspired us with
+so much confidence, that we considered ourselves a match for thousands
+of such foes, and actually began to wish the enemy would attack us
+before our main body came up. We reconnoitred the ground, stationed a
+picket of twelve men at each ford, and an equal number in the island
+of muskeet trees; and established ourselves with the remainder amongst
+the vines and in the hollows on the river bank.
+
+The commissariat department of the Texian army was, as may be
+supposed, not yet placed upon any very regular footing. In fact,
+every man was, for the present, his own commissary-general. Finding
+our stock of provisions to be very small, we sent out a party of
+foragers, who soon returned with three sheep, which they had taken
+from a _rancho_, within a mile of San Antonio. An old priest, whom
+they found there, had threatened them with the anger of Heaven and of
+General Cos; but they paid little attention to his denunciations, and,
+throwing down three dollars, walked off with the sheep. The priest
+became furious, got upon his mule, and trotted away in the direction
+of the City to complain to General Cos of the misconduct of the
+heretics.
+
+After this we made no doubt that we should soon have a visit from the
+worthy Dons. Nevertheless the evening and the night passed away
+without incident. Day broke--still no signs of the Mexicans. This
+treacherous sort of calm, we thought, might forbode a storm, and we
+did not allow it to lull us into security. We let the men get their
+breakfast, which they had hardly finished when the picket from the
+upper ford came in with news that a strong body of cavalry was
+approaching the river, and that their vanguard was already in the
+hollow way leading to the ford. We had scarcely received this
+intelligence when we heard the blare of the trumpets, and the next
+moment we saw the officers push their horses up the declivitous bank,
+closely followed by their men, whom they formed up in the prairie. We
+counted six small squadrons, about three hundred men in all. They were
+the Durango dragoons--smart troops enough to all appearance, capitally
+mounted and equipped, and armed with carbines and sabres.
+
+Although the enemy had doubtless reconnoitred us from the opposite
+shore, and ascertained our position, he could not form any accurate
+idea of our numbers, for with a view to deceive him, we kept the men
+in constant motion, sometimes showing a part of them on the prairie,
+then causing them to disappear again behind the vines and bushes. This
+was all very knowing for young soldiers such as we were; but, on the
+other hand, we had committed a grievous error, and sinned against all
+established military rules, by not placing a picket on the further
+side of the river, to warn us of the approach of the enemy, and the
+direction in which he was coming. There can be little doubt that if we
+had earlier notice of their approach, thirty or forty good
+marksmen--and all our people were that--might not only have delayed
+the advance of the Mexicans, but perhaps even totally disgusted them
+of their attempt to cross the Salado. The hollow way on the other side
+of the river, leading to the ford, was narrow and tolerably steep, and
+the bank was at least six times as high as on our side. Nothing would
+have been easier than to have stationed a party, so as to pick off the
+cavalry as they wound through this kind of pass, and emerged two by
+two upon the shore. Our error, however, did not strike us till it was
+too late to repair it; so we were fain to console ourselves with the
+reflection that the Mexicans would be much more likely to attribute
+our negligence to an excess of confidence in our resources, than to
+the inexperience in military matters, which was its real cause. We
+resolved to do our best to merit the good opinion which we thus
+supposed them to entertain of us.
+
+When the whole of the dragoons had crossed the water, they marched on
+for a short distance in an easterly direction: then, wheeling to the
+right, proceeded southward, until within some five hundred paces of
+us, where they halted. In this position, the line of cavalry formed
+the chord of the arc described by the river, and occupied by us.
+
+As soon as they halted, they opened their fire, although the could not
+see one of us, for we were completely sheltered by the bank. Our
+Mexican heroes, however, apparently did not think it necessary to be
+within sight or range of their opponents before firing, for they gave
+us a rattling volley at a distance which no carbine would carry. This
+done, others galloped on for about a hundred yards, halted again,
+loaded, fired another volley, and then giving another gallop, fired
+again. They continued this sort of _manege_ till they found themselves
+within two hundred and fifty paces of us, and then appeared inclined
+to take a little time for reflection.
+
+We kept ourselves perfectly still. The dragoons evidently did not
+like the aspect of matters. Our remaining concealed, and not replying
+to their fire, seemed to bother them. We saw the officers taking a
+deal of pains to encourage their men, and at last two squadrons
+advanced, the others following more slowly, a short distance in rear.
+This was the moment we had waited for. No sooner had the dragoons got
+into a canter, than six of our men who had received orders to that
+effect, sprang up the bank, took steady aim at the officers, fired,
+and then jumped down again.
+
+As we had expected, the small numbers that had shown themselves,
+encouraged the Mexicans to advance. They seemed at first taken rather
+aback by the fall of four of their officers; but nevertheless, after a
+moment's hesitation, they came thundering along full speed. They were
+within sixty or seventy yards of us, when Fanning and thirty of our
+riflemen ascended the bank, and with a coolness and precision that
+would have done credit to the most veteran troops, poured a steady
+fire into the ranks of the dragoons.
+
+It requires some nerve and courage for men who have never gone through
+any regular military training, to stand their ground singly and
+unprotected, within fifty yards of an advancing line of cavalry. Our
+fellows did it, however, and fired, not all at once, or in a hurry,
+but slowly and deliberately; a running fire, every shot of which told.
+Saddle after saddle was emptied; the men, as they had been ordered,
+always picking out the foremost horsemen, and as soon as they had
+fired, jumping down the bank to reload. When the whole of the thirty
+men had discharged their rifles, Wharton and myself, with the reserve
+of six and thirty more, took their places; but the dragoons had almost
+had enough already, and we had scarcely fired ten shots when they
+executed a right-about turn, with an uniformity and rapidity which did
+infinite credit to their drill, and went off at a pace that soon
+carried them out of reach of our bullets. They had probably not
+expected so warm a reception. We saw their officers doing every thing
+they could to check their flight, imploring, threatening, even cutting
+at them with their sabres, but it was no use; if they were to be
+killed, it must be in their own way, and they preferred being cut down
+by their officers to encountering the deadly precision of rifles, in
+the hands of men who, being sure of hitting a squirrel at a hundred
+yards, were not likely to miss a Durango dragoon at any point within
+range.
+
+Our object in ordering the men to fire slowly was, always to have
+thirty or forty rifles loaded, wherewith to receive the enemy should
+he attempt a charge _en masse_. But our first greeting had been a
+sickener, and it appeared almost doubtful whether he would venture to
+attack us again, although the officers did every thing in their power
+to induce their men to advance. For a long time, neither threats,
+entreaties, nor reproaches produced any effect. We saw the officers
+gesticulating furiously, pointing to us with their sabres, and
+impatiently spurring their horses, till the fiery animals plunged and
+reared, and sprang with all four feet from the ground. It is only just
+to say, that the officers exhibited a degree of courage far beyond any
+thing we had expected from them. Of the two squadrons that charged us,
+two-thirds of the officers had fallen; but those who remained, instead
+of appearing intimidated by their comrades' fate, redoubled their
+efforts to bring their men forward.
+
+At last there appeared some probability of their accomplishing this,
+after a most curious and truly Mexican fashion. Posting themselves in
+front of their squadrons, they rode on alone for a hundred yards or
+so, halted, looked round, as much as to say--"You see there is no
+danger as far as this," and then galloping back, led their men on.
+Each time that they executed this manoeuvre, the dragoons would
+advance slowly some thirty or forty paces, and then halt as
+simultaneously as if the word of command had been given. Off went the
+officers again, some distance to the front, and then back again to
+their men, and got them on a little further. In this manner these
+heroes were inveigled once more to within a hundred and fifty yards of
+our position.
+
+Of course, at each of the numerous halts which they made during their
+advance, they favoured us with a general, but most innocuous discharge
+of their carbines; and at last, gaining confidence, I suppose, from
+our passiveness, and from the noise and smoke they themselves had been
+making, three squadrons which had not yet been under fire, formed open
+column and advanced at a trot. Without giving them time to halt or
+reflect--"Forward! Charge!" shouted the officers, urging their own
+horses to their utmost speed; and following the impulse thus given,
+the three squadrons came charging furiously along.
+
+Up sprang thirty of our men to receive them. Their orders were to fire
+slowly, and not throw away a shot, but the gleaming sabres and rapid
+approach of the dragoons flurried some of them, and firing a hasty
+volley, they jumped down the bank again. This precipitation had nearly
+been fatal to us. Several of the dragoons fell, and there was some
+confusion and a momentary faltering amongst the others; but they still
+came on. At this critical moment, Wharton and myself, with the
+reserves, showed ourselves on the bank. "Slow and sure-mark your men!"
+shouted we both. Wharton on the right and I on the left. The command
+was obeyed: rifle after rifle cracked off, always aimed at the
+foremost of the dragoons, and at every report a saddle was emptied.
+Before we had all fired, Fanning and a dozen of his sharpest men had
+again loaded, and were by our side. For nearly a minute the Mexicans
+remained, as if stupefied by our murderous fire, and uncertain whether
+to advance or retire; but as those who attempted the former, were
+invariably shot down, they at last began a retreat, which was soon
+converted into a rout. We gave them a farewell volley, which eased a
+few more horses of their riders, and then got under cover again, to
+await what might next occur.
+
+But the Mexican caballeros had no notion of coming up to the scratch a
+third time. They kept patrolling about, some three or four hundred
+yards off, and firing volleys at us, which they were able to do with
+perfect impunity, as at that distance we did not think proper to
+return a shot.
+
+The skirmish had lasted nearly three quarters of an hour. Strange to
+say, we had not had a single man wounded, although at times the
+bullets had fallen about us as thick as hail. We could not account for
+this. Many of us had been hit by the balls, but a bruise or a graze of
+the skin was the worst consequence that had ensued. We were in a fair
+way to deem ourselves invulnerable.
+
+We were beginning to think that the fight was over for the day, when
+our videttes at the lower ford brought us the somewhat unpleasant
+intelligence that large masses of infantry were approaching the river,
+and would soon be in sight. The words were hardly uttered, when the
+roll of the drums, and shrill squeak of the fifes became audible, and
+in a few minutes the head of the column of infantry, having crossed
+the ford, ascended the sloping bank, and defiled in the prairie
+opposite the island of muskeet trees. As company after company
+appeared, we were able to form a pretty exact estimate of their
+numbers. There were two battalions, together about a thousand men; and
+they brought a field-piece with them.
+
+These were certainly rather long odds to be opposed to seventy-two men
+and three officers' for it must be remembered that we had left twenty
+of our people at the mission, and in the island of trees. Two
+battalions of infantry, and six squadrons of dragoons--the latter, to
+be sure, disheartened and diminished by the loss of some fifty men,
+but nevertheless formidable opponents, now they were supported by the
+foot soldiers. About twenty Mexicans to each of us. It was getting
+past a joke. We were all capital shots, and most of us, besides our
+rifles, had a brace of pistols in our belts; but what were
+seventy-five rifles, and five or six score of pistols against a
+thousand muskets and bayonets, two hundred and fifty dragoons, and a
+field-piece loaded with canister? If the Mexicans had a spark of
+courage or soldiership about them, our fate was sealed. But it was
+exactly this courage and soldiership, which we made sure would be
+wanting.
+
+Nevertheless we, the officers, could not repress a feeling of anxiety
+and self-reproach, when we reflected that we had brought our comrades
+into such a hazardous predicament. But on looking around us, our
+apprehensions vanished. Nothing could exceed the perfect coolness and
+confidence with which the men were cleaning and preparing their rifles
+for the approaching conflict; no bravado--no boasting, talking, or
+laughing, but a calm decision of manner, which at once told us, that
+if it were possible to overcome such odds as were brought against us,
+those were the men to do it.
+
+Our arrangements for the approaching struggle were soon completed.
+Fanning and Wharton were to make head against the infantry and
+cavalry. I was to capture the field-piece--an eight-pounder.
+
+This gun was placed by the Mexicans upon their extreme left, close to
+the river, the shores of which it commanded for a considerable
+distance. The bank on which we were posted was, as before mentioned,
+indented by caves and hollows, and covered with a thick tapestry of
+vines and other plants, which was now very useful in concealing us
+from the artillerymen. The latter made a pretty good guess at our
+position however, and at the first discharge, the canister whizzed
+past us at a very short distance. There was not a moment to lose, for
+one well-directed shot might exterminate half of us. Followed by a
+dozen men, I worked my way as well as I could through the labyrinth of
+vines and bushes, and was not more than fifty yards from the gun, when
+it was again fired. No one was hurt, although the shot was evidently
+intended for my party. The enemy could not see us; but the notion of
+the vines, as we passed through them, had betrayed our whereabout: so,
+perceiving that we were discovered, I sprang up the bank into the
+prairie followed by my men, to whom I shouted, above all to aim at the
+artillerymen.
+
+I had raised my own rifle to my shoulder, when I let it fall again in
+astonishment at an apparition that presented itself to my view. This
+was a tall, lean, wild figure, with a face overgrown by long beard
+that hung down upon his breast, and dressed in a leather cap, jacket,
+and mocassins. Where this man had sprung from was a perfect riddle. He
+was unknown to any of us, although I had some vague recollection of
+having seen him before, but where or when, I could not call to mind.
+He had a long rifle in his hands, which he must have fired once
+already, for one of the artillerymen lay dead by the gun. At the
+moment I first caught sight of him, he shot down another, and then
+began reloading with a rapid dexterity, that proved him to be well
+used to the thing. My men were as much astonished as I was by this
+strange apparition, which appeared to have started out of the earth;
+and for a few seconds they forgot to fire, and stood gazing at the
+stranger. The latter did not seem to approve of their inaction.
+
+"D---- yer eyes, ye starin' fools," shouted he in a rough hoarse
+voice, "don't ye see them art'lerymen? Why don't ye knock 'em on the
+head?"
+
+It certainly was not the moment to remain idle. We fired; but our
+astonishment had thrown us off our balance, and we nearly all missed.
+We sprang down the bank again to load, just as the men serving the gun
+were slewing it around, so as to bring it to bear upon us. Before this
+was accomplished, we were under cover, and the stranger had the
+benefit of the discharge, of which he took no more notice than if he
+had borne a charmed life. Again we heard the crack of his rifle, and
+when, having reloaded, we once more ascended the bank, he was taking
+aim at the last artilleryman, who fell, as his companions had done.
+
+"D---- ye, for laggin' fellers!" growled the stranger. "Why don't ye
+take that 'ere big gun?"
+
+Our small numbers, the bad direction of our first volley, but, above
+all, the precipitation with which we had jumped down the bank after
+firing it, had so encouraged the enemy, that a company of infantry,
+drawn up some distance in rear of the field-piece, fired a volley, and
+advanced at double-quick time, part of them making a small _detour_
+with the intention of cutting us off from our friends. At this
+moment, we saw Fanning and thirty men coming along the river bank to
+our assistance; so without minding the Mexicans who were getting
+behind us, we rushed forward to within twenty paces of those in our
+front, and taking steady aim, brought down every man his bird. The
+sort of desperate coolness with which this was done, produced the
+greater effect on our opponents, as being something quite out of their
+way. They would, perhaps, have stood firm against a volley from five
+times our number, at a rather greater distance; but they did not like
+having their mustaches singed by our powder; and after a moment's
+wavering and hesitation, they shouted out "Diabolos! Diabolos!" and
+throwing away their muskets, broke into precipitate flight.
+
+Fanning and Wharton now came up with all the men. Under cover of the
+infantry's advance, the gun had been re-manned, but, luckily for us,
+only by infantry soldiers; for had there been artillerymen to seize
+the moment when we were all standing exposed on the prairie, they
+might have diminished our numbers not a little. The fuse was already
+burning, and we had just time to get under the bank when the gun went
+off. Up we jumped again, and looked about us to see what was next to
+be done.
+
+Although hitherto all the advantages had been on our side, our
+situation was still a very perilous one. The company we had put to
+flight had rejoined its battalion, which was now beginning to advance
+by _echelon_ of companies. The second battalion, which was rather
+further from us, was moving forward in like manner, and in a parallel
+direction. We should probably, therefore, have to resist the attack of
+a dozen companies, one after the other; and it was to be feared that
+the Mexicans would finish by getting over their panic terror of our
+rifles, and exchange their distant and ineffectual platoon-firing for
+a charge with the bayonet, in which their superior numbers would tell.
+We observed, also, that the cavalry, which had been keeping itself at
+a safe distance, was now put in motion, and formed up close to the
+island of muskeet trees, to which the right flank of the infantry was
+also extending itself. Thence they had clear ground for a charge down
+upon us.
+
+Meanwhile, what had become of the twelve men whom we had left in the
+island? Were they still there, or had they fallen back upon the
+mission in dismay at the overwhelming force of the Mexicans? If the
+latter, it was a bad business for us, for they were all capital shots,
+and well armed with rifles and pistols. We heartily wished we had
+brought them with us, as well as the eight men at the mission. Cut off
+from us as they were, what could they do against the whole of the
+cavalry and two companies of infantry which were now approaching the
+island? To add to our difficulties, our ammunition was beginning to
+run short. Many of us had only had enough powder and ball for fifteen
+or sixteen charges, which were now reduced to six or seven. It was no
+use desponding, however; and, after a hurried consultation, it was
+agreed that Fanning and Wharton should open a fire upon the enemy's
+centre, while I made a dash at the field-piece before any more
+infantry had time to come up for its protection.
+
+The infantry-men who had re-manned the gun were by this time shot
+down, and, as none had come to replace them, it was served by an
+officer alone. Just as I gave the order to advance to the twenty men
+who were to follow me, this officer fell. Simultaneously with his
+fall, I heard a sort of yell behind me, and, turning round, saw that
+it proceeded from the wild spectre-looking stranger, whom I had lost
+sight of during the last few minutes. A ball had struck him, and he
+fell heavily to the ground, his rifle, which had just been discharged,
+and was still smoking from muzzle and touchhole, clutched convulsively
+in both hands; his features distorted, his eyes rolling frightfully.
+There was something in the expression of his face at that moment which
+brought back to me, in vivid colouring, one of the earliest and most
+striking incidents of my residence in Texas. Had I not myself seen him
+hung, I could have sworn that _Bob Rock, the murderer_, now lay before
+me.
+
+A second look at the man gave additional force to this idea.
+
+"Bob!" I exclaimed.
+
+"Bob!" repeated the wounded man, in a broken voice, and with a look
+of astonishment, almost of dismay. "Who calls Bob?"
+
+A wild gleam shot from his eyes, which the next instant closed. He had
+become insensible.
+
+It was neither the time nor the place to indulge in speculations on
+this singular resurrection of a man whose execution I had myself
+witnessed. With twelve hundred foes around us, we had plenty to occupy
+all our thoughts and attention. My people were already masters of the
+gun, and some of them drew it forwards and pointed it against the
+enemy, while the others spread out right and left to protect it with
+their rifles. I was busy loading the piece when an exclamation of
+surprise from one of the men made me look up.
+
+There seemed to be something extraordinary happening amongst the
+Mexicans, to judge from the degree of confusion which suddenly showed
+itself in their ranks, and which, beginning with the cavalry and right
+flank of the infantry, soon became general throughout their whole
+force. It was a sort of wavering and unsteadiness which, to us, was
+quite unaccountable, for Fanning and Wharton had not yet fired twenty
+shots, and, indeed, had only just come within range of the enemy. Not
+knowing what it could portend, I called in my men, and stationed them
+round the gun, which I had double-shotted, and stood ready to fire.
+
+The confusion in the Mexican ranks increased. For about a minute they
+waved and reeled to and fro, as if uncertain which way to go; and, at
+last, the cavalry and right of the line fairly broke, and ran for it.
+This example was followed by the centre, and presently the whole of
+the two battalions and three hundred cavalry were scattered over the
+prairie, in the wildest and most disorderly flight. I gave them a
+parting salute from the eight-pounder, which would doubtless have
+accelerated their movements had it been possible to run faster than
+they were already doing.
+
+We stood staring after the fugitives in perfect bewilderment, totally
+unable to explain their apparently causeless panic. At last the report
+of several rifles from the island of trees gave us a clue to the
+mystery.
+
+The infantry, whose left flank extended to the Salado, had pushed
+their right into the prairie as far as the island of muskeet trees, in
+order to connect their line with the dragoons, and then by making a
+general advance, to attack us on all sides at once, and get the full
+advantage of their superior numbers. The plan was not a bad one.
+Infantry and cavalry approached the island, quite unsuspicious of its
+being occupied. The twelve riflemen whom we had stationed there
+remained perfectly quiet, concealed behind the trees; allowed
+squadrons and companies to come within twenty paces of them, and then
+opened their fire, first from their pistols, then from their rifles.
+
+Some six and thirty shots, every one of which told, fired suddenly
+from a cover close to their rear, were enough to startle even the best
+troops, much more so our Mexican dons, who, already sufficiently
+inclined to a panic, now believed themselves fallen into an ambuscade,
+and surrounded on all sides by the incarnate _diabolos_, as they
+called us. The cavalry, who had not yet recovered the thrashing we had
+given them, were ready enough for a run, and the infantry were not
+slow to follow them.
+
+Our first impulse was naturally to pursue the flying enemy, but a
+discovery made by some of the men, induced us to abandon that idea.
+They had opened the pouches of the dead Mexicans in order to supply
+themselves with ammunition, ours being nearly expended; but the powder
+of the cartridges turned out so bad as to be useless. It was little
+better than coal dust, and would not carry a ball fifty paces to kill
+or wound. This accounted for our apparent invulnerability to the fire
+of the Mexicans. The muskets also were of a very inferior description.
+Both they and the cartridges were of English make; the former being
+stamped Birmingham, and the latter having the name of an English
+powder manufactory, with the significant addition, "for exportation."
+
+Under these circumstances, we had nothing to do but let the Mexicans
+run. We sent a detachment to the muskeet island, to unite itself with
+the twelve men who had done such good service there, and thence
+advance towards the ford. We ourselves proceeded slowly in the latter
+direction. This demonstration brought the fugitives back again, for
+they had, most of them, in the wild precipitation of their flight,
+passed the only place where they could cross the river. They began
+crowding over in the greatest confusion, foot and horse all mixed up
+together; and by the time we got within a hundred paces of the ford,
+the prairie was nearly clear of them. There were still a couple of
+hundred men on our side of the water, completely at our mercy, and
+Wharton, who was a little in front with thirty men, gave the word to
+fire upon them. No one obeyed. He repeated the command. Not a rifle
+was raised. He stared at his men, astonished and impatient at this
+strange disobedience. An old weather-beaten bear-hunter stepped
+forward, squirting out his tobacco juice with all imaginable
+deliberation.
+
+"I tell ye what, capting!" said he, passing his quid over from his
+right cheek to his left; "I calkilate, capting," he continued, "we'd
+better leave the poor devils of dons alone."
+
+"The poor devils of dons alone!" repeated Wharton in a rage. "Are you
+mad, man?"
+
+Fanning and I had just come up with our detachment, and were not less
+surprised and angry than Wharton was, at this breach of discipline.
+The man, however, did not allow himself to be disconcerted.
+
+"There's a proverb, gentlemen," said he, turning to us, "which says,
+that one should build a golden bridge for a beaten enemy; and a good
+proverb it is, I calkilate--a considerable good one."
+
+"What do you mean, man, with your golden bridge?" cried Fanning. "This
+is no time for proverbs."
+
+"Do you know that you are liable to be punished for insubordination?"
+said I. "It's your duty to fire, and do the enemy all the harm you
+can; not to be quoting proverbs."
+
+"Calkilate it is," replied the man very coolly. "Calkilate I could
+shoot 'em without either danger or trouble; but I reckon that would be
+like Spaniards or Mexicans; not like Americans--not prudent."
+
+"Not like Americans? Would you let the enemy escape, then, when we
+have him in our power?"
+
+"Calkilate I would. Calkilate we should do ourselves more harm than
+him by shooting down his people. That was a considerable sensible
+commandment of yourn, always to shoot the foremost of the Mexicans
+when they attacked. It discouraged the bold ones, and was a sort of
+premium on cowardice. Them as lagged behind escaped, them as came
+bravely on were shot. It was a good calkilation. If we had shot 'em
+without discrimination, the cowards would have got bold, seein' that
+they weren't safer in rear than in front. The cowards are our best
+friends. Now them runaways," continued he, pointing to the Mexicans,
+who were crowding over the river, "are jest the most cowardly of 'em
+all, for in their fright they quite forgot the ford, and it's because
+they ran so far beyond it, that they are last to cross the water. And
+if you fire at 'em now, they'll find that they get nothin' by bein'
+cowards, and next time, I reckon, they'll sell their hides as dear as
+they can."
+
+Untimely as this palaver, to use a popular word, undoubtedly was, we
+could scarcely forbear smiling at the simple _naive_ manner in which
+the old Yankee spoke his mind.
+
+"Calkilate, captings," he concluded, "you'd better let the poor devils
+run. We shall get more profit by it than if we shot five hundred of
+'em. Next time they'll run away directly to show their gratitude for
+our ginerosity."
+
+The man stepped back into the ranks, and his comrades nodded
+approvingly, and calculated and reckoned that Zebediah had spoke a
+true word; and meanwhile the enemy had crossed the river, and was out
+of our reach. We were forced to content ourselves with sending a party
+across the water to follow up the Mexicans, and observe the direction
+they took. We then returned to our old position.
+
+My first thought on arriving there was to search for the body of Bob
+Rock--for he it undoubtedly was, who had so mysteriously appeared
+amongst us. I repaired to the spot where I had seen him fall; but
+could discover no signs of him, either dead or alive. I went over the
+whole scene of the fight, searched amongst the vines and along the
+bank of the river; there were plenty of dead Mexicans--cavalry,
+infantry, and artillery, but no Bob was to be found, nor could any one
+inform me what had become of him, although several had seen him fall.
+
+I was continuing my search, when I met Wharton, who asked me what I
+was seeking, and on learning, shook his head gravely. He had seen the
+wild prairieman, he said, but whence he came, or whither he was gone,
+was more than he could tell. It was a long time since any thing had
+startled and astonished him so much as this man's appearance and
+proceedings. He (Wharton,) had been stationed with his party amongst
+the vines, about fifty paces in rear of Fanning's people, when just as
+the Mexican infantry had crossed the ford, and were forming up, he saw
+a man approaching at a brisk trot from the north side of the prairie.
+He halted about a couple of hundred yards from Wharton, tied his
+mustang to a bush, and with his rifle on his arm, strode along the
+edge of the prairie in the direction of the Mexicans. When he passed
+near Wharton, the latter called out to him to halt, and say who he
+was, whence he came, and whither going.
+
+"Who I am is no business of yourn," replied the man: "nor where I come
+from neither. You'll soon see where I'm goin'. I'm goin' agin' the
+enemy."
+
+"Then you must come and join us," cried Wharton.
+
+This the stranger testily refused to do. He'd fight on his own hook,
+he said.
+
+Wharton told him he must not do that.
+
+He should like to see who'd hinder him, he said, and walked on. The
+next moment he shot the first artilleryman. After that they let him
+take his own way.
+
+Neither Wharton, nor any of his men, knew what had become of him; but
+at last I met with a bear-hunter, who gave me the following
+information.
+
+"Calkilatin'," said he, "that the wild prairieman's rifle was a
+capital good one, as good a one as ever killed a bear, he tho't it a
+pity that it should fall into bad hands, so went to secure it himself,
+although the frontispiece of its dead owner warn't very invitin'. But
+when he stooped to take the gun, he got such a shove as knocked him
+backwards, and on getting up, he saw the prairieman openin' his jacket
+and examinin' a wound on his breast, which was neither deep nor
+dangerous, although it had taken away the man's senses for a while.
+The ball had struck the breast bone, and was quite near the skin, so
+that the wounded man pushed it out with his fingers; and then
+supporting himself on his rifle, got up from the ground, and without
+either a thankye, or a d---nye, walked to where his mustang was tied
+up, got on its back, and rode slowly away in a northerly direction."
+
+This was all the information I could obtain on the subject, and
+shortly afterwards the main body of our army came up, and I had other
+matters to occupy my attention. General Austin expressed his gratitude
+and approbation to our brave fellows, after a truly republican and
+democratic fashion. He shook hands with all the rough bear and buffalo
+hunters, and drank with them. Fanning and myself he promoted, on the
+spot, to the rank of colonel.
+
+We were giving the general a detailed account of the morning's events,
+when a Mexican priest appeared with a flag of truce and several
+waggons, and craved permission to take away the dead. This was of
+course granted, and we had some talk with the padre, who, however, was
+too wily a customer to allow himself to be pumped. What little we did
+get out of him, determined us to advance the same afternoon against
+San Antonio. We thought there was some chance, that in the present
+panic-struck state of the Mexicans, we might obtain possession of the
+place by a bold and sudden assault.
+
+In this, however, we were mistaken. We found the gates closed, and the
+enemy on his guard, but too dispirited to oppose our taking up a
+position at about cannon-shot from the great redoubt. We had soon
+invested all the outlets from the city.
+
+San Antonio de Bexar lies in a fertile and well-irrigated valley,
+stretching westward from the river Salado. In the centre of the town
+rises the fort of the Alamo, which at that time was armed with
+forty-eight pieces of artillery of various calibre. The garrison of
+the town and fortress was nearly three thousand strong.
+
+Our artillery consisted of two batteries of four six, and five
+eight-pounders; our army of eleven hundred men, with which we had not
+only to carry on the siege, but also to make head against the forces
+that would be sent against us from Cohahuila, on the frontier of which
+province General Cos was stationed, with a strong body of troops.
+
+We were not discouraged, however, and opened our fire upon the city.
+During the first week, not a day passed without smart skirmishes.
+General Cos's dragoons were swarming about us like so many Bedouins.
+But although well-mounted, and capital horsemen, they were no match
+for our backwoodsmen. Those from the western states especially,
+accustomed to Indian warfare and cunning, laid traps and ambuscades
+for the Mexicans, and were constantly destroying their detachments. As
+for the besieged, if one of them showed his head for ten seconds above
+the city wall, he was sure of getting a rifle bullet through it. I
+cannot say that our besieging army was a perfect model of military
+discipline; but any deficiencies in that respect were made good by the
+intelligence of the men, and the zeal and unanimity with which they
+pursued the accomplishment of one great object--the capture of the
+city--the liberty and independence of Texas.
+
+The badness of the gunpowder used by the Mexicans, was again of great
+service to us. Many of their cannon balls that fell far short of us,
+were collected and returned to them with powerful effect. We kept a
+sharp look-out for convoys, and captured no less than three--one of
+horses, another of provisions, and twenty thousand dollars in money.
+
+After an eight weeks' siege, a breach having been made, the city
+surrendered, and a month later the fort followed the example. With a
+powerful park of artillery, we then advanced upon Goliad, the
+strongest fortress in Texas, which likewise capitulated in about four
+weeks' time. We were now masters of the whole country, and the war was
+apparently at an end.
+
+But the Mexicans were not the people to give up their best province so
+easily. They have too much of the old Spanish character about
+them--that determined obstinacy which sustained the Spaniards during
+their protracted struggle against the Moors. The honour of their
+republic was compromised, and that must be redeemed. Thundering
+proclamations were issued, denouncing the Texians as rebels, who
+should be swept off the face of the earth, and threatening the United
+States for having aided us with money and volunteers. Ten thousand of
+the best troops in Mexico entered Texas and were shortly to be
+followed by ten thousand more. The President, General Santa Anna,
+himself came to take the command, attended by a numerous and brilliant
+staff.
+
+The Texians laughed at the fanfarronades of the dons, and did not
+attach sufficient importance to these formidable preparations. Their
+good opinion of themselves, and contempt of their foes, had been
+increased to an unreasonable degree by their recent and rapid
+successes. They forgot that the troops to which they had hitherto been
+opposed were for the most part militia, and that those now advancing
+against them were of a far better description, and had probably better
+powder. The call to arms made by our president, Burnet, was
+disregarded by many, and we could only get together about two thousand
+men, of whom nearly two-thirds had to be left to garrison the forts of
+Goliad and Alamo. In the first named place we left seven hundred and
+sixty men, under the command of Fanning; in the latter, something more
+than five hundred. With the remaining seven or eight hundred, we took
+the field. The Mexicans advanced so rapidly, that they were upon us
+before we were aware of it, and we were compelled to retreat, leaving
+the garrisons of the two forts to their fate, and a right melancholy
+one it proved to be.
+
+One morning news was brought to Goliad, that a number of country
+people, principally women and children, were on their way to the fort,
+closely pursued by the Mexicans. Fanning, losing sight of prudence in
+his compassion for these poor people, immediately ordered a battalion
+of five hundred men, under the command of Major Ward, to go and meet
+the fugitives and escort them in. The major, and several officers of
+the garrison, doubted as to the propriety of this measure; but
+Fanning, full of sympathy for his unprotected country-women, insisted,
+and the battalion moved out. They soon came in sight of the fugitives,
+as they thought, but on drawing nearer, the latter turned out to be
+Mexican dragoons, who sprang upon their horses, which were concealed
+in the neighbouring islands of trees, and a desperate fight began. The
+Mexicans, far superior in numbers, received every moment accessions to
+their strength. The Louis-Potosi and Santa Fe cavalry, fellows who
+seem born on horseback, were there. Our unfortunate countrymen were
+hemmed in on all sides. The fight lasted two days, and only two men
+out of the five hundred escaped with their lives.
+
+Before the news of this misfortune reached us, orders had been sent to
+Fanning to evacuate the fort and join us with six pieces of artillery.
+He received the order, and proceeded to execute it. But what might
+have been very practicable for eight hundred and sixty men, was
+impossible for three hundred and sixty. Nevertheless, Fanning began
+his march through the prairie. His little band was almost immediately
+surrounded by the enemy. After a gallant defence, which lasted twelve
+hours, they succeeded in reaching an island, but scarcely had they
+established themselves there, when they found that their ammunition
+was expended. There was nothing left for them, but to accept the terms
+offered by the Mexicans, who pledged themselves, that if they laid
+down their arms, they should be permitted to return to their homes.
+But the rifles were no sooner piled, than the Texians found themselves
+charged by their treacherous foes, who butchered them without mercy.
+Only an advanced post of three men succeeded in escaping.
+
+The five hundred men whom we had left in San Antonio de Bexar, fared
+no better. Not being sufficiently numerous to hold out the town as
+well as the Alamo, they retreated into the latter. The Mexican
+artillery soon laid a part of the fort in ruins. Still its defenders
+held out. After eight days' fighting, during which the loss of the
+besiegers was tremendously severe, the Alamo was taken, and not a
+single Texian left alive.
+
+We thus, by these two cruel blows, lost two-thirds of our army, and
+little more than seven hundred men remained to resist the numerous
+legions of our victorious foe. The prospect before us, was one well
+calculated to daunt the stoutest heart.
+
+The Mexican general, Santa Anna, moved his army forward in two
+divisions, one stretching along the coast towards Velasco, the other
+advancing towards San Felipe de Austin. He himself, with a small
+force, marched in the centre. At Fort Bend, twenty miles below San
+Felipe, he crossed the Brazos, and shortly afterwards established
+himself with about fifteen hundred men in an entrenched camp. Our
+army, under the command of General Houston, was in front of
+Harrisburg, to which place the congress had retreated.
+
+It was on the night of the twentieth of April, and our whole
+disposable force, some seven hundred men, was bivouacking in and about
+an island of sycamores. It was a cloudy, stormy evening: high wind was
+blowing, and the branches of the trees groaned and creaked above our
+heads. The weather harmonized well enough with our feelings, which
+were sad and desponding when we thought of the desperate state of our
+cause. We (the officers) were sitting in a circle round the general
+and Alcalde, both of whom appeared uneasy and anxious. More than once
+they got up, and walked backwards and forwards, seemingly impatient,
+and as if they were waiting for or expecting something. There was a
+deep silence throughout the whole bivouac; some were sleeping, and
+those who watched were in no humour for idle chat.
+
+"Who goes there?" suddenly shouted one of the sentries. The answer we
+did not hear, but it was apparently satisfactory, for there was no
+further challenge, and a few seconds afterwards an orderly came up,
+and whispered something in the ear of the Alcalde. The latter hurried
+away, and, presently returning, spoke a few words in a low tone to the
+general, and then to us officers. In an instant we were all upon our
+feet. In less than ten minutes, the bivouac was broken up, and our
+little army on the march.
+
+All our people were well mounted, and armed with rifles, pistols, and
+bowie-knives. We had six field-pieces, but we only took four,
+harnessed wit twice the usual number of horses. We marched at a rapid
+trot the whole night, led by a tall, gaunt figure of a man who acted
+as our guide, and kept some distance in front. I more than once asked
+the Alcalde who this was. "You will know by and by," was his answer.
+
+Before daybreak we had ridden five and twenty miles, but had been
+compelled to abandon two more guns. As yet, no one knew the object of
+this forced march. The general commanded a halt, and ordered the men
+to refresh and strengthen themselves by food and drink. While they
+were doing this, he assembled the officers around him, and the meaning
+of our night march was explained to us. The camp in which the Mexican
+president and general-in-chief had entrenched himself was within a
+mile of us; General Parza, with two thousand men, was twenty miles
+further to the rear; General Filasola, with one thousand, eighteen
+miles lower down on the Brazos; Viesca, with fifteen hundred,
+twenty-five miles higher up. One bold and decided blow, and Texas
+might yet be free. There was not a moment to lose, nor was one lost.
+The general addressed the men.
+
+"Friends! Brothers! Citizens! General Santa Anna is within a mile of
+us with fifteen hundred men. The hour that is to decide the question
+of Texian liberty is now arrived. What say you? Do we attack?"
+
+"We do!" exclaimed the men with one voice, cheerfully and decidedly.
+
+In the most perfect stillness, we arrived within two hundred paces of
+the enemy's camp. The _reveillee_ of the sleeping Mexicans was the
+discharge of our two field-pieces loaded with canister. Rushing on to
+within twenty-five paces of the entrenchment, we gave them a deadly
+volley from our rifles, and then, throwing away the latter, bounded up
+the breastworks, a pistol in each hand. The Mexicans, scared and
+stupefied by this sudden attack, were running about in the wildest
+confusion, seeking their arms, and not knowing which way to turn.
+After firing our pistols, we threw them away as we had done our
+rifles, and, drawing our bowie-knives, fell, with a shout, upon the
+masses of the terrified foe. It was more like the boarding of a ship
+than any land fight I had ever seen or imagined.
+
+My station was on the right of the line, where the breastwork, ending
+in a redoubt, was steep and high. I made two attempts to climb up, but
+both times slipped back. On the third trial I nearly gained the
+summit; but was again slipping down, when a hand seized me by the
+collar, and pulled me up on the bank. In the darkness and confusion I
+did not distinguish the face of the man who rendered me this
+assistance. I only saw the glitter of a bayonet which a Mexican thrust
+into his shoulder, at the very moment he was helping me up. He neither
+flinched nor let go his hold of me till I was fairly on my feet; then,
+turning slowly round, he levelled a pistol at the soldier, who, at
+that very moment, was struck down by the Alcalde.
+
+"No thanks to ye, squire!" exclaimed the man, in a voice which made me
+start, even at that moment of excitement and bustle. I looked at the
+speaker, but could only see his back, for he had already plunged into
+the thick of the fight, and was engaged with a party of Mexicans, who
+defended themselves desperately. He fought like a man more anxious to
+be killed than to kill, striking furiously right and left, but never
+guarding a blow, though the Alcalde, who was by his side, warded off
+several which were aimed at him.
+
+By this time my men had scrambled up after me. I looked round to see
+where our help was most wanted, and was about to lead them forward,
+when I heard the voice of the Alcalde.
+
+"Are you badly hurt, Bob?" said he in an anxious tone.
+
+I glanced at the spot whence the voice came. There lay Bob Rock,
+covered with blood, and apparently insensible. The Alcalde was
+supporting his head on his arm. Before I had time to give a second
+look I was hurried forward with the rest towards the centre of the
+camp, where the fight was at the hottest.
+
+About five hundred men, the pick of the Mexican army, had collected
+round a knot of staff-officers, and were making a most gallant
+defence. General Houston had attacked them with three hundred of our
+people, but had not been able to break their ranks. His charge,
+however, had shaken them a little, and, before they had time to
+recover from it, I came up. Giving a wild hurrah, my men fired their
+pistols, hurled them at their enemies' heads, and then springing over
+the carcasses of the fallen, dashed like a thunderbolt into the broken
+ranks of the Mexicans.
+
+A frightful butchery ensued. Our men, who were for the most part, and
+at most times, peaceable and humane in disposition, seemed converted
+into perfect fiends. Whole ranks of the enemy fell under their knives.
+Some idea may be formed of the horrible slaughter from the fact, that
+the fight, from beginning to end, did not last above ten minutes, and
+in that time nearly eight hundred Mexicans were shot or cut down. "No
+quarter!" was the cry of the infuriated assailants: "Remember Alamo!
+Remember Goliad! Think of Fanning, Ward!" The Mexicans threw
+themselves on their knees, imploring mercy. "_Misericordia! Cuartel,
+por el amor de Dios!_" shrieked they in heart-rending tones but their
+supplications were not listened to, and every man of them would
+inevitably have been butchered, had not General Houston and the
+officers dashed in between the victors and the vanquished, and with
+the greatest difficulty, and by threats of cutting down our own men if
+they did not desist, put an end to this scene of bloodshed, and saved
+the Texian character from the stain of unmanly cruelty.
+
+When all was over, I hurried back to the place where I had left the
+Alcalde with Bob--the latter lay, bleeding from six wounds, only a few
+paces from the spot where he had helped me up the breastwork. The
+bodies of two dead Mexicans served him for a pillow. The Alcalde was
+kneeling by his side, gazing sadly and earnestly into the face of the
+dying man.
+
+For Bob was dying; but it was no longer the death of the despairing
+murderer. The expression of his features was calm and composed, and
+his eyes were raised to heaven with a look of hope and supplication.
+
+I stooped down and asked him how he felt himself, but he made no
+answer, and evidently did not recollect me. After a minute or two,
+
+"How goes it with the fight?" he asked in a broken voice.
+
+"We have conquered, Bob. The enemy killed or taken. Not a man
+escaped."
+
+He paused a little, and then spoke again.
+
+"Have I done my duty? May I hope to be forgiven?"
+
+The Alcalde answered him in an agitated voice.
+
+"He who forgave the sinner on the cross, will doubtless be merciful to
+you, Bob. His holy book says: There is more joy over one sinner that
+repenteth than over ninety and nine just men. Be of good hope, Bob!
+the Almighty will surely be merciful to you!"
+
+"Thank ye, squire," gasped Bob "you're a true friend, a friend in life
+and in death. Well, it's come at last," said he, while a resigned and
+happy smile stole over his features. "I've prayed for it long enough.
+Thank God, it's come at last!"
+
+He gazed up at the Alcalde with a kindly expression of countenance.
+There was a slight shuddering movement of his whole frame--Bob was
+dead.
+
+The Alcalde remained kneeling for a short time by the side of the
+corpse, his lips moving in prayer. At last he rose to his feet.
+
+"God desireth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he may turn
+from his wickedness and live," said he, in a low and solemn tone. "I
+had those words in my thoughts four years ago, when I cut him down
+from the branch of the Patriarch."
+
+"Four years ago!" cried I. "Then you cut him down, and were in time to
+save him! Was it he who yesterday brought us the news of the vicinity
+of the foe?"
+
+"It was, and much more than that has he done," replied the Alcalde, no
+longer striving to conceal the tears that fell from his eyes. "For
+four years has he dragged on his wretched existence, weary of the
+world, and despised of all men. For four years has he served us,
+lived, fought, and spied for us, without honour, reward, hope, or
+consolation--without a single hour of tranquillity, or a wish for
+aught except death. All this to serve Texas and his countrymen. Who
+shall say this man was not a true patriot? God will surely be merciful
+to his soul," said the Alcalde after a pause.
+
+"I trust he will," answered I, deeply affected.
+
+We were interrupted at this moment by a message from General Houston,
+to whom we immediately hastened. All was uproar and confusion. Santa
+Anna could not be found amongst the prisoners.
+
+This was a terrible disappointment, for the capture of the Mexican
+president had been our principal object, and the victory we had gained
+was comparatively unimportant if he escaped. Indeed, the hope of
+putting an end to the war by his capture, had more than any thing
+encouraged and stimulated us to the unequal conflict.
+
+The moment was a very critical one. Amongst our men were some thirty
+or forty most desperate characters, who began handling their knives,
+and casting looks upon the prisoners, the meaning of which it was
+impossible to mistake. Selecting some of our trustiest men, we
+stationed them as a guard over the captives, and, having thus assured
+the safety of the latter, began questioning them as to what had become
+of their general.
+
+They had none of them seen Santa Anna since the commencement of the
+fight, and it was clear that he must have made his escape while we
+were getting over the breastworks. He could not be very far off, and
+we at once took measures to find him. A hundred men were sent off with
+the prisoners to Harrisburg, and a hundred others, capitally mounted
+on horses found in the Mexican camp, started to scour the country in
+search of the fugitive chief. I accompanied the latter detachment.
+
+We had been twelve hours in the saddle, and had ridden over nearly a
+hundred miles of ground. We began to despair of finding the game we
+were in quest of, and were thinking of abandoning the chase, when at a
+distance of about seven miles from the camp, one of our most
+experienced hunters discovered the print of a small and delicate boot
+upon some soft ground leading to a marsh. Following this trail, it at
+last led us to a man sunk up to his waist in the swamp, and so covered
+with mud and filth, as to be quite unrecognizable. We drew him from his
+hiding-place, half dead with cold and terror, and, having washed the
+dirt from his face, we found him to be a man of about forty years of
+age, with blue eyes, of a mild, but crafty expression; a narrow, high
+forehead; long, thin nose, rather fleshy at the tip; projecting upper
+lip, and long chin. These features tallied too exactly with the
+description we had had of the Mexican president, for us to doubt that
+our prisoner was Santa Anna himself.
+
+The only thing that at all tended to shake this conviction, was the
+extraordinary poltroonery of our new captive. He threw himself on his
+knees, begging us, in the name of God and all the saints, to spare his
+life. Our reiterated assurances and promises were insufficient to
+convince him of his being in perfect safety, or to induce him to adopt
+a demeanour more consistent with his dignity and high station.
+
+The events which succeeded this fortunate capture are too well known
+to require more than a very brief recapitulation. The same evening a
+truce was agreed upon between Houston and Santa Anna, the latter
+sending orders to his different generals to retire upon San Antonio de
+Bexar, and other places in the direction of the Mexican frontier.
+These orders, valueless as emanating from a prisoner, most of the
+generals were weak or cowardly enough to obey, an obedience for which
+they were afterwards brought to trial by the Mexican congress. In a
+few days, two-thirds of Texas were in our possession.
+
+The news of these successes brought crowds of volunteers to our
+standard. In three weeks, we had an army of several thousand men, with
+which we advanced against the Mexicans. There was no more fighting,
+however, for our antagonists had had enough, and allowed themselves to
+be driven from one position to another, till, in a month's time, there
+was not one of them left in the country.
+
+The Struggle was over, and Texas was Free!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+CLITOPHON AND LEUCIPPE.
+
+
+When enumerating (in our number for July, last year) the principal
+Greek romances which succeeded the _Ethiopics_ of Heliodorus, we
+placed next to the celebrated production of the Bishop of Trica in
+point of merit (as it is generally held to have been also in order of
+time) the "Adventures of Clitophon and Leucippe," by Achilles Tatius.
+Though far inferior, both in the delineation of the characters and the
+contrivance of the story, to the _Ethiopics_, (from which, indeed,
+many of the incidents are obviously borrowed,) and not altogether free
+from passages offensive to delicacy, "Clitophon and Leucippe" is well
+entitled to a separate notice, not only from the grace of its style
+and diction, and the curious matter with which the narrative is
+interspersed, but from its presenting one of the few pictures, which
+have come down to these times, of the social and domestic life of the
+Greeks. In the _Ethiopics_, which may be considered as an _heroic_
+romance, the scene lies throughout in palaces, camps, and temples;
+kings, high-priests, and satraps, figure in every page; the hero
+himself is a prince of his own people; and the heroine, who at first
+appears of no lower rank than a high-priestess of Delphi, proves, in
+the sequel, the heiress of a mighty kingdom. In the work of Achilles
+Tatius, on the contrary, (the plot of which is laid at a later period
+of time than that of its predecessor,) the characters are taken,
+without exception, from the class of Grecian citizens, who are
+represented in the ordinary routine of polished social existence,
+amidst their gardens of villas, and occupied by their banquets and
+processions, and the business of their courts of law. There are no
+unexpected revelations, no talismanic rings, no mysterious secret
+affecting the fortunes of any of the personages, who are all presented
+to us at the commencement in their proper names and characters. The
+interest of the story, as in the _Ethiopics_, turns chiefly on an
+elopement, and the consequent misadventures of the hero and heroine
+among various sets of robbers and treacherous friends; but the lovers,
+after being thus duly punished for their undutiful escapade, are
+restored, at the finale, to their original position, and settle
+quietly in their native home, under their own vines and fig-trees.
+
+Of the author himself little appears to be certainly known. Fabricius
+and other writers have placed him in the "third or fourth" century of
+our era; but this date will by no means agree with his constant
+imitations of Heliodorus, who is known to have lived at the end of the
+fourth and beginning of the fifth century; and Tatius, if not his
+contemporary, probably lived not long after him. Suidas (who calls him
+_Statius_) informs us that he was a native of Alexandria; and
+attributes to his pen several other works on various subjects besides
+the romance now in question, a fragment only of which--a treatise on
+the sphere--has been preserved. He adds, that he was a pagan when he
+wrote "Clitophon and Leucippe," but late in life embraced
+Christianity, and even became a bishop. This latter statement,
+however, is unsupported by any other authority, and would seem to be
+opposed by the negative testimony of the patriarch Photius, who (in
+his famous _Bibliotheca_, 118, 130) passes a severe censure on the
+immorality of certain passages in the works of Tatius, and would
+scarcely have omitted to inveigh against the further scandal of their
+having proceeded from the pen of an ecclesiastic. "In style and
+composition this work is of high excellence; the periods are generally
+well rounded and perspicuous, and gratify the ear by their harmony ...
+but, except in the names of the personages, and the unpardonable
+breaches of decorum of which he is guilty, the author appears to have
+closely copied Heliodorus both in the plan and execution of his
+narrative." In another passage, when treating of the _Babylonica_[1]
+of Iamblichus, he repeats this condemnation:--"Of these three
+principal writers of amorous tales. Heliodorus has treated the subject
+with due gravity and decorum. Iamblichus is not so unexceptionable on
+these points; and Achilles Tatius is still worse, in his eight books
+of _Clitophon and Leucippe_, the very diction of which is soft and
+effeminate, as if intended to relax the vigour of the reader's mind."
+This last denunciation of the patriarch, however, is somewhat too
+sweeping and indiscriminate, since, though some passages are certainly
+indefensible, they appear rather as interpolations, and are in no
+manner connected with the main thread of the story, the general
+tendency of which is throughout innocent and moral; and whatever may
+be said of these blemishes, it must be allowed that the pages of
+Achilles Tatius are purity itself when compared with the depravity of
+Longus, and some of his followers and imitators among the Greek
+romancists.
+
+    [1] This work is now lost, and we know it only by the abstract
+    given by Photius in the passage quoted.
+
+The period of time at which the adventures of _Clitophon and Leucippe_
+are supposed to take place, appears to be in the later ages of Grecian
+independence, when the successors of Alexander reigned in Syria and
+Egypt, and the colonized cities in Thrace and Asia Minor still
+preserved their municipal liberties. The story is related in the first
+person by the hero himself; a mode of narration which, though the best
+adapted for affording scope to the expression of the feelings of the
+principal personages, is, in this instance, very awkwardly introduced.
+A stranger, while contemplating a famous picture of the Rape of Europa
+in the Temple of Astarte at Sidon, is accosted by a young man, who,
+after a few incidental remarks, proceeds, without further preface, to
+recount his adventures at length to this casual acquaintance. This
+communicative gentleman is, of course, Clitophon; but before we
+proceed to the narrative of his loves and woes, we shall give a
+specimen of the author's powers in the line which appears to be his
+forte, by quoting his description of the painting above referred
+to:--"On entering the temple, my attention was attracted by a picture
+representing the story of Europa, in which sea and land were
+blended--the Phoenician Sea and the coasts of Sidon. On the land was
+seen a band of maidens in a meadow, while in the sea a bull was
+swimming, who bore on his shoulders a beautiful virgin, and was making
+his way in the direction of Crete. The meadow was decked with a
+profusion of bright flowers, to which a grateful shelter was afforded
+by the dense overhanging foliage of the shrubs and clumps of trees,
+which were interspersed at intervals throughout its extent; while so
+skilfully had the artist represented the appearance of light and
+shade, that the rays of the sun were seen to pass here and there
+through the interstices of the leaves, and cast a softened radiance on
+the ground underneath. A spring was seen bubbling up in the midst, and
+refreshing the flowers and plants with its cool waters; while a
+labourer with a spade was at work opening a fresh channel for the
+stream. At the extremity of the meadow, where it bordered on the sea,
+the maidens stood grouped together, in attitudes expressive of mingled
+joy and terror; their brows were bound with chaplets, and their hair
+floated in loose locks over their shoulders; but their features were
+pale, and their cheeks contracted, and they gazed with lips apart and
+opened eyes on the sea, as if on the point of uttering a cry
+half-suppressed by fear. They were standing on tiptoe on the very
+verge of the shore, with their tunics girt up to the knee, and
+extending their arms towards the bull, as if meditating to rush into
+the sea in pursuit of him, and yet shrinking from the contact of the
+waves. The sea was represented of a reddish tint inshore, but further
+out the colour changed to deep azure; while in another part the waves
+were seen running in with a swell upon the rocks, and breaking against
+them into clouds of foam and white spray. In the midst of the sea the
+bull was depicted, breasting the lofty billows which surged against
+his sides, with the damsel seated on his back, not astride, but with
+both her feet disposed on his right side, while with her left hand she
+grasped his horn, by which she guided his motions as a charioteer
+guides a horse by the rein. She was arrayed in a white tunic, which
+did not extend much below her waist, and an under-garment of purple,
+reaching to her feet; but the outline of her form, and the swell of
+her bosom, were distinctly defined through her garments. Her right
+hand rested on the back of the bull, with the left she retained her
+hold of his horn, while with both she grasped her veil, which was
+blown out by the wind, and expanded in an arch over her head and
+shoulders, so that the bull might be compared to a ship, of which the
+damsel's veil was the sail. Around them dolphins were sporting in the
+water, and winged loves fluttering in the air, so admirably depicted,
+that the spectator might fancy he saw them in motion. One Cupid guided
+the bull, while others hovered round bearing bows and quivers, and
+brandishing nuptial torches, regarding Jupiter with arch and sidelong
+glances, as if conscious that it was by their influence that the god
+had assumed the form of an animal."
+
+To return to Clitophon and his tale. He begins by informing his
+hearer, that he is the son of Hippias, a noble and wealthy denizen of
+Tyre, and that he had been betrothed from his childhood, as was not
+unusual in those times,[2] to his own half-sister Calligone:--but
+Leucippe, the daughter of Sostratus, a brother of Hippias, resident at
+Byzantium, having arrived with her mother Panthia, to claim the
+hospitality of their Tyrian relatives during a war impending between
+their native city and the Thracian tribes, Clitophon at once becomes
+enamoured of his cousin, whose charms are described in terms of
+glowing panegyric:--"She seemed to me like the representation of
+Europa, which I see in the picture before me--her eye beaming with joy
+and happiness--her locks fair,[3] and flowing in natural ringlets, but
+her eyebrows and eyelashes jetty black--her complexion fair, but with
+a blush in her cheeks like that faint crimson with which the Lydian
+women stain ivory, and her lips like the hue of a fresh-opened rose."
+Love is not, however, in this case, as in that of Theagenes and
+Chariclea, instantaneous on both sides; and the expedient adopted by
+Clitophon, with the aid of his servant Satyrus, (a valet of the
+_Scapin_ school,) to win the good graces of the lady, are detailed at
+length, evincing much knowledge of the human heart in the author, and
+affording considerable insight into the domestic arrangements of a
+Grecian family.[4] An understanding is at last effected between them,
+and Clitophon is in sad perplexity how to defer or evade his
+approaching nuptials with his sister-bride, when Calligone is most
+opportunely carried off by a band of pirates employed by Callisthenes,
+a young Byzantine, who, having fallen in love with Leucippe from the
+mere report of her beauty, and having been refused her hand by her
+father, has followed her to Tyre, and seeing Calligone in a public
+procession chaperoned by Panthia, has mistaken her for Leucippe! The
+lovers are thus left in the unrestrained enjoyment of each other's
+society; but Clitophon is erelong detected by Panthia in an attempt to
+penetrate by night into her daughter's chamber; and though the
+darkness prevents the person of the intruder from being recognised,
+the confusion which this untoward occurrence occasions in the family
+is such, that Clitophon and Leucippe, feeling their secret no longer
+safe, determine on an elopement. Accompanied by the faithful Satyrus,
+and by Clinias, a kinsman and confident of Clitophon, who generously
+volunteers to share their adventures, they accordingly set sail for
+Egypt; and the two gentlemen, having struck up an acquaintance with a
+fellow passenger, a young Alexandrian named Menelaus, beguile the
+voyage by discussing with their new friend the all-engrossing subject
+of love, the remarks on which at last take so antiplatonic a tone,
+that we can only hope Leucippe was out of hearing. These disquisitions
+are interrupted, on the third day of the voyage, by a violent tempest;
+and the sailors, finding the ship on the point of coming to pieces,
+betake themselves to the boat, leaving the passengers to their fate.
+But Clitophon and Leucippe, clinging to the forecastle, are
+comfortably wafted by the winds and waves to the coast of Egypt, and
+landed near Pelusium, where they hire a vessel to carry them to
+Alexandria; but their voyage through the tortuous branches of the Nile
+is intercepted by marauders of the same class, _Bucoli_ or buccaniers,
+as those who figure so conspicuously in the adventures of _Chariclea_
+and _Theagenes_. The robbers are at this juncture in expectation of an
+attack from the royal troops; and, having been ordered by their
+priests to propitiate the gods by the sacrifice of a virgin, are
+greatly at a loss for a victim, when chance throws Leucippe in their
+way. She is forthwith torn from her lover, and sent off to the
+headquarters of the banditti; and Clitophon is on his way to another
+of their retreats, when his captors are attacked and cut to pieces by
+a detachment of troops, whose commander, Charmides, commiserates the
+misfortunes of our hero, and hospitably entertains him in his tent.
+
+    [2] The laws of Athens permitted the marriage of a brother
+    with his sister by the father's side only--thus Cimon married
+    his half sister Elpinice; and several marriages of the same
+    nature occur in the history of the Egyptian Ptolemies.
+
+    [3] Fair hair, probably from its rarity in southern climates,
+    seems to have been at all times much prized by the ancients;
+    witness the [Greek: Xanthos Menelaos] of Homer, and the "Cui
+    _flavam_ religas comam?" of Horace. The style of Leucippe's
+    beauty seems to have resembled that of Haidee--
+
+      "Her hair, I said, was auburn; but her eyes
+       Were black as night, their lashes the same hue."
+
+    [4] One incident, where Clitophon pretends to have been stung
+    on the lip by a bee, and to be cured by a kiss from Leucippe,
+    has been borrowed by Tasso in the Aminta, (Act I. Scene 2.)
+    "Che fingendo ch'un ape avesse morso il mio labbro di sotto,"
+    &c., whence the idea has been again copied by a host of later
+    poetasters. This is not Tasso's only obligation to the Greek
+    romances, as we have already seen that he was indebted to
+    Heliodorus for the hint of his story of Clorinda.
+
+
+
+A general attack on the buccanier force is projected for the next day,
+but the advance of the troops is found to be barred by a trench so
+wide and deep as to be impassable; and while preparations are made for
+filling it up, Leucippe is brought to the opposite brink by two
+officiating priests, sheathed in armor; and there, to the horror of
+Clitophon, apparently ripped up alive before the altar. After
+completing the sacrifice, and depositing the body in a sarcophagus,
+the robbers disperse; the passage of the trench is at length effected;
+and Clitophon is preparing to fall on his sword at the tomb of his
+murdered love, when his hand is stayed by the appearance of his
+faithful friends, Menelaus and Satyrus, whom he had supposed lost in
+the ship. The mystery is now explained. They had reached the shore,
+like Clitophon, on pieces of the wreck and having also fallen into the
+power of the robbers, (as appears to have been the inevitable fate of
+every one landing in Egypt at the time of this narrative,) were
+surprised by finding Leucippe among their fellow captives, and
+learning from her the dreadful fate which awaited her. Menelaus,
+however, having recognized some former acquaintances among the
+buccaniers, was released from his bonds; and having gained their
+confidence by proposing to enrol himself in their band, offered his
+services as sacrificer, which were accepted. He now contrived to equip
+Leucippe with an artfully constructed _false stomach_, and being
+further assisted in his humane stratagem by the discovery of a knife
+with a sliding blade, among some theatrical _properties_ which the
+robbers had acquired in the course of casual plunder, succeeded in
+appearing to perform the sacrifice without any real injury to the
+victim, who at his call rises from the sarcophagus, and throws herself
+into her lover's arms.
+
+It might be supposed, that after so portentously marvellous an escape
+as the one just related, the unlucky couple might be allowed a short
+respite at least from the persecutions of adverse fortune. But perils
+in love succeed without an interval to perils in war. It is the
+invariable rule of all Greek romances, as we have remarked in a
+previous number, that the attractions both of the hero and heroine,
+should be perfectly irresistible by those of the other sex; and
+accordingly, the Egyptian officer Charmides no sooner beholds
+Leucippe, than he falls in love with her, and endeavours to gain over
+Menelaus to further his views. Menelaus feigns compliance, but
+privately gives information of the designs of Charmides to Clitophon,
+who is thrown into a dreadful state of consternation by his
+apprehensions of this powerful rival. At this juncture, however,
+Leucippe is suddenly seized with a fit of extravagant frenzy, which
+defies all the skill of the Egyptian camp; and under the influence of
+which she violently assaults her friends, and is guilty of sundry
+vagaries not altogether seemly in a well-bred young lady. Both her
+admirers, Charmides and Clitophon, are in despair, and equally in
+ignorance of the cause of her malady; but before any symptoms of
+amendment are perceptible, Charmides receives orders[5] to march with
+his whole force against the buccaniers, by whom he is inveigled into
+an ambuscade, and with most of his men either slain or drowned by the
+breaking of the dykes of the Nile. The madness of Leucippe is still
+incurable, till a stranger named Choereas makes his appearance, and
+introducing himself to Clitophon, informs him that he has discovered
+from the confession of a domestic, that Gorgias, an officer who fell
+in the late action with the _Bucoli_, captivated, like every one else,
+by the resistless charms of the heroine, had administered to her a
+philtre, the undue strength of which had excited frenzy instead of
+love. By the administration of proper remedies, the fair patient is
+now restored to her senses: and the total destruction of the
+robber-colony by a stronger force sent against them having rendered
+the navigation of the Nile again secure, the lovers once more embark
+for Alexandria, accompanied by Menelaus and Choereas, and at length
+arrive in safety at the city, which they find illuminated for the
+great feast of Serapis. The first sight of the glories of Alexandria,
+at the supposed period of the narrative the largest and most
+magnificent city in the world, and many ages subsequently second only
+to Imperial Rome herself, excites the astonishment and admiration of
+the newcomers:--and the author takes the opportunity to dilate, with
+pardonable complacency, on the magnitude and grandeur of the place of
+his birth. "When I entered the city," (says Clitophon,) "by the gates
+called those of the sun, its wonderful beauty flashed at once upon my
+sight, almost dazzling my eyes with the excess of gratification. A
+lofty colonnade of pillars, on each side of the street,[6] runs right
+from the gates of the sun on one side, to those of the moon, (for
+these are its guardian deities,) on the other; and the distance is
+such, that a walk through the city is in itself a journey. When we had
+proceeded several stadia, we arrived at the square named after
+Alexander, whence other colonnades, like those I saw extending in a
+right line before me, branched off right and left at right angles; and
+my eyes, never weary of wandering from one street to another, were
+unable to contemplate separately the various objects of attraction
+which presented themselves. Some I had before my eyes, some I was
+hastening to gaze upon, when I found myself unable to pass by others,
+while a fresh series of marvels still awaited me, so that my powers of
+vision were at last fairly exhausted, and obliged to confess
+themselves beaten. The vast extent of the city, and the innumerable
+multitude of the population, produced on the mind the effect of a
+double paradox; for regarding the one, the stranger wondered where
+such a city, which seemed as large as a continent, could find
+inhabitants; but when his attention was drawn to the other, he was
+again perplexed how so many people, more numerous than a nation, could
+find room in any single city. Thus the two conflicting feelings of
+amazement remained in equilibrio."
+
+    [5] These orders are said to have come from the "_satrap_,"
+    the Persian title having been retained under the Ptolemies,
+    for the governors of the _nomes_ or provinces. The description
+    of the stronghold of the buccaniers, in the deep recesses of a
+    marsh, and approachable only by a single hidden path, (like
+    the stockades of the North-American Indians in the swamps, as
+    described by Cotton Mather,) if not copied, like most of the
+    other Egyptian scenes, from the _Ethiopics_, presents a
+    curious picture of a class of men of whom few details are in
+    authentic history.
+
+    [6] The main street, according to Diodorus, was "forty stadia
+    in length, and a _plethrum_ (100 feet) in breadth; adorned
+    through its whole extent by a succession of palaces and
+    temples of the most costly magnificence. Alexander also
+    erected a royal palace, which was an edifice wonderful both
+    for its magnitude and the solidity of its architecture, and
+    all the kings who have succeeded him, even up to our times,
+    have spent great sums in further adorning and making additions
+    to it. On the whole, the city may be fairly reckoned as the
+    first in the world, whether for magnitude and beauty, for
+    traffic, or for the greatness of its revenues."--"It
+    comprehended," says Gibbon, speaking of it under the Roman
+    Emperors, "a circumference of fifteen miles, and was peopled
+    by 300,000 free inhabitants, besides, at least, an equal
+    number of slaves."
+
+Choereas, himself a native of the city, who had been called upon to
+take service in the late expedition against the buccaniers, does the
+honours of the locale to his new friends:--but he is not proof against
+the fatal charms of Leucippe, and resorts to the old expedient of
+procuring her abduction by a crew of pirates while on an excursion to
+the Pharos. The vessel of the captors is, however, chased by a
+guard-boat, and on the point of being taken, when Leucippe is brought
+on deck and decapitated by the pirates, who throw the headless body
+into the sea, and make their escape; while Clitophon stays the
+pursuit, to recover the remains of his mistress for sepulture.
+Clitophon now returns to Alexandria to mourn for his lost love, and is
+still inconsolable at the end of six months, when he is surprised by
+the appearance of Clinias, whom he had supposed to have perished when
+the vessel foundered at sea. Clinias relates that having, like the
+others, floated on a piece of the wreck, he had been picked up by a
+ship, which brought him back to Sidon; and as his absence from home
+had been so short as not to have been generally noticed, he had
+thought it best not to mention it, especially as he had no good
+account to give of his fellow-fugitives. In the mean time, as
+Calligone is given up for lost, Sostratus, who has heard of his
+daughter's attachment to Clitophon, but not of the elopement, writes
+from Byzantium to give his consent to their union; and diligent
+enquiries are made in every direction for the runaway couple, till
+information is at length obtained that Clitophon has been seen in
+Egypt. His father, Hippias, is therefore preparing to set sail for
+Alexandria to bring back the truant, when Clinias, thinking it would
+be as well to forewarn Clitophon of what had occurred in his absence,
+starts without delay, unknown to Hippias, and reaches Alexandria
+before him.
+
+The intelligence thus received throws Clitophon into fresh agonies of
+grief and remorse: he curses his own impatience in carrying off
+Leucippe, when a short delay would have crowned his happiness; accuses
+himself anew as the cause of her death; and declares his determination
+not to remain in Egypt and encounter his father. His friends, Menelaus
+and Clinias, in vain endeavour to combat this resolve; till the
+over-ready Satyrus finds an expedient for evading the difficulty. A
+young "Ephesian widow," named Melissa, fair and susceptible, who has
+lately lost her husband at sea, and become the heiress of his immense
+wealth, has recently (in obedience to the above-mentioned invariable
+law of Greek romance) fixed an eye of ardent affection on Clitophon;
+and it is suggested by his friends that, by marrying this new
+inamorata, and sailing with her forthwith on her return to Ephesus,
+his departure would at once be satisfactorily explained to his father
+on his arrival, and he might return to his friends at Tyre after their
+emotions at the tragical catastrophe of Leucippe had in some measure
+subsided. After much persuasion, Clitophon accedes to this
+arrangement, with the sole proviso that nothing but the _fiancailles_,
+or betrothal, shall take place in Egypt, and that the completion of
+the marriage shall be deferred till their arrival in Ephesus--on the
+plea that he cannot pledge his faith to another in the land where his
+beloved Leucippe met with her fate. This proposal, after vehement
+opposition on the part of the amorous Ephesian, is at last agreed to;
+and Clitophon, with his half-married bride, sets sail for Ephesus,
+accompanied by Clinias; while Menelaus, who remains in Egypt,
+undertakes the task of explaining matters to Hippias. The voyage is
+prosperously accomplished; and Melissa becomes urgent for the formal
+solemnization of the nuptials; while Clitophon continues to oppose
+frivolous delays which might have roused the anger of a lady even of a
+less ardent temperament. Her affection, however, continues
+undiminished; but Clitophon, while visiting, in her company, her
+country residence in the neighbourhood of the city, is thunderstruck
+by fancying that he recognizes, in the disfigured lineaments of a
+female slave, said to be a Thessalian of the name of Lacoena, who
+approaches Melissa to complain of the ill-treatment she has received
+from the steward, Sosthenes, the features of his lost Leucippe. His
+suspicions are confirmed by a billet which Leucippe conveys to him
+through Satyrus; and his situation becomes doubly perplexing, as
+Melissa, more than ever at a loss to comprehend the cause of his
+indifference, applies to Leucippe, (whom she supposes to possess the
+skill of the Thessalians in magic,) for a love-charm to compel his
+affections, promising her liberty as a reward. Leucippe is delighted
+by the proof which this request affords of the constancy of her lover;
+but the preparations for his marriage with Melissa still proceed, and
+evasion appears impossible; when at the preliminary banquet, the
+return of her husband, Thersander, is announced, who had been falsely
+reported to have perished by shipwreck. A terrible scene of confusion
+ensues, in which Thersander,
+
+            --"proceeding at a very high rate,
+      Shows the imperial penchant of a pirate."
+
+Clitophon gets a violent beating, to which he submits with the utmost
+tameness, and is thrown into fetters by the enraged husband; and
+though Melissa, on certain conditions, furnishes him with the means of
+escape from the house in the disguise of a female, he again unluckily
+encounters Thersander, and is lodged in the prison of Ephesus.
+Leucippe, meanwhile, of whose unrivalled charms Thersander has been
+informed by Sosthenes, is still detained in bondage, and suffers cruel
+persecution from her brutal master; who, at last, having learned from
+an overheard soliloquy her true parentage and history, as well as her
+attachment for Clitophon, (of her relations with whom he was not
+previously aware,) forms a scheme of ridding himself of this twofold
+rival, by sending one of his emissaries into the prison, who gives out
+that he has been arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the
+murder of Leucippe, who has been dispatched by assassins employed by
+the jealous Melissa. Clitophon at once gives full credence to this
+awkwardly devised tale, and determines not to survive his mistress, in
+spite of the remonstrances of Clinias, who argues with much reason,
+that one who had so often been miraculously preserved from death,
+might have escaped also on the present occasion. But Clitophon refuses
+to be comforted; and when brought before the assembly in the forum to
+stand his trial, on the charge, (apparently, for it is not very
+clearly specified,) of having married another man's wife, he openly
+declares himself guilty of Leucippe's murder, which he affirms to have
+been concerted between Melissa and himself, in order to remove the
+obstacle to their amours, and now revealed by him from remorse. He is,
+of course, condemned to death forthwith, and Thersander is triumphing
+in the unexpected success of his schemes, when the judicial
+proceedings are interrupted by the appearance of a religious
+procession, at the head of which Clitophon is astonished by
+recognizing his uncle Sostratus, the father of Leucippe, who had been
+deputed by the Byzantines to offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, at the
+Temple of Diana, for their victory over the Thracians. On hearing the
+state of affairs, he furiously denounces the murderer of his daughter;
+but at this moment it is announced that Leucippe, whom Thersander had
+believed to be in safe custody, has escaped, and taken refuge in the
+Temple of Diana!
+
+The interest of the story is now at an end; but much yet remains
+before the conclusion. Thersander, maddened at the prospect of being
+thus doubly baulked of his prey, throws gross aspersions on the purity
+of Leucippe, and even demands that Clitophon, in spite of his now
+manifest innocence, shall be executed in pursuance of the previous
+sentence! but the high-priest of Diana takes the lovers under his
+protection, and the cause is adjourned to the morrow. Leucippe now
+relates the circumstances of her captivity:--the Alexandrian pirates,
+having deceived their pursuers by beheading another captive dressed in
+her garments, had next fallen out with and murdered their base
+employer Choereas, and finally sold her for two thousand drachmas to
+Sosthenes: while from Sostratus, on the other hand, Clitophon receives
+tidings that his long-lost sister Calligone is on the point of
+marriage to Callisthenes, who, it will be remembered, had carried her
+off from Tyre by mistake for Leucippe, (having become enamoured of the
+latter without ever having seen her,) and on the discovery of his
+error, had made her all the amends in his power by an instant transfer
+of his affections. Thus everything is on the point of ending happily;
+but the sentence passed against Clitophon still remains unreversed,
+and Thersander, in the assembly of the following day, vehemently calls
+for its ratification. But the cause of the defendant is espoused by
+the high-priest, who lavishes on the character and motives of
+Thersander a torrent of abuse, couched in language little fitting his
+sacred character; while Thersander shows himself in this respect fully
+a match for his reverend antagonist, and, moreover, reiterates with
+fresh violence his previous charge against Leucippe. The debates are
+protracted to an insufferably tedious length; but the character of
+Leucippe is at last vindicated by her descent into a cavern, whence
+sounds of more than human melody are heard on the entrance of a damsel
+of untainted fame. The result of this ordeal is, of course,
+triumphant; and Thersander, overwhelmed with confusion makes his
+escape from the popular indignation, and is condemned to exile by
+acclamation as a suborner of false evidence; while the lovers, freed
+at length from all their troubles, sail for Byzantium in company with
+Sostratus; and after there solemnizing their own nuptials, return to
+Tyre to assist at those of Callisthenes and Calligone.
+
+The leading defects observable in this romance are obviously the
+glaring improbability of many of the incidents, and the want of
+connexion and necessary dependence between the several parts of the
+story. Of the former--the device of the false stomach and theatrical
+dagger, by means of which Menelaus and Satyrus (after gaining,
+moreover, in a moment the full confidence of the buccaniers,) save the
+life of Leucippe when doomed to sacrifice, is the most flagrant
+instance; though her second escape from supposed death, when Clitophon
+imagines that he sees her head struck off by the Alexandrian pirates,
+is almost equally liable to the same objection; while in either case
+the deliverance of the heroine might as well have been managed,
+without prejudice either to the advancement or interest of the
+narrative, by more rational and probable methods. The too frequent
+introduction of incidents and personages not in any way connected
+with, or conducive to the progress of the main plot, is also
+objectionable, and might almost induce the belief that the original
+plan was in some measure altered or departed from in the course of
+composition. It is difficult to conceive for what purpose the
+character of Calligone, the sister and fiancee of Clitophon, is
+introduced among the dramatic personae. She appears at the beginning
+only to be carried off by Callisthenes as soon as Clitophon's passion
+for Leucippe makes her presence inconvenient, and we incidentally hear
+of her as on the point of becoming his bride at the conclusion; but
+she is seen only for a moment, and never permitted to speak, like a
+walking gentlewoman on the stage, and exercises not the smallest
+influence on the fortunes of the others. Gorgias is still worse used:
+he is a mere _nominis umbra_, of whose bodily presence nothing is made
+visible; nor is so much as his name mentioned, except for the purpose
+of informing us that it was through his agency that the love-potion
+was administered to Leucippe, and that he has since been killed in the
+action against the buccaniers. The whole incident of the philtre,
+indeed, and the consequent madness of the heroine, is unnatural and
+revolting, and serves no end but to introduce Choereas to effect a
+cure. But even had it been indispensable to the plot, it might have
+been far more probably ascribed to the Egyptian commander Charmides,
+with whose passion for Leucippe we were already acquainted, and who
+had, moreover, learned from Menelaus that he had little chance of
+success by ordinary methods, from the pre-engagement of the lady to
+Clitophon.
+
+Nor are these defects compensated by any high degree of merit in the
+delineation of the characters. With the exception of Leucippe herself,
+they are all almost wholly devoid of individual or distinguishing
+traits, and insipid and uninteresting to the last degree. Menelaus and
+Clinias, the confidants and trusted friends of the hero, are the
+dullest of all dull mortals--a qualification which perhaps fits them
+in some measure for the part they are to bear in the story, as
+affording some security against their falling in love with Leucippe, a
+fate which they, of all the masculine personages, alone escape. Their
+active intervention is confined to the preservation of Leucippe from
+the _bucoli_ by Menelaus, and a great deal of useless declamation in
+behalf of Clitophon before the assembly of Ephesus from Clinias.
+Satyrus, also, from whose knavish ingenuity in the early part of the
+tale something better was to be expected, soon subsides into a
+well-behaved domestic, and hands his master the letter in which poor
+Leucippe makes herself known to him at Ephesus, when she imagines him
+married to Melissa, with all the nonchalance of a modern footman.
+Clitophon himself is hardly a shade superior to his companions. He is
+throughout a mere passive instrument, leaving to chance, or the
+exertions of others, his extrication from the various troubles in
+which he becomes involved: even of the qualities usually regarded as
+inseparable from a hero of romance, spirit and personal courage, he is
+so utterly destitute as to suffer himself to be beaten and ill
+treated, both by Thersander and Sostratus, without an attempt to
+defend himself; and his lamentations, whenever he finds himself in
+difficulties, or separated from his ladye-love, are absolutely
+puerile. As to the other characters, Thersander is a mere vulgar
+ruffian--"a rude and boisterous captain of the sea,"--whose brutal
+violence on his first appearance, and subsequent unprincipled
+machinations, deprive him of the sympathy which might otherwise have
+been excited in behalf of one who finds his wife and his property
+unceremoniously taken possession of during his absence; while, on the
+other hand, the language used by the high-priest of Diana, in his
+invectives against Thersander and his accomplices, gives but a low
+idea of the dignity or refinement of the Ephesian hierarchy. But the
+female characters, as is almost always the case in the Greek romances,
+are far better drawn, and infinitely more interesting, than the men.
+Even Melissa, though apparently intended only as a foil to the
+perfections of Leucippe, wins upon us by her amorous weakness, and the
+invincible kindness of heart which impels her, even when acquainted
+with the real state of affairs, to protect the lovers against her
+husband's malpractices. Leucippe herself goes far to make amends for
+the general insipidity of the other characters. Though not a heroine
+of so lofty a stamp as Chariclea, in whom the spirit of her royal
+birth is all along apparent, she is endowed with a mingled gentleness
+and firmness, which is strongly contrasted with the weakness and
+pusillanimity of her lover:--her uncomplaining tenderness, when she
+finds Clitophon at Ephesus (as she imagines) the husband of another,
+and the calm dignity with which she vindicates herself from the
+injurious aspersions of Thersander, are represented with great truth
+and feeling, and attach a degree of interest to her, which the other
+personages of the narrative are very far from inspiring.
+
+In the early part of the story, during the scenes in Tyre and Egypt,
+the action is carried on with considerable spirit and briskness; the
+author having apparently thus far kept before him, as a model, the
+narrative of Heliodorus. But towards the conclusion, and, indeed from
+the time of the arrival of Clitophon and Melissa at Ephesus, the
+interest flags wofully. The _denouement_ is inevitably foreseen from
+the moment Clitophon is made aware that Leucippe is still alive and in
+his neighbourhood, and the arrival of Thersander, almost immediately
+afterwards, disposes of the obstacle of his engagement to Melissa; but
+the reader is acquainted with all these circumstances before the end
+of the fifth book; the three remaining books being entirely occupied
+by the proceedings in the judicial assembly, the recriminations of the
+high-priest, and the absurd ordeal to which Leucippe is subjected--all
+apparently introduced for no other purpose than to show the author's
+skill in declamation. The display of his own acquirements in various
+branches of art and science, and of his rhetorical powers of language
+in describing them, is indeed an object of which Achilles Tatius never
+loses sight; and continual digressions from the thread of the story
+for this purpose occur, often extremely _mal-a-propos_, and sometimes
+entirely without reference to the preceding narrative. Thus, when
+Clitophon is relating the terms of an oracle addressed to the
+Byzantines, previous to their war with the Thracians, he breaks off at
+once into a dissertation on the wonderful qualities of the element of
+water, the inflammable springs of Sicily, the gold extracted from the
+lakes of Africa, &c.--all which is supposed to be introduced into a
+conversation on the oracle between Sostratus and his colleague in
+command, and could only have come to the knowledge of Clitophon by
+being repeated to him _verbatim_, after a considerable interval of
+time, by Sostratus. Again, in the midst of the hero's perplexities at
+his threatened marriage with Calligone, we are favoured with a minute
+enumeration of the gems set in an ornament which his father purchased
+as part of the trousseau; and this again leads to an account of the
+discovery and application of the purple dye. The description of
+objects of natural history is at all times a favourite topic; and the
+sojourn of the lovers in Egypt affords the author an opportunity of
+indulging in details relative to the habits and appearances of the
+various strange animals found in that country--the crocodile, the
+hippopotamus, and the elephant, are described with considerable spirit
+and fidelity; and even the form and colours of the fabulous phoenix,
+are delineated with all the confidence of an eyewitness.
+
+Many of these episodical sketches, though out of place when thus
+awkwardly inserted in the midst of the narrative, are in themselves
+curious and well written; but the most valuable and interesting among
+them are the frequent descriptions of paintings, a specimen of which
+has already been given. On this subject especially, the author dwells
+_con amore_, and his remarks are generally characterised by a degree
+of good taste and correct feeling, which indicates a higher degree of
+appreciation of the pictorial art than is generally ascribed to the
+age in which Achilles Tatius wrote. Even in the latter part of the
+first century of our era, Pliny, when enumerating the glorious names
+of the ancient Greek painters, laments over the total decline, in his
+own days, of what he terms (_Nat. Hist_. xxxv. 11) "an aspiring art;"
+but the monarchs of the Macedonian dynasties in Asia, and, above all,
+the Egyptian Ptolemies, were both munificent patrons of the fine arts
+among their own subjects, and diligent collectors of the great works
+of past ages; and many of the _chefs-d'oeuvres_ of the Grecian masters
+were thus transferred from their native country to adorn, the temples
+and palaces of Egypt and Syria. We find, from Plutarch, that when
+Aratus was exerting himself to gain for the Achaean league the powerful
+alliance of Ptolemy Euergetes, he found no means so effectual in
+conciliating the good-will of the monarch, as the procuring for him
+some of the master-pieces of Pamphilus[7] and Melanthius, the most
+renowned of the famous school of Sicyon; and the knowledge of the high
+estimation in which the arts were held, under the Egyptian kings,
+gives an additional value to the accounts given by Tatius of these
+treasures of a past age, his notices of which are the latest, in
+point of time, which have come down to us from an eyewitness. We have
+already quoted the author's vivid description of the painting of
+Europa at Sidon--we shall now subjoin, as a pendant to the former
+notice, his remarks on a pair of pictures at Pelusium:--
+
+    [7] Pamphilus was a Macedonian by birth, and a pupil of
+    Eupompus, the founder of the school of Sicyon; to the
+    presidency of which he succeeded. His pupils paid each a
+    talent a year for instruction; and Melanthius, and even
+    Apelles himself, for a time, were among the number.--Pliny,
+    _Hist. Nat_. xxxv. 36. The great talent of Melanthius, like
+    that of his master Pamphilus, lay in composition and grouping;
+    and so highly were his pictures esteemed, that Pliny, in
+    another passage, says, that the wealth of a city would hardly
+    purchase one.
+
+
+    "In this temple (of Jupiter Casius) were two famous works of
+    Evanthes, illustrative of the legends of Andromeda and
+    Prometheus, which the painter had probably selected as a pair,
+    from the similarity of the Subjects--the principal figure in
+    each being bound to a rock and exposed to the attack of a
+    terrific animal; in one case a denizen of the air, in the
+    other a monster of the sea; and the deliverers of both being
+    Argives, and of kindred blood to each other, Hercules and
+    Perseus--the former of whom encountered, on foot, the savage
+    bird sent by Jove, while the latter mounted on borrowed wings
+    into the air, to assail the monster which issued from the sea
+    at the command of Neptune. In the picture of Andromeda, the
+    virgin was laid in a hollow of the rock, not fashioned by art,
+    but rough like a natural cavity; and which, if viewed only
+    with regard to the beauty of that which it contained, looked
+    like a niche holding an exquisite fresh from the chisel; but
+    the sight of her bonds, and of the monster approaching to
+    devour her, gave it rather the aspect of a sepulchre. On her
+    features extreme loveliness was blended with deadly terror,
+    which was seated on her pallid cheeks, while beauty beamed
+    forth from her eyes; but, as even amid the pallor of her
+    cheeks a faint tinge of colour was yet perceptible, so was the
+    brightness of her eyes, on the other hand, in some measure
+    dimmed, like the bloom of lately blighted violets. Her white
+    arms were extended, and lashed to the rock; but their
+    whiteness partook of a livid hue, and her fingers were like
+    those of a corpse. Thus lay she, expecting death, but arrayed
+    like a bride, in a long white robe, which seemed not as if
+    woven from the fleece of the sheep, but from the web of the
+    spider, or of those winged insects, the long threads spun by
+    which are gathered by the Indian women from the trees of their
+    own country. The monster was just rising out of the sea
+    opposite to the damsel, his head alone being distinctly
+    visible, while the unwieldy length of his body was still in a
+    great measure concealed by the waves, yet so as partially to
+    discover his formidable array of spines and scales, his
+    swollen neck, and his long flexible tail, while the gape of
+    his horrible jaws extended to his shoulder, and disclosed the
+    abyss of his stomach. But between the monster and the damsel,
+    Perseus was depicted descending to the encounter from the
+    upper regions of the air--his body bare, except a mantle
+    floating round his shoulders, and winged sandals on his
+    feet--a cap resembling the helmet of Pluto was on his head,
+    and in his left hand he held before him, like a buckler, the
+    head of the Gorgon, which even in the pictured representation
+    was terrible to look at, shaking its snaky hair, which seemed
+    to erect itself and menace the beholder. His right hand
+    grasped a weapon, in shape partaking of both a sickle and a
+    sword; for it had a single hilt, and to the middle of the
+    blade resembled a sword; but there it separated into two
+    parts, one continuing straight and pointed, like a sword,
+    while the other was curved backwards, so that with a single
+    stroke, it might both inflict a wound, and fix itself in the
+    part struck. Such was the picture of Andromeda; the design of
+    the other was thus:--
+
+    "Prometheus was represented bound down to a rock, with fetters
+    of iron, while Hercules, armed with a bow and arrow, was seen
+    approaching. The vulture, supporting himself by fixing his
+    talons in the thigh of Prometheus, was tearing open the
+    stomach of his victim, and apparently searching with his beak
+    for the liver, which it was his destiny daily to devour, and
+    which the painter had shown through the aperture of the wound.
+    The whole frame of the sufferer was convulsed, and his limbs
+    contracted with torture, so that, by raising his thigh, he
+    involuntarily presented his side to the bird--while the other
+    limb was visibly quivering in its whole length, with
+    agony--his teeth were clenched, his lips parted, and his brows
+    wrinkled. Hercules had already fitted the arrow to the bow, and
+    aimed it against his tormentor: his left arm was thrown
+    forward grasping the stock, while the elbow of the right was
+    bent in the attitude of drawing the arrow to his breast; while
+    Prometheus, full of mingled hope and fear, was endeavouring to
+    fix his undivided gaze on his deliverer, though his eyes, in
+    spite of himself, were partially diverted by the anguish of
+    his wound."
+
+The work of Achilles Tatius, with all its blemishes and defects,
+appears to have been highly popular among the Greeks of the lower
+empire. An epigram is still extant, attributed to the Emperor Leo, the
+philosopher,[8] in which it is landed as an example of chaste and
+faithful love: and it was esteemed as a model of romantic composition
+from the elegance of its style and diction, in which Heretius ranks
+the author above Heliodorus, though he at the same time severely
+criticizes him for want of originality, accusing him of having
+borrowed all the interesting passages in his work from the
+_Ethiopics_. In common with Heliodorus, Tatius has found a host of
+followers among the later Greeks, some of whom (as the learned critic
+just quoted, observes) have transcribed, rather than imitated him. In
+the "Hysminias and Hysmine" of Eumathius, a wretched production of the
+twelfth century, not only many of the incidents, but even of the
+names, as Sostratus, Sosthenes, and Anthia, are taken from Clitophon
+and Leucippe: and to so servile an extent is this plagiarism carried,
+that two books out of the nine, of which the romance consists, are
+filled with descriptions of paintings; while the plot, not very
+intelligible at the best, is still further perplexed by the
+extraordinary affectation of making nearly all the names alike; thus,
+the hero and heroine are Hysminias and Hysmine, the towns are
+Aulycomis, Eurycomis, Artycomis, &c. In all these works, the outline
+is the same; the lovers undergo endless buffetings by sea and land,
+imaginary deaths, and escapes from marauders; but not a spark of
+genius or fancy enlivens these dull productions, which, sometimes
+maudlin and bombastic, often indecent, would defy the patience of the
+most determined novel reader. One of these writers, Xenophon of
+Ephesus, the author of the "Ephesiacs, or Habrocomas and Anthia," is
+commended by Politian for the classical purity of his language, in
+which he considers him scarcely inferior to his namesake the
+historian: but the work has little else to recommend it. The two
+principal personages are represented as miracles of personal beauty;
+and the women fall in love with Habrocomas, as well as the men with
+Anthia, literally by dozens at a time: the plot, however differs from
+that of the others in marrying them at the commencement, and sending
+them through the ordinary routine of dangers afterwards. The
+_Ephesiacs_ are, however, noticeable from its having been supposed by
+Mr Douce, (_Illustrations of Shakspeare_, ii. 198,) that the
+catastrophe in Romeo and Juliet was originally borrowed from one of
+the adventures of Anthia, who, when separated from her husband, is
+rescued from banditti by Perilaus, governor of Cilicia, and by him
+destined for his bride. Unable to evade his solicitations, she
+procures from the "poverty, not the will" of an aged physician named
+Eudoxus, what she supposes to be a draught of poison, but which is
+really an opiate. She is laid with great pomp, loaded with gems and
+costly ornaments, in a vault; and on awakening, finds herself in the
+hands of a crew of pirates, who have broken open her sepulchre in
+order to rifle the treasures which they knew to have been deposited
+there. "This work," (observes Mr Douce,) "was certainly not published
+nor translated in the time of Luigi da Porto, the original narrator of
+the story of Romeo and Juliet: but there is no reason why he might not
+have seen a copy of the original in MS. We might enumerate several
+more of these later productions of the same school; but a separate
+analysis of each would be both tedious and needless, as none present
+any marked features of distinction from those already noticed. They
+are all, more or less, indifferent copies either from Heliodorus or
+Achilles Tatius; the outline of the story being generally borrowed
+from one or the other of these sources, while in point of style,
+nearly all appear to have taken as their model the florid rhetorical
+display and artificial polish of language which characterize the
+latter. Their redeeming point is the high position uniformly assigned
+to the female characters, who are neither immured in the Oriental
+seclusion of the harem, nor degraded to household drudges, like the
+Athenian ladies in the polished age of Pericles:[9] but mingle without
+restraint in society as the friends and companions of the other sex,
+and are addressed in the language of admiration and respect. But these
+pleasing traits are not sufficient to atone for the improbability of
+the incidents, relieved neither by the brilliant fancy of the East,
+nor the lofty deeds of the romances of chivalry: and the reader,
+wearied by the repetition of similar scenes and characters, thinly
+disguised by change of name and place, finds little reason to regret
+that "the children of the marriage of Theagenes and Chariclea," as
+these romances are termed by a writer quoted by d'Israeli in the
+"Curiosities of Literature"--have not continued to increase and
+multiply up to our own times.
+
+    [8] Some bibliographers have assigned it to Photius; but the
+    opinion of Achilles Tatius expressed by the patriarch, and
+    quoted at the commencement of this article, precludes the
+    possibility of its being from his pen.
+
+    [9] See Mitford's _History of Greece_, ch. xiii, sect. 1.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+THE NEW ART OF PRINTING.
+
+BY A DESIGNING DEVIL.
+
+    "Aliter non fit, avite, liber."--MARTIAL.
+
+
+It is more than probable that, at the first discovery of that
+mightiest of arts, which has so tended to facilitate every other--the
+art of printing--many old-fashioned people looked with a jealous eye
+on the innovation. Accustomed to a written character, their eyes
+became wearied by the crabbedness and formality of type. It was like
+travelling on the paved and rectilinear roads of France, after winding
+among the blooming hedgerows of England; and how dingy and graceless
+must have appeared the first printed copy of the Holy Bible, to those
+accustomed to luxuriate in emblazoned missals, amid all the pride,
+pomp, and vellum of glorious MS.!
+
+Dangerous and democratic, too, must have appeared the new art, which,
+by plebeianizing knowledge and enlightening the mass, deprived the law
+and the prophets of half their terrors, and disrobed priestcraft and
+kingcraft of their mystery. We can imagine that, as soon as a printed
+book ceased to be a great rarity, it became an object of great
+abhorrence.
+
+There were many, no doubt, to prophesy, as on occasion of every new
+invention, that it was all very well for a novelty; but that the thing
+would not, and could not last! How were the poor copyists to get their
+living if their occupation was taken from them? How were so many
+monasteries to be maintained which had subsisted on _manuscriptum_?
+And, then, what prince in his right senses would allow a
+printing-press to be set up in his dominions--a source of sedition and
+heresy--an implement of disaffection and schism? The free towns,
+perhaps, might foster this pernicious art, and certain evilly-disposed
+potentates wink at the establishment of type-founderies in their
+states. But the great powers of Europe knew better! They would never
+connive at this second sowing of the dragon's teeth of Cadmus.
+
+Thus, probably, they argued; becoming reconciled, in process of time,
+to the terrible novelty. Print-books became almost as easy to read as
+manuscript; soon as cheap, and at length of a quarter the price, or
+even less; till, two centuries later, benefit of clergy ceased to be
+a benefit, books were plenty as blackberries, and learning a thing for
+the multitude. According to Dean Swift's account, the chaplain's time
+hung heavy on his hands, for my lady had sermon books of her own, and
+could read; nay, my lady's woman had jest books of her own, and wanted
+none of his nonsense! The learned professions, or black arts, lost at
+least ninety-five per cent in importance; and so rapid as been the
+increase of the evil, that, at this time of day, it is a hard matter
+to impose on any clodpole in Europe! Instead of signing with their
+marks, the kings of modern times have turned ushers; instead of
+reading with difficulty, we have a mob of noblemen who write with
+ease; and, now-a-days, it is every duke, ay, and every duchess her own
+book-maker!
+
+A year or two hence, however, and all this will have become
+obsolete.--_Nous avons change tout cela!_--No more letter-press!
+Books, the _small_ as well as the great, will have been voted a great
+evil. There will be no gentlemen of the press. The press itself will
+have ceased to exist.
+
+For several years past it has been frankly avowed by the trade that
+books have ceased to sell; that the best works are a drug in the
+market; that their shelves groan, until themselves are forced to
+follow the example.
+
+Descend to what shifts they may in order to lower their prices, by
+piracy from other booksellers, or clipping and coining of authors--no
+purchasers! Still, the hope prevailed for a time among the lovers of
+letters, that a great glut having occurred, the world was chewing the
+cud of its repletion; that the learned were shut up in the Bodleian,
+and the ignorant battening upon the circulating libraries; that hungry
+times would come again!
+
+But this fond delusion has vanished. People have not only ceased to
+purchase those old-fashioned things called books, but even to read
+them! Instead of cutting new works, page by page, people cut them
+altogether! To far-sighted philosophers, indeed, this was a state of
+things long foreshown. It could not be otherwise. The reading world
+was a sedentary world. The literary public was a public lying at
+anchor. When France delighted in the twelve-volume novels of
+Mademoiselle de Scuderi, it drove in coaches and six, at the rate of
+four miles an hour; when England luxuriated in those of Richardson, in
+eight, it drove in coaches and four, at the rate of five. A journey
+was then esteemed a family calamity; and people abided all the year
+round in their cedar parlours, thankful to be diverted by the arrival
+of the _Spectator_, or a few pages of the _Pilgrim's Progress_, or a
+new sermon. To their unincidental lives, a book was an event.
+
+Those were the days worth writing for! The fate of Richardson's
+heroines was made a national affair; and people interceded with him by
+letter to "spare Clarissa," as they would not now intercede with her
+Majesty to spare a new Effie Deans. The successive volumes of _Pope's
+Iliad_ were looked for with what is called "breathless" interest,
+while such political sheets as the _Drapier's Letters_, or _Junius_,
+set the whole kingdom in an uproar! And now, if Pope, or Swift, or
+Fielding, or Johnson, or Sterne, were to rise from the grave, MS. in
+hand, the most adventurous publisher would pass a sleepless night
+before he undertook the risk of paper and print; would advise a small
+edition, and exact a sum down in ready money, to be laid out in puffs
+and advertisements! "Even then, though we may get rid of a few copies
+to the circulating libraries," he would observe, "do not expect, sir,
+to obtain readers. A few old maids in the county towns, and a few
+gouty old gentlemen at the clubs; are the only persons of the present
+day who ever open a book!"
+
+And who can wonder? _Who_ has leisure to read? _Who_ cares to sit down
+and spell out accounts of travels which he can make at less cost than
+the cost of the narrative? _Who_ wants to peruse fictitious
+adventures, when railroads and steamboats woo him to adventures of his
+own? Egypt was once a land of mystery; now, every lad, on leaving
+Eton, yachts it to the pyramids. India was once a country to dream of
+over a book. Even quartoes, if tolerably well-seasoned with suttees
+and sandalwood, went down; now, every genteel family has its "own
+correspondent," per favour of the Red Sea; and the best printed
+account of Cabul would fall stillborn from the press. As to Van
+Dieman's Land, it is vulgar as the Isle of Dogs; and since people have
+steamed it backwards and forwards across the Atlantic more easily than
+formerly across the Channel, every woman chooses to be her own
+Trollope--every man his own Boz!
+
+For some time after books had ceased to find a market, the periodicals
+retained their vogue; and even till very lately, newspapers found
+readers. But the period at length arrived, when even the leisure
+requisite for the perusal of these lighter pages, is no longer
+forthcoming. People are busy ballooning or driving; shooting like
+stars along railroads; or migrating like swallows or wild-geese. It
+has been found, within the current year, impossible to read even a
+newspaper!
+
+The march of intellect, however, luckily keeps pace with the
+necessities of the times; and no sooner was it ascertained, that
+reading-made-easy was difficult to accomplish, than a new art was
+invented for the more ready transmission of ideas. The fallacy of the
+proverb, that "those who run may read," being established, modern
+science set about the adoption of a medium, available to those sons of
+the century who are always on the run. Hence, the grand secret of
+ILLUSTRATION.--Hence the new art of printing!
+
+The pictorial printing-press is now your only wear! Every thing is
+communicated by delineation. We are not _told_, but _shown_ how the
+world is wagging. The magazines sketch us a lively article, the
+newspapers vignette us, step by step, a royal tour. The beauties of
+Shakspeare are imprinted on the minds of the rising generation, in
+woodcuts; and the poetry of Byron engraver in their hearts, by means
+of the graver. Not a boy in his teens has read a line of Don Quixote
+or Gil Blas, though all have their adventures by heart; while
+Goldsmith's "Deserted Village" has been committed to memory by our
+daughters and wives, in a series of exquisite illustrations. Every
+body has La Fontaine by heart, thanks to the pencil of Granville,
+which requires neither grammar nor dictionary to aid its
+interpretations; and even Defoe--even the unparalleled Robinson
+Crusoe--is devoured by our ingenuous youth in cuts and come again.
+
+At present, indeed, the new art of printing is in its infancy, but it
+is progressing so rapidly, that the devils of the old will soon have a
+cold birth of it! Views of the Holy Land are superseding even the Holy
+Scriptures; and a pictorial Blackstone is teaching the ideas of the
+sucking lawyers how to shoot. Nay, Buchan's "Domestic Medicine" has
+(proh pudor!) its illustrated edition.
+
+The time saved to an active public by all this, is beyond computation.
+All the world is now instructed by symbols, as formerly the deaf and
+dumb; and instead of having to peruse a tedious penny-a-line account
+of the postilion of the King of the French misdriving his Majesty, and
+his Majesty's august family, over a draw-bridge into a moat at
+Treport, a single glance at a single woodcut places the whole disaster
+graphically before us; leaving us nine minutes and a half of the time
+we must otherwise have devoted to the study of the case, to dispose of
+at our own will and pleasure; to start, for instance, for Chelsea, and
+be back again by the steam-boat, before our mother knows we are out.
+
+The application of the new art is of daily and hourly extension. The
+scandalous Sunday newspapers have announced an intention of evading
+Lord Campbell's act, by veiling their libels in caricature. Instead of
+_writing_ slander and flat blasphemy, they propose to _draw_ it, and
+not draw it mild. The daily prints will doubtless follow their
+example. No more Jenkinsisms in the _Morning Post_, concerning
+fashionable parties. A view of the duchess's ball-room, or of the
+dining-table of the earl, will supersede all occasion for lengthy
+fiddle-faddle. The opera of the night before will be described in a
+vignette--the ballet in a tail-piece; and we shall know at a glance
+whether Cerito and Elssler performed their _pas_ meritoriously, by the
+number of bouquets depicted at their feet.
+
+On the other hand, instead of column after column of dry debates, we
+shall know sufficiently who were the speakers of the preceding night,
+by a series of portraits--each having an annexed trophy, indicative
+of the leading points of his oration. Members of both Houses will be,
+of course, daguerreotyped for the use of the morning papers; and
+photographic likenesses of the leaders of _ton_ be supplied gratis to
+the leaders of the press.
+
+How far more interesting a striking sketch of a banquet, containing
+portraits of undoubted authenticity, to the matter-of-fact
+announcements of the exploded letter-press--that "yesterday his Grace
+the Duke of Wellington entertained at dinner, at Apsley House, the
+Earls of Aberdeen and Liverpool, the Dukes of Richmond and Buccleuch,
+the Master of the Horse, the Lord Chancellor, Sir Robert Peel, Sir
+James Graham, Sir Frederick Trench, Colonel Gurwood, and M. Algernon
+Greville!" Who has patience for the recapitulation of a string of
+names, when a group of faces may be placed simultaneously before him?
+
+And then, accounts of races! How admirably will they be concentrated
+into a delineation of the winner passing the post--the losers
+distances; and what disgusting particulars of boxing matches shall we
+avoid by a spirited etching. Think of despatches from India, (one of
+Lord Ellenborough's XXXX,) published in a series of groupings worthy
+the frescoes of the tomb of Psammis. As to the affairs of China, we
+shall henceforward derive as much pleasure from the projects of Sir
+Henry Pottinger, cut in wood by the _Morning Herald_, as in surveying
+the Mandarins sailing on buffaloes through the air, or driving in
+junks over meadows, in one of Wedgewood's soup plates!
+
+It has long been the custom for advertisers in the continental
+journals to typify their wares. The George Robinses of Brussels, for
+instance, embody their account of some exquisite villa in a charming
+perspective of the same, or of a capital town mansion in a grim
+likeness; while the _carossiers_, who have town chariots or family
+coaches to dispose of, make it known in the most designing manner. The
+consequence is, that the columns of certain foreign papers bear a
+striking likeness to a child's alphabet, such as "A was an archer, and
+shot at a frog." Among ourselves, this practice is at present only
+partially adopted. We are all familiar with the shape of Mr Cox
+Savory's tea-pots, and Messrs Dondney's _point-device_ men in buckram;
+while Mordan acquaints us, with much point, how many varieties he has
+invented of pencil-cases and toothpicks. As to the London Wine
+Company, the new art has long imprinted upon our minds a mysterious
+notion of a series of vaults in the style of the Thames tunnel,
+frequented by figures armed with spigots and dark lanterns, that
+remind us of Guy Fawkes, and make us tremble for ourselves and Father
+Mathew! Loose notions of the stay-making trade have been circulated by
+the same medium; and we have noticed wood-blocks of wig-blocks,
+deservedly immortalizing the pernquier.
+
+But consider what it will be when the system is adopted on a more
+comprehensive scale. The daily papers will present a series of
+designs, remarkable as those of the Glyptothek and Pinacothek at
+Munich; and in all probability, the artists of the prize cartoons will
+be engaged in behalf of the leading journals of Europe. Who cannot
+foresee her Majesty's drawing-room illustrated by Parris! Who cannot
+conceive the invasion of Britain outdone in an allegorical leading
+article: "Louis Philippe (in a Snooks-like attitude) inviting Queen
+Victoria to St Cloud; and the British lion lashing out its tail at the
+Coq Gaulois!"
+
+As to the affairs of Spain, they will be a mine of wealth to the new
+press--_L'Espagne Pittoresque_ will sell thousands more copies than
+Spain Constitutionalized; and let us trust that Sir George Hayter will
+instantly "walk his chalks," and secure us the Cortes in black and
+white.
+
+The Greek character will now become easy to decipher; and the evening
+papers may take King Otho both off the throne and on. The designs of
+Russia have long been proverbial; but the exercise of the new art of
+printing may assign them new features. The representations of
+impartial periodicals will cut out, or out-cut De Custine; and while
+contemplating the well-favoured presentment of Nicholas I., we shall
+exclaim--"Is this a tyrant that I see before me?" Nothing will be
+easier then to throw the Poles into the shade of the picture, or to
+occupy the foreground with a brilliant review.
+
+As to Germany, to embody her in the hieroglyphics of the new press,
+might be a study for Retsch; and who will care for the lumbering pages
+of Von Raumer, or the wishy-washy details of Kohl, when able, in an
+_augenblick_, to bring Berlin and Vienna before him; to study the
+Zollverein in the copy of the King of Prussia's cogitative
+countenance, and ascertain the views of Metternich concerning the
+elder branch of the Bourbons, by a _cul de lampe_ in the _Morning
+Chronicle_!
+
+We have little doubt of shortly seeing announcements--standing like
+tombstones in those literary cemeteries, the Saturday papers--of "A
+new work upon America, from the graver of George Cruickshank;" or "A
+new fashionable novel, (diamond edition,) from the accomplished pencil
+of H.B." Kenny Meadows will become the Byron of the day, Leech the
+Scott, Forrester the Marryatt, Phiz the Trollope; Stanfield and Turner
+will be epic poets, Landseer preside over the belles-lettres, and
+Webster and Stone become the epigrammatists and madrigalists of the
+press.
+
+All this will, doubtless, throw a number of deserving persons out of
+employ. The writers, whose stock in trade consists of words rather
+than ideas, will find their way to Basinghall Street, prose will be at
+a discount, and long-windedness be accounted a distemper. A great
+variety of small Sapphos must turn seamstresses*, at three-halfpence
+a shirt instead of a penny a line; while the minor poets will have to
+earn a livelihood by writing invoice, instead of in verse. But this
+transposition of talent, and transition of gain, is no more than arose
+from the substitution of railroads for turnpike roads. By that
+innovation thousands of hard-working post-horses were left without
+rack or manger; and by the present arrangement, Clowes, Spottiswoode,
+and the authors who have served to afford matter for their types, will
+be driven from the field.
+
+    *Transcriber's Note: Original "semstresses"
+
+But the world (no longer to be called of letters, but of emblems) will
+be the gainer. It will be no longer a form of speech to talk of having
+"_glanced_ at the morning papers," whose city article will, of course,
+be composed by artists skilled in drawing figures. The biographies of
+contemporary or deceased statesmen will be limned, not by Lord
+Brougham or Macaulay, but by the impartial hand of the Royal Academy;
+and the catacombs at Kensal Green, like those discovered by Belzoni on
+the banks of the Nile, exhibit their eulogistic inscriptions in
+hieroglyphics. By this new species of shorthand we might have embodied
+this very article in half a dozen sprightly etchings! But as the
+hapless inventor of the first great art of printing incurred, among
+his astounded contemporaries, the opprobrium of being in compact with
+the evil one, (whence, probably, the familiar appellation of printers'
+devils,) it behoves the early practitioners of the new art to look to
+their reputations! By economizing the time of the public, they may
+squander their own good repute. It is not every printer who can
+afford, like Benjamin Franklin, to be a reformer; and pending the
+momentum when (the schoolmasters being all abroad) the grand causeway
+of the metropolis shall become, as it were, a moving diorama,
+inflicting knowledge upon the million whether it will or no--let us
+content ourselves with birds'-eye views of passing events, by way of
+exhibiting the first rudiments of THE NEW ART OF PRINTING!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+THE BANKING HOUSE
+
+A HISTORY IN THREE PARTS. PART III.
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+SYMPTOMS OF ROTTENNESS.
+
+
+Michael Allcroft returned to his duties, tuned for labour, full of
+courage, and the spirit of enterprise and action. Discharged from the
+thrall which had hitherto borne hard upon his energies, and kept them
+down, he felt the blessed influence of perfect Liberty, and the
+youthful elasticity of mind and body that liberty and conscious
+strength engender. Devoted to the task that he had inflicted upon
+himself, he grudged every hour that kept him from the field of
+operations. Firm in his determination to realize, by his exertions, a
+sum of money equal to his parent's debts, and to redeem the estate
+from its insolvency, he was uneasy and impatient until he could resume
+his yoke, and press resolutely forward. Rich and independent as he
+was, in virtue of the fortune of his wife, he still spurned the idea
+of relying upon her for his release--for the means of rescuing his
+fathers name and house from infamy. No; he saw--he fancied that he saw
+a brighter way marked out before him. Industry, perseverance, and
+extreme attention would steer his bark steadily through the difficult
+ocean, and bring her safely into harbour: these he could command, for
+they depended upon himself whom he might trust. He had looked
+diligently into the transactions of the house for many years past, and
+the investigation was most satisfactory. Year after year, the business
+had increased--the profits had improved. The accumulations of his
+father must have been considerable when he entered upon his ruinous
+speculations. What was the fair inference to draw from this result?
+Why--that with the additional capital of his partners--the influx and
+extension of good business, and the application of his own resolute
+mind, a sum would be raised within a very few years, sufficient to
+reinstate the firm, to render it once more stable and secure. And
+then--this desirable object once effected, and the secret of the
+unfortunate position of the house never divulged--the income which
+would afterwards follow for his partners and himself, must be immense.
+It was this view of the subject that justified, to his mind, the means
+which he had used--that silenced self-reproof, when it accused him of
+artifice, and called him to account for the deception he had practised
+upon his colleagues. It must be acknowledged, that the plan which he
+proposed held out fair promise of ultimate success and that, reckoning
+upon the united will and assistance of his partners, he had good
+reason to look for an eventual release from all his difficulties and
+cares. Yet it was not to be. "_We still have judgment here._"
+Punishment still comes to us from those whom we would circumvent. It
+was in vain that Michael set foot in the Bank with an indomitable and
+eager spirit; in vain that he longed to grapple with his
+fate--resolute to overcome it. The world was against him. The battle
+was already decided. His first hard struggle for deliverance was
+coincident with his last hour of earthly peace.
+
+Before one year had passed over the respectable heads of our notable
+Banking-House, Allcraft was involved in a net of perplexity, from
+which it required all the acuteness of his apprehending mind to work
+out a mode of extrication. Augustus Brammel continued abroad, spending
+his money, and drawing upon the house, with the impudent recklessness
+which we have already seen to be a prime ingredient in his character.
+He did not condescend to communicate with his partners, or to give
+them any information touching his whereabouts, except such as might be
+gathered from his cheques, which came, week after week, with alarming
+punctuality, for sums as startling. From this one source of misery,
+where was a promise or a chance of a final rescue? Michael saw none.
+What if he refused to cash his partner's drafts? What if he permitted
+them to find their way back, as best they might, through the
+various channels by which they had travelled on their previous
+journey--dishonoured and disgraced? Who but himself would be the loser
+by the game? Such a refusal would lead to quick enquiry--enquiry to
+information--information to want of confidence and speedy ruin. What
+reliance could repose upon a house, divided against itself--not safe
+from the extravagance and pillage of its own members? The public eye,
+ever watchful and timid, waits scarcely for the show of danger to take
+alarm and withdraw its favour. Michael shrunk from the bare conception
+of an act of violence. It was more agreeable, in an hour of
+self-collectedness, to devise a remedy, which, if it did not cure the
+disease, helped at least to cicatrize the immediate wounds. He looked
+from Brammel to Brammel's father for indemnification. And the old man
+was in truth a rare temptation. Fond, pitiable father of a false and
+bloodless child! doting, when others would have hated, loving his
+prodigal with a more anxious fondness as his ingratitude grew
+baser--as the claims upon a parent's heart dwindled more and more
+away. The grey-haired man was a girl in tenderness and sensibility. He
+remembered the mother of the wayward child, and the pains she had
+taken to misuse and spoil her only boy; his own conduct returned to
+him in the shape of heavy reproaches, and he could not forget, or call
+to mind without remorse, the smiles of encouragement he had given, the
+flattering approbation he had bestowed when true love, justice, duty,
+mercy, all called loudly for rebuke, restraint, wholesome correction,
+solemn chastisement. Could he be conscious of all this, and not excuse
+the unsteady youth--accuse himself? It was he who deserved
+punishment--not the sufferer with his calamities _imposed_ upon him by
+his erring sire. He was ready to receive his punishment. Oh, would
+that at any cost--at any expense of bodily and mental suffering, he
+could secure his child from further sorrow and from deeper
+degradation! To such a heart and mind, Michael might well carry his
+complaints with some expectation of sympathy and reimbursement.
+Aggrieved as he was, he did not fail to paint his disappointment and
+sense of injury in the strongest colours; but blacker than all--and he
+was capable of such a task, he pictured the gross deception of which
+he had so cruelly been made the subject.
+
+"I could," he said to the poor father, in whose aged eyes, turned to
+the earth, tears of shame were gushing, "I could have forgiven any
+thing but that. You deceived me meanly and deliberately. The character
+you gave with him was false. You knew it to be so, and you were well
+aware that nothing but mischief and ruin could result from a connexion
+with him."
+
+"Indeed, Mr Allcraft," replied the unhappy man, "I had great hopes of
+his reformation. He had improved of late years a little, and he gave
+me his word that he would be steady. If I had not thought so, I should
+certainly not have permitted you to receive him. What can we do, sir?"
+
+"Ah! what, Mr Brammel. It is that I wish to know. The present state of
+things cannot continue. Where is he now?"
+
+"Indeed, I do not know. He is a bad boy to hide himself from his
+father. I do not deserve it of him. I cannot guess."
+
+"Are you aware, sir, that he is married?"
+
+"They have told me something of it. I am, in truth, glad to hear it.
+It will be to his wife's interest to lead him back to duty."
+
+"You have not seen her, then?"
+
+The old man shook his head.
+
+"Well, well, sir," continued Allcraft, "this is not to the purpose. We
+must protect ourselves. His profligacy must be checked; at all events,
+we must have no connexion with it. Hitherto we have honoured his
+drafts, and kept your name and his free from disgrace. I can do so no
+longer. We have paid his last cheque this very day. To-morrow I shall
+advertise publicly our determination, to honour his demands no more."
+
+"No--no, no, Mr Allcraft," interposed old Brammel anxiously, taking
+every word for granted, "that must not be done--I cannot allow it; for
+the poor boy's sake, that determination must not be made at present. I
+am sure he will reform at last. I should not be surprised if he
+returned to business in a day or two, and settled steadily to work for
+the remainder of his life. It is likely enough, now that he is
+married. I have much to answer for on account of that youth, Mr
+Allcraft, and I should never forgive myself if I suffered any thing to
+be done that is likely to render him desperate, just when a glimmering
+of hope is stealing upon us. You shake your head, sir, but I am
+confident he will yet make up for all his folly."
+
+"Heaven grant it, sir, for your sake!"
+
+"Yes, and for his own, poor child--for what will become of him if he
+does not! Now, as to these cheques, Mr Allcraft, let me have them all.
+I will restore every farthing that you have paid on his account; and
+should any more be presented, let them be duly honoured. I hold myself
+responsible for their discharge. I am sure this is the wisest course
+to pursue. It is quite reasonable for you to demur, and to object to
+these demands. I like you the better, Mr Allcraft, for your scruples:
+you are an honourable man, sir. I would lose my last drop of blood to
+make my poor boy like you. It is wise and praiseworthy in you to look
+so carefully to the good credit of your house; and it is fair and
+right that I should take this matter upon myself. I do it, persuaded
+of the propriety of the step, and satisfied that all will go well with
+him yet. Be lenient with the unhappy boy, sir, and have yet a little
+patience."
+
+"I am afraid, sir, that he will but presume on your generosity and
+good nature."
+
+"Ah, but he is never to know it, Mr Allcraft; I would not for the
+world have him hear of what I have done. Should you discover his
+abode, write to him, I pray--tell him that I am enraged at his
+proceedings--that I do not think that I can ever be reconciled to him
+again. Say that my anger has no bounds--that my heart is
+breaking--will break and kill me, if he persists in his ingratitude
+and cruelty. Implore him to come home and save me."
+
+The old man stopped and wept. Michael was not yet a father and could
+not understand the tears: it appears that he understood business much
+better; for, taking leave of Brammel as soon as he could after the
+latter had expressed a wish to cash the cheques, he went immediately
+to the bank and procured the documents. He presented them with his own
+hand to the astounded father, from whom, also with his own hand, he
+received one good substantial draft in fair exchange.
+
+So far, so good; but, in another quarter, Allcraft suddenly discovered
+that he had committed an egregious blunder. He had entrusted Planner
+with the secret of his critical position--had made him acquainted with
+the dishonest transactions of his father, and the consequent
+bankruptcy of the firm. Not that this disclosure had been made in any
+violent ebullition of unguarded feeling--from any particular love to
+Planner--from an inability on the part of the divulger to keep his own
+good counsel. Michael, when he raised Planner from poverty to
+comparative affluence, was fully sensible of the value of his man--the
+dire necessity for him. It was indispensable that the tragic underplot
+of the play should never be known to either Bellamy or Brammel, and
+the only safe way of concealing it from them, was to communicate it
+unreservedly to their common partner, and his peculiar _protege_. He
+did so with much solemnity, and with many references to the
+extraordinary liberality he had himself displayed in admitting him to
+his confidence, and to a share of his wealth. "Maintain my secret," he
+said to Planner, "and your fortune shall be made; betray me, and you
+are thrown again into a garret. You cannot hurt me; nothing shall save
+you." He repeated these words over and over again, and he received
+from his confidant assurance upon assurance of secrecy and unlimited
+devotion. And up to the period of Allcraft's return from France, the
+gentleman had every reason to rely upon the probity and good faith of
+his associate; nor in fact had he less reason _after_ his return. Were
+it not that "the thief doth fear each bush an officer," he had no
+cause whatever to suspect or tremble: his mind, for any actual danger,
+might have been at rest. But what did he behold? Why, Planner and
+Bellamy, whom he had left as distant as stage-coach acquaintances, as
+intimate and loving, as united and inseparable, as the tawny twins of
+Siam. Not a week passed which did not find the former, once, twice, or
+three times a guest at the proud man's table. The visits paid to the
+bank were rather to Mr Planner than for any other object. Mr Planner
+only could give advice as to the alteration of the south wing of the
+hall: Mr Planner's taste must decide upon the internal embellishments:
+then there were private and mysterious conversations in the small back
+room--the parlour; nods and significant looks when they met and
+separated; and once, Michael called to see Planner after the hours of
+business, and whom should he discover in his room but Mr Bellamy
+himself, sitting in conclave with the schemer, and manifestly intent
+upon some serious matter. What was the meaning of all this? Oh, it was
+too plain! The rebel Planner had fallen from his allegiance, and was
+making his terms with the enemy. Allcraft cursed himself a thousand
+times for his folly in placing himself at the mercy of so unstable a
+character, and immediately became aware that there had never been any
+cogent reason for such a step, and that his danger would have been
+infinitely smaller had he never spoken to a human being on the
+subject. But it was useless to call himself, by turns, madman and
+fool, for his pains. What could be done now to repair the error?
+Absolutely nothing; and, at the best, he had only to prepare himself,
+for the remainder of his days, to live in doubt, fear, anxiety, and
+torture.
+
+In the meanwhile, Planner grew actually enamoured of the
+_Pantamorphica_ Association. The more he examined it, the more
+striking appeared its capabilities, the fairer seemed the prospect of
+triumphant unequivocal success. In pursuance of his generous
+resolution, he communicated his designs to Allcraft. They were
+received with looks of unaffected fright. Without an instant's
+hesitation, Michael implored his partner to desist--to give up at
+once, and for ever, all thoughts of the delusion--to be faithful to
+his duty, and to think well of his serious engagement. "Your
+Association, sir," he exclaimed in the anger of the moment, "is like
+every other precious scheme you have embarked in--impracticable,
+ridiculous, absurd!" Planner, in these three words, could only
+read--_ingratitude_--the basest it had ever been his lot to meet. Here
+was a return for his frankness--his straightforward conduct--his
+unequalled liberality. Here was the affectionate expression of thanks
+which he had so proudly looked forward to--the acknowledgment of
+superior genius which he had a right to expect from the man who was to
+profit so largely by the labour of his brains. Very well. Then let it
+be so. He would prosecute the glorious work alone--he would himself
+supply the funds needful for the undertaking, and alone he would
+receive the great reward that most assuredly awaited him. Very
+delicately did Michael hint to his partner, that his--Planner's--funds
+existed, with his castles and associations, in the unsubstantial air,
+and no where else; but not so delicately as to avoid heaping fuel on
+the fire which he had already kindled in the breast of the offended
+schemer. The latter bristled at the words, lost for an instant his
+self-possession, said in his anger more than he intended--more than he
+might easily unsay--enough to bruise the already smarting soul of
+Allcraft. A threat escaped his lips--a reproach--a taunt. He spoke of
+his _power_, and touched cuttingly upon the deep schemes of _other_
+men, more feasible than his own perhaps, and certainly more honest.
+Allcraft winced, as every syllable made known the speaker's actual
+strength--his own dependence and utter weakness. He made no reply to
+the attack of the man whom he had drawn from beggary; but he looked
+him in the face steadily and reproachfully, and shamed him into
+vexation and regret.
+
+"I did not mean to speak unkindly, Michael," he stammered with a view
+to apologize. "I am sorry that I lost my temper. You need not fear me.
+Don't remember what I have said."
+
+"You have threatened me, Planner," answered Allcraft, trembling with
+irritation. "You have attempted to frighten me into compliance with
+your demands. I say, sir, you have threatened me. It is the first
+time--it shall be the last."
+
+"It shall, Michael--I promise you it shall."
+
+"I ask no promise from you," continued the excited and suspicious man,
+writhing under a sense of his helplessness. "You have betrayed the
+cloven foot. I thank you for it. I am aware of what is to follow--I
+expect it--I shall hold myself prepared!"
+
+"Do nothing of the kind, Allcraft. You know me better. You are safe
+with me. I am ashamed of myself for what I have spoken. Forgive me"--
+
+"But never mind," proceeded the unhappy Michael. "I defy you: do your
+worst. Let this be your acknowledgment of past favours--the fulfilment
+of your sacred promise. Betray me to Bellamy, and be at ease."
+
+"Michael, you do not use me well. I spoke angrily, and without
+consideration. I am sorry that I did so, and I have asked your
+forgiveness. What can I do more? You should allow for wounded
+feelings. It was hard to hear you ridiculing an affair that occupies
+my serious thoughts. I was irritated--think no more about it."
+
+"Answer me this, How much does Mr Bellamy already know?"
+
+"From me--nothing. Make your mind happy on that score. It is not to
+the interest of any one of us that secrets should be known. You need
+not fear. Shake hands."
+
+Michael took his hand.
+
+"And as to this Association," continued Planner, "let me have my way
+for once--the thing is clear, and cannot fail. The elements of success
+are there, and a splendid fortune must be realized. I am not greedy. I
+don't want to grasp every thing for myself. I told you just now that
+we would share and share alike. You are not up to projects of this
+nature. I am. Trust to me. I will engage to enter upon no new affair
+if I am disappointed in this. The truth is, I cannot quietly let a
+fortune slide through my fingers, when a little skill and energy only
+are necessary to secure it. Come, Michael, this once you must not say
+_no_."
+
+The hope, however faint, of making money by this speculation, and the
+fear of offending the depositary of his great secret, compelled at
+length from Allcraft a reluctant acquiescence. He consented to the
+trial, receiving Planner's solemn promise that, in the event of
+failure, it should be the last. Planner himself, overjoyed at his
+victory, prepared himself for action, and contemplated the magnificent
+resources of the bank with a resolute and daring spirit that would
+have gratified exceedingly the customers of the house, could they have
+but known it. Planner conscientiously believed that he had hitherto
+failed in all his schemes, because he had never commanded cash
+sufficient to carry out his views. This great obstacle being removed,
+he wisely determined to make the most of his good fortune. And in
+truth he was without the shadow of an excuse for timidity and
+forbearance. The anxiety which might have accompanied his ventures,
+had the money been his own, was mercifully spared him; the thought of
+personal danger and ruin could never come to cloud his intellect, or
+oppress his energy. As for the ruin of any other party, the idea, by a
+very happy dispensation, never once occurred to him. It took a very
+few months to make Mr Planner the largest shareholder--the principal
+director--the president and first man in the famous "_Joint-Stock
+Pantamorphica Association._"
+
+And whilst he was busy in the purchase of lands required for the
+extensive undertaking, his dear friend Mr Bellamy was agreeably
+occupied in paying off, by degrees, the heavy mortgages which, for
+many years, had been weighing on his beautiful estate. In addition to
+the ten thousand pounds which he had abstracted during the absence of
+Mr Allcraft, he had not hesitated to draw large sums under the very
+nose of his too easy and unsuspecting partner. The manner of Mr
+Bellamy threw Michael off his guard. He walked so erect--looked upon
+every body so superciliously--spoke even to Allcraft in so high a
+tone, and with so patronizing an air, that it was quite impossible to
+suspect him of being any thing but real coin, a sound man, and worthy
+of all trust. It is certainly true that Mr Bellamy had not brought
+into the concern as he had engaged, some twenty, or forty thousand
+pounds--it does not matter which--but the reasons which he
+condescended to give for this failure were perfectly satisfactory, and
+accounted for the delay--so well accounted for it that Michael
+entreated Mr Bellamy not to think about it, but to take his time. And
+how very natural it was for a man of Mr Bellamy's consideration and
+enormous wealth to secure the little property that adjoined his own,
+and to borrow from the bank any sum of money that he might want to
+complete so desirable a purchase! And how very natural, likewise, on
+the part of Allcraft, ever fearful of discovery, ever desirous to keep
+upon the best terms with Mr Bellamy (the great man of the country, the
+observed of all observers)--to be at all times anxious to oblige his
+friend, to render him sensible of his desire to please him, and of the
+obligation under which, by these repeated acts of kindness and
+indulgence, he was insensibly brought.
+
+And so they reached the close of the first year of partnership; and
+who shall say that the situation of Michael was an enviable one, or
+that the persevering man had not good cause for despondency and dread?
+He was already deeply indebted to his wife; not one of his three
+partners had proved to be such as he expected and required. Danger
+threatened from two of them: Mr Bellamy had not afforded the support
+which he had promised. A stronger heart than Michael's might have
+quailed in his position; yet the pressure from without animated and
+invigorated _him_. In the midst of his gloom, he was not without a
+gleam of hope and consolation. As he had foreseen, the business of the
+house rapidly increased: its returns were great. Day and night he
+laboured to improve them, and to raise the reputation of the tottering
+concern; for tottering it was, though looking most secure. For
+himself, he did not draw one farthing from the bank; he resided with
+his wife in a small cottage, lived economically, and sacrificed to his
+engrossing occupation every joy of the domestic hearth. The public
+acknowledged with favour the exertions of the labouring man;
+pronounced him worthy of his sire; vouchsafed him their respect and
+confidence. Bravely the youth proceeded on his way--looking ever to
+the future--straining to his object--prepared to sacrifice his life
+rather than yield or not attain it. Noble ambition--worthy of a less
+ignoble cause--a better fate!
+
+The second year passed on, and then the third: at the close of this,
+Michael looked again at his condition. During the last year the
+business of the house had doubled. Had not the profits, and more than
+the profits, been dragged away by Bellamy and Planner--his ardent mind
+would have been satisfied, his ceaseless toil well-paid. But the
+continual drafts had kept ever in advance of the receipts, draining
+the exchequer--crippling its faculties. Even at this melancholy
+exhibition, his sanguine spirit refused to be cast down, and to resign
+the hope of ultimate recovery and success. He built upon the promise
+of Mr Bellamy, who at length had engaged to refund his loans upon a
+certain day, and to add, at the same time, his long-expected and
+long-promised quota of floating capital: he built upon the illusions
+of Planner's strong imagination--Planner, who suddenly becoming sick
+of his speculation, alarmed at his responsibility, and doubtful of
+success, had been for some time vigorously looking out for a
+gentleman, willing to purchase his share and interest in the unrivaled
+_Pantamorphica_, and to relieve him of his liabilities; and had at
+last persuaded himself into the belief that he had found one. _He_
+likewise fixed a period for the restoration of a fearful sum of money,
+which Michael, madman that he was, had suffered him to expend--to
+fling away like dirt. Upon such expectation, Allcraft stood--upon such
+props suffered his aching soul to rest. There wanted but a month to
+the acceptable season when claims upon the house poured in which
+could not be put off. Michael borrowed money once more from his wife
+to meet them. He did it without remorse or hesitation. Why should he
+have compunction--why think about it, when the hour of repayment was
+so near at hand? It was a proper question for a man who could slumber
+on a mine that was ready to burst, and shatter him to atoms.
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+A MEETING.
+
+
+It was a constant saying of old Mr Brammel, that if his time were to
+come over again, he would adopt a very different plan from that which
+he had pursued in the education of his son. Now, a different plan it
+might have been; but one leading to a more satisfactory result, I must
+take the liberty to deny. Of what use is experience to one who, with
+sixty years of life in him, still feels and thinks, reasons and acts,
+like a child? Who but a child would have thought of paying the
+wholesale demands of that dissolute, incorrigible youth, with the
+notion of effecting by such subtle means his lasting reformation: who
+but a child would have made the concealment of his name a condition of
+the act? As may be guessed, the success of this scheme was equal to
+its wisdom. Augustus Theodore, too grateful for the facilities
+afforded him, showed no disposition to abridge his pleasures, or to
+hasten his return. In the regular and faithful discharge of his
+drafts, his vulgar soul rejoiced to detect a fear of offending, and an
+eagerness to conciliate, on the part of his partner, Michael Allcraft.
+He would see and acknowledge nothing else. And the idea once fixed in
+his mind, he was not likely to rest contented with half the glory of
+his victory. "No.--He would punish the fellow.--He would make him
+smart; he would teach him to come all the way to France on purpose to
+bully him. He hadn't done with the gentleman yet. Master Allcraft
+should cry loud enough before he had. He'd sicken him." Still the
+hopeful youth pursued his travels--still he transmitted his _orders at
+sight_--still they were honoured punctually--still Augustus Theodore
+chuckled with stupid delight over what he considered the pitiful
+submission of his partner, who had not courage to reject his drafts,
+and dared not utter now one brief expostulatory word. Mr Brammel,
+junior, like the rest of the firm, lived in his own delusions. The
+fourth year dawned, and Mr Brammel suddenly appeared amongst his
+friends. He and his lady had travelled over Europe; they had seen the
+world--the world had seen them; they were sick of wandering--they
+desired to settle. A noble villa, with parks and paddocks, was
+quickly taken and sumptuously furnished; hunters were got from
+Tattersall's--nursery-maids from France--an establishment worthy of
+the name rose like magic, almost within sight of Michael's humble
+dwelling, taking the neighbourhood by surprise, startling and
+affrighting Allcraft. Again the latter visited the fond old
+man--remonstrated, complained; and once more the father entreated on
+behalf of his son, begged for time and patience, and undertook to
+satisfy the prodigal's extravagance. He gave his money as before,
+willingly and eagerly, and stipulated only, with unmeaning
+earnestness, for secrecy and silence. And the fourth year closed as
+drearily as it had opened. The promises of Bellamy and Planner were as
+far from fulfilment as ever; their performance as vigorous and
+disastrous as at first. The landed proprietor still redeemed, day
+after day, portions of his involved estate. The schemer, disappointed
+in his expectations of a purchaser, returned to his speculation with
+redoubled ardour, and with fresh supplies of gold. His only chance of
+ultimate recovery was to push boldly forward, and to betray no fear of
+failure. One retrograde or timid step would open the eyes of men, and
+bring down ruin on the _Pantamorphica_. Planner became conscious of
+all this to his dismay, and he had nothing to do in the very extremity
+of his distress, but to proceed in his venture with the best spirits
+he could command, and to trust himself fairly to the swelling
+tide.--Allcraft looked on and trembled.
+
+It is wonderful how long a withered leaf will sometimes cling to its
+branch. It will hold tenaciously there, the last of its race, days
+after the decay of its greener and more healthy-looking mates. "A
+creaking door," the proverb has it, "hangs long upon its hinges;" and
+many a wheezing, parchment-looking gentleman, as we all know, who
+ought to have died every year of his life since he was born, draws his
+difficult breath through threescore years and ten; whilst the young,
+the hardy, and the sound are smitten in their pride, and fall in heaps
+about him. It is no less strange that a house of business like that of
+our friend Mr Allcraft, should assert its existence for years, rotten
+as it was, during the whole of the time, at its very heart's core. And
+yet such is the case. Eight years elapsed, and found it still in the
+land of the living: yes, and to the eye external, as proper and as
+good a house of business as any you shall name. Its vitals were
+going--were gone, before the smallest indications of mischief appeared
+upon the surface. Life must have been well nourished to maintain
+itself so long. And was it not? Answer, thou kind physician, gentle
+Margaret! Answer, thou balm and life's elixir--Margaret's _gold_!
+
+Eight weary years have passed, and we have reached a miserable day in
+the month of November. The wind is howling, and the rain is pelting
+against the parlour windows of the Banking-house, whose blinds are
+drawn close down. The partners are all assembled. Michael, whose hair
+is as grey as his father's on the day of his death, and whom care and
+misery have made haggard and old, sits at a table, with a heap of
+papers before him, and a pen in his hand--engaged, as it appears, in
+casting up accounts. Mr Bellamy, who looks remarkably well--very
+glossy and very fat--sits at the table likewise, perusing leisurely
+the county newspapers through golden eyeglasses. He holds them with
+the air of a gentleman, comfortable and at ease in all respects,
+mentally and bodily. Augustus Theodore swings on a chair before the
+fire, which he keeps at work for his own especial consolation. His
+feet stretch along the fender--his amusement is the poker. He has
+grown insufferably vain, is dressed many degrees above the highest
+fashionable point, and looks a dissipated, hopeless blackguard.
+Planner, very subdued, very pale, and therefore very unlike himself,
+stands behind the chair of Allcraft; and ever and anon he casts a
+rueful glance over the shoulder of his friend, upon the papers which
+his friend is busy with. No one speaks. At intervals Mr Bellamy coughs
+extensively and loudly, just to show his dignity and independence, and
+to assure the company that _his_ conscience is very tranquil on the
+occasion--that his firm "withers are unwrung;" and Mr Brammel
+struggles like an ill-taught bullfinch, to produce a whistle, and
+fails in the attempt. With these exceptions, we have a silent room. A
+quarter of an hour passes. Michael finishes his work. He spends one
+moment in reflection, and then he speaks:--
+
+"Now, gentlemen," he begins with a deep sigh, that seems to carry from
+his heart a load of care--"Now, if you please"--
+
+The paper and the poker are abandoned, chairs are drawn towards the
+baize-covered table. The partners sit and look at one another, face to
+face.
+
+"Gentlemen," said Michael, at first slowly and seriously, and in a
+tone which none might hear beyond their walls--"you do not, I am sure,
+require me to advert to _all_ the causes which have rendered this
+meeting necessary. I have no desire to use reproaches, and I shall
+refer as little as I may to the past. I ask you all to do me justice.
+Have I not laboured like a slave for the common good? Have I not
+toiled in order to avoid the evil hour that has come upon us? Have I
+not given every thing--have I not robbed another in order to prop up
+our house and keep its name from infamy?"
+
+"Be calm, be calm," interposed Mr Bellamy gently, remarking that
+Allcraft slightly raised his voice at the concluding words.
+
+"Calm! calm, Mr Bellamy!" exclaimed the unhappy speaker, renouncing
+without hesitation all attempts at the _suaviter in modo_, and yet
+fearful of showing his indignation and of being overheard--"Calm! It
+is well for you to talk so. Had I been less calm, less easy; had I
+done my duty--had I been determined seven years ago, this cruel day
+would never have arrived. You are my witness that it never would."
+
+Mr Bellamy rose with much formality from his seat.
+
+"Gentlemen," he said, "I cannot submit to dark and plebeian
+innuendoes. I have come here to-day, at great personal inconvenience,
+and I am prepared to listen respectfully to any thing which Mr
+Allcraft thinks it his duty to bring before us. But I must have you
+remember that a gentleman and a man of honour cannot brook an insult."
+
+"I ask your pardon, sir," added Allcraft, in a tone of bitterness--"I
+meant no insult. Pray be seated. I have the honour to present you with
+a statement of our affairs. We have claims upon us, amounting to
+several thousand pounds, which must be met within a week. A third of
+the sum required will not be at our command. How is it to be obtained?
+and, if obtained, how is it to repair the inroads which, year after
+year, have been made upon the house, and how secure it from further
+spoliation? It is useless and absurd to hide from ourselves any longer
+the glaring fact that we are on the actual verge of bankruptcy."
+
+"Well! I have had nothing to do with that. You can't say it's me,"
+ejaculated Mr Brammel. "You have had the management in your own hands,
+and so you have nobody but yourself to thank for it. I thought from
+the beginning how the concern would turn out!"
+
+"_Your_ share, sir, in furthering the interests of the bank we will
+speak of shortly," said Michael, turning to the speaker with contempt.
+"We have little time for recrimination now."
+
+"As for recrimination, Mr Allcraft," interposed Mr Bellamy, "I must be
+allowed to say, that you betray a very improper spirit in this
+business--very--very. You are far from being temperate."
+
+"Temperate!"
+
+"Yes; I said so."
+
+"Mr Bellamy," said Allcraft, bursting with rage, "I have been your
+partner for eight years. I have not for a moment deserted my post, or
+slackened in my duty. I have given my strength, my health, my peace of
+mind, to the house. I have drawn less than your clerk from its
+resources; but I have added to them, wrongfully, cruelly, and
+unpardonably, from means not my own, which, in common honesty, I ought
+never to have touched--which"--
+
+"Really, really, Mr Allcraft," said Bellamy, interrupting him, "you
+have told us every word of this before."
+
+"Wait, sir," continued the other. "I am _intemperate_, and you shall
+have my excuse for being so. _You_, Mr Bellamy, have never devoted one
+moment of your life to the interests of the house; no, not a moment.
+You have, year after year, without the slightest hesitation or
+remorse, sucked its life-blood from it. You have borrowed, as these
+accounts will show, thousands of pounds, and paid them back with
+promises and words. You engaged to produce your fair proportion of
+capital; you have given nothing. You made grand professions of adding
+strength and stability to the firm; you have been its stumblingblock
+and hinderance."
+
+"Mr Allcraft," said Bellamy coolly, "you are still a very young man."
+
+"Have I told the truth?"
+
+"Pshaw, man! Speak to the point. Speak to the point, sir. We have
+heavy payments due next week. Are we prepared to meet them?"
+
+"No--nor shall we be."
+
+"That's unfortunate," added Mr Bellamy, very quietly. "You are sure of
+that? You cannot help us--with another loan, for instance?"
+
+Michael answered, with determination--"No."
+
+"Very well. No violence, Mr Allcraft, pray. Such being the case, I
+shall decline, at present, giving any answer to the unjust, inhuman
+observations which you have made upon my conduct. Painful as it is to
+pass this barbarous treatment over for the present, still my own
+private affairs shall be as nothing in comparison with the general
+good. This provided for, I will protect myself from future insult,
+depend upon it. You are wrong, Mr Allcraft--very wrong. You shall
+acknowledge it. You will be sorry for the expressions which you have
+cast upon a gentleman, your senior in years, and [here a very loud
+cough] let me add--in social station. Now, sir, let me beg a word or
+two in private."
+
+It was very unfortunate that the whole establishment stood in
+unaffected awe of the redoubted Mr Bellamy. Allcraft, notwithstanding
+his knowledge of the man, and his previous attack upon his character,
+was not, at this moment, free from the fascination; and at the
+eleventh hour he found it difficult to withdraw entirely his
+confidence in Mr Bellamy's ultimate desire and capability to deal
+honorably and justly by him. Much of the Mogul's power was
+unquestionably derived from his massive _physique_; but his
+chief excellence lay in that peculiar off-hand, patronizing,
+take-it-for-granted air, which he made it a point to assume towards
+every individual with whom he came in contact. He had scarcely
+requested a few minutes' private conversation with Allcraft, before
+Planner and Brammel jumped involuntarily from their seats, as if in
+obedience to a word of command, and edged towards the door.
+
+"If you please," continued Mr Bellamy, nodding to them very
+graciously; and they departed. In the course of ten minutes they were
+recalled by the autocrat himself. The gentlemen resumed their seats,
+and this time, Mr Bellamy addressed them.
+
+"You see, my dear sirs," he began with, for him, peculiar gentleness,
+"it is absolutely necessary to provide against the immediate exigency,
+and to postpone all discussion on the past, until this is met, and
+satisfactorily disposed of."
+
+"Certainly!" said Augustus Brammel, who, for his part, never wished to
+talk or think about the past again. "Certainly. Hear, hear! I agree to
+that"--
+
+"I knew you would, dear Mr Brammel--a gentleman of your discretion
+would not fail to do so."
+
+Augustus looked up at Mr Bellamy to find if he were jeering him; but
+he saw no reason to believe it.
+
+"Such being the case," continued the worthy speaker; "it behoves us
+now to look about for some assistance. Our friend, Mr Allcraft, I am
+sorry to say, does not feel disposed to help us once more through the
+pressure. I am very sorry to say so. Perhaps he will think better of
+it, (Allcraft shook his head.) Ah; just so. He desponds a little now.
+He takes the dark side of things. For my own part, I prefer the
+bright. He believes, as you have heard, that we are on the verge of
+bankruptcy. Upon my honour as a gentleman, I really can believe in no
+such thing. There is a general gloom over the mercantile world; it
+will break off in time; and we, with the rest of mankind, shall pass
+into the sunshine."
+
+"Hear, hear!" exclaimed Augustus Brammel; "that's the way to look at
+things!"
+
+"Taking it for granted, then--which, positively, I an not inclined to
+do; for really, Mr Allcraft, it is against your interest not to help
+us in this emergency--but, however, taking it, I say, for granted,
+that our friend here will not succour us--it appears to me, that only
+one legitimate course is open to us. If we are refused at home, let us
+apply for aid as near our home as possible. There are our London
+friends"--
+
+"Ah, yes, to be sure--so there are," cried Theodore Augustus.
+
+"We surely cannot hesitate to apply to them. Our name stands--and
+deservedly so--very high. They will be glad to accommodate us with a
+temporary loan. We will avail ourselves of it--say for three months.
+That will give us time to turn about us, and to prepare ourselves
+against similar unpleasant casualties. See what we want, Mr Allcraft:
+let the sum be raised in London without delay, and let us look forward
+with the hearts of men."
+
+"Capital, capital," continued Brammel; "I second that motion."
+
+"Thank you, sir," said Mr Bellamy, with a gracious smile. "There
+remains then to consider only who shall be the favoured individual
+deputed to this important business. One of us must certainly go to
+London, and I do think it due to our youngest member, Brammel, to
+concede to him the honour of representing us in the metropolis. No
+offence will, I trust, be taken by our other friends, and I hope that
+in my zeal for Mr Brammel, I shall not be suspected of betraying an
+undue preference."
+
+Mr Bellamy turned towards Augustus Theodore with an almost
+affectionate expression of countenance, as he spoke these words; but
+perceived, to his mortification, that the latter, instead of being
+pleasantly affected by his address, wriggled in his chair most
+impatiently, and assumed the complexion and aspect of a man with whom
+something has suddenly and violently disagreed.
+
+"No--no--no!" he bellowed out, as soon as he could; "none of that
+soft-soap, Mr Bellamy; make up your mind at once--I sha'n't go. I
+can't borrow money. I do not know how to do it. I don't want the
+honour, thank you. It's very good of you, and I am much obliged to
+you--that's a fact. But you'll look out for some body else, if you
+please. I beg to say I decline--pos"--
+
+Mr Bellamy cast upon Theodore one of his natural and annihilating
+glances, and said deliberately,
+
+"Mr Brammel, for the first time in your life you are honoured by being
+made a useful individual. You are to go to London.--Go you shall"--
+
+"Go, I sha'n't," answered Brammel, in his accustomed easy style and
+manner.
+
+"Very well. You are aware, Mr Brammel, that your respected parent has
+yet to be made acquainted with sundry lively doings of your own, which
+you would rather, I believe, keep from his ears at present; you
+likewise are aware that if any thing happens to the serious injury of
+the bank through your imprudence--your inheritance from that respected
+parent would be dearly purchased for a shilling. I shall be sorry to
+hurt your feelings, or your pocket. I have no wish to do it; but
+depend upon me, sir, your father shall be a wiser man to-night, if you
+are obstinate and disobedient."
+
+"I can't borrow money--I can't--I don't know how to do it," said
+Brammel peevishly.
+
+"And who reproaches you for your inability, my dear sir," said Bellamy
+coaxingly. "No one, I am sure. You shall be taught. Every thing shall
+be made easy and agreeable. You will carry your credentials from the
+house, and your simple task shall be beforehand well explained to
+you."
+
+"I am not used to it."
+
+"And you never will be, Mr Brammel, if you don't begin to practise.
+Come, I am sure you don't wish me to see your father to-day. I am
+certain you are not anxious to part with your patrimony. You are too
+sensible a man. Pray let us have no delay, Mr Allcraft. See what we
+want. Mr Brammel will go to London to-morrow. We must take time by the
+forelock. Let us meet these heavy payments, and then we can think, and
+breathe, and talk. Till then it is idle to wrangle, and to lose one's
+temper. Very well: then there's little more, I imagine, to be done at
+present."
+
+Augustus Theodore still opposed his nomination, like an irritable
+child; but a fly kicking against a stone wall, was as likely to move
+it, as Brammel to break down the resolution of such a personage as Mr
+Bellamy. After an hour's insane remonstrance, he gave in to his own
+alarm, rather than to the persuasion of his partner. He was fearfully
+in debt; his only hope of getting out of it rested in the speedy
+decease of his unfortunate parent, whom he had not seen for months,
+and who, he had reason to believe, had vowed to make him pay with his
+whole fortune for any calamity that might happen to the bank through
+his misconduct or extravagance. It was not from the lips of Mr Bellamy
+that he heard this threat for the first time. What he should do, if it
+were carried out, heaven only knows. He consented to go to London on
+this disgusting mission, and he could have bitten his tongue out for
+speaking his acquiescence, so enraged was he with himself, and all the
+world, at his defeat. He did not affect to conceal his anger; and yet,
+strange to say, it was not visible to Mr Bellamy. On the contrary, he
+thanked Mr Brammel for the cheerful and excellent spirit in which he
+had met his partners' wishes, and expressed himself delighted at the
+opportunity which now presented itself for introducing their young
+friend to life. Then, turning to Michael Allcraft, he begged him to
+prepare their deputation for his work immediately, and to place no
+obstacle in the way of his departure. Then he moved the adjournment of
+the meeting until the return of Mr Brammel; and then he finished by
+inviting all his partners to dine with him at the hall that day, and
+to join him in drinking success and happiness to their young
+adventurer. The invitation was accepted; and Mr. Bellamy's grand
+carriage drew up immediately with splash and clatter to the door.
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+A CHAPTER OF LOANS.
+
+
+Augustus Brammel hated his partners with all his heart and soul. He
+had never been very fond of them, but the result of this interview
+gave an activity and a form to feelings which it required only
+sufficient occasion to bring into play. Notwithstanding the polite
+tone which Mr Bellamy had cunningly adopted in placing his mission
+before him, even he, the ignorant and obtuse Brammel, could not fail
+to see that he had been made the tool, the cat's-paw in a business
+from which his partners shrank. Now, had the young man been as full of
+courage as he was of vulgar conceit, he might, I verily believe, have
+turned his hatred, and his knowledge of affairs, to very good account.
+Lacking the spirit of the smallest animal that crawls, he was content
+to eject his odious malice in oaths and execrations, and to submit to
+his beating after all. No sooner was the meeting at an end, than he
+left the Banking-house, and turned his steps towards home. He had
+become--as it was very natural he should--a brute of a husband, and
+the terror of his helpless household. He remembered, all at once, that
+he had been deeply aggrieved in the morning by Mrs Brammel; that as
+many as two of his shirt buttons had given way whilst he was in the
+act of dressing, and unable to contain himself after the treatment of
+Mr Bellamy, he resolved forthwith to have his vengeance out upon his
+wife. But he had not walked a hundred yards, before his rancour and
+fury increased to such a height, that he was compelled to pull up
+short in the street, and to vow, with a horrible oath, that he would
+see all his partners roasting in the warmest place that he could think
+of, before he'd move one inch to save their souls from rotting. So,
+instead of proceeding homeward, he turned back again, with a view to
+make this statement; but before he could reach the Banking-house, a
+wiser thought entered his head, and induced him to retrace his steps.
+"He would go," he said, "to his father; and lay his complaint there.
+He would impeach all his partners, acknowledge his errors, and promise
+once more to reform. His father, easy old fool, would believe him,
+forgive him, and do any thing else, in his joy." It was certainly a
+bright idea--but, alas! his debts were so very extensive. Bellamy's
+threatening look rose before him, and made them appear even larger and
+more terrible than they were. What if his father insisted upon his
+going to London, and doing any other dirty work which these fellows
+chose to put upon him? Bellamy, he was sure, could make the old man do
+any thing. No, it wouldn't do. He stamped his foot to the ground in
+vexation, and recurred to his original determination. It was all he
+could do. He must go to London, and take what indemnification he might
+in the domestic circle previously to starting. And the miserable man
+did have his revenge, and did go to London. He was empowered to borrow
+twenty thousand pounds from the London house, and he was furnished by
+Michael Allcraft with particulars explanatory of his commission. And
+he walked into Lombard Street with the feelings of a culprit walking
+up the scaffold to his execution. His pitiful heart deserted him at
+the very instant when he most needed its support. He passed and
+repassed the large door of the establishment, which he saw opened and
+shut a hundred tines in a minute, by individuals, whose
+self-collectedness and independence, he would have given half his
+fortune to possess. He tried, time after time, to summon courage for
+his entry, and, as he afterwards expressed it, a ball rose in his
+throat--just as he got one foot upon the step--large enough to choke
+him. Impudent and reckless us he had been all his life, he was now
+more timid and nervous than an hysterical girl. Oh, what should he do!
+First, he thought of going to a neighbouring hotel, and writing at
+once to Allcraft; swearing that he was very ill, that he couldn't
+move, and was utterly unable to perform his duties. If he went to bed,
+and sent for a doctor, surely Allcraft would believe him; and in pity
+would come up and do the business. He dwelt upon this contrivance,
+until it seemed too complicated for success. Would it not be more
+advisable to write to the London house itself, and explain the object
+of his coming up? But if he could write, why couldn't he _call_? They
+would certainly ask that question, and perhaps refuse the loan. Oh,
+what was he to do! He could hit upon no plan, and he couldn't muster
+confidence to turn in. The porter of the firm mercifully interposed to
+rescue Mr Brammel from his dilemma. That functionary had watched the
+stranger shuffling to and fro in great anxiety and doubt, and at
+length he deemed it proper to enquire whether the gentleman was
+looking for the doorway of the house of Messrs ---- and ----, or not.
+Augustus, frightened, answered _yes_ at random, and in another instant
+found himself in what he called "THE SWEATING ROOM of the awfullest
+house of business he had ever seen in all his life." It was a large
+square apartment, very lofty and very naked-looking. There was an iron
+chest, and two shelves filled with giant books; and there was nothing
+else in the room but a stillness, and a mouldiness of smell, that hung
+upon his spirits like pounds of lead, dragging them down, and freezing
+them. Yet, cold as were his spirits, the perspiration that oozed from
+the pores of his skin was profuse and steady during the quarter of an
+hour that elapsed whilst he waited for the arrival of the worthy
+principal. During those memorable fifteen minutes--the most unpleasant
+of his life--Augustus, for two seconds together, could neither sit,
+stand nor walk with comfort. He knew nothing of the affairs of his
+house; he was not in a condition to answer the most trivial business
+question; he had heard that his firm was on the eve of bankruptcy,
+(and, judging from the part he had taken in its affairs, he could
+easily believe it;) he felt that his partners had thrown the odium of
+the present application upon him, not having courage to take it upon
+themselves; and he had an indistinct apprehension that this very act
+of borrowing money would lead to transportation or the gallows, should
+the business go to rack and ruin, as he could see it shortly would.
+All these considerations went far to stultify the otherwise weak and
+feeble Mr Brammel; when, in addition, he endeavoured to arrange in his
+mind the terms on which he would request the favour of a temporary
+loan of only (!) twenty thousand pounds, a sensation of nausea
+completely overpowered him, and the table, the chairs, the iron chest,
+swam round him like so many ships at sea. To recover from his
+sickness, and to curse the banking-house, every member of the same,
+and his own respectable parent for linking him to it, was one and the
+same exertion. To the infinite astonishment of Augustus Theodore, the
+acquisition of these twenty thousand pounds proved the most amusing
+and easiest transaction of his life. Mr Cutbill, the managing partner
+of the London house, received him with profound respect and pleasure.
+He listened most attentively to the stammering request, and put the
+deputation at his ease at once, by expressing his readiness to comply
+with Mr Allcraft's wishes, provided a note of hand, signed by all the
+partners, and payable in three months, was given as security for the
+sum required. Augustus wrote word home to that effect; the note of
+hand arrived--the twenty thousand pounds were paid--the dreaded
+business was transacted with half the trouble that it generally cost
+Augustus Theodore to effect the purchase of a pair of gloves.
+
+Mr Bellamy remained at the hall just one week after the receipt of the
+cash, and then was carried to the north by pressing business. Before
+he started he complimented Allcraft upon their success, trusted that
+they should now go smoothly on, promised to return at the very
+earliest moment, and gave directions on his route by which all
+letters of importance might safely reach him. And Allcraft, relieved
+for a brief season, indefatigable as ever, strained every nerve and
+muscle to sustain his credit and increase his gains. As heretofore, he
+denied himself all diversion and amusement. The first at the bank, the
+last to leave it, he had his eye for ever on its doings. Visible at
+all times to the world, and most conspicuous there where the world was
+pleased to find him, he maintained his reputation as a thorough man of
+business, and held, with hooks of steel, a confidence as necessary to
+existence as the vital air around him. To lose a breath of the public
+approbation in his present state, were to give up fatally the only
+stay on which he rested. Wonderful that, as the prospects of the man
+grew darker, his courage strengthened, his spirit roused, his industry
+increased! And a bitter reflection was it, that reward still came to
+him--still a fair return for time and strength expended. He could not
+complain of the neglect of mankind, or of the ingratitude of those he
+served. In the legitimate transactions of the house, he was a
+prosperous and a prospering man. Such, to the outer world, did he
+appear in all respects, and such he would have been but for the hidden
+and internal sores already past cure or reparation. Who had brought
+them there? Michael did not ask the question--yet. Never did three
+months pass away so rapidly as those which came between the day of
+borrowing and the day of paying back those twenty thousand pounds. The
+moment the money had arrived, Michael's previous anxieties fled from
+his bosom, and left him as happy as a boy without a care. It came like
+a respite from death. Sanguine to the last, he congratulated himself
+upon the overthrow of his temporary difficulties, and relied upon the
+upturning of some means of payment, on the arrival of the distant day.
+But distant as it looked at first, it crept nearer and nearer, until
+at the end of two months, when--as he saw no possibility of relieving
+himself from the engagement--it appeared close upon him, haunting him
+morning, noon, and night, wheresoever he might be, and sickening him
+with its terrible and desperate aspect. When there wanted only a week
+to the fatal day, Michael's hope of meeting the note of hand was
+slighter than ever. He became irritable, distressed, and
+anxious--struggled hard to get the needful sum together, struggled and
+strove; but failed. Hours and minutes were now of vital consequence;
+and, in a rash and unprotected moment, he permitted himself to write a
+letter to the London house, begging them, as a particular favour, just
+for one week to retire the bill they held against him. The London
+house civilly complied with the request, and five days of that last
+and dreary week swept by, leaving poor Allcraft as ill prepared for
+payment as they had found him. What could he do? At length the gulf
+had opened--was yawning--to receive him. How should he escape it?
+
+Heaven, in its infinite mercy, has vouchsafed to men _angels_ to guide
+and cheer them on their difficult and thorny paths. Could Michael
+suffer, and Margaret not sympathize? Could he have a sorrow which she
+might chase away, and, having the power, lack the heart to do it?
+Impossible! Oh! hear her in her impassioned supplications; hear her at
+midnight, in their disturbed and sleepless bedchamber, whilst the
+doomed man sits at her side in agony, clasps his face, and buries it
+within his hand for shame and disappointment.
+
+"Michael, do not break my heart. Take, dearest, all that I possess;
+but, I entreat you, let me see you cheerful. Do not take this thing to
+heart. Whatever may be your trouble, confide it, love, to me. I will
+try to kill it!"
+
+"No, no, no," answered Allcraft wildly; "it must not be--it shall not
+be, dear Margaret. You shall be imposed upon no longer. You shall not
+be robbed. I am a villain!"
+
+"Do not say so, Michael. You are kind and good; but this cruel
+business has worn you out. Leave it, I implore you, if you can, and
+let us live in peace."
+
+"Margaret, it is impossible. Do not flatter yourself or me with the
+vain hope of extrication. Release will never come. I am bound to it
+for my life; it will take longer than a life to effect deliverance.
+You know not my calamities."
+
+"But I _will_ know them, Michael, and share them with you, if they
+must be borne. I am your wife, and have a right to this. Trust me,
+Michael, and do not kill me with suspense. What is this new
+affliction? Whatsoever it may be, it is fitting that I should know
+it--yes, will know it, dearest, or I am not worthy to lie beside you
+there. Tell me, love, how is it that for these many days you have
+looked so sad, and sighed, and frowned upon me. I am conscious of no
+fault. Have I done amiss? Say so, and I will speedily repair the
+fault?"
+
+Michael pressed his Margaret to his heart, and kissed her fondly.
+
+"Why, oh why, my Margaret, did you link your fate with mine?"
+
+"Why, having done so, Michael, do you not love and trust me?"
+
+"Love?"
+
+"Yes--_love_! Say what you will, you do not love me, if you hide your
+griefs from me. We are one. Let us be truly so. One in our joys and in
+our sufferings."
+
+"Dearest Margaret, why should I distress you? Why should I call upon
+you for assistance? Why drag your substance from you?--why prey upon
+you until you have parted with your all? I have taken too much
+already."
+
+"Answer me one simple question, Michael. Can money buy away this
+present sorrow? Can it bring to you contentment and repose? Can it
+restore to me the smile which is my own? Oh, if it can, be merciful
+and kind; take freely what is needful, and let me purchase back my
+blessings!"
+
+"Margaret, you deserve a better fate!"
+
+"Name the sum, dear. Is it my fortune? Not more? Then never were peace
+of mind and woman's happiness so cheaply bought. Take it, Michael, and
+let us thank Heaven that it is enough. My fortune never gave me so
+much joy as now. I do not remember, Michael, that you have ever
+refused my smallest wish. It is not in your nature to be unkind. Come,
+dearest, smile a little. We have made the bargain--be generous, and
+pay me in advance."
+
+He smiled and wept in gratitude.
+
+Now Michael retired to rest, determined not to take advantage of the
+generous impulses of his confiding wife; yet, although he did so, it
+could not but be very satisfactory to his marital feelings to
+discover, and to be assured of the existence of, such devotedness and
+disregard of self and fortune as she displayed. Indeed, he was very
+much tranquillized and comforted; so much so, in fact, that he was
+enabled, towards morning, to wake up in a condition to review his
+affairs with great serenity of mind, and (notwithstanding his
+determination) to contrive some mode of turning the virtuous
+magnanimity of his wife to good account, without inflicting any injury
+upon herself. Surely if he could do this, he was bound to act. To save
+himself by her help, and, at the same time, without injuring her at
+all, was a very defensible step, to say the least of it. Who should
+say it wasn't his absolute duty to adopt it? Whatever repugnance he
+might have felt in asking a further loan from one who had already
+helped him beyond his expectations, it was certainly very much
+diminished since she had offered to yield to him, without reserve,
+every farthing that she possessed. Not that he would ever suffer her
+to do any thing so wild and inexcusable; still, after such an
+expression of her wishes, he was at liberty to ask her aid, provided
+always that he could secure her from any loss or risk. When Michael
+got thus far in his proposition, it was not very difficult to work it
+to the end. Once satisfied that it was just and honourable, and it was
+comparatively child's work to arrange the _modus operandi_. A common
+trick occurred to him. In former transactions with his wife, he had
+pledged his word of honour to repay her. It had become a stale pledge,
+and very worthless, as Michael felt. What if he put his _life_ in
+pawn! Ah, capital idea! This would secure to her every farthing of her
+debt. Dear me, how very easy! He had but to insure his life for the
+amount he wanted, and let what would happen, she was safe. His spirit
+rejoiced. Oh, it was joy to think that she could save him from
+perdition, and yet not suffer a farthing's loss. Loss! So far from
+this, his ready mind already calculated how she might be a gainer by
+the arrangement. He was yet young. Let him insure his life at present
+for twenty thousand pounds, and how much more would it be worth--say
+that he lived for twenty years to come? He explained it to his
+lady--to his own perfect satisfaction. The willing Margaret required
+no more. He could not ask as freely as the woman's boundless love
+could grant. He, with all his reasoning, could not persuade his
+conscience to pronounce the dealing just. She, with her beating heart
+for her sole argument and guide, looked for no motive save her strong
+affection--no end but her beloved's happiness and peace. Woe is me,
+the twenty thousand pounds were griped--the precious life of Mr
+Allcraft was insured--the London house was satisfied. A very few weeks
+flew over the head of the needy man, before he was reduced to the same
+pitiable straits. Money was again required to carry the reeling firm
+through unexpected difficulties. Brammel was again dispatched to
+London. The commissioner, grown bolder by his first success, was ill
+prepared for hesitation and reproof, and awkward references to "that
+last affair." Ten thousand pounds were the most they could advance,
+and all transactions of the kind must close with this, if there should
+be any deviation from the strictest punctuality. Brammel attempted to
+apologise, and failed in the attempt, of course. He came home
+disgusted, shortening his journey by swearing over half the distance,
+and promising his partners his cordial forgiveness, if ever they
+persuaded him again to go to London on a begging expedition!
+
+Oh, Margaret! Margaret! Oh, spirit of the mild and gentle Mildred!
+Must I add, that your good money paid this second loan--and yet a
+third--a fourth--a fifth? When shall fond woman cease to give--when
+shall mean and sordid man be satisfied with something less than all
+she has to grant?
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+A DISSOLUTION OF PARTNERSHIP.
+
+
+The most remarkable circumstance in that meeting of the partners,
+which ended in Brammel's first visit to London, was the behaviour of
+our very dear friend and ally--the volatile Planner--volatile, alas!
+no longer. His best friend would not have recognized him on that
+deeply interesting occasion. He was a subdued, a shaken man. Every
+drop of his brave spirit had been squeezed out of him, and he stood
+the mere pulp and rind of his former self. He who, for years, had been
+accustomed to look at men, not only in the face, but very
+impertinently over their heads, could not drag his shambling vision
+now higher than men's shoe-strings. His eye, his heart, his soul was
+on the ground. He was disappointed, crushed. Not a syllable did he
+utter; not a single word of remonstrance and advice did he presume to
+offer in the presence of his associates. He had a sense of guilt, and
+men so situated are sometimes tongue-tied. He had, in truth, a great
+deal to answer for, and enough to make a livelier man than he
+dissatisfied and wretched. Every farthing which had passed from the
+bank to the _Pantamorphica_ Association was irrecoverably gone. The
+Association itself was in the same condition--gone irrecoverably
+likewise. Nothing remained of that once beautiful and promising
+vision, but some hundred acres of valueless land, a half-finished and
+straggling brick wall, falling rapidly to decay, the foundations of a
+theatre, and the rudiments of a temple dedicated to Apollo. Planner
+had gazed upon the scene once, when dismal rain was pouring down upon
+the ruins, and he burst into bitter tears, and sobbed like a child at
+the annihilation of his hopes. He had not courage to look a second
+time upon that desolation, and yet he found courage to turn away from
+it, and to do a thing more desperate. Ashamed to be beaten, afraid to
+meet the just rebuke of Allcraft, he flung himself recklessly into the
+hands of a small band of needy speculators, and secretly engaged in
+schemes that promised restitution of the wealth he had expended, or
+make his ruin perfect and complete. One adventure after another
+failed, cutting the thread of his career shorter every instant, and
+rendering him more hot-brained and impatient. He doubled and trebled
+his risks, and did the like, as may be guessed, to his anxieties and
+failures. He lived in a perpetual fear and danger of discovery; and
+discovery now was but another name, for poison--prison--death. Here
+was enough, and more than enough, to extinguish every spark of joy in
+the bosom of Mr Planner, and to account for his despondency and
+settled gloom. And yet Planner, in this, his darkest hour, was nearer
+to deliverance and perfect peace, than at any previous period of his
+history. Planner was essentially "a lucky dog." Had he fallen from a
+house-top, he would have reached _terra firma_ on his feet. Had he
+been conducted to the gallows, according to his desserts, the noose
+would have slipped, and his life would certainly have been spared.
+
+It happened, that whilst Michael was immersed in the management of his
+loans, a hint was forwarded to him of the pranks of his partner; a
+letter, written by an anonymous hand, revealed his losses in one
+transaction, amounting to many hundred pounds. The news came like a
+thunderbolt to Allcraft. It was a death-blow. Iniquitous, unpardonable
+as were the acts of his colleague--serious as was the actual sum of
+money gone; yet these were as nothing compared with the distressing
+fact, that intelligence of the evil work had already gone abroad, was
+in circulation, and might at any moment put a violent end to his own
+unsteady course. He carried the note to Planner--he thrust it into his
+face, and called him to account for his baseness and ingratitude. He
+could have struck his friend and partner to the earth, and trod him
+there to death, as he confronted and upbraided him.
+
+"Now, sir," roared Allcraft in his fury--"What excuse--what lie have
+you at your tongue's end to palliate this? What can justify this? Will
+you never be satisfied until you have rendered me the same hopeless,
+helpless creature that I found you, when I dragged you from your [Sec.]
+beggaring. Answer me!"--
+
+There is nothing like a plaintive retort when your case is utterly
+indefensible. Planner looked at the letter, read it--then turned his
+eyes mildly and reproachfully upon his accuser.
+
+"Michael Allcraft," he said affectingly, "you treat me cruelly."
+
+"I!" answered the other astounded. "I treat _you_! Planner, I
+intrusted you years ago with a secret. I paid you well for keeping it.
+Could I dream that nothing would satisfy your rapacity but my
+destruction? Could I suppose it? I have fed your ravenous desires. I
+have submitted to your encroachments. Do you ask my soul as well as
+body? Let me know what it is you ask--what I have to pay--let me hear
+the worst, and--prepare for all my punishment."
+
+"I have listened to all you have said," continued Planner, "and I
+consider myself an ill-used man."
+
+Michael stared.
+
+"Yes--I mean it. I have worked like a negro for you Allcraft, and this
+is the return you make me. I get your drift; do not attempt to
+disguise it--it is cruel--most, most cruel!
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Have I not always promised to share my gains with you?"
+
+"Pshaw--_your_ gains--where are they?"
+
+"That's nothing to the point. Did I not promise?"
+
+"Well--well."
+
+"And now, after all my labour and struggling, because I have _failed_,
+you wish to turn me off, and throw me to the world. Now, speak the
+truth, man--is it not so?"
+
+Oh! Planner was a cunning creature, and so was Michael Allcraft. Mark
+them both! This idea, which Planner deemed too good to be seriously
+entertained by his colleague, had never once occurred to Michael; but
+it seemed so promising, and so likely, if followed up, to relieve him
+effectually of his greatest plague, and of any floating ill report,
+that he found no hesitation in adopting it at once. He did not answer,
+but he tried to look as if his partner had exactly guessed his actual
+intention. Such [Sec.]* gentlemen both!
+
+   *Transcriber's Note: Original cut off between [Sec.]s--Section
+   completed with best guess of correct wording.
+
+"I thought so," continued the injured Planner. "Michael, you do not
+know me. You do not understand my character. I am a child to persuade,
+but a rock if you attempt to force me. I shall _not_ desert the bank,
+whilst there is a chance of paying back all that we have drawn."
+
+"_We_, sir?"
+
+"Yes--we. You and I together for our schemes, and you alone for
+private purposes. You recollect your father's debts"--
+
+"Planner, do not think to threaten me into further compromise. You can
+frighten me no longer--be sure of that. Your transactions are the
+common talk of the city--the bank is stigmatized by its connexion with
+you."
+
+"Curse the bank!" said Planner fretfully. "Would to Heaven I had never
+heard of it!"
+
+"Leave it then, and rid yourself of the annoyance. You are free to do
+it!"
+
+"What! and leave behind me every chance of realizing a competency for
+my old age! Oh, Michael, Michael--shame, shame!"
+
+"Competency! Are you serious? Are you sane? Competency! Why, the
+labour of your life will not make good a tithe of what you have
+squandered."
+
+"Come, come, Michael, you know better. You know well enough that one
+lucky turn would set us up at last. Speak like a man. Say that you
+want to grasp all--that you are tired of me--that you are sick of the
+old face, and wish to see my back. Put the thing in its proper light,
+and you shall not find me hard to deal with."
+
+"Planner, you are deceived. Your mind is full of fancy and delusion,
+and that has been your curse and mine."
+
+"Very well. Have your way; but look you, Michael, you are anxious to
+get rid of me--there's no denying that. There is no reason why we
+should quarrel on that account. I would sacrifice my prospects, were
+they double what they are, rather than beg you to retain me. I did not
+ask for a share in your bank. You sought me, and I came at your
+request. Blot out the past. Release me from the debt that stands
+against my name, and I am gone. As I came at your bidding, so, at your
+bidding, I am ready to depart."
+
+"Agreed," said Allcraft, almost before the wily Planner finished. "It
+is done. I consent to your proposal. A dissolution shall be drawn up
+without delay, and shall be published in the next gazette."
+
+"And publish with it," said Planner, like a martyr as he was, "the
+fate of him who gave up all to his own high sense of honour, and his
+friend's ingratitude."
+
+So Planner spake, scarcely crediting his good fortune, and almost mad
+with joy at his deliverance. He had no rest until the seals were fixed
+to parchment, and the warrant of his release appeared in public print.
+Within a week, the fettered man was free. Within another week, his
+bounding spirits came like a spring-tide back to him, and in less than
+eight-and-twenty days of freedom and repose, he recovered quite as
+many years of sweet and precious life. He made quick use of his wings.
+At first, like a wild and liberated bird, he sported and tumbled in
+the air, and fixed upon no particular aim; a thousand captivating
+objects soon caught his eagle eye, and then he mounted, dazzled by
+them all, and soon eluded mortal sight and reach. But, glad as was the
+schemer, his delight and sense of freedom were much inferior to those
+of his misguided and unlucky partner. Michael breathed as a man
+relieved from nightmare. The encumbrance which had for years prevented
+him from rising, that had so lately threatened his existence, was
+gone, could no longer hang upon him, haunt and oppress him. What a
+deliverance!--Yet, what a price had he paid for it! True, but was not
+the money already sacrificed? Would it have been restored, had the
+luckless speculator himself remained? Never! Well, fearful then as was
+the sum, let it go, taking the incubus along with it. Allcraft took
+care to obtain the consent of Bellamy to his arrangement. He wrote to
+him, explaining the reasons for parting with their partner; and an
+answer came from the landed proprietor, acquiescing in the plan, but
+slightly doubting the propriety of the movement. As for Brammel, he
+consented, as he was ready to agree to any thing but a personal visit
+to the great metropolis. And then, what was Michael's next step? A
+proper one--to put out effectually the few sparks of scandal which
+might, possibly, be still flying about after the discovery of
+Planner's scheme. He worked fiercer than ever--harder than the
+day-labourer--at his place of business. It was wise in him to do so,
+and thus to draw men's thoughts from Planner's faults to his own
+unquestioned merits. And here he might have stopped with safety; but
+his roused, suspicious, sensitive nature, would not suffer him. He
+began to read, then to doubt and fear men's looks; to draw conclusions
+from their innocent words; to find grounds of uneasiness and torture
+in their silence. A vulgar fellow treated him with rudeness, and for
+days he treasured up the man's words, and repeated them to himself.
+What could they mean? Did people smell a rat? Were they on the watch?
+Did they suspect that he was poor? Ah, that was it! He saw it--he
+believed he did--that was equivalent to sight, and enough for him. Men
+did not understand him. He would not die so easily--they must be
+undeceived. Miserable Allcraft! He speedily removed from his small
+cottage--took a mansion, furnished it magnificently, and made it a
+palace in costliness and hospitality. Ah! _was_ he poor? The trick
+answered. The world was not surprised, but satisfied. There was but
+one opinion. He deserved it all, and more. The only wonder was, that
+he had hitherto lived so quietly, rich as he was, in virtue of his
+wife's inheritance, and from his own hard-earned gains. His increasing
+business still enlarged. Customers brought guests, and, in their turn,
+the guests became good customers. It was a splendid mansion,
+with its countless rooms and gorgeous appointments. What
+pleasure-grounds--gardens--parks--preserves! Noble establishment, with
+its butler, under-butler, upper-servant, and my lady's (so the working
+people called poor Margaret) footman! In truth, a palace; but, alas!
+although it took a prince's revenue to maintain it, and although the
+lady's purse was draining fast to keep it and the bank upon its legs,
+yet was there not a corner, a nook, a hole in the building, in which
+master or mistress could find an hour's comfort, or a night's
+unmingled sleep. As for the devoted woman, it made very little
+difference to her whether she dwelt in a castle or a hovel, provided
+she could see her husband cheerful, and know that he was happy. This
+was all she looked for--cared for--lived for. _He_ was her life. What
+was her money--the dross which mankind yearned after--but for its use
+to him, but for the power it might exercise amongst men to elevate and
+ennoble _him_? What was her palace but a dungeon if it rendered her
+beloved more miserable than ever, if it added daily to the troubles he
+had brought there--to the cares which had accumulated on his head from
+the very hour she had become his mate? Michael Allcraft! you never
+deserved this woman for your wife; you told her so many times, and
+perhaps you meant what was wrung from your heart in its anguish. It
+was the truth. Why, if not in rank cowardice and pitiful ambition,
+entangle yourself in the perplexities of such a household with all
+that heap of woe already on your soul? Why, when your London agents
+refused, in consequence of your irregularity and neglect, to advance
+your further loans--why take a base advantage of that heroic
+generosity that placed its all, unquestioning, at your command? Why,
+when you pretended with so much ceremony and regard, to effect an
+insurance on your worthless life, did you fail to pay up the policy
+even for a second year, and so resign all claim and right to such
+assurance, making it null and void? Let it stand here recorded to your
+disgrace, that, in the prosecution of your views, in the working out
+of your insane ambition, no one single thought of her, who gave her
+wealth as freely as ever fount poured forth its liberal stream,
+deterred you in your progress for an instant; that no one glow or gush
+of feeling towards the fond and faithful wife interposed to save her
+from the consequences of your selfishness, and to humble you with
+shame for inhumanity as vile as it was undeserved. It is not
+surprising, that after the taking of the great house the demands upon
+the property of Margaret were made without apology or explanation. He
+asked, and he obtained. The refusal of aid, on the part of the London
+house, terrified him when it came, and caused him to rush, with a
+natural instinct, to the quarter whence he had no fear of denial and
+complaint. He drew largely from her resources. The money was sucked
+into the whirlpool; there was a speedy cry for more; and more was got
+and sacrificed. It would have been a miracle had Allcraft, in the
+midst of his crushing cares, retained his early vigour of mind and
+body, and passed through ten years of such an existence without
+suffering the penalties usually inflicted upon the man prodigal of the
+blessings and good gifts of Providence. In his appearance, and in his
+temperament, he had undergone a woful change. His hair--all that
+remained of it, for the greater part had fallen away--was grey;
+and, thin, weak, and straggling, dropped upon his wrinkled
+forehead--wrinkled with a frown that had taken root there. His face
+was sickly, and never free from the traces of acute anxiety that was
+eating at his heart. His body was emaciated, and, at times, his hand
+shook like a drunkard's. It was even worse with the spiritual man. He
+had become irritable, peevish, and ill-natured; he had lost, by
+degrees, every generous sentiment. As a young man he had been
+remarkable for his liberality in pecuniary matters. He had been wont
+to part freely with his money. Inconsistent as it may seem,
+notwithstanding his heavy losses through his partners, and his fearful
+expenditure, he was as greedy of gain as though he were stinting
+himself of every farthing, and secretly hoarding up his chests of
+gold. He would haggle in a bargain for a shilling, and economize in
+things beneath a wise man's notice or consideration. For a few years,
+as it has been seen, Allcraft had denied himself the customary
+recreations of a man of business, and had devoted himself entirely to
+his occupation. It was by no means a favourable indication of his
+state of mind, that he derived no satisfaction at the grand mansion,
+either alone or in the mere society of his wife. He quitted the bank
+daily at a late hour, and reached his home just in time for dinner.
+That over, he could not sit or rest--he must be moving. He could not
+live in quiet. "Quietness"--it was his own expression--"stunned him."
+He rushed to the theatre, to balls, concerts, wherever there was
+noise, talk, excitement, crowds of people; wherever there was release
+from his own pricking conscience and miserable thoughts. And then to
+parties; of course there was no lack of them, for their society was in
+great request, and every one was eager for an invitation in return to
+_Eden_--such being the strange misnomer of their magnificent
+prison-house. And, oh, rare entertainments were they which the
+suffering pair provided for the cold-hearted crew that flocked to
+partake of their substance! How the poor creature smiled upon her
+guests as they arrived, whilst her wounded heart bled on! How she
+sang--exquisitely always--for their amusement and nauseous
+approbation, until her sweet voice almost failed to crush the rising
+tears! How gracefully she led off the merry dance whilst clogs were on
+her spirits, weighing upon every movement. Extravagant joyousness!
+Dearly purchased pleasure! Yes, dearly purchased, if only with that
+half hour of dreadful silence and remorse that intervened between the
+banquet and the chamber--not of sweet slumber and benevolent repose
+but of restlessness and horrid dreams!
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE CRISIS.
+
+
+Michael was half mad in the midst of his troubles; and, in truth, they
+gathered so thickly and rapidly about him, that he is to be admired
+for the little check which he contrived to keep over his reason,
+saving him from absolute insanity and a lunatic asylum. Mr Bellamy,
+although away, made free with the capital of the bank, and applied it
+to his own private uses. Mr Brammel, senior, after having, for many
+years, made good to Allcraft the losses the latter had sustained
+through his son's extravagance, at length grew tired of the work, and
+left the neighbourhood, in disgust, as Michael thought, but, in sad
+truth, with a bruised and broken heart. At last he had dismissed the
+long-cherished hope of the prodigal's reformation, and with his latest
+hope departed every wish to look upon his hastening decay and fall. He
+crawled from the scene--the country; no one knew his course; not a
+soul was cognizant of his intentions, or could guess his
+resting-place. Augustus Theodore did not, in consequence of his
+father's absence, draw less furiously upon the bank! He had never
+heard of that father's generosity--how should he know of it now? And,
+if he knew it, was he very likely to profit by the information?
+Michael honoured his drafts for many reasons; two may be mentioned,
+founded on hope and fear--the hope of frightening the unfortunate
+Brammel senior into payment when he met with him again, the fear of
+making Brammel junior desperate by his refusal, and of his divulging
+all he knew. Could a man, not crazy, carry more care upon his brain?
+Yes, for demands on account of Planner poured in, the very instant
+that fortunate speculator had taken his lucky leave of the
+establishment--demands for which Michael had rendered himself liable
+in law, by the undertaking which he had drawn up and signed in his
+alarm and haste. Oh, why had he overwhelmed himself with partners--why
+had he married--why had he taken upon himself the responsibility of
+his parent's debts--why had he not explained every thing when he might
+have done it with honour and advantage--why had he not relied upon his
+own integrity--and why had he attempted, with cunning and duplicity,
+to overreach his neighbours? Why, oh why, had he done all this? When
+Michael was fairly hemmed in by his difficulties, and, as it is
+vulgarly said, had not a leg to stand upon, or a hole to creep
+through, then, and not till then, did he put these various questions
+to himself; and since it is somewhat singular that so shrewd a man
+should have waited until the last moment to put queries of such vast
+importance to himself, I shall dwell here for one brief moment on the
+fact, be it only to remind and to warn others, equally shrewd and
+equally clever, of the mischief they are doing when they postpone the
+consideration of their motives and acts until motives and acts both
+have brought them into a distress, out of which all their
+consideration will not move them an inch. "Why have I _done_?" was,
+is, and ever will be, the whining interrogative of stricken
+_inability_; "Why am I about _to do_?" the provident question of
+thoughtful, far-seeing _success_. Remember that.
+
+I am really afraid to say how much of poor Margaret's fortune was
+dragged from her--how little of it still remained. It must have been a
+trifle, indeed, when Michael, with a solemn oath, swore that he would
+not touch one farthing more, let the consequences be what they might.
+Could it be possible that the whole of her splendid inheritance had
+shrunk to so paltry a sum, that the grasping man had ceased to think
+it worth his while to touch it? or did the dread of beholding the
+confiding woman, beggar'd at last, induce him to leave at her disposal
+enough to purchase for her--necessary bread? Whatever was his motive,
+he persisted in his resolution, and to the end was faithful to his
+oath. Not another sixpence did he take from her. And how much the
+better was he for all that he had taken already? Poor Michael had not
+time to enquire and answer the question. He could not employ his
+precious moments in retrospection. He lived from hand to mouth;
+struggled every hour to meet the exigencies of the hour that followed.
+He was absorbed in the agitated present, and dared not look an inch
+away from it. Now, thanks to the efforts of her people, England is a
+Christian country; and whenever fortune goes very hard with a man who
+has received all the assistance that his immediate connexions can
+afford him, there is a benevolent brotherhood at hand, eager to
+relieve the sufferer's wants, and to put an end to his anxiety. This
+charitable band is known by the name of _Money-lenders--Jewish_
+money-lenders; so called, no doubt, in profound humility and
+self-denial, displayed in the Christian's wish to give the _honour_
+of the work elsewhere, reserving to himself the labour and--the
+profit. When Michael needed fresh supplies, he was not long in
+gathering a gang of harpies about him. They kept their victim for a
+while well afloat. They permitted their principal to accumulate in his
+hands, whilst they received full half of their advances back in the
+form of interest. So he went on; and how long this game would have
+lasted, it is impossible to say, because it was cut short in its
+heighth by a circumstance that brought the toppling house down, as it
+were, with a blow and a run.
+
+When Allcraft, one morning at his usual hour, presented himself at the
+bank, his confidential clerk approached him with a very serious face,
+and placed a newspaper in his hand. Michael had grown very timid and
+excitable; and when the clerk put his finger on the particular spot to
+which he desired to call his superior's attention, the heart of the
+nervous man leapt into his throat, and the blood rushed from his
+cheek, as if it were its duty to go and look after it. He literally
+wanted the courage to read the words. He attempted to smile
+indifferently, and to thank his servant as courteously as if he had
+given him a pleasant pinch of snuff; but at the same time, he pressed
+his thumb upon the paragraph, and made his way straight to his snug
+and private room. He was ready to drop when he reached it, and his
+heart beat like a hammer against his ribs. He placed the paper on the
+table, and, ere he read a syllable, he laboured to compose himself.
+What could it be? Was the thing exploded? Was he already the common
+talk and laugh of men? Was he ruined and disgraced? He read at
+length--_The property and estates of Walter Bellamy, Esq., were
+announced for sale by auction._ His first sensation on perusing the
+advertisement was one of overpowering sickness. Here, then, was his
+destruction sealed! Here was the declaration of poverty trumpeted to
+the world. Here was the alarum sounded--here was his doom proclaimed.
+Let there be a run upon the bank--and who could stop it now?--let it
+last for four-and-twenty hours, and he is himself a bankrupt, an
+outcast, and a beggar. The tale was told--the disastrous history was
+closed. He had spun his web--had been his own destiny. God help and
+pardon him for his transgressions! There he sat, unhappy creature,
+weeping, and weeping like a heart-broken boy, sobbing aloud from the
+very depths of his soul, frantic with distress. For a full half hour
+he sat there, now clenching his fists in silent agony, now accusing
+himself of crime, now permitting horrible visions to take possession
+of his brain, and to madden it with their terrible and truth-like
+glare. He saw himself--whilst his closed eyes were pressed upon his
+paralysed hands--saw himself as palpably as though he stood _before_
+himself, crawling through the public streets, an object for men's
+pity, scorn, and curses. Now men laughed at him, pointed to him with
+their fingers, and made their children mock and hoot the penniless
+insolvent. Labouring men, with whose small savings he had played the
+thief, prayed for maledictions on his head; and mothers taught their
+little ones to hate the very name he bore, and frightened them by
+making use of it. Miserable pictures, one upon the other, rose before
+him--dark judgments, which he had never dreamed of or anticipated; and
+he stood like a stricken coward, and he yearned for the silence and
+concealment of the _grave_. Ay--the grave! Delightful haven to
+pigeon-hearted malefactors--inconsistent criminals, who fear the puny
+look of mortal man, and, unabashed, stalk beneath the eternal and the
+killing frown of God. Michael fixed upon his remedy, and the delusive
+opiate gave him temporary ease; but, in an another instant, he derived
+even hope and consolation from another and altogether opposite view of
+things. A thought suddenly occurred to him, as thoughts will occur to
+the tossed and working mind--how, why, or whence we know not; and the
+drowning man, catching sight of the straw, did not fail to clutch it.
+What if, after all, Mr. Bellamy proposed to sell his property _in
+favour of the bank_!! Very likely, certainly; and yet Allcraft,
+sinking, could believe it possible--yes possible, and (by a course of
+happy reasoning and self-persuasion) not only so--but _true_. And if
+this were Mr. Bellamy's motive and design, how cruel had been his own
+suspicions--how vain and wicked his previous disturbance and
+complaints! And why should it not be? Had he not engaged to restore
+the money which he had borrowed; and had he not given his word of
+honour to pay in a large amount of capital? At the memorable meeting,
+had he not promised to satisfy Allcraft of the justice of his own
+proceedings, and the impropriety of Michael's attack upon his
+character? And had not the time arrived for the redemption of his
+word, and the payment of every farthing that was due from him? Yes; it
+had arrived--it had come--it was here. Mr Bellamy was about to assert
+his integrity, and the banking-house was saved. Michael rose from his
+chair--wiped the heavy sweat-drops from his brow--dried his tears, and
+gave one long and grateful sigh for his deliverance from that state of
+horror, by which, for one sad, sickening moment, he had been
+bewildered and betrayed. But, satisfied as he was, and rejoiced as he
+pretended to be, it could hardly be expected that a gentleman
+possessed of so lively a temperament as that enjoyed by Mr. Allcraft
+would rest quietly upon his convictions, and take no steps to
+strengthen and establish them. Michael for many days past had had no
+direct communication with his absent partner, and, at the present
+moment, he was ignorant of his movements. He resolved to make his way
+at once to the Hall, and to get what intelligence he could of its lord
+and master, from the servants left in charge of that most noble and
+encumbered property. Accordingly he quitted his apartment, threw a
+ghastly smile into his countenance, and then came quickly upon his
+clerks, humming a few cheerful notes, with about as much spirit and
+energy as a man might have if forced to sing a comic song just before
+his execution. Thoroughly persuaded that the officials had not
+obtained an inkling of what had transpired in his _sanctum_, and that
+he left them without a suspicion of evil upon their minds, he started
+upon his errand, and waited not for breath until he reached his
+destination. He arrived at the lodge--he arrived at the Hall. He rang
+the loud bell, and a minute afterwards he learned that Mr Bellamy was
+within--had made his appearance at home late on the evening before,
+and, at the present moment, was enjoying his breakfast. Michael, for
+sudden joy and excitement, was wellnigh thrown from his equilibrium.
+Here was confirmation stronger than ever! Would he have returned to
+the estate upon the very eve of disposing of it, if he had not
+intended to deal well and honestly in the transaction? Would he not
+have been ashamed to do it? Would he have subjected himself to the
+just reproaches and upbraidings of his partner, when, by his absence,
+he might so easily have avoided them? Certainly not. Michael Allcraft,
+for a few brief seconds, was a happier man than he had been for years.
+His eyes were hardly free of the tears which he had shed in the
+extremity of his distress, and he was now ready to weep again in the
+very exuberance and wildness of his delight. He presented his card to
+the corpulent and powdered footman; he was announced; he was ushered
+in. Walter Bellamy, Esquire, sitting in state, received his friend and
+partner with many smiles and much urbanity. He was still at breakfast,
+and advancing slowly in the meal, like a gentleman whose breakfast was
+his greatest care in life. Nothing could be more striking than the air
+of stately repose visible in the proprietor himself, and in the
+specious and solemn serving-man, who stood behind him--less a
+_serving_-man than a sublime dumb waiter. Michael was affected by it,
+and he approached his colleague with a rising sentiment of
+awe--partly, perhaps, the effect of the scene--partly the result of
+natural apprehension.
+
+"Most glad to see you, my very good friend," began the master--"most
+glad--most happy--pray, be seated. A lovely morning this! A plate for
+Mr. Allcraft."
+
+"Thank you--I have breakfasted," said Michael, declining the kind
+offer. "I had no thought of finding you at home."
+
+"Ay--a mutual and unexpected pleasure. Just so. I had no thought of
+coming home until I started, and I arrived here only late last night.
+Business seldom suites itself to one's convenience."
+
+"Seldom, indeed--very seldom," answered Michael, with a friendly
+smile, and a look of meaning, which showed that he had taken hope from
+Mr Bellamy's expression--"and," he continued, "having returned, I
+presume you spend some time amongst us."
+
+"Not a day, my friend. To-morrow I am on the wing again. I have left a
+dozen men behind me, who'll hunt me over the country, if I don't
+rejoin them without delay. No. I am off again to-morrow." (Michael
+moved uneasily in his chair.) "But, how are you, Mr Allcraft? How are
+all our friends? Nothing new, I'll venture to say. This world is a
+stale affair at the best. Life is seen and known at twenty. Live to
+sixty, and it is like reading a dull book three times over. You had
+better take a cup of coffee, Mr Allcraft!"
+
+"Thank you--no. You surprise me by your determination."
+
+"Don't be surprised at any thing, Mr Allcraft. Take things as they
+come, if you wish to be happy."
+
+Michael, very uneasy indeed, wished to make a remark, but he looked at
+the man in crimson plush, and held his tongue. Mr Bellamy observed
+him.
+
+"You have something to say? Can I give you any advice, my friend?
+Pray, command me, and speak without reserve. As much as you please,
+and as quickly as you please, for I assure you time is precious. In
+half an hour I have twenty men to see, and twice as many things to
+do."
+
+Again Michael glanced at the stout footman, who was pretending to
+throw his mind into the coming week, and to appear oblivious of every
+thing about him.
+
+"I have a question to ask," proceeded Michael hesitatingly; "but it
+can be answered in a moment, and at another opportunity--in a little
+while, when you are _quite_ at leisure."
+
+"As you please; only remember I have no end of engagements, and if I
+am called away I cannot return to you."
+
+Poor Michael! His expectations were again at a fearful discount. The
+language and demeanor of Mr Bellamy seemed decisive of his intentions.
+What could he do? What--but fasten on his man, and not suffer him to
+leave his sight without an explanation, which he dreaded to receive.
+Mr Bellamy continued to be very polite and very talkative, and to
+prosecute his repast with unyielding equanimity. At the close of the
+meal the servant removed the cloth, and departed. At the same instant
+the landed proprietor rose from his chair, and was about to depart
+likewise. Michael, alarmed at the movement, touched Mr Bellamy gently
+on the sleeve, and then, less gently, detained him by the wrist.
+
+"What do you mean, sir?" asked Bellamy, turning sharply upon his
+partner: "What do you mean? What is your object?"
+
+"Mr Bellamy," said Allcraft, pale as death, and much excited; "you
+must not go until you have satisfied me on a point of life and death
+to both of us. Your conduct is a mystery. I cannot explain it. I know
+not what are the motives which actuate you. These are known to
+yourself. Let them be so. But I have a question to ask, and you must
+and shall answer it."
+
+"_Must_ and _shall_, Mr Allcraft! Take care--pray, take care of your
+expressions. You will commit yourself. When will you cease to be a
+very young man? I will answer voluntarily any questions put to me by
+any gentleman. _Must_ and _shall_ never forced a syllable from my lips
+yet. Now, sir--ask what you please."
+
+"Mr Bellamy," continued Allcraft, "your property is announced for
+public sale."
+
+"It is," said Bellamy.
+
+"And the announcement has your sanction?"
+
+"It has."
+
+"And with the sum realized by that sale, you propose to"--
+
+Michael stopped, as though he wished his partner to fill up the
+sentence.
+
+"Go on, sir," said the proprietor.
+
+"With the sum thus realized, I say, you propose to make good the
+losses which the bank has suffered by your improvidence?"
+
+"Not exactly. Is there any thing else?"
+
+"Oh, Mr Bellamy, you cannot mean what you say? I am sure you cannot.
+You are aware of our condition. You know that there needs only a
+breath to destroy us in one moment for ever. At this very time your
+purpose is known to the world; and, before we can prevent it, the bank
+may be run upon and annihilated. What will be said of your
+proceedings? How can you reconcile the answer which you have just now
+given to me, with your vaunted high sense of honour, or even with your
+own most worldly interests?"
+
+"Have you finished, sir?" said Bellamy, in a quiet voice.
+
+"No!" exclaimed Michael, in as angry a tone of indignation: "no! I
+have not finished. I call upon you, Mr Bellamy, to mark my words; to
+mark and heed them--for, so Heaven help me, I bid you listen to the
+truth. Quiet and easy as you profess to be, I will be cozened by you
+no longer. If you carry out your work, your doings shall be told to
+every human soul within a hundred miles of where you stand. You shall
+be exhibited as you are. If every farthing got from the sale of this
+estate be not given up to defray your past extravagance, you shall be
+branded as you deserve. Mr Bellamy, you have deceived me for many
+years. Do not deceive yourself now."
+
+"Have you finished, sir?" repeated Mr Bellamy.
+
+"Yes--with a sentence. If you are mad--I will be resolute. Persist in
+your determination, and the bank shall stop this very night."
+
+"And let it stop," said Bellamy; "by all means let it stop. If it be a
+necessary, inevitable arrangement, I would not interfere with it for
+the world. Act, Mr Allcraft, precisely as you think proper. It is all
+I ask on my own account. I have unfortunately private debts to a very
+large amount. What is still more unfortunate, they must be paid. I
+have no means of paying them except by selling my estate, and
+therefore it must go. I hope you are satisfied?"
+
+Michael threw himself into a chair, and moved about in it, groaning.
+Mr Bellamy closed the door, and approached him.
+
+"This is a very unnecessary display of feeling, Mr Allcraft," said the
+imperturbable Bellamy; "very--and can answer no good end. The thing,
+as I have told you, is inevitable."
+
+"No--no--no," cried Allcraft, imploringly; "Not so, Mr Bellamy. Think
+again--ponder well our dreadful situation. Reflect that, before
+another day is gone, we may be ruined, beggared, and that this very
+property may be wrested from you by our angry creditors. What will
+become of us? For Heaven's sake, my dear, good sir, do not rush
+blindly upon destruction. Do not suffer us to be hooted, trampled
+upon, despised, cursed by every man that meets us. You can save us if
+you will--do it then--be generous--be just."
+
+"As for being _just_, Mr Allcraft," replied Bellamy composedly, "the
+less we speak about that matter the better. Had _justice_ been ever
+taken into account, you and I would, in all probability, not have met
+on the present business. I cannot help saying, that, when you are
+ready to justify to me your conduct in respect of your late father's
+liabilities, I shall be more disposed to listen to any thing you may
+have to urge in reason touching the produce of this estate. Until that
+time, I am an unmoved man. You conceive me?"
+
+"Yes," said Michael, changing colour, "I see--I perceive your drift--I
+am aware--Mr Bellamy," continued the unhappy speaker, stammering until
+he almost burst with rage. "You are a villain! You have heard of my
+misfortunes, and you take a mean advantage of your knowledge to crush
+and kill me. You are a villain and I defy you!"
+
+Mr Bellamy moved leisurely to the fire-place, and rang the bell. The
+stout gentleman in plush walked in, and the landed proprietor pointed
+to the door.
+
+"For Mr Allcraft, William," said the squire.
+
+"Very well!" said Michael, white with agitation; "Very well! As sure
+as you are a living man, your ruin shall be coincident with mine. Not
+a step shall I fall, down which you shall not follow and be dragged
+yourself. You shall not be spared one pang. I warn you of your fate,
+and it shall come sooner than you look for it."
+
+"Pooh, pooh; you have been drinking, Mr. Allcraft."
+
+"You lie, sir, as you have lied for months and years--lived upon lies,
+and"--
+
+"You need not say another word. You shall finish your sentence, sir,
+elsewhere. Begone! William, show Mr. Allcraft to the door."
+
+William pretended to look very absent again, and bowed. Michael stared
+at him for a second or two, as if confounded, and then, like a madman,
+rushed from the room and house.
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE CRASH.
+
+
+The plans and objects of Mr Walter Bellamy were best known to himself.
+Whatever they might be, he diverged from them for a few hours in order
+to give his miserable partner the opportunity he had promised him, of
+completing that very inauspicious sentence--the last which he had
+uttered in Mr. Bellamy's house previously to his abrupt departure.
+Michael had not been in the banking-house an hour after his return
+from the Hall before he was visited by a business-like gentleman, who
+introduced himself as the particular friend of Mr. Bellamy, on whose
+particular business he professed to come. Allcraft, with his brain on
+fire, received the visit of this man with secret glee. All the way
+home he had prayed that Bellamy might prove as good as his word, and
+not fail to demand immediate satisfaction. He longed for death with a
+full and yearning desire, and he could kiss the hand that would be
+merciful and give the fatal blow. A suicide at heart, it was something
+to escape the guilt and punishment of self-murder. Bellamy was reputed
+a first-rate shot. Michael was aware of the fact, and hugged the
+consciousness to his soul. He would not detract from his reputation;
+the duellist should add another laurel to his chaplet of _honour_, and
+purchase it with his blood. He had resolved to fight and fall. It was
+very evident that the friend of Mr Bellamy expected rather to frighten
+Michael into a humble and contrite apology, than to find him ready and
+eager for the battle; for he commenced his mission by a very long and
+high-flown address, and assured Mr Allcraft, time after time, that
+nothing but the most ample and the most public _amende_ could be
+received by his friend after what had taken place. Michael listened
+impatiently, and interrupted the speaker in the midst of his oration.
+
+"You are quite right, sir," said he. "If an apology is to be made, it
+should be an ample one. But I decline to make any whatever. I am
+prepared to give Mr Bellamy all the satisfaction that he asks. I will
+refer you at once to my friend, and the sooner the affair is settled
+the better."
+
+"Well, but surely, Mr Allcraft, you must regret the strong
+expression"--
+
+"Which I uttered to your friend? By no means. I told him that he lied.
+I repeat the word to you. I would say it in his teeth again if he
+stood here. What more is necessary?"
+
+"Nothing," said the gentleman, certainly unprepared for Michael's
+resolution. "Nothing; name your friend, sir."
+
+Michael had already fixed upon a second, and he told his name. His
+visitor went to seek him, and the poor bewildered man rubbed his hands
+gleefully, as though he had just saved his life, instead of having
+placed it in such fearful jeopardy.
+
+That day passed like a dream. The meeting was quickly arranged. Six
+o'clock on the following morning was the hour fixed. The place was a
+field, the first beyond the turnpike gate, and within a mile of the
+city. As soon as Michael made sure of the duel, he saw his
+confidential clerk. His name was Burrage. He had been a servant in the
+banking-house for forty years, and had known Michael since his birth.
+It was he who gave the newspaper into Allcraft's hands, on the first
+arrival of the latter at the bank that morning. He was a quiet old man
+of sixty, an affectionate creature, and as much a part of the
+banking-house as the iron chest, the desk, the counter, or any other
+solid fixture. He stepped softly into his master's room after he had
+been summoned there, and he gazed at his unhappy principal as a father
+might at his own child in misfortune--a beloved and favourite child.
+
+"You are not well this morning, sir," said Burrage most respectfully.
+"You look very pale and anxious."
+
+"My looks belie me, Burrage. I am very well. I have not been so well
+for years. I am composed and happy. I have been ill, but the time is
+past. How old are you, Burrage?"
+
+"Turned threescore, sir; old enough to die."
+
+"Die--die! death is a sweet thing, old man, when it comes to the
+care-worn. I have had my share of trouble."
+
+"Too much, sir--too much!" said Burrage, his eyes filling with water.
+"You have half killed yourself here. I am sure your poor father never
+expected this. Nobody could have expected it in his time, when you
+were a little, fat, rosy-cheeked boy, running about without a thought,
+except a thought of kindness for other people."
+
+Michael Allcraft burst into a flood of tears--they gushed faster and
+faster into his eyes, and he sobbed as only men sob who have reached
+the climax of earthly suffering and trial.
+
+"Do not take on so, my dear sir," said Burrage, running to him. "Pray,
+be calm. I am sure you are unwell. You have been ill for some time.
+You should see a doctor--although I am very much afraid that your
+disease is beyond their cure--in truth I am."
+
+"Burrage," said Michael in a whisper, and still sighing
+convulsively--"It is all over. It is finished. Prepare for the
+crash--look to your own safety. Hide yourself from the gaze of men. It
+will strike us all dead."
+
+"You frighten me, Mr Allcraft.--You are really very ill. Your brain is
+overworked--you want a little repose and recreation."
+
+"Yes, you are right Burrage--the recreation of a jail--the repose of a
+tomb. We will have one, at least--yes, one--and I have made the
+selection."
+
+"Have you heard any bad news to-day, sir?"
+
+"None--excellent news to-day. No more hopes and fears--no alarms--no
+lying and knavery--eternal peace now, and not eternal wretchedness."
+
+"Had you not better leave the bank, Mr Allcraft, and go home? Your
+hands are burning hot. You are in a high fever."
+
+"Put up the shutters--put up the shutters," muttered Michael, more to
+himself than to his clerk. "Write _bankrupt_ on the door--write it in
+large letters--in staring capitals--that the children may read the
+word, and know why they are taught to curse me. You hear me, Burrage?"
+
+"I hear what you say, sir, but I do not understand you. You want
+rest--you are excited."
+
+"I tell you, Burrage, I am quiet--I never was so quiet--never sounder
+in body and mind. Will you refuse to listen to the truth? Man," he
+continued, raising his voice and looking the clerk steadily in the
+face. "I am ruined--a beggar. The bank is at its last gasp. The doors
+are closed to-night--never to be re-opened."
+
+"God forbid, sir!"
+
+"Why so?--Would you drive me mad? Am I to have no peace--no rest? Am I
+to be devoured, eaten away by anxiety and trouble? Have you no human
+blood--no pity for me? Are you as selfish as the rest?"
+
+"Is it possible, sir?"
+
+"It is the truth. But speak not of it. I will have your life if you
+betray me until the event tells its own tale. We close the door
+to-night, to open it no more. You hear the words. They are very simple
+words. Why do you stare so, as if you couldn't guess their meaning?"
+
+"Oh--I have dreaded this--I have suspected it!" said Burrage, wringing
+his hands; "but it has always seemed impossible. Poor Mr Allcraft!"
+
+"_Poor!_" exclaimed Michael. "Do you begin already? Do you throw it in
+my teeth so soon? You are in the right, man--go with the stream--taunt
+me--spit in my face--trample me in the dust!"
+
+"Do not speak unkindly to me, master," said the old clerk. "You will
+break my heart at once if you do. What you have told me is hard enough
+to bear in one day."
+
+Michael took the good fellow's hand, and answered, whilst his lips
+quivered with grief, "It is--it is enough, old friend. Go your ways.
+Leave me to myself. I have told you a secret--keep it whilst it
+remains one. Oh, what a havoc! What devastation! Go, Burrage--go--seal
+your lips--do not breathe a syllable--go to your work."
+
+The clerk went as he was bid, but stupified and stunned by the
+information he had received. He took his accustomed seat at the desk,
+and placed a large ledger before him. He was occupied with one trifling
+account for half the day, and did not finish it at last. A simple sum of
+compound addition puzzled the man who, an hour before, could have gone
+through the whole of the arithmetic in his sleep. Oh, boasted intellect
+of man! How little is it thou canst do when the delicate and feeling
+heart is out of tune! How impotent thou art! How like a rudderless ship
+upon a stormy sea! Poor Burrage was helpless and adrift! And Michael sat
+for hours together alone, in his little room. He was literally afraid to
+creep out of it. He struggled to keep his mind steadily and composedly
+fixed upon the fate that awaited him--a fate which he had marked out for
+himself, and resolved not to escape. He forced himself to regard the
+great Enemy of Man as _his_ best friend--his only comforter and refuge.
+But just when he deemed himself well armed, least vulnerable,
+and most secure, the awful _reality_ of death--its horrible
+accompaniments--dissolution, corruption, rottenness, decay, and its
+still more awful and obscure _uncertainties_, started suddenly before
+him, and sent a sickening chill through every pore of his unnerved
+flesh. Then he retreated from his position--fled, as it were, for life,
+and dared not look behind, so terrible was the sight of his grim
+adversary. He leaped from his chair, as if unable to sit there; and,
+whilst he paced the room, he drew his breath, as though he needed air
+for respiration--his heart throbbed, and his brain grew tight and hot
+within his skull. The fit passing away, Michael hastened to review the
+last few years of his existence, and to bribe himself to quietness and
+resignation, by contrasting the hateful life which he had spent with the
+desirable repose offered to him in the grave; and by degrees the
+agitation ceased--the alarm subsided, and the deluded man was once more
+cozened into hardened and unnatural tranquillity. In this way flew the
+hours--one train of feeling succeeding to another, until the worn-out
+spirit of the man gave in, and would be moved no longer. At last, the
+unhappy banker grew sullen and silent. He ceased to sigh, and groan, and
+weep. His brain refused to think. He drew his seat to the window of the
+room, which permitted him, unperceived, to observe the movements in the
+bank--and, folding his arms, he looked doggedly on, and clenched his
+teeth, and frowned. He saw the fortunate few who came for money and
+received it--and the unfortunate many, who brought their money--left,
+and lost it. He was indifferent to all. He beheld--as the spirits fair
+may be supposed to look upon the earth a moment before the sweeping
+pestilence that comes to thin it--life, vigorous and active, in that
+house of business, whose latest hour had come--whose knell was already
+sounding; but it moved him not. He heard men speak his name in tones of
+kindness, whose lips on the morrow would deal out curses. He saw others,
+hat in hand, begging for an audience, who would avoid him with a sneer
+and a scorning when he passed them in the street. He looked upon his own
+servants, who could not flatter their master too highly to-day, and
+would be the first to-morrow to cry him down, and rail against his
+unpardonable extravagance and recklessness; but he heeded nothing. His
+mind had suspended its operations, whilst his physical eye stared upon
+vacancy.
+
+It was very strange. He continued in this fashion for a long time, and
+suddenly sensibility seemed restored to him; for an ashy paleness came
+over him--his eyelid trembled, and his lips were drawn down
+convulsively, as if through strong and heavy grief. He rose instantly,
+rushed to the bell, and rang it violently.
+
+Burrage came to answer it.
+
+"Monster!" exclaimed his master, gazing at him spitefully, "have you
+no heart--no feeling left within you? How could you do it?"
+
+"Do what, sir?"
+
+"Rob that poor old man. Plunder and kill that hoary unoffending
+creature. Why did you take his miserable earnings? Why did you rob his
+little ones? Why clutch the bread from his starving grandchildren? He
+will die of a broken heart, and will plead against me at the
+judgment-seat. Why was that old man's money taken?"
+
+"We must take all, or nothing, sir. You forbade me to speak a
+syllable."
+
+"Speak--speak! Yes, but could you not have given him a look, one
+merciful look, to save his life, and my soul from everlasting ruin?
+You might, you could have done it, but you conspire to overthrow me.
+Go--but mark me--breathe not a word, if you hope to live."
+
+The poor clerk held up his hands, shook them piteously, sighed, and
+went his way again.
+
+It was six o'clock in the evening, and every soul connected with the
+bank, except Michael and Burrage, had left it. They were both in the
+private room, which the former had not quitted during the day. Michael
+was writing a letter; the clerk was standing mournfully at his side.
+When the note was finished, directed, and sealed, Allcraft turned to
+his old friend and spoke--
+
+"I shall not sleep at home to-night, Burrage. I have business which
+must be seen to."
+
+"Indeed, sir, you had better go home. You are very unwell."
+
+"Silence, once more. I tell you, Burrage, it cannot be. This business
+must not be neglected. I have written to Mrs Allcraft, explaining the
+reason of my absence. You will yourself deliver the letter to her,
+with your own hands, Burrage. You hear me?"
+
+"Yes, sir," faltered Burrage, wishing himself deaf.
+
+"Very well. I have no more to say. Good-by--good-night."
+
+"Good-night, sir," said the man, walking slowly off.
+
+"Stay, Burrage. You are a true old friend--my oldest. Give me your
+hand. I have spoken unkindly--very harshly and cruelly to-day. Do not
+think ill of me. My temper has been soured by the troubles of life.
+You forgive me for my anger--do you not?"
+
+The old man did not answer. He could not. He held the hand of his
+master tightly in his own. He drew it to his lips and kissed it; and
+then, ashamed not of the act, but of his unmanly tears, he walked
+slowly to the door, and quitted the room--his head bending to the
+earth, whence it never again was raised.
+
+Two hours later Michael was many miles away. He had followed to his
+humble home the aged man who had that morning paid his substance into
+the bank. Much as he had to answer for, Michael could not bear to
+carry about with him the knowledge that he had ruined and destroyed
+the grey-haired labourer. Why and how it was that he felt so acutely
+for the stranger, and selected him from the hundreds who were beggared
+by his failure, it is impossible to guess. It is certain that he
+restored every sixpence that had been deposited in the morning, and
+could not die until he had done so. Where Allcraft passed the night
+was never known. He was punctual to his appointment on the following
+morning; and so was Mr Bellamy. It is due to the latter to state,
+that, at the latest moment, he was willing, as far as in him lay, to
+settle the difference without proceeding to extreme measures. All that
+a man could offer, who did not wish to be suspected of rank cowardice,
+he offered without reservation. But Allcraft was inexorable. He
+repeated his insult on the field; and there was nothing to be done but
+to make him accountable for his words at the point of the pistol--to
+receive and give THE SATISFACTION OF A GENTLEMAN. Whatever
+satisfaction the mangled corpse of a man whom he had deeply injured,
+could afford the high-born Mr Bellamy, that gentleman enjoyed in a
+very few minutes after his arrival; for he shot his antagonist in the
+mouth, saw him spinning in the air, and afterwards lying at his
+feet--an object that he could not recognize--a spectacle for devils to
+rejoice in. Happy the low-born man who may not have or feel such
+exquisite and noble SATISFACTION!
+
+Allcraft was not cold before Mr Bellamy was at sea, sailing for
+France. The latter had not put his feet upon foreign soil, before his
+property was seized by hungry creditors. The bank was closed. Burrage
+himself pasted on the shutters the paper that notified its failure.
+Augustus Theodore Brammel heard of the stoppage whilst he was at
+breakfast, sipping chocolate; and greatly he rejoiced thereat. His
+delight was sensibly diminished in the course of the morning, when he
+received a letter informing him of his father's death, and an
+intimation from a lawyer, that every farthing which he inherited would
+be taken from him, as goods and chattels, for the discharge of claims
+which the creditors of the bank might have against him. Later in the
+day, he heard of Allcraft's death and Bellamy's escape, and then he
+rushed into a chemist's shop and bought an ounce of arsenic; but after
+he had purchased it, he had not heart enough to swallow it. Enraged
+beyond expression--knowing not what to do, nor upon whom to vent his
+rage--it suddenly occurred to him to visit Mrs Allcraft, and to worry
+her with his complaints. He hurried to her house, and forced himself
+into her presence. We will not follow him, for grief is sacred; and
+who that had the heart of man, would desecrate the hearth hallowed by
+affliction, deep and terrible as that of our poor Margaret?
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE VICARAGE.
+
+
+Our history began at the Vicarage; there let it end. It is a cheerful
+summer's morning, and Margaret sits in the study of her friend Mr.
+Middleton, who has learned to look upon his charge as upon a daughter.
+She is still attired in widow's weeds, but looks more composed and
+happy than when we saw her many months ago there.
+
+"You will not leave us, then," said the good vicar; "we have not tired
+you yet?"
+
+"No," answered Margaret, with a sweet contented smile, "here must I
+live and die. My duties will not suffer me to depart, even were I so
+inclined. What would my children do?"
+
+"Ah, what indeed? The school would certainly go to rack and ruin."
+
+"And my old friends, the Harpers and the Wakefields?"
+
+"Why, the old ladies would very soon die of a broken heart, no doubt
+of it; and then, there's our dispensary and little hospital. Why,
+where should we look for a new apothecary?"
+
+"These are but the worst days of my life, Mr. Middleton, which I
+dedicate to usefulness. How am I to make good the deficiency of
+earlier years?"
+
+"By relying, my dear madam, upon the grace and love of Heaven, who in
+mercy regards not what we have been, but what we are."
+
+"And is there pardon for so great a sinner?"
+
+"Doubt it not, dear lady. Had you not been loved, you never would have
+been chastised--you would never have become an obedient and willing
+child. Be sure, dear Mrs Allcraft, that having repented, you are
+pardoned and reconciled to your Father. Pray, hold fast to this
+conviction. You have reason to believe it; for truly _you have not
+despised the chastening of the Lord, nor fainted when you were rebuked
+of him_."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+KIEFF.
+
+TRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN OF IVAN KOZLOFF. BY T.B. SHAW.
+
+
+      O Kieff! where religion ever seemeth
+      To light existence in our native land;
+      Where o'er Petcherskoi's dome the bright cross gleameth,
+      Like some fair star, that still in heaven doth stand;
+      Where, like a golden sheet, around thee streameth
+      Thy plain, and meads that far away expand;
+      And by thy hoary wall, with ceaseless motion,
+      Old Dnieper's foaming swell sweeps on to ocean.
+
+      How oft to thee in spirit have I panted,
+      O holy city, country of my heart!
+      How oft, in vision, have I gazed enchanted
+      On thy fair towers--a sainted thing thou art!--
+      By Lavra's walls or Dnieper's wave, nor wanted
+      A spell to draw me from this life apart;
+      In thee my country I behold, victorious,
+      Holy and beautiful, and great and glorious.
+
+      The moon her soft ray on Petcherskoi poureth,
+      Its domes are shining in the river's wave;
+      The soul the spirit of the past adoreth,
+      Where sleeps beneath thee many a holy grave:
+      Vladimir's shade above thee calmly soareth,
+      Thy towers speak of the sainted and the brave;
+      Afar I gaze, and all in dreamy splendour
+      Breathes of the past--a spell sublime and tender.
+
+      There fought the warriors in the field of glory,
+      Strong in the faith, against their country's foe;
+      And many a royal flower yon palace hoary,
+      In virgin loveliness, hath seen to blow.
+      And Bayan sang to them the noble story,
+      And secret rapture in their breast did glow;
+      Hark! midnight sounds--that brazen voice is dying--
+      A day to meet the vanish'd days is flying.
+
+      Where are the valiant?--the resistless lances--
+      The brands that were as lightning when they waved?
+      Where are the beautiful--whose sunny glances
+      Our fathers, with such potency, enslaved?
+      Where is the bard, whose song no more entrances?
+      Ah! that deep bell hath answer'd what I craved:
+      And thou alone, by these grey walls, O river!
+      Murmurest, Dnieper, still, and flow'st for ever.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+MARSTON; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF A STATESMAN.
+
+PART VII.
+
+
+     "Have I not in my time heard lions roar?
+      Have I not heard the sea, puft up with wind,
+      Rage like an angry boar chafed with sweat?
+      Have I not heard great ordnance in the field,
+      And heaven's artillery thunder in the skies?
+      Have I not in the pitched battle heard
+      Loud 'larums, neighing steeds, and trumpets clang?"
+
+                                               SHAKSPEARE.
+
+At daybreak, the bustle of the camp awoke me. I rose hastily, mounted
+my horse, and spurred to the rendezvous of the general staff. Nothing
+could be more animated than the scene before me, and which spread to
+the utmost reach of view. The advance of the combined forces had moved
+at early dawn, and the columns were seen far away, ascending the sides
+of a hilly range by different routes, sometimes penetrating through
+the forest, and catching the lights of a brilliant rising sun on their
+plumes and arms. The sound of their trumpets and bands was heard from
+time to time, enriched by the distance, and coming on the fresh
+morning breeze, with something of its freshness, to the ear and the
+mind. The troops now passing under the knoll on which the
+commander-in-chief and his staff had taken their stand, were the main
+body, and were Austrian, fine-looking battalions, superbly uniformed,
+and covered with military decorations, the fruits of the late Turkish
+campaigns, and the picked troops of an empire of thirty millions of
+men. Nothing could be more brilliant, novel, or picturesque, than the
+display of this admirable force, as it moved in front of the rising
+ground on which our _cortege_ stood.
+
+"You will now see," said Varnhorst, who sat curbing, with no slight
+difficulty, his fiery Ukraine charger at my side, "the troops of
+countries of which Europe, in general, knows no more than of the
+tribes of the new world. The Austrian sceptre brings into the field
+all the barbaric arms and costumes of the border land of Christendom
+and the Turk."
+
+Varnhorst, familiar with every service of the continent, was a capital
+cicerone, and I listened with strong interest as he pronounced the
+names, and gave little characteristic anecdotes, of the gallant
+regiments that successively wheeled at the foot of the slope--the
+Archducal grenadiers--the Eugene battalion, which had won their
+horse-tails at the passage of the Danube--the Lichtensteins, who had
+stormed Belgrade--the Imperial Guard, a magnificent corps, who had led
+the last assault on the Grand Vizier's lines, and finished the war.
+The light infantry of Maria Theresa, and the Hungarian grenadiers and
+cuirassiers, a mass of steel and gold, closed the march of the main
+body. Nothing could be more splendid. And all this was done under the
+perpetual peal of trumpets, and the thunder of drums and gongs, that
+seemed absolutely to shake the air. It was completely the Miltonic
+march and harmony--
+
+    "Sonorous metal blowing martial sounds."
+
+But I was now to witness a still more spirit-stirring scene.
+
+The trampling of a multitude of horse, and the tossing of lances and
+banners in the distance, suddenly turned all eyes in their direction.
+
+"Now, prepare," said the Count, "for a sight, perhaps not altogether
+so soldierlike, but fully as much to my taste, as the buff-belt and
+grenadiers'-cap formality of the line. You shall see the Austrian
+flankers--every corps equipped after its native fashion. And whatever
+our martinets may say, there is nothing that gives such spirits to the
+soldier, as dressing according to the style of his own country. My
+early service was in Transylvania; and if I were to choose troops for
+a desperate service, I say--give me either the man of the hill, or the
+man of the forest, exactly in the coat of the chamois-shooter, or the
+wolf-hunter."
+
+He had scarcely pointed my attention to the movement, when the whole
+body of the rearguard was in full and rapid advance. The plain was
+literally covered with those irregulars, who swept on like a surge, or
+rather, from the diversity of their colours, and the vast half-circle
+which they formed on the ground, a living rainbow. Part were infantry
+and part cavalry, but they were so intermingled, and the motion of all
+was so rapid, that it was difficult to mark the distinction. From my
+recollection of the history of the Seven Years' War, I felt a double
+interest in the sight of the different castes and classes of the
+service, which I had hitherto known only by name. Thus passed before
+me the famous Croatian companies--the Pandours, together forming the
+finest outpost troops of the army--the free companies of the Tyrol,
+the first marksmen of the empire, a fine athletic race, with the
+eagle's feather in their broad hats, and the sinewy step of the
+mountaineer--the lancers of the Bannat, first-rate videttes, an
+Albanian division, which had taken service with Austria on the close
+of the war; and, independently of all name and order, a cloud of wild
+cavalry, Turk, Christian, and barbarian, who followed the campaign for
+its chances, and galloped, sported, and charged each other like the
+Arabs of the desert.
+
+The late triumphs of the Imperial arms in Turkey had even enhanced the
+customary display, and the standards of the cavalry and colours of the
+battalions, were stiff with the embroidered titles of captured
+fortresses and conquered fields. Turkish instruments of music figured
+among the troops, and the captive horse-tails were conspicuous in more
+than one corps, which had plucked down the pride of the Moslem. The
+richness and variety of this extraordinary spectacle struck me as so
+perfectly Oriental, that I might have imagined myself suddenly
+transferred to Asia, and looked for the pasha and his spahis; or even
+for the rajah, his elephants, and his turbaned spearmen. But all this
+gay splendour has long since been changed. The Croats are now
+regulars, and all the rest have followed their example.
+
+My admiration was so loud, that it caught the ear of the duke. He
+turned his quick countenance on me, and said--"Tell our friends at
+home, M. Marston, what you have seen to-day. I presume you know that
+Maria Theresa was a first-rate soldier; or, at least, she had the
+happy art of finding them. You may see Laudohn's hand in her
+battalions. As for the light troops, Europe can show nothing superior
+in their kind. Trenk's Pandours, and Nadasti's hussars were worth an
+army to Austria, from the first Silesian war down to the last shot
+fired in Germany. But follow me, and you shall see the work of another
+great master."
+
+We spurred across the plain to the mouth of a deep, wooded defile,
+through which the Prussian grand _corps d'armee_ were advancing. The
+brigades which now met our view were evidently of a different
+character from the Austrian; their uniforms of the utmost simplicity;
+their march utterly silent; the heads of the columns observing their
+distances with such accuracy, that, on a signal, they could have been
+instantly formed in order of battle; every movement of the main body
+simply directed by a flag carried from hill to hill, and even the
+battalion movements marked by the mere waving of a sword. Even their
+military music was of a peculiarly soft and subdued character. On my
+observing this to Varnhorst, his reply was--"That this was one of the
+favourite points of the Great Frederick. 'I hate drums in the march,'
+said the king, 'they do nothing but confuse the step. Every one knows
+that the beat at the head of the column takes time to reach the rear.
+Besides, the drum deafens the ear. Keep it, therefore, for the battle,
+when the more noise the better.' He also placed the band in the centre
+of the column. 'If they are fond of music,' said he, 'why should not
+every man have his share?'"
+
+The steady advance, the solid force, and the sweet harmony, almost
+realized the noble poetic conception--
+
+                          "Anon they move
+      In perfect phalanx, to the Dorian mood
+      Of flutes and soft recorders, such as raised
+      To heights of noblest temper heroes old
+      Arming to battle; and instead of rage,
+      Deliberate valour breathed, firm and unmoved
+      With dread of death to flight or foul retreat."
+
+It is true that they wanted the picturesque splendour of ancient
+warfare. The ten thousand banners, with orient colours waving, the
+"forest huge of spears," the "thronging helms," and "serried shields,
+in thick array of depth immeasurable." But if the bayonet, the lance,
+and even the cannon offered less to the eye, the true source of the
+grandeur of war was there--the power, the tremendous impulse, the
+_materiel_ of those shocks which convulse nations--the marshalled
+strength, fierce science, and stern will, before which the works of
+man perish like chaff before the wind, and the glory of nations
+vanishes like a shade.
+
+While the last of the troops were defiling before the duke and his
+staff, a courier brought up despatches.
+
+"Gentlemen," said the duke, after glancing at one of the papers, "the
+army of the Prince de Conde is in march to join us. They have already
+reached the neighbourhood. We must now lose no time. M. Marston, you
+will report to your Government what you have seen to-day. We _are_ in
+march for Paris."
+
+Varnhorst and Guiscard were now summoned to the side of the duke; a
+spot was found where we might shelter ourselves from the overpowering
+blaze of the sun; the successive despatches were opened; a large map
+of the routes from Champagne to the capital was laid on the ground;
+and we dismounted, and, sitting together, like old comrades, we held
+our little council of war.
+
+"I can make nothing of my French correspondents in general," said the
+duke, after perusing a long letter, "but M. le Comte writes like
+Cagliostro. He has evidently some prodigious secret, which he is
+determined to envelope in still deeper secrecy. He tells me that La
+Fayette has fled; but when, where, or for what purpose, is all equally
+an enigma. In one sentence of his letter he would persuade me that all
+France is disorganized, and in the next, that it is more resolved to
+resist than ever. Paris is prepared to rise at the first sight of the
+white flag, and Paris is sending out six thousand men every three
+hours to join the republican force in the field. Paris is in despair.
+Paris is in furious exultation. How am I to understand all this? Even
+in his postscript he tells me, in one breath, that the whole of the
+strong places in our front are filled with national guards, and that
+no less than seven corps of troops of the line are prepared to fight
+us in the plains of Champagne; and that we have only to push on to
+take the towns--charge the troops of the line to see them
+disperse--and advance within ten leagues of Paris to extinguish the
+rebellion, set the royal family free, and restore the monarchy."
+
+The mysterious letter was handed round our circle in succession, and
+seemed equally beyond comprehension to us all. We had yet to learn the
+temperament of a capital, where every half-hour produced a total
+change of the popular mind. The letter, fantastically expressed as it
+was, conveyed the true condition of the hour. The picture was true,
+but the countenance changed every moment. He might as well have given
+the colours of cloud.
+
+I had now entered on a course of adventure the most exciting of all
+others, and at the most exciting time of life. But all the world round
+me was in a state of excitement. Every nation of Europe was throwing
+open its armoury, and preparing its weapons for the field. The troops
+invading France were palpably no more than the advanced guards of
+Prussia and Austria. Even with all my inexperience, I foresaw that the
+war would differ from all the past; that it would be, not a war of
+tactics, but a war of opinion; that not armies, but the people
+marshalled into hosts, would be ultimately the deciders of the
+victory; and that on whichever side the popular feeling was more
+serious, persevering, and intense, there the triumph would be gained.
+I must still confess, however, in disparagement to my military
+sagacity, that I was totally unprepared for the gallant resistance of
+the French recruits. What can they do without officers?--ten thousand
+of whom had been noblesse, and were now emigrants? What can they do
+without a commissariat, what can they do without pay, and who is to
+pay them in a bankrupt nation? Those were the constant topics at
+headquarters. We were marching to an assured victory. France was at an
+end. We should remodel the Government, and teach the _sans culottes_
+the hazard of trying the trade of politicians.
+
+There was but one man in the camp who did not coincide in those
+glittering visions. Let me once more do justice to a prince whose
+character has been affected by the caprices of fortune. The Duke of
+Brunswick's language to me, as we saw the Tricolor waving on the walls
+of Longwy, the first fortress which lay in our road, was--"Sir, your
+court must not be deceived. We shall probably take the town, and
+defeat its wavering army; but up to this moment, we have not been
+joined by a single peasant. The population are against us. This is not
+a German war; it is more like yours in America. I have but one hundred
+and twenty thousand men against twenty-five millions." To my remark,
+"that there might be large body of concealed loyalty in France, which
+only waited the advance of the Allies to declare itself," his calm and
+grave reply was: "That I must not suffer my Government to suppose him
+capable of abandoning the royal cause, while there was hope in
+military means. That it was his determination to hazard all things
+rather than chill the coalition. But this let me impress upon your
+Ministry," said he, with his powerful eye turned full on me; "that if
+intrigue in the German cabinets, or tardiness on the part of yours,
+shall be suffered to impede my progress, all is at an end. I know the
+French; if we pause, they will pour on. If we do not reach Paris, we
+must prepare to defend Berlin and Vienna. If the war is not ended
+within a month, it may last for those twenty years."
+
+The commander-in-chief was true to his word. He lost no time. Before
+night our batteries were in full play upon the bastions of Longwy, and
+as our tents had not yet overtaken us, I lay down under a vineyard
+shed in a circle of the staff, with our cloaks for our pillows,
+listening to the roar of our artillery; until it mingled with my
+dreams.
+
+We were on horse an hour before daybreak, and the cannonade still
+continued heavy. It was actively returned, and the ramparts were a
+circuit of fire. As a spectacle, nothing could be more vivid,
+striking, and full of interest. To wait for the slow approaches of a
+formal siege was out of the question. Intelligence had reached us that
+the scattered French armies, having now ascertained the point at which
+the burst over the frontier was to be made, had been suddenly
+combined, and had taken a strong position directly in our way to the
+capital. A protracted siege would raise the country in our rear, and,
+thus placed between two fires, the grand army might find itself
+paralysed at the first step of the campaign. The place must be
+battered until a breach was made, and stormed _a la Turque_. Our
+anxiety during the day was indescribable. With our telescopes
+constantly in our hands, we watched the effect of every new discharge;
+we galloped from hill to hill with the impatience of men in actual
+combat, and every eye and tongue was busy in calculating the
+distances, the power of guns, and the time which the crumbling works
+would take to fill up the ditch. The reports of the engineers, towards
+evening, announced that a practicable breach was made, and three
+battalions of Austrian grenadiers, and as many of Prussians, were
+ordered under arms for the assault. To make this gallant enterprize
+more conspicuous, the whole army was formed in columns, and marched to
+the heights, which commanded a view of the fortress. The fire from the
+batteries now became a continued roar, and the guns of Longwy, whose
+fire had slackened during the day, answered them with an equal
+thunder; the space between was soon covered with smoke, and when the
+battalions of grenadiers moved down the hillside, and plunged into the
+valley, they looked like masses of men disappearing into the depths of
+ocean. The anxiety now grew intense. I hardly breathed; and yet I had
+a mingled sensation of delight, eagerness, and yet of uncertainty, to
+which nothing that I had ever felt before was comparable. I longed to
+follow those brave men to the assault, and probably would have made
+some such extravagant blunder, but for seeing Varnhorst's broad
+visage turned on me with a look of that quiet humour which, of all
+things on earth, soonest brings a man to his senses. "My good friend,"
+said he, "however fine this affair may be, live in hope of seeing
+something finer. Never be shot at Longwy, when you may have a chance
+of scaling the walls of Paris. I have made a vow never to be hanged in
+the beginning of a revolution, nor to be shot in the beginning of a
+war. But come, the duke is beckoning to us. Let us follow him."
+
+We saw the general and his staff galloping from the ground where he
+had remained from the beginning of the assault, to a height still more
+exposed, and where the guns from the fortress were tearing up the
+soil. From this spot a large body of troops were seen rushing from the
+gate of the fortress, and plunging into the valley. The result of this
+powerful sortie was soon heard, for every thing was invisible under
+the thick cloud, which grew thicker every moment, in the volleys of
+musketry, and the shouts of the troops on both sides. Varnhorst now
+received an order from the chief of the staff, which produced its
+effect, in the rush of a squadron of Prussian cavalry on the flank of
+the enemy's column. In a few minutes it was broken, and we saw its
+wrecks swept along the side of the hill. An universal shout was sent
+up from the army, and our next sight was the ascent of the Austrian
+and Prussian standards, gradually rising through the smoke, and making
+their way towards the glacis. They had reached the foot of the breach,
+when the fire of the town suddenly ceased. A white flag waved on the
+rampart, and the drums of the garrison beat the _chamade_. Longwy had
+surrendered! All now was triumph and congratulation. We flocked round
+the duke, and hailed his first conquest as a promise of perpetual
+success. He was in high spirits at an achievement which was so
+important to the national impression of his talents and resources. The
+sortie of the garrison had given the capture an _eclat_ which could
+not have been obtained by the mere surrender of a strong place. But
+the most important point of all was, the surrender before the assault.
+"The sight of our troops is enough," was the universal conclusion. If
+the fortified barrier of France cannot resist, what will be done by
+troops as raw as peasants, and officers as raw as their troops? The
+capitulation was a matter of half an hour, and by nightfall I followed
+the duke and his escort into the town. It was illuminated by order of
+the conquerors, and, whether _bongre_ or _malgre_, it looked showy; we
+had gazers in abundance, as the dashing staff caracoled their way
+through the streets. I observed, however, that we had no acclamations.
+To have hissed us, might be a hazardous experiment, while so many
+Hulans were galloping through the Grande Rue; but we got no smiles. In
+the midst of the crowd, I met Varnhorst steering his charger with no
+small difficulty, and carrying a packet of notes in his hand. "Go to
+your quarters, and dress," said my good-humoured friend. "You will
+have a busy night of it. The duke has invited the French commandant
+and his officers to dine with him, and we are to have a ball and
+supper afterwards for the ladies. Lose no time." He left me wondering
+at the new world into which I had fallen, and strongly doubting, that
+he would be able to fill up his ball-room. But I was mistaken. The
+dinner was handsomely attended, and the ball more handsomely still.
+"Fortune de la guerre," reconciled the gallant captains of the
+garrison to the change; and they fully enjoyed the contrast between a
+night on the ramparts, and the hours spent at the Prussian
+generalissimo's splendidly furnished table. The ball which followed
+exhibited a crowd of the _belles_ of Longwy, all as happy as dress and
+dancing could make them. It was a charming episode in the sullen
+history of campaigning, and before I flung myself on the embroidered
+sofa of the mayor's drawing-room, where my billet had been given for
+the night, I was on terms of eternal "friendship" with a whole group
+of classic beauties--Aspasias, Psyches and Cleopatras.
+
+But neither love nor luxury, neither the smiles of that fair
+_Champagnaises_, nor the delight of treading on the tesselated floors,
+and feasting on the richness of municipal tables, could now detain us.
+We were in our saddles by daybreak, and with horses that outstripped
+the wind, with hearts light as air, and with prospects of endless
+victory and orders and honours innumerable before us, we galloped
+along, preceded, surrounded, and followed by the most showy squadrons
+that ever wore lace and feathers. The delight of this period was
+indescribable. It was to me a new birth of faculties that resembled a
+new sense of being, a buoyant and elastic lightness of feelings and
+frame. The pure air; the perpetual change of scene; the novelty of the
+landscape; the restless and vivid variety of events, and those too of
+the most powerful and comprehensive nature; the superb display of the
+finest army that the Continent had sent to war for the last hundred
+years; and all this excitement and enjoyment, with an unrivaled vista
+of matchless conquest in the horizon, a triumphal march through the
+provinces, to be consummated by the peace of Europe in Paris, filled
+even my vexed and wearied spirit with new life. If I am right in my
+theory, that the mind reaches stages of its growth with as much
+distinctness as the frame, this was one of them. I was conscious from
+this time of a more matured view of human being, of a clearer
+knowledge of its impulses, of a more vigorous, firm, and enlarged
+capacity for dealing with the real concerns of life. I still loved;
+and, strange, hopeless, and bewildering as that passion was in the
+breast of one who seemed destined to all the diversities of
+fortune--it remained without relief, or relaxation through all. It was
+the vein of gold, or perhaps the stream of fire, beneath the soil,
+inaccessible to the power of change on the surface, but that surface
+undergoing every impulse and influence of art and nature.
+
+The army now advanced unopposed. Still we received neither cheers nor
+reinforcements from the population. Yet we had now begun to be
+careless on the topic. The intelligence from Paris was favourable in
+all the leading points. The king was resuming his popularity, though
+still a prisoner. The Jacobins were exhibiting signs of terror, though
+still masters of every thing. The recruits were running away, though
+the decree for the general rising of the country was arming the
+people. In short, the news was exactly of that checkered order which
+was calculated to put us all in the highest spirits. The submission of
+Paris, at least until we were its conquerors, would have deprived us
+of a triumph on the spot, and the proclamation of a general peace
+would have been received as the command for a general mourning.
+
+The duke was in the highest animation, and he talked to every one
+round him, as we marched along, with more than condescension. He was
+easy, familiar, and flushed with approaching victory. "We have now,"
+said he, "broken through the 'iron barrier,' the pride of Vauban, and
+the boast of France for these hundred years. To-morrow Verdun will
+fall. The commandant of Thionville, in desperation at the certainty of
+our taking the town by assault, has shot himself, and the keys are on
+their way to me. Nothing but villages now lie in our road, and once
+past those heights," and he pointed to a range of woody hills on the
+far horizon, "and we shall send our light troops _en promenade_ to
+Paris." We all responded in our various ways of congratulation.
+
+"Apropos," said the duke, applying to me, "M. Marston, you have been
+later on the spot than any of us. What can you tell of this M.
+Dumourier, who, I see from my letters, is appointed to the forlorn
+hope of France--the command of the broken armies of Lafayette and
+Luckner?"
+
+My answer was briefly a hope that the new general would be as much
+overmatched by the duke's fortunes in the field, as he had been by
+party in the capital. "Still, he seemed to me a clever, and even a
+remarkable man, however inexperienced as a soldier."
+
+"If he is the officer of that name who served in the last French war,
+he is an old acquaintance of mine," observed the duke. "I remember him
+perfectly. He was a mere boy, who, in a rash skirmish with some of our
+hussars, was wounded severely and taken prisoner. But as I learned
+that he was the son of a French _literateur_ of some eminence whom I
+had met in Paris, and as I had conceived a favourable opinion of the
+young soldier's gallantry, I gave him his parole and sent him back to
+his family, who, I think, were Provencals. He was unquestionably
+spirited and intelligent, and with experience might make either
+minister or general; but as he has begun by failure in the one
+capacity, it will be our business to show him that he may find success
+equally difficult in another. At all events, we have nothing but this
+minister-general between us and Notre-Dame. He has taken up a position
+on the Argonne ridge in our front. To force it will be but an affair
+of three hours. Adieu, gentlemen." He put spurs to his horse, and
+galloped to one of the columns which approached with trumpets
+sounding, bearing the captured banner of the church tower of Longwy.
+
+The world was now before us, and we enjoyed it to the full. Varnhorst
+and I were inseparable, and feasted on the scene, the gaiety, the
+oddity of the various characters, which campaigning developes more
+than any mode of existence. The simple meal, the noon-rest under a
+tree, the songs of our troopers, the dance in the villages, as soon as
+the peasantry had discovered that we did not eat women and
+children--even the consciousness of a life wholly without care, formed
+a delicious state of being. "If this is the life of the Arab," I often
+was ready to exclaim, "what folly would it be in him to leave the
+wilderness! If the Esquimaux can sleep through one half of the year
+and revel through the other, is he not the true philosopher in the
+midst of his frost and snow?" Guiscard, who sometimes joined our
+party, was now and then moved to smile at our unripe conceptions of
+the nature of things. But we laughed at his gravity, and he returned
+to pore over the mysteries of that diplomacy which evidently thickened
+on him hour by hour. I recollect, however, one of his expressions--"My
+friend, you think that all the battle is to be fought in front: I can
+assure you that a much more severe battle is to be fought in the rear.
+Argonne will be much more easily mastered than the King's closet and
+the Aulic Council." We had good reason to remember the oracle.
+
+One morning as, with half a dozen hussars, I was ranging the thickets
+on the flank of the advance, with the spirit of an English fox-hunter,
+on reaching the summit of a rising ground, I saw, some miles off, a
+party of horsemen making their way at full speed across the country.
+The perfect level of the plains, particularly in Champagne, makes the
+ground as open as a race-course. I called my hussars, and we galloped
+forward to intercept. On seeing us, they slackened their speed, and
+were evidently in consultation. At length the sight of our uniforms
+reassured then, and one of their number came forward to meet us. To
+our enquiry, the answer was, that "General Lafayette desired to be led
+to the headquarters." I now saw this memorable man for the first time,
+and was busy, in my usual style, in looking for the hero or the
+revolutionist in his physiognomy. I was disappointed in both. I saw a
+quiet visage, and a figure of moderate size, rather _embonpoint_, and
+altogether the reverse of that fire-eyed and lean-countenanced
+"Cassius" which I had pictured in my imagination. But his manners
+perplexed me as much as his features. They were calm, easy, and almost
+frank. It was impossible to recognize in him the Frenchman, except by
+his language; and he was the last man in whom I could ever have
+detected that pride of the theatre, the "French _marquis_." His
+manners were English, and I had a fellow-feeling for him even in our
+short ride to the camp, and congratulated myself on being thrown into
+the intercourse of one who had played so conspicuous a part in the
+most conspicuous scene of our day.
+
+But on his introduction to the duke, my ardour received a sudden
+chill. I saw instantly, by the utter absence of all cordiality in his
+reception, that the French fugitive had taken a dangerous step, and
+that his Parisian ill fortune had deprived his retreat of all merit in
+the sight of the commander-in-chief. My doubts were soon confirmed by
+a message from his tent. I obeyed; and as I passed the lines, saw
+Lafayette surrounded by a troop of Hulans of the Guard. I found the
+duke pacing uneasily in front of the tent.
+
+"M. Marston," said he, with a vexed manner, "your capture of this
+morning has added to our perplexities. You acted zealously, and with
+the spirit that distinguishes your nation; but I heartily wish that
+M. La Fayette had taken any other direction than towards us. His fall
+has been contemplated for some time, and even the possibility of his
+being arrested by some of our parties. I have received a communication
+from the Allied cabinets on the contingency; and the question now is,
+how to execute my order without public weakness or personal severity."
+
+I proposed to accompany him, while we were on the march, and to pledge
+myself for his honour when we arrived at quarters.
+
+"Generously offered," was the reply. "But my duty, in the first
+instance, prohibits his remaining in the camp; and in the next, my
+feelings for himself would spare a man who has commanded the enemy's
+troops, the sight of that actual collision which must immediately take
+place. We attack the defiles of the Argonne to-morrow."
+
+He entered the tent, wrote a few lines, and returned to me.
+
+"M. Lafayette must consider himself as a prisoner; but as my wish is
+to treat him with honour, I must beg of you, M. Marston, to take
+charge of him for the time. Your offer has relieved me from an
+embarrassment; and I shall take care to make honourable mention of
+your conduct in this instance, as in all others, to both the courts of
+Berlin and St James's. The marquis must be sent to Berlin, and I must
+request that you will be ready to set out with him this evening."
+
+The sound was a thunder-stoke. "This evening!" when the decisive
+action of the war was to be fought next morning. "To Berlin!" when all
+my gallant friends were to be on the march to Paris. Impossible! I
+retracted my offer at once. But the prince, not accustomed to be
+resisted, held his purpose firmly; representing that, as the French
+general was actually _my_ prisoner, and as _my_ court was equally
+interested with those of the Allied powers, in preventing his return
+to embroil France, "it was my duty, as her commissioner, to see that
+the measure was effectively performed." But the appearance of leaving
+the army, on the very eve of important service, was not to be argued,
+or even commanded, away. The duke was equally inflexible, though his
+sentences were perhaps shorter than mine; and I finally left his
+presence, declaring, that if the request were persisted in, I should
+throw up my commission at once, volunteer as a common trooper into the
+first squadron which would admit me, and then, his highness, might, of
+course, order me wherever he pleased."
+
+A stately smile was the answer to this tirade. I bowed, and retired.
+
+Within a hundred yards I met my two friends, Varnhorst and Guiscard,
+and poured out my whole catalogue of wrongs at once. Varnhorst shared
+my indignation, fiercely pulled his thick mustaches, and muttered some
+phrases about oppression, martinetism, and other dangerous topics,
+which fortunately were scattered on the air. Guiscard neither raged
+nor smiled, but walked into the ducal tent. After a few minutes he
+returned, and then his sallow countenance wore a smile. "You have
+offended the duke desperately," said he. "And as a sovereign prince, I
+dare say that banishment from his territories for life would be the
+least reparation; but as a general, we think that we cannot have too
+many good troops, and your proposal to take a Hulan's lance and pistol
+in your hand, is irresistible. In short, he receives you as a
+volunteer into his own hussars, and as you are henceforth at his
+disposal, he orders."--My tormentor here made a malicious pause, which
+threw me into a fever. I gazed on his countenance, to anticipate his
+mission. It wore the same deep and moveless expression. "His highness
+orders, that you shall escort, with a squadron, General Lafayette, to
+the Chateau, our former headquarters, and where we first met; there
+deliver over the Frenchman to an officer of the staff, who will be in
+readiness to escort him further; and, in the mean time, if the very
+fiery and independent M. Marston should have no objection to travel at
+night, he may return, and be in time for whatever is to be done here
+to-morrow."
+
+"Bravo, bravo!" exclaimed good-natured Varnhorst. "Guiscard, you are
+the first of negotiators!"
+
+"No," was the quiet reply. "I pretend to nothing more than the art of
+being a good listener. I merely waited until the duke had spoken his
+will, and then interposed my suggestion. It was adopted at once; and
+now our young friend has only to ride hard to-night, and come to shade
+his brow with a share of any laurels which we may pluck in the forest
+of Argonne, in the next twenty-four hours."
+
+I was enraptured--the communication was made in the most courteous
+manner to the marquis. He had at once perceived the difficulties of
+his position, and was glad to leave them behind as far as possible.
+Our escort was mounted within a few minutes, and we were in full
+gallop over the fruitful levels of Champagne.
+
+To speed of this order, time and space were of little importance; and
+with the rapidity of a flock of falcons, we reached the foot of the
+noble hill, on which, embosomed in the most famous vineyards of the
+vine country, stood the Chateau. It was blazing with lights, and had
+evidently lost nothing of its population by the change of
+headquarters. We were soon brought to a stand by a challenge in
+French, and found that we were no longer among the jovial Jaegers of
+Deutchland. We had fallen in with the advanced corps of the Emigrant
+army under the command of the Prince of Conde.
+
+Here was a new dilemma. Our prisoner's was perhaps the most startling
+name which could have been pronounced among those high-blooded and
+headlong men. The army was composed almost wholly of the _noblesse_;
+and Lafayette, under all his circumstances of birth, sentiments, and
+services, had been the constant theme of noble indignation. The
+champion of the American Republic, the leader of the Parisian
+movement, the commandant of the National Guard, the chief of the rebel
+army in the field--all was terribly against him. Even the knowledge of
+his fall could not have appeased their resentment; and the additional
+knowledge that he was within their hands, might have only produced
+some unfortunate display of what the philosopher calls "wild justice."
+In this difficulty, while the officer of the patrol was on his way to
+the Chateau to announce our coming, I consulted the captain of my
+escort. But, though a capital _sabreur_, he was evidently not made to
+solve questions in diplomacy. After various grimaces of thinking, and
+even taking the meersham from his mouth, I was thrown on my own
+resources. My application to the captive general was equally
+fruitless: it was answered with the composure of one prepared for all
+consequences, but it amounted simply to--"Do just as you please."
+
+But no time was to be lost, and leaving the escort to wait till my
+return, I rode up the hill alone, and desired an interview with the
+officer in command of the division. Fortunately I found him to be one
+of my gayest Parisian companions, now transformed into a fierce
+chevalier, colonel des chasseurs, bronzed like an Arab, and mustached
+like a tiger. But his inner man was the same as ever. I communicated
+my purpose to him as briefly as possible. His open brow lowered, and
+his fingers instinctively began playing with the hilt of his sabre.
+And if the rencontre could have been arranged on the old terms of man
+to man, my gallant friend would have undoubtedly made me the bearer of
+a message on the spot. But I had come for other objects, and gradually
+brought him round; he allowed that "a prisoner was something entitled
+to respect." The "request of his distinguished and valued friend, M.
+Marston, dear to him by so many charming recollections of Paris, &c.,
+was much more;" and we finally arranged that the general should be
+conveyed unseen to an apartment in the Chateau, while I did him and
+his "_braves camarades_" the honour of sharing their supper. I gave
+the most willing consent; a ride of thirty miles had given me the
+appetite of a hunter.
+
+I was now introduced to a new scene. The room was filled with muskets
+and knapsacks piled against the walls, and three-fourths of those who
+sat down were private soldiers; yet there was scarcely a man who did
+not wear some knightly decoration, and I heard the noblest names of
+France everywhere round me. Thus extremes meet: the Faubourg St
+Germains had taken the equality of the new order of things, and the
+very first attempt to retain an exclusive rank had brought all to the
+same level. But it was a generous, a graceful, and a gallant level.
+All was good-humour under their privations, and the fearful chances
+which awaited them were evidently regarded with a feeling which had
+all the force of physical courage without its roughness. I was much
+struck, too, with the remarkable appearance of the military figures
+round me. Contrary to our general notions of the foreign noblesse
+those exhibited some of the finest-looking men whom I had ever seen.
+This was perhaps, in a considerable degree, owing to the military
+life. In countries where the nobility are destitute of public
+employment, they naturally degenerate--become the victims of the
+diseases of indolence and profligacy, transmit their decrepitude to
+their descendants, and bequeath dwarfishness and deformity to their
+name. But in France, the young noble was destined for soldiership from
+his cradle. His education partook of the manly preparations for the
+soldier's career. The discipline of the service, even in peace, taught
+him some superiority to the effeminate habits of opulence; and a sense
+of the actual claims of talents, integrity, and determination, gave
+them all an importance which, whatever might be the follies of an
+individual, from time to time, powerfully shaped the general character
+of the nobles. In England, the efforts for political power, and the
+distinctions of political fame, preserve our nobility from relaxing
+into the slavery of indulgence. The continual ascent of accomplished
+minds from the humbler ranks, at once reinforces their ability and
+excites their emulation; and if England may proudly boast of men of
+intellectual vigour, worthy of rising to the highest rank from the
+humblest condition, she may, with not less justice, boast of her
+favourites of fortune fitted to cope with her favourites of nature.
+
+Among these showy and high-bred soldiers, the hours passed
+delightfully. Anecdotes of every court of Europe, where most of them
+had been, either as tourists or envoys; the piquant tales of the court
+of their unfortunate sovereign; narratives--sufficiently contemptuous
+of the present possessors of power; and _chansons_--some gay, and some
+touching--made us all forget the flight of time. Among their military
+choruses was one which drew tears from many a bold eye. It was a
+species of brief elegy to the memory of Turenne, whom the French
+soldier still regarded as his tutelar genius. It was said to have been
+written on the spot where that great leader fell:--
+
+     "Recois, O Turenne, ou tu perdis lavie,
+      Les transports d'un soldat, qui te plaint et t'envie.
+      Dans l'Elysee assis, pres du cef des Cesars,
+      Ou dans le ciel, peutetre entre Bellone et Mars.
+      Fais-moi te suivre en tout, exauce ma priere;
+      Puis se-je ainsi remplir, et finir ma carriere."
+
+The application to the immediate circumstances of those brave
+gentlemen was painfully direct. What to-morrow might bring was
+unknown, further than that they would probably soon be engaged with
+their countrymen; and whether successful or not, they must be embarked
+in war against France. But my intelligence that an action was expected
+on the next day awoke the soldier within them again; the wrongs of
+their order, the plunders of the ruling faction, their hopeless
+expatriation, if some daring effort was not made, and the triumphant
+change from exiles to possessors and conquerors, stirred them all into
+enthusiasm. The army of the Allies, the enemy's position, the public
+feeling of Paris, and the hope of sharing in the honours of an
+engagement which was to sweep the revolutionary "canaille" before the
+"gentlemen of France," were the rapid and animating topics. All were
+ardent, all eloquent; fortune was at their feet, the only crime was to
+doubt--the only difficulty was to choose in what shape of splendid
+vengeance, of matchless retribution, and of permanent glory, they
+should restore the tarnished lustre of the diadem, and raise the
+insulted name of France to its ancient rank among the monarchies of
+the world. I never heard among men so many brilliancies of speech--so
+many expressions of feeling full of the heart--so glowing a display of
+what the heart of man may unconsciously retain for the time when some
+great emotion rouses all its depths, and opens them to the light of
+day. It was to me a new chapter in the history of man.
+
+The news which I had brought of the positions of the armies rendered
+me an object of marked interest. I was questioned on every point;
+first, and especially, of the intention of the commander-in-chief,
+with the most anxious yet most polished minuteness. But, as on this
+subject my lips were comparatively sealed, the state of the troops
+with whom they were so soon to be brought into contact became the more
+manageable topic. On mentioning that Dumourier was placed in command,
+I received free and full communications on the subject of his
+qualities for being the last hope of revolutionary France. One had
+known him in his early career in the engineers, another had served
+along with him in Corsica, a third had met him at the court of
+Portugal; the concurring report being, that he was a coxcomb of the
+first water, showy but superficial, and though personally brave, sure
+to be bewildered when he found himself for the first time working the
+wheels and springs of that puzzling machine, an army in the field. A
+caustic old Provencal marquis, with his breast glittering with the
+stars of a whole constellation of knighthood, yet who sat with the
+cross-belts and cartouche-box of the rank and file upon him, agreeing
+with all the premises, stoutly denied the conclusions. "He is a
+coxcomb," said the old Marquis. "Well, he is only the fitter to
+command an army of upstarts. He has seen nothing but Corsican service;
+well, he is the fitter to command an army of banditti. And he has been
+an _espion_ of the Government in Portugal; what better training could
+he have for heading an army of traitors? Rely upon it, gentlemen, that
+you have mistaken his character; if you think that he is not the very
+man whom the mob of Paris ought to have chosen for their general, I
+merely recommend, that when you go into action you should leave your
+watches in camp, and, if you charge any of their battalions, look well
+to your purses."
+
+The old soldier's sally restored our gaiety; but the man best
+acquainted with the French commander-in-chief was my friend the
+chevalier, at the head of the table. "It has singularly enough
+happened to me to have met M. Dumourier in almost every scene of his
+life, since his return from his first service in Germany. Our first
+meeting was in the military hospital in Toulouse, where he had been
+sent, like myself, to recover, in his native air, from the wounds of
+our last German campaign. He was then a coxcomb, but a clever one,
+full of animal spirits, and intoxicated with the honour of having
+survived the German bullets, of being appointed to a company, and
+wearing a _croix_. Our next meeting was in Portugal. Our Minister had
+adopted some romantic idea of shaking the English influence, and
+Dumourier had been sent as an engineer to reconnoitre the defences of
+the country. The word _espion_ was not wholly applicable to his
+mission, yet there can be no doubt that the memoir published on his
+return, was _not_ a volume of travels. His services had now
+recommended him to the Government, and he was sent to Corsica. There
+again I met him, as my regiment formed part of the force in the
+island. He was high on the staff, our intercourse was renewed, and he
+was regarded as a very expert diplomatist. A few years after, I found
+him in a still higher situation, a favourite of De Choiseul, and
+managing the affairs of the Polish confederation. On his return to
+Paris, such was the credit in which he stood, that he was placed by
+the minister of war at the head of a commission to reform the military
+code; thus he has been always distinguished; and has at least had
+experience."
+
+Even this slight approach to praise was evidently not popular among
+the circle, and I could hear murmurs.
+
+"Distinguished!--yes, more with the pen than the sword."
+
+"Diplomacy!--the business of a clerk. Command is another affair."
+
+"Mon cher Chevalier," said the old Marquis, with a laugh, "pray, after
+being in so many places with him, were you with him in the Bastile?"
+This was followed with a roar.
+
+I saw my friend's swarthy cheek burn. He started up, and was about to
+make some fierce retort, when a fine old man, a general, with as many
+orders as the marquis, and a still whiter head, averted the storm, by
+saying, "Whether the chevalier was with M. Dumourier in that
+predicament, I know not; but I can say that I was. I was sent there
+for the high offence of kicking a page of the court down the grande
+escalier at Versailles for impertinence, at the time when M. Dumourier
+was sent there by the Duc d'Acquillon, for knowing more than the
+minister. I assure you that I found him a most agreeable
+personage--very gay, very witty, and very much determined to pass his
+time in the pleasantest manner imaginable. But our companionship was
+too brief for a perfect union of souls," said he laughing; "for I was
+liberated within a week, while he was left behind for, I think, the
+better part of a year."
+
+"But his talents?" was the question down the table.
+
+"Gentlemen," said the old man, "my experience in life has always made
+me judge of talents by circumstances. If, for example, I find that a
+man has the talent exactly fitted for his position, I give him credit
+for all--he had the talent for making the Bastile endurable, and I
+required no other. But there were times when graver topics varied our
+pleasantry, and he exhibited very various intelligence, a practical
+experience of the chief European courts, and, I am sorry to say, a
+very striking contempt for their politics and their politicians alike.
+He was especially indignant at the selfish perfidy with which the late
+king had given him up to the ignorant jealousy of the minister, and
+looked forward to the new reign with a resolute, and sometimes a
+gloomy determination to be revenged. If that man is a republican, it
+is the Bastile that has made him one; and if he ever shall have a fair
+opportunity of displaying his genius, unless a cannonball stops his
+career I should conceive him capable of producing a powerful
+impression on Europe."
+
+The conversation might again have become stormy but for the entrance
+of a patrol, for whom a vacant space at the table had been left. Forty
+or fifty fine tall fellows now came rushing into the room, flinging
+down shakos, knapsacks, and sabres, and fully prepared to enjoy the
+good cheer provided for them. I heard the names of the first families
+of France among those privates--the Montmorencies, the Lamaignons, the
+Nivernois, the Rochefoucaults, the De Noailles, "familiar as household
+words." All was good-humour again. They had a little adventure in
+scaring away a corps of the rustic national guards who, to expedite
+their escape, had flung away their arms, which were brought in as good
+prize. The festivity and frolic of youth, engaged in a cause which
+conferred a certain dignity even on their _tours de page_, renewed the
+pleasantry of the night. We again had the _chansons_; and I recollect
+one, sung with delicious taste by a handsome Italian-faced youth, a
+nephew of the writer, the Duc de Nivernois.
+
+The duke had requested a ringlet from a beautiful woman. She answered,
+that she had just found a grey hair among her locks, and could now
+give then away no more. The gallant reply was--
+
+     "Quoi! vous parlez de cheveux blancs!
+      Laissez, laissez courir le temps;
+      Que vous importe son ravage?
+      Les tendres coeurs en sont exempts;
+      _Les Amours sont toujours enfants,
+      Et les Graces sont de tout age._
+      Pour moi, Themire, je le sens.
+      Je suis toujours dans mon printemps,
+      Quand je vous offre mon hommage.
+      Si je n'avais que dixhuit ans,
+      Je pourrais aimer plus longtemps,
+      Mais, non pas aimer davantage."[10]
+
+    [10]
+
+      Lovely and loved! shall one slight hair
+      Touch thy delicious lip with care?
+      A heart like thine may laugh at Time--
+      The Soul is ever in its prime.
+      All Loves, you know, have infant faces,
+      A thousand years can't chill the Graces!
+      While thou art in my soul enshrined,
+      I give all sorrows to the wind.
+      Were I this hour but gay eighteen,
+      Thou couldst be but my bosom's queen;
+      I might for longer years adore,
+      But could not, could not love thee more.
+
+On returning to look for my distinguished prisoner, I found a packet
+lying on the table of my apartment; it had arrived in my absence with
+the troops in advance; and I must acknowledge that I opened it with a
+trembling hand, when I saw that it came from London and Mordecai.
+
+It was written in evident anxiety, and the chief subject was the
+illness of his daughter. She had some secret on her mind, which
+utterly baffled even the Jew's paternal sagacity. No letters had
+reached either of them from France, and he almost implored me to
+return, or, if that were impossible, to write without delay. Mariamne
+had grown more fantastic, and capricious, and wayward than ever. Her
+eyes had lost their brightness, and her cheek its colour. Yet she
+complained of nothing, beyond a general distaste to existence. She had
+seen the Comtesse de Tourville, and they had many a long conference
+together, from which, however, Mariamne always returned more
+melancholy than ever. She had refused the match which he had provided
+for her, and declared her determination to live, like the daughter of
+Jephthah, single to her grave.
+
+The letter then turned to my own circumstances, and entered into them
+with the singular mixture of ardour and sneering which formed this
+extraordinary character.
+
+    "I am doing your business here as indefatigably as if I were
+    robbing nabobs in India, or setting up republics at home. The
+    tardiness of the Horse-Guards is to be moved by nothing but an
+    invasion; and it would be almost as rational to wait the
+    growth of an oak, as to wait the signing of your commission;
+    but it shall be done in my own way. I have means which can
+    make the tardy quick, and open the eyes of the blind. You
+    _shall_ be a subaltern in the Guards, unless you are in too
+    much haste to be a general, and get yourself shot by some
+    Parisian cobbler in the purloined uniform of a rifleman. But,
+    let me tell you one fact, and I might indorse this piece of
+    intelligence, 'Secret and Confidential,' to the English
+    cabinet, for even our great minister has yet to learn it--_the
+    Allies will never reach Paris_. Rely, and _act_ upon this.
+    They might now enter the capital, if, instead of bayonets,
+    they carried only trusses of straw. The road is open before
+    them, but they will look only behind. The war was almost a
+    feint from the beginning. The invasion was the second act of
+    the farce--the retreat will be the third. Poland has been the
+    _true object_; and, to cover the substantial seizures there,
+    has been the trick of the French invasion. I predict that, in
+    one month from the date of this letter, there will not be an
+    Austrian or Prussian cartridge found in France. Potsdam and
+    Schoenbrunn know more on the subject at this moment than the
+    duke. I write to you as a friend, and by Mariamne's especial
+    order, to take care of yourself. I have seen the retreats of
+    continental armies in my time; they are always a scene of
+    horrors. Follow the army so long as it advances; then all is
+    well, and even the experience of service may be of use to you.
+    But, in this instance, the moment that you find it come to a
+    stop, turn your horse's head to any point of the compass but
+    the front, and ride to the nearest seaport. The duke is a
+    brave man, and his army is a brave army; but both will be
+    instantly covered with all the obloquy of all the libelers on
+    earth. If you have met him as man with man, you have doubtless
+    been captivated with his manners, his wit, his animation, and
+    his accomplishments. I have known him long and well. But
+    Europe, within a month, will decry him, as a fugitive, a fool,
+    and a dastard. Such is popular wisdom, justice, and knowledge.
+    A pupil of the first warrior of Prussia and of modern ages,
+    and wanting only experience to do honour to the lessons of
+    Frederick, he will be laughed at by the loose loungers of the
+    Palais Royal, as ignorant of the art of war, and branded by
+    the graver loungers of courts and councils, as ignorant of the
+    art of government. Once more, I say, take care of yourself.
+    The first step in retreat will raise all France against the
+    Allies. Ten victories would not cost as much as the first
+    week's march towards the frontier. Every thicket will have its
+    troop; every finger, for a hundred leagues round, will be on
+    the trigger. Robbery and murder, famine and fatigue; disease
+    and death, will be upon the troops; the retreat will become a
+    flight, and happy is the man who will ever see the Rhine
+    again. Be wise in time."
+
+Enclosed within this long epistle was a brief note from Mariamne.
+
+    "You must not think me dying, because I importune you no
+    longer. But, _can_ you give me any tidings of Lafontaine? I
+    know that he is rash, and even enthusiastic; but I equally
+    know that he is faithful and true. _Yet_, if he _has_
+    forgotten me, or is married, or is any thing that, as a preux
+    chevalier, he ought not to be, tell me at once, and you shall
+    see how grateful I can be, before I cease to be any thing. But
+    if he has fallen--if, in the dreadful scenes now acting in
+    Paris, Lafontaine is no more--_tell me not_. Write some
+    deluding thing to me--conceal your terrible knowledge. I
+    should not wish to drop down dead before my father's face. He
+    is looking at me while I write this, and I am trying to laugh,
+    with a heart as heavy as lead, and eyes that can scarcely see
+    the paper. No--for mercy's sake, do not tell me _that he is
+    dead_. Give me gentle words, give me hope, deceive me--as they
+    give laudanum, not to prolong life, but to lull agony. Do
+    this, and with my last pulse I shall be grateful--with my last
+    breath I shall bless you."
+
+Poor Mariamne! I had, at least, better hopes than those for her. But
+within this billet was a third. It was but a few lines; yet at the
+foot of those lines was the signature--"Clotilde de Tourville." The
+light almost forsook my eyes; my head swam; if the paper had been a
+talisman, and every letter written with the pen of magic, it could not
+have produced a more powerful effect upon me. My hands trembled, and
+my ears thrilled; and yet it contained but a few unimportant words--an
+enquiry addressed to Mariamne, whether she could forward a letter to
+the Chateau Montauban in Champagne, or whether her father had any
+correspondent in the vicinity who could send her the picture of a
+beloved relative, which, in the haste of their flight to England, they
+had most reluctantly left behind.
+
+The note at once threw every thing else into the background. What were
+invasions and armies--what were kings and kingdoms--to the slightest
+wish of the being who had written this billet? All this I admit to be
+the fever of the mind--a waking dream--an illusion to which mesmerism
+or magic is but a frivolity. Like all fevers, it is destined to pass
+away, or to kill the patient; yet for the time, what on earth is so
+strange, or so powerful--so dangerous to the reason--so delicious to
+the soul!
+
+But, after the long reverie into which I sank, with the writing of
+Clotilde in my hand, I recollected that fortune had for once given me
+the power of meeting the wishes of this noble and beautiful creature.
+The resemblance of the picture that had so much perplexed and
+attracted me, was now explained. I _was_ in the Chateau de Montauban,
+and I now blessed the chance which had sent me to its honoured walls.
+
+To hasten to the chamber where I was again to look upon the exquisite
+resemblance of features which, till then, I had thought without a
+similar in the world, was a matter of instinct; and, winding my way
+through the intricacies of galleries and corridors, loaded with the
+baggage of the emigrant army, and strewed with many a gallant noble
+who had exchanged the down bed of his ancestral mansion for the bare
+floor, or the open bivouac, I at length reached the apartment to which
+the captive general had been consigned. To my utter astonishment,
+instead of the silence which I expected under the circumstances, I
+heard the jingling of glasses and roars of laughter. Was this the
+abode of solitude and misfortune? I entered, and found M. Lafayette,
+indeed, conducting himself with the composure of a personage of his
+rank; but the other performers exhibiting a totally different
+temperament. A group of Polish officers, who had formerly borne
+commissions in the royal service, and now followed the Emigrant
+troops, had recognized Lafayette, and insisted on paying due honours
+to the "noble comrade" with whom they had served beyond the Atlantic.
+Hamlet's menace to his friend, that he would "teach him to drink deep
+ere he depart," had been adopted in the amplest sense by those jovial
+sons of the north, and "healths bottle-deep" were sent round the board
+with rapid circulation.
+
+My entrance but slightly deranged the symposium, and I was soon
+furnished with all the freemasonry of the feast, by being called on to
+do honour to the toast of "His Majesty the King of Great Britain." My
+duty was now done, my initiation was complete, and while my eyes were
+fixed on the portrait which, still in its unharmed beauty, looked
+beaming on the wild revel below, I heard, in the broken queries, and
+interjectional panegyrics of these hyperborean heroes, more of the
+history of Lafayette than I had ever expected to reach my ears.
+
+His life had been the strangest contrast to the calm countenance which
+I saw so tranquilly listen to its own tale. It was Quixotic, and two
+hundred years ago could scarcely have escaped the pen of some French
+Cervantes. He had begun life as an officer in the French household
+troops in absolute boyhood. At sixteen he had married! at eighteen he
+had formed his political principles, and begun his military career by
+crossing the Atlantic, and offering his sword to the Republic. To meet
+the thousand wonderings at his conduct, he exchanged the ancient motto
+of the Lafayettes for a new one of his own. The words, "Why not?" were
+his answer to all, and they were sufficient. On reaching America, he
+asked but two favours, to be suffered to serve, and to serve without
+pay.
+
+In America he was more republican than the Republicans. He toiled,
+traveled, and bled, with an indefatigable zeal for the independence of
+the colonists; his zeal was a passion, his love of liberty a romance,
+his hostility to the dominion of England an universal scorn of
+established power. But if fantastic, he was bold; and if too hot for
+the frigidity of America, he was but preparing to touch France with
+kindred fire. He refused rank in the French army coupled with the
+condition of leaving the service of the Republic; and it was only on
+the French alliance in 1788 that he returned to Paris, to be received
+with feigned displeasure by the King, and even put under arrest by the
+minister, but to be welcomed by the praises of the true sovereign, the
+Queen, feted by the court, the sovereign of that sovereign, and
+huzzaed by the mob of Paris, already the sovereign of them all; from
+his military prison he emerged, colonel of the King's regiment of
+dragoons.
+
+While this narrative was going on, mingled with bumpers, and bursts of
+Slavonic good-fellowship, I could not help asking myself whether
+Lavater was not quack and physiognomy a folly? Could this be the
+dashing Revolutionist? No plodder over the desk ever wore a more
+broadcloth countenance; an occasional smile was the only indication of
+his interest in what was passing around him. He evidently avoided
+taking a share in the discussion of his Transatlantic career, probably
+from delicacy to his English auditor. But when the conversation turned
+upon France, the man came forth, and he vindicated his conduct with a
+spirit and fulness that told me what he might have been when the blood
+of youth was added to the glow of the imagination. He was now
+evidently exhausted by toil, and dispirited by disappointment. No man
+could be more thoroughly ruined; baffled in theory, undone in
+practice--an exile from his country, a fugitive from his
+troops--overwhelmed by the hopelessness of giving a constitution to
+France, and with nothing but the dungeon before him, and the crash of
+the guillotine behind.
+
+"What was to be done?" said Lafayette. "France was bankrupt--the
+treasury was empty--the profligate reign of Louis XV. had at once
+wasted the wealth, dried up the revenues, and corrupted the energies
+of France. Ministers wrung their hands, the king sent for his
+confessor, the queen wept--but the nation groaned. There was but one
+expedient, to call on the people. In 1787 the Assembly of the Notables
+was summoned. It was the first time since the reign of Henry IV.
+France had been a direct and formal despotism for almost two hundred
+years. She had seen England spread from an island into an empire; she
+had seen America spread from a colony into an empire. What had been
+the worker of the miracle?--Liberty. While all the despotisms remained
+within the boundaries fixed centuries ago, like vast dungeons, never
+extending, and never opening to the light and air, except through the
+dilapidations of time, I saw England and America expanding like
+fertile fields, open to every breath of heaven and every beam of day,
+expanding from year to year by the cheerful labour of man, and every
+year covered with new productiveness for the use of universal mankind.
+I own that there may have been rashness in urging the great
+experiment--there may have been a dangerous disregard of the actual
+circumstances of the people, the time, and the world--the daring hand
+of the philosopher may have drawn down the lightning too suddenly to
+be safe; the patriot may have flashed the blaze of his torch too
+strongly on eyes so long trained to the twilight of the dungeon. The
+leader of this enterprise himself, like the first discoverer of fire,
+may have brought wrath upon his own head, and be condemned to have his
+vitals gnawed in loneliness and chains; but nothing shall convince
+Lafayette that a great work has not been begun for the living race,
+for all nations, and for all posterity."
+
+I could not suppress the question--"But when will the experiment be
+complete? When will the tree, planted thus in storms, take hold of the
+soil? When will the tremendous tillage which begins by clearing with
+the conflagration, and ploughing with the earthquake, bring forth the
+harvest of peace to the people?"
+
+"These must be the legacy to our children," was the reply, in a grave
+and almost contrite tone. "The works of man are rapid only when they
+are meant for decay. The American savage builds his wigwam in a week,
+to last for a year. The Parthenon took half an age and the treasures
+of a people, to last for ever."
+
+We parted for the night--and for thirty years. My impression of this
+remarkable man was, that he had more heart than head; that a single
+idea had engrossed his faculties, to the exclusion of all others; that
+he was following a phantom, with the belief that it was a substantial
+form, and that, like the idolaters of old, who offered their children
+to their frowning deity, he imagined that the costlier the sacrifice,
+the surer it was of propitiation. Few men have been more misunderstood
+in his own day or in ours. Lifted to the skies for an hour by popular
+adulation, he has been sunk into obscurity ever since by historic
+contempt. Both were mistaken. He was the man made for the
+time--precisely the middle term between the reign of the nobility and
+the reign of the populace. Certainly not the man to "ride on the
+whirlwind and direct the storm;" but as certainly altogether superior
+to the indolent luxury of the class among whom he was born. Glory and
+liberty, the two highest impulses of our common nature, sent him at
+two and twenty from the most splendid court of Europe, to the swamps
+and snows, the desperate service and dubious battles of America. Eight
+years of voyages, negotiations, travels, and exposure to the chances
+of the field, proved his energy, and at the age of thirty he had drawn
+upon himself the eyes of the world. Here he ought to have rested, or
+have died. But the Revolution swept him off his feet. It was an
+untried region--a conflict of elements unknown to the calculation of
+man; he was whirled along by a force which whirled the monarchy, the
+church, and the nation with him, and sank only when France plunged
+after him.
+
+I have no honour for a similar career, and no homage for a similar
+memory; but it is from those mingled characters that history derives
+her deepest lesson, her warnings for the weak, her cautions for the
+ambitious, and her wisdom for the wise.
+
+On the retiring of the party for the night, my first act was to summon
+the old Swiss and his wife who had been left in charge of the mansion,
+and collect from them all their feeble memories could tell Clotilde.
+But Madame la Marechale was a much more important personage in their
+old eyes, than the "charmante enfant" whom they had dandled on their
+knees, and who was likely to remain a "charmante enfant" to them
+during their lives. The chateau had been the retreat of the Marechale
+after the death of her husband; and it was in its stately solitudes,
+and in the woods and wilds which surrounded it for many a league, that
+Clotilde had acquired those accomplished tastes, and that
+characteristic dignity and force of mind, which distinguished her from
+the frivolity of her country-women, however elegant and attractive,
+who had been trained in the _salons_ of the court. The green glades
+and fresh air of the forest had given beauty to her cheek and grace
+to her form; and scarcely conceiving how the rouged and jewelled
+Marechale could have endured such an absence from the circles of the
+young queen, and the "_beaux restes_" of the wits and beauties of the
+court of Louis the 15th, I thanked in soul the fortunate necessity
+which had driven her from the atmosphere of the Du Barris to the
+shades thus sacred to innocence and knowledge.
+
+But the grand business of the thing was still to be done. The picture
+was taken down at last, to the great sorrow of the old servants, who
+seemed to regard it as a patron saint, and who declared that its
+presence, and its presence alone, could have saved the mansion, in the
+first instance, from being burned by the "patriots," who generally
+began their reforms of the nobility by laying their chateaux in ashes,
+and in the next, from being plundered by the multitudes of whiskered
+savages speaking unknown tongues, and came to leave France without
+"_ni pain ni vin_" for her legitimate sons. But the will of Madame la
+Marechale was to them as the laws of the Medes and Persians,
+irresistible and unchangeable; and with heavy hearts they dismounted
+the portrait, and assisted in enfolding and encasing it, with much the
+same feeling that might have been shown in paying the last honours to
+a rightful branch of the beloved line.
+
+But, in the wall which the picture had covered, I found a small
+recess, closed by an iron door, and evidently unknown to the Swiss and
+his old wife. I might have hesitated about extending my enquiry
+further, but Time, the great discoverer of all things, saved my
+conscience: with a slight pressure against the lock it gave way; the
+door flew open, and dropped off the hinges, a mass of rust and decay.
+Within was a casket of a larger size than that generally used for
+jewels; but my curiosity durst not go beyond the superscription, which
+was a consignment of the casket, in the name of the Marechale, to her
+banker in London. Whatever might be the contents, it was clear that,
+like the picture, it had been left behind in the hurry of flight, and
+that to transmit it to England was fairly within my commission. Before
+our busy work was done, day was glancing in through the coloured panes
+of the fine old chamber. I hurried off the Swiss, with my precious
+possessions, to the next town, in one of the baggage carts, with a
+trooper in front to prevent his search by hands still more hazardous
+than those of a custom-house officer; and then, mounting my horse, and
+bidding a brief farewell to the brave and noble fellows who were
+already mustering for the march, and envying me with all their souls,
+I set off at full speed to rejoin the army.
+
+With all my speed, the action had begun for some hours before I came
+in sight of the field. With what pangs of heart I heard the roar of
+the cannon, for league on league, while I was threading my bewildered
+way, and spurring my tired horse through the miry paths of a country
+alternately marsh and forest; with what pantings I looked from every
+successive height, to see even to what quarter the smoke of the firing
+might direct me; with what eager vexation I questioned every hurrying
+peasant, who either shook his moody head and refused to answer, or who
+answered with the fright of one who expected to have his head swept
+off his shoulders by some of my fierce-looking troop, I shall not now
+venture to tell; but it was as genuine a torture as could be felt by
+man. At length, exhausted by mortal fatigue, and ready to lie down and
+die, I made a last effort, would listen no more to the remonstrances
+of the troop, whose horses were sinking under them. I ordered them to
+halt where they were, pushed on alone, and, winding my way through a
+forest covering the side of a low but abrupt hill, or rather
+succession of hills, I suddenly burst out into the light, and saw the
+whole battle beneath, around, and before me. It was magnificent.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+LETTER FROM LEMUEL GULLIVER.
+
+TO THE EDITOR.
+
+
+Sir--At the request of my four-footed friends, I forward to you a free
+translation of the proceedings of a meeting of Houynhyms, recently
+held for the protection of their interests in corn. As the language
+appears more temperate, and the propositions quite as rational, as
+those which are ordinarily brought forward in the other Corn-law
+meetings which still continue to agitate the county, I have no
+difficulty in complying with their wishes; and if you can afford space
+for the insertion of the report in your valuable Magazine, you will
+greatly oblige the Houynhym race, and confer a favour upon, sir, your
+obedient servant,
+
+LEMUEL GULLIVER.
+
+_Stable-Yard, Nov. 10th, 1843._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+ADVERTISEMENT.
+
+A meeting of delegates from the different classes of consumers of oats
+was held on Friday last, at the Nag's Head in the Borough, pursuant to
+public advertisement in the _Hors-Lham Gazette_. The object of the
+meeting was to take into consideration the present consumption of the
+article, and to devise means for its increase. The celebrated horse
+Comrade, of Drury-Lane Theatre, presided on the occasion.
+
+The business of the meeting was opened by a young Racer of great
+promise, who said it was his anxious desire to protect the interests
+of the horse community, and to promote any measure which might
+contribute to the increase of the consumption of oats, and improve the
+condition of his fellow-quadrupeds. He was not versed in political
+economy, nor, indeed, economy of any kind. He had heard much of demand
+and supply, and the difficulty of regulating them properly; but, for
+his own part, he found the latter always equalled the former, though
+he understood such was not the case with his less fortunate brethren.
+He warmly advocated the practice of sowing wild oats, and considered
+that much of the decrease of consumption complained of arose from the
+undue encouragement given to the growth of other grain; and that the
+horse interest would be best promoted by imposing a maximum as to the
+growth of wheat and barley, according to the acreage of each
+particular farm.
+
+A HACKNEY-COACH HORSE declared himself in favour of the sliding-scale,
+which he understood from Sir Peter Lawrie to mean the wooden pavement.
+He admitted it was not well adapted for rainy seasons, but it was
+impossible to doubt that things went much more smoothly wherever it
+was established; and that he, and the working classes whom he
+represented, found in it a considerable relief from the heavy duties
+daily imposed upon them. He wished that some measure could be devised
+for superseding the use of nosebags, which he designated as an
+intolerable nuisance, especially during the summer months; but he
+principally relied for an improvement in condition on the prohibition
+of the mixture of chaff with oats; which latter article, he contended,
+was unfit for the use of able-bodied horses, who earned their daily
+food, and ought to be limited to those cattle who spent an idle
+existence in straw-yards.
+
+A BRIGHT CHESTNUT HORSE, of great power, and well-known in the parks,
+warmly replied to the last neigher. He denounced the sliding-scale as
+a slippery measure, unworthy of a horse of spirit, and adding greatly
+to the burdens with which horses like himself were saddled. He daily
+saw steeds of the noblest blood and most undaunted action humbled to
+the dust by its operation; and if Sir Peter Lawrie was to be believed,
+it was more dreaded by the household troops than Napoleon's army on
+the field of Waterloo. He yielded to no horse in an anxious desire to
+promote the true interests of the horse community; but he could not
+give his support to measures so unsafe, merely because they enabled a
+small and inferior section of their community to move more smoothly.
+He reprobated, in strong terms, the unfeeling allusion of the last
+neigher to the unfortunate inmates of union straw-yards, whom, for his
+own part, he looked upon as nowise inferior to the hackney-coach
+horse himself, of whose right to be present at a meeting of consumers
+of oats he entertained serious doubts. (Loud neighs of "Order!
+Order!")
+
+A SCOTCH HORSE feared that, strictly speaking, he was included in the
+same category with the hackney-coach horse, and had no right to be
+heard, having no personal interest in the question; but he trusted he
+might be permitted to speak as the delegate of the horses of Scotland,
+who were ignorant of the Houynhym language, and not entitled to
+attend. Permission being granted, to the surprise of the assembly he
+descanted with much asperity upon the gross oppression to which horses
+in Scotland were subject, as their rough coats and ragged appearance
+plainly manifested; and stated, in conclusion, that no hope or
+expectation of bettering the condition of the Scotch horse could be
+entertained until their lawful food was restored to them, and
+Scotchmen were compelled, by act of Parliament, to abstain from the
+use of oatmeal, and live like the rest of the civilized world.
+
+Several worn-out horses belonging to members of the Whig
+administration then endeavoured to address the meeting, with an
+evident intention of converting the proceedings into a party question;
+but they were informed by the president, in the midst of loud snorting
+and neighing, that they had not the slightest right to be present, as
+they were all undoubtedly turned out for life. This decision appeared
+to give universal satisfaction.
+
+AN IRISH HORSE was of opinion that the great cause of the present
+difficulties arose from deficiency in the quality and not the quantity
+of the article, and strongly recommended the growth of Irish oats in
+England. To the surprise of the English delegates, he warmly eulogized
+the superiority of the Irish oat; but it afterwards appeared, upon the
+production of a sample, that he had mistaken the potatoe oat for the
+Irish oat.
+
+AN OLD ENGLISH HUNTER next addressed the meeting, and was listened to
+with deep attention. He impressed upon the young delegates the good
+old adage of "Look before you leap," and cautioned them against the
+delusive hope that their condition would be improved by change of
+measures. In the course of his long life he had experienced measures
+of every description, and had invariably found that his supplies
+depended, not on the measure itself; but on the hand that filled it.
+He had ever given his willing support to his employers, and served
+them faithfully; and if they were as well acquainted as quadrupeds
+with the secrets of the stable, they would learn the fallacy of their
+favourite maxim of "Measures, not men," and trust the administration
+of their affairs to upright and steady grooms, rather than those
+fanciful half-educated gentlemen who were perpetually changing the
+rules of the stables, and altering the form of the measures, whereby
+they embarrassed the regular feeding and training of the inmates,
+without producing any practical good.
+
+A STAGE-COACH HORSE imputed their want of condition to the misconduct
+of their leaders, who, he said, could never be kept in the right path,
+or made to do one-half of the work which properly belonged to them. By
+a strange fatality, they were generally purblind, and always shyed
+most fearfully when an Opposition coach approached them. Indeed, it
+was well known that the horses selected for these duties were,
+generally speaking, vicious and unsound, and not taken from the most
+able and powerful, but from the most showy classes. He then proceeded
+to descant upon the general wrongs of horses. He congratulated the
+community upon the abolition of bearing reins, those grievous burdens
+upon the necks of all free-going horses; and he trusted the time would
+soon arrive when the blinkers would also be taken off, every corn-binn
+thrown open, and every horse his own leader.
+
+Several other delegates addressed the meeting, and various plans were
+discussed; but it invariably turned out, upon investigation, that the
+change would only benefit the class of animals by whom it was
+proposed. A post-horse was of opinion, that the true remedy lay in
+decreasing the amount of speed, and shortening the spaces between
+milestones. A Welsh pony was for the abolition of tolls, which, he
+said, exhausted the money intended for repairs; whilst some
+plough-horses from Lincolnshire proposed the encouragement of pasture
+land, the abolition of tillage, and the disuse of oats altogether. The
+harmony of the meeting was, at one period, interrupted, by the
+unfortunate use of the word "_blackguard_" by a delegate from the
+collieries, which caused a magnificent charger from the Royal Horse
+Guards, Blue, to rear up, and, with great indignation, demand if the
+allusion was personal; but who was satisfied with the explanation of
+the president, that it was applicable only in a warlike sense. A long,
+lean, bay horse, with a sour head, demanded a similar explanation of
+the word "_job_," and was told it was used in a _working_ sense.
+Several resolutions, drawn by two dray-horses, embodying the supposed
+grievances of the community, were finally agreed upon, and a petition,
+under the hoof of the president, founded upon them, having been
+prepared, and ordered to be presented to the House of Commons by the
+members for Horsham, the meeting separated, and the delegates returned
+to their respective stables.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+THE PROCLAMATION.
+
+
+      Bold warriors of Erin, I hereby _proclaim_,
+      That the world never witness'd your rivals in fame;
+      Bold sons of Macmurraugh, Macarthy, O'Neill,
+      The armies of earth at your sight would turn pale.
+      A flash from your eyes would light England's last pile,
+      And a touch give her sceptre to Erin's green isle.
+
+      Hurrah for the vengeance of old Mullaghmast,
+      On the blood-bolter'd ground where your gauntlet was cast;
+      Hurrah for the vengeance of Tara's proud hill,
+      Where the bones of our monarchs are blood-sprinkled still.
+      Hurrah for Clontarf, though the Saxon may smile,
+      The last, greatest triumph of Erin's green isle!
+
+      Let the scoffer scoff on, while I hereby _proclaim_,
+      That flight may be courage, and fear but a name;
+      That boasting is good, when 'tis good for the cause,
+      But, in sight of cold steel, _we should honour the laws_;
+      That powder and shot make men swallow their bile--
+      So, hurrah for the glory of Erin's green isle!
+
+      If they ask for your leader, the land's sword and shield,
+      At least none can say that _he fled from the field_.
+      _He_ kept a whole skin--for the service of Rome;
+      So he fix'd his headquarters in quiet at home.
+      They might just as well hunt for the head of the Nile,
+      While he reckon'd his beads for St Patrick's green isle.
+
+      If beggars on horseback will ride--to Clontarf;
+      If tailors will caper with truncheon and scarf,
+      At Sunday carousels, all know, I'm in flower,
+      My taste for the grape don't extend to the shower.
+      Besides, those blue pills disagree with my chyle,
+      So, hurrah!--pence and peace for the grand Emerald Isle!
+
+      If the scoffer should ask, what the deuce brought you there?
+      Of course, it was only to taste the fresh air;
+      To pick cowslips and daisies; and brush off the dew,
+      Or drink gin o'er the tombstone of Brian Boru.
+      As to flags, and all that; 'twas but doing in style,
+      The honours of Freedom to Erin's green isle.
+
+
+      Then, as to your "Squadrons," your "Mount for Repeal,"
+      'Twas merely to teach them the "Right about wheel,"
+      By the word of command from the Saxon to run,
+      As your leader would fly from a bailiff or dun;
+      In short, since a miss is as good as a mile,
+      Swear the whole was a humbug for Erin's green isle.
+
+      Besides, these are delicate moments to croak,
+      Since the Saxon's new plan of a word and a stroke.
+      My mind is made up, like a poodle or pug,
+      No longer to stir from my berth on the rug;
+      Though the bold may revile me, so let them revile--
+      I'm determined to _live_ for old Erin's green isle.
+
+      I _proclaim_--that the Saxon will tremble to meet
+      The heroes of Erin; but, boys, life is sweet.
+      I _proclaim_--that your shout frightens Europe's base thrones;
+      But remember, my boys, there is luck in whole bones;
+      So, take the advice of a friend--wait a while,
+      In a century or two you'll revenge the Green Isle.
+
+      I know in my soul, at the very first shot
+
+      That your whole monster meeting would fly at full trot;
+      What horrid melee, then, of popping and flashing!
+      At least I'LL not share in your holiday thrashing;
+      Brawl at Sugden and Smith, but beware "rank and file"--
+      They're too rough for the lambkins of Erin's green isle.
+
+      Observe, my dear boys, if you once get me hang'd,
+      'Tis fifty to one if you'll e'er be harangued.
+      Farewell to the pleasure of paying the "Rint"--
+      Farewell to all earth's vilest nonsense in print--
+      Farewell to the feast of your gall and your guile--
+      All's over at once with the grand Emerald Isle.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+THE FIREMAN'S SONG.
+
+
+      "Ho, comrade, up! awake, arise! look forth into the night:
+      Say, is yon gleam the morning-beam, yon broad and bloody light?
+      Say, does it tell--yon clanging bell--of mass or matin song?
+      Yon drum-roll--calls it to parade the soldier's armed throng?"
+
+      "No, brother, no! no morning-beam is yonder crimson glare!
+      Yon deep bell tolls no matin--'tis the tocsin's hurried blare!
+      Yon sullen drum-roll mutters out no summons to parade:
+      To fight the flame it summons us--the valiant Fire-Brigade!"
+
+      Then fast the Fireman rose, and waked his mate that lay beside;
+      And each man gripp'd his trusty axe, and donn'd his coat of hide--
+      There bounds beneath that leather coat a heart as strange to fear
+      As ever swell'd beneath the steel of gilded cuirassier.
+
+      And from beneath the leather casque that guards the Fireman's brow,
+      A bolder, sterner glance shines out than plumy crest can show;
+      And oft shall ply the Fireman's axe, though rude and rough it be,
+      Where sabre, lance, and bayonet, right soon would turn and flee!
+
+      Off dash the thundering engines, like goblin jaeger-chase--
+      The sleeper shudders as they pass, and pallid grows his face:
+      Away, away! though close and bright yon ruddy glow appear,
+      Far, far we have to gallop yet, or e'er our work we near!
+
+      A plain of upturn'd faces--pale brows and quivering lips,
+      All flickering like the tropic sea in the green light of eclipse;
+      And the multitude waves to and fro, as in the tropic sea,
+      After a tempest, heaves and falls the ground-swell sleeplessly.
+
+      Now, by my faith! goodly sight you mansion fast asleep--
+      Those winking lamps beside the gate a dull watch seem to keep--
+      But a gay awaking waits them, when the crash of blazing beam,
+      And the Fireman's stern reveille, shall mingle with their dream!
+
+      And sound as sleeps that mansion, ye may mark in every chink
+      A gleam, as in the lava-cracks by the volcano's brink;
+      Through key-hole and through window-slit, a white and sullen glow--
+      And all above is rolling smoke, and all is dark below.
+
+      Hark! hear ye not that murmur, that hush and hollow roar,
+      As when to the south-wester bow the pines upon the shore;
+      And that low crackling intermix'd, like wither'd twig that breaks,
+      When in the midnight greenwood the startled squirrel wakes!
+
+      Lo, how the fire comes roaring on, like a host in war array!
+      Nor lacks it gallant music to cheer it on its way,
+      Nor flap of flame-tongued banner, like the Oriflamme of old,
+      Its vanward cohorts heralding, in crimson, green, and gold.
+
+      The engines now are ranged a-row--hark, how they sob and pant!
+      How gallantly the water-jets curve soaringly aslant!
+      Up spins the stream--it meets the flame--it bursts in fleecy rain,
+      Like the last spout of the dying whale, when the lance is in
+          his brain.
+
+      Ha, ha! from yon high window thrill'd the wild shriek of despair,
+      And gibbering phantoms seem to dance within the ruddy glare;
+      And as a valiant captain leads his boarders to the fray,
+      "Up, up, my sons!" our foreman shouts--"up firemen, and away!"
+
+      Their arms are strong and sinewy--see how the splinters fly--
+      Their axes they are sharp and good--"Back, comrades! or ye die--
+      Look to the walls!"--a rending crash--they topple--down they come--
+      A cloud of sparks--a feeble cheer--again!--and all is dumb.
+
+      A pause--as on that battle-day, 'twixt France and England's might,
+      When huge L'Orient blew up at once, in the hottest of the fight:
+      There was not one, they say, but wink'd, and held his breath
+          the while,
+      Though brave were they that fought that day with Nelson at the Nile.
+
+      And by to-morrow's sunrise, amid the steaming stones,
+      A chain of gold half-melted, and a few small white bones,
+      And a few rags of roasted flesh, alone shall show where died--
+      The noble and the beautiful, the baby and the bride!
+
+      O fire, he is a noble thing!--the sot's pipe gives him birth;
+      Or from the livid thunder-cloud he leaps alive on earth;
+      Or in the western wilderness devouring silently;
+      Or on the lava rocking in the womb of Stromboli.
+
+      Right well in Hamburg revell'd he--though Elbe ran rolling by--
+      He could have drain'd--so fierce his thirst--the mighty river dry!
+      With silk, and gold, and diamond, he cramm'd his hungry maw;
+      And he tamed the wild republicans, who knew nor lord nor law!
+
+      He feasted well in Moscow--in the city of the Tsar--
+      When 'fore the northern streamers paled Napoleon's lurid star:
+      Around the hoary Kremlin, where Moscow once had stood,
+      He pass'd, and left a heap behind, of ashes slaked in blood!
+
+      He feasted once in London--he feasted best of all--
+      When through the close-packed city, he swept from wall to wall:
+      Even as of old the wrath of God came down in fiery rain,
+      On Sodom and Gomorrha, on the Cities of the Plain!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+POSITION AND PROSPECTS OF THE GOVERNMENT.
+
+
+A recruited revenue; reviving trade and commerce; reduction in the
+price of provisions; the triumphant termination of hostilities in all
+parts of the world, with its great immediate prospective advantages: a
+general feeling of confidence, arising from the steady administration
+of public affairs, in spite of persevering and atrocious efforts to
+excite dissatisfaction and alarm; nay, even the stern repose
+prevailing in Ireland, preserved though it be, for a while, under
+cover of artillery, and at the bayonet's point, but affording a
+precious respite from agitation, and a foretaste of the blessings that
+may be expected from its permanent suppression: all these
+circumstances unequivocally attest the existence of a powerful
+Government acting upon a comprehensive and enduring policy, which is
+becoming daily better appreciated by the strong good sense which ever
+distinguishes the British character, when a fair opportunity is
+afforded for its exercise.
+
+Upwards of two years have now elapsed since the accession of the
+present Government to power, at a period of universally admitted
+difficulty and danger. We have been, during this critical interval,
+dispassionate and independent observers of Ministers, and their
+conduct of public affairs, anxious to see whether they were really
+equal to the occasion, and worthy of the confidence of the Sovereign
+and the country. We are ourselves satisfied, and undertake to
+demonstrate to our readers, that this question must be answered in the
+affirmative. We say all this advisedly, and with no disposition to
+deny the existence of difficulties, which, if serious to the present,
+would be absolutely insuperable to any other Government. During the
+interval in question, Ministers have triumphed over more formidable
+difficulties than any which they have at present to encounter. _That_,
+also, we say advisedly--cheerfully, confidently--with Ireland before
+our eyes, and the din of the audacious and virulent Anti-corn-law
+League in our ears.
+
+Passing these topics for the present, let us proceed to examine
+carefully the real position of Sir Robert Peel and his Government,
+with a view to ascertaining its prospects of a continuance in power.
+This enquiry cannot be successfully conducted, without referring for a
+moment to the immense changes in principles and parties effected by
+the Reform Bill in 1832--a period of quite as great a revolution as
+that of 1688. The Tory party it nearly annihilated!--The first Reform
+Parliament consisting of only 187 Tories to 471 Whigs and
+Radicals--the former being thus in the fearful minority of 284. We
+recollect sharing in the despondency, and even despair, which
+paralysed our party. There was, however, one signal exception in the
+person of Sir Robert Peel, whose conduct on that occasion entitles him
+to the eternal gratitude of every man pretending to the character of a
+Conservative, nay, of every true lover of his country and its
+institutions. With surprising energy, calmness, and foresight, he
+instantly addressed himself to the formation, even under those
+inauspicious and disheartening circumstances, of that _great_
+CONSERVATIVE _party_ of which he is now the acknowledged head. In
+1841, just _before_ the general election, he thus _reminded that
+party_, and apprized the country at large of the principle on which he
+had acted in 1832. We beg our readers to ponder his words, and the
+period when he uttered them.
+
+    "I then foresaw the good that might result from laying the
+    foundation of a great Conservative party in the state,
+    attached to the fundamental institutions of the country--not
+    opposed to any rational change in it which the lapse of years,
+    or the altered circumstances of society might require, but
+    determined to maintain, on their ancient footing and
+    foundation, our great institutions in church and state. In
+    order to form that party, however, it was necessary, in the
+    first instance, to widen the foundation on which it should
+    stand: to call into our connexion men from whom we had been
+    separated in consequence of differences which no longer
+    existed. My grand object was to build up that great party
+    which has been gradually acquiring strength in this
+    country--which has been gradually widening the foundation on
+    which it stands, and which has drawn, from time to time, its
+    support from its opponents."[11]
+
+    [11] Speech to the Tamworth Electors on 28th June 1841,
+    (Painter, Strand.)
+
+The shortest and best evidence of the success which has attended the
+unwearied exertions of Sir Robert Peel during the ensuing then years,
+is afforded by the following summary of the results of the four
+general elections since the passing of the Reform Bill; three of them
+under the auspices and with the unscrupulously exercised patronage of
+the Reform Government. Observe the ascending and descending scales:--
+
+           C.   L.
+          187  471  (1832)
+          275  383  (1835)
+          314  344  (1837)
+          373  283  (1841)
+
+Who was it but its founder, that led the Conservative party through
+these successive stages of triumph? Who did so much as he to effect
+that gradual but decisive change in public opinion which, in 1841,
+routed the Liberal Ministry in spite of their extraordinary exertions
+and advantages, and placed a Conservative Government at the head of
+affairs? To enable us to appreciate the importance of that great
+victory, and also the decision of character evinced on that occasion
+by Sir Robert Peel, let us for a moment advert to the calm
+self-reliance with which, amidst the breathless apprehensions and
+misgivings of his whole party, he gave battle to the enemy--proposed
+the memorable vote of want of confidence, and carried it by a majority
+of one.[12] A more critical move never was followed by more signal
+success; every ensuing event serving to show, that so far from his
+movements having been impelled by rash and desperate party
+speculations, they had been based upon a profound and accurate
+knowledge of his resources, and of the state of feeling and opinion in
+the country. "I gave the Government every advantage," said he, "to
+make their appeal to the country. They boast of the confidence of the
+crown--they have every means at their disposal which official
+influence can command to exert in their own behalf. An appeal has been
+made by them from the House of Commons to you, and it is for the
+country to decide the question at issue. They have made an appeal to
+public feeling on account of cheap sugar and cheap bread. My firm
+belief is, that the people of this country have not at all responded
+to that cry." How well-founded was that "firm belief," was proved by
+the glorious result:--the "people of this country did" _not_ "respond
+to that cry"--they rejected--they repudiated it, and they would do so
+again if another such appeal were made to them to-morrow.
+
+    [12] Ayes, 312; Noes, 311--4th June 1841.
+
+Let us now proceed to show what pretence there is for the injurious
+insinuations and assertions of Sir Robert Peel's traducers--whether
+treacherous friends or open enemies--that, in order to obtain power,
+he hung out false colours to the nation; that his declarations before
+the general election have been disregarded and falsified by his acts
+on attaining office. We will for ever demolish all such calumnies and
+false pretences by going, step by step, through a document which we
+made a point of procuring at the time, and preserving hitherto, and to
+which we have since frequently referred, on hearing uttered the
+slanderous charges to which we allude. That document is a copy of the
+speech which Sir Robert Peel, on the 28th June 1841, addressed
+formally to his constituents, but virtually, of course, to the whole
+nation.
+
+One of his earliest declarations was the following:--"Gentlemen, _I
+have ever professed moderate opinions on politics_. The principles I
+professed, and adhered to, I shall adhere to during my public life,
+whether in opposition or in power, are, I believe, in perfect
+conformity with the prevailing good sense, the moderation, and the
+intelligence of the great body of the people of England." This was a
+sufficiently distinct notice to all men, especially to those of
+extreme opinions, whether Tory, Liberal, or Radical, of the course of
+action which was to be looked for from the expectant Prime Minister.
+
+Then, first, he proceeded to admit the existence of manufacturing
+distress.
+
+"I admit and deplore it, but I do not despair. I have seen distress in
+manufactures and in commerce before now. I think the causes of the
+present distress are but temporary--that the cloud will soon blow
+over--and that the great foundations of manufacturing prosperity are
+not affected; and I hope I shall very shortly see the day when our
+manufactures will once more revive, and when we shall again fill the
+place we have always occupied--that of producers for the markets of
+the world."
+
+Now for its _cause_.
+
+"Now let us consider the important question, as to how far the
+distress in the manufactures and commerce of the country is fairly
+attributable to the corn-laws." He proceeded to show, from Lord
+Palmerston's official statement in Parliament on the 22d July 1840,
+that, between the years 1830 and 1839, the _exports_ had risen from
+the value of L.38,000,000 to L.53,000,000, and the _imports_ from
+L.46,000,000 to L.62,000,000, "a clear proof that, notwithstanding the
+local and temporary checks which our commerce had experienced, on the
+whole it had gone on steadily improving, and that between the two
+periods it had increased not much less than from two to three."
+
+He then took the _shipping_ and _navigation_ of the country for the
+preceding three years; and in looking at them, I cannot help thinking
+that, if there was any thing like an absolute decrease in trade and
+commerce, there would also be a decrease in the shipping of the
+country. "Well," said Sir Robert Peel, "What do I find?" The returns
+"showed an increase, presented within the last three years, from
+4,000,000 tons to 4,780,000 tons." Now mark--"during the whole of this
+period the corn-laws were in operation; how then can they be fairly or
+honestly assigned as the cause of the present manufacturing and
+commercial distress?"
+
+But if the corn-laws were _not_, what _was_ the cause?
+
+"I see causes enough in the world, as well as in this country, why
+there should be manufacturing and commercial distress at the present
+moment, irrespective and totally independent of the corn-laws."
+
+These were--
+
+1st, "_I do fear that, in the north of England, an undue stimulus has
+been given to manufacturing industry by the accommodation system
+pursued by the joint-stock banks. I think the connexion of the
+manufacturer with the joint-stock banks gave an undue and an improper
+impulse to trade in that quarter of the county; and I think that, in
+consequence of this, there have been more manufactures produced within
+the last two years than were necessary to supply the demand for
+them._"
+
+2ndly, "Look to the state of some of the foreign countries, which
+took, at one time, the greatest quantity of our manufactures;" South
+America, its ports strictly blockaded by France; the United States of
+North America, "in a state of nascent hostility," and also labouring
+under "a distress similar to our own, and arising from similar causes.
+The facility of accommodation afforded by certain banks there gave an
+undue stimulus to industry; this produced extravagant speculations;
+many persons failed in consequence, and trade necessarily then came to
+a stand-still." Canada--the peninsula, France, the great Kingdoms of
+the middle and north of Europe--Syria, Egypt, China, had been, and
+were, in such a state, as occasioned all interruption of our trade
+thither; "a stoppage in the demand for manufactured goods, and a
+correspondent depression in commerce." "When you put all these things
+together, all causes, mind you, affecting the market for your goods,
+and then combine them with the two or three defective harvests we have
+had of late, I ask you to answer me the question, Whether or not they
+have been sufficient to account for the depression of manufacturing
+industry."
+
+Then came Sir Robert Peel to the two grand and suddenly discovered
+panaceas of the late Government, for recruiting the exhausted revenue,
+and relieving the general distress--viz. "cheap sugar," and "cheap
+bread."
+
+1st, As to foreign sugar:--
+
+"I clearly and freely admit that those restrictions which cannot be
+justified should be removed, and that the commerce of the country
+should be perfectly free, whenever it can possibly be so; but I
+consider the article of sugar to be wholly exempt from the principle
+of free trade." * * * "The question now is this--whether, after the
+sacrifices which this country has made for the suppression of the
+slave trade and the abolition of slavery, and the glorious
+results that have ensued, and are likely to ensue, from these
+sacrifices--whether we shall run the risk of losing the benefit of
+those sacrifices, and tarnishing for ever that glory, by admitting to
+the British market sugar the produce of foreign slavery." * * * "If
+you admit it, it will come from Brazil and Cuba. In Brazil, the
+slave-trade exists in full force; in Cuba, it is unmitigated in its
+extent and horrors. The sugar of Cuba is the finest in the world; but
+in Cuba, slavery is unparalleled in its horrors. I do not at all
+overstate the fact, when I say, that 50,000 slaves are annually landed
+in Cuba. That is the yearly importation into the island; but, when you
+take into consideration the vast numbers that perish before they leave
+their own coasts, the still greater number that die amidst the horrors
+of the middle passage, and the number that are lost at sea, you will
+come to the inevitable conclusion, that the number landed in
+Cuba--50,000 annually--is but a slight indication of the number
+shipped in Africa, or of the miseries and destruction that have taken
+place among them during their transport thither. If you open the
+markets of England to the sugar of Cuba, you may depend on it that you
+give a great stimulus to slavery, and the slave-trade." Sir Robert
+Peel then pointed out peculiar and decisive distinctions between the
+case of sugar, and that of cotton, tobacco, and coffee; that, though
+all of them were the produce of slave labour--First, we cannot now
+reject the _cotton_ of the United States, without endangering to the
+last degree the manufacturing prosperity of the kingdom. Secondly, of
+all the descriptions of slave produce, sugar is the most cruelly
+destructive of human life--the proportion of deaths in a sugar
+plantation being infinitely greater than on those of cotton or coffee.
+Thirdly, slave grown sugar has _never_ been admitted to consumption in
+this country.[13] He also assigned two great co-operating reasons for
+rejecting slave-grown sugar:--"That the people of England required the
+great experiment of emancipation to be fairly tried; and they would
+_not_ think it fairly tried, if, at this moment, when the colonies
+were struggling with such difficulties, we were to open the floodgates
+of a foreign supply, and inundate the British market with sugar, the
+produce of slave-labour;" adopting the very words of the Whig
+Vice-President of the Board of Trade, Mr Labouchere, on the 25th June
+1840. The other reason was, "that our immense possessions in the East
+Indies give us the means, and afford us every facility, for acquiring
+sugar, the produce of free labour, to an illimitable extent."
+
+    [13] The following striking passage from the writings of the
+    celebrated Dr Channing of America, was quoted by Sir Robert
+    Peel in the speech under consideration. "Great Britain, loaded
+    with an unprecedented debt, and with a grinding taxation,
+    contracted a new debt of a hundred millions of dollars, to
+    give freedom, not to Englishmen, but to the degraded African.
+    I know not that history records an act so disinterested, so
+    sublime. In the progress of ages, England's naval triumphs
+    will shrink into a more and more narrow space in the records
+    of our race--this moral triumph will fill a broader--brighter
+    page." "Take care!" emphatically added Sir Robert Peel, "that
+    this brighter page be not sullied by the admission of slave
+    sugar into the consumption of this country--by our
+    encouragement--and, too, our unnecessary encouragement of
+    slavery and the slave-trade!"--Noble sentiments!
+
+So much for foreign sugar. Now for--
+
+II. FOREIGN CORN; and we beg the special attention of all parties to
+this portion of the manifesto of Sir Robert Peel:--
+
+"Look at the capital invested in land and agriculture in this
+country--look at the interests involved in it--look at the arrangement
+that has been come to for the commutation of tithes--look at your
+importation of corn diminishing for the last ten years--consider the
+burdens on the land peculiar to this country[14]--take all these
+circumstances into consideration, and then you will agree with Mr
+McCulloch, the great advocate of a change in the Corn-law, that
+'considering the vast importance of agriculture, _nearly half the
+population of the empire are directly or indirectly dependent on it
+for employment and the means of subsistence_; a prudent statesman
+would pause before he gave his sanction to any measure however sound
+in principle, or beneficial to the mercantile and manufacturing
+classes, that might endanger the prosperity of agriculture, or check
+the rapid spread of improvement.'"[15]
+
+    [14] "We believe," says _Mr McCulloch_ himself in another part
+    of the pamphlet, (Longman & Co., 1841, p. 23--6th Edit.) from
+    which Sir Robert Peel is quoting, "that land is more heavily
+    taxed than any other species of property in the country--and
+    that its owners are clearly entitled to insist that a duty
+    should be laid on foreign corn when imported, sufficient fully
+    to countervail the excess of burdens laid upon the land."
+
+    [15] Speech, pp. 9, 10.
+
+Now for the "_Sliding Scale_."
+
+"I just here repeat the opinion which I have declared here before, and
+also in the House of Commons, that I cannot consent to substitute a
+fixed duty of 8s. a-quarter on foreign corn, for the present ascending
+and descending scale of duties. I prefer the principle of the
+ascending and descending scale, to such an amount of fixed duty. And
+when I look at the burdens to which the land of this country is
+subject, I do not consider the fixed duty of 8s. a-quarter on corn
+from Poland, and Prussia, and Russia, where no such burdens exist, a
+sufficient protection for it."[16]
+
+    [16] Do. p. 8.
+
+Again--
+
+"If you disturb agriculture, and divert the employment of capital from
+the land, you may not increase your foreign trade--for that is a thing
+to dwell under existing circumstances--_but will assuredly reduce the
+home trade, by reducing the means to meet the demand_, and thus
+permanently injure yourselves also."[17]
+
+    [17] Do. p. 13.
+
+Again--
+
+"I have come to the conclusion, that the existing system of an
+ascending and descending scale of duties, should not be altered: and
+that, moreover, we should as much as possible make ourselves
+independent of a foreign supply--and not disturb the principle of the
+existing corn-laws--of these corn-laws, which, when you have an
+abundance of your own, exclude altogether the foreign supply--and when
+the price rises in this country, freely admits it."[18]
+
+    [18] Speech, p. 15.
+
+Again--he quoted the following remarkable language of Lord Melbourne
+on the 11th June 1840--
+
+"_Whether the object be to have a fixed duty, or an alteration as to
+the ascending and descending scale, I see clearly and distinctly,
+that that object will not be carried without a most violent
+struggle--without causing much ill-blood, and a deep sense of
+grievance--without stirring society to its foundations, and leaving
+behind every sort of bitterness and animosity. I do not think the
+advantages to be gained by the change are worth the evils of the
+struggle_."[19]
+
+    [19] Do. p. 18.
+
+And Sir Robert Peel concluded the foregoing summary of his views, on
+the great questions then proposed to the country for its decision, in
+the following words:--
+
+"I ask your free suffrages, with this frank and explicit declaration
+of my opinions."[20]
+
+    [20] Do. p. 18.
+
+On this, there occur to us three questions--
+
+(1st.) Was this, or was it not, a frank and explicit declaration of
+his opinions? And, (2d.) Did it, or did it not, as tested by the
+result of the general election, completely satisfy the country? (3d.)
+In what respect has the subsequent conduct of Sir Robert Peel been
+inconsistent with these declarations? And we echo the stern enquiry
+of the Duke of Wellington, for "the _when_, the _where_, and the
+_how_," "of Sir Robert Peel's deceiving his supporters or the
+country"--and "pause for a reply." Failing to receive any--for none
+can be given, except in the negative--we shall proceed to condense the
+substance of this memorable manifesto into a few words; offer some
+general observations designed to assist in forming a correct judgment
+upon the topics discussed in the ensuing pages; and then give as fair
+an outline as we know how to present, of the "DOINGS" of Sir Robert
+Peel and his Government, by way of comment upon, and illustration of
+his previous and preparatory "SAYINGS."
+
+What, then, was the substance of Sir Robert Peel's declaration, on
+presenting himself before the country as a candidate for the office
+which he fills? He avowed himself a man of moderate political
+opinions; recognized the existence of manufacturing and commercial
+distress, but referred it to causes of only a temporary nature,
+unconnected with the corn-laws; repudiated the empirical expedients
+proposed by the late ministry; and pledged himself to maintain the
+principle of protection to our agricultural interests; declaring his
+deliberate preference of a sliding scale of duties, to a fixed duty,
+upon foreign corn.
+
+The first of the observations to which we beg the reader's earnest
+attention, is--that Sir Robert Peel has _to govern by means of a
+Reformed House of Commons_. It is for want of well considering this
+circumstance, that one or two respectable sections of the Conservative
+party have conceived some dissatisfaction at the line of policy
+adopted by Sir Robert Peel. They forget that, as we have already
+stated, the _Tory_ party was nearly destroyed by the passing of the
+Reform Bill; that from its ashes rose the CONSERVATIVE party, adapted
+to the totally new political exigencies of the times; its grand object
+being, as it were, out of the elements of democracy to arrest the
+progress of democracy. The bond of its union was correctly described
+by its founder, as consisting in attachment to the fundamental
+institutions of the country--non-opposition to rational changes
+rendered requisite by the altered circumstances of the times--but
+determination to maintain, on their ancient footing and foundation,
+our great institutions in Church and State. Keeping these grand
+objects ever in view, the true policy to be adopted was to widen the
+foundations on which should stand "that new party _which was to draw,
+from time to time, its strength from its opponents_." None saw this
+more clearly than Sir Robert Peel--and hence the "_moderation_,"
+indispensable and all-powerful, which he prescribed to himself, and
+recommended to all those who chose to act with him, and the steady
+acting upon which has at length conducted them to their present
+splendid position of power and responsibility. Could the government of
+the country be now carried on upon principles that were all-powerful
+twenty--or even fewer--years ago? No more than Queen Victoria could
+govern on the principles of Queen Elizabeth! We must look at things,
+not as they were, or as we would wish them to be--but as they are and
+are likely to be. He is unable to take a just and comprehensive view
+of political affairs in this country--of the position of parties, and
+the tendency of the principles respectively advocated by them, who
+does not see that the great and only contest now going on, is between
+_conservative_ and _destructive_. We say boldly--and we are satisfied
+that we say it in conformity with the opinions of the immense majority
+of persons of intelligence and property--that the forces which would
+drive Sir Robert Peel's Government from office would immediately and
+inevitably supply their places by a Government which must act upon
+destructive principles. This will not be believed by many of those
+who, moving in the circumscribed sphere of intense party feeling, can
+contemplate only one object, namely--a return to power, and disregard
+the intentions of the fierce auxiliaries of whose services they would
+avail themselves. To the country at large, however, who breathe a
+freer air, the true nature of the struggle is plain as the sun at
+noonday. The number of those who only nominally belong to parties,
+but have a very deep stake in the preservation of our national
+institutions, and see distinctly the advantages of a Minister acting
+_firmly_ on moderate principles, and who will consequently give him a
+_silent_ but steady support in moments of danger, is infinitely larger
+than is supposed by the opponents of the Conservative party. Such a
+Minister, however, must make up his account with receiving often only
+a cold and jealous support from those of his adherents who incline to
+extreme opinions; while his opponents will increase their zeal and
+animosity in proportion to their perception of the unobjectionableness
+of his measures, the practical _working_ of his moderation, viz.--his
+continuance in power, and their own exclusion from it. Such a Minister
+must possess a large share of fortitude, careless of its exhibition,
+and often exposing him to the charge of insensibility, as he moves
+steadily on amongst disaffected supporters and desperate
+opponents, mindless equally of taunts, threats, reproaches, and
+misrepresentations. He must resolve to _bide his time_, while his
+well-matured measures are slowly developing themselves, relying on the
+conscious purity of his motives. Such a man as this the country will
+prize and support, and such a man we sincerely believe that the
+country possesses in the present Prime Minister. He may view,
+therefore, with perfect equanimity, a degree of methodized clamour and
+violence, which would overthrow a Minister of a different
+stamp. Such are the inconveniences--such the consolations and
+advantages--attending that course of _moderation_ which alone can be
+adopted with permanent success, by a Conservative Minister governing
+with a reformed House of Commons.
+
+Another observation we would offer, has for its object to abate the
+pique and vexation under which the ablest volunteer advisers of the
+Minister are apt to suffer, on his disregard of their counsels, and
+sometimes to revenge themselves by bitter and indiscriminate censure
+of his general policy. They should remember, that while they are
+irresponsible volunteers, he acts under a tremendous responsibility;
+to sustain which, however, he has advantages which none but those in
+his situation can possibly possess--the co-operation of able brother
+Ministers, with all those sources and means of universal information
+which the constitution has placed at his disposal. The superior
+knowledge of the circumstances of the country thus acquired, enable
+him to see insuperable objections to schemes and suggestions, which
+their proposers reasonably deem to be palpably just and feasible. We
+have often thought that if Sir Robert Peel, or any other Prime
+Minister, were to take one of these eager and confident advisers into
+his cabinet, and calmly exhibit to him the actual impossibility--the
+imminent danger--of adopting the course of procedure which that
+adviser has been strenuously recommending, he would go away with
+slightly increased distrust of himself, and consideration for the
+Minister. Neither Sir Robert Peel, nor any other Minister, would be so
+arrogantly stupid as to disregard free information and advice,
+_merely_ because it came from such persons, who, if they have no right
+to expect their advice to be followed, have yet a clear right to offer
+it, and urge it with all their force.
+
+Again--The present Ministers had the disadvantage (in some respects)
+of succeeding to those, who, if they could _do_ nothing, made up for
+it by _promising_ every thing. Sir Robert Peel and his friends, on the
+contrary, made no promises whatever, beyond what would indeed be
+implied by acceptance of office--namely, honestly to endeavour to
+govern the country, for the permanent good of the country. While
+admitting the existence of great distress, they expressly admitted
+also, that they saw no mode of sudden relief for that distress, but
+would trust to the energies of the country gradually recovering
+themselves, under steady and cautious management. Sir Robert Peel
+frankly stated in the House of Commons, just previously to the
+dissolution in 1841, that he had no hope of an immediate return of
+prosperity; and that such had become the state of our domestic and
+foreign embarrassments, that "we must for years expect to struggle
+with difficulty." This was their language on the eve of the general
+election, yet the country placed confidence in their honour and
+capacity, heartily sickened of the prodigal _promises_ of their
+opponents. The extravagant visionary hopes which they held forth at
+the eleventh hour, in their frenzied eagerness to obtain a majority at
+the last election, are still gleaming brightly before the eyes of
+numbers of their deluded supporters; imposing on the present
+Government the painful and ungracious duty of proving to them that
+such hopes and expectations cannot be realized, even for a brief
+space, without breaking up the foundations of our national existence
+and greatness.
+
+Lastly. Can the Conservatives be expected in TWO years' time to repair
+all the evils resulting from a TEN years' gross mismanagement of the
+national affairs by their predecessors? "The evil that they did,
+_lives after them_." But for the fortunate strength of the
+Conservative party, moreover, in opposition, and the patriotism and
+wisdom of the house of Lords, the late Ministers would, by the time of
+their expulsion from office, have rendered the condition of the
+country _utterly_ desperate--for very nearly desperate it assuredly
+was. Their vacillating, inconsistent, wild, and extravagant conduct
+during these ten years, had generated an universal sense of insecurity
+and want of confidence among all the great interests of the country,
+which locked up capital--palsied enterprise. Trade and commerce
+drooped daily, and the revenue melted away rapidly every year. Great
+things were justly expected from the practical skill and experience
+possessed by the new Government; but _time_ is requisite for the
+development of a policy which had, and still has, to contend against
+such numerous and formidable obstacles. Confidence, especially
+mercantile confidence, is a delicate flower, of slow growth, and very
+difficult to rear. A breath may blight it. It will bloom only in a
+tranquil and temperate air. If ever there was a man entitled to speak,
+however, with authority upon this subject, it was Mr Baring, the late
+candidate, and unquestionably the future member, for the city of
+London--a man constantly engaged in vast mercantile transactions in
+all parts of the globe, and whose ability equals his experience. In
+the presence of a great number of gentlemen, representing two-thirds
+of the wealth and intelligence of the city of London, thus spoke Mr
+Baring, on the 6th October 1843:--"I rejoice that Sir Robert Peel did
+not hold out to the country the fallacious hope, that, by any
+particular measure, he could restore prosperity, or cure sufferings
+which were beyond the reach of legislation, and that he patiently
+relied upon the resources and energies of the country to set trade and
+commerce right. That expectation is already beginning to be realized.
+That calm reliance is already justified. I am speaking in the presence
+of those who are as much as, if not more conversant with business
+than, myself, and they will contradict me if I am not right when I
+say, that great symptoms of improvement in the trade and industry of
+the country have manifested themselves; which symptoms are of such a
+nature, that they do not appear to be the result of momentary
+excitement produced by some fallacious experiment, but of the
+paramount re-establishment of commerce, and of a fresh era in the
+prosperity of the empire. I am asked what have the Government done?
+Why, they have _restored_ CONFIDENCE to the country! They have
+terminated wars, they have restored confidence at home, and commanded
+respect abroad."
+
+Now, however, for the DOINGS of the Government; and of those we shall
+take no more detailed or extended notice than is requisite, in our
+opinion, to exhibit the general system and _plan_ of their procedure,
+and show its complete consistency with the declaration of opinions
+made by Sir Robert Peel previous to the general election of 1841.
+
+It will be borne in mind, that the then existing distress in our
+commercial and manufacturing interests he referred to three
+_temporary_ causes:--the undue stimulus which had been given to
+industry in the manufacturing districts--by the accommodation system
+pursued in the joint-stock banks, the troubled and hostile condition
+of almost all those foreign countries which used to be the best
+customers for our manufactures, and the two or three preceding
+defective harvests. The first of these was not of a nature to call
+for, or perhaps admit of, direct and specific legislative
+interference. It originated in a vicious system of contagious private
+speculation, which has involved many thousands of those engaged in it
+in irredeemable, shall we add _deserved_, disgrace and ruin--and which
+had better, perhaps, be left to work its own cure. The last of the
+three causes was one to which all mankind is every where subject, and
+which is in a great measure beyond the reach of effective human
+interference. Before proceeding to explain the steps taken to remedy
+the second, viz., our distracted foreign relations, let us premise
+briefly for the present, that the very earliest acts of Ministers
+showed how profoundly sensible they were of the necessity of doing
+_something_, and that promptly, to relieve the grievous distress under
+which the lower orders were suffering, and at the same time afford a
+safe, effective, and permanent stimulus to trade and commerce. A
+comprehensive survey of the state, not only of our own but foreign
+commercial countries, satisfied them, as practical men, of the serious
+difficulties to be here contended with. The steps they took, after due
+deliberation--viz., the proposing the new tariff and the new
+corn-law--we shall presently refer to. Let us now point out _the
+income-tax_ as a measure reflecting infinite credit upon those who had
+the sagacity and resolution to propose it. We shall not dwell upon
+this great _temporary_ measure, which in one year has poured upwards
+of _five millions_ into the exhausted exchequer, further than to say,
+that as soon as ever it was known among the monied classes, that the
+Minister, environed as he was with financial difficulties, would risk
+any amount of popular odium rather than add to the permanent burdens
+of the country, or permit the ruinous continuance of an excess of
+expenditure over revenue. As soon as this was evident, we say, the
+great monied interests of the kingdom recognized in Sir Robert Peel an
+honest minister, and gave him forthwith its complete confidence, which
+has never since been for an instant withdrawn from him. And how great
+are the obligations of that vast portion of the most suffering classes
+of the community, whom he exempted from this extraordinary
+contribution to the burdens of the state!
+
+But now for _foreign affairs_. May not the present Ministers look with
+just pride towards every quarter of the globe, and exclaim, _Quae regio
+in terris nostri non plena laboris?_ In truth their success here has
+been sufficient to set up half a dozen Ministers--as is known to no
+man better than Lord Palmerston. The Duke of Wellington and Lord
+Aberdeen have restored peace to the whole world, re-establishing it on
+a footing of dignified security and equality. By the persevering
+energy, the calm determination, and inexhaustible resources of Lord
+Aberdeen, "the winter of our discontent," has been "made glorious
+summer," with all the great powers of the world. Look at our glorious
+but irritable neighbour--France: is there any language too strong to
+express the delight which we feel at the renovated sympathy and
+affection which exist between us?
+
+We cannot answer for France to the extent which we can for England;
+but we know, that through the length and breadth of _this_ land--our
+beloved Queen's familiar visit to the King of the French, their
+affectionate greeting, and her Majesty's enthusiastic reception by the
+people, diffused a feeling of joy and affection towards France, which
+will not soon--nay, should it ever?--subside. But would that visit
+have taken place, if Lord Palmerston, and not Lord Aberdeen, had
+presided over the foreign councils of this country? 'Tis a
+disagreeable question, and we pass on. Then as to America, thanks to
+the mission of Lord Ashburton, peace has been secured between us, on
+terms equally honourable to both. We are now at peace with the United
+States--a peace not to be disturbed by the (to Whiggish eyes)
+_promising_ (!!) aspect of the Oregon difficulties--which we tell our
+aforesaid friends will end in--_nothing at all_--[It is not, by the
+way, _the fault of our Government_, that this disputed matter was not
+embraced by the Washington Treaty.]--While Lord Palmerston and his
+doleful ally, the _Morning Chronicle_, were daily stigmatizing the
+treaty of Washington, as highly dishonourable and disadvantageous to
+this country, it may interest our readers to see what one of the
+disaffected _American_ senators had to say on the subject. Thus spoke,
+in the senate, Mr Benton, a well-known member of congress:--
+
+    "The concessions of Great Britain to the United States are
+    small. The territory granted to the United States, is of such
+    a nature, that it will never be of importance to hold it,
+    while the possessions given up by the United States are
+    important and valuable to them, and have the effect of
+    admitting a foreign power within a territory which was granted
+    to the United States, by the treaty of 1783. * * When I see
+    the Government giving up more than Great Britain demanded, I
+    cannot conceal my amazement and mortification!"
+
+
+Glancing, however, from the West to the East--what do we see?
+Wars in India and China, brought gloriously to an advantageous
+termination.--"Wars," to adopt the language of one of the greatest
+mercantile authorities living, "which have been deranging our money
+transactions, and making our trade a trade of hazard and speculation,
+most injurious to the commerce of the empire at large."
+
+While, on the one hand, we are relieved from the ruinous drain upon
+our resources, occasioned by our protracted warlike operations in
+India and China, on the other, a prospect is opened to us, by the
+immensely important treaty into which the Emperor of China has entered
+with this country, of very great and permanent commercial advantages,
+which are already being realized. Let our manufacturers, however,
+beware of the danger of forfeiting these advantages, by excessive
+eagerness to avail themselves of these newly acquired markets.
+Twelve-months ago, we earnestly warned them on this score,[21] and we
+now as earnestly repeat that warning; "Notwithstanding," observed an
+able French journalist, a few weeks ago, upon this subject, "the
+opening of five ports to European commerce, China will for many years
+preserve her internal laws, her eccentric tastes, her inveterate
+habits. China is the country of routine and immovability. The treaty
+with Great Britain cannot modify the nature of China in a few months.
+_If the English are not prudent in their exports, if they overload the
+newly opened ports with foreign produce, they will injure themselves
+more than they were injured by the war just concluded._" In every word
+of this we concur: but alas! what weight will such considerations have
+with the agitating manufacturers in the north of England? Their fierce
+but short-sighted anxiety to make rapid fortunes, will make most of
+them, in a very few years, melancholy evidences of the justness of our
+observations! We cannot pass from the East without noticing the sound
+statesmanship which is regulating all Lord Ellenborough's leading
+movements in India--a matter now universally admitted. How unspeakably
+contemptible and ridiculous has the lapse of a few months rendered the
+petty clamours against him, with which the ex-ministerial party
+commenced their last year's campaign! Without, however, travelling
+round the entire circle of our foreign connexions and
+operations--there are one or two points to which we will briefly
+refer, as striking instances of the vigilant and indefatigable energy,
+and the powerful diplomatic influence of Lord Aberdeen, especially
+with reference to the securing commercial advantages to this
+country--and which has extorted the following testimony, during the
+present month (December,) from another French journal, by no means
+favourably disposed to this country:--"The English Government is
+incontestably the best served of all Governments in the means of
+obtaining new, and extending old markets, and in the rapid and
+complete knowledge of the course to be adopted to ensure the sale of
+the immense products of Great Britain in different parts of the
+globe." Take for instance the case of Russia. We have actually
+succeeded in wringing from the tenacious and inflexible Cabinet of St
+Petersburg an important commercial advantage! On Lord Aberdeen's
+accession to office, he found Russia in the act of aiming a fatal
+blow at a very important branch of our shipping trade, by levying a
+differential duty on all British vessels conveying to Russian ports
+any goods which were not the produce of the British dominions. After,
+however, a skilful and very arduous negotiation, our foreign secretary
+has succeeded in averting that blow--and we retain the great
+advantages of which we were about to be deprived. Nor has this signal
+advantage been purchased by any sacrifice on the part of Great
+Britain, but only by a permission, founded on most equitable
+principles, for Russian vessels arriving here from Russian ports with
+the produce of Russian Poland, to possess the same privileges as if
+they had come direct from Russian ports: Russian Poland being able to
+communicate effectively with the sea, only through the Prussian
+territory. Look again at Brazil--which has also been recently the
+object of persevering and energetic negotiation on the part of Lord
+Aberdeen. It is true that, at present, his exertions have been
+attended with no direct success; but we have doubts whether the
+importance of the proposed Brazilian treaty has not, after all, been
+greatly exaggerated. However this may be, Lord Aberdeen is, at this
+moment, as strenuously at work with the young emperor, as could be
+desired by the most eager advocate of a commercial treaty with Brazil.
+But, suppose the emperor's advisers should be disposed to continue
+their obstinate and unreasonable opposition, observe the gentle
+pressure upon them, to be felt by and by, which Lord Aberdeen has
+contrived to effect by the commercial treaty which he has concluded
+with the contiguous republic of Monte Video, and other states on the
+right bank of the river Plata, for the admission (on most favourable
+terms) of British imports into these states. One of them is the
+Uruguay republic, which borders through a great extent of country on
+Brazil, the Government of which is utterly unable to prevent the
+transfer of merchandise across the border; whereby the exclusion of
+British goods from the Brazilian territory is rendered a matter of
+physical impossibility.
+
+    [21] Great Britain at the commencement of the 19th
+    Century--January 1843--No. CCC.
+
+It is true, that our efforts to enter into commercial treaties with
+
+France and Portugal have not, as yet, been successful; but, formidable
+as are the obstacles at present in existence, we do not despair. Those
+least wonder at the present position of affairs who are best
+acquainted with the artificial and complicated positions of the
+respective countries, and their relations, and consequent policy,
+towards each other. Whatever can be done by man, is at this moment
+being done by Lord Aberdeen; and sooner than we have at present a
+right to expect, his indefatigable exertions may be crowned with
+success--not only in these, but in other quarters. All foreign
+Governments must be strongly influenced in such matters, by
+contemplating a steady and strong Government established in this
+country; and that object they see more nearly and distinctly every
+day. Such (without entering into details which would be inconsistent
+with either our space or our present object) is the general
+result--namely, the rapidly returning tide of prosperous commercial
+intercourse of the foreign policy of Conservative Government, which
+has raised Great Britain, within the short space of two years, to even
+a higher elevation among the nations of the world, than she had
+occupied before a "Liberal Ministry undertook the government of the
+country"--"a policy," to adopt the equally strong and just language of
+an able writer, "replete with auspicious evidences of the efficacy of
+intellect, combined with firmness, activity, and integrity, in
+restoring to wholesome and honourable order a chaotic jumble of
+anomalies--of humiliations and dangers--of fears, hatred, and
+confusion thrice trebly confounded."[22]
+
+    [22] Thoughts on Tenets of Ministerial Policy. By a Very Quiet
+    Looker-on.--P. 22. Aylott, London, 1843.
+
+While thus successfully active abroad, have Ministers been either idle
+or unsuccessful at home? Let us look at their two main measures--the
+_new tariff_ and the _new corn-law_.
+
+The object of the first of these great measures was twofold--to give a
+healthy and speedy but permanent stimulus to trade and commerce; and,
+at the same time, to effect such a reduction of price in the leading
+articles of consumption as should greatly reduce the cost of living--a
+boon, of course, inexpressibly precious to the poorer classes. Mark
+the moment at which this bold and critical line of policy was
+conceived and carried into execution--namely, a moment when the nation
+was plunged into such a depth of gloom and distress as had very nearly
+induced utter despair! when there was a deficiency of _five millions
+sterling in_ the revenue of the two preceding years, and a certainty
+of greatly augmented expenditure for the future, owing to our wars in
+the East and elsewhere. We say--_mark this_, in order to appreciate a
+display of the true genius of statesmanship. Foreseeing one effect of
+such a measure, namely, a serious reduction in the revenue derived
+from the customs, and which would commence with the bare
+_announcement_ of such a measure, the Government had to consider
+whether it would prove a permanent or only a temporary reduction, and
+to act accordingly. After profound consideration, they satisfied
+themselves (whether justly or not remains to be seen) that the
+diminution of revenue would prove only temporary; and to secure the
+_immediate_ benefits of the measure, they imposed a temporary
+income-tax, the onerous pressure of which was to cease as soon as
+matters should have come round again. That period they fixed at the
+expiration of three years. After an interval of two years, do their
+calculations appear to have been well or ill founded? Let us see.
+Early in March 1842 they announced the proposed new tariff, (instantly
+producing the effect on the customs duties which had been
+anticipated;) and succeeded in bringing it into operation on the 9th
+of the ensuing July. The deficiency of revenue which ensued was so
+very serious that it would have alarmed the whole country, but for
+their confidence in the firmness and sagacity of Ministers,
+particularly as evidenced by their announced measures. We have not at
+the present moment before us the earliest _quarterly_ revenue returns
+of the period referred to; but it will suffice to state, that such had
+been the extent of the reductions effected, that the deficiency on the
+_year_ ending on the 5th October 1843, amounted to no less a sum than
+L.1,136,000; the decrease on the _quarter_ ending on that day being
+L.414,000. Still, however, each succeeding quarter--or at least the
+latter quarters--gave more satisfactory indications of a rallying
+revenue; and we are enabled to announce the highly gratifying fact
+that, up to the 8th of the present month (December,) the customs
+duties returns _are of the most decisively improving character_. The
+receipts of duties for the port of London alone, during that period,
+exceeds the receipt on the corresponding period of last year by
+L.206,000; while the returns from all the outports, especially from
+Liverpool, are of the same cheering character, and warrant us in
+predicting that the returns to be presented on the 5th of the ensuing
+month will afford a most triumphant proof of the accuracy of the
+Minister's calculations and the success of his policy; for be it borne
+in mind, moreover, that his income-tax realized, in the year ending on
+the 5th October last, the immense sum of L.5,052,000. As far,
+therefore, as concerns the direct _financial_ effects of the new
+tariff and its counterbalancing income-tax, the results of Sir Robert
+Peel's policy are such as may stagger and confound the boldest of his
+opponents.
+
+Now, however, for the two great objects of the new tariff, which were
+declared by Sir Robert Peel[23] to be "the revival of commerce, and
+such an improvement in the manufacturing interest, as would react on
+every other interest in the country; and diminishing the prices of the
+articles of consumption and the cost of living."
+
+    [23] Hansard, Vol. lxi. Col. 439.
+
+With respect to the first of these objects, we had prepared a copious
+explanation of the highly satisfactory working of one great portion of
+the machine of the new tariff, viz. _the relaxation of the taxes on
+the raw materials of manufacture_; but it has occurred to us, that the
+necessity of our doing so has been entirely superseded by the
+following very remarkable admission, contained in a number of the
+_Morning Chronicle_ newspaper, published towards the close of
+September last; an invaluable admission, tending to prove, out of the
+mouth of the bitterest opponent of the present Ministry, the general
+success of their domestic policy:--"Notwithstanding insurrection in
+Wales and agitation in Ireland, there are various circumstances in the
+present aspect of our national affairs of an encouraging and cheering
+nature. The first and most prominent thing which strikes an observer,
+is, the undoubted general revival of trade and commerce. Every thing
+seems to indicate that the morning is breaking; that the dreary night
+of disaster and suffering, through which all our material interests
+have been passing since 1836, is now well-nigh over. The hum of busy
+industry is once more heard throughout our manufacturing districts;
+our seaports begin once more to stir with business; merchants on
+'Change have smiling faces; and the labouring population are once more
+finding employment easier of access; and wages are gently, slowly
+rising. This has not come upon us suddenly; it has been in operation
+since the end of last year; but so terrible was the depression, so
+gradual the improvement, that the effects of the revival could not be
+perceptible till within a recent period. Our exports of cotton and
+wool, during the present year, very considerably exceed those of a
+similar period in the preceding; and though there might be increase of
+export without increase of profit, the simple fact that the districts
+of our great manufacturing staples are now more active and busy than
+they have been for a very considerable period, coupled with the
+apparently well-founded belief that this increased activity is
+produced, not by speculative but genuine demand, are indications of
+the most pleasing and gratifying kind to all who are in the least
+concerned about the prosperity of the country. In addition to the
+improvement manifested in our staple articles of industry, other
+important interests are showing symptoms of decided improvement; even
+the iron-trade has got over its 'crisis;' and though we are very far
+indeed from having attained to a condition of prosperity, the steady,
+though slow, revival of every branch of industry, is a proof that the
+cause of the improvement must be a general one, operating
+universally." May we venture to suggest, that the worthy editor of the
+_Morning Chronicle_ need not go about with a lantern to discover this
+_cause_?--that it is every where before his very eyes, under his very
+nose, in the form of the bold, but sagacious and consistent, policy
+pursued by the present Government?
+
+With respect to the second great object of the new tariff, viz., the
+"Diminishing of the prices of the articles of consumption and the cost
+of living."
+
+Has _this_ great object, or has it not, been attained? Why, the
+reduced price of provisions is a matter of universal notoriety, and
+past all question. Unable to contest the existence of this most
+consolatory fact, the Opposition papers endeavoured to get up a
+diversion by frightening the farmers, whom they assured, that the
+admission of foreign live-stock would lead to a fearful depreciation
+in the value of British agricultural produce. The graziers and
+cattle-dealers were forthwith to find "their occupations gone."
+British pasture farming was to be annihilated, and an immense stimulus
+given to that of our continental rivals. Hereat the farmers pricked up
+their ears, and began to consider for a moment whether they should not
+join in the outcry against the new tariff. But the poor beasts that
+have come, doubtless much to their own surprise, across the water to
+us, looked heartily ashamed of themselves, on catching a glimpse of
+their plump, sleek brother beasts in England--and the farmers burst
+out a-laughing at sight of _the lean kine that were to eat up the fat
+ones_! The practical result has been, that between the 9th of July
+1842, and the present time, there have not come over foreign cattle
+enough to make one week's show at Smithfield. But mark, _the power_ of
+admitting foreign cattle and poultry, (on payment, however, of a
+considerable duty,[24]) conferred by the new tariff, is one that must
+be attended with infinite permanent benefits to the public, in its
+_moderating influence upon the prices of animal food_. Its working is
+in beautiful harmony with that of the newly modeled corn-laws, as we
+shall presently explain. In years of abundance, when plenty of meat is
+produced at home, the new tariff will be inoperative, as far as
+regards the actual importations of foreign cattle; but in years of
+scarcity at home, the expectation of a good price will induce the
+foreigner to send us a sufficient supply; for he will then be, and
+then only, able to repay himself the duty, and the heavy cost of
+sea-carriage. As prices fall, the inducement to import also declines.
+In short, "the inducement to importation falls with the fall, and
+rises with the rise of price. The painful contingency of continued bad
+seasons has thus, in some measure, been provided against. The new
+tariff is so adjusted, that when prices threaten to mount to an unfair
+and extravagant height, unjust to consumers, and dangerous to
+producers, in such contingencies a mediating power steps in, and
+brings things to an equilibrium."[25] These great and obvious
+advantages of the new tariff, the opponents of Ministers, and
+especially their reckless and discreditable allies called the
+"Anti-corn-law League," see as plainly as we do; but their anxious aim
+is to conceal these advantages as much as possible from public view;
+and for this purpose they never willingly make _any allusion_ to the
+tariff, or if forced to do so, underrate its value, or grossly
+misrepresent its operation. But we are convinced that _this will not
+do_. Proofs of their humbug and falsehood are, as it were, daily
+forcing themselves into the very stomachs_ of those whom once, when
+an incompetent Ministry was in power, these heartless impostors were
+able to delude. "A single shove of the bayonet," said Corporal Trim to
+Doctor Slop, "is worth all your fine discourses about the art of war;"
+and so the English operative may reply to the hireling "Leaguers,"
+"This good piece of cheap beef and mutton, now smoking daintily before
+me, is worth all your palaver."
+
+    [24] Poultry L5 for every L100 value; oxen and bulls, L1 each;
+    cows, 15s.; calves, 10s.; horses, mares, foals, colts, and
+    geldings, L1 each; sheep, 3s. each; lambs, 2s. each; swine and
+    hogs, 5s. each--(Stat. 5 and 6 Vict. c. 47, Table A.)
+
+    [25] Thoughts, &c., by a Quiet Looker-on, pp. 16, 17.
+
+Before passing from the subject of the new tariff, let us observe,
+that the suddenness and vastness of its changes (some of which we
+consider to be of questionable propriety) for a time unavoidably
+deranged mercantile operations; and in doing so, as necessarily
+produced many cases of individual dissatisfaction and distress. Some
+of the persons thus situated angrily quitted the Conservative ranks
+for those of the Opposition; others, for a position of mortified
+neutrality: but we believe that many more, notwithstanding this sharp
+trial of their constancy, remained true to their principles, faithful
+to their party, and are now rewarded by seeing things coming rapidly
+round again, while unvarying and complete success has attended every
+other branch of the policy of Ministers. We know a good deal of the
+real state of opinion among the mercantile classes of the City of
+London; and believe we correctly represent it averse to further
+changes in our tariff-system, and coincident with the views expressed
+by Mr Baring in his address to the electors, when he deprecated "a
+constant change, unsettling men's minds, baffling all combinations,
+destroying all calculations, paralysing trade, and continuing the
+stagnation from which we are recovering;" and declared his belief
+"that the minister who applies the principles of free-trade with the
+most caution, deliberation, and judgment, is the statesman who merits
+the confidence of the commercial world." We now, however, quit the
+subject--interesting, indeed, and all-important--of the tariff, with
+the deliberate expression of our opinion, that it is, taken as a
+whole, a very bold, masterly, and successful stroke of policy. Now for
+the NEW CORN-LAW.
+
+But how shall we deal with a topic with which the public has been so
+utterly sickened by the people calling themselves "The Anti-corn-law
+League?" We do not, nevertheless, despair of securing the attention of
+our readers to the few observations which we have to offer upon a
+subject which, however hackneyed, is one of paramount importance. We
+are satisfied that nine out of every ten even of newspaper readers
+turn with disgust from the columns headed "Anti-corn-law League,"
+"Doings of the League," "Great Meeting of the Anti-corn-law League,"
+and so forth; and, (making every allowance for the exigencies
+occasioned by the dearth of topics while Parliament is not sitting,)
+we are exceedingly surprised, that the great London newspapers should
+inflict upon their readers so much of the slang and drivel of the
+gentry in question. In the due prosecution of our subject, we cannot
+avoid the topic of the new corn-law, even were we so disposed; and we
+shall at once proceed to our task, with two objects in view--to
+vindicate the course pursued by Sir Robert Peel, and set forth,
+briefly and distinctly, those truly admirable qualities of the
+existing Corn-laws, which are either most imprudently misrepresented,
+or artfully kept out of view, by those who are now making such
+desperate efforts to overthrow it. "Mark how a plain tale shall set
+them down!"
+
+Whether foreign corn should be admitted into this country on payment
+of _fluctuating_ duties, or a _fixed_ duty, or free of all duties, are
+obviously questions of the highest importance, involving extensive and
+complicated considerations. Sir Robert Peel, Lord John Russell, and
+the persons banded together under the name of "The Anti-corn-law
+League," may be taken as representing the classes of opinion which
+would respectively answer these three questions in the affirmative.
+All of them appealed to the nation at large on the last general
+election. The _form_ in which the question was proposed to the
+country, it fell to the lot of the advocates of a fixed duty to
+prescribe, and they shaped it thus in the Queen's speech:--
+
+    "It will be for you to determine whether the corn-laws do not
+    aggravate the natural fluctuations of supply; whether they do
+    not embarrass trade, derange currency, and, by their
+    operation, diminish the comforts and increase the privations
+    of the great body of the community."
+
+To this question the country returned a deliberate and peremptory
+answer in the NEGATIVE; expressing thereby its will, that the existing
+system, which admits foreign corn on payment of _fluctuating_ duties,
+should continue. The country thus adopted the opinions of Sir Robert
+Peel, rejected those of Lord John Russell, and utterly scouted those
+of the "Anti-corn-law League," in spite of all their frantic
+exertions.
+
+We believe that this deliberate decision of the nation, is that to
+which it will come whenever again appealed to; and is supported by
+reasons of cogency. The nation is thoroughly aware of the immense
+importance of upholding and protecting the agriculture of the country,
+and that to secure this grand object, it is necessary to admit foreign
+corn into the country, only when our deficiencies absolutely require
+it. That _in_ the operation of the "_sliding-scale_ of duties," and
+the exact distinction between its effect and that of the proposed
+_fixed_ duty, is demonstrably this: that the former would admit
+foreign corn in dear years, excluding it in seasons of abundance;
+while the latter would admit foreign corn in seasons of abundance, and
+exclude it in dear years. Our _present_ concern, however, is with the
+course taken by the present Government. Have they hitherto yielded to
+the clamour with which they have been assailed, and departed from the
+principle of affording efficient protection to the agriculture of the
+country? Not a hair's breadth; _nor will they_. We have seen that Sir
+Robert Peel, previously to the general election, declared his
+determination to adhere to the existing system of corn-laws,
+regulating the admission of foreign corn by the power of the
+sliding-scale of duties; but both he and the leading members of his
+party, had distinctly stated in Parliament, just before its
+dissolution, that while resolved to adhere to the _principle_ of a
+sliding-scale, they would not pledge themselves to adhere to all the
+_details_ of that scale. And they said well and wisely, for there were
+grave objections to some of those details. These objections they have
+removed, and infinitely added to the efficiency of the sliding-scale;
+but in removing the principal objections, they stirred a hornet's
+nest--they rendered furious a host of sleek gamblers in grain, who
+found their "occupation gone" suddenly! On the other hand, the
+Government conferred a great substantial benefit upon the country, by
+securing a just balance between protection to the British corn
+consumer and producer; removing, at the same time, from the latter, a
+long-existing source of jealousy and prejudice. A few words will
+suffice to explain the general scope of those alterations. Under they
+system established by statute 9 Geo. IV. c. 60, in the year 1828, the
+duty on foreign corn, up to the price of 68s. per quarter, was so
+high, and declined so very slowly, (L.1, 5s. 8d., L.1. 4s. 8d., L.1,
+3s. 8d., L.1, 2s. 8d., L.1, 1s. 8d., L.1, 0s. 8d., 18s. 8d.,) as to
+amount to a virtual prohibition against importation. But when the
+price mounted from 68s. to 72s. per quarter, the duty declined with
+such great rapidity. (16s 8d., 13s. 8d., 10s. 8d., 6s. 8d., 2s. 8d.,)
+as to occasion the alarming and frequently recurring evils of glut and
+panic. Now the following was the mode in which these serious defects
+in the law of 1828 were taken advantage of by the aforesaid desperate
+and greedy "rogues in grain," who are utterly prostrated by the new
+system; they entered into a combination, for the purpose of raising
+the apparent average price of corn, and forcing it up to the point at
+which they could import vast quantities of foreign corn at little or
+no duty. Thus the price of corn was rising in England--the people were
+starving--and turned with execration against those into whose pockets
+the high prices were supposed to go, viz., the poor farmers; whereas
+those high prices really were all the while flowing silently but
+rapidly into the pockets of the aforesaid "rogues in grain"--the
+gamblers of the Corn Exchange!--Ministers effected their salutary
+alterations, by statute 5 and 6 Vict. c. 14, in the following
+manner:--They substituted for the former duties of 10s. 8d. per
+quarter, when the price of corn was 70s. per quarter, and 1s. when the
+price was 73s.; a duty of 4s. when the price of corn is 70s. per
+quarter, and made the duty fall gradually, shilling by shilling, with
+the rise of price, to 3s., 2s., and 1s. Thus are at one blow destroyed
+all the inducements formerly existing for corn-dealers to "hold" their
+foreign corn, in the hopes of forcing up the price of corn to
+starvation-point, viz., the low duty, every inducement being now given
+them to _sell_, and none to speculate. Another important provision for
+preventing fraudulent combinations to raise the price of corn, was
+that of greatly extending the averages, and placing them under
+regulations of salutary stringency.
+
+So far, then, from evincing a disposition to trifle with, or
+surrender, the principle of the sliding-scale, the Government have,
+with infinite pains and skill, applied themselves to effect such
+improvements in it as will secure its permanency, and a better
+appreciation of its value by the country at large, with every
+additional year's experience of its admirable qualities. There is a
+perfect identity of principle, both working to the same good end,
+between the existing corn-law and the new tariff. Their combined
+effect is to oppose every barrier that human wisdom and foresight can
+devise, against dearth and famine in England: securing an abundant
+supply of corn and meat from abroad, whenever our own supply is
+deficient; but up to that point protecting our home producers, whose
+direct interest it will henceforth be to supply us at fair and
+moderate prices. It is the cunning policy of the heterogeneous
+opponents of the existing corn-laws, to speak of them as "doomed" by a
+sort of universal tacit consent; to familiarise the public with the
+notion that the recent remodeling of the system is to be regarded as
+constituting it into nothing more than a sort of transition-measure--a
+stepping-stone towards a great fundamental change, by the adoption of
+"a fixed duty," some say--"a total repeal," say the Anti-corn-law
+League. But those who think thus, must be shallow and short-sighted
+indeed, and have paid very little real attention to the subject, if
+they have failed to perceive in the existing system itself all the
+marks of completeness, solidity, and permanence; and, in the
+successful pains that have been taken to bring it to a higher degree
+of perfection than before, a determination to uphold it--a conviction
+that it will long continue the law of the land, and approved of as
+such by the vast majority of those who represent the wealth and
+intellect of the kingdom, and have the deepest stake in its
+well-being.
+
+As for a total repeal of the corn-laws, no thinking man believes that
+there is the remotest prospect of such a thing; but many imagine that
+a fixed duty would be a great change for the better, and a safe sort
+of compromise between the two extreme parties. Can any thing be more
+fallacious? We hesitate not to express our opinion, that the idea of
+maintaining a fixed duty on corn is an utter absurdity, and that Lord
+John Russell and his friends know it to be so, and are guilty of
+political dishonesty in making such a proposal. They affect to be
+friends of the agricultural interest, and satisfied of the necessity
+for protection to that body; and yet they acknowledge that their
+"_fixity_" of duty is of precisely the same nature as the "finality"
+of the Reform bill, viz.--to last only till the first pressure shall
+call for an order in council. Does any one in his senses believe that
+any Minister could abide by a fixed duty with corn at the price of
+70s., with a starving, and therefore an agitating and rebellious
+population? A fixed duty, under all times and circumstances, is a
+glaring impossibility; and, besides, is it not certain that the period
+for the issue of an order in council will be a grand object of
+speculation to the corn importer; and that he will hoard, and create
+distress, merely to force out that order? And the issuing of that
+order would depend entirely on the strength or the necessity of the
+Minister: on his "Squeezableness"--his anxiety for popularity. Does
+the experience of the last ten years justify the country in placing
+confidence, on such a point, in a _Whig_ Ministry? In every point of
+view, the project of a fixed duty is exposed to insuperable
+objections. It is plain that on the very first instant of there being
+a pressure upon the "fixed duty," it must give way, and for ever. Once
+off, it is gone for ever; it can never be re-imposed. Again, what is
+to govern the _amount_ at which it is to be fixed? Must it be the
+additional burden on land? or the price at which foreign countries,
+with their increased facilities of transport, and improved cultivation
+of their soil, would be able to deliver it in the British markets?
+What _data_ have we, in either case, on which to decide? Let it,
+however, always be borne in mind, by those who are apt too easily to
+entertain the question as to either a fixed duty, or a total repeal of
+duty, that the advantages predicted by the respective advocates of
+those measures are _mere assumptions_. We have no experience by which
+to try the question. The doctrines of free trade are of very recent
+growth; the _data_ on which its laws are founded are few, and also
+uncertain. And does any one out of Bedlam imagine, that any Minister
+of this country would consent to run such tremendous risks--to try
+such experiments upon an article of such immense importance to its
+well-being? Let us never lose sight of Lord Melbourne's memorable
+words:--"Whether the object be to have a fixed duty, or an alteration
+as to the ascending and descending scale, I see clearly and
+distinctly, that the object will not be carried without a most violent
+struggle--without causing much ill-blood, and a deep sense of
+grievance--without stirring society to its foundation, and leaving
+every sort of bitterness and animosity. I do not think the advantages
+to be gained by the change are worth the evils of the struggle."[26]
+
+    [26] Debates, 11th June 1840.
+
+To return, however. Under the joint operation of the three great
+measures of the Government--the income-tax, the new tariff, and the
+new corn-law, our domestic affairs exhibit, at this moment, such an
+aspect of steadily returning prosperity, as not the most sanguine
+person living could have imagined possible two years ago. For the
+first time after a miserable interval, we behold our revenue exceeding
+our expenditure; while every one feels satisfied of the fact, that our
+finances are now placed upon a sound and solid basis, and daily
+improving. Provisions are of unexampled cheapness, and the means of
+obtaining them are--thank Almighty God!--gradually increasing among
+the poorer classes. Trade and commerce are now, and have for the last
+six months been steadily improving; and we perceive that a new era of
+prosperity is beginning to dawn upon us. We have a strong and united
+Government, evidently as firmly fixed in the confidence of the Queen
+as in that of the country, and supported by a powerful majority in the
+House of Commons--an annihilating one in the House of Lords. The reign
+of order and tranquillity has been restored in Wales, and let us also
+add, in Ireland, after an unexampled display of mingled determination
+and forbearance on the part of the Government. Chartism is defunct,
+notwithstanding the efforts made by its dishonoured and discomfited
+leaders to revive it. When, in short, has Great Britain enjoyed a
+state of more complete internal calm and repose than that which at
+present exists, notwithstanding the systematic attempts made to
+diffuse alarm and agitation? Do the public funds exhibit the slightest
+symptoms of uneasiness or excitement? On the contrary, ever since the
+accession of the present Government, there has been scarce any
+variation in them, even when the disturbances in the manufacturing
+districts in the north of England, and in Wales, and in Ireland, were
+respectively at their height. Her Majesty moves calmly to and
+fro--even quitting England--her Ministers enjoy their usual intervals
+of relaxation and absence from town--all the movements of Government
+go on like clockwork--no symptoms visible any where of feverish
+uneasiness. But what say you, enquires a timid friend, or a bitter
+opponent, to the Repeal agitation in Ireland, and the Anti-corn-law
+agitation in England? Why, we say this--that we sincerely regret the
+mischief which the one has done, and is doing, in Ireland, and the
+other in England, among their ignorant and unthinking dupes; but with
+no degree of alarm for the stability of the Government, or the
+maintenance of public tranquillity and order. Ministers are perfectly
+competent to deal with both the one and the other of these two
+conspiracies, as the chief actors in the one have found already, and
+those in the other will find, perhaps, by and by; if, indeed, they
+should ever become important or successful enough to challenge the
+notice and interference of the Government. A word, however, about
+each, in its turn.
+
+The Anti-corn-law League has in view a two-fold object--the overthrow
+of the present Ministry whom they abhor for their steadfast and
+powerful support of the agricultural interest;--and the depression of
+the wages of labour, to enable our manufacturers (of whom the league
+almost exclusively consists) to compete with the manufacturers on the
+Continent. Their engine for effecting their purposes, is the Repeal of
+the corn-laws; and they are working it with such a desperate energy,
+as satisfies any disinterested observer, that they themselves perceive
+the task to be all but utterly hopeless. They were confounded by the
+result of the general election, and dismayed at the accession to power
+of men whom they knew to be thoroughly acquainted with their true
+objects and intentions, and resolved to frustrate them, and able to
+carry their resolutions into effect. The ominous words of Sir Robert
+Peel--"I think that the connexion of the manufacturers in the north of
+England with the joint-stock banks, gave an undue and improper impulse
+to trade in that quarter of the country"--rang in their ears as a
+knell; and told them that they were _found out_ by a firm and
+sagacious Minister, whom, therefore, their sole object thenceforth
+must be to overthrow _per fas aut nefas_. For this purpose they
+adopted such an atrocious course of action, as instantly deprived them
+of the countenance of all their own moderate and reasoning friends,
+and earned for themselves the execration of the bulk of the
+community:--they resolved to inflame the starving thousands in the
+manufacturing districts into acts of outrage and rebellion. They felt
+it necessary, in the language of Mr Grey, one of their own principal
+men, in order "_to raise the stubborn enthusiasm of the people_," (!)
+to resort to some desperate expedient--which was--immediately on Sir
+Robert Peel's announcing his determination, early in 1842, to
+preserve, but improve, the existing system of the corn-laws--to reduce
+the wages of all their work-people to the amount of from ten to twenty
+per cent. This move originated with the _Stockport_ manufacturers. We
+have little doubt but it was the suggestion of Mr Cobden; and are
+quite prepared for a similar move during the ensuing session of
+Parliament. But was not--is not--this a species of moral arson? The
+Government calmly carried their measure: the outbreak (which we firmly
+believe to have been concerted by the Anti-corn-law League) in
+Lancashire arrived, and was promptly and resolutely, but mercifully
+repressed; and thus was extinguished the guilty hopes and expectations
+of its contrivers; and Ministers were left stronger at the close of
+the session than they had been at its commencement. They resolved to
+open a new campaign against Ministers and the Corn-laws--greatly to
+augment their numbers and pecuniary resources--to redouble their
+exertions, and immensely to extend the sphere of their operations.
+They _did_ augment their pecuniary resources, by large forced
+contributions among the few persons most deeply interested in the
+success of their schemes; namely, the Lancashire manufacturers--they
+_did_ redouble their exertions--they _did_ extend the sphere of their
+operations, spreading themselves over the whole length and breadth of
+the land, even as did the plague of lice over Egypt. But did they
+augment the number of their friends? Not a person of the least
+political or personal importance could be prevailed upon to join their
+discreditable ranks; it remained as before:--Cobden and Bright--Bright
+and Cobden--Wilson, Bright, and Cobden--Milner Gibson, Fox, Bright and
+Cobden--_ad nauseam usque_; but, like a band of travelling
+incendiaries, they presented themselves with indefatigable energy in
+places which had never known their presence before. And how comes it
+to pass that they have not long since kindled at least the
+manufacturing population into a blaze? Is it any fault of the
+aforesaid incendiaries? No--but because there is too much intelligence
+abroad, they could not do what they would--"_raise the stubborn
+enthusiasm_" of the people. In one quarter they were suspected--in
+another despised--in another hated; and it became a very general
+impression that they were, in fact, a knot of double dealers, who
+certainly contrived to make a great noise, and keep themselves
+perpetually before the public; but as for getting the steam "up," in
+the nation at large, they found it impossible. In truth, the
+"Anti-corn-law League" would have long ago been dissolved amidst the
+indifference or contempt of the public, but for the countenance they
+received, from time to time, and on which they naturally calculated,
+from the party of the late Ministers, whose miserable object was to
+secure their own return to power by means of any agency that they
+could press into their service. But, to return to our sketch of the
+progress of the "League." Admitting that, by dint of very great and
+incessant exertion, they kept their ground, they made little or no
+progress among the mercantile part of the community; and they resolved
+to try their fortune with the agricultural constituencies--to sow
+dissension between the landlords and the tenants, the farmers and
+their labourers, and combine as many of the disaffected as they could,
+in support of the clamour for free trade. This was distinctly avowed
+by Cobden, at a meeting of the Anti-corn-law deputies, in the
+following very significant terms: "_We can never carry the measure
+ourselves_: WE MUST HAVE THE AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS WITH US!!"[27]
+
+    [27] League Circular, No. xxx. p. 3.
+
+They therefore proceeded to commence operations upon the agricultural
+constituencies. They knew they could always reckon upon a share of
+support wherever they went--it being hard to find any country without
+its cluster of bitter and reckless opponents of a Conservative
+government, who would willingly aid in any demonstration against it.
+With such aid, and indefatigable efforts to collect a crowd of noisy
+non-electors: with a judicious choice of localities, and profuse
+bribery of the local Radical newspapers, in order to procure copious
+accounts of their proceedings--they commenced their "grand series of
+country triumphs!" Their own organs, from time to time, gave out that
+in each and every county visited by the League, the _farmers_ attended
+their meetings, and joined in a vote condemnatory of the corn-laws,
+and pledged themselves to vote thereafter for none but the candidates
+of the Anti-corn-law League!
+
+The following are specimens of the flattering appellations which had
+till now been bestowed, by their new friends, upon these selfsame
+farmers--"_Bull-frogs!"_ "_chaw-bacons!" _"_clod-poles!_"
+"_hair-bucks!_" "_deluded slaves!_" "_brute drudges!_"[28] Now,
+however, they and their labourers were addressed in terms of
+respectful sympathy and flattery, as the victims of the rapacity of
+their landlords--on whom were poured the full phials of Anti-corn-law
+wrath. The following are some of the scalding drops let fall upon
+their devoted heads--_"Monster of impiety!" "inhuman fiend!"
+"heartless brutes!" "rapacious harpies!" "relentless demons!"
+"plunderers of the people!" "merciless footpads!" "murderers!"
+"swindlers!" "insatiable!" "insolent!" "flesh-mongering!" "scoundrel!"
+"law-making landlords!" "a bread-taxing oligarchy!"_[29] Need we say
+that the authors of these very choice and elegant expressions were
+treated with utter contempt by both landlords and tenants--always
+making the few allowances above referred to? Was it very likely that
+the landlord or the farmer should quit their honourable and important
+avocations at the bidding of such creatures as had thus intruded
+themselves into their counties? should consent to be yoked to the car,
+or to follow in the train of these enlightened, disinterested, and
+philanthropic cotton-spinners and calico-printers? Absurd! It became,
+in fact, daily more obvious to even the most unreflecting, that these
+worthies were not likely to be engaged in their "labours of _love_;"
+were not _exactly_ the kind of persons to desert their own businesses,
+to attend out of pure benevolence that of others--to let succumb their
+own interest to promote those of others; to subscribe out of the gains
+which they had wrung from their unhappy factory slaves, their L.10,
+L.20, L.30, L.50, L.100, out of mere public spirit and philanthropy.
+
+    [28] League Circular, No. 10.
+
+    [29] Ibid. Nos. 26, 29, 44, 50, 71, 83, 94, 99, 100.
+
+Still, we say, the whole thing was really a failure--the "steam," even
+yet, could not be "got up," in spite of all their multiplied agencies
+and machinery, incessantly at work--the unprecedented personal
+exertions of the members of the league--the large pecuniary sacrifices
+of the Lancashire subscribers to its funds. One more desperate
+exertion was therefore felt necessary--and they resolved to attempt
+getting up a _sensation_, by the sudden subscription of splendid sums
+of money, by way of starting a vast fund, with which to operate
+directly upon the entire electoral body--in what way, it is not very
+difficult to guess. Accordingly, they began--but where? At the old
+place--Manchester!--Manchester!--_Manchester!_ Many thousands were
+subscribed at an hour's notice by a mere handful of manufacturers; the
+news came up to London--and the editor of the _Times_, in a transient
+fit of excitement, pronounced "the existence of the League" to be a
+GREAT FACT. Upon this phrase they have lived ever since--till somewhat
+roughly reminded the other day, by Mr Baring, that "great _facts_" are
+very "_great follies!_" Now let us once more ask the question--would
+all these desperate and long-continued exertions and sacrifices--(all
+proceeding, be it ever observed, from _one_ quarter, and from the same
+class of people--nay, the same individuals of that class)--be
+requisite, were there any _real movement of the public mind and
+feeling_ against the Corn-laws? Are they not requisite solely because
+of the _absence_ of any such movement? Nay, are they not evidence that
+the public feeling and opinion are against them? And that, perhaps,
+they will by and by succeed in rousing the "stubborn enthusiasm of the
+people" against themselves? Where has there been called one single
+spontaneous public meeting of any importance, and where exhibited a
+spark of enthusiasm, for the total repeal of the Corn-laws? Surely the
+_topic_ is capable of being handled in a sufficiently exciting manner!
+But no; wherever a "meeting," or "demonstration," is heard of--there,
+also, are the eternal Cobden, Bright and Wilson, and their miserable
+fellow-agitators, who alone have got up--who alone harangue the
+meetings. Was it so with Catholic Emancipation?--with the abolition of
+Negro Slavery?--with the Reform Bill? Right or wrong, the public
+feeling was then roused, and exhibited itself unequivocally,
+powerfully, and spontaneously; but _here_--bah! common sense revolts
+at the absurd supposition that even hundreds of thousands of pounds
+can of themselves get up a real demonstration of public feeling in
+favour of the object, for which so much Manchester money has been
+already subscribed.
+
+      "'Tis not in _thousands_ to command success."
+
+If the public opinion of this great country--this great enlightened
+nation--were _really_ roused against the Corn-laws, they would
+disappear like snow under sunshine. But, as the matter _now_ stands,
+if their dreary drivellers Cobden, Bright, Wilson, Acland, W.J. Fox,
+were withdrawn from the public scene in which they are so anxious to
+figure, and sent to enjoy the healthy exercise of the tread-mill for
+one single three months, would this eternal "_brutum fulmen_" about
+the repeal of the Corn-laws be heard of any more? We verily believe
+not. "But look at our triumphs!"--quoth Cobden--"Look at our glorious
+victories at Durham, London, and Kendal!--our virtual victory at
+Salisbury!" Moonshine, gentlemen, and you know it;--and that you have
+spent your money in vain. Let us see how the matter stands.
+
+
+I. _Durham_. True, Mr Bright was returned; but to what is the House of
+Commons indebted for the acquisition of that distinguished senator,
+except the personal pique and caprice of that eccentric Tory peer,
+Lord Londonderry? This is notorious, and admitted by all parties; and
+these causes will not be in operation at another election.
+
+
+II. _London_. And do you really call this a "great triumph?"
+Undoubtedly Mr Pattison was returned; but is it a matter of
+congratulation that this notorious political nonentity, who openly, we
+understand, entertains and will support _Chartist_ opinions, is
+returned instead of such a man as Mr Baring? What was the majority of
+Mr Pattison? One hundred and sixty-five, out of twelve thousand eight
+hundred and eighty-nine who actually voted. And how was even that
+majority secured? By the notorious absence from London--as is always
+the case at that period of the year (21st October 1843)--of vast
+numbers of the stanchest Conservative electors. There is no doubt
+whatever, that had the election happened one fortnight later than it
+did, Mr Baring would have been returned by a large majority, in spite
+of the desperate exertions of the Anti-corn-law League and Mr
+Rothschild and the Jews. As it was, Mr Baring polled more (6367) than
+had ever been polled by a Conservative candidate for London before;
+and had an immense majority over his competitor, among the superior
+classes of the constituency.[30] At another election, we can
+confidently predict that Mr Baring will be returned, and by a large
+majority, unless, indeed, the Charter should be the law of the land;
+in which case Mr Pattison will probably enjoy another ovation.
+
+    [30] Among the _Livery_, the numbers were--Baring, 3196;
+    Pattison, 2367;--majority for Baring, 889!
+
+    Among the _Templars_--Baring, 258; Pattison, 78!!--majority
+    for Baring, 180!
+
+
+III. _Kendal_. Is this, too, a victory? "Another such, and you are
+undone." Why? Till Mr Bentinck presented himself before that
+enlightened little constituency, no Conservative dared even to offer
+himself; 'twas a snug little stronghold of the Anti-corn-law League
+interest, and yet the gallant Conservative gave battle against the
+whole force of the League; and after a mortal struggle of some
+fourteen days, was defeated by a far smaller majority than either
+friends or enemies had expected, and has pledged himself to fight the
+battle again. Here, then, the League and their stanch friends have
+sustained an unexpected and serious shock.
+
+
+IV. _Salisbury_.--We have not the least desire to magnify this into a
+mighty victory for the Conservative party; but the interference of
+the Anti-corn-law League certainly made the struggle a very critical
+and important one. We expected to succeed, but not by a large
+majority; for ever since 1832, the representation had (till within the
+last year) been divided between a Conservative and a Liberal. However,
+the Anti-corn-law League, flushed with their "triumphs" at London and
+Kendal, flung all their forces ostentatiously into the borough, and
+exhibited a disgusting and alarming specimen of the sort of
+interference which it seems we are to expect in all future elections,
+in all counties and boroughs. It was, however, in vain; the ambitious
+young gentleman who had the benefit of their services, and who is a
+law-student in London, but the son of the great Earl of Radnor, lost
+his election by a large majority, and the discomfited League retired
+ridiculously to Manchester. When we heard of their meditated descent
+upon Salisbury, we fancied we saw Cobden and his companions waddling
+back, geese-like, and exclaimed--
+
+      "Geese! if we had you but on Sarum plain,
+      We'd drive you cackling back to Camelot!"
+
+So much for the boasted electoral triumphs of the Anti-corn-law
+League--we repeat, that they are all mere moonshine, and challenge
+them to disprove our assertion.
+
+They are now making another desperate effort to raise a further sum of
+a hundred thousand pounds; and beginning, as usual, at Manchester,
+have raised there alone, within a few days' time, upwards of L.20,000!
+The fact (if _true_) is at once ludicrous and disgusting: ludicrous
+for its transparency of humbug--disgusting for its palpable
+selfishness. Will these proverbially hard-hearted men put down their
+L.100, L.200, L.300, L.400, L.500, for nothing? Alas, the great sums
+they have expended in this crusade against the Corn-laws, will have to
+be wrung out of their wretched and exhausted factory slaves! For how
+otherwise but by diminishing wages can they repay themselves for lost
+time, for trouble, and for expense?
+
+Looked at in its proper light, the Corn-law League is nothing but _an
+abominable conspiracy against labour_. Cheap _bread_ means cheap
+_labour_; those who cannot see this, must be blind indeed! The
+melancholy fact of the continually-decreasing price of labour in this
+country, rests on undisputable authority--on, amongst others, that of
+Mr Fielding. In 1825, the price of labour was 51 per cent less than in
+1815; in 1830 it was 65 per cent less than in 1815, though the
+consumption of cotton had increased from 80,000,000 lbs. to
+240,000,000 lbs.! In 1835 it was 318,000,000 lbs., but the operative
+received 70 per cent less than in 1815. In 1840 the consumption of
+cotton was 415,000,000 lbs., and the unhappy operative received 75 per
+cent less than in 1815!
+
+If proofs be required to show that in reality the deadly snake, _cheap
+labour_, lurks among the flourishing grass, _cheap bread_, we will
+select one or two out of very many now lying before us, and prepared
+to be presented to the reader.
+
+"If grain be high," said Mr Ricardo, in the House of Commons,[31] "the
+price of labour would necessarily be a deduction from the _profits of
+stock_." "The Corn-laws raise the price of sustenance--that has
+_raised the price of labour_; which, of course, diminishes the profit
+in capital."[32]
+
+    [31] Debates, May 30, 1820.
+
+    [32] Ib. Dec. 24, 1819.
+
+"Until the price of food in this country," said Mr Hume, in the House
+of Commons on the 12th of May last, in the presence of all the leading
+free-trade members, "is placed on a level with that on the Continent,
+it will be impossible for us to compete with the growing manufactures
+of Belgium, Germany, France, and America!!"
+
+Hear a member of the League, and of the Manchester Chamber of
+Commerce, Mr G. Sandars:--
+
+    "If three loaves instead of two could be got for 2s., in
+    consequence of a repeal of the Corn-laws, another consequence
+    would be, that the workman's 2s. would be reduced to 1s. 4d.,
+    which would leave matters, as far as he was concerned, just
+    as they were!!"[33]
+
+    [33] Authentic Discussions on the Corn-law, (Ridgway, 1839,)
+    p. 86.
+
+Hear a straightforward manufacturer--Mr Muntz, M.P.--in the debate on
+the 17th May last:--
+
+    "If the Corn-laws were repealed, the benefit which the
+    manufacturer expected was, that he could produce at a lower
+    price; and this he could do only by reducing wages to the
+    continental level!!"
+
+If the above fail to open the eyes of the duped workmen of this
+country, what will succeed in doing so? Let us conclude this portion
+of our subject--disgusting enough, but necessary to expose
+imposture--with the following tabular view, &c., of the gross
+contradiction of the men, whom we wish to hold up to universal and
+deserved contempt, on even the most vital points of the controversy in
+which they are engaged; and then let our readers say whether any thing
+proceeding from such a quarter is worthy of notice:--
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+The _League Oracle_ says--
+
+
+1. "If we have free trade, the landlords' rents will fall 100 per
+cent."--(_League Circular_, No. 15. p. 3.)
+
+2. "Provisions will fall one-third."--(Ib. No. 34, p. 4.)
+
+"The Corn-laws makes the labourer pay double the price for his
+food."--(Ib. No. 15.)
+
+3. "The Corn-law compels us to pay _three times the value for a loaf
+of bread_."--(Ib. No. 13.)
+
+"If the Corn-laws were abolished, the working man WOULD SAVE 31/2d. UPON
+EVERY LOAF OF BREAD."--(Ib. No. 75.)
+
+"As a consequence of the repeal of the Corn-laws, _we promise cheaper
+food_, and our hand-loom weavers would get _double_ the rate of
+wages!"--(Ib. No. 7.)
+
+"We shall have _cheap bread_, and its price will be reduced 33 per
+cent."--(Ib. No. 34.)
+
+4. Messrs Villiers, Muntz, Hume, Roche, Thornton, Rawson, Sandars,
+(all Leaguers,) say, and the oracle of the _League_ itself has said,
+that "We want free trade, to enable us to _reduce wages_, that we may
+compete with foreigners."--(_Post_, pp. 13-16.)
+
+5. The _League Oracle_ admits that "a repeal would _injure_ the
+farmer, but not so much as he fears."--(_League Circular_, No. 58.)
+
+
+Mr Cobden says--
+
+
+1. "If we have free trade, the landlords will have as good rents as
+now."--(Speech in the House of Commons, 15th May last.)
+
+2. "Provisions will be no cheaper."--(Speech at Bedford, _Hertford
+Reformer_, 10th June last.)
+
+3. "THE ARGUMENT FOR CHEAP BREAD WAS NEVER MINE."--(_Morning
+Chronicle_, 30th June 1843, Speech on Penenden Heath.)
+
+"THE IDEA OF LOW-PRICED FOREIGN CORN IS ALL A DELUSION."--SPEECH AT
+Winchester, _Salisbury Herald_, July 29, 1843, p. 3.
+
+4. Messrs Cobden, Bright, and Moore, now affirm--"It is a base
+falsehood to say we want free trade, to enable us to reduce the rate
+of wages."--(Mr Cobden on Penenden Heath. Messrs Bright and Moore at
+Huntingdon.)
+
+5. Cobden, Moore, and Bright, say, that it is to the _interest_ of the
+farmer to have a total and _immediate_ repeal.--(Uxbridge, Bedford,
+Huntingdon.[34])
+
+    [34] Extracted from a very admirable speech by Mr Day of
+    Huntingdon, (Ollivier, 1843,) and which we earnestly recommend
+    for perusal.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The disgusting selfishness and hypocrisy of such men as Cobden and his
+companions, in veiling their real objects under a pretended enmity to
+"Monopoly" and "Class Legislation"--and disinterested anxiety to
+procure for the poor the blessings of "cheap bread"--fills us with a
+just indignation; and we never see an account of their hebdomadal
+proceedings, but we exclaim, in the language of our immortal bard--
+
+      "Oh, Heaven! that such impostors thoud'st unfold,
+      And put in every honest hand a whip,
+      To lash the rascals naked through the land!"
+
+While we repeat our deliberate opinion, that the Anti-corn-law League,
+as a body, is, in respect of actual present influence, infinitely less
+formidable than the vanity and selfish purposes of its members would
+lead them to wish the country to believe--we must add, that it is
+quite another question how long it will continue so. It may soon be
+converted--if indeed it has not already been secretly converted, into
+an engine of tremendous mischief, for other purposes than any ever
+contemplated by its originators. Suppose, in the next session of
+parliament, Ministers were to offer a law-fixed duty on corn: would
+that concession dissolve the League? Absurd--they have long ago
+scouted the idea of so ridiculous a compromise. Suppose they effected
+their avowed object of a total repeal of the Corn-laws--is any one
+weak enough to imagine that they would _then_ dissolve? No--nor do
+they _now_ dream of such a thing; but are at the present moment, as we
+are informed, "_fraternizing_" with other political societies of a
+very dangerous character, and on the eve of originating serious and
+revolutionary movements. Their present organization is precisely that
+of the French Jacobins; their plan of operation the same. Let any one
+turn to _The League Circular_ of the 18th November, and he will see
+announced a plan of action on the part of this Association, precisely
+analagous, in all its leading features, to that of the French
+Jacobins: and we would call the attention of the legislature to the
+question, whether the Anti-corn-law League, in its most recent form of
+organization and plan of action, be not clearly within the provisions
+of statutes 57 Geo. III., c. 19, Sec. 25 and 39; Geo. III., c. 79? What
+steps, if any, the legislature may take, is one thing; it is quite
+another, what course shall be adopted by the friends of the
+Conservative cause--the supporters of the British constitution. It is
+impossible to assign limits to the mischief which may be effected by
+the indefatigable and systematic exertions of the League to diffuse
+pernicious misrepresentations, and artful and popular fallacies, among
+all classes of society. That they entertain a fearfully envenomed
+hatred of the agricultural interest, is clear; and their evident
+object is to render the landed proprietors of this country objects of
+fierce hatred to the inferior orders of the community. "If a man tells
+me his story every morning of my life, by the year's end he will be my
+master," said Burke, "and I shall believe him, however untrue and
+improbable his story may be;" and if, whilst the Anti-corn-law League
+can display such perseverance, determination, and system, its
+opponents obstinately remain supine and silent, can any one wonder if
+such progress be not made by the League, in their demoralizing and
+revolutionary enterprize, that it will soon be too late to attempt
+even to arrest?
+
+If this Journal has earned, during a quarter of a century's career of
+unwavering consistency and independence, any title to the respect of
+the Conservative party, we desire now to rely upon that title for the
+purpose of adding weight to our solemn protest against the want of
+union and energy--against the apathy, from whatever cause arising--now
+but too visible. In vain do we and others exert ourselves to the
+uttermost to diffuse sound political principles by means of the press;
+in vain do the distinguished leaders of our party fight the battles of
+the constitution with consummate skill and energy in parliament--if
+their exertions be not supported by corresponding energy and activity
+on the part of the Conservative constituencies, and those persons of
+talent and influence professing the same principles, by whom they can,
+and ought to be, easily set in motion. It is true that persons of
+liberal education, of a high and generous tone of feeling, of
+intellectual refinement, are entitled to treat such men as Cobden,
+Bright, and Acland, with profound contempt, and dislike the notion of
+personal contact or collision with them, as representatives of the
+foulest state of ill feeling that can be generated in the worst
+manufacturing regions--of sordid avarice, selfishness, envy, and
+malignity; but they are active--ever up and doing, and steadily
+applying themselves, with palatable topics, to the corruption of the
+hearts of the working classes. So, unless the persons to whom we
+allude choose to cast aside their morbid aversions--to be "UP AND AT
+them," in the language of the Duke of Waterloo--why then will be
+verified the observation of Burke--that "if, when bad men combine, the
+good do not associate, they will fall, one by one--an unpitied
+sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." Vast as are our forces, they
+can effect comparatively nothing without union, energy, and system:
+_with_ these, their power is tremendous and irresistible. What we
+would say, therefore, is--ORGANIZE! ORGANIZE! ORGANIZE! Let every
+existing Conservative club or association be stirred up into increased
+action, and _put into real working trim_ forthwith; and where none
+such clubs or associations exist, let them be immediately formed, and
+set into cheerful and spirited motion. Let them all be placed under
+the vigilant superintendence of one or two _real men of business_--of
+local knowledge, of ability, and influence. We would point out
+Conservative solicitors as auxiliaries of infinite value to those
+engaged in the good cause; men of high character, of business habits,
+extensive acquaintance with the character and circumstances of the
+electors--and capable of bringing legitimate influence to bear upon
+them in a far more direct and effective manner than any other class of
+persons. One such gentleman--say a young and active solicitor, with a
+moderate salary, as permanent secretary in order to secure and, in
+some measure, requite his services throughout the year--would be worth
+fifty _dilletante_ "friends of the good cause dropping in every now
+and then," but whose "friendship" evaporates in mere _talk_. Let every
+local Conservative newspaper receive constant and substantial
+patronage; for they are worthy of the very highest consideration, on
+account of the ability with which they are generally conducted, and
+their great influence upon local society. Many of them, to our own
+knowledge, display a degree of talent and knowledge which would do
+honour to the very highest metropolitan journals. Let them, then, be
+vigorously supported, their circulation extended through the influence
+of the resident nobility and gentry, and the clergy of every
+particular district throughout the kingdom. Let no opportunity be
+missed of exposing the true character of the vile and selfish
+agitators of the Anti-corn-law league. Let not the league have all the
+"publishing" to themselves; but let their impudent fallacies and
+falsehoods be _instantly_ encountered and exposed on the spot, by
+means of small and cheap tracts and pamphlets, which shall bring
+plain, wholesome, and important truths home to the businesses and
+bosoms of the very humblest in the land. Again, let the resident
+gentry seek frequent opportunities of mingling with their humbler
+neighbours, friends, and dependents, by way of keeping up a cordial
+and hearty good understanding with them, so as to rely upon their
+effective co-operation whenever occasions may arise for political
+action.
+
+Let all this be done, and we may defy a hundred Anti-corn-law Leagues.
+Let these objects be kept constantly in view, and the Anti-corn-law
+League will be utterly palsied, had it a hundred times its present
+funds--a thousand times its present members!
+
+Let us now, however, turn for a brief space to Ireland; the present
+condition of which we contemplate with profound concern and anxiety,
+but with neither surprise nor dismay. As far as regards the
+Government, the state of affairs in Ireland bears at this moment
+unquestionable testimony to the stability and strength of the
+Government; and no one know this better than the gigantic impostor, to
+whom so much of the misery of that afflicted portion of the empire is
+owing. He perceives, with inexpressible mortification, that neither he
+nor his present position awake any sympathy or excitement whatever in
+the kingdom at large, where the enormity of his misconduct is fully
+appreciated, and every movement of the Government against him
+sanctioned by public opinion. The general feeling is one of profound
+disgust towards him, sympathy and commiseration for his long-plundered
+dupes and of perfect confidence that the Government will deal firmly
+and wisely with both. As for a _Repeal of the Union_! Pshaw! Every
+child knows that it is a notion too absurd to be seriously dealt with;
+that Great Britain would rather plunge _instanter_ into the bloodiest
+civil war that ever desolated a country, than submit to the
+dismemberment of the empire by repealing the union between Great
+Britain and Ireland. This opinion has had, from time to time, every
+possible mode of authentic and solemn expression that can be given to
+the national will; in speeches from the Throne; in Parliamentary
+declarations by the leaders of both the Whig and Conservative
+Governments; the members of both Houses of Parliament are (with not a
+single exception worth noticing) unanimous upon the subject; the
+press, whether quarterly, monthly, weekly, or daily, of all classes
+and shades of political opinions, is unanimous upon the subject; in
+society, whether high or low, the subject is never broached, except to
+enquire whether any one can, for one moment, seriously believe the
+Repeal of the Union to be possible. In Ireland itself, the vast
+majority of the intellect, wealth, and respectability of the island,
+without distinction of religion or politics, entertains the same
+opinion and determination which prevail in Great Britain. Is Mr
+O'Connell ignorant of all this? He knows it as certainly as he knows
+that Queen Victoria occupies the throne of these realms; and yet, down
+to his very last appearance in public, he has solemnly and
+perseveringly asseverated that the Repeal of the Union is an
+absolutely certain and inevitable event, and one that will happen
+within a few months! _Is he in his senses?_ If so, he is speaking from
+his knowledge of some vast and dreadful conspiracy, which he has
+organized himself, which has hitherto escaped detection. The idea is
+too monstrous to be entertained for a moment. What, then, can Mr
+O'Connell be about? Our opinion is, that his sole object in setting on
+foot the Repeal agitation, was to increase his pecuniary resources,
+and at the same time overthrow Sir Robert Peel's Government, by
+showing the Queen and the nation that his admitted "_chief_
+difficulty"--Ireland--was one _insuperable_; and that he must
+consequently retire. We believe, moreover, that he is, to a certain
+extent, acting upon a secret understanding with the party of the late
+Government, who, however, never contemplated matters being carried to
+their present pitch; but that the Ministry would long ago have
+retired, terrified before the tremendous "demonstration" in Ireland.
+We feel as certain as if it were a past event, that, had the desperate
+experiment succeeded so far as to replace the present by the late
+Government, Mr O'Connell's intention was to have announced his
+determination to "_give England_ ONE MORE trial"--to place Repeal once
+more in abeyance--in order to see whether England would really, at
+length, do "_justice_ to _Ireland_;" in other words, restore the
+halcyon days of Lord Normanby's nominal, and Mr O'Connell's real, rule
+in Ireland, and enable him, by these means, to provide for himself,
+his family, and dependents; for old age is creeping rapidly upon
+him--his physical powers are no longer equal to the task of vigorous
+agitation--and he is known to be in utterly desperate circumstances.
+The reckless character of his proceedings during the last fifteen
+months, is, in our opinion, fully accounted for, by his unexpected
+discovery, that the ministry were strong enough to defy any thing that
+he could do, and to continue calmly in their course of administering,
+not _pseudo_, but real "justice to Ireland," supported in that course
+by the manifest favour and countenance of the Crown, overwhelming
+majorities in Parliament, and the decided and unequivocal expression
+of public opinion. His personal position was, in truth, inexpressibly
+galling and most critical, and he must have agitated, or sunk at once
+into ignominious obscurity and submission to a Government whom,
+individually and collectively, he loathed and abhorred. Vain were the
+hopes which, doubtless, he had entertained, that, as his agitation
+assumed a bolder form, it would provoke formidable demonstrations in
+England against Ministers and their policy; not a meeting could be got
+up to petition her Majesty for the dismissal of her Ministers! But it
+is quite conceivable that Mr O'Connell, in the course he was pursuing,
+forgot to consider the possibility of developing a power which might
+be too great for him, which would not be wielded by him, but carry
+_him_ along with _it_. The following remarkable expressions fell from
+the perplexed and terrified agitator, at a great dinner at Lismore in
+the county of Waterford, in the month of September last:--"Like the
+heavy school-boy on the ice, _my pupils are overtaking me_. It is now
+my duty to regulate the vigour and temper the energy of the people--to
+compress, as it were, the exuberance of both."
+
+We said that Mr O'Connell revived the Repeal agitation; and the fact
+was so. He first raised it in 1829--having, however, at various
+previous periods of his life, professed a desire to struggle for
+Repeal; but Mr Shiel, in his examination before the House of Commons
+in 1825, characterized such allusions as mere "rhetorical artifices."
+"What were his real motives," observes the able and impartial author
+of _Ireland and its Rulers_[35], "when he announced his new agitation
+in 1829, can be left only to him to determine." It is probable that
+they were of so mixed a nature, that he himself could not accurately
+define them.... It is, however, quite possible, that, after having so
+long tasted of the luxuries of popularity, he could not consent that
+the chalice should pass from his lips. Agitation had, perhaps, begun
+to be necessary to his existence: a tranquil life would have been a
+hell to him." It would seem that Mr O'Connell's earliest recorded
+manifesto on Repeal was on the 3d June 1829, previous to the Clare
+election, on which occasion he said--"We want political excitement, in
+order that we may insist on our rights as Irishmen, but not as
+Catholics;" and on the 20th of the same month in the same year, 1829,
+he predicted--listen to this, ye his infatuated dupes!--"_that_ BEFORE
+THREE YEARS THERE WOULD BE A PARLIAMENT IN DUBLIN!!!" In the general
+elections of 1832, it was proclaimed by Mr O'Connell, that no member
+should be returned unless he solemnly pledged himself to vote for the
+Repeal of the Union; but it was at the same time hinted, that _if they
+would only enter the House as professed Repealers, they would never be
+required to_ VOTE _for Repeal_. On the hustings at the county of
+Waterford election, one of these gentry, Sir Richard Keave, on being
+closely questioned concerning the real nature of his opinion on
+Repeal, let out the whole truth:--"_I will hold it as an imposing
+weapon to get justice to Ireland_." This has held true ever since, and
+completely exemplifies all the intervening operations of Mr O'Connell.
+It has been his practice ever since "to connect every grievance with
+the subject of Repeal--to convert every wrongful act of any Government
+into an argument for the necessity of an Irish Legislature." Can it be
+wondered at that the present Government, thoroughly aware of the true
+state of the case--_knowing their man_--should regard the cry for
+Repeal simply as an imposture, its utterers as impostors? They did and
+do so regard it and its utterers--never allowing either the one or the
+other to disturb their administration of affairs with impartiality and
+firmness; but, nevertheless, keeping a most watchful eye upon all their
+movements.
+
+    [35] pp. 43, 50.
+
+At length, whether emboldened by a conviction that the
+non-interference of the Government was occasioned solely by their
+incapacity to grapple with an agitation becoming hourly more
+formidable, and that thus his schemes were succeeding--or impelled
+onwards by those whom he had roused into action, but could no longer
+restrain--his movements became daily characterized by more astounding
+audacity--more vivid the glare of sedition, and even treason, which
+surrounded them: still the Government interfered not. Their apparent
+inaction most wondered, very many murmured, some were alarmed, and Mr
+O'Connell laughed at. Sir Robert Peel, on one occasion, when his
+attention was challenged to the subject in the House of Commons,
+replied, that "he was not in the least degree moved or disturbed by
+what was passing in Ireland." This perfect calmness of the Government
+served to check the rising of any alarm in the country; which felt a
+confidence of the Ministry's being equal to any exigency that could be
+contemplated. Thus stood matters till the 11th July last, when, at the
+close of the debate on the state of Ireland, Sir Robert Peel delivered
+a very remarkable speech. It consisted of a calm demonstration of the
+falsehood of all the charges brought by the Repealers against the
+imperial Parliament; of the impolicy and the impracticability of the
+various schemes for the relief of Ireland proposed by the Opposition;
+of the absolute impossibility of Parliament entertaining the question
+of a Repeal of the Union; and a distinct answer to the question--"What
+course do you intend to pursue?" That answer is worthy of being
+distinctly brought under the notice of the reader. "I am prepared to
+administer the law in Ireland upon principles of justice and
+impartiality. I am prepared to recognise the principle established by
+law--that there shall be equality in civil privileges. I am prepared
+to respect the franchise, to give substantially, although not
+nominally, equality. In respect to the social condition of
+Ireland--_as to the relation of landlord and tenant_[36]--I am
+prepared to give the most deliberate consideration to the important
+matters involved in those questions. With respect to the Established
+Church, I have already stated that we are not prepared to make an
+alteration in the law by which that Church is maintained."
+
+    [36] In conformity with this declaration, has been issued the
+    recent commission, for "enquiring into the state of the law
+    and practice in respect to the occupation of land in Ireland,
+    and in respect also to the burdens of county cess and other
+    charges, which fall respectively on the landlord and occupying
+    tenant, and for reporting as to the amendments, if any, of the
+    existing laws, which, having due regard to the just rights of
+    property, may be calculated to encourage the cultivation of
+    the soil, to extend a better system of agriculture, and to
+    improve the relation between landlord and tenant, in that part
+    of the United Kingdom."
+
+We recollect being greatly struck with the ominous calmness
+perceptible in the tone of this speech. It seemed characterised by a
+solemn declaration to place the agitation of Ireland for ever in the
+_wrong_--to deprive them of all pretence for accusing England of
+having misgoverned Ireland since the Union. It appeared to us as if
+that speech had been designed to lay the basis of a contemplated
+movement against the agitation of the most decisive kind. The
+Government acted up to the spirit of the declaration, on that
+occasion, of Sir Robert Peel, with perfect dignity and resolution,
+unmoved by the taunts, the threats, the expostulations, or fears of
+either enemies or friends. Mr O'Connell's tone increased in audacity;
+but we greatly doubt whether in his heart he had not frequent
+misgivings as to the real nature of the "_frightful silence_"--"_cette
+affreuse silence_"--of a Government in whose councils the Duke of
+Wellington took a decided part, and which was actually at that moment
+taking complete military occupation of Ireland. On what information
+they were acting, no one knew; but their preparations were _for the
+worst_. During all this time nothing could exceed the tranquillity
+which prevailed in England. None of these threatening appearances,
+these tremendous preparations, caused the least excitement or alarm;
+the funds did not vary a farthing per cent in consequence of them; and
+to what could all this be ascribed but to the strength of public
+confidence in the Government? At length the harvest in Ireland had
+been got in; ships of war surrounded the coast; thirty thousand picked
+and chosen troops, ready for instant action, were disposed in the most
+masterly manner all over Ireland. With an almost insane audacity, Mr
+O'Connell appointed his crowning monster meeting to take place at
+Clontarf, in the immediate vicinity of the residence and presence of
+the Queen's representative, and of such a military force as rendered
+the bare possibility of encountering it appalling. The critical
+moment, however, for the interference of Government had at length
+arrived, and it spoke out in a voice of thunder, prohibiting the
+monster meeting. The rest is matter of history. The monster demagogue
+fell prostrate and confounded among his panic-stricken confederates;
+and, in an agony of consternation, declared their implicit obedience
+to the proclamation, and set about dispersing the myriad dupes, as
+fast as they arrived to attend the prohibited meeting. Thus was the
+Queen's peace preserved, her crown and dignity vindicated, without one
+sword being drawn or one shot being fired. Mr O'Connell had repeatedly
+"defied the Government to go to law with him." They _have_ gone to law
+with him; and by this time we suspect that he finds himself in an
+infinitely more serious position than he has ever been in, during the
+whole of a long and prosperous career of agitation. Here, however, we
+leave him and his fellow defendants.
+
+We may, however, take this opportunity of expressing our opinion, that
+there is not a shadow of foundation for the charges of blundering and
+incompetency which have been so liberally brought against the Irish
+Attorney-General. He certainly appears, in the earlier stages of the
+proceedings, to have evinced some little irritability--but, only
+consider, under what unprecedented provocation! His conduct has since,
+however, been characterised by calmness and dignity; and as for his
+legal capabilities, all competent judges who have attended to the
+case, will pronounce them to be first-rate; and we feel perfectly
+confident that his future conduct of the proceedings will convince the
+public of the justness of our eulogium.
+
+The selection by the Government of the moment for interference with Mr
+O'Connell's proceedings, was unquestionably characterised by
+consummate prudence. When the meetings commenced in March or April,
+this year, they had nothing of outward character which could well be
+noticed. They professed to be meetings to petition Parliament for
+Repeal; and, undoubtedly, no lawyer could say that such a meeting
+would _per se_ be illegal, any more than a meeting to complain of
+Catholic relief, or to pray for its repeal--or for any other matter
+which is considered a settled part of the established constitution.
+The mere numbers were certainly alarming, but the meetings quietly
+dispersed without any breach of the peace: and after two or three such
+meetings, without any disturbance attending them, no one could with
+truth swear that he expected a breach of the peace as a _direct_
+consequence of such a meeting, though many thought they saw a civil
+war as a _remote_ consequence. The meetings went on: some ten, twelve,
+fifteen occurred,--still no breach of the peace, no disturbance. The
+language, indeed, became gradually more seditious--more daring and
+ferocious: but, as an attempt to put down the first meeting by _force_
+would have been considered a wanton act of oppression, and a direct
+interference with the subject's right to petition, it became a very
+difficult _practical_ question, at what moment any _legal_ notice
+could be taken by prosecution, or _executive_ notice by proclamation,
+to put down such meetings. Notwithstanding several confident opinions
+to the contrary advanced by the newspaper press at the time, a greater
+mistake--indeed a grosser blunder--could not have been made, than to
+have prosecuted those who attended the early meetings, or to have sent
+the police or the military to put those meetings down. An acquittal in
+the one case, or a conflict in the other, would have been attended
+with most mischievous consequences; and, as to the latter, it is clear
+that the executive never ought to interfere unless with a _force which
+renders all resistance useless_. It appears perfectly clear to us,
+_even now_, that a prosecution for the earlier meetings must have
+failed; for there existed then none of that evidence which would prove
+the object and the nature of the association: and to proclaim a
+meeting, without using force to prevent or disperse it if it defied
+the proclamation; and to use force without being certain that the
+extent of the illegality would carry public opinion along with the use
+of force; further, to begin to use force without being sure that you
+have enough to use--would be acts of madness, and, at least, of great
+and criminal disregard of consequences. Now, when meeting after
+meeting had taken place, and the general design, and its mischief,
+were unfolded, it became necessary that _some new feature should
+occur_ to justify the interference of Government; and that occurred at
+the Clontarf meeting. No meeting had, before that, ventured to call
+itself "_Repeal infantry_;" and to Clontarf _horsemen_ also were
+summoned, and were designated "_Repeal cavalry_;" and, in the orders
+for their assembling, marching, and conducting themselves, _military
+directions were given_; and the meeting, had it been permitted to
+assemble, would have been a parade of cavalry, ready for civil war. It
+would have been a sort of review--in the face of the city of Dublin,
+in open defiance of all order and government. Let us add, that, just
+at that time, Mr O'Connell had published his "Address to all her
+Majesty's subjects, in all parts of her dominions," (a most libellous
+and treasonable publication;) and the arrangements to secure the peace
+were more complete, and could be brought to bear more easily, on the
+Clontarf than on any of the preceding meetings. The occasion presented
+itself, and as soon as possible the Irish authorities assembled at
+Dublin; the proclamation appeared; the ground was pre-occupied, and a
+force that was irresistible went out to keep the peace, and prevent
+the meeting. The result showed the perfect success of the Government's
+enterprise.
+
+As the foregoing topics will doubtless occupy much of the attention of
+parliament during the ensuing session, we were anxious to place on
+record our own opinions, as the result of much reflection, during a
+period when events were transpiring which threw upon the Government an
+awful responsibility, and rendered their course one of almost
+unprecedented difficulty. Modern times, we are convinced, have
+witnessed but few instances of such a masterly policy, combined with
+signal self-reliance.
+
+One or two general topics connected with Ireland, we have time only to
+glance at. First.--From the faint reluctant disavowal and
+discouragement of Mr O'Connell and his Repeal agitation, by the
+leading ex-Ministers during the last session, when emphatically
+challenged by Sir Robert Peel to join him in denouncing the attempted
+dismemberment of the empire, irrespective and independent of all party
+consideration, we are prepared to expect that in the ensuing session,
+the Opposition will, to a great extent, make common cause with Mr
+O'Connell, out of mingled fear, and gratitude, and hope towards their
+late friend and patron. Such a course will immensely strengthen the
+hands of the Queen's Government.
+
+Secondly.--To any thoughtful and independent politician, the present
+Sovereign state of Ireland demonstrates the utter impossibility of
+governing it upon the principle of breaking down or disparaging the
+Protestant interest. Such a course would tend only to bloody and
+interminable anarchy.
+
+Thirdly.--Ireland's misery springs from social more than political
+evils; and the greatest boon that Providence could give her, would be
+a powerful government inflexibly resolved to _put down agitation_.
+
+Lastly.--Can we wonder at the exasperation of the peasantry, who have
+for so many years had their money extorted from them, without ever
+having had, up to this moment, the shadow of an equivalent? And how
+long is this disgraceful pillage to go on? But we must conclude. The
+ensuing session of parliament may, and probably will, be a stormy one,
+and harassing to the Government; but they may prepare to encounter it
+with cheerful confidence. Their measures, during their brief tenure of
+office, have been attended with extraordinary success--and of that
+both the sovereign and the country are thoroughly aware, and we
+entertain high hopes concerning the future. We expect to see their
+strong majority in the House of Commons rather augmented than
+diminished by reason of the events which have happened during the
+recess. If the Ministers remain firm in their determination--and who
+doubts it?--to support the agricultural interests of the country, and
+persevere in their present vigorous policy towards Ireland, the
+Government is impregnable, and the surges of Repeal agitation in
+Ireland, and Anti-corn-law agitation in England, will dash against it
+in vain. So long as they pursue this course, they will be cheered by
+augmented indications of the national good-will, and of that implicit
+and affectionate confidence in their councils, which, we rejoice to
+know, is vouchsafed to her Ministers by our gracious Sovereign.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No.
+CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV., by Various
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH ***
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