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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 60,
+No. 373, November 1846, 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, Vol. 60, No. 373, November 1846
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: October 19, 2011 [EBook #37797]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Brendan OConnor, Ron Stephens, Jonathan Ingram
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
+generously made available by The Internet Library of Early
+Journals.)
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+
+
+BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.
+
+NO. CCCLXXIII. NOVEMBER, 1846. VOL. LX.
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+    MARLBOROUGH'S DISPATCHES. 1710-1711,            517
+
+    MOHAN LAL IN AFGHANISTAN,                       539
+
+    ON THE OPERATION OF THE ENGLISH POOR-LAWS,      555
+
+    PRUSSIAN MILITARY MEMOIRS,                      572
+
+    ADVICE TO AN INTENDING SERIALIST,               590
+
+    A NEW SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY,                      606
+
+    HONOUR TO THE PLOUGH,                           613
+
+    LUIGIA DE' MEDICI,                              614
+
+    THINGS IN GENERAL,                              625
+
+
+EDINBURGH:
+
+WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, 45, GEORGE STREET; AND 37, PATERNOSTER ROW,
+LONDON.
+
+_To whom all Communications (post paid) must be addressed._
+
+SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.
+
+PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND HUGHES, EDINBURGH.
+
+
+
+
+BLACKWOOD'S
+
+EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.
+
+No. CCCLXXIII. NOVEMBER, 1846. VOL. LX.
+
+
+
+
+MARLBOROUGH'S DISPATCHES.
+
+1710-1711.
+
+Louis XIV. was one of the most remarkable sovereigns who ever sat upon
+the throne of France. Yet there is none of whose character, even at this
+comparatively remote period, it is more difficult to form a just
+estimate. Beyond measure eulogised by the poets, orators, and annalists
+of his own age, who lived on his bounty, or were flattered by his
+address, he has been proportionally vilified by the historians, both
+foreign and national, of subsequent times. The Roman Catholic writers,
+with some truth, represent him as the champion of their faith, the
+sovereign who extirpated the demon of heresy in his dominions, and
+restored to the church in undivided unity the realm of France. The
+Protestant authors, with not less reason, regard him as the deadliest
+enemy of their religion, and the cruellest foe of those who had embraced
+it; as a faithless tyrant, who scrupled not, at the bidding of bigoted
+priests, to violate the national faith plighted by the Edict of Nantes,
+and persecute, with unrelenting severity, the unhappy people who, from
+conscientious motives, had broken off from the Church of Rome. One set
+of writers paint him as a magnanimous monarch, whose mind, set on great
+things, and swayed by lofty desires, foreshadowed those vast designs
+which Napoleon, armed with the forces of the Revolution, afterwards for
+a brief space realised. Another set dwell on the foibles or the vices of
+his private character--depict him as alternately swayed by priests, or
+influenced by women; selfish in his desires, relentless in his hatred;
+and sacrificing the peace of Europe, and endangering the independence of
+France, for the gratification of personal vanity, or from the thirst of
+unbounded ambition.
+
+It is the fate of all men who have made a great and durable impression
+on human affairs, and powerfully affected the interests, or thwarted the
+opinion of large bodies of men, to be represented in these opposite
+colours to future times. The party, whether in church or state, which
+they have elevated, the nation whose power or glory they have augmented,
+praise, as much as those whom they have oppressed and injured, whether
+at home or abroad, strive to vilify their memory. But in the case of
+Louis XIV., this general propensity has been greatly increased by the
+opposite, and, at first sight, inconsistent features of his character.
+There is almost equal truth in the magniloquent eulogies of his
+admirers, as in the impassioned invectives of his enemies. He was not
+less great and magnanimous than he is represented by the elegant
+flattery of Racine or Corneille, nor less cruel and hard-hearted than he
+is painted by the austere justice of Sismondi or D'Aubigne. Like many
+other men, but more than most, he was made up of lofty and elevated, and
+selfish and frivolous qualities. He could alternately boast, with truth,
+that there were no longer any Pyrenees, and rival his youngest
+courtiers in frivolous and often heartless gallantry. In his younger
+years he was equally assiduous in his application to business, and
+engrossed with personal vanity. When he ascended the throne, his first
+words were: "I intend that every paper, from a diplomatic dispatch to a
+private petition, shall be submitted to me;" and his vast powers of
+application enabled him to compass the task. Yet, at the same time, he
+deserted his queen for Madame la Valliere, and soon after broke La
+Valliere's heart by his desertion of her for Madame de Montespan. In
+mature life, his ambition to extend the bounds and enhance the glory of
+France, was equalled by his desire to win the admiration or gain the
+favour of the fair sex. In his later days, he alternately engaged in
+devout austerities with Madame de Maintenon, and, with mournful
+resolution, asserted the independence of France against Europe in arms.
+Never was evinced a more striking exemplification of the saying, so well
+known among men of the world, that no one is a hero to his
+valet-de-chambre; nor a more remarkable confirmation of the truth, so
+often proclaimed by divines, that characters of imperfect goodness
+constitute the great majority of mankind.
+
+That he was a great man, as well as a successful sovereign, is
+decisively demonstrated by the mighty changes which he effected in his
+own realm, as well as in the neighbouring states of Europe. When he
+ascended the throne, France, though it contained the elements of
+greatness, had never yet become great. It had been alternately wasted by
+the ravages of the English, and torn by the fury of the religious wars.
+The insurrection of the Fronde had shortly before involved the capital
+in all the horrors of civil conflict;--barricades had been erected in
+its streets; alternate victory and defeat had by turns elevated and
+depressed the rival faction. Turenne and Conde had displayed their
+consummate talents in miniature warfare within sight of Notre-Dame.
+Never had the monarchy been depressed to a greater pitch of weakness
+than during the reign of Louis XIII. and the minority of Louis XIV. But
+from the time the latter sovereign ascended the throne, order seemed to
+arise out of chaos. The ascendancy of a great mind made itself felt in
+every department. Civil war ceased; the rival faction disappeared; even
+the bitterness of religious hatred seemed for a time to be stilled by
+the influence of patriotic feeling. The energies of France, drawn forth
+during the agonies of civil conflict, were turned to public objects and
+the career of national aggrandisement--as those of England had been
+after the conclusion of the Great Rebellion, by the firm hand and
+magnanimous mind of Cromwell. From a pitiable state of anarchy, France
+at once appeared on the theatre of Europe, great, powerful, and united.
+It is no common capacity which can thus seize the helm and right the
+ship when it is reeling most violently, and the fury of contending
+elements has all but torn it in pieces. It is the highest proof of
+political capacity to discern the bent of the public mind, when most
+violently exerted, and, by falling in with the prevailing desire of the
+majority, convert the desolating vehemence of social conflict into the
+steady passion for national advancement. Napoleon did this with the
+political aspirations of the eighteenth, Louis XIV. with the religious
+fervour of the seventeenth century.
+
+It was because his character and turn of mind coincided with the
+national desires at the moment of his ascending the throne, that this
+great monarch was enabled to achieve this marvellous transformation. If
+Napoleon was the incarnation of the Revolution, with not less truth it
+may be said that Louis XIV. was the incarnation of the monarchy. The
+feudal spirit, modified but not destroyed by the changes of time,
+appeared to be concentrated, with its highest lustre, in his person. He
+was still the head of the Franks--the lustre of the historic families
+yet surrounded his throne; but he was the head of the Franks only--that
+is, of a hundred thousand conquering warriors. Twenty million of
+conquered Gauls were neither regarded nor considered in his
+administration, except in so far as they augmented the national
+strength, or added to the national resources. But this distinction was
+then neither perceived nor regarded. Worn out with civil dissension,
+torn to pieces by religious passions, the fervent minds and restless
+ambition of the French longed for a _national_ field for exertion--an
+arena in which social dissensions might be forgotten. Louis XIV. gave
+them this field: he opened this arena. He ascended the throne at the
+time when this desire had become so strong and general, as in a manner
+to concentrate the national will. His character, equally in all its
+parts, was adapted to the general want. He took the lead alike in the
+greatness and the foibles of his subjects. Were they ambitious? so was
+he:--were they desirous of renown? so was he:--were they set on national
+aggrandisement? so was he:--were they desirous of protection to
+industry? so was he:--were they prone to gallantry? so was he. His
+figure and countenance tall and majestic; his manner stately and
+commanding; his conversation dignified, but enlightened; his spirit
+ardent, but patriotic--qualified him to take the lead and preserve his
+ascendancy among a proud body of ancient nobles, whom the disasters of
+preceding reigns, and the astute policy of Cardinal Richelieu, had
+driven into the antechambers of Paris, but who preserved in their ideas
+and habits the pride and recollections of the conquerors who followed
+the banners of Clovis. And the great body of the people, proud of their
+sovereign, proud of his victories, proud of his magnificence, proud of
+his fame, proud of his national spirit, proud of the literary glory
+which environed his throne, in secret proud of his gallantries, joyfully
+followed their nobles in the brilliant career which his ambition opened,
+and submitted with as much docility to his government as they ranged
+themselves round the banners of their respective chiefs on the day of
+battle.
+
+It was the peculiarity of the government of Louis XIV., arising from
+this fortuitous, but to him fortunate combination of circumstances, that
+it united the distinctions of rank, family attachments, and ancient
+ideas of feudal times, with the vigour and efficiency of monarchical
+government, and the lustre and brilliancy of literary glory. Such a
+combination could not, in the nature of things, last long; it must soon
+work out its own destruction. In truth, it was sensibly weakened during
+the course of the latter part of the half century that he sat upon the
+throne. But while it endured, it produced a most formidable union; it
+engendered an extraordinary and hitherto unprecedented phalanx of
+talent. The feudal ideas still lingering in the hearts of the nation,
+produced subordination; the national spirit, excited by the genius of
+the sovereign, induced unanimity; the development of talent, elicited by
+his discernment, conferred power; the literary celebrity, encouraged by
+his munificence, diffused fame. The peculiar character of Louis, in
+which great talent was united with great pride, and unbounded ambition
+with heroic magnanimity, qualified him to turn to the best account this
+singular combination of circumstances, and to unite in France, for a
+brief period, the lofty aspirations and dignified manners of chivalry,
+with the energy of rising talent and the lustre of literary renown.
+
+Louis XIV. was essentially monarchical. That was the secret of his
+success; it was because he first gave the powers of _unity_ to the
+monarchy, that he rendered France so brilliant and powerful. All his
+changes, and they were many, from the dress of soldiers to the
+instructions to ambassadors, breathed the same spirit. He first
+introduced a _uniform_ in the army. Before his time, the soldiers merely
+wore a banderole over their steel breast-plates and ordinary dresses.
+That was a great and symptomatic improvement; it at once induced an
+_esprit de corps_ and a sense of responsibility. He first made the
+troops march with a measured step, and caused large bodies of men to
+move with the precision of a single company. The artillery and engineer
+service, under his auspices, made astonishing progress. His discerning
+eye selected the genius of Vauban, which invented, as it were, the
+modern system of fortification, and wellnigh brought it to its greatest
+elevation--and raised to the highest command that of Turenne, which
+carried the military art to the most consummate perfection. Skilfully
+turning the martial and enterprising genius of the Franks into the
+career of conquest, he multiplied tenfold their power, by conferring on
+them the inestimable advantages of skilled discipline and unity of
+action. He gathered the feudal array around his banner; he roused the
+ancient barons from their chateaux, the old retainers from their
+villages; but he arranged them in disciplined battalions of regular
+troops, who received the pay and obeyed the orders of government, and
+never left their banners. When he summoned the array of France to
+undertake the conquest of the Low Countries, he appeared at the head of
+a hundred and twenty thousand men, all regular and disciplined troops,
+with a hundred pieces of cannon. Modern Europe had never seen such an
+array. It was irresistible, and speedily brought the monarch to the
+gates of Amsterdam.
+
+The same unity which the genius of Louis and his ministers communicated
+to the military power of France, he gave also to its naval forces and
+internal strength. To such a pitch of greatness did he raise the marine
+of the monarchy, that it all but outnumbered that of England; and the
+battle of La Hogue in 1792 alone determined, as Trafalgar did a century
+after, to which of these rival powers the dominion of the seas was to
+belong. He reduced the government of the interior to that regular and
+methodical system of governors of provinces, mayors of cities, and other
+subordinate authorities, all receiving their instructions from the
+Tuileries, which, under no subsequent change of government, imperial or
+royal, has been abandoned, and which has, in every succeeding age,
+formed the main source of its strength. He concentrated around the
+monarchy the rays of genius from all parts of the country, and threw
+around its head a lustre of literary renown, which, more even than the
+exploits of his armies, dazzled and fascinated the minds of men. He
+arrayed the scholars, philosophers, and poets of his dominions like his
+soldiers and sailors; the whole academies of France, which have since
+become so famous, were of his institution; he sought to give discipline
+to thought, as he had done to his fleets and armies, and rewarded
+distinction in literary efforts, not less than warlike achievement. No
+monarch ever knew better the magical influence of intellectual strength
+on general thought, or felt more strongly the expedience of enlisting it
+on the side of authority. Not less than Hildebrand or Napoleon, he aimed
+at drawing, not over his own country alone, but the whole of Europe, the
+meshes of regulated and centralised opinion; and more durably than
+either he attained his object. The religious persecution, which
+constitutes the great blot on his reign, and caused its brilliant career
+to close in mourning, arose from the same cause. He was fain to give the
+same unity to the church which he had done to the army, navy, and civil
+strength of the monarchy. He saw no reason why the Huguenots should not,
+at the royal command, face about like one of Turenne's battalions.
+Schism in the church was viewed by him in exactly the same light as
+rebellion in the state. No efforts were spared by inducements, good
+deeds, and fair promises, to make proselytes; and when twelve hundred
+thousand Protestants resisted his seductions, the sword, the fagot, and
+the wheel were resorted to without mercy for their destruction.
+
+Napoleon, it is well known, had the highest admiration of Louis XIV. Nor
+is this surprising: their principles of government and leading objects
+of ambition were the same. "L'etat _c'est moi_," was the principle of
+this grandson of Henry IV.: "Your first duty is _to me_, your second to
+France," said the Emperor to his nephew Prince Louis Napoleon. In
+different words, the idea was the same. To concentrate Europe in France,
+France in Paris, Paris in the government, and the government in himself,
+was the ruling idea of each. But it was no concentration for selfish or
+unworthy purposes which was then desired; it was for great and lofty
+objects that this undivided power was desired. It was neither to gratify
+the desire of an Eastern seraglio, nor exercise the tyranny of a Roman
+emperor, that either coveted unbounded authority. It was to exalt the
+nation of which they formed the head, to augment its power, extend its
+dominion, enhance its fame, magnify its resources, that they both deemed
+themselves sent into the world. It was the general sense that this was
+the object of their administration which constituted the strength of
+both. Equally with the popular party in the present day, they regarded
+society as a pyramid, of which the multitude formed the base, and the
+monarch the head. Equally with the most ardent democrat, they desired
+the augmentation of the national resources, the increase of public
+felicity. But they both thought that these blessings must descend from
+the sovereign to his subject, not ascend from the subjects to their
+sovereign. "Every thing _for_ the people, nothing _by_ them," which
+Napoleon described as the secret of good government, was not less the
+maxim of the imperious despot of the Bourbon race.
+
+The identity of their ideas, the similarity of their objects of
+ambition, appears in the monuments which both have left at Paris. Great
+as was the desire of the Emperor to add to its embellishment,
+magnificent as were his ideas in the attempt, he has yet been unable to
+equal the noble structures of the Bourbon dynasty. The splendid pile of
+Versailles, the glittering dome of the Invalides, still, after the lapse
+of a century and a half, overshadow all the other monuments in the
+metropolis; though the confiscations of the Revolution, and the
+victories of the Emperor, gave succeeding governments the resources of
+the half of Europe for their construction. The inscription on the arch
+of Louis, "Ludovico Magno," still seems to embody the gratitude of the
+citizens to the greatest benefactor of the capital; and it is not
+generally known that the two edifices which have added most since his
+time to the embellishment of the metropolis, and of which the revolution
+and the empire are fain to take the credit--the Pantheon and the
+Madeleine--were begun in 1764 by Louis XV., and owe their origin to the
+magnificent ideas which Louis XIV. transmitted to his, in other
+respects, unworthy descendant.[1]
+
+Had one dark and atrocious transaction not taken place, the annalist
+might have stopped here, and painted the French monarch, with a few
+foibles and weaknesses, the common bequest of mortality, still as, upon
+the whole, a noble and magnanimous ruler. His ambition, great as it was,
+and desolating as it proved, both to the adjoining states, and in the
+end his own subjects, was the "last infirmity of noble minds." He shared
+it with Caesar and Alexander, with Charlemagne and Napoleon. Even his
+cruel and unnecessary ravaging of the Palatinate, though attended with
+dreadful private suffering, has too many parallels in the annals of
+military cruelty. His personal vanities and weaknesses, his love of
+show, his passion for women, his extravagant expenses, were common to
+him with his grandfather Henry IV.; they seemed inherent in the Bourbon
+race, and are the frailties to which heroic minds in every age have been
+most subject. But, for the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and the
+heartrending cruelties with which it was carried into execution, no such
+apology can be found. It admits neither of palliation nor excuse. But
+for the massacre of St Bartholomew, and the expulsion of the Morescoes
+from Spain, it would stand foremost in the annals of the world for
+kingly perfidy and priestly cruelty. The expulsion of five hundred
+thousand innocent human beings from their country, for no other cause
+but difference of religious opinion--the destruction, it is said, of
+nearly an hundred thousand by the frightful tortures of the wheel and
+the stake--the wholesale desolation of provinces and destruction of
+cities for conscience sake, never will and never should be forgotten. It
+is the eternal disgrace of the Roman Catholic religion--a disgrace to
+which the "execrations of ages have not yet affixed an adequate
+censure"--that all these infamous state crimes took their origin in the
+bigoted zeal, or sanguinary ambition of the Church of Rome. Nor have
+any of them passed without their just reward. The expulsion of the
+Moors, the most industrious and valuable inhabitants of the Peninsula,
+has entailed a weakness upon the Spanish monarchy, which the subsequent
+lapse of two centuries has been unable to repair. The reaction against
+the Romish atrocities produced the great league of which William III.
+was the head; it sharpened the swords of Eugene and Marlborough; it
+closed in mourning the reign of Louis XV. Nor did the national
+punishment stop here. The massacre of St Bartholomew, and revocation of
+the Edict of Nantes, were the remote, but certain cause of the French
+Revolution, and all the unutterable miseries which it brought both upon
+the Bourbon race and the professors of the Romish faith. Nations have no
+immortality; their punishment is inflicted in this world; it is visited
+with unerring certainty on the third and fourth generations. Providence
+has a certain way of dealing with the political sins of men--which is,
+to leave them to the consequences of their own actions.
+
+If ever the characters of two important actors on the theatre of human
+affairs stood forth in striking and emphatic contrast to each other,
+they were those of Louis XIV. and William III. They were, in truth, the
+representatives of the principles for which they respectively so long
+contended; their characters embodied the doctrines, and were
+distinguished by the features, of the causes for which they fought
+through life. As much as the character--stately, magnanimous, and
+ambitious, but bigoted and unscrupulous--of Louis XIV. personified the
+Romish, did the firm and simple, but persevering and unconquerable mind
+of William, embody the principles of the Protestant faith. The positions
+they respectively held through life, the stations they occupied, the
+resources, moral and political, which they wielded, were not less
+characteristic of the causes of which they were severally the heads.
+Louis led on the feudal resources of the French monarchy. Inured to
+rigid discipline, directed by consummate talent, supported by immense
+resources, his armies, uniting the courage of feudal to the organisation
+of civilised times, like those of Caesar, had at first only to appear to
+conquer. From his gorgeous palaces at Paris, he seemed able, like the
+Church of Rome from the halls of the Quirinal, to give law to the whole
+Christian world. William began the contest under very different
+circumstances. Sunk in obscure marshes, cooped up in a narrow territory,
+driven into a corner of Europe, the forces at his command appeared as
+nothing before the stupendous array of his adversary. He was the emblem
+of the Protestant faith, arising from small beginnings, springing from
+the energy of the middle classes, but destined to grow with ceaseless
+vigour, until it reached the gigantic strength of its awful antagonist.
+
+The result soon proved the prodigious difference in the early resources
+of the parties. Down went tower and town before the apparition of Louis
+in his strength. The iron barriers of Flanders yielded almost without a
+struggle to his arms. The genius of Turenne and Vauban, the presence of
+Louis, proved for the time irresistible. The Rhine was crossed; a
+hundred thousand men appeared before the gates of Amsterdam. Dissension
+had paralysed its strength, terror all but mastered its resolution.
+England, influenced by French mistresses, or bought by French gold, held
+back, and ere long openly joined the oppressor, alike of its liberties
+and its religion. All seemed lost alike for the liberties of Europe and
+the Protestant faith. But William was not dismayed. He had a certain
+resource against subjugation left. In his own words, "he could die in
+the last ditch." He communicated his unconquerable spirit to his
+fainting fellow-citizens; he inspired them with the noble resolution to
+abandon their country rather than submit to the invaders, and "seek in a
+new hemisphere that liberty of which Europe had become unworthy." The
+generous effort was not made in vain. The Dutch rallied round a leader
+who was not wanting to himself in such a crisis. The dikes were cut; the
+labour of centuries was lost; the ocean resumed its sway over the fields
+reft from its domain. But the cause of freedom of religion was gained.
+The French armies recoiled from the watery waste, as those of Napoleon
+afterwards did from the flames of Moscow. Amsterdam was the limit of the
+conquests of Louis XIV. He there found the power which said, "Hitherto
+shalt thou come, and no further, and here shall thy proud waves be
+staid." Long, and often doubtful, was the contest; it was bequeathed to
+a succeeding generation and another reign. But from the invasion of
+Holland, the French arms and Romish domination permanently receded; and
+but for the desertion of the alliance by England, at the peace of
+Utrecht, they would have given law in the palace of the Grand Monarque,
+bridled the tyranny of Bossuet and Tellier, and permanently established
+the Protestant faith in nearly the half of Europe.
+
+Like many other men who are called on to play an important part in the
+affairs of the world, William seemed formed by nature for the duties he
+was destined to perform. Had his mind been stamped by a different die,
+his character cast in a different mould, he would have failed in his
+mission. He was not a monarch of the most brilliant, nor a general of
+the most daring kind. Had he been either the one or the other, he would
+have been shattered against the colossal strength of Louis XIV., and
+crushed in the very outset of his career. But he possessed in the
+highest perfection that great quality without which, in the hour of
+trial, all others prove of no avail--moral courage, and invincible
+determination. His enterprises, often designed with ability and executed
+with daring, were yet all based, like those of Wellington afterwards in
+Portugal, on a just sense of the necessity of husbanding his resources
+from the constant inferiority of his forces and means to those of the
+enemy. He was perseverance itself. Nothing could shake his resolution,
+nothing divert his purpose. With equal energy he laboured in the cabinet
+to construct and keep together the vast alliance necessary to restrain
+the ambition of the French monarch, and toiled in the field to baffle
+the enterprises of his able generals. With a force generally inferior in
+number, always less powerful than that of his adversaries in discipline,
+composition, and resources, he nevertheless contrived to sustain the
+contest, and gradually wrested from his powerful enemy the more
+important fortresses, which, in the first tumult of invasion, had
+submitted to his arms. If the treaties of Nimeguen and Ryswick were less
+detrimental to the French power than that of Utrecht afterwards proved,
+they were more glorious to the arms of the Dutch commonwealth and the
+guidance of William; for they were the result of efforts in which the
+weight of the conflict generally fell on Holland alone; and its honours
+were not to be shared with those won by the wisdom of a Marlborough, or
+the daring of a Eugene.
+
+In private life, William was distinguished by the same qualities which
+marked his public career. He had not the chivalrous ardour which bespoke
+the nobles of France, nor the stately magnificence of their haughty
+sovereign. His manners and habits were such as arose from, and suited,
+the austere and laborious people among whom his life was passed. Without
+being insensible to the softer passions, he never permitted them to
+influence his conduct, or incroach upon his time. He was patient,
+laborious, and indefatigable. To courtiers accustomed to the polished
+elegance of Paris, or the profligate gallantry of St James's, his
+manners appeared cold and unbending. It was easy to see he had not been
+bred in the saloons of Versailles or the _soirees_ of Charles II. But he
+was steady and unwavering in his resolutions; his desires were set on
+great objects; and his external demeanour was correct, and often
+dignified. He was reproached by the English, not without reason, with
+being unduly partial, after his accession to the British throne, to his
+Dutch subjects; and he was influenced through life by a love of money,
+which, though at first arising from a bitter sense of its necessity in
+his long and arduous conflicts, degenerated in his older years into an
+avaricious turn. The national debt of England has been improperly
+ascribed to his policy. It arose unavoidably from the Revolution, and is
+the price which every nation pays for a lasting change, how necessary
+soever, in its ruling dynasty. When the sovereign can no longer depend
+on the unbought loyalty of his subjects, he has no resource but in their
+interested attachment. Louis Philippe's government has done the same,
+under the influence of the same necessity. Yet William was not a perfect
+character; more than one dark transaction has left a lasting stain on
+his memory; and the massacre of Glencoe, in particular, if it did not
+equal the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in the wide-spread misery
+with which it was attended, rivalled it in the perfidy in which it was
+conceived, and the cruelty with which it was executed.
+
+On his arrival in Holland on the 18th March 1710, Marlborough again
+found himself practically involved in the still pending negotiations for
+peace, over which, on the decline of his influence at court, he had
+ceased to have any real control. Still exposed to the blasting
+imputation of seeking to prolong the war for his own private purposes,
+he was in reality doing his utmost to terminate hostilities. As the
+negotiation with the ostensible plenipotentiaries of the different
+courts was at an end, but Louis still continued to make private
+overtures to the Dutch, in the hope of detaching them from the
+confederacy, Marlborough took advantage of this circumstance to
+endeavour to effect an accommodation. At his request, the Dutch agent,
+Petcum, had again repaired to Paris in the end of 1709, to resume the
+negotiation; and the _Marlborough Papers_ contain numerous letters from
+him to the Duke, detailing the progress of the overtures.[2] On the very
+day after Marlborough's arrival at the Hague, the plenipotentiaries made
+their report of the issue of the negotiation; but the views of the
+parties were still so much at variance, that it was evident no hopes of
+peace could be entertained. Louis was not yet sufficiently humbled to
+submit to the arrogant demands of the Allies, which went to strip him of
+nearly all his conquests; and the different powers of the confederacy
+were each set upon turning the general success of the alliance to their
+own private advantage.
+
+Zenzindorf, on the part of Austria, insisted that not the smallest
+portion of the Spanish territories in Italy should be ceded to a prince
+of the house of Bourbon, and declared the resolution of his imperial
+master to perish with arms in his hands, rather than submit to a
+partition which would lead to his inevitable ruin. King Charles
+expressed the same determination, and insisted further for the cession
+of Roussillon, which had been wrested from Spain since the treaty of the
+Pyrenees. The Duke of Savoy, who aimed at the acquisition of Sicily from
+the spoils of the fallen monarch, was equally obstinate for the
+prosecution of the war. Godolphin, Somers, and the Dutch Pensionary,
+inclined to peace, and were willing to purchase it by the cession of
+Sicily to Louis; and Marlborough gave this his entire support, provided
+the evacuation of Spain, the great object of the war, could be
+secured.[3] But all their efforts were in vain. The ambitious designs of
+Austria and Savoy prevailed over their pacific counsels; and we have the
+valuable authority of Torcy, who, in the former congress, had accused
+the Duke of breaking off the negotiation, that in this year the rupture
+was entirely owing to the efforts of Count Zenzindorf.[4] Marlborough,
+however, never ceased to long for a termination of hostilities, and took
+the field with a heavy heart, relieved only by the hope that one more
+successful campaign would give him what he so ardently desired, the rest
+consequent upon a general peace.[5]
+
+War being resolved on, Marlborough and Eugene met at Tournay on the
+28th April, and commenced the campaign by the capture of the fort of
+Mortagne, which capitulated on the same day. Their force already
+amounted to sixty thousand men, and, as the troops were daily coming up
+from their cantonments, it was expected soon to amount to double the
+number. The plan of operations was soon settled between these two great
+men; no difference of opinion ever occurred between them, no jealousy
+ever marred their co-operations. They determined to commence serious
+operations by attacking Douay--a strong fortress, and one of the last of
+the first order which, in that quarter, guarded the French territory. To
+succeed in this, however, it was necessary to pass the French lines,
+which were of great strength, and were guarded by Marshal Montesquieu at
+the head of forty battalions and twenty squadrons. Douay itself also was
+strongly protected both by art and nature. On the one side lay the Haine
+and the Scarpe; in the centre was the canal of Douay; on the other hand
+were the lines of La Bassie, which had been strengthened with additional
+works since the close of the campaign. Marlborough was very sanguine of
+success, as the French force was not yet collected, and he was
+considerably superior in number; and he wrote to Godolphin on the same
+night--"The orders are given for marching this night, so that I hope my
+next will give you an account of our being in Artois."[6]
+
+The Duke operated at once by both wings. On the one wing he detached the
+Prince of Wirtemberg, with fifteen thousand men, by Pont-a-Tessin to
+Pont-a-Vendin, where the French lines met the Dyle and the canal of
+Douay; while Prince Eugene moved forward Count Fels, with a considerable
+corps, towards Pont Auby on the same canal. The whole army followed in
+two columns, the right commanded by Eugene, and the left by Marlborough.
+The English general secured the passage at Pont-a-Vendin without
+resistance; and Eugene, though baffled at Pont Auby, succeeded in
+passing the canal at Sant and Courieres without serious loss. The first
+defences were thus forced; and that night the two wings, having formed a
+junction, lay on their arms in the plain of Lens, while Montesquieu
+precipitately retired behind the Scarpe, in the neighbourhood of Vitry.
+Next morning the troops, overjoyed at their success, continued their
+advance. Marlborough sent forward General Cadogan, at the head of the
+English troops, to Pont-a-Rache, to circumscribe the garrison of Douay,
+on the canal of Marchiennes on the north; while Eugene, encamping on the
+other side of the Scarpe, completed the investment on the west. The
+perfect success of this enterprise without any loss was matter of equal
+surprise and joy to the Duke, who wrote to the Duchess in the highest
+strain of satisfaction at his bloodless triumph. It was entirely owing
+to the suddenness and secresy of his movements, which took the enemy
+completely unawares; for, had the enterprise been delayed four days
+longer, its issue would have been extremely doubtful, and thousands of
+men must, at all events, have been sacrificed.[7]
+
+Douay, which was immediately invested after this success, is a fortress
+of considerable strength, in the second line which covers the French
+province of Artois. Less populous than Lille, it embraces a wider
+circuit within its ample walls. Its principal defence consists in the
+marshes, which, on the side of Tournay, where attack might be expected,
+render it extremely difficult of access, especially in the rainy season.
+Access to it is defended by Fort Scarpe, a powerful outwork, capable of
+standing a separate siege. The garrison consisted of eight thousand men,
+under the command of the Marquis Albergotti, an officer of the highest
+talent and bravery; and under him were the renowned Valory, to direct
+the engineers, and the not less celebrated Chevalier de Jaucourt, to
+command the artillery. From a fortress of such strength so defended, the
+most resolute resistance might be expected, and no efforts were spared
+on the part of the Allied generals to overcome it.
+
+The investment was completed on the 24th, and the trenches opened on the
+5th May. On the 7th, the head of the sap was advanced to within two
+hundred and fifty yards of the exterior palisades; but the besiegers
+that night experienced a severe check from a vigorous sally of the
+besieged with twelve hundred men, by which two English regiments were
+nearly cut to pieces. But, on the 9th, a great train of artillery,
+consisting of two hundred pieces, with a large supply of artillery,
+arrived from Tournay; on the 11th, the advanced works were strongly
+armed, and the batteries were pushed up to the covered way, and
+thundered across the ditch against the rampart. The imminent danger of
+this important stronghold now seriously alarmed the French court; and
+Marshal Villars, who commanded their great army on the Flemish frontier,
+received the most positive orders to advance to its relief. By great
+exertions, he had now collected one hundred and fifty-three battalions
+and two hundred and sixty-two squadrons, which were pompously announced
+as mustering one hundred and fifty thousand combatants, and certainly
+amounted to more than eighty thousand. The Allied force was almost
+exactly equal; it consisted of one hundred and fifty-five battalions and
+two hundred and sixty-one squadrons. Villars broke up from the vicinity
+of Cambray on the 21st May, and advanced in great strength towards
+Douay. Marlborough and Eugene immediately made the most vigorous
+preparations to receive him. Thirty battalions only were left to
+prosecute the siege; twelve squadrons were placed in observation at
+Pont-a-Rache; and the whole remainder of the army, about seventy
+thousand strong, concentrated in a strong position, covering the siege,
+on which all the resources of art, so far as the short time would admit,
+had been lavished. Every thing was prepared for a mighty struggle. The
+whole guns were mounted on batteries four hundred paces from each other;
+the infantry was drawn up in a single line along the intrenchment, and
+filled up the whole interval between the artillery; the cavalry were
+arranged in two lines, seven hundred paces in rear of the foot-soldiers.
+It seemed another Malplaquet, in which the relative position of the two
+armies was reversed, and the French were to storm the intrenched
+position of the Allies. Every man in both armies fully expected a
+decisive battle; and Marlborough, who was heartily tired of the war,
+wrote to the Duchess, that he hoped for a victory, which should at once
+end the war, and restore him to private life.[8]
+
+
+Yet there was no battle. The lustre of Blenheim and Ramilies played
+round Marlborough's bayonets; the recollection of Turin tripled the
+force of Eugene's squadrons. Villars advanced on the 1st June, with all
+the pomp and circumstance of war, to within musket-shot of the Allied
+position; and he had not only the authority but the recommendation of
+Louis to hazard a battle. He boasted that his force amounted to a
+hundred and sixty thousand men.[9] But he did not venture to make the
+attack. To Marlborough's great regret, he retired without fighting; and
+the English general, at the age of threescore, was left to pursue the
+fatigues and the labours of a protracted campaign, in which, for the
+first time in his life, he was doubtful of success, from knowing the
+malignant eyes with which he was regarded by the ruling factions in his
+own country. "I long," said he, "for an end of the war, so God's will be
+done; whatever the event may be, I shall have nothing to reproach myself
+with, having, with all my heart, done my duty, and being hitherto
+blessed with more success than was ever known before. My wishes and duty
+are the same; but I can't say I have the same prophetic spirit I used to
+have; for in all the former actions I never did doubt of success, we
+having had constantly the great blessing of being of one mind. I cannot
+say it is so now; for I fear some are run so far into villanous faction,
+that it would more content them to see us beaten; but if I live I will
+be watchful that it shall not be in their power to do much hurt. The
+discourse of the Duke of Argyle is, that when I please there will then
+be peace. I suppose his friends speak the same language in England; so
+that I must every summer venture my life in a battle, and be found fault
+with in winter for not bringing home peace. No, I wish for it with all
+my heart and soul."[10]
+
+Villars having retired without fighting, the operations of the siege
+were resumed with redoubled vigour. On the 16th June, signals of
+distress were sent up from the town, which the French marshal perceived,
+and he made in consequence a show of returning to interrupt the siege,
+but his movements came to nothing. Marlborough, to counteract his
+movement, repassed the Scarpe at Vitry, and took up a position directly
+barring the line of advance of the French marshal, while Eugene
+prosecuted the siege. Villars again retired without fighting. On the
+22d, the Fort of Scarpe was breached, and the sap was advanced to the
+counterscarp of the fortress, the walls of which were violently shaken;
+and on the 26th, Albergotti, who had no longer any hope of being
+relieved, and who saw preparations made for a general assault,
+capitulated with the garrison, now reduced to four thousand five hundred
+men.[11]
+
+On the surrender of Douay, the Allied generals intended to besiege
+Arras, the _last_ of the triple line of fortresses which on that side
+covered France, and between which and Paris no fortified place remained
+to arrest the march of an invader. On the 10th July, Marlborough crossed
+the Scarpe at Vitry, and, joining Eugene, their united forces, nearly
+ninety thousand strong, advanced towards Arras. But Villars, who felt
+the extreme importance of this last stronghold, had exerted himself to
+the utmost for its defence. He had long employed his troops on the
+construction of new lines of great strength on the Crinchon, stretching
+from Arras and the Somme, and he had here collected nearly a hundred
+thousand men, and a hundred and thirty pieces of cannon. After
+reconnoitring this position, the Allied generals concurred in thinking
+that it was equally impossible to force them, and undertake the siege of
+Arras, while the enemy, in such strength, and so strongly posted, lay on
+its flank. Their first intention, on finding themselves baffled in this
+project, was to seize Hesdin on the Cancher, which would have left the
+enemy no strong place between them and the coast. But the skilful
+dispositions of Villars, who on this occasion displayed uncommon
+abilities and foresight, rendered this design abortive, and it was
+therefore determined to attack Bethune. This place, which was surrounded
+with very strong works, was garrisoned by nine thousand men, under the
+command of M. Puy Vauban, nephew, of the celebrated marshal of the same
+name. But as an attack on it had not been expected, the necessary
+supplies for a protracted resistance had not been fully introduced when
+the investment was completed on the 15th July.[12]
+
+
+Villars, upon seeing the point of attack now fully declared, moved in
+right columns upon Hobarques, near Montenencourt. Eugene and Marlborough
+upon this assembled their covering army, and changed their front, taking
+up a new line stretching from Mont St Eloi to Le Comte. Upon advancing
+to reconnoitre the enemy, Marlborough discovered that the French,
+advancing to raise the siege, were busy strengthening a new set of
+lines, which stretched across the plain from the rivulet Ugie to the
+Lorraine, and the centre of which at Avesnes Le Comte was already
+strongly fortified. It now appeared how much Villars had gained by the
+skilful measures which had diverted the Allies from their projected
+attack upon Arras. It lay upon the direct road to Paris. Bethune, though
+of importance to the ultimate issue of the war, was not of the same
+present moment. It lay on the flank on the second line, Arras in front,
+and was the only remaining fortress in the last. By means of the new
+lines which he had constructed, the able French marshal had erected a
+fresh protection for his country, when its last defences were wellnigh
+broken through. By simply holding them, the interior of France was
+covered from incursion, and time gained for raising fresh armaments in
+the interior for its defence, and, what was of more importance to Louis,
+awaiting the issue of the intrigues in England, which were expected soon
+to overthrow the Whig cabinet. Villars, on this occasion, proved the
+salvation of his country, and justly raised himself to the very highest
+rank among its military commanders. His measures were the more to be
+commended that they exposed him to the obloquy of leaving Bethune to its
+fate, which surrendered by capitulation, with its numerous garrison and
+accomplished commander, on the 28th August.[13]
+
+Notwithstanding the loss of so many fortresses on the endangered
+frontier of his territory, Louis XIV. was so much encouraged by what he
+knew of the great change which was going on in the councils of Queen
+Anne, that, expecting daily an entire revolution in the ministry, and
+overthrow of the war party in the Cabinet, he resolved on the most
+vigorous prosecution of the contest. He made clandestine overtures to
+the secret advisers of the Queen, in the hope of establishing that
+separate negotiation which at no distant period proved so successful.
+Torcy, the Duke's enemy, triumphantly declared, "what we lose in
+Flanders, we shall gain in England."[14] To frustrate these
+machinations, and if possible rouse the national feeling more strongly
+in favour of a vigorous prosecution of the war, Marlborough determined
+to lay siege to Aire and St Venant, which, though off the line of direct
+attack on France, laid open the way to Calais, which, if supported at
+home, he hoped to reduce before the conclusion of the campaign.[15] He
+entertained the most sanguine hopes of success from this design, which
+was warmly supported by Godolphin; but he obtained at this time such
+discouraging accounts of the precarious condition of his influence at
+court, that he justly concluded he would not be adequately supported in
+them from England, from which the main supplies for the enterprise must
+be drawn. He wisely, therefore, resolved, in concert with Eugene, to
+forego this dazzling but perilous project for the present, and to
+content himself with the solid advantages, unattended with risk, of
+reducing Aire and St Venant.
+
+Having takes their resolution, the confederate generals began their
+march in the beginning of September, and on the 6th of that month, both
+places were invested. Aire, which is comparatively of small extent, was
+garrisoned by only five thousand seven hundred men; but Venant was a
+place of great size and strength, and had a garrison of fourteen
+battalions of foot and three regiments of dragoons, mustering eight
+thousand combatants. They were under the command of the Count de
+Guebriant, a brave and skillful commander. Both were protected by
+inundations, which retarded extremely the operations of the besiegers,
+the more especially as the autumnal rains had early set in this year
+with more than usual severity. While anxiously awaiting the cessation of
+this obstacle, and the arrival of a great convoy of heavy cannon and
+ammunition which was coming up from Ghent, the Allied generals received
+the disheartening intelligence of the total defeat of this important
+convoy, which, though guarded by sixteen hundred men, was attacked and
+destroyed by a French corps on the 19th September. This loss affected
+Marlborough the more sensibly, that it was the first disaster of moment
+which had befallen him during nine years of incessant warfare.[16] But,
+notwithstanding this disaster, St Venant was so severely pressed by the
+fire of the besiegers, under the Prince of Anhalt, who conducted the
+operations with uncommon vigour and ability, that it was compelled to
+capitulate on the 29th, on condition of its garrison being conducted to
+St Omer, not to serve again till regularly exchanged.
+
+Aire still held out, as the loss of the convoy from Ghent, and the
+dreadful rains which fell almost without intermission during the whole
+of October, rendered the progress of the siege almost impossible. The
+garrison, too, under the command of the brave governor, made a most
+resolute defence. Sickness prevailed to a great extent in the Allied
+army; the troops were for the most part up to the knees in mud and
+water; and the rains, which fell night and day without intermission,
+precluded the possibility of finding a dry place for their lodging. It
+was absolutely necessary, however, to continue the siege; for,
+independent of the credit of the army being staked on its success, it
+had become impossible, as Marlborough himself said, to draw the cannon
+from the trenches.[17] The perseverance of the Allied commanders was at
+length rewarded by success. On the 12th November the fortress
+capitulated, and the garrison, still three thousand six hundred and
+twenty-eight strong, marched out prisoners, leaving sixteen hundred sick
+and wounded in the town. This conquest, which concluded the campaign,
+was, however, dearly purchased by the loss of nearly seven thousand men
+killed and wounded in the Allied ranks, exclusive of the sick, who,
+amidst those pestilential marshes, had now swelled to double the
+number.[18]
+
+Although the capture of four such important fortresses as Douay,
+Bethune, St Venant, and Aire, with their garrisons, amounting to thirty
+thousand men, who had been taken in them during the campaign, was a most
+substantial advantage, and could not fail to have a most important
+effect on the final issue of the war; yet it did not furnish the same
+subject for national exultation which preceding ones had done. There had
+been no brilliant victory like Blenheim, Ramilies, or Oudenarde, to
+silence envy and defy malignity; the successes, though little less real,
+had been not so dazzling. The intriguers about the court, the
+malcontents in the country, eagerly seized on this circumstance to
+calumniate the Duke, and accused him of unworthy motives in the conduct
+of the war. He was protracting it for his own private purposes, reducing
+it to a strife of lines and sieges, when he might at once terminate it
+by a decisive battle, and gratifying his ruling passion of avarice by
+the lucrative appointments which he enjoyed himself, or divided among
+his friends. Nor was it only among the populace and his political
+opponents that these surmises prevailed; his greatness and fame had
+become an object of envy to his own party. Orford, Wharton, and Halifax
+had on many occasions evinced their distrust of him; and even Somers,
+who had long stood his friend, was inclined to think the power of the
+Duke of Marlborough too great, and the emoluments and offices of his
+family and connexions immoderate.[19] The Duchess inflamed the discord
+between him and the Queen, by positively refusing to come to any
+reconciliation with her rival, Mrs Masham. The discord increased daily,
+and great were the efforts made to aggravate it. To the Queen, the
+never-failing device was adopted of representing the victorious general
+as lording it over the throne; as likely to eclipse even the crown by
+the lustre of his fame; as too dangerous and powerful a subject for a
+sovereign to tolerate. Matters came to such a pass, in the course of the
+summer of 1710, that Marlborough found himself thwarted in every request
+he made, every project he proposed; and he expressed his entire nullity
+to the Duchess, by the emphatic expression, that he was a "mere sheet of
+white paper, upon which his friends might write what they pleased."[20]
+
+The spite at the Duke appeared in the difficulties which were now
+started by the Lords of the Treasury in regard to the prosecution of the
+works at Blenheim. This noble monument of a nation's gratitude had
+hitherto proceeded rapidly; the stately design of Vanburgh was rapidly
+approaching its completion, and so anxious had the Queen been to see it
+finished, that she got a model of it placed in the royal palace of
+Kensington. Now, however, petty and unworthy objections were started on
+the score of expense, and attempts were made, by delaying payment of the
+sums from the Treasury, to throw the cost of completing the building on
+the great general. He had penetration enough, however, to avoid falling
+into the snare, and actually suspended the progress of the work when the
+Treasury warrants were withheld. He constantly directed that the
+management of the building should be left to the Queen's officers; and,
+by steadily adhering to this system, he shamed them into continuing the
+work.[21]
+
+Marlborough's name and influence, however, were too great to be entirely
+neglected, and the party which was now rising into supremacy at court
+were anxious, if possible, to secure them to their own side. They made,
+accordingly, overtures in secret to him; and it was even insinuated
+that, if he would abandon the Whigs, and coalesce with them, he would
+entirely regain the royal favour, and might aspire to the highest
+situation which a subject could hold. Lord Bolingbroke has told us what
+the conditions of this alliance were to be:--"He was to abandon the
+Whigs, his new friends, and take up with the Tories, his old friends; to
+engage heartily in the true interests, and no longer leave his country
+a prey to rapine and faction. He was, besides, required to restrain the
+rage and fury of his wife. Their offers were coupled with threats of an
+impeachment, and boasts that sufficient evidence could be adduced to
+carry a prosecution through both Houses."[22] To terms so degrading, the
+Duke answered in terms worthy of his high reputation. He declared his
+resolution to be of no party, to vote according to his conscience, and
+to be as hearty as his new colleagues in support of the Queen's
+government and the welfare of the country. This manly reply increased
+the repulsive feelings with which he was regarded by the ministry, who
+seem now to have finally resolved on his ruin; while the intelligence
+that such overtures had been made having got wind, sowed distrust
+between him and the Whig leaders, which was never afterwards entirely
+removed. But he honourably declared that he would be governed by the
+Whigs, from whom he would never depart; and that they could not suspect
+the purity of his motives in so doing, as they had now lost the majority
+in the House of Commons.[23]
+
+Parliament met on the 25th November; and Marlborough, in the end of the
+year, returned to London. But he soon received decisive proof of the
+altered temper both of government and the country towards him. In the
+Queen's speech, no notice was taken of the late successes in Flanders,
+no vote of thanks for his services in the campaign moved by ministers;
+and they even contrived, by a sidewind, to get quit of one proposed, to
+their no small embarrassment, by Lord Scarborough. The Duchess, too, was
+threatened with removal from her situation at court; and Marlborough
+avowed that he knew the Queen was "as desirous for her removal as Mr
+Harley and Mr Masham can be." The violent temper and proud unbending
+spirit of the Duchess were ill calculated to heal such a breach, which,
+in the course of the winter, became so wide, that her removal from the
+situation she held, as mistress of the robes, was only prevented by the
+fear that, in the vehemence of her resentment, she might publish the
+Queen's correspondence, and that the Duke, whose military services could
+not yet be spared, might resign his command. Libels against both the
+Duke and the Duchess daily appeared, and passed entirely unpunished,
+though the freedom of the press was far from being established. Three
+officers were dismissed from the army for drinking his health. When he
+waited on the Queen, on his arrival in England, in the end of December,
+she said--"I must request you will not suffer any vote of thanks to you
+to be moved in Parliament this year, _as my ministers will certainly
+oppose it_." Such was the return made by government to the hero who had
+raised the power and glory of England to an unprecedented pitch, and in
+that very campaign had cut deeper into the iron frontier of France than
+had ever been done in any former one.[24]
+
+The female coterie who aided at St James's the male opponents of
+Marlborough, were naturally extremely solicitous to get the Duchess
+removed from her situations as head of the Queen's household and keeper
+of the privy purse; and ministers were only prevented from carrying
+their wishes into effect by their apprehension, if executed, of the
+Duke's resigning his command of the army. In an audience, on 17th
+January 1711, Marlborough presented a letter to her Majesty from the
+Duchess, couched in terms of extreme humility, in which she declared
+that his anxiety was such, at the requital his services had received,
+that she apprehended he would not live six months.[25] The Queen at
+first refused to read it; and when at length, at the Duke's earnest
+request, she agreed to do so, she coldly observed--"I cannot change my
+resolution." Marlborough, in the most moving terms, and with touching
+eloquence, intreated the Queen not to dismiss the Duchess till she had
+no more need of her services, by the war being finished, which, he
+hoped, would be in less than a year; but he received no other answer,
+but a peremptory demand for the surrender of the gold key, the symbol of
+her office, within three days. Unable to obtain any relaxation in his
+sovereign's resolution, Marlborough withdrew with the deepest emotions
+of indignation and sorrow. The Duchess, in a worthy spirit, immediately
+took his resolution; she sent in her resignation, with the gold key,
+that very night. So deeply was Marlborough hurt at this extraordinary
+ingratitude for all his services, that he at first resolved to resign
+his whole command, and retire altogether into private life. From this
+intention he was only diverted, and that with great difficulty, by the
+efforts of Godolphin and the Whigs at home, and Prince Eugene and the
+Pensionary Heinsius abroad, who earnestly besought him not to abandon
+the command, as that would at once dissolve the grand alliance, and ruin
+the common cause. We can sympathise with the feelings of a victorious
+warrior who felt reluctant to forego, by one hasty step, the fruit of
+nine years of victories: we cannot but respect the self-sacrifice of the
+patriot who preferred enduring mortifications himself, to endangering
+the great cause of religious freedom and European independence.
+Influenced by these considerations, Marlborough withheld his intended
+resignation. The Duchess of Somerset was made mistress of the robes, and
+Mrs Masham obtained the confidential situation of keeper of the privy
+purse. Malignity, now sure of impunity, heaped up invectives on the
+falling hero. His integrity was calumniated, his courage even
+questioned, and the most consummate general of that, or perhaps any
+other age, represented as the lowest of mankind.[26] It soon appeared
+how unfounded had been the aspersions cast upon the Duchess, as well as
+the Duke, for their conduct in office. Her accounts, after being rigidly
+scrutinised, were returned to her without any objection being stated
+against them; and Marlborough, anxious to quit that scene of ingratitude
+and intrigue for the real theatre of his glory, soon after set out for
+the army in Flanders.[27]
+
+Marlborough arrived at the Hague on the 4th March; and, although no
+longer possessing the confidence of government, or intrusted with any
+control over diplomatic measures, he immediately set himself with the
+utmost vigour to prepare for military operations. Great efforts had been
+made by both parties, during the winter, for the resumption of
+hostilities, on even a more extended scale than in any preceding
+campaign. Marlborough found the army in the Low Countries extremely
+efficient and powerful; diversions were promised on the side both of
+Spain and Piedmont; and a treaty had been concluded with the Spanish
+malcontents, in consequence of which a large part of the Imperial forces
+were rendered disposable, which Prince Eugene was preparing to lead into
+the Low Countries. But, in the midst of these flattering prospects, an
+event occurred which suddenly deranged then all, postponed for above a
+month the opening of the campaign, and, in its final result, changed the
+fate of Europe. This was the death of the Emperor Joseph, of the
+smallpox, which happened at Vienna on the 16th April--an event which was
+immediately followed by Charles, King of Spain, declaring himself a
+candidate for the Imperial throne. As his pretensions required to be
+supported by a powerful demonstration of troops, the march of a large
+part of Eugene's men to the Netherlands was immediately stopped, and
+that prince himself was hastily recalled from Mentz, to take the command
+of the empire at Ratisbon, as marshal. Charles was soon after elected
+Emperor. Thus Marlborough was left to commence the campaign alone, which
+was the more to be regretted, as the preparations of Louis, during the
+winter, for the defence of his dominions had been made on the most
+extensive scale, and Marshal Villars' lines had come to be regarded as
+the _ne plus ultra_ of field fortification. Yet were Marlborough's
+forces most formidable; for, when reviewed at Orchies on the 30th April,
+between Lille and Douay, they were found, including Eugene's troops
+which had come up, to amount to one hundred and eighty-four battalions,
+and three hundred and sixty-four squadrons, mustering above one hundred
+thousand combatants.[28] But forty-one battalions and forty squadrons
+were in garrison, which reduced the effective force in the field to
+eighty thousand men.
+
+The great object of Louis and his generals had been to construct such a
+line of defences as might prevent the irruption of the enemy into the
+French territory, now that the interior and last line of fortresses was
+so nearly broken through. In pursuance of this design, Villars had, with
+the aid of all the most experienced engineers in France, and at a vast
+expense of labour and money, constructed during the winter a series of
+lines and field-works, exceeding any thing yet seen in modern Europe in
+magnitude and strength, and to which the still more famous lines of
+Torres Vedras have alone, in subsequent times, afforded a parallel. The
+works extended from Namur on the Meuse, by a sort of irregular line, to
+the coast of Picardy. Running first along the marshy line of the Canche,
+they rested on the forts of Montreuil, Hesdin, and Trevant; while the
+great fortresses of Ypres, Calais, Gravelines, and St Omer, lying in
+their front, and still in the hands of the French, rendered any attempt
+to approach them both difficult and hazardous. Along the whole of this
+immense line, extending over so great a variety of ground, for above
+forty miles, every effort had been made, by joining the resources of art
+to the defences of nature, to render the position impregnable. The lines
+were not continuous, as in many places the ground was so rugged, or the
+obstacles of rocks, precipices, and ravines were so formidable, that it
+was evidently impossible to overcome them. But whereever a passage was
+practicable, the approaches to it were protected in the most formidable
+manner. If a streamlet ran along the line, it was carefully dammed up,
+so as to be rendered impassible. Every morass was deepened, by stopping
+up its drains, or letting in the water of the larger rivers by
+artificial canals into it; redoubts were placed on the heights, so as to
+enfilade the plains between them; while in the open country, where no
+advantage of ground was to be met with, field-works were erected, armed
+with abundance of heavy cannon. To man these formidable lines, Villars
+had under his command one hundred and fifty-six battalions, and two
+hundred and twenty-seven squadrons in the field, containing seventy
+thousand infantry, and twenty thousand horse. He had ninety field guns
+and twelve howitzers. There was, besides, thirty-five battalions and
+eighty squadrons detached or in the forts; and, as Eugene soon took away
+twelve battalions and fifty squadrons from the Allied army, the forces
+on the opposite side, when they came to blows, were very nearly
+equal.[29]
+
+Marlborough took the field on the 1st May, with eighty thousand men;
+and his whole force was soon grouped in and around Douay. The
+headquarters of Villars were at Cambray; but, seeing the forces of his
+adversary thus accumulated in one point, he made a corresponding
+concentration, and arranged his whole disposable forces between Bouchain
+on the right, and Monchy Le Preux on the left. This position of the
+French marshal, which extended in a concave semicircle with the
+fortresses, covering either flank, he considered, and with reason, as
+beyond the reach of attack. The English general was meditating a great
+enterprise, which should at once deprive the enemy of all his defences,
+and reduce him to the necessity of fighting a decisive battle, or losing
+his last frontier fortresses. But he was overwhelmed with gloomy
+anticipations; he felt his strength sinking under his incessant and
+protracted fatigues, and knew well he was serving a party who, envious
+of his fame, were ready only to decry his achievements.[30] He lay,
+accordingly, for three weeks awaiting the arrival of his illustrious
+colleague, Prince Eugene, who joined on the 23d May, and took part in a
+great celebration of the anniversary of the victory at Ramilies, which
+had taken place on that day. The plans of the Allied generals were soon
+formed; and, taking advantage of the enthusiasm excited by that
+commemoration, and the arrival of so illustrious a warrior, preparations
+were made for the immediate commencement of active operations. On the
+28th, the two generals reviewed the whole army. But their designs were
+soon interrupted by an event which changed the whole fortune of the
+campaign. Early in June, Eugene received positive orders to march to
+Germany, with a considerable part of his troops, to oppose a French
+force, which was moving towards the Rhine, to influence the approaching
+election of Emperor. On the 13th June, Eugene and Marlborough separated,
+for _the last time_, with the deepest expressions of regret on both
+sides, and gloomy forebodings of the future. The former marched towards
+the Rhine with twelve battalions and fifty squadrons, while
+Marlborough's whole remaining force marched to the right in six
+divisions.[31]
+
+Though Villars was relieved by the departure of Eugene from a
+considerable part of the force opposed to him, and he naturally felt
+desirous of now measuring his strength with his great antagonist in a
+decisive affair, yet he was restrained from hazarding a general
+engagement. Louis, trusting to the progress of the Tory intrigues in
+England, and daily expecting to see Marlborough and the war-party
+overthrown, sent him positive orders not to fight; and soon after
+detached twenty-five battalions and forty squadrons, in two divisions,
+to the Upper Rhine, to watch the movements of Eugene. Villars encouraged
+this separation, representing that the strength of his position was
+such, that he could afford to send a third detachment to the Upper
+Rhine, if it was thought proper. Marlborough, therefore, in vain offered
+battle, and drew up his army in the plain of Lens for that purpose.
+Villars cautiously remained on the defensive; and, though he threw
+eighteen bridges over the Scarpe, and made a show of intending to fight,
+he cautiously abstained from any steps which might bring on a general
+battle.[32] It was not without good reason that Louis thus enjoined his
+lieutenant to avoid compromising his army. The progress of the
+negotiations with England gave him the fairest ground for believing that
+he would obtain nearly all he desired from the favour with which he was
+regarded by the British cabinet without running any risk. He had
+commenced a _separate_ negotiation with the court of St James's, which
+had been favourably received; and Mr Secretary St John had already
+transmitted to Lord Raby, the new plenipotentiary at the Hague, a sketch
+of six preliminary articles proposed by the French king, which were to
+be the basis of a general peace.[33]
+
+The high tone of these proposals proved how largely Louis counted upon
+the altered dispositions of the British cabinet. The Spanish succession,
+the real object of the war, was evaded. Every thing was directed to
+British objects, and influenced by the desire to tempt the commercial
+cupidity of England to the abandonment of the great objects of her
+national policy. Real security was tendered to the British commerce with
+Spain, the Indus, and the Mediterranean; the barrier the Dutch had so
+long contended for was agreed to; a reasonable satisfaction was tendered
+to the allies of England and Holland; and, as to the Spanish succession,
+it was to be left to "new expedients, to the satisfaction of all parties
+interested." These proposals were favourably received by the British
+ministry; they were in secret communicated to the Pensionary Heinsius,
+but concealed from the Austrian and Piedmontese plenipotentiaries; and
+they were _not communicated to Marlborough_--a decisive proof both of
+the altered feeling of the cabinet towards that general, and of the
+consciousness on their part of the tortuous path on which they were now
+entering.[34]
+
+After much deliberation, and a due consideration of what could be
+effected by the diminished force now at his disposal, which, by the
+successive drafts to Eugene's army, was now reduced to one hundred and
+nineteen battalions, and two hundred and fifty-six squadrons, not
+mustering above seventy-five thousand combatants, Marlborough determined
+to break through the enemies' boasted lines; and, after doing so,
+undertake the siege of Bouchain, the possession of which would give him
+a solid footing within the French frontier. With this view, he had long
+and minutely studied the lines of Villars; and he hoped that, even with
+the force at his disposal, they might be broken through. To accomplish
+this, however, required an extraordinary combination of stratagem and
+force; and the manner in which Marlborough contrived to unite them, and
+bring the ardent mind and lively imagination of his adversary to play
+into his hands, to the defeat of all the objects he had most at heart,
+is perhaps the most wonderful part of his whole military
+achievements.[35]
+
+During his encampment at Lewarde, opposite Villars, the English general
+had observed that a triangular piece of ground in front of the French
+position, between Cambray, Aubanchocil-au-bac, and the junction of the
+Sauzet and Scheldt, offered a position so strong, that a small body of
+men might defend it against a very considerable force. He resolved to
+make the occupation of this inconsiderable piece of ground the pivot on
+which the whole passage of the lines should be effected. A redoubt at
+Aubigny, which commanded the approach to it, was first carried without
+difficulty. Arleux, which also was fortified, was next attacked by seven
+hundred men, who issued from Douay in the night. That post also was
+taken, with one hundred and twenty prisoners. Marlborough instantly used
+all imaginable expedition in strengthening it; and Villars, jealous of a
+fortified post so close to his lines remaining in the hands of the
+Allies, attacked it in the night of the 9th July; and, though he failed
+in retaking the work, he surprised the Allies at that point, and made
+two hundred men and four hundred horses prisoners. Though much chagrined
+at the success of this nocturnal attack, the English general now saw
+his designs advancing to maturity. He therefore left Arleux to its own
+resources, and marched towards Bethune. That fort was immediately
+attacked by Marshal Montesquieu, and, after a stout resistance, carried
+by the French, who made the garrison, five hundred strong, prisoners.
+Villars immediately razed Arleux to the ground, and withdrew his troops;
+while Marlborough, who was in hopes the lure of these successes would
+induce Villars to hazard a general engagement, shut himself up in his
+tent, and appeared to be overwhelmed with mortification at the checks he
+had received.[36]
+
+Villars was so much elated with these successes, and the accounts he
+received of Marlborough's mortification, that he wrote to the king of
+France a vain-glorious letter, in which he boasted that he had at length
+brought his antagonist to a _ne plus ultra_. Meanwhile, Marlborough sent
+off his heavy baggage to Douay; sent his artillery under a proper guard
+to the rear; and, with all imaginable secresy, baked bread for the whole
+troops for six days, which was privately brought up. Thus disencumbered
+and prepared, he broke up at four in the morning on the 1st of August,
+and marched in eight columns towards the front. During the three
+following days, the troops continued concentrated, and menacing
+sometimes one part of the French lines and sometimes another, so as to
+leave the real point of attack in a state of uncertainty. Seriously
+alarmed, Villars concentrated his whole force opposite the Allies, and
+drew in all his detachments, evacuating even Aubigny and Arleux, the
+object of so much eager contention some days before. On the evening of
+the 4th, Marlborough, affecting great chagrin at the check he had
+received, spoke openly to those around him of his intention of avenging
+them by a general action, and pointed to the direction the attacking
+columns were to take. He then returned to the camp, and gave orders to
+prepare for battle. Gloom hung on every countenance of those around him;
+it appeared nothing short of an act of madness to attack an enemy
+superior in number, and strongly posted in a camp surrounded with
+entrenchments, and bristling with cannon. They ascribed it to
+desperation, produced by the mortifications received from the
+government, and feared that, by one rash act, he would lose the fruit of
+all his victories. Proportionally great was the joy in the French camp,
+when the men, never doubting they were on the eve of a glorious victory,
+spent the night in the exultation which, in that excitable people, has
+so often been the prelude to disaster.[37]
+
+Having brought the feeling of both armies to this point, and produced a
+concentration of Villars's army directly in his front, Marlborough, at
+dusk on the 4th, ordered the drums to beat; and before the roll had
+ceased, orders were given for the tents to be struck. Meanwhile Cadogan
+secretly left the camp, and met twenty-three battalions and seventeen
+squadrons, drawn from the garrisons of Lille and Tournay, which
+instantly marched; and continuing to advance all night, passed the lines
+rapidly to the left, without opposition at Arleux, at break of day. A
+little before nine, the Allied main army began to defile rapidly to the
+left, through the woods of Villers and Neuville--Marlborough himself
+leading the van, at the head of fifty squadrons. With such expedition
+did they march, still holding steadily on to the left, that before five
+in the morning of the 5th they reached Vitry on the Scarpe, where they
+found pontoons ready for their passage, and a considerable train of
+field artillery. At the same time, the English general here received the
+welcome intelligence of Cadogan's success. He instantly dispatched
+orders to every man and horse to press forward without delay. Such was
+the ardour of the troops, who all saw the brilliant manoeuvre by which
+they had outwitted the enemy, and rendered all their labour abortive,
+that they marched _sixteen hours_ without once halting; and by ten next
+morning, the whole had passed the enemies' lines without opposition, and
+without firing a shot! Villars received intelligence of the night-march
+having begun at eleven at night; but so utterly was he in the dark as to
+the plan his opponent was pursuing, that he came up to Verger, when
+Marlborough had drawn up his army on the _inner_ side of the lines in
+order of battle, attended only by a hundred dragoons, and narrowly
+escaped being made prisoner. Altogether, the Allied troops marched
+thirty-six miles in sixteen hours, the most part of them in the dark,
+and crossed several rivers, without either falling into confusion or
+sustaining any loss. The annals of war scarcely afford an example of
+such a success being gained in so bloodless a manner. The famous French
+lines, which Villars boasted would form the _ne plus ultra_ of
+Marlborough, had been passed without losing a man; the labour of nine
+months was at once rendered of no avail, and the French army, in deep
+dejection, had no alternative but to retire under the cannon of
+Cambray.[38]
+
+This great success at once restored the lustre of Marlborough's
+reputation, and, for a short season, put to silence his detractors.
+Eugene, with the generosity which formed so striking a feature in his
+character, wrote to congratulate him on his achievement;[39] and even
+Bolingbroke admitted that this bloodless triumph rivalled his greatest
+achievements.[40] Marlborough immediately commenced the siege of
+Bouchain; but this was an enterprise of no small difficulty, as it was
+to be accomplished on very difficult ground, in presence of an army
+superior in force. The investment was formed on the very day after the
+lines had been passed, and an important piece of ground occupied, which
+might have enabled Villars to communicate with the town, and regain a
+defensible position. On the morning of the 8th August, a bridge was
+thrown over the Scheldt at Neuville, and sixty squadrons passed over,
+which barred the road from Douay. Villars upon this threw thirty
+battalions across the Seuzet, and made himself master of a hill above,
+on which he began to erect works, which would have kept open his
+communications with the town on its southern front. Marlborough saw at
+once this design, and at first determined to storm the works ere they
+were completed; and, with this view, General Fagel, with a strong body
+of troops, was secretly passed over the river. But Villars, having heard
+of the design, attacked the Allied posts at Ivry with such vigour, that
+Marlborough was obliged to counter-march in haste, to be at hand to
+support them. Baffled in this attempt, Marlborough erected a chain of
+works on the right bank of the Scheldt, from Houdain, through Ivry, to
+the Sette, near Haspres, while Cadogan strengthened himself with similar
+works on the left. Villars, however, still retained the fortified
+position which has been mentioned, and which kept up his communication
+with the town; and the intercepting this was another, and the last, of
+Marlborough's brilliant field operations.[41]
+
+Notwithstanding all the diligence with which Villars laboured to
+strengthen his men on this important position, he could not equal the
+activity with which the English general strove to supplant them. During
+the night of the 13th, three redoubts were marked out, which would have
+completed the French marshal's communication with the town. But on the
+morning of the 14th they were all stormed by a large body of the Allied
+troops before the works could be armed. That very day the Allies carried
+their zig-zag down to the very edge of a morass which adjoined Bouchain
+on the south, so as to command a causeway from that town to Cambray,
+which the French still held, communicating with the besieged town. But,
+to complete the investment, it was necessary to win this causeway; and
+this last object was gained by Marlborough with equal daring and
+success. A battery, commanding the road, had been placed by Villars in a
+redoubt garrisoned by six hundred men, supported by three thousand more
+close in their rear. Marlborough, with incredible labour and diligence,
+constructed two roads, made of fascines, through part of the marsh, so
+as to render it passable to foot-soldiers; and, on the night of the
+16th, six hundred chosen grenadiers were sent across them to attack the
+intrenched battery. They rapidly advanced in the dark till the fascine
+path ended, and then boldly plunging into the marsh, struggled on, with
+the water often up to their arm-pits, till they reached the foot of the
+intrenchment, into which they rushed, without firing a shot, with fixed
+bayonets. So complete was the surprise, that the enemy were driven from
+their guns with the loss only of six men; the work carried; and with
+such diligence were its defences strengthened, that before morning it
+was in a condition to bid defiance to any attack.[42]
+
+Villars was now effectually cut off from Bouchain, and the operations of
+the siege were conducted with the utmost vigour. On the night of the
+21st, the trenches were opened; three separate attacks were pushed at
+the same time against the eastern, western, and southern faces of the
+town, and a huge train of heavy guns and mortars thundered upon the
+works without intermission. The progress of the siege, notwithstanding a
+vigorous defence by the besieged, was unusually rapid. As fast as the
+outworks were breached they were stormed; and repeated attempts on the
+part of Villars to raise the siege were baffled by the skilful
+disposition and strong ground taken by Marlborough with the covering
+army. At length, on the 12th September, as the counterscarp was blown
+down, the rampart breached, and an assault of the fortress in
+preparation, the governor agreed to capitulate; and the garrison, still
+three thousand strong, marched out upon the glacis, laid down their
+arms, and were conducted prisoners to Tournay.[43] The two armies then
+remained in their respective positions, the French under the cannon of
+Cambray, the Allied in the middle of their lines, resting on Bouchain;
+and Marlborough gave proof of the courtesy of his disposition, as well
+as his respect for exalted learning and piety, by planting a detachment
+of his troops to protect the estates of Fenelon, archbishop of Cambray,
+and conduct the grain from thence to the dwelling of the illustrious
+prelate in that town, which began now to be straitened for
+provisions.[44]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] "La Madeleine comme le Pantheon avait ete commencee la meme annee en
+1764, par les ordres de Louis XV., le roi des grand monumens, et dont le
+regne a ete travesti par la petite histoire."--CAPEFIGUE, _Histoire de
+Louis Philippe_, viii. 281.
+
+[2] Marlborough to the Earl of Sunderland, 8th Nov. 1709. _Disp._ iv.
+647. Coxe, iv. 167.
+
+[3] Coxe, iv. 169. Lamberti, vi. 37, 49.
+
+[4] Note to Petcum, August 10, 1710. _Marlborough Papers_; and Coxe, iv.
+173.
+
+[5] "I am very sorry to tell you that the behaviour of the French looks
+as if they had no other desire than that of carrying on the war. I hope
+God will bless this campaign, for I see nothing else that can _give us
+peace either at home or abroad_. I am so discouraged by every thing I
+see, that I have never, during this war, gone into the field with so
+heavy a heart as at this time. I own to you, that the present humour in
+England gives me a good deal of trouble; for I cannot see how it is
+possible they should mend till every thing is yet worse." _Marlborough
+to Duchess Marlborough_, Hague, 14th April 1710. Coxe, iv. 179.
+
+[6] Marlborough to Godolphin, 20th April, iv. 182.
+
+[7] "In my last, I had but just time to tell you we had passed the
+lines. I hope this happy beginning will produce such success this
+campaign as must put an end to the war. I bless God for putting it into
+their heads not to defend their lines; for at Pont-a-Vendin, when I
+passed, the Marshal D'Artagnan was with twenty thousand men, which, if
+he had staid, must have rendered the event very doubtful. But, God be
+praised, we are come without the loss of any men. The excuse the French
+make is, that we came four days before they expected us."--_Marlborough
+to the Duchess_, 21st April 1710. Coxe, ix. 184.
+
+[8] "I hope God will so bless our efforts, that if the Queen should not
+be so happy as to have a prospect of peace before the opening of the
+next session of parliament, she and all her subjects may be convinced we
+do our best here in the army to put a speedy and good period to this
+bloody war." _Marlborough to the Duchess_, May 12, 1710.
+
+"I hear of so many disagreeable things, that make it very reasonable,
+both for myself and you, to take no steps but what may lead to a quiet
+life. This being the case, am I not to be pitied that am every day in
+danger of exposing my life for the good of those who are seeking my
+ruin? God's will be done. If I can be so blessed as to end this campaign
+with success, things must very much alter to persuade me to come again
+at the head of the army." _Marlborough to the Duchess_, 19th May 1710.
+Coxe, iv. 191, 192.
+
+[9] Marlborough to Godolphin, 26th May and 2d June 1710.
+
+[10] Marlborough to the Duchess, 12th June 1710. Coxe, iv. 197.
+
+[11] Marlborough to Godolphin, 26th June 1710. _Disp._ iv. 696.
+
+[12] _Considerat. sur la Camp. de 1710, par M. le Marshal Villars_; and
+Coxe, iv. 192.
+
+[13] Marlborough to Godolphin, 29th August 1710. _Disp._ iv. 581. Coxe,
+iv. 294.
+
+[14] Coxe, iv. 343, 344.
+
+[15] "I am of opinion that, after the siege of Aire, I shall have it in
+my power to attack Calais. This is a conquest which would very much
+prejudice France, and ought to have a good effect for the Queen's
+service in England; but I see so much malice levelled at me, that I am
+afraid it is not safe for me to make any proposition, lest, if it should
+not succeed, my enemies should turn it to my disadvantage." _Marlborough
+to Godolphin_, 11th August 1710. Coxe, iv. 343.
+
+[16] "Till within these few days, during these _nine years_ I have never
+had occasion to send ill news. Our powder and other stores, for the
+carrying on these two sieges, left Ghent last Thursday, under the convoy
+of twelve hundred foot and four hundred and fifty horse. They were
+attacked by the enemy and beaten, so that they blew up the powder, and
+sunk the store-boats." _Marlborough to the Duchess_, 22d September 1710.
+Coxe, iv. 365.
+
+[17] "Take it we must, for we cannot draw the guns from the batteries.
+But God knows when we shall have it: night and day our poor men are up
+to the knees in mud and water." _Marlborough to Godolphin_, 27th October
+1710.
+
+[18] Marlborough to Godolphin, 13th November 1710. _Disp._ iv. 685, 689.
+Coxe, iv. 366, 367.
+
+[19] Cunningham, ii. 305.
+
+[20] Marlborough to the Duchess, 26th July 1710. Coxe, iv. 299.
+
+[21] Marlborough to the Duchess, 25th October and 24th November 1710.
+Coxe, iv. 351, 352.
+
+[22] Bolingbroke's _Corresp._, i. 41; Mr Secretary St John to Mr
+Drummond, 20th Dec. 1710.
+
+[23] "I beg you to lose no time in sending me, to the Hague, the opinion
+of our friend mentioned in my letter; for I would be governed by the
+Whigs, from whose principle and interest I will never depart. Whilst
+they had a majority in the House of Commons, they might suspect it might
+be my interest; but now they must do me the justice to see that it is my
+inclination and principle which makes me act." _Marlborough to the
+Duchess_, Nov. 9, 1710. Coxe, iv. 360.
+
+[24] Coxe, iv. 405.
+
+[25] "Though I never thought of troubling your Majesty again in this
+manner, yet the circumstances I see my Lord Marlborough in, and the
+apprehension I have that he cannot live six months, if there is not some
+end put to his sufferings on my account, make it impossible for me to
+resist doing every thing in my power to ease him." _Duchess of
+Marlborough to Queen Anne_, 17th Jan. 1711. Coxe, iv. 410.
+
+[26] Smollett, c. x. Sec. 20.
+
+[27] Marlborough to the Duchess, 24th May 1711. Coxe, v. 417-431.
+
+[28] Eugene to Marlborough, 23d April 1710; Marlborough to St John, 29th
+April 1710. Coxe, vi. 16. _Disp._ v. 319.
+
+[29] Lidiard, ii. 426. Coxe, vi. 21. 22.
+
+[30] "I see my Lord Rochester has gone where we all must follow. I
+believe my journey will be hastened by the many vexations I meet with. I
+am sure I wish well to my country, and if I could do good, I should
+think no pains too great; but I find myself decay so very fast, that
+from my heart and soul I wish the Queen and my country a peace by which
+I might have the advantage of enjoying a little quiet, which is my
+greatest ambition." _Marlborough to the Duchess_, 25th May, 1711. Coxe,
+vi. 28.
+
+[31] Marlborough to St John, 14th June 1711. _Disp_. v. 428. Coxe, vi.
+29, 30.
+
+[32] _Villars' Mem._ tom. ii. ann. 1711.
+
+[33] _Bolingbroke's Corresp._ i. 172.
+
+[34] "The Duke of Marlborough has no communication from home on this
+affair; I suppose he will have none from the Hague." _Mr Secretary St
+John to Lord Raby_, 27th April 1711. _Bolingbroke's Corresp._ i. 175.
+
+[35] Coxe, vi. 52-54.
+
+[36] Kane's _Memoirs_, p. 89. Coxe, vi. 53, 55; _Disp._ v. 421, 428.
+
+[37] Kane's _Memoirs_, p. 92. Marlborough to Mr Secretary St John, 6th
+August, 1711. _Disp._ v. 428.
+
+[38] Marlborough to Mr Secretary St John, 6th August 1711. _Disp._ v.
+428. Coxe, vi. 60-65. _Kane's Mil. Mem._ 96-99.
+
+[39] "No person takes a greater interest in your concerns than myself;
+your highness has penetrated into the _ne plus ultra_. I hope the siege
+of Bouchain will not last long." _Eugene to Marlborough_, 17th August
+1711. Coxe, vi. 66.
+
+[40] "My Lord Stair opened to us the general steps which your grace
+intended to take, in order to pass the lines in one part or another. It
+was, however, hard to imagine, and too much to hope, that a plan, which
+consisted of so many parts, wherein so many different corps were to
+co-operate personally together, should entirely succeed, and no one
+article fail of what your grace had projected. I most heartily
+congratulate your grace on this great event, of which I think no more
+needs be said, than that you have obtained, without losing a man, such
+an advantage, as we should have been glad to have purchased with the
+loss of several thousand lives." _Mr Secretary St John to Marlborough_,
+31st July 1711. _Disp._ v. 429.
+
+[41] Marlborough to Mr Secretary St John, 10th August 1711. _Disp._ v.
+437.
+
+[42] Coxe, vi. 71-80; Marlborough to Mr Secretary St John, 14th, 17th,
+and 20th August 1711; _Disp._ v. 445, 450, 453.
+
+[43] Marlborough to Mr Secretary St John, 14th Sept. 1711. _Disp._ v.
+490. _Coxe_, vi. 78-88.
+
+[44] _Victoires de Marlborough_, iii. 22. Coxe, vi. 87.
+
+
+
+
+MOHAN LAL IN AFGHANISTAN.
+
+
+     _The Life of the Amir Dost Mohammed Khan of Kabul._ By MOHAN LAL,
+     Esq., Knight of the Persian order of the Lion and Sun, lately
+     attached to the Mission at Kabul, &c. &c. London: 1846.
+
+We have arrived at an age when striking contrasts and seeming
+incongruities cease to startle and offend. If we have not yet attained
+the promised era when the lion shall lie down with the lamb--and even of
+that day a VAN AMBURGH and a CARTER have given us significant
+intimations--we have certainly reached an epoch quite as extraordinary,
+and behold things as opposite conciliated, as hostile reconciled. We
+need not go far for illustrations: in the columns of newspapers, in the
+public market-place, at each street-corner, they force themselves upon
+us. The EAST and the WEST are brought together--the desert and the
+drawing-room are but a pace apart--European refinements intrude
+themselves into the haunts of barbarism--and bigoted Oriental potentates
+learn tolerance from the liberality of the Giaour. An article upon
+contrasts would fill a magazine. Ibrahim Pasha and religious liberty,
+the Red Sea and the Peninsular Steam Company, the Great Desert and the
+Narrow Gauge, are but one or two of a thousand that suggest themselves.
+On all sides Europe thrusts out the giant arms of innovation, spanning
+the globe, encompassing the world. England, especially, ever foremost in
+the race, by enterprise and ingenuity achieves seeming miracles. With
+steam for her active and potent agent, she drives highways across the
+wilderness, covers remote seas with smoky shipping, replaces dromedaries
+by locomotives, runs rails through the Arab village and the lion's lair.
+From his carpet and coffee, his pipe and _farniente_, the astonished
+Mussulman is roused by the rush and rattle of the train. On the sudden,
+by no gradual transition or slow approach, is this semi-savage brought
+in contact with the latest refinements and most astounding discoveries
+of civilisation. He is bewildered by sights and sounds of which
+yesterday he had not the remotest conception. Couriers traverse the
+desert with the regularity of a London and Edinburgh mail; caravans of
+well-dressed ladies and gentlemen ramble leisurely over the sands, and
+brave the simoon on a trip of pleasure to the far East; omnibuses, after
+the fashion of Paddington, have their stations on the Isthmus of Suez.
+Every where the hat is in juxtaposition with the turban, and the boot of
+the active Christian galls the slippered heel of Mahomet's indolent
+follower, spurring him to progress and improvement.
+
+As strange as any of the incongruous associations already hinted at, is
+one that we are about to notice. That an Oriental should write a book,
+is in no way wonderful; that he should write it in English, more or less
+correct, may also be conceived, since abundant opportunities are
+afforded to our Eastern fellow-subjects for the acquirement of that
+language; but that he should write it, not out of the fulness of his
+knowledge, or to convey the results of long study and profound
+meditation, but merely, as the razors were made, to sell, does seem
+strangely out of character, sadly derogatory to the gravity and dignity
+of a Wise Man of the East. We have really much difficulty in portraying
+upon our mental speculum so anomalous an animal as an Oriental
+bookmaker. We cannot fancy a Knight of the very Persian order of the
+Lion and Sun transformed into a publisher's hack, driving bargains with
+printers, delivered over to devils, straining each nerve, resorting to
+every stale device to swell his volumes to a presentable size, as if
+bulk would atone for dulness, and wordiness for lack of interest. Such,
+nevertheless, is the painful picture now forced upon us by a Kashmirian
+gentleman of Delhi, Mohan Lal by name. Encouraged by the indulgent
+reception accorded to an earlier, less pretending, and more worthy
+literary attempt--allured also, perhaps, by visions of a shining river
+of rupees pleasantly flowing into his purse, the aforesaid Lal,
+Esquire--so does his title-page style him--has committed himself by the
+fabrication of two heavy volumes, whose interesting portions are, for
+the most part stale, and whose novelties are of little interest. Neither
+the fulsome dedication, nor the humility of the preface, nor the
+indifferent lithographs, purporting to represent notable Asiatics and
+Europeans, can be admitted in palliation of this Kashmirian scribbler's
+literary misdemeanour. It is impossible to feel touched or mollified
+even by the plaintive tone in which he informs us that he has disbursed
+three hundred pounds for payment of copyists, paper, and portraits. The
+latter, by the bye, will hardly afford much gratification to their
+originals, at least if they be all as imperfect and unflattering in
+their resemblance as some two or three which we have had opportunities
+of comparing. But that is a minor matter. Illustration is a mania of the
+day--a crotchet of a public whose reading appetite, it is to be feared,
+is in no very healthy state. From penny tracts to quarto volumes, every
+thing must have pictures--the more the better--bad ones rather than
+none. Turning from the graphic embellishments of the books before us, we
+revert to the letterpress, and to the endeavour to sift something of
+interest or value out of the nine hundred pages through which, in
+conscientious fulfilment of our critical duties, we have wearisomely
+toiled.
+
+The work in question purports to be a life of Dost Mohammed Khan, the
+well-known Amir of Kabul. It is what it professes to be, but it is also
+a great deal more; the whole has been named from a part. A history of
+the affairs of Sindh occupies nearly half a volume, and consists chiefly
+of copious extracts from works already published--such as _Pottinger's
+Bilochistan_, _Dr Burnes' Visit to the Court of Sindh_, _Sir A. Burnes'
+Travels in Bokhara_, _Thornton's British India_--from which sources the
+unscrupulous Lal helps himself unsparingly, and with scarce a word of
+apology either to reader or writer. We have long accounts of Russian
+intrigues, and of those alarming plots and combinations which frightened
+Lords Auckland and Palmerston from their propriety, and led to our
+interference and reverses in Afghanistan--interference so impotently
+followed up, reverses which neither have been nor ever can be fully
+redeemed. The mismanagement or incapacity of our political agents during
+the short time that we maintained the unfortunate Shah Shuja on the
+throne of Kabul, is another fertile topic for the verbose Kashmirian;
+but this, it must be observed, is one of the best portions of his book,
+although it has no very direct reference to Dost Mohammed, "the lion of
+my subject and hero of my tale," as his historian styles him. Numerous
+copies of despatches, treaties and diplomatic correspondence, sundry
+testimonies of Mr. Lal's abilities and services, and various extraneous
+matters, complete the volumes. To give the barest outline of so
+voluminous a work would lead us far beyond our allotted limits. We
+should even be puzzled to effect the analysis of the first half volume,
+which sketches the history of Afghanistan from the period when Payandah
+Khan, chief of the powerful Barakzai tribe and father of Dost Mohammed,
+was the prime favourite and triumphant general of Taimur Shah, up to the
+date when the Dost himself, after a long series of bloody wars, sat upon
+the throne, was in the zenith of his prosperity, and when British
+diplomatists first began to make and meddle in the affairs of his
+kingdom. The perpetually recurring changes, the revolts, revolutions,
+and usurpations of which Afghanistan was the scene with little
+intermission during the whole of that period, the absence of dates,
+which Mohan Lal accounts for by the loss of his manuscripts during the
+Kabul insurrection, and the host of proper names introduced, render this
+part of the work most perplexingly confused. The reader, however
+attentive to his task, becomes fairly bewildered amidst the multitude of
+Khans, Shahs, Vazirs, Sardars, and other personages, who pass in hurried
+review before his eyes, and utterly puzzled by the strange manoeuvres
+and seemingly unaccountable treasons of the actors in this great
+Eastern melodrama. In glancing at the book, we shall confine ourselves
+more strictly than Mohan Lal has done, to the personal exploits and
+history of Dost Mohammed.
+
+On the death of Taimur Shah, leaving several sons, there was much
+difference of opinion amongst the nobles as to who should succeed him.
+Payandah Khan, who had received from the sovereign he had so faithfully
+served, the title of Sarfraz, or, the Lofty, and whose position and
+influence in the country enabled him in some sort to play the part of
+king-maker, solved the difficulty by placing Prince Zaman upon the
+throne. For a time Zaman was all gratitude, until evil advisers poisoned
+his mind, and accused Payandah and other chiefs of plotting to transfer
+the crown to Shah Shuja, another son of Taimur. Without trial or
+investigation, the persons accused were put to death; and the sons and
+nephews of Payandah became fugitives, and suffered great misery. Some
+were taken prisoners, others begged their bread, or took shelter in the
+mausoleum of Ahmad Shah, in order to receive a share of the food there
+doled out for charity's sake. Fatah Khan, the eldest son of Payandah,
+fled to Persia; Dost Mohammed, the twentieth son of the same father,
+found protection in a fortress belonging to the husband of his mother,
+who, in conformity with an Afghan custom, had been claimed by and
+compelled to marry one of the nearest relatives of her deceased lord.
+This occurred when Dost was a child of seven or eight years old. After a
+while, Fatah Khan returned from Persia with an army, and accompanied by
+Mahmud Shah, another of Taimur's sons who pretended to the crown of
+Afghanistan. His first encounter with the troops of Shah Zaman was a
+triumph; and now, says the figurative Lal, the stars of the descendants
+of the Sarfraz began to shine. Fatah sought out his young brother, Dost
+Mohammed, gave him in charge to a trusty adherent, fixed an income for
+his support, and marched away to besiege Qandhar, which he took by
+escalade. This was the commencement of a war of succession, or rather of
+a series of wars, in which the two sons of Payandah played important
+parts. The elder met his death, the younger gained a crown. At first the
+contest was amongst the sons and grandsons of Taimur; to several of whom
+in turn Fatah and Dost gave their powerful support. It was not till
+after many years of civil strife that the last-named chief, prompted by
+ambition, and presuming on his popularity and high military reputation,
+set up on his own account, and bore away the prize from the more
+legitimate competitors.
+
+When only in his twelfth year, Dost Mohammed Khan was attached to the
+retinue of his brother as _abdar_, or water-bearer. He soon acquired
+Fatah's confidence, and was admitted to share his secrets. Before he was
+fourteen years old, he displayed great energy and intrepidity, which
+qualities, added to his remarkable personal beauty, rendered him
+exceedingly popular in the country and a vast favourite with Fatah, but
+excited the jealousy of his other brothers--men of little more than
+ordinary capacity, totally unable to compete with him in any respect.
+Whilst still a mere lad, Dost, by his courage and sagacity, delivered
+Fatah from more than one imminent peril. At last Shah Zaman, who had
+been deposed and blinded, and his son Shah Zadah, laid a snare for Fatah
+in the palace-gardens at Qandhar. Ambushed men suddenly seized him,
+hurled him to the ground with such violence as to break his teeth, and
+kept him prisoner. Dost Mohammed made a dashing attempt at a rescue; but
+he had only five hundred followers, the palace was strongly garrisoned,
+and a heavy fire of matchlocks repelled him. Meanwhile large bodies of
+troops marched to occupy the city gates; and, for his own safety's sake,
+he was compelled to leave his brother in captivity, and cut his way out.
+Retreating to his stronghold of Giriskh, he awaited the passage of a
+rich caravan from Persia. This he plundered, thereby becoming possessed
+of about four lakhs of rupees, which he employed in raising troops. With
+these he invested Qandhar. After a three months' siege, the garrison had
+exhausted its provisions and ammunition; and Zadah, to get rid of the
+terrible Dost, released Fatah Khan. The prisoner's liberation was also
+partly owing to the intercession of Shah Shuja; notwithstanding which,
+Fatah and Dost, with an utter contempt of gratitude and loyalty, soon
+afterwards turned their arms against that prince. A great cavalry fight
+took place, in which the brave but unprincipled brothers were
+victorious. Dost Mohammed was made a field-marshal, and marched against
+an army commanded by Shah Shuja in person; a desperate battle ensued,
+terminated by negotiation, and once more Dost and the Shah were allies.
+But no sooner had poor Shuja gained over his enemies, than his friends
+revolted against him, and set up his nephew Zadah as king of
+Afghanistan; and very soon his new allies, with unparalleled treachery,
+and despite of the titles and presents he had showered upon them, once
+more abandoned him. Friend Lal, we are sorry to perceive, seems struck
+rather with admiration than horror of these double-dyed traitors, and
+talks of the brave heart and wise head of Dost Mohammed, and of the
+noble and independent notions which nature had cultivated in him; thus
+betraying a certain Oriental laxity of principle which European
+education and society might have been expected to eradicate. But he is
+perhaps dazzled and blinded by the brilliant military prowess of Dost,
+who, at the head of only three thousand men, fell upon the
+advanced-guard of the Shah's army, ten thousand strong, and, after a
+terrible slaughter, completely routed it. The news of this reverse
+greatly incensed and alarmed Shuja, who said confidentially to his
+minister, that whilst Dost Mohammed was alive and at large, he (Shuja)
+could never expect victory or the enjoyment of his crown. A wonderful
+and true prophecy, observes Mohan Lal. Shortly afterwards, the remainder
+of the Shah's troops were defeated by Dost, and the Shah himself was
+once more a fugitive.
+
+Shah Mahmud was now placed upon the throne; Vazir Fatah Khan was his
+prime minister, and Dost received the title of Sardar, or chief. It was
+about this time that the "Sardar of my tale," as the worthy Lal
+affectionately styles his hero, committed the first of a series of
+murders which, were there no other infamous deeds recorded of him, would
+stamp him as vile, and destroy any sympathy that his bravery in the
+field and notable talents might otherwise excite in his favour. A
+Persian secretary, one Mirza Ali Khan, by his skill and conduct as a
+politician, and by his kindly disposition, gained a popularity and
+influence which offended the ambitious brothers, and Fatah desired Dost
+to make away with him.
+
+"On receiving the orders of the Vazir, Dost Mohammed armed himself
+cap-a-pie, and taking six men with him, went and remained waiting on the
+road between the house of Mohammed Azim Khan and the Mirza. It was about
+midnight when the Mirza passed by Dost Mohammed Khan, whom he saw, and
+said, 'What has brought your highness here at this late hour? I hope all
+is good.' He also added, that Dost Mohammed should freely command his
+services if he could be of any use to him. He replied to the Mirza that
+he had got a secret communication for him, and would tell him if he
+moved aside from the servants. He stopped his horse, whereupon Dost
+Mohammed, holding the mane of the horse with his left hand, and taking
+his dagger in his right, asked the Mirza to bend his head to hear him.
+While Dost Mohammed pretended to tell him something of his own
+invention, and found that the Mirza was hearing him without any
+suspicion, he stabbed him between the shoulders, and throwing him off
+his horse, cut him in many places. This was the commencement of the
+murders which Dost Mohammed Khan afterwards frequently committed."
+
+Notwithstanding his high military rank and great services, Dost was very
+submissive to Fatah, who was greatly his senior. He acted as his
+cup-bearer, and was a constant attendant at his nocturnal carouses,
+carrying a golden goblet, and helping him to wine. The morals of both
+brothers were as exceptionable in private as in public life. Their
+biographer gives details of an intrigue between Dost and the favourite
+wife of Fatah; and even hints a doubt whether the Vazir was not
+cognizant of the intercourse, which he took no steps to check or punish.
+Both brothers were fond of wine, and indulged in it to excess. Dost,
+especially, was at one time a most unmitigated sot, although his
+bibulous propensities had apparently no permanent effect upon his
+intellects and energies. His capacity for liquor, if Lal's account be
+authentic, was extraordinary. "It is said that he has emptied several
+dozens of bottles in one night, and did not cease from drinking until he
+was quite intoxicated, and could not drink a drop more. He has often
+become senseless from drinking, and has, on that account, kept himself
+confined in bed during many days. He has been often seen in a state of
+stupidity on horseback, and having no turban, but a skull-cap, on his
+head." At a later period of his life, Dost Mohammed, being abroad one
+evening, met two of his sons, Afzal Khan, and the well-known Akhbar
+Khan, in an intoxicated state. Less tolerant for his children than for
+himself, he gave them a sound thrashing, and, not satisfied with that,
+took them up to the roof of a house, and threw them down on stony
+ground, to the risk of their lives. The mother of Akhbar heard of this,
+and reproached her husband with punishing others for a vice he himself
+was prone to. Dost hung his head, and swore to drink wine no more. We
+are not told whether he kept the vow, but subsequently, when he was made
+Amirul-Momnim, or Commander of the Faithful, he did forsake his drunken
+habits. On his reinstatement at Kabul, after its final abandonment by
+the British, he relapsed into his old courses, saying, that whilst he
+was an enemy to wine, he was always unlucky; but that since he had
+resumed drinking, his prosperity had returned, and he had gained his
+liberty after being in "Qaid i Frang," which, being interpreted, means
+an English prison. When sitting over his bottle, he can sing a good
+song, and play upon the _rabab_, a sort of Afghan fiddle, with very
+considerable skill. Altogether, and setting aside his throat-cuttings,
+and a few other peculiarities, Dost Mohammed must be considered as
+rather a jovial and good-humoured barbarian.
+
+Although a fervent admirer of the fair sex, the valiant Sardar
+occasionally, in the hurry and excitement of war and victory, forgot the
+respect to which it is entitled. A blunder of this description was
+productive of fatal consequences to his brother the Vazir. A breach of
+decorum overthrew a dynasty: a lady's girdle changed the destinies of a
+kingdom. The circumstances were as follows:--By a well-executed
+stratagem, Dost Mohammed surprised the city of Hirat, seized Shah Zadah
+Firoz, who ruled there, and plundered the palace. Not content with
+appropriating the rich store of jewels, gold, and silver, found in the
+treasury, he despoiled the inmates of the harem, and committed an
+offence unpardonable in Eastern eyes, by taking off the jewelled band
+which fastened the trowsers of the daughter-in-law of Shah Zadah. The
+insulted fair one sent her profaned inexpressibles to her brother, a son
+of Mahmud Shah, known by the euphonious appellation of Kam Ran. Kam
+swore to be revenged. Even Fatah Khan was so shocked at the unparalleled
+impropriety of his brother's conduct, that he threatened to punish him;
+whereupon Dost, with habitual prudence, avoided the coming storm, and
+took refuge with another of his brothers, then governor of Kashmir. Kam
+Ran came to Hirat, found that Dost had given him the slip, and consoled
+himself by planning, in conjunction with some other chiefs, the
+destruction of Fatah Khan. They seized him, put out his eyes, and
+brought him pinioned before Mahmud Shah, whom he himself had set upon
+the throne. The Shah desired him to write to his rebellious brothers to
+submit: he steadily refused, and Mahmud then ordered his death. "The
+Vazir was cruelly and deliberately butchered by the courtiers, who cut
+him limb from limb, and joint from joint, as was reported, after his
+nose, ears, fingers, and lips, had been chopped off. His fortitude was
+so extraordinary, that he neither showed a sign of the pain he suffered,
+nor asked the perpetrators to diminish their cruelties; and his head was
+at last sliced from his lacerated body. Such was the shocking result of
+the misconduct of his brother, the Sardar Dost Mohammed Khan, towards
+the royal female in Hirat. However, the end of the Vazir, Fatah Khan,
+was the end of the Sadozai reign, and an omen for the accession of the
+new dynasty of the Barakzais, or his brothers, in Afghanistan."
+
+It would be tiresome to trace in detail the events that followed the
+Vazir's death,--the numerous battles--the treaties concluded and
+violated--the reverses and triumphs of the various chiefs who contended
+for the supremacy. To revenge their brother, and gratify their own
+ambition, the Barakzais united together, expelled Mahmud, and divided
+the country amongst themselves. Mohammed Azim, the eldest brother, took
+Kabul, Sultan Mohammed had Peshavar, Purdil Khan received Qandhar, and
+to the Sardar Dost Mohammed Ghazni was allotted. Apparently all were
+content with this arrangement; but, in secret, Dost was far from
+satisfied, and plotted to improve his share. With this view, he entered
+into negotiations with Ranjit Singh and the Lahore chiefs; and at last,
+by intrigue and treachery, rather than by force of arms, he reduced
+Mohammed Azim to such extremities and despair, that he retired to Kabul,
+and there died broken-hearted. His son, Habib-Ullah, who succeeded him,
+fared no better. He was turned out of Kabul, and exposed to want and
+misery, which broke his spirit, and rendered him insane. He left the
+country with his wives and children, whom he murdered on the banks of
+the Indus, and threw into the river.
+
+Whilst Dost was in full career of success and aggrandisement, achieved
+by the most treacherous and sanguinary means, Shah Shuja raised an army
+in Sindh, intending to invade Qandhar and recover his dominions. A
+report was spread by certain discontented chiefs in Dost Mohammed's and
+the Qandhar camps that the English favoured Shuja's attempt. To
+ascertain the truth of this, Dost Mohammed addressed a letter to Sir
+Claude Wade, then political agent at Loodianah, requesting to know
+whether the Shah was supported by the English. If so, he said, he would
+take the state of affairs into his deliberate consideration; but if the
+contrary was the case, he was ready to fight the Shah. Sir Claude Wade
+replied, that the British government took no share in the king's
+expedition against the Barakzai chief, but that it wished him well.
+Thereupon Dost and his son Akhbar Khan marched to meet the Shah. A
+battle was fought in front of Qandhar, and at first victory seemed to
+incline to Shuja; but by the exertions and valour of the Sardar and his
+son, the tide was turned, and the threatened defeat converted into a
+signal victory. "All the tents, guns, and camp equipage of the
+ever-fugitive Shah Shuja fell into the hands of the Lion of Afghanistan,
+and a large bundle of the papers and correspondence of various chiefs in
+his country with the Shah. Among these he found many letters under the
+real or forged seal of Sir Claude Wade, to the address of certain
+chiefs, stating that any assistance given to Shah Shuja should be
+appreciated by the British government."
+
+Whilst Mohammed thus successfully assisted his brothers, the Qandhar
+chiefs, against their common foe, Shah Shuja, his other brothers, the
+Peshavar chiefs, were dispossessed by the Sikhs, and compelled to take
+refuge at Jellalabad. There, expecting that Dost would be beaten by the
+Shah, they planned to seize upon Kabul. Their measures were taken, and
+in some districts they had actually appointed governors, when they
+learned Shuja's defeat, and their brother's triumphant return. This was
+the destruction of their ambitious projects; but with true Afghan craft
+and hypocrisy, they put a good face upon the matter, fired salutes in
+honour of the victory, disavowed the proceedings of those officers who,
+by their express order, had taken possession of the Sardar's villages,
+and went out to meet him with every appearance of cordiality and joy.
+Although not the dupe of this seeming friendship, Dost Mohammed received
+them well, and declared his intention of undertaking a religious war
+against the Sikhs to revenge their aggressions at Peshavar, and to
+punish them for having dared, as infidels, to make an inroad into a
+Mahomedan land. In acting thus, the cunning Sardar had two objects in
+view. One was to obtain recruits by appealing to the fanaticism of the
+people, for his funds were low, and the Afghans were weary of war; the
+other, which he at once attained, was to get himself made king, on the
+ground that religious wars, fought under the name and flag of any other
+than a crowned head, do not entitle those who fall in them to the glory
+of martyrdom. The priests, chiefs, and counsellors, consulted together,
+and agreed that Dost Mohammed ought to assume the royal title. The
+Sardar, without any preparation or feast, went out of the Bala Hisar
+with some of his courtiers; and in Idgah, Mir Vaiz, the head-priest of
+Kabul, put a few blades of grass on his head, and called him
+"Amirul-Momnin," or, "Commander of the Faithful." Thus did the wily and
+unscrupulous Dost at last possess the crown he so long had coveted.
+Instead, however, of being inflated by his dignity, the new Amir became
+still plainer in dress and habits, and more easy of access than before.
+Finding himself in want of money for his projected war, and unable to
+obtain it by fair means, he now commenced a system of extortion, which
+he carried to frightful lengths, pillaging bankers and merchants,
+confiscating property, and torturing those who refused to acquiesce in
+his unreasonable demands. One poor wretch, a trader of the name of Sabz
+Ali, was thrown into prison, branded and tormented in various ways,
+until he expired in agony. His relatives were compelled to pay the
+thirty thousand rupees which it had been the object of this barbarous
+treatment to extort. At last five lakhs of rupees were raised, wherewith
+to commence the religious war. Its result was disastrous and
+discreditable to the Amir. Without having fought a single battle, he was
+outwitted and outmanoeuvred, and returned crestfallen to Kabul--his
+brothers, the Peshavar chiefs, who were jealous of his recent elevation,
+having aided in his discomfiture.
+
+Although the Amir had many enemies both at home and abroad--the most
+inveterate amongst the former being some of his own brothers--and
+although he was often threatened by great dangers, he gradually
+succeeded in consolidating his power, and fixing himself firmly upon the
+throne he had usurped. Himself faithless and treacherous, he distrusted
+all men; and gradually removing the governors of various districts, he
+replaced them by his sons, who feared him, scrupulously obeyed his
+orders, and followed his system of government. In time his power became
+so well established that the intrigues of his dissatisfied brethren no
+longer alarmed him. The Sikhs gave him some uneasiness, but in a battle
+at Jam Road, near the entrance of the Khaibar Pass, his two sons, Afzal
+and Akhbar, defeated them and killed their general, Hari Singh. The
+victory was chiefly due to Afzal, but Akhbar got the credit, through the
+management of his mother, the Amir's favourite wife. This unjust
+partiality, to which we shall again have occasion to refer when touching
+upon the future prospects of Afghanistan, greatly disheartened Afzal and
+his brothers, and indisposed them towards their father.
+
+The brief and imperfect outline which we have been enabled to give of
+the career of Dost Mohammed, and of his arrival at the supreme power in
+Kabul, is entirely deficient in dates. The Afghans have no records, but
+preserve their history solely by tradition and memory. Mohan Lal having,
+as before mentioned, lost his manuscripts, containing information
+supplied by the Amir's relations and courtiers, was afterwards unable to
+place the circumstances of his history in chronological order. The
+deficiency is not very important, since it naturally ceases to exist
+from the time that British India became mixed up in the affairs of
+Afghanistan. The fight of Jam Road, in which the Afghans were the
+aggressors, and which was occasioned by the Amir's cravings after the
+province of Peshavar, brings us up to the latter part of the year 1836.
+Previously and subsequently to that battle, Dost Mohammed wrote several
+letters to the Governor-general of India, Lord Auckland, expressing his
+fear of the Sikhs, and asking advice and countenance. Lord Auckland
+resolved to accord him both, and dispatched Sir Alexander Burnes to
+Kabul to negotiate the opening of the Indus navigation. The presence of
+the British mission at the Amir's court, and the proposals made by the
+Governor-general to the Maharajah to mediate between him and Dost
+Mohammed, sufficed to check the advance of a powerful Sikh army which
+Ranjit Singh had assembled to revenge the reverse of Jam Road. The Amir
+was not satisfied with this protection; but urged Sir Alexander Burnes
+to make the Sikhs give up Peshavar to him. The reply was, that Peshavar
+had never belonged to the Amir, but to his brothers; that Ranjit Singh
+was a faithful ally of the English government, which could not use its
+authority directly in the case; but that endeavours should be made to
+induce the Maharajah amicably to yield Peshavar to its former chief,
+Sultan Mohammed Khan. This mode of viewing the question by no means met
+the wishes of the ambitious Amir; for he coveted the territory for
+himself, and would rather have seen it remain in the hands of the Sikhs
+than restored to Sultan Mohammed, who was his deadly enemy.[45] He
+expressed his dissatisfaction in very plain terms to Sir Alexander
+Burnes; and perceiving that the English were not disposed to aid him in
+his unjustifiable projects of aggrandisement, he threw himself into the
+arms of Russia and Persia, to which countries he had, with
+characteristic duplicity, communicated his grievances and made offers of
+alliance, at the same time that he professed, in his letters to Lord
+Auckland, to rely entirely upon British counsels and friendship.
+
+And now commenced those intrigues and machinations of Russia, of which
+so great a bugbear was made both in India and England. Mohan Lal
+maintains that the apprehensions occasioned by these manoeuvres were
+legitimate and well-founded; that the views of Russia were encroaching
+and dangerous; and that her name and influence were already seriously
+injurious to British interests, as far even as the eastern bank of the
+Indus. Vague rumours of Russian power and valour had spread through
+British India; had been exaggerated by Eastern hyperbole, and during
+their passage through many mouths; and had rendered numerous chiefs,
+Rajput as well as Mahomedan, restless and eager for a fray. Throughout
+the country there was a growing belief that English power was on the eve
+of a reverse. We are told of the mission of Captain Vikovich, of
+Muscovite ducats poured into Afghan pockets, of an extension of
+influence sought by Russia in Turkistan and Kabul, of arms to be
+supplied by Persia, and of a Persian army to be marched into Afghanistan
+to seize upon the disputed province of Peshavar. As the companion and
+friend of Sir Alexander Burnes during his mission to Kabul, Mohan Lal
+coincides in the opinions of that officer with respect to the necessity
+of taking vigorous and immediate steps to counteract the united
+intrigues of the Shah of Persia and Count Simonich, the Russian
+ambassador at Tehran. This necessity was pressed upon Lord Auckland in
+numerous and alarming despatches from Sir A. Burnes and other
+Anglo-Indian diplomatists.
+
+With such opinions and prognostications daily ringing in his ears, Lord
+Auckland, who at first, we are told, did not attach much importance to
+the Vikovich mission and the Russian intrigues, at last took fright, and
+prepared to adopt the decisive measures so plausibly and perseveringly
+urged by the alarmists. The well-known and notable plan to be resorted
+to, was the expulsion of the Amir Dost Mohammed and of the other
+Barakzai chiefs inimical to the British, and the establishment of a
+friendly prince upon the throne of Kabul. Who was to be chosen? Two
+candidates alone appeared eligible--Sultan Mohammed Khan, chief of
+Peshavar, brother and bitter foe of the Amir, and Shah Shuja, the
+deposed but legitimate sovereign of Afghanistan. The Shah, who had long
+lived inactive and retired at Loodianah, was believed, not without
+reason, to have lost any ability or talent for reigning which he had
+ever possessed; nevertheless, his name and hereditary right caused him
+to be preferred by Lord Auckland, whose advisers also were unanimous in
+their recommendation of Shuja. "As for Shah Shuja," wrote Sir Alexander
+Burnes, who had now left Kabul, in his letter to the Governor-general,
+dated 3d June 1838, "the British government have only to send him to
+Peshavar with an agent, one or two of its own regiments as an honorary
+escort, and an avowal to the Afghans that we have taken up his cause, to
+ensure his being fixed _for ever_ on his throne."
+
+"The British government," said one of those on whose information that
+government acted, (Mr Masson,) "could employ interference without
+offending half-a-dozen individuals. Shah Shuja, under their auspices,
+would not even encounter opposition," &c.--(_Thornton's British India_,
+vol. vi. p. 150.)
+
+"Annoyed at Dost Mohammed's reception of Vikovich, the Russian emissary,
+and disquieted by the departure of the British agent, they (the
+Afghans)" says Lieutenant Wood, "looked to the Amir as the sole cause of
+their troubles, and thought of Shah Shuja and redress."
+
+Sir C. Wade, Mr Lord, and other authorities supposed to be well versed
+in the politics of the land where mischief was imagined to be brewing,
+expressed opinions similar in substance to those just cited. It was
+decided that Shuja was the man; and Sir William M'Naghten started for
+the court of Lahore to negotiate a tripartite treaty between the
+Maharajah, the Shah, and the British government. Wade and Burnes were to
+co-operate with the envoy. The treaty was concluded and signed, advices
+from Lord Palmerston strengthened and confirmed Lord Auckland in his
+predilection for "vigorous measures," and a declaration of war was
+proclaimed and circulated throughout India and Afghanistan.
+
+Lord Auckland is, we dare to say, a very well-meaning man--albeit not
+exactly of the stuff of which viceroys of vast empires ought to be made;
+and we willingly believe that he acted to the best of his judgment in
+undertaking the Afghan war. Unfortunately, that is not saying much. His
+lordship's advisers may have been right in supposing that the people of
+Kabul were weary of the Amir's extortionate and tyrannical rule, and
+desired the milder government of Shah Shuja; but if so, it is the more
+to be regretted that, when we had established Shuja on the throne, the
+mismanagement and want of unity of British agents--amongst whom were
+some of those very advisers--should so rapidly have changed the
+partiality of the Afghans for the Shah into contempt, their friendly
+dispositions towards the British into aversion and fierce hatred. Mohan
+Lal strenuously insists upon the blamelessness of Lord Auckland in the
+whole of the unfortunate affairs of Afghanistan; lauds his judicious
+measures, and maintains that had they not been adopted, "disasters and
+outbreaks would soon have appeared in the very heart of India. The
+object of the governor-general was to annihilate the Russian and Persian
+influence and intrigues in Afghanistan, both at that time, and for all
+time to come, unless they adopt open measures; and this object he
+fortunately and completely attained, in a manner worthy of the British
+name, and laudable to himself as a statesman." We could say a word or
+two on this head, but refrain, not wishing to rake up old grievances, or
+discuss so uninteresting a subject as Lord Auckland's merits and
+abilities. Mr Lal admits that his lordship made two enormous blunders:
+one "in appointing two such talented men as Sir William M'Naghten and
+Sir Alexander Burnes, to act at the same time, in one field of honour;
+the second was, that on hearing of the outbreak at Kabul, he delayed in
+insisting upon the commander-in-chief to order an immediate despatch of
+the troops towards Peshavar." "He being the superior head of the
+government," continues this long-winded Kashmirian, "he ought not to
+allow hesitation to approach and to embarrass his sound judgement, at
+the crisis when immediate and energetic attention was required." _De
+mortuis nil_, &c.; and therefore, of the two unfortunate gentlemen above
+referred to, we will merely say, that many have considered their talents
+far less remarkable than their blunders. As to the Earl of
+Auckland--"Save me from my friends!" his lordship might well exclaim.
+Indecision and lack of discrimination compose a nice character for a
+governor-general. One great criterion of ability to rule is a judicious
+choice of subordinate agents. Lord Auckland's reason for not sending the
+reinforcements so terribly required by our troops in Kabul, is thus
+curiously rendered by his Eastern advocate:--"His lordship had already
+made every arrangement to retire from the Indian government, and
+therefore did not wish to prolong the time for his departure by
+embarking in other and new operations." Truly a most ingenious defence!
+So, because the governor-general was in haste to be off, an army must be
+consigned to destruction. Most sapient Lal! his lordship is obliged to
+you. "Call you that backing your friends?" May our worst enemy have you
+for his apologist.
+
+We return to Dost Mohammed and his fortunes. Shah Shuja was publicly
+installed upon the throne; numerous chiefs tendered him their
+allegiance; Kalat, Qandhar, and Ghazni fell into the hands of his
+British allies, before the Amir himself gave sign of life. This he did
+by sending his brother, Navab Jabbar Khan, who was considered a stanch
+friend of Europeans, and especially of the English, to treat with Sir
+William M'Naghten. The Navab stated that the Amir was desirous to
+surrender, on condition that he should be made Vazir or Prime Minister
+of the Shah, to which post he had an hereditary claim. The condition was
+refused; as was also the Navab's request that his niece, the wife of
+Haidar Khan, the captured governor of Ghazni, should be given up to him.
+Altogether, the poor Navab was treated in no very friendly manner; and
+he returned to Kabul with his affection for the English considerably
+weakened. As he had long been suspected of intriguing against the Amir,
+he took this opportunity to wipe off the imputation, by encouraging the
+people to rise and oppose his brother's enemies. "The Amir called an
+assembly in the garden which surrounds the tomb of Taimur Shah, and made
+a speech, petitioning his subjects to support him in maintaining his
+power, and in driving off the infidels from the Mahomedan country. Many
+people who were present stated to me that his words were most touching
+and moving, but they gained no friends." He also invented various
+stories to frighten the lower orders into resistance, saying that during
+their march from Sindh to Ghazni, the English had ill-treated the women,
+and boiled and eaten the young children. Arguments and lies--all were in
+vain. The Kohistanis, his own subjects, who had been induced to rise
+against him, descended from their valley, and threatened to attack the
+Kabulis, if they allowed the Amir to remain amongst them. The army of
+the Indus drew near, and at last Dost Mohammed abandoned the city, and
+fled to Bamian, leaving his artillery and heavy baggage at Maidan. There
+it was taken possession of by the British, and given up to Shah Shuja;
+and on the 7th of August 1839, that prince, after an exile of thirty
+years, re-entered the capital of his kingdom.
+
+Hard upon the track of the fugitive Amir, followed Colonel Outram, with
+several other officers, and some Afghans under Haji Khan Kaker, in all
+about eight hundred foot and horse. Dost Mohammed had with him a handful
+of followers, including the Navab Jabbar Khan and Akhbar Khan, the
+latter of whom was sick and travelled in a litter. On the 21st August,
+Colonel Outram was informed that he was within a day's march of the
+object of his pursuit, whose escape, on that occasion, he attributes to
+the treachery of Haji Khan. One night the Hazarahs stole twenty of the
+Amir's horses, which greatly reduced the numbers of his little escort.
+At last, however, he found himself in safety amongst the Uzbegs, and
+thence wished to proceed to Persia; but the difficulties of the road,
+already nearly impassible on account of the snow, decided him to accept
+the proferred protection of the Amir of Bokhara. By this half-mad
+monarch he was very queerly treated; at one time his life was in
+peril--a treacherous attempt being made to drown him, his sons, and
+relations, whilst crossing the river Oxus in a boat. At last he was
+forbidden to leave his house, even to make his prayers at the mosque,
+and was in fact a prisoner. His two sons, Afzal and Akhbar, shared his
+captivity.
+
+For the easy conquest of Afghanistan, and for the popularity of the
+English during the early days of its occupation, a long string of
+reasons is given by Mohan Lal. By various parts of his conduct,
+especially by his injustice and extortions, the Amir had made himself
+unpopular with the Afghans, who, on the other hand, remembered the
+liberality displayed by the Honourable Montstuart Elphinstone in the
+days of his mission to Kabul, and being by nature exceedingly
+avaricious, hoped to derive immense profit and advantage from British
+occupation of their country. The recent intercourse and friendship of
+the Amir with the Shah of Persia had also excited the indignation of his
+subjects, who, being Sunnies by sect, were deadly enemies of the Persian
+Shias. The English, in short, were as popular as the Barakzais were
+detested. Nevertheless it behoved the Shah Shuja and his European
+supporters to be circumspect and conciliatory; for Dost Mohammed was
+still at large, and lingering on the frontier, and any offence given to
+the Kabulis might be the signal for his recall. "Notwithstanding," says
+Mohan Lal, "all these points of grave concern, we sent a large portion
+of the army back, with Lord Keane, to India; and yet we interfered in
+the administration of the country, and introduced such reforms amongst
+the obstinate Afghans just on our arrival, as even in India, the
+quietest part of the world, Lords Clive and Wellesley had hesitated to
+do but slowly." The administration of the principal frontier towns was
+now confided to the Shah's officers; but these were not suffered to rule
+undisturbed, for Sir W. MacNaghten's political assistants every where
+watched their conduct and interfered in their jurisdictions. The occult
+nature of this interference prevented benefit to the people, whilst it
+caused a disregard for the local authorities. An undecided course was
+the bane of our Afghanistan policy. The government was neither entirely
+taken into the hands of the British, nor wholly left in those of the
+Shah. Outwardly, we were neutral; in reality, we constantly interfered:
+thus annoying the king and disappointing the people. Shah Shuja grew
+jealous of British influence, and began to suspect that he was but the
+shadow of a sovereign, a puppet whose strings were pulled for foreign
+advantage. Sir A. Burnes introduced reductions in the duties on all
+articles of commerce. Trade improved, but the Shah's servants frequently
+deviated from the new tariff, and extorted more than the legal imposts.
+When complaints were made to the English, they were referred to the
+Shah's Vazir, Mulla Shakur, who, instead of giving redress, beat and
+imprisoned the aggrieved parties for having appealed against the king's
+authority. Persons known to be favoured by the English were vexed and
+annoyed by the Shah's government; and it soon became evident that Mulla
+Shakur was striving to form a party for Shuja, in order to make him
+independent of British support. The people began to look upon the Shah
+as the unwilling slave of the Europeans; the priests omitted the
+"Khutbah," or prayer for the king, saying that it could only be recited
+for an independent sovereign. Soon the high price of provisions gave
+rise to grave dissensions. The purchases of grain made by the English
+commissariat raised the market, and placed that description of food out
+of reach of the poorer classes. Forage, meat, and vegetables, all rose
+in proportion, and a cry of famine was set up. Both in town and country,
+the landlords and dealers kept back the produce, or sent the whole of
+it to the English camp. A proclamation made by Mulla Shakur, forbidding
+the hoarding of provisions, or their sale above a fixed price, was
+disregarded. The poor assembled in throngs before the house of Sir A.
+Burnes, who was compelled to make gratuitous distributions of bread. At
+last the Shah's government adopted the course usual in Afghanistan in
+such emergencies; the store-keepers were seized, and compelled to sell
+their grain at a moderate price. They complained to the English agents,
+who unwisely interfered. Mohan Lal was ordered to wait upon Mulla
+Shakur, and to request him to release the traders. The result of this
+was a universal cry throughout the kingdom, that the English were
+killing the people by starvation. What wretched work was this? what
+miserable mismanagement? and how deluded must those men have been who
+thought it possible, by pursuing such a course, to conciliate an
+ignorant and barbarous people, and secure the permanence of Shah Shuja's
+reign? "After the outbreak of Kabul," says Mohan Lal, whose evidence on
+these matters must have weight, as that of an eyewitness, and of one
+who, from his position as servant of the East India Company, would not
+venture to distort the truth, "when I was concealed in the Persian
+quarters, I heard both the men and the women saying that the English
+enriched the grain and the grass-sellers, &c., whilst they reduced the
+chiefs to poverty and killed the poor by starvation."
+
+It is a well-known English foible to think nothing good unless the price
+be high. This was strikingly exemplified in Afghanistan, where every
+thing was done virtually to lower the value of money. The labourers
+employed by our engineer officers were paid at so high a rate that there
+was a general strike, and agriculture was brought to a stand-still. The
+king's gardens were to be put in order, but not a workman was to be had
+except for English pay. The treasury could not afford to satisfy such
+exorbitant demands, and the people were made to work, receiving the
+regular wages of the country. Clamour and complaint were the
+consequence, and the English authorities informed Mullah Shakur, that if
+he did not satisfy the grumblers, they would pay them for the Shah, thus
+constituting him their debtor. Shuja's jealousy increased, and he showed
+his irritation by various petty attempts at annoyance. Discontent was
+rife in Afghanistan, even when the general impression amongst the
+English officers there, was, that the country was quiet and the people
+satisfied. Colonel Herring was murdered near Ghazni; a chief named Sayad
+Hassim rebelled, but was subdued, and his fort taken, by Colonel Orchard
+and the gallant Major Macgregor.
+
+It was at this critical period that news came to Kabul of Dost
+Mohammed's escape from Bokhara. The Shah of Persia had rebuked the
+Bokhara ambassador for his master's harsh treatment of the Amir,
+whereupon the latter was allowed more liberty, of which he took
+advantage to escape. On the road his horse knocked up, but he luckily
+fell in with a caravan, and obtained a place in a camel-basket. The
+caravan was searched by the emissaries of the King of Bokhara, but the
+Amir had coloured his white beard with ink, and thus avoided detection.
+He was received with open arms by the Mir of Shahar Sabz and the Vali of
+Khulam, and held counsel with those two chiefs and some other adherents
+as to the course he should adopt. It was resolved to make an attempt to
+recover Kabul, and measures were taken to collect money, men, and
+horses. The moment appeared favourable for the enterprise; the Afghan
+chiefs and people were discontented, and there were disturbances in
+Kohistan. Sir William MacNaghten knew not whom to trust; and a vast
+number of arrests were made on suspicion, some without the slightest
+cause, which increased the disaffection and want of confidence. On the
+30th of August hostilities commenced with an attack by Afzal Khan on the
+British post at Bajgah. It was repulsed, and on the 18th of September
+the Amir and the Vali of Khulam were routed by Colonel Dennie. Dost
+Mohammed fled to Kohistan, many of whose chief inhabitants rallied round
+his standard, until he found himself at the head of five thousand men.
+He might have augmented this number, but for the exertions of Sir A.
+Burnes and Mohan Lal, who sent agents into the revolted country with
+money to buy up the inhabitants. This became known amongst the Amir's
+followers, and rendered him distrustful of them; for he feared they
+would be unable to withstand the temptations held out, and would betray
+him, in hopes of a large reward. On the 2d of November occurred a
+skirmish between the Amir's forces and the troops under General Sale and
+Shah Zadah, in which the 2d cavalry were routed, and several English
+officers killed, or severely wounded. Notwithstanding this slight
+advantage, and a retrograde movement effected the same night by the
+united British and Afghan division, the Amir felt himself so insecure,
+fearing even assassination at the hand of the Kohistanis, that, on the
+evening of the 30th November, he gave himself up to Sir William
+MacNaghten at Kabul. He was delighted with the kind and generous
+reception he met, and wrote to Afzal Khan and his other sons to join
+him. After a few days, the necessary arrangements being completed, he
+was sent to India.
+
+The Amir a prisoner, the chief apparent obstacle to the tranquillity of
+Afghanistan was removed, and it was not unreasonable to suppose that
+Shah Shuja would thenceforward sit undisturbed upon the throne of his
+ancestors. Unfortunately such anticipations were erroneous. Had Dost
+Mohammed remained at large, any harm he could have done would have been
+inferior to that occasioned by the injudicious measures of the British
+agents. These measures, as Mohan Lal asserts, with, we fear, too much
+truth, were the very worst that could be devised for the attainment of
+the ends proposed. The Afghan character was misunderstood, Afghan
+customs and institutions were interfered with, and Afghan prejudices
+shocked. Certain things there were, which it would have been good policy
+to wink at, or appear ignorant of. The contrary course was adopted. On
+the field of Parvan, where the combat of the 2d November took place, a
+bag of letters was found, compromising a large number of chiefs and
+influential Kabulis. The Amir having surrendered, and as it was not
+intended to punish these persons, the wisest plan would have been to
+suppress the letters entirely; but this was not done, and the disclosure
+caused a vast deal of mistrust on the part of the suspected chiefs
+towards the English. It also gave a stimulus to a practice then very
+prevalent in Kabul, that of forging letters from persons of note, with a
+view to compromise the supposed writers, and to procure for the forgers
+money and English friendship. Much mischief was done by these letters,
+some of which were fabricated by Afghans enjoying the favour and
+confidency of Sir A. Burnes and Sir W. MacNaghten.
+
+On the repeated solicitations of the English, the Vazir Mulla Shakur was
+dismissed. His successor, Nizam-ul-Daulah, was almost forced upon the
+Shah, whose power was thus rendered contemptible in the eyes of the
+Afghans. The new minister took his orders rather from the British agents
+than from his nominal master--going every day to the former to report
+what he had done, caring nothing for the good or bad opinion of the
+nation, or for the will of the Shah, whose mandates he openly disobeyed.
+Having committed an oppressive act, by depriving a Sayad of his land,
+Shuja repeatedly enjoined him to restore the property to its rightful
+owner. He paid no attention to these injunctions; and at last the Shah
+told the suppliant, when he again came to him for redress, "that he had
+no power over the Vazir, and therefore that the Sayad should curse him,
+and not trouble the Shah any more, because he was no more a king but a
+slave." By bribes to the newswriters of the envoy and Sir A. Burnes,
+Nizam-ul-Daulah endeavoured to keep his misdeeds from the ears of those
+officers. Nevertheless, they became known to them through Mohan Lal and
+others; but Sir A. Burnes "felt himself in an awkward position, and
+considered it impossible to cause the dismissal of one whose nomination
+he had with great pains so recently recommended."
+
+A reform in the military department, recommended by Sir A. Burnes,
+caused immense bitterness and ill-blood amongst the chiefs, whose
+retinues were compulsorily diminished, the men who were to be retained,
+and those who were to be dismissed, being selected by a British officer.
+This was looked upon as an outrageous insult and grievous humiliation.
+The reduction was effected, also, in a harsh and arbitary manner,
+without consideration for the pride of the chiefs and warriors, by whom
+all these offences were treasured up, to be one day bloodily revenged.
+Other innovations speedily followed and increased their discontent;
+until at last they were reduced to so deplorable a position that they
+waited in a body upon Shah Shuja to complain of it. The Shah imprudently
+replied, that he was king by title only, not by power, and that the
+chiefs were cowards, and could do nothing. These words Mohan Lal
+believes were not spoken to stimulate the chiefs to open rebellion, but
+merely to induce them to such acts as might convince the English of the
+bad policy of their reforms and other measures. But the Shah had
+miscalculated the effect of his dangerous hint. After the interview with
+him, at the end of September 1841, the chiefs assembled, and sealed an
+engagement, written on the leaves of the Koran, binding themselves to
+rebel against the existing government, as the sole way to annihilate
+British influence in Kabul. Mohan Lal was informed of this plot, and
+reported it to Sir A. Burnes, who attached little importance to it, and
+refused to permit the seizure of the Koran, whence the names of the
+conspirators might have been learned. It has been frequently stated,
+that neither Burnes nor MacNaghten had timely information of the
+discontent and conspiracy of the chiefs. Mohan Lal affirms the contrary,
+and supports his assertion by extracts from letters written by those
+gentlemen. Pride of power, he says, and an unfortunate spirit of
+rivalry, prevented them from taking the necessary measures to meet the
+outbreak. Sir A. Burnes thought that to be on the alert would show
+timidity, whilst carelessness of the alarming reports then afloat would
+prove intrepidity, and produce favourable results. But it was not the
+moment for such speculations. A circular letter was secretly sent round
+to all the Durrani and Persian chiefs in Kabul and the suburbs, falsely
+stating that a plan was on foot to seize them and send them to India,
+whither Sir W. MacNaghten was about to proceed as governor of Bombay.
+The authors of this atrocious forgery were afterwards discovered. They
+were three Afghans of bad character and considerable cunning, who had
+been employed by the Vazir, by the envoy, and by Sir A. Burnes. Their
+object was to produce a revolt, in which they might make themselves
+conspicuous as friends of the English, and so obtain reward and
+distinction. They had been wont to derive advantage from revolutions and
+outbreaks, and were eager for another opportunity of making money. Their
+selfish and abominable device was the spark to the train. It caused a
+prompt explosion. The chiefs again assembled, resolved upon instant
+action, and fixed upon its plan. It was decided to begin by an attack
+upon the houses of Sir A. Burnes and the other English officers resident
+in the city. For fear of discovery, not a moment was to be lost. The
+following day, the 2d of November, was to witness the outbreak.
+
+And now, at the eleventh hour, fresh intimations of the approaching
+danger were conveyed to those whom it threatened. Two persons informed
+Sir A. Burnes of it; and one of the conspirators more than hinted it to
+Mohan Lal, who had boasted to him that the Ghilzais were pacified by
+Major Macgregor, and that Sir Robert Sale was on his victorious march to
+Jellalabad. The conspirator laughed. "To-morrow morning," he said, "the
+very door you now sit at will be in flames of fire; and yet still you
+pride yourselves in saying that you are safe!"
+
+"I told all this," says Mohan Lal, "to Sir Alexander Burnes, whose reply
+was, that we must not let the people suppose we were frightened, and
+that he will see what he can do in the cantonment, whither he started
+immediately. Whilst I was talking with Sir A. Burnes, an anonymous note
+reached him in Persian, confirming what he had heard from me and from
+other sources, on which he said, 'The time is arrived that we must leave
+this country.'" The time for that was already past.
+
+The disastrous occurrences in Afghanistan, on and subsequently to the 2d
+of November 1841, are so recent, so well-known, and have been so much
+written about, that any thing beyond a passing reference to them is here
+unnecessary. Mohan Lal's account of the deaths of Sir A. Burnes, Charles
+Burnes, Sir W. MacNaghten, and Shah Shuja, is interesting, as are also
+some details of his own escapes and adventures during the insurrection.
+From the roof of his house he witnessed the attack upon that of Sir A.
+Burnes, and the death of Lieutenant H. Burnes, who slew six Afghans
+before he himself was cut to pieces. Sir Alexander was murdered without
+resistance, having previously tied his cravat over his eyes, in order
+not to see the blows that put an end to his existence. Mohan Lal himself
+narrowly escaped death at the hands of the man who subsequently murdered
+Shah Shuja; but he was rescued by an Afghan friend, and concealed in a
+harem. Afterwards, whilst prisoner to Akhbar Khan, he did good service
+in sending information to the English generals and political agents, and
+finally in negotiating the release of the Kabul captives. For all these
+matters we refer our readers to the closing chapters of his book, and
+return to Dost Mohammed.
+
+On his arrival at Calcutta, the Amir was treated by Lord Auckland with
+great attention and respect, an income of three lakhs of rupees was
+allotted to him, and he was taken to see the curiosities of the city,
+the naval and military stores, &c. All these things greatly struck him,
+and he was heard to say, that had he known the extraordinary power and
+resources of the English, he would never have opposed them. After a
+while, his health sufferred from the Calcutta climate; he became greatly
+alarmed about himself, and begged to be allowed to join his family at
+Loodianah. He was sent to the upper provinces, and afterwards to the
+hills, where the temperature was cool and somewhat similar to that of
+his own country. During the Kabul insurrection he managed to keep up a
+communication with his son Akhbar, whom he strongly advised to destroy
+the English by every means in his power.
+
+When the British forces re-entered Afghanistan to punish its inhabitants
+for the Kabul massacres, Prince Fatah Jang, son of the murdered Shah
+Shuja, was placed upon the throne. But when he found that his European
+supporters, after accomplishing the work of chastisement, were about to
+evacuate the country with a precipitation which, it has been said,
+"resembled almost as much the retreat of an army defeated as the march
+of a body of conquerors,"[46] he hastened to abdicate his short-lived
+authority. He was too good a judge of the chances, to await the
+departure of the British and the arrival of Akhbar Khan, and preferred
+taking off his crown himself to having it taken off by somebody else,
+with his head in it. His brother, Prince Shahpur, a mere boy, was then
+seated upon the throne, and left at the mercy of his enemies. His reign
+was very brief. As the English marched from Kabul, Akhbar Khan
+approached it, and the son of Shuja had to run away, with loss of
+property and risk of life. "By such a precipitate withdrawal from
+Afghanistan," says Mohan Lal, "we did not show an honourable sentiment
+of courage, but we disgracefully placed many friendly chiefs in a
+serious dilemma. There were certain chiefs whom we detached from Akhbar
+Khan, pledging our honour and word to reward and protect them; and I
+could hardly show my face to them at the time of our departure, when
+they came full of tears, saying, that 'we deceived and punished our
+friends, causing them to stand against their own countrymen, and then
+leaving them in the mouths of lions.' As soon as Mohammed Akhbar
+occupied Kabul, he tortured, imprisoned, extorted money from, and
+disgraced, all those who had taken our side. I shall consider it indeed
+a great miracle and a divine favour, if hereafter any trust ever be
+placed in the word and promise of the authorities of the British
+government throughout Afghanistan and Turkistan."
+
+When it at last became evident that the feeble and talentless Sadozais
+were unable to hold the reins of power in Afghanistan, or to contend,
+with any chance of success, against the energy and influence of the
+Barakzai chiefs, Dost Mohammed was released, and allowed to return to
+his own country. On his way he concluded a secret treaty of alliance
+with Sher Singh, the Maharajah of the Punjaub, and from Lahore was
+escorted by the Sikhs to the Khaibar pass, where Akhbar Khan and other
+Afghan chiefs received him. The Amir's exultation at again ascending his
+throne knew no bounds. Unschooled by adversity, he very soon recommenced
+his old system of extortion, and made himself so unpopular, that he was
+once fired at, but escaped. He now enjoys his authority and the
+superiority of his family, fearless of invasion from West or East.
+
+Although Akhbar Khan, of all the Amir's sons, has the greatest influence
+in Afghanistan, and renown out of it, his elder brother, Afzal Khan, is,
+we are informed, greatly his superior in judgment and nobility of
+character. Mohan Lal predicts a general commotion in Kabul when Dost
+Mohammed dies. If any one of his brothers, the chiefs of Qandhar, or
+Sultan Mohammed Khan, the ex-chief of Peshavar, be then alive, he will
+attempt to seize Kabul, and many of the Afghan nobles, some even of the
+Amir's sons, will lend him their support against Akhbar Khan. The
+popular candidate, however, the favourite of the people, of the chiefs,
+and of his relations, the Barakzais, is Afzal Khan. Akhbar will be
+supported by his brothers--the sons, that is to say, of his own mother
+as well as of the Amir. Perhaps the whole territory of Kabul will be
+divided into small independent principalities, governed by the different
+sons of Dost Mohammed. At any rate, there can be little doubt that at
+his death wars and intrigues, plunderings and assassinations, will again
+distract the country. The crown that was won by the crimes of the
+father, will, in all probability, be shattered and pulled to pieces by
+the dissensions and rivalry of the children.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[45] There were special reasons for the mutual hatred of these two
+brothers. One of the Amir's wives was a lady of the royal family of
+Sadozai, who, when the decline of that dynasty commenced, had attracted
+the attention of Sultan Mohammed Khan, and a correspondence took place
+between them. She prepared to leave Kabul to be married to him, when the
+Amir, who was also smitten with her charms, forcibly seized her and
+compelled her to become his wife. This at once created, and has ever
+since maintained, a fatal animosity between the brothers; and Sultan
+Mohammed Khan has often been heard to say, that nothing would afford him
+greater pleasure, even at breathing his last, than to drink the blood of
+the Amir. Such is the nature of the brotherly feeling now existing
+between them.--See _Life of Dost Mohammed Khan_, vol. i. p. 222, 223.
+
+[46] _Sale's Brigade in Afghanistan._ By the Rev. G.R. GLEIG.
+
+
+
+
+ON THE OPERATION OF THE ENGLISH POOR-LAWS.
+
+
+The time has arrived when the modes of administering the poor-law in
+England and Wales must undergo inquiry and revision. Twelve years have
+elapsed since the Poor-Law Amendment Act became the law of the land; and
+during the period many changes have been made. In many cases, the new
+arrangements of the Poor-Law Commissioners have been adopted without a
+murmur. In some cases, they have met with continued but fruitless
+opposition. In others, they have been resisted with success. During the
+whole period a war has raged, in which no two of the combatants have
+used the same weapons, or drawn them in the same cause. One has adduced
+particular cases of hardship, suffering, and death, as the results of
+the new system. Another has collected statistics, and referred to
+depauperised counties. And yet the same number of cases of hardship and
+suffering may have occurred before 1834, although unrecorded and
+unknown. Nor does it follow, because the official returns from
+agricultural counties may show a diminished number of paupers, or a
+diminished expenditure, that the residue have been able to earn their
+bread as independent labourers. No period appears to have been assigned
+when the results of the new system should be examined. Successive
+governments have kept aloof from fear, until an accident led to
+important disclosures, and an inquiry is now inevitable. The Poor-Law
+Commissioners have been invested with extraordinary and dangerous
+powers. They possess the united powers of Queen, Lords, and Commons.
+Their most imperfectly-considered resolutions have the force of an act
+of parliament, or rather, ten-fold more force--it being their duty,
+first, to ascertain _what ought to be the law--then to make the
+law--then to enforce it--and then, after the elapse of time, to report
+upon its success or failure_. It would be difficult for the wisest to
+exercise powers like these beneficially; and it is to be feared that
+abuses have crept in. And when we find that men, who have hitherto
+upheld the system, now demand inquiry in their place in parliament, and
+the ministers who were concerned in the establishment of the system,
+promising, either to withdraw opposition to the demand, or to amend the
+laws themselves so we may be assured that the topic at the present time,
+as regards the administration of Relief to the Poor in England and
+Wales, is Inquiry and Revision.
+
+The subject matter of this article must be suggestive, rather than
+affirmative. Even at this time of day, it would be presumptuous to take
+up a commanding or decided position. The old system was rotten. The good
+it contained was choked up with weeds; the pruning-knife has been
+applied unsparingly; and it is to be feared that good wood has been cut
+away. New arrangements have been devised with practical shrewdness, to
+displace clearly recognised evils; but, with these practical
+improvements, certain economic theories have been speculatively, tried;
+and it is likely that evils have sprung up; so that those who proclaim
+so loudly that every part of the new arrangements is either naught or
+vicious, and those who affirm that the old methods were all good, are
+both remote from the truth, which, probably, lies somewhere between the
+two.
+
+The subject being set apart for inquiry, the question arises--How can a
+subject which has so many phases be advantageously considered; to whom
+must we go for information; and to what matters should the attention be
+chiefly directed? It is to these questions this article will attempt to
+provide answers. To the first question--To whom must we go for
+information?--the answer is obvious. To all who are engaged in the
+administration of the law, and chiefly to those who have to do with
+those departments where evils may be supposed to exist. And, in order to
+answer the second, the subject must be divided into classes, and the
+mode of operation of the law in each must be sketched. The reader will
+then be able to see for himself, and judge whether the matters referred
+to are not those which most imperatively demand inquiry.
+
+The several parishes, townships, chapelries, and hamlets of England and
+Wales, whether grouped into Unions or not, may be usefully distributed
+into three classes.
+
+_The First Class_ includes "parishes, townships, chapelries, and
+hamlets," grouped into Unions, in which the _population bears a small
+proportion to the number of acres they comprise_.
+
+_The Second Class_ includes small populous parishes, grouped into
+Unions, in which the _population bears a large proportion to the number
+of statute acres they cover_.
+
+_The Third Class_ consists of _large single parishes_, in which the
+_population bears a large proportion to the number of acres_.
+
+The following diagram will explain this classification:
+
+ _____________________________________________________________________
+|              |          |      |Population|       |Area of|No. of   |
+|  COUNTY.     |   UNION. |No. of|   of     |Popula-|Union, |Relieving|
+|              |          |Par-  |Parishes  |tion of|Statute|Officers.|
+|              |          |ishes |__________|Union  |Acres. |         |
+|              |          |      |High |Low |       |       |         |
+|______________|__________|______|_____|____|_______|_______|_________|
+|FIRST CLASS,  |          |      |     |    |       |       |         |
+|Denbigh,      |Ruthin,   |   21 | 2066|  97| 16,019|166,619|   2     |
+|Durham,       |Easington,|   19 | 2976|  10|  6,984| 34,660|   1     |
+|Staffordshire,|Uttoxeter,|   16 | 4864| 116| 12,837| 56,685|   1     |
+|Derbyshire,   |Shardlow, |   46 | 3182|  23| 29,812| 66,974|   2     |
+|Lincoln       |Louth     |   88 | 6927|  24| 25,214|152,251|   3     |
+|______________|__________|______|_____|____|_______|_______|_________|
+|SECOND CLASS, |          |      |     |    |       |       |         |
+|Middlesex     |City of   |      |     |    |       |       |         |
+|              | London   |   98 | 4014|  72| 57,100|    370|   3     |
+|______________|__________|______|_____|____|_______|_______|_________|
+|THIRD CLASS,  |Parish.   |      |     |    |       |       |         |
+|Middlesex     |Marylebone|   1  |.....|....|138,164|   1490|  ...    |
+|______________|__________|______|_____|____|_______|_______|_________|
+
+These divisions of territory may be regarded from different points of
+view. They may be seen through the media of statute-books, reports,
+returns, and statistics; or they may be actually surveyed. Each course
+has its peculiar dangers. The mind, occupied with matters of detail and
+routine occurrences, is apt to lose in comprehensiveness as much as it
+gains in minute exactness. To avoid this danger the mind must soar as
+the facts accumulate. It must regard them, sometimes from the height of
+one theory, and sometimes from the height of another. For the mind
+becomes tinged with the hue of whatever is frequently presented to it.
+Opinions even are hereditary. And every set of facts leads to a
+different conclusion, according to the texture of the minds they pass
+through. Refer to the facts connected with the condition of the poor,
+which have been proclaimed during the last few years; and then reflect
+to what contradictory opinions they have led. The man of strong
+benevolent feelings deduces one inference. The politico-economical
+theorist deduces another. And the man of practice and experience is as
+likely to be deluded as either. He sees destitution so frequently
+connected with imprudence, laziness, and crime, that he is apt to
+believe that the union is indissoluble. His mind has never embraced a
+general idea, or traced effects to causes, or distinguished them, the
+one from the other. And in this matter, where the causes and effects are
+so complicated, and entangled by their mutual reaction, he is likely to
+be at fault. Then the man of pure benevolence sees only the pain, and
+demands only the means of immediate relief. And the political economist
+tells us, "That the law which would enforce charity can fix no limits,
+either to the ever-increasing wants of a poverty which itself has
+created, or to the insatiable desires and demands of a population which
+itself hath corrupted and led astray."
+
+In the First Class, the parishes are large, thinly populated, and
+situated generally in rural districts. In some cases, the Union includes
+a country town; the neighbouring parishes and hamlets being connected
+with it. The total number of parishes may be eighteen or twenty. In
+other cases, the Union consists of about twenty-five parishes,
+townships, hamlets, and chapelries. In some instances, the population of
+the parishes are collected into so many villages, which are distant from
+each other. In others, the entire surface of the country is sprinkled
+thinly with cottages. The communications are by high-roads, and muddy
+lanes, over high hills, and through bogs and marshes, and by
+bridle-roads and footpaths--
+
+    "O'er muirs and mosses many, O."
+
+In each of these Unions, the management of the relief fund is confided
+to a Board, consisting of resident rate-payers, and resident country
+magistrates. The former are guardians by election, and the latter
+ex-officio. The Board is completed by the addition of the churchwardens
+and overseers. The chairman is generally the most distinguished, and the
+vice-chairman the most active man in the Union. The chairman regulates
+the proceedings of the Board, and ascertains its resolutions. The clerk
+records them. The relief which applicants are to receive, is determined
+by the Board; except that which is given by certain officers in cases of
+"sudden and urgent necessity." The management of the Union-house is
+invested in the master--a paid officer. His duties are ascertained and
+fixed. He is liable to dismissal by the joint resolution of the Poor-Law
+Commissioners and the Guardians, or by the order of the Commissioners
+alone. It is also the duty of the master to attend to such cases of
+destitution as may be presented at the Union-House gate; and, if their
+necessities be of a sudden and urgent character, to admit them into the
+house. It may be remarked here, that information is wanted upon this
+point. The question is not, by what general term may the cases be
+designated, whether sudden or urgent, but what the circumstances of the
+cases really are, which are so relieved. The answers to the question
+would throw light upon the relation subsisting between a strict
+work-house system and the increase of vagrancy. To continue. The sick
+poor are confided to the care of the medical officer; and the out-door
+relief is chiefly administered by the relieving-officer. His duties in
+rural Unions are as follows:--To pay or deliver such amounts of money or
+food as the Board may have ordered the poor to receive, at the villages,
+hamlets, and cottages where they may reside. He must visit the poor at
+their homes. He receives applications for relief; and when the necessity
+is sudden and urgent, he relieves the case promptly with food. He must
+report upon the circumstances of each case, and keep accounts. For
+neglect of duty, he is liable to penal consequences, and to dismissal,
+in the same way as the master. The average number of parishes,
+townships, and hamlets committed to the care of the relieving-officer
+may be about twenty. The reader may be able, from his local knowledge,
+to picture this Union, and give it a name.
+
+The Union then consists of twenty parishes. The Union-house is pretty
+central, and situated near a small market-town. The meetings of the
+Board are held in the Union-house, and upon the market-day; because then
+the guardians, churchwardens, and overseers, after having transacted
+their private business, may conveniently perform their public duties. At
+the last meeting of the Board of Guardians, certain poor persons
+appeared before them, and were ordered to be relieved with money or
+food, at a specific rate, and for a specified time. The
+relieving-officer resides in that part of the Union from whence he can
+reach the most distant and opposite points with nearly equal facility.
+He divides his district into rounds, and each occupies the greatest
+portion of a day. At the end of each week he will have visited the whole
+of the twenty parishes.
+
+The Board met yesterday, and to-day the relieving-officer's week began.
+By the conditions of his appointment, he must have a horse and chaise.
+The contractor for bread is bound to deliver it at the home of the
+pauper; he must therefore provide man and horse, and they accompany the
+relieving-officer. They set out on the first day's journey; they arrive
+at the first hamlet on the route, and stop at a cottage door. Around it
+and within it the destitute poor of the hamlet are assembled. Each
+receives his allowance of money and bread. But a group has collected
+about the door, whose names are not on the relief-list. One woman tells
+the relieving-officer that her husband is ill with fever, and her
+children are without food. He knows the family; he hastens down the
+lane, and across the field, and enters the labourer's hut. The man is
+really ill, and there are too evident signs of destitution. A written
+order is given on the medical officer to attend the case, and necessary
+relief is given. The man who now approaches the officer with such an air
+of overbearing insolence, or fawning humility, is also an applicant. He
+is known at the village beer-shop, and by the farmer as a man who can
+work, but will not; he is the last man employed in the parish; his hovel
+is visited--it is a scene of squalid misery. What is to be done? He may
+be relieved temporarily with bread, or admitted into the Union-house, or
+he is directed to attend the Board. The relieving officer then proceeds
+to his next station. There a larger supply of bread awaits him, for he
+is now in a populous parish. The poor of the place are assembled at the
+church door, and the relief is given in the vestry-room. The
+applications are again received and disposed of. He then rides to the
+cottages of the sick and the aged, and again continues his route. He
+does not proceed far before he is hailed by the labourer in the field,
+who tells him of some solitary person who is without medical aid.
+By-and-by, he is stopped by the boy who has long waited for him on the
+stile, and begs him to come and see his mother; and the farmer's man, on
+the farmer's horse, gives him further news of disease, destitution, or
+death. He completes his day's journey before the evening. To-morrow
+another route is taken; and thus he proceeds from day to day, and from
+month to month, through summer's heat and winter's cold.
+
+The number of medical officers in a Union varies. In some cases, where
+there are two relieving-officers, there are four medical officers. The
+medical officer resides within the limits of the Union. He is not
+prevented from attending to his private practice, and he does not
+therefore reside in a central position, or at the nearest point to his
+pauper patients; he is supplied with a list of persons who are in
+receipt of relief, and he is bound to attend these without an order; he
+must also attend to cases upon the receipt of a written order from the
+relieving-officer or the overseer; he regulates the diet of his
+patients, and he is paid by a salary, and by fees in certain cases.
+
+There are contradictory opinions respecting the efficiency of this
+system. Some say that the amount of remuneration is inadequate to insure
+qualified persons, and others that the qualifications are secured by the
+requisition of recognised diplomas.
+
+If we inquire of those among the peasantry who have never received
+parochial relief, or even of the yeomanry, we find that in many
+districts, and especially those of which we are now speaking, it is a
+difficult matter to obtain immediate medical aid; and if this
+consideration have any weight, the system would appear satisfactory,
+providing always the overseers perform their duty when applied to. It
+would be desirable to ascertain whether there are any restrictions in
+the issue of medical orders. As regards relieving the poor with food,
+there are many who say, that, in so doing, the very evil is created
+which we are endeavouring to destroy. But this is not said with respect
+to medical relief. The labouring man with his family may earn an average
+wage of from 7s. to 12s. per week. The most prudent cannot save much,
+and those savings are invested in the purchase of a stack of wood, a
+sack of meal, a crop of potatoes, a stye of pigs, or a cow. His savings
+might enable him to provide food for his family during illness, but they
+would be totally insufficient to pay for medicine and medical aid. It
+would be desirable to ascertain where and to what extent medical clubs
+and dispensaries exist, and what means the agricultural labourer, in
+thinly populated districts, possesses for obtaining gratuitous medical
+aid.
+
+It would be well, too, if Boards of Guardians would remember that their
+duties have not ended when they have disposed of the cases on each
+board-day. They have to do with pauperism, not only as it exists to-day,
+but as it may exist next month or next year; and therefore they have to
+do with its causes, as well as its existing results. This truth is just
+now occupying the minds of statesmen, and it is to be hoped that it may
+receive the attention of Boards of Guardians. Sanatory regulations will
+decrease pauperism. Many men have been destroyed, and their families
+pauperised, by uncovered sewers in thickly populated lanes and alleys;
+and much disease has been engendered by the want of facilities for
+cleanliness. And so also has much pauperism been engendered by the drain
+upon the resources of the poor man during a long illness. Could not this
+be remedied, and that without weakening the feeling of independence? And
+why might not a Board of Guardians be allowed, or compelled, to
+contribute a given sum to any dispensary or medical club which may be
+governed by certain rules duly certified?
+
+We must now refer to the churchwardens and overseers of the several
+parishes of this rural Union. The question with respect to them is, do
+they receive the applications of the poor in their respective parishes,
+and deal with them in the same way as the relieving-officer? It would
+not be a sufficient answer to quote acts of parliament, or lists of
+duties. It is doubtless of importance to know that, according to law,
+the duty of relieving in cases of sudden and urgent necessity is still
+reserved to the overseer. But it is of equal importance to ascertain
+whether, in those extensive or thinly populated parishes where the
+relieving-officer may reside many a weary mile distant from the cottage
+of the destitute, any check, or hinderance, or heavy discouragement has
+been offered to the overseer in his attempt to perform his duty. We can
+easily conceive the farmer overseer, before 1834, riding over the fields
+of his parish, and meeting one of the poor cottagers, at once relieving
+him with a piece of money, and taking no further note of the
+circumstance than was necessary to prevent his forgetting to repay
+himself. And we can understand how the same overseer, under the new
+system, when men to whom he has been accustomed to look up with
+deference are united with him in the administration of relief, may not
+trouble himself to inquire into, or care to exercise, the rights
+reserved to him. Or he may find that he has something more to do than
+merely to enter the amount in his pocket-book. He may have to report the
+case to the relieving-officer, or to defend it at the Board--neither of
+which acts his literary habits, his opportunities, his patience, or his
+ability to speak before the magnates of his district in Board assembled,
+may dispose him to perform. In other cases, where these considerations
+may have no weight, the overseer may be of opinion, since paid officers
+have been appointed to do the duty, and are paid to do it, that they are
+the proper persons to perform it.
+
+In thus referring to the duties of overseers, it must not be supposed
+that a recurrence to the old system is aimed at. It is a common opinion
+that the Union system is diametrically opposed to the old parochial
+system. And it seems to be too generally thought that relief should be
+given through paid agency. But this is not so. The power to relieve, in
+cases of sudden and urgent necessity, still rests with the overseers.
+But the law has deprived the overseer of the power to give permanent
+relief. It will not allow him to give a regular weekly allowance. The
+question the overseer has to do with is not whether labourer Miles shall
+receive, for a number of consecutive weeks or months, a certain sum, but
+whether he should not receive relief at this moment, his necessities
+being sudden and urgent. The question of permanent relief is no longer a
+subject of personal controversy and irritation between the labourer and
+the farmer. It is now a question between the labourer and the Board.
+What he shall receive no longer depends upon the will of a single
+person, but upon the collective will of a number so great, that personal
+partialities and prejudices can scarcely have place. The system, in this
+respect, assures justice alike to the rate-payer and the indigent poor.
+It stands between the poor man and the overseer; and also between the
+overseer and the sturdy threatening vagrant.
+
+But it is desirable to know whether the dereliction of duty by overseers
+has been of frequent occurrence, and whether there has been any want of
+care or disposition on the part of the authorities to facilitate its
+exercise. That the relief given must be duly recorded and accounted for,
+is quite clear. Now, do the means for doing this equal those given to
+the relieving-officer, who requires them less? Then, again, have
+arrangements been duly made to enable overseers to relieve in food? Is
+the loaf or the meat at hand? Can it be had from the nearest shop? Or
+must it be brought from the store of the contractor, who cannot always
+reside in the next village? In fact, must the destitute person wait for
+the periodical visit of the relieving-officer, and is the duty of the
+overseer thus made a superfluity?
+
+It is likely that the dweller in cities may not sufficiently estimate
+the importance of this topic. In a populous city, however sudden the
+casualty may be to which a fellow-creature may fall a victim, the means
+of relief are within a stone's-throw from the spot. But the case is
+different in that wide expanse of level country which opens to the view
+of the pedestrian as he gains the summit of the hill. The plain is
+dotted with solitary cottages, hamlets, and villages. The town is just
+perceptible in the distance. But its hum and its chimes are unheard. The
+Union-house loses its barrack-like appearance by its remoteness. He
+descends, and its "goes on his way." He hears the voices of children,
+the song of birds; and he sees cottages "embosomed" in trees, and those
+pictures which pastoral poets have so loved to paint, pass in panoramic
+order before him. He enters the cottage door; he sees the dampness of
+the walls; he feels the clayey coldness of the floors, and observes the
+signs of poverty. While pondering upon these things, sensation vacates
+its office, and imagination rules in the ascendant; material images fade
+away. Now the fields, the trees, and the entire air become covered and
+filled with drifting snow. Or,
+
+    "The stillness of these frosty plains,
+    Their utter stillness, and the silent grace
+    Of yon ethereal summits, white with snow,
+    (Whose tranquil pomp and spotless purity
+    Report of storms gone by
+    To those who tread below.")
+
+Or the winds howl, the biting sharpness of the frosty air nips the
+joints and shrivels the flesh, and the smoking smouldering fire has no
+power to control the winds which rush across the room. The scene
+changes. The lowlands are flooded, and the waters reach to, and stagnate
+at the cottage door. The rains descend; the air is saturated with water;
+it chills the frame; the heart beats languidly, and the soul of man
+stoops to the deadening influence of the elements. Agues, rheumatism,
+and fevers prevail. The hardships of the season bear down old and young;
+for the want of sufficient or nutritious food has shorn them of their
+strength.
+
+Upon awakening from this trance, "which was not all a dream," and
+reflecting how far aid is distant, even if it can be obtained from the
+nearest overseer, how forcibly must the thought occur--what numbers
+suffer and die whose suffering is unrelieved and unknown! If our
+pedestrian learn nothing from his trip for health and pleasure more than
+this, he will have learnt enough to satisfy him that the point we have
+directed his attention to, viz. that the means of relief in rural
+districts should be made as ample as possible; and that, therefore, the
+right and duty of the overseers to relieve promptly should be encouraged
+and zealously guarded.
+
+Reference must now be made to the notorious "Prohibitory Order." And in
+doing so, it is not to the order itself, either in its original or
+amended form, that the following remarks are especially made, but to the
+practices which owe their origin to the enactments of the Poor-Law
+Amendment Act, to the Utopian expectations of many, that a strict
+work-house test would destroy pauperism, and to the explanations and
+reports of the Commissioners themselves. The following is the
+prohibitory in its latest and most humanised form:--
+
+     "Article I.--Every able-bodied person, male or female, requiring
+     relief from any parish within any of the said Unions, shall be
+     relieved wholly in the work-house of the said Unions, together with
+     such of the family of every such able-bodied person as may be
+     resident with him or her, and may not be in employment, and
+     together with the wife of every such able-bodied male person, if he
+     be a married man, and if she be resident with him; save and except
+     in the following cases:--
+
+     1st, Where such person shall require relief on account of sudden
+     and urgent necessity.[47]
+
+     2d, Where such person shall require relief on account of any
+     sickness, accident, or bodily or mental infirmity, affecting such
+     person, or any of his or her family.
+
+     3d, Where such person shall require relief, for the purpose of
+     defraying the expenses, either wholly or in part, of the burial of
+     his or her family.
+
+     4th, Where such person, being a widow, shall be in the first six
+     months of her widowhood.
+
+     5th, Where such person shall be a widow, and have a legitimate
+     child or legitimate children dependent upon her, and incapable of
+     earning his, her, or their livelihood, and no illegitimate child
+     born after the commencement of her widowhood.
+
+     6th, Where such person shall be confined in any jail or place of
+     safe custody.
+
+     7th, Where the relief shall be required by the wife, child, or
+     children of any able-bodied man who shall be in the service of her
+     Majesty, as a soldier, sailor, or marine.
+
+     8th, Where any able-bodied person, not being a soldier, sailor, or
+     marine, shall not reside within the Union, but the wife, child, or
+     children, of such person shall reside within the same, the Board of
+     Guardians of the Union, according to their discretion, may afford
+     relief in the work-house to such wife, child, or children, or may
+     allow out-door relief for any such child or children, being within
+     the age of nurture, and resident with the mother within the Union."
+
+The fifth exception, relating to widows, is accompanied with a course of
+reasoning directed against its application; and as it is to be feared
+that the practice engendered by a former order, in which this exception
+had no place, may have become habitual, this exception will be treated
+as if it did not exist. Especial inquiries ought to be made, in order to
+ascertain whether widows with children are generally allowed out-door
+relief.
+
+The immediate effect of this system of relief is a diminution of
+expenditure. But we must look beyond the immediate effects. It is to be
+feared that great politico-social evils result from this system. They
+have been somewhat reduced in number, perhaps, by the new prohibitory
+order. But it is too probable that the original wound has left a scar.
+The evils are not on the surface, and strike the mind at intervals.
+Perhaps we may be struck with the fact, that our prisons are filled with
+individuals who have been committed for slight offences, and for short
+periods; and it may casually appear, that the work-house has something
+to do with it. Then the question may occur, why the ordinary
+accommodation for wayfarers in the casual wards of work-houses has
+become insufficient or less ample than formerly? Or, when travelling, we
+may see whole families creeping along the roads apparently without
+object or aim; and if, after giving them a coin, you ask them where they
+are going to, and why they are going? you will be struck with the
+vagueness of their replies. Wherever you meet them, you find they are
+going from this place to that; and if you were to meet them every day
+for a twelvemonth, the answers would always be as indefinite. At another
+time, we may be deeply concerned in the subject of prison discipline;
+and while studying reports, returns, and dietaries, the subject of
+workhouse discipline may become associated with it, and induce
+comparisons. And it may come to our knowledge, that there is a vast body
+of persons to whom it is a matter of indifference whether they are
+inmates of a prison or a workhouse. Or the mind may soar above the dull,
+cold, field of politics, and extend its researches to the pure regions
+of morality, leaving the questions of science for those of philosophy;
+and then it will appear that there are causes in operation, and results
+constantly flowing, which escape the "economic" eyes of assistant
+Commissioners.
+
+But we must avoid generalities. We still retain our original ground,
+viz. the rural Union, with its large area and its thinly scattered
+population. The reader must accompany us to the rural Union, where the
+spirit of the prohibitory order exercises its most baneful influence.
+
+We saw the relieving-officer performing his round of duties. The poor
+were assembled at the cottage door. Two classes of applicants were then
+given. We must now, however, look deeper into human nature. The
+destitute consist of the virtuous and the vicious, the vulgar and the
+refined. There stands an able-bodied man with his able-bodied wife, and
+his large healthy family. His weekly wages amount to nine shillings per
+week. If he loses a week's work he is destitute. He is now making an
+application to the relieving-officer. But it is useless. He must walk to
+the Union, and become an inmate, where his dinner awaits him. The man
+who now approaches the officer is like the last, able-bodied and out of
+work; but, unlike him, he has an idle, unthrifty, drunken wife. He is
+always trembling on the confines of destitution; and the instant he is
+without work he is on the brink of starvation. His spirit is broken. His
+children are dirty and ragged, and appear emaciated without disease. He,
+too, must enter the Union. The next is a hard-featured man;--
+
+    "A savage wildness round him hung
+    As of a dweller out of doors;
+    In his whole figure, and his mien,
+    A savage character was seen
+    Of mountains and of dreary moors."
+
+He does not seem to care whether relief is granted or not; and we may
+hear him say, "I don't want relief for myself, I can get my living
+somehow or other--but my wife and child musn't starve. I shan't go to
+the Union--I shall be off--and catch me who can."--In the cottage, a
+woman is seated with her children, whose husband has done that which the
+other has threatened to do. She may be industrious or idle, but she
+cannot support herself, thus suddenly thrown upon her own resources. Let
+us hope that she is allowed the benefit of the amended order.--There is
+the man whose children are approaching the state of womanhood or
+manhood. He has work to do, and he does it. He could manage to eke out a
+subsistence for himself--for his habits are simple and frugal; but his
+children are now a sore trial to him. His daughter has returned to his
+cottage with a child of shame. She has erred, but she cannot be turned
+from his door. She has tried to make the father contribute to the
+support of the child, but without success. Poor ignorant creature,
+instead of taking a competent witness with her, when she asked the man
+to assist her, she was too anxious to hide her shame. Instead of putting
+questions to him, in order "to get up" the corroborative evidence, she
+was too apt to spoil all by passionate upbraidings. And then, when she
+appeared before their worships the justices, she was too much abashed or
+excited, to enable her to develope those latent powers of examination
+and cross-examination which the law supposes her to possess. Those who
+have witnessed those humiliating proceedings in our petty courts of
+justice, and seen the magistrate at one moment kindly acting as counsel
+for the girl, then falling back to his position as judge, and observed
+the evident helplessness of the girl, must have left the court with the
+impression that the whole affair is a disgusting farce. She departs
+without redress. The "corroborative evidence" is declared insufficient.
+She goes to her father's cottage. His heart compels him to give her
+shelter, and a place at his scanty board. But the smallest assistance
+cannot be rendered with impunity. And there he stands an applicant. He
+is told, "you must come into the house." "But it is my daughter." "Then
+she must enter the Union." And, if she does, there she must remain until
+her child dies, or her hair grows grey.--On the other side, and away
+from the rest, stands a coarse-featured man, who has often been an
+inmate of the county jail. He is the smuggler on the coast, the footpad
+on the common, the poacher in the forest, the housebreaker, the
+horse-stealer, the sheep-slayer, or the incendiary. He may be any of
+these. He demands his rights, and threatens vengeance if refused.--We
+turn from this group, and walk slowly to the Union-house, now visible in
+the distance; and, in walking, the time may be well employed in
+reflection. The thought which occurs with the greatest vividness is
+this--for the reception of such a group, what must the arrangements be?
+There is the old man, honest but poor, who seeks there an asylum. There
+is the man old in sin and iniquity, as well as years. There is the
+able-bodied man and woman with their family. There is the able-bodied
+man with his drunken, unthrifty wife, and his emaciated children. There
+is the young girl, whom the season has thrown out of her ordinary field
+employment. There is the woman with her illegitimate child, either
+heart-broken, or glorying in her shame. There is the girl, young in
+years but old in profligacy, suffering for her sins. There is the matron
+in her green old age, the result of a life of industry and prudence. And
+there is the ruffian, and the thief, and the profligate vagrant, male
+and female. Now what arrangements can be made for this assemblage--the
+bad anxious to obtain temporary quarters, the good anxious to retain
+their homes?
+
+Surely they are not classed according to rules in which age, and sex,
+and state of health are the only principles? The widow with the
+prostitute, the aged cottar with the aged vagrant. If this were all, the
+moral consequences would not be so fearful. Does the young girl, who is
+now innocent, associate daily with her who has wandered over half the
+neighbouring counties, sinking lower and lower each journey? If so,
+poison will be instilled, which produces certain moral death. Refer to
+any list, now seven years old, of the inmates of a workhouse, who were
+then aged from twelve to eighteen years, and then inquire what has
+become of them. Or inquire of those who have the administration in
+metropolitan parishes, or in manufacturing and sea-port towns, how many
+of those unfortunates, scarcely yet arrived at the state of womanhood,
+and suffering from loathsome diseases, were brought up, or were sometime
+inmates of one of these Unions. Then there are the children of all
+these;--the children of the farm-labourer associating with those of the
+vagrant, who has quartered himself in the Union during the rains.
+
+The evils which this system occasions are not, unfortunately, either to
+be seen or understood by the casual observer. Even our observer may
+suppose that all is well, after he has inspected the place. He sees
+every thing clean and in order. There are no rags, no unshorn beards, no
+unclean flesh. The ordinary concomitants of virtue are here present--by
+compulsion. The rags, the filthiness of place and person, are absent--by
+order. This is forgotten; and, allowing the outward and visible to
+govern his judgment rather than the inward and spiritual, he leaves the
+place exclaiming, "Well! this is not so bad after all!" The outside is
+indeed white, but it is the whiteness of the sepulchre.
+
+If this group is to be received into one building, there must be
+something peculiar in its arrangements. All these persons are suffering,
+more or less, from the want of food, or lodging, or clothing, or medical
+aid. They are now offered the whole of these blessings, and yet they do
+not feel blessed thereby. He has now that livelihood freely offered to
+him which had cost him many a sigh to procure, and he has often sighed
+in vain. What then can or must be the nature of the arrangements? It
+must be remembered that this Union is presumed to be a test of poverty,
+and therefore the condition of its inmates must be inferior to that of
+the independent labourer.
+
+To effect this, how must the authorities proceed? In the first place,
+there are arrangements which they cannot make. They cannot altogether
+dispense with the counsels of the medical man, while the matter is under
+discussion. And an inspector of prisons should be admitted, certainly,
+as far as the ante-room. Then the locality of the Union-house must not
+be unhealthy. The internal parts of the building must not be exposed to
+the inclemency of the seasons.
+
+The rooms cannot be badly warmed or ventilated. They must not be allowed
+to become filthy. The inmates must not sleep on a damp floor, with loose
+straw for a bed, or an old carpet for a coverlid. Their clothes must not
+be permitted to fall from them in tatters. They must not remain
+twenty-four hours without food. And they cannot experience that gnawing
+anxiety--that sickness of heart which those thousands suffer who rise in
+the morning without knowing where they can obtain a meal, or lay down
+their head at night. These "ills," which constitute so large a portion
+of the poor man's lot, the inmate of this Union cannot be _made_ to
+suffer. Nor can they be detained like prisoners. He must not be confined
+for a longer period, after an application to leave has been made, than
+will allow for forms and casualties. So in three hours he is a free man
+again. What is to be done? Might not his food be touched? Might he not
+be allowed food which, although possessing nutritious qualities, should
+not be palatable? At this point, the prison inspector should be
+consulted. This experiment upon the dietaries has been tried, and with
+what success let public opinion trumpet-tongued proclaim. What must then
+be done? First, the family may, nay, must be divided and distributed
+over the building. The husband is sent to the "Man's Hall," the wife to
+the "Woman's Ward," and the male and female children each to their's.
+This arrangement is inevitable, but is fraught with dangers. The man who
+has lived for months estranged from his wife and children--for seeing
+them at certain times cannot be considered the same thing as living with
+them--may learn to believe that their presence is not necessary to his
+existence. And then it should not be forgotten, that the pain here
+introduced is the pain arising from the infliction of a moral wound. An
+attempt has been made to disturb a set of virtuous emotions in their
+healthy exercise. By this separation they are deprived of their
+necessary aliment; and, if they are not strong, will soon sicken and
+die. Now, those moral feelings which preside over the social hearth are
+those which exercise the greatest influence over the heart of the poor
+man, and bind, and strengthen, and afford opportunities for the
+development of the rest. They are in general the last that leave him.
+And when they are gone, he is bankrupt indeed. It is a pain, too, which
+only the virtuous feel. The lawless, the debauched, and the drunken pass
+unscathed. Is there not danger?
+
+In the second place, the inmates of the Union must work. And here also
+there are limits which a Board cannot pass. Labour cannot be enforced
+from a diseased man. The prudent master of a Union will not require a
+task to be performed which he cannot enforce. The question is, what work
+can the inmates be set to do? Not to lace-making or stocking-weaving,
+for that is the staple of the neighbourhood. To give them this work
+would diminish the demand for labour out of doors. What labour then must
+it be? Here is the rock upon which the vessel is now driving. It must
+certainly be real work. Must it, then, be disagreeable work? It must.
+But there is no work so disagreeable that willing labourers cannot be
+found to do it, and that at a rate of wages reduced by competition.
+Then, again, the most disagreeable kind of labour cannot be done in a
+Union-house. And experience proves, that the number of such employments
+is extremely limited.
+
+There are, however, certain kinds of labour that require no exertion of
+skill--no variety of operation--and consisting of the mechanical and
+monotonous operation of picking, which, if performed in the same room
+during a certain number of hours of each day, and from day to day, and
+from week to week, will become so sickening and wearying, that life with
+all its miseries, doubts, and anxieties, and impending starvation, will
+be welcomed in exchange.
+
+This labour women may perform. Now, in what way can the men be tasked?
+There are certain kinds of mere labour, hard and monotonous, such as
+grinding--or rather turning a handle all day long--without seeing the
+progress or result of the toil. He might also be employed in breaking
+bones. This has been tried, and received a check.
+
+But while the conclave are sitting in "consultation deep" upon this
+knotty question, let us turn to another conclave, and mark their doings.
+They know nothing of the poor-law, or paupers. The two authorities are
+separated, the one from the other, by a gulf, the depth of which
+official persons alone know. _They_ have to do with crime. They have to
+punish the offender. And not only to punish the offender who has
+committed acts which require long imprisonment, but those also who have
+committed petty offences. Upon this latter subject they are engaged. The
+prisoner must be set to work. And then arise the old questions, and with
+the same result. What do they determine?
+
+What has been done? Surely the two bodies have not each issued the same
+regulations to paupers and prisoners. If this be so, the matter cannot
+rest. And that it must be so, is obvious from a mere inspection of the
+means which the workhouse master and the jailer have at their disposal.
+It is not an oversight or an abuse. The data being given, the
+consequences are inevitable. Each conclave has separately arrived at
+nearly the same conclusion. In one case a prison and a prisoner, and a
+brief period of incarceration is given, with the condition, that his
+punishment shall not be so severe as that of the criminal deeply dyed in
+crime; and yet his circumstances shall be less desirable than those of
+the independent labourer. In the other case, a pauper and a Union-house
+is given; and if the condition of the problem be, that the pauper's
+situation shall be less disagreeable than that of the independent
+labourer, the solution becomes impossible; and, if this latter condition
+be left out or forgotten, the result is, that the prisoner and the
+pauper are in the same position. This mode of treating the matter has
+been preferred to that of comparing dietaries and labour-tables, and to
+quoting from evidence showing the indifference with which the prison and
+the workhouse are regarded by the lower class of paupers. Our object has
+been to show that the strict workhouse system leads necessarily to these
+evils.
+
+It is argued, on the other side, that pauperism has diminished in those
+Unions where the "prohibitory order" has been issued; and, in proof
+thereof, we are referred to reports and tables showing diminished
+expenditure. A family, with a judicious out-door management, would be
+able to subsist with the occasional assistance of two, three, or four
+shillings' worth of food weekly. The cost of the family in the house
+would be about 18s. weekly; and yet the expenditure in the rural Union,
+where the "prohibitory order" is in force, has been reduced. No especial
+reference can now be made to the amount of unrelieved suffering which
+this fact discloses. Those who decline the order cannot now be followed
+to their homes; nor can another incident of this system be dwelt
+upon--its tendency to reduce the standard of wages. The employer is
+likely to get labour cheap, when he has a number of unemployed labourers
+to choose from, who have just preferred to "live on" in a half-starved
+condition, rather than submit to a system of prison discipline. To
+return to the allegation, that pauperism has been diminished in those
+Unions where the order is in operation. The reply is--that the
+statistics do not touch the question. They ought to be thrown aside as
+useless, until the condition of those who have refused to enter the
+Union walls has been ascertained. Have their numbers become thinned by
+the ravages of the fever, which their "houseless heads and unfed sides"
+have unfitted them to resist? Have they been unable to pay their
+pittance of rent; and is the cottage, which was once theirs, now falling
+to decay? Have estates thus been thinned without the formality and
+notoriety of a warrant? Have the able-bodied left the Union, and become
+wanderers, seeking for an understocked labour-market; and, finding it
+not, are they becoming, through common lodging-house associations, half
+labourers, half vagrants--labouring to-day, begging to-morrow, and
+stealing the next? Is the inclination to wander growing into a passion?
+Are habits of strolling being formed? Is he gradually deteriorating to
+the half-savage state? Is this so? A great national question is
+involved. The French government know, by experience, the importance of a
+true knowledge of "Les Classes Dangereuses."
+
+Now, if any of these applicants have become wanderers, or have migrated
+to distant towns where charities abound, or have been cut off by
+sickness, or have remained in a state of semi-starvation, the statistics
+would remain the same. Besides, these statistics embrace two periods;
+the present time, when an extremely rigid system of out-door relief is
+in action; and a past time, when the out-door management was loose,
+irregular, and rotten; and for the diminution of expenditure, arising
+from a sound system of out-door relief, no allowance has been made, the
+whole benefit of the economy being referred to the workhouse test.
+
+It is probable much of the evil has been stayed, from the circumstance
+that the "system" has been carried into effect by human agency. A
+certificate of illness from the medical officer would exempt the
+individual from the operation of the rule. Now, the seeds of disease are
+oftentimes deeply hidden in the bodily frame; and the alleged throbbing
+or shooting pain, although the symptoms may not be seen, may have an
+existence, and be certified accordingly.
+
+Then the relieving-officer, after relieving the case as one of sudden
+and urgent necessity to-day, may see the applicant again upon his next
+visit; and knowing that a case is urgent after forty-eight hours'
+fasting, and may be considered sudden, if two days' work only was
+obtained when four days was expected, he may be relieved on the same
+plea again, and again, and again. In point of fact, the relief is an
+allowance.
+
+If this be the practice, a bad mode of out-door relief has grown into
+use, the worst peculiarities of the old method being involved in it. It
+is irregular, partial, and dependent on personal partialities and
+prejudices; and, if persisted in, would revive old times, when the
+overseer gave away, in the first place, to the bold, the insidious, and
+the designing, and modest merit was left to pick up the crumbs.
+
+The result of an inquiry into the two other classes into which England
+is parochially divided would probably be, that many evils have been
+removed or lessened, that others have remained untouched, that much good
+has been secured, and that new abuses have crept in.
+
+Take the Union of small parishes. An improvement has certainly been
+effected by the Union of these. A city or town, because it happened to
+be composed of a large number of small parishes, having no perceptible
+boundaries, but, in virtue of ancient usage or statute-law, was governed
+by so many independent petty powers. It does not require much study to
+ascertain what abuses would be likely to arise, or from what quarter
+they would probably come. It is likely that the round of petty magnates
+would be a small and cozy party; that a man, the moment he became
+initiated, would begin to ascend the ladder of fortune. Jobbery would
+flourish. Such things are not peculiar to England. In Spain and France
+they have been matter of observation. Read the following extract from
+Fabrice's account of the masters he served:--"Le Seigneur Manuel
+Ordonnez, mon maitre, est un homme d'une piete profonde. On dit que, des
+sa jeunesse, n'ayant en vue que le _bien_ des pauvres, il s'y est
+attache avec un zele infatigable. Aussi ses soins ne sont-ils pas
+demeures sans recompense: tout lui a prospere. Quelle benediction! En
+faisant les affaires des pauvres, il s'est enriche."
+
+These abuses belong to the past, but their existence should not be
+forgotten. Pauperism would flourish. For a system of management,
+proverbially jealous of having its affairs exposed to the gaze of the
+ignorant vulgar, could not look with too curious an eye into the
+circumstances of those who applied for relief. The beadle who flourished
+in those days did not, as some affirm, derive his authority from his
+cocked hat or his gilded coat, but from the real power he exercised.
+
+The overseers were elected with their will, or against it. They often
+served in a perpetual circle. The duty of relieving the poor was too
+often left to subordinate irresponsible officers, whose duties were
+neither expressed nor recognised. Their most arduous task was to keep
+their superior out of hot water. But what kind of cases were relieved,
+and under what circumstances, and what kind of cases were refused, and
+under what circumstances, is now mere matter--matter of tradition, and
+will become a mystery in the course of a few years. Many poor were
+relieved; but the bold, the idle, and the squalid had the best chance.
+Honest, humble poverty approached the overseer's door with fear and
+trembling, and the slightest rebuff or harsh word, which an importune
+application might occasion, would be sufficient to make her leave the
+door unrelieved. While the destitute confirmed pauper would annoy,
+insult, and extract relief, by the scandal of so much squalid
+destitution lying and crouching about the overseer's door.
+
+Now what change has taken place? These parishes have been formed into
+Unions. The churchwardens and overseers of each parish form part of a
+Board of management. This Board of management is completed by the
+addition of a class hitherto unknown in parish matters, viz. the
+guardians who are elected from the parishioners, on grounds in which
+wealth, station, and public importance are elements. All repairs and
+alterations, and the supply of provisions, are subject to contract, and
+open to competition. The parish plumber can no longer make his fortune
+by the repair of the parish pump. All disbursements are recorded, and
+subjected to rigid inspection, and all receipts are duly accounted for.
+
+But the poor, how do they fare? It is necessary to state, with reference
+to this point, that the peculiar politico-economic theories which have
+had such frequent expression in the letters, reports, and orders of the
+Poor-Law Commissioners, have also had their influence upon all persons
+connected with the administration of relief. The idea was, that a severe
+"house test" would nearly destroy pauperism. This dream, however, is
+passing away, and a more humane set of opinions are being engendered.
+
+The circumstances of a city Union are widely different from those of the
+rural Union; and, therefore, many suggestions and strictures which have
+been made against the mode of administering relief in the latter are
+inapplicable to the former. In the rural Union, the chief difficulty is,
+that a long distance must be travelled before the application to the
+relieving-officer can be made, and relief obtained. And it becomes a
+matter of importance to know to what extent the local officers are able
+to perform their duty. In the Union of small parishes, these
+difficulties cannot exist, for the whole diameter may be traversed in
+half-an-hour. Then a relief office is built. It is situated in a poor
+neighbourhood. It is open a certain number of hours in each day; an
+officer is in attendance; and the bread and meat, and other kind of
+food, are in the building. These facts are known to the poor, to the
+magistrates, and to the police. The individual power of the overseer in
+these little parishes falls daily into disuetude. The poor man can
+obtain relief most readily at the office. He need not wait for the
+leisure moment of an overseer--deeply engaged in his private affairs.
+The poor know this, and do not apply to him. Occasionally an application
+is made to an overseer, and if he wish the case to be relieved, his most
+convenient practical course, is to submit the case to the
+relieving-officer, by a note, and then to put a question to the chairman
+at the next board-day.
+
+It will be found that the evil to be apprehended is, that relief in
+certain cases may be too easily obtained, and a class of paupers
+improperly encouraged. This, however, does not necessarily proceed from
+the Union, but from certain other wise notions respecting mendicancy and
+vagrancy.
+
+A certain part of every workhouse is separated from the rest of the
+building, and appropriated to wayfarers. Formerly, at the close of day,
+a number of persons usually applied to the officers for lodging for the
+night. They were questioned as to their mode of livelihood, their object
+in travelling, the distance they had travelled, and the route; and these
+answers were tested by any means at hand. If the result was
+satisfactory, they were admitted, and allowed to pursue their way at an
+early hour in the morning, with an allowance of food. If the result was
+doubtful, or they were convicted of deceit, their application was either
+deferred, refused, or they were required to do work for the relief
+given. Then questions of age, sex, and degrees of health were
+considered. Now, relief precedes inquiry; and as these persons are
+relieved but once, no inquiry is made, and is in fact impossible. Now,
+if a man appears before an officer apparently destitute, he must be
+relieved forthwith. If the man is not relieved, the relieving-officer's
+situation and character are in jeopardy. And so the workhouse at night
+has become open house to all comers. The wards are filled with a strange
+group of beings. The very scum, not of the poor, but the vicious, are to
+be found in these wards. The man who attends these dens does his duty in
+the midst of revilings and cursings, and at the risk of his life. The
+poor man who is really "tramping" in search of work, and has not been
+able to get the threepence for his night's lodging, has not the benefit
+of this change. Fevers and other contagious diseases are likely to be
+generated and spread. Some inquiry has been made into this subject, but
+is by no means exhausted. Further inquiry should be made, and the
+connexion between vagrancy and a strict workhouse system should not be
+overlooked.
+
+The third class into which the parishes and Unions of England have been
+divided in this article, viz. that of populous single parishes, differs
+from that which comprises Unions of small parishes in but few
+particulars. These parishes are generally very populous, and cover a
+small area. The duty of administering relief has always been heavy and
+onerous. The mode of management has generally been determined by local
+acts. A board of management has always existed. In some cases the
+overseers have been elected and paid, because much experience, and the
+devotion of much time, is necessary for the due performance of the
+duties. In other instances, unpaid overseers hold the responsibility,
+and are assisted by subordinate officers. Many of these parishes have
+defied the power of the Commissioners, and retained their independent
+authority. The Boards are composed of men of standing and business
+habits. They are generally well acquainted with the poor, and know much
+better how the relief fund should be expended, than those who see them
+only through the imperfect media of reports and statistics. Many
+novelties in management, enforced on Unions by the Commissioners, have
+been voluntarily adopted, and many time-honoured fictions have been
+exploded. In general, the proceedings of the Commissioners have not been
+to them satisfactory. The new project of district asylums for the
+reception of wayfarers may be given as an example.
+
+These parishes, however, should not escape the inquiry; and a useful
+direction might be given to it, if the subject of classifications in
+workhouses were to be considered in connexion with these populous
+places. Not that special evils exist, but because the subject of
+classification on moral grounds might be more conveniently considered,
+and more severely tested.
+
+We think that an improved classification in workhouses, in which moral
+consideration might be allowed to form an element, might be attempted.
+Very decided opinions have been expressed to the contrary. It is
+generally believed, and has been declared by high authorities, that the
+poor fund is a statutable fund, raised by compulsion, for the relief of
+destitution; and, therefore, the statutable purpose of the fund has
+reference only to the fact of destitution, and not to moral qualities.
+That this may be true in cases of _sudden_ necessity is not denied; but
+with respect to those cases where relief is likely to be permanent--as
+old age--or in those cases in which a period must elapse before the
+relief is withdrawn, the moral character of the individual must, and
+does, form a leading circumstance in the treatment. It is not said that
+the fact of giving or refusing relief should depend on moral
+considerations, but that the mode or manner should be determined by
+them. Take a case. A widow with a family, in the first month of her
+widowhood, applies for relief. During the first three months of her
+husband's illness, his savings were adequate to his necessities. And
+during the last three months, the weekly voluntary gathering of his
+brother workmen, or the allowance from his club, has sufficed; and he
+died without destitution actually coming to his door. His remains have
+been conveyed to the grave; and, with the balance of money from the
+friendly society, or trades' club, she has been supported to the end of
+the first month of her widowhood.
+
+The other case is also a widow. But, as a wife, she was unthrifty and
+drunken, and she has not changed, for her sobriety was more than
+suspected on the day of the funeral. Here, there are no savings, no
+donations from friends, no allowance from a club. Her husband lived and
+died a pauper, was buried as a pauper, and his widow has determined to
+make the most of her destitution, and extract the utmost farthing from
+the reluctant guardians. Each of these cases must be relieved. As
+regards the fact of destitution, the latter case is the worst; but the
+frugal widow suffers the greatest deprivation. To the common observer,
+the state of the bad is one of pure misery, and the state of the other
+simply quiet, frugal, lowliness of condition. The fact, however, really
+is, that the good widow suffers the most keenly; and, excepting certain
+little matters of decency and cleanliness, is really the most destitute.
+The cry, "What will become of my children?" implies in itself a large
+amount of suffering. The thought scarcely occurs to the mind of the
+other. The treatment of these cases must be, and is different; and the
+difference is founded on moral grounds. In one case, if the relief were
+in money, it would be instantly transmitted into gin. Relief in kind
+must be resorted to, and be given in small quantities, and frequently;
+and even then she must be watched, or the bread would never reach the
+mouths of her children. In the other case, a liberal allowance in money,
+given in the first month of her widowhood, would be expended carefully,
+and if given promptly, before her "little home" has been broken up, she
+may be able in a few months to insure a livelihood, and become
+independent of the parish. These cases represent extremes. There is
+every variety of shade between them; and sometimes the case presents so
+mingled a yarn of laziness, and bodily weakness, ignorance, cunning, and
+imprudence, that the guardians scarcely know the proper treatment.
+Boards of guardians have frequently to deal with such cases, and do,
+without expressing it in words, dispose of them on moral grounds,
+although those in high places may be too much occupied with statistics
+and generalities to be aware of the fact.
+
+The question, how far moral considerations can be allowed in the
+classification of workhouses, is one of difficulty, and all opinions and
+suggestions require to be cautiously and guardedly stated. This cannot
+be done now. It may, however, be thought that, in suggesting a moral
+classification, we are getting rid of some of our objections to the
+"strict workhouse system." We may therefore say, that while we think a
+sound system of out-door relief is the preferable mode of dealing with
+poverty and pauperism, yet we believe the workhouse to be a necessary
+adjunct. Under the most favourable circumstances, the Union-house or
+workhouse is a moral pest-house; but, in the large manufacturing town or
+populous metropolitan parish, it is a necessary evil. In cities, where
+wretchedness is seen in its most squalid condition, and where crime
+assumes its most varied and darkest hues, there must always be a
+multitude of human beings whose necessities the public charities cannot
+reach. There are diseases which hospitals will not admit, because they
+can end only in speedy dissolution, or because they are incurable and
+lingering. There are cases, compounded of deceit and misery, which
+private charity passes by. There are aged men and women who have either
+outlived their children or their affection, or who saw them depart many
+years since to foreign lands as emigrants, soldiers, sailors, or
+convicts. And there are young children whose parents have been cut off
+by fever. There are the children of sin and shame. There is the young
+woman, overtaken in her downward career by horrible diseases, and who is
+now pitilessly turned from the door of her who taught her to sin for
+money. There is the vagrant, the debauched, and the criminal, who are
+approaching the end of their career. There are those who, by unexpected
+circumstances, have been deprived of a shelter. And there are those who
+will not work, who have absconded, and whose wives and children are
+without home or food. For all these, and many more, an asylum must
+exist, and this asylum is the workhouse. Is it quite clear that this
+collection of human beings, representing so many varieties of virtue and
+vice, cannot be divided and distributed over the building on principles
+of classification, in which other elements than those of age, sex, and
+healthiness might be admitted? The subject is worthy of full
+investigation.
+
+The subject of out-door relief might also be considered by the
+committee, not so much with a view to ascertain the actual mode in which
+it is dispensed, as to obtain suggestions from subordinate officers of
+improvement in its administration. The stoker of steam-engine can point
+out defects, and suggest simple remedies, which might escape the utmost
+penetration and official research of the principal engineer. This
+subject may be most conveniently considered under this head, because, in
+populous parishes, out-door relief is a prominent feature. In many
+cases, an apparently trivial change, which might be treated very
+contemptuously as a mere affair of detail, would lead to important
+reforms. In the report upon the Andover case, certain stringent remarks
+appear upon the neglect of the relieving-officer in not filling up the
+columns in his report-book headed "wages." Now, to those engaged in the
+administration of relief, the omission is not considered a great fault,
+it being in fact an omission of a mere form. Refer to the application
+and report-book, and the pauper description-book, prepared by the
+Commissioners, and the use of which _is enforced in all Unions_. They
+consist in a series of narrow columns. Each column is headed by an
+interrogatory, and appears to require a very brief answer. Refer to the
+column headed "weekly earning," &c. In this column, it is the duty of
+the relieving-officer to enter the amount of wages earned by the pauper.
+Now, in most populous parishes, the mode of living of those who receive
+relief is so irregular and precarious, as to preclude the possibility of
+ascertaining the amount of their earnings. The number of carpenters,
+bricklayers, smiths, and masons who receive relief is almost incredibly
+few. There are many who style themselves carpenters, &c. who have no
+knowledge of the trade. The bulk of the relieved poor consists of such a
+group as this--jobbing-smiths and carpenters, who are generally old or
+unskilful; aged men and women, and infirm persons, who do certain kinds
+of rough needlework, take care of children and sick people. There are
+cases where the head of the family is sickly, and whose employ is
+occasional. There are widows who do needlework by the piece--not for
+tradesmen, but for those who have received the work for those who
+received it from the tradesmen. There are those who wash and charr by
+the half or quarter of a day. There are men who make money-boxes,
+cigar-cases, children's toys, list-shoes, and cloth caps, and send their
+wives and children to sell them in the streets. If the weather is fine,
+they go singly; if the night be rainy, they form a miserable group at
+the corner of great thoroughfares. There are men who frequent quays,
+docks, markets, and coach-offices. There are those who sell in the
+streets, fruit, vegetables, and fish. There are those who sweep
+crossings, and pick up bones, rags, and excrement; and there are those
+who say they do nothing; and the most searching inquiry is at fault, and
+yet they appear to thrive. In this multitude, there are thousands who do
+not apply for parochial relief once in ten years. Now, try to fix the
+wages of those who really compose the mass of pauperism in towns. Who
+can conscientiously do it? The most correct statement must be erroneous.
+By frequent visitation, the officer acquires an intimate knowledge of
+their condition. When the Board are disposing of the out-relief cases,
+it is by this knowledge the Board are guided. The column of brief
+answers, read by the clerk, are so many algebraic symbols to the
+majority, and convey no particular meaning; and this explains the
+conduct of the Andover Guardians, which is otherwise inexplicable. They
+must have had some data before them in dealing with cases, and the
+earnings of the paupers could not possibly be omitted. There is no doubt
+that the report-book was tacitly considered as a form necessary to be
+filled up, because there were orders to that effect, but as having no
+practical utility. And yet, how easily might the evil have been avoided!
+The individual who devised and drew up the form should have thought less
+of its statistical completeness, and more of its practical use. He
+should have seated himself in the Boardroom, while the business of the
+week was being transacted, a silent but observant spectator; and then,
+with his mind imbued with the fact, he might have drawn up a form of
+report-book which would have been useful, statistically and practically.
+The principle of the book would have been that of the merchant's ledger,
+in which, upon reference to a particular folio, an account of business
+transactions with a person during many years may be seen at a glance.
+Its construction would be obvious, and its chief feature might be easily
+shown. It would be a book of the largest size. Each case would have its
+own double page. On the left side, columns, as at present, might appear;
+and on the right would appear a most circumstantial account of the
+pauper's circumstances. If this page had been commenced in 1836, and
+Mary Miles had received relief, either continuously or from time to
+time, until 1846, the page would probably be filled; and its contents
+being read by the clerk upon each appearance of the pauper before the
+Board, a minute account of the character and circumstances of the case
+would be disclosed, together with the several amounts of relief ordered
+or refused, and the several opinions of the Board, as recorded at
+different times, which would enable the Board to dispense with the
+verbal statements of the relieving-officer. At present, a case, however
+often relieved, is essentially a new one. The Board of Guardians is a
+changing body; the individuals composing it may not attend regularly;
+and thus the relieving-officer becomes the only person conversant with
+the facts and merits of the case, and he is enabled, or compelled, to
+exercise a degree of authority or influence which is highly inexpedient.
+
+How easily may these and other evils be remedied! But how, and by whom?
+This brings us back to our starting-point. An inquiry must be instituted
+into the actual working of the existing machinery. It must be conducted
+in a sober spirit, and without reference to theories; not in a reckless
+spirit of destruction, but of improvement. The question is, What
+remedial measures or improvement can be adopted in the administration of
+the English Poor-Laws? And if this paper has shown any imperfections,
+suggested any improvement, or should give the inquiry a useful
+direction, its object would be gained.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[47] "By sudden and urgent necessity, the Commissioners understand any
+case of destitution requiring instant relief, before the person can be
+received into the workhouse; as, for example, when a person is deprived
+of the usual means of support, by means of fire, or storm, or
+inundation, or robbery, or riot, or any other similar cause, which he
+could not control, where it had occurred, and which it would have been
+impossible or very difficult for him to foresee and prevent."--_Eighth
+Report of the Poor-Law Commissioners._ App. A.; No. 2.
+
+
+
+
+PRUSSIAN MILITARY MEMOIRS.
+
+
+     _Wanderungen eines alten Soldaten_, von WILHELM BARON VON RAHDEN,
+     ehemaligem Hauptmann in Koenigl. Preuss. und Konigl. Niederlaend.
+     Diensten, designirtem Capitain im Kaiserl. Russ. Generalstabe,
+     zuletzt Brigade-General im Genie-Corps der Spanisch-Carlistischen
+     Armee von Aragon und Valencia. Erster Theil. Befreiungs Kreig von
+     1813, 1814, and 1815. Berlin: 1846.
+
+
+Military memoirs are a popular class of literature. If few non-military
+men make them their chief study, still fewer do not upon occasion
+willingly take them up and dip with pleasure into their animated pages.
+The meekest and most pacific, those in whose composition no spark of the
+belligerent and pugnacious is discernible, yet dwell with interest upon
+the strivings, dangers, and exploits of more martial spirits. Even the
+softer sex, whilst gracefully shuddering at the bloodshed and horrors of
+war, will ofttimes seriously incline to read of the disastrous chances,
+moving accidents, and hair-breadth 'scapes that checker a soldier's
+career. The poetical and the picturesque of military life appeal to the
+imagination, and act as counterpoise to the massacres and sufferings
+that painfully shock the feelings. Amidst the wave and rustle of silken
+banners, the glitter and clash of steel, the clang of the brazen
+trumpet, and hurra of the flushed victor, the blood that buys the
+triumph and soaks the turf vanishes or is overlooked; the moans of those
+who die upon the field, linger in hospital, or pine in stern captivity,
+are faintly heard, if not wholly drowned. The pomp and pageantry of war,
+the high aspirations and heroic deeds of warriors, too often make us
+forget the countless miseries the strife entails--the peaceful peasant's
+ravaged homestead, the orphan's tears, the widow's desolation.
+
+Although the public mind dwells upon military matters less in England
+than in France and Germany, neither of these countries has, during the
+thirty years' peace, been more prolific than our own in books of a
+military character. We speak not of strategical works, but of the
+pleasant and sometimes valuable narratives of individual adventure that
+have flowed in abundance from the pens of soldiers of every class and
+grade. Not a branch of the service, from the amphibious corps of the
+marines to the aristocratic cohorts of the guards, but has paid tribute,
+in many cases a most liberal one, to the fund of military literature.
+The sergeant and the general, the lieutenant and the lieutenant-colonel,
+the showy hussar and the ponderous dragoon, the active rifleman and the
+stately grenadier--men of all ranks and arms--have, upon hanging up the
+sabre, taken up the pen, and laboured more or less successfully to add
+their mite to the stores of history and stock of entertainment. The
+change from the excitement and bustle of active service to the monotony
+and inertion of peacetime, is indeed great, and renders occupation
+essential to stave off ennui. In ruder days than the present, the
+dice-box and pottle-pot were almost sole resources. In the rare
+intervals of repose afforded by a more stirring and warlike age, the
+soldier knew no other remedies, against the _taedium vitae_ that assailed
+him. When "wars were all over, and swords were all idle," "the veteran
+grew crusty as he yawned in the hall," and he drank. Now it is
+otherwise. Refinement has driven out debauchery, and the unoccupied
+_militaire_, superior in breeding and education to his brother in arms
+of a former century, often fills up his leisure by telling of the
+battles, sieges, and fortunes he has passed; reciting them, not, like
+Othello, verbally and to win a lady's favour, but in more permanent
+black and white, for the instruction and amusement of his fellows.
+
+Whilst paying a well-merited tribute to the talents of our English
+military authors, we willingly acknowledge the claims of men, who,
+although born in another clime, and speaking a different tongue, are
+yet allied to us by blood, have fought under the same standard, and bled
+in the same cause. One of these, a German officer who shared the
+reverses and triumphs of the three eventful years, 1813 to 1815,
+beginning at Lutzen and ending with Waterloo, has recently published a
+volume of memoirs. It contains much of interest, and well deserves a
+notice in our pages.
+
+William Baron von Rahden is a native of Silesia. His father, an officer
+in the Prussian service, was separated from his wife, after ten years'
+wedlock, by one of those divorces so easily procurable in Germany, and
+returned to Courland, his native country, leaving his children to their
+mother's care. At the age of six years, William, the second son, was
+adopted by a Silesian nobleman, a soldier by profession, who had served
+under Frederick the Great, and who, although he had long left the
+service, still retained in full force his military feelings and
+characteristics. The apartments of his country house were hung with
+portraits of his warlike ancestors; the officers of the neighbouring
+garrison were his constant guests. Thus it is not surprising that young
+Rahden's first associations and aspirations were all military, and that
+he eagerly looked forward to the day when he should don the uniform and
+signalise himself amongst his country's defenders. His wishes were early
+gratified. When only ten years old, he was sent to the military school
+at Kalisch.
+
+The novitiate of a Prussian officer at the commencement of the present
+century was a severe ordeal, the road to rank any thing but a flowery
+path, and it was often with extreme unwillingness that the noble
+families of South Prussia yielded their sons to the tender mercies of
+the Kalisch college. The boys had frequently to be hunted out in the
+forests, where, through terror of the drill or in obedience to their
+parents, they had sought refuge, and when caught they were conducted in
+troops to their destination. On reaching the Prosna, a little river near
+Kalisch, they were stripped naked, their hair was cut close, and they
+were then driven into the water, whence, after a thorough washing, they
+emerged upon the opposite bank, there to be metamorphosed into Prussian
+warriors. The same operation, with the exception of the bath in the
+Prosna, was undergone by the willing recruits. Baron von Rahden gives a
+humorous account of the equipment of these infant soldiers, and of his
+own appearance in particular.
+
+"The little lad of ten years old, broader than he was long, with his
+closely cropped head, upon the hinder part of which a bunch of hair was
+left, whereto to fasten a tail eight or ten inches long, and with a
+stiff stock over which his red cheeks puffed out like cushions, was
+altogether a most comical figure. The old uniform coats originally blue,
+but now all faded and threadbare, with facings of a brick-dust colour
+and great leaden buttons, never fitted the young bodies to which they
+were allotted; they were always either too long and broad, or too narrow
+and short. The same was the case with the other portions of the uniform,
+which were handed down from one generation of cadets to another, without
+reference to any thing but the number affixed to them. I got No. 24; I
+was heir to some lanky long-legged urchin, into whose narrow garments I
+had to squeeze my unwieldy figure. A yellow waistcoat of immoderate
+length, short white breeches, fastened a great deal too tight below the
+knee, grey woollen stockings and half-boots, composed the costume, which
+was completed by a little three-cornered hat, pressed low down over the
+eyes, with the view of imparting somewhat of the stern aspect of a
+veteran corporal to the red and white face of the juvenile wearer."
+
+Such was the clothing of Prussia's future defenders. Their fare was of
+corresponding quality; abundant, but coarse in the extreme. The harsh
+and unswerving enactments of the great Frederic had as yet been but
+little amended. Moreover, by the system of military economy existing in
+1804, both food and raiment were lawfully made a source of profit to the
+captain of this company of cadets. The director of the establishment
+Major Von Berg, was an excellent man, zealous for the improvement of his
+pupils, and striving his utmost to instil into them a military spirit.
+Under his superintendence strict discipline was maintained, and
+instruction advanced apace.
+
+The year 1806 brought the French into Prussia. Marshal Ney visited
+Kalisch, and placed a score of cadets in the newly-formed Polish
+regiments. In due time the others, as they were given to understand,
+were to be similarly disposed of. Young Rahden wrote to his adopted
+father, begging to be removed from the college, lest he should be made
+to serve with the enemies of his country. But the old officer looked
+further forward than the impatient boy; he knew that it was no time for
+the youth of Prussia to abandon the military career; that the day would
+come when their country would claim their services. His reply was
+prompt, brief, and decided. "I will not take you home," he wrote; "for
+then you will learn nothing. Be a Polish or a French cadet, I care not;
+only become an honourable soldier, and all that is in my power will I do
+for you. But do not come to me like our young officers from Jena; for if
+you do, you will get neither bread nor water, but a full measure of
+disgrace. Your faithful father, T." This letter made a strong impression
+upon Von Rahden, and he nerved himself to endure what he now viewed as
+inevitable. For another year he remained at Kalisch, until, in December
+1807, news came of the approach of Prince Ferdinand of Pless, who had
+thrown himself, with a few thousand men, between the French army, then
+on its march to Poland, and the Bavarians and Wurtembergers under Jerome
+Buonaparte. This intelligence caused universal alarm in the college of
+Kalisch, now become French.
+
+"On the broad road in front of our barracks, large bodies of Polish
+boors, in coarse linen frocks, were drilled for the service of Napoleon
+by officers in Prussian uniforms; certainly a singular mixture. At the
+cry--'The Prussians are coming!' they all ran away, the officers the
+very first, and this might have given me an inkling of the reasons and
+motives of my father's severe letter. Under cover of the general
+confusion, a Prussian artilleryman muffled me and six other Silesian
+cadets in the linen frocks of the recruits, and hurried us off through
+field and forest, over bog and sand, to the Prince of Pless, whom we
+fell in with after thirty-six hours' wanderings. We were all weary to
+death. Nevertheless, five of my companions were immediately placed
+amongst the troops, who continued their route without delay; only myself
+and a certain Von M----, still younger than me, were left behind, as
+wholly unable to proceed. Of what passed during the next six weeks, I
+have not the slightest recollection. I afterwards learned that I had
+been seized with a violent nervous fever, the result of fatigue and
+excitement, and that I was discovered by a Bavarian officer in a Jew
+tavern near Medzibor, close to the frontier. The uniform beneath my
+smock-frock, and a small pocket-book, told my name and profession, and
+under a flag of truce I was sent into Breslaw, then besieged, to my
+mother, whom I had not seen for seven years."
+
+After two years passed in idleness, young Von Rahden was attached as
+bombardier to the artillery at Glatz, and found himself under the
+command of a certain Lieutenant Holsche, an officer of impetuous
+bravery, but somewhat rough and hasty, and apt to show slight respect to
+his superiors. At that time, 1809, the Duke of Brunswick was recruiting
+at Nachod in Bohemia, within two German miles of Glatz, his famous black
+corps, the death's-head and _memento mori_ men--the Corps of Revenge, as
+it was popularly called in Germany. Numbers of Prussians, officers of
+all arms, left their homes in Silesia, where they vegetated on a scanty
+half-pay, to swell his battalions; and even from the garrison of Glatz
+officers and soldiers daily deserted to him, eager to exchange inaction
+for activity. Subsequently, many of these were tried and severely
+punished for their infringement of discipline, and over-eagerness in the
+cause of oppressed Germany, but the year 1813 again found them foremost
+in the ranks of their country's defenders.
+
+On a certain morning, subsequent to Von Rahden's arrival at Glatz, the
+young artillery cadets were assembled on the parade-ground outside the
+gates of the fortress, and went through their exercise with four light
+guns, drawn, as was then the custom, by recruits instead of horses.
+Holsche, who was also known as the "Straw-bonnet" commandant, from his
+desperate defence of a detached work of the fort of Silberberg, which
+bore that name, was present. Although usually free and jocose with his
+subordinates, on that day he was grave and preoccupied, and twisted his
+black mustache with a thoughtful air. It was an oppressive and stormy
+morning, and distant thunder mingled with the sound of cannon, which the
+wind brought over from Bohemia.
+
+"By a succession of marches and flank movements, Holsche took us through
+the river Neisse, which flowed at the extremity of the parade-ground,
+and was then almost dry. We proceeded across the country, and finally
+halted in a shady meadow. Here the word of command brought us round the
+lieutenant, who addressed us in a suppressed voice:--'Children,' said
+he, pointing towards Bohemia, 'yonder will I lead you; there you will be
+received with open arms. There, horses, not men, draw the guns, and many
+of you will be made sergeants and even officers. Will you follow me?' A
+loud and unanimous hurra was the reply. For a quarter of an hour on we
+went, over hedge and ditch, at a rapid pace. A heavy rain soaked the
+earth and rendered it slippery, the wheels of the gun-carriages cut deep
+into the ground, until we panted and nearly fell from our exertions to
+get them along. Suddenly the word was given to halt. 'Boys,' cried the
+lieutenant, 'many of you are heartily sick of this work; that I plainly
+see. Listen, therefore! I will not have it said that I compelled or
+over-persuaded any one. He who chooses may return, not to the town, but
+home to his mother. You children, in particular,' he added, stepping up
+to the first gun, to which five young lads, of whom I was the least,
+were attached as bombardiers, 'you children _must_ remain behind.'
+Against this decision we all protested. We would not go back, we
+screamed at the top of our voices. Holsche seemed to reflect. After a
+short pause, the tallest and stoutest fellow in the whole battery came
+to the front, and in a voice broken by sobs, begged the lieutenant to
+let him go home to his mother. 'Oho!' shouted Holsche, 'have I caught
+you, you buttermilk hero? Boys!' he continued, addressing himself to all
+of us, 'how could you believe that my first proposal was a serious one?
+I only wished to ascertain how many cowards there were amongst you.
+Thank God, there is but one! Help me to laugh at the fellow!' A triple
+shout of laughter followed the command; then 'Right about' was the word,
+and in an hour's time, weary and wet through, we were again in our
+barracks."
+
+The pluck and hardihood displayed on this occasion by the boy-bombardier
+won the favour of Holsche, who took him into the society of the
+officers, gave him private lessons in mathematics, and did all he could
+to bring him forward in his profession. But, soon afterwards, Rahden's
+destination was altered, and, instead of continuing in the artillery, he
+was appointed to the second regiment of Silesian infantry, now the
+eleventh of the Prussian line. In this regiment he made his first
+campaigns, and served for nearly twenty years. In the course of the war
+he frequently fell in with his friend Holsche, and we shall again hear
+of that eccentric but gallant officer.
+
+The year 1813 found Von Rahden, then nineteen years of age, holding a
+commission as second lieutenant in the regiment above named, and
+indulging in brilliant day-dreams, in which a general's epaulets, laurel
+crowns, and crosses of honour, made a conspicuous figure. But a very
+small share of these illusions was destined to realisation. For the
+time, however, and until experience dissipated them, they served to
+stimulate the young soldier to exertion, and to support him under
+hardship and suffering. Such stimulus, however, was scarcely needed. The
+hour was come for Germany to start from her long slumber of depression,
+and to send forth her sons, even to the very last, to victory or death.
+The disasters of the French in Russia served as signal for her uprising.
+
+"The great events which the fiery sign in the heavens (the comet of
+1811) was supposed to forerun, came to pass in the last months of the
+following year. The French bulletin of the 5th December 1812, announced
+the terrible fate of the Grande Armee, and removed the previously
+existing doubt, whether it were possible to humble the invincible
+Emperor and his presumptuous legions. It was a sad fate for veteran
+soldiers, grown grey in the harness, to be frozen to death, or, numbed
+and unable to use their weapons, to be defencelessly murdered. Such was
+the lot of the French, and although they were then our bitterest foes,
+to-day we may well wish that they had met a death more suitable to brave
+men. At Malo-Jaroslawetz, at Krasnoi, and by the Beresina, whole
+battalions of those frozen heroes were shot down, unable to resist. Do
+the Russians still commemorate such triumphs? Hardly, one would fain
+believe. No man of honour, in our sense of the word, would now command
+such massacres; for only when our foes are in full possession of their
+physical and moral strength, is victory glorious. But at that time I
+lacked the five-and-thirty years' experience that has enabled me to
+arrive at these conclusions; I was almost a child, and heartily did I
+rejoice that the whole of the Grande Armee was captured, slain, or
+frozen. The joy I felt was universal, if that may serve my excuse.
+
+"Like some wasted and ghastly spectre, hung around with rags, its few
+rescued eagles shrouded in crape, the remains of the great French army
+recrossed the German frontier. Sympathy they could scarce expect in
+Germany; pity they found, and friendly arms and fostering care received
+the unfortunates. So great a mishap might well obliterate hostile
+feelings; and truly, it is revolting to read, in the publications of the
+time, that 'at N---- or B---- the patriotic inhabitants drove the French
+from their doors, refusing them bread and all refreshment.' Then,
+however, I rejoiced at such barbarity, which appeared to me quite
+natural and right. One thing particularly astonished me; it was, that
+amongst the thirty thousand fugitives, there were enough marshals,
+generals, and staff-officers to supply the whole army before its
+reverses. Either they had better horses to escape upon, or better cloaks
+and furs to wrap themselves in; thus not very conscientiously fulfilling
+the duty of every officer, which is to share, in all respects, the
+dangers and fatigues of his subordinates."[48]
+
+The hopes and desires of every Prussian were now concentrated on one
+single object--the freedom of the Fatherland. Breslaw again became the
+focus of the whole kingdom. From all sides thousands of volunteers
+poured in, and the flower of Prussia's youth joyfully exchanged the
+comforts and superfluities of home for the perils and privations of a
+campaigner's life. Universities and schools were deserted; the last
+remaining son buckled on hunting-knife and shouldered rifle and went
+forth to the strife, whilst the tender mother and anxious father no
+longer sought to restrain the ardour of the Benjamin of their home and
+hearts. All were ready to sacrifice their best and dearest for their
+country's liberation. Women became heroines; men stripped themselves of
+their earthly wealth for the furtherance of the one great end. In
+Breslaw the enthusiasm was at the hottest. In an idle hour, Von Rahden
+had sauntered to the college, the Aula Leopoldina, and stood at an open
+window listening to a lecture on anthropology, delivered by a young, but
+already celebrated professor. Little enough of the learned discourse was
+intelligible to the juvenile lieutenant, but still he listened, when
+suddenly the stillness in the school was broken by the clang of wind
+instruments.
+
+The people shouted joyful hurras, casements were thrown open, and
+thronged with women waving their handkerchiefs. Professor and scholars
+hurried to the windows and into the street. What had happened? It was
+soon known. A score of couriers, blowing furious blasts upon their small
+post-horns, dashed through the town-gates, and the next instant a shout
+of "War! War!" burst from ten thousand throats. The couriers brought
+intelligence of the alliance just contracted at Kalisch between the
+Emperor Alexander and the King of Prussia.
+
+When the clamour and rejoicing amongst the students had a little
+subsided, their teacher again addressed them. All were silent. Twisting
+a small silver pencil-case between his thin fingers, he began as
+follows: "My young friends! It would be difficult to resume the thread
+of a lecture thus abruptly broken by the sound of the war-trumpet. At
+this moment our country demands of us other things than a quiet abode in
+the halls of study. I propose to you, therefore, that we all, without
+exception, at once join the ranks of our country's defenders, and
+henceforward wield the sword instead of the pen." This patriotic
+proposal was received with joyous applause. Professor Steffens and
+hundreds of his hearers left the lecture-room, exchanged the university
+gown for the uniform, and from that day were the pith and marrow of the
+black band of Lutzow. It is matter of history how Henry Steffens, at the
+head of his wild Jaegers, greatly distinguished himself in the field, won
+the Iron Cross, and by his animated eloquence and noble example, drew
+thousands of brave defenders around the standard of German independence.
+Thirty-two years later, at Berlin, Baron von Rahden followed his mortal
+remains to their last resting-place.
+
+Other examples of devotion, less known but not less touching, are cited
+in the volume before us. When the King of Prussia's celebrated
+proclamation "TO MY PEOPLE," had raised German enthusiasm to its highest
+pitch, and the noble-hearted women of Silesia sent their jewels to the
+public treasury, replacing them by iron ornaments, a young girl at
+Breslaw, who had nothing of value to contribute, cut off the luxuriant
+golden tresses that adorned her graceful head, and sold them, that she
+might add her mite to the patriotic fund. The purchaser gave a high
+price, but yet made an enormous profit; for no sooner was the story
+known, than hundreds of those then arming for the fight flew to obtain a
+golden hair-ring, to wear as a talisman in the battle-field. This
+heroine, Baron von Rahden believes, was a Fraulein von Scheliha, a name
+noted in the annals of Prussian patriotism. The three sons of a Herr von
+Scheliha, officers in various regiments, fell in the campaign of 1813.
+Their mother and only sister died of broken hearts, and the father,
+bowed down under his grief, sold his estate and country-house, which now
+only served to remind him of his losses. The King of Prussia sent him
+the Iron Cross; and that and the sympathy of all who knew his sad
+history, were the only remaining consolations of the bereaved old man. A
+Silesian count, named Reichenbach, wrote to the King in the following
+terms: "If it please your majesty to allow me, I will send five thousand
+measures of corn and my draught oxen to the military stores for rations,
+and my best horses to the ---- regiment of cavalry; I will equip all the
+men on my estates capable of bearing arms, and they shall join the ----
+regiment of infantry, and I will pay ten thousand thalers into the
+military chest. For my three sons I crave admission into the army as
+volunteers. And, finally, I humbly implore of your majesty that I
+myself; who, although advanced in years, am strong and willing, may be
+permitted to march by their side, to teach then to fight and, if needs
+be, to die. Meanwhile, my wife and daughters shall remain at home to
+prepare lint, sew bandages, and nurse the sick and wounded."
+
+A Major Reichenbach commanded Von Rahden's battalion, and under his
+guidance the young lieutenant first smelled powder. It was at Lutzen, a
+bloody fight, and no bad initiation for an unfledged soldier. Although
+modest and reserved when speaking of his own exploits, it is not
+difficult to discern that on this, as on many subsequent occasions, the
+baron bore himself right gallantly. At eleven o'clock the army of the
+Allies stood in order of battle, Von Rahden's battalion, which formed
+part of General Kleist's division, in the centre, and well to the front.
+At a distance of six or eight hundred paces, the hostile masses moved to
+and fro, alternately enveloped in clouds of dust, and disappearing
+behind trees and houses. The fight began with artillery. "The first
+round-shot whizzed close over the heads of the battalion, and buried
+itself in the ground a few hundred paces in our rear. A second
+immediately followed, carrying away a few bayonets and the drum-major's
+cane. Each time the whole battalion, as if by word of command, bobbed
+their heads, and the men pressed closer together. In front of us sat our
+commandant, Count Reichenbach, reining in his splendid English roan,
+which snorted and curveted with impatience. The count had not bowed his
+head; he had made the Rhine campaigns, and a cannon-ball was nothing new
+to him. He turned to the battalion, slapping his leg with his right
+hand, whilst a comical twitching of his nose and at the corner of his
+mouth betrayed his discontent. 'Men!' said he, 'balls that whistle do
+not hit, so it is useless to fear them. Henceforward, let no one dare to
+stoop.' Hardly had the words left his lips when a third shot passed
+close over his head and dashed into the battalion. This time very few
+made the respectful salutation which had occasioned the count's reproof,
+but astonishment and horror were visible on every countenance when we
+saw our dear comrades struck down by our side.
+
+"After an hour's cannonade the infantry advanced. Skirmishers were
+thrown out, and the musketry came into play; and truly, often as I have
+been in action, such firing as at Lutzen I never since heard. From about
+mid-day till nine at night, one uninterrupted roll; not even for a
+moment were single shots to be distinguished. My old comrades will bear
+witness to the truth of this.
+
+"Our light company hastened forward as skirmishers, Lieutenant Merkatz
+led them on, and, with waving sword and a joyful shout, rushed towards
+the foe, full a hundred paces in front of his men. Soon the wounded
+straggled, and were carried past us by dozens--amongst others Anselme,
+captain of the company. A rifle-ball had shattered his right shoulder.
+When I saw him, twenty-five years later, as a general, he still carried
+his arm in a sling, fragments of bone frequently came away, and his
+sufferings were very great. Such wounds as his no gold, or title, or
+decorations can repay; in the consciousness of having done one's duty
+the only compensation is to be found."
+
+Von Rahden was soon called upon to replace a wounded officer, and he
+hurried to the front. Before he reached the skirmishers, he met the dead
+body of the young prince of Hesse-Homburg, who served as staff-officer
+in the first regiment of Silesian infantry. He had entered action as he
+would have gone to parade, in full dress, with a star upon his breast,
+and wearing all the insignia of his rank. General Ziethen remonstrated
+with him on the imprudence of thus rendering himself a conspicuous mark,
+but he was deaf to the warning, and refused to take off his star.
+"This," said he, "is the soldier's most glorious parade-ground." The
+next moment a ball struck him, and he fell mortally wounded from his
+horse.
+
+We shall not follow Baron Von Rahden through the bloody day of Lutzen,
+in the course of which he received a wound, not sufficiently severe,
+however, to compel him to leave the field. Neither of that action, nor
+of any subsequent one, does he give a general account, but professes
+merely to relate what he himself saw. As a subaltern officer, his sphere
+of observation was, of course, very limited. He recites his own
+adventures and the proceedings of his battalion, or, at most, of the
+division to which it was attached, and is careful to name those officers
+who particularly distinguished themselves. He urges the surviving
+veterans of those eventful campaigns to follow his example, and publish
+their reminiscences, as a means of rescuing from unmerited oblivion the
+names of many who especially signalised themselves whilst defending the
+holy cause of German independence. It was a period prolific in heroes;
+and if the manoeuvres and discipline of the Prussian army had been
+more in proportion with the gallant spirit that animated the majority of
+its members, doubtless the struggle would have been briefer. As it was,
+the campaign of 1813 opened with a reverse which it was vainly
+endeavoured to cloak by mendacious bulletins. "The nobly fought and
+gloriously won action of Gross-Groeschen," said the official accounts of
+the battle of Lutzen. But stubborn facts soon refuted the well-intended
+but injudicious falsehoods, propounded to maintain the moral courage of
+the nation. The French entered Dresden, driving out the rear-guard of
+the retreating Allies, who, on the evening of the 12th of May,
+established their camp, or rather their bivouac, for tents they had
+none, near Bautzen, and fortified their position by intrenchments and
+redoubts. On the 20th the fight began; 28,000 Prussians and 70,000
+Russians, so says the baron, against 150,000 French. A large
+disproportion; and, moreover, the troops of the Allies were not made the
+most of by their commanders. General Kleist's corps, consisting of but
+5000 men, was left from ten in the morning till late in the afternoon to
+defend itself unassisted against over-powering numbers of the French.
+And most gallant their defence was. They fought before the eyes of both
+armies, on the heights of Burk, which served as a stage for the
+exhibition of their courage, and of the calm skill of their commander.
+Von Rahden records the fact, that the Emperor Alexander sent several
+times to Kleist to express his praise and admiration; and that his last
+message was, that he could kiss Kleist's feet (a thorough Russian
+testimony of respect) for his splendid behaviour with the advanced
+guard. At length large bodies of the French having moved up to support
+the assailants, a reinforcement was sent to Kleist to cover his retreat.
+It consisted of Von Rahden's battalion, which, on the retrograde
+movement being commenced, was for some time completely isolated, and
+bore the whole brunt of the fight. Orders were given to clear a
+corn-field which afforded shelter to the enemy. Here is a spirited
+description of the fight that ensued.
+
+"I led the skirmishes of the first and second company. We entered the
+field, and instantly found ourselves within fifteen or twenty paces of
+the French marines, whom Napoleon had attached to the army, and whom we
+recognised by the red lace on their shakos. We were so near each other,
+that when our opponents fired I felt the heat of the burnt powder. The
+battalion was about fifty paces behind us, but on rather higher ground.
+It deployed into line, and fired a volley over our heads, which some of
+the bullets missed by a trifle. A very unpleasant sensation and critical
+moment; and many of my men showed an eagerness to get out of this double
+fire, or at least to shelter themselves from it as much as possible. The
+bugler tried to run; I caught him by the coat skirt, and ordered him to
+sound the assembly, meaning to retire with my skirmishers to the right
+flank of the battalion. He obeyed, clapped his bugle to his lips, and
+began a quavering call. Suddenly the sounds ceased, and the bugler fell
+backwards, spitting and sputtering with his mouth, stamping and striking
+out with his feet and hands; then, jumping up, he ran off like a madman.
+A bullet had entered the sound-hole of his bugle. At the same moment I
+felt a hard rap on the right hip, and was knocked down. It was a
+canister-shot; the blood poured out in streams, and, before I could join
+the battalion, my boot was full of it. My comrades were hard at work;
+after a few volleys, they kept up an incessant file-fire. They were
+drawn up in line, only two deep, the third rank having been taken for
+skirmishers. Luckily the enemy had no cavalry at hand, or it would have
+been all up with us, for we should never have been able to form a
+square. It was all that the officers and serrafiles could do to keep the
+men in their places. The French infantry surrounded us on three sides,
+but they kept behind the hedges, and amongst the high corn, and showed
+no disposition to come to close quarters, when the bayonet and but-end
+would have told their tale. On the other hand, from the adjacent heights
+the artillery mowed us down with their canister. The fight lasted about
+an hour; half a one more, and to a certainty we should all have been
+annihilated or prisoners, for we were wholly unsupported. Sporschil and
+other writers have said that Blucher sent General Kleist a reinforcement
+of three thousand infantry. To that I reply that our battalion was at
+most six hundred strong, and I did not see another infantry soldier in
+the field. The other troops had retired far across the plain. Suddenly
+the earth shook beneath our feet, and two magnificent divisions of
+Russian cuirassiers charged to the rescue. The French infantry sought
+the shelter of their adjacent battery, and we retreated wearily and
+slowly towards our lines. The sun, which had shone brightly the whole
+day, had already set when we reached a small village, and again extended
+our skirmishers behind the walls and hedges. Once more the earth
+trembled; and, with unusual rapidity for an orderly retreat, back came
+the brilliant cuirassiers, with bloody heads, and in most awful
+confusion. The French infantry and artillery had given them a rough
+reception. A few hostile squadrons followed, and, as soon as the
+Russians were out of the way, I opened fire with my skirmishers; but I
+was ordered to cease, for the distance was too great, and it was mere
+waste of ammunition."
+
+Von Rahden's hurt was but a flesh wound, and did not prevent his sharing
+in the next day's fight, and in the retreat which concluded it. He was
+then obliged to go into hospital, and only on the last day of June
+rejoined his regiment in cantonments between Strehlen and Breslaw. At
+the latter town he visited his mother. She had mourned his death, of
+which she had received a false account from a soldier of his regiment,
+who had seen him struck down by a bullet at Lutzen, and had himself been
+wounded and carried from the field before Von Rahden regained
+consciousness and rejoined his corps.
+
+The truce which, during the summer of 1813, afforded a brief repose to
+the contending armies, was over, and the cause of the Allies
+strengthened by the accession of Austria. Hostilities recommenced; and
+on the 27th August we find our young lieutenant again distinguishing
+himself, at the head of his sharpshooters, in the gardens of Dresden.
+Several wet days, bad quarters, and short commons, had pulled down the
+strength and lowered the spirits of the Allied troops. Exhausted and
+discouraged, they showed little appetite for the bloody banquet to which
+they were invited. Suddenly a hurra, but no very joyous one, ran through
+the ranks. The soldiers had been ordered to utter it, in honour of the
+Emperor Alexander and King of Prussia, who now, with their numerous and
+brilliant staff, rode along the whole line of battle, doubtless with the
+intention of raising the sunken spirits of the men. Close in front of
+the baron's battalion the two monarchs halted; and there it was that
+General Moreau was mortally wounded, at Alexander's side, by a French
+cannon-shot. The following details of his death are from the work of a
+well-known Russian military author, General
+Michailefski-Danielefski:--"Moreau was close to the Emperor Alexander,
+who stood beside an Austrian battery, against which the French kept up a
+heavy fire. He requested the Russian sovereign to accompany him to
+another eminence, whence a better view of the battle-field was
+obtainable. 'Let your majesty trust to my experience,' said Moreau, and
+turning his horse, he rode on, the emperor following. They had proceeded
+but a few paces, when a cannon-ball smashed General Moreau's right foot,
+passed completely through his horse, tore away his left calf, and
+injured the knee. All present hurried to assist the wounded man. His
+first words, on recovering consciousness, were--'I am dying; but how
+sweet it is to die for the right cause, and under the eyes of so great a
+monarch!' A litter was formed of Cossack lances; Moreau was laid upon
+it, wrapped in his cloak, and carried to Koitz, the nearest village.
+There he underwent, with the courage and firmness of a veteran soldier,
+the amputation of both legs. The last bandage was being fastened, when
+two round-shot struck the house, and knocked down a corner of the very
+room in which he lay. He was conveyed to Laun, in Bohemia, and there
+died, on the 2d of September. Such was the end of the hero of
+Hohenlinden."
+
+General Michailofski, it must be observed, has been accused by Sporschil
+of stretching the truth a little, when by so doing he could pay a
+compliment to his deceased master. The adulatory words which he puts
+into Moreau's mouth, may therefore never have been uttered by that
+unfortunate officer. Some little inexactitudes in the account above
+quoted are corrected by Captain Von Rahden. Moreau's litter was composed
+of muskets, and not of lances; he was taken to Raecknitz, and not to
+Koitz; and so forth. Upon the 2d of September, Von Rahden and eighteen
+other Prussian officers, stood beside the bed whereon Moreau had just
+expired, and divided amongst them a black silk waistcoat that had been
+worn by the deceased warrior. "I still treasure up my shred of silk,"
+says the baron, "as a soldierly relic, and as I should a tatter of a
+banner that had long waved honourably aloft, and at last tragically
+fallen. In these days few care about such memorials, and a railway share
+is deemed more valuable. Practically true; but horribly unpoetical!"
+
+In 1813, one battle followed hard upon the heels of the other. It was a
+war of giants, and small breathing-time was given. The echoes of the
+fight had scarcely died away at Dresden, when they were reawakened in
+the fertile vale of Toeplitz. The action of Kulm was a glorious one for
+the Allies. On the first day, the 29th of August, the Russians, under
+Ostermann Tolstoy, reaped the largest share of laurels; on the 30th,
+Kleist and the Prussians nobly distinguished themselves. The latter,
+after burning their baggage, made a forced march over the mountains, and
+fell upon the enemy's rear on the afternoon of the second day's
+engagement. Here Von Rahden was again opposed to his old and gallant
+acquaintances the French marines, who, refusing to retreat, were
+completely exterminated. The action over, his battalion took up a
+position near Arbesau, with their front towards Kulm. On the opposite
+side of the road a Hungarian regiment was drawn up.
+
+"The sun had set, and distant objects grew indistinct in the twilight,
+when we suddenly saw large masses of troops approach us. These were the
+French prisoners, numbering, it was said, eight or ten thousand. First
+came General Vandamme, on horseback, his head bound round with a white
+cloth: a Cossack's lance had grazed his forehead. Close behind him were
+several generals, (Haxo and Guyot;) and then, at a short interval, came
+twenty or thirty colonels and staff-officers. On the right of these
+marched an old iron-grey colonel, with two heavy silver epaulets
+projecting forwards from under his light-blue great-coat, the cross of
+the Legion of Honour on his breast, a huge chain with a bunch of gold
+seals and keys dangling from his fob. He had been captured by very
+forbearing foes, and he strode proudly and confidently along. He was
+about ten paces from the head of our battalion, which was drawn up in
+column of sections, when suddenly three or four of our Hungarian
+neighbours leaped the ditch, and one of them, with the speed of light,
+snatched watch and seals from the French colonel's pocket. Captain Von
+Korth, who commanded our No. 1 company, observed this, sprang forward,
+knocked the blue-breeched Hungarians right and left, took the watch from
+them, and restored it to its owner. The latter, with the ease of a
+thorough Frenchman, offered it, with a few obliging words, to Captain
+Von Korth, who refused it by a decided gesture, and hastened back to his
+company. All this occurred whilst the French prisoners marched slowly
+by, and the captain had not passed the battalion more than ten or
+fifteen paces, when he turned about, and with the cry of "_Vive le brave
+capitaine Prussien!_" threw chain and seals into the middle of our
+company. The watch he had detached and put in his pocket. Von Korth
+offered ten and even fifteen _louis d'ors_ for the trinkets, but could
+never discover who had got them; whoever it was, he perhaps feared to be
+compelled to restore them without indemnification."
+
+"The Emperor Alexander received Vandamme, when that general was brought
+before him as prisoner, with great coolness, but nevertheless promised
+to render his captivity as light as possible. Notwithstanding that
+assurance, Vandamme was sent to Siberia. On his way thither, the proud
+and unfeeling man encountered many a hard word and cruel taunt, the
+which I do not mean to justify, although he had richly earned them by
+his numerous acts of injustice and oppression. In the spring of 1807,
+he had had his headquarters in the pretty little town of Frankenstein in
+Silesia, and, amongst various other extortions, had compelled the
+authorities to supply him with whole sackfuls of the delicious red
+filberts which grow in that neighbourhood. When, upon his way to the
+frozen steppes, he chanced to halt for a night in this same town of
+Frankenstein, the magistrates sent him a huge sack of his favourite
+nuts, with a most submissive message, to the effect that they well
+remembered his Excellency's partiality to filberts, and that they begged
+leave to offer him a supply, in hopes that the cracking of them might
+beguile the time, and occupy his leisure in Siberia."
+
+At Kulm the captain of Von Rahden's company was slain. He had ridden up
+to a French column, taking it, as was supposed, for a Russian one, and
+was killed by three of the enemy's officers before he found out his
+mistake. Each wound was mortal; one of his assailants shot him in the
+breast, another drove his sword through his body, and the third nearly
+severed his head from his shoulders with a sabre-cut. The day after the
+battle, before sunrise, Von Rahden awakened a non-commissioned officer
+and three men, and went to seek and bury the corpse. It was already
+stripped of every thing but the shirt and uniform coat; they dug a
+shallow grave under a pear-tree, and interred it. The mournful task was
+just completed when a peasant came by. Von Rahden called him, showed him
+the captain's grave, and asked if he might rely upon its not being
+ploughed up. "Herr Preusse," was the answer, "I promise you that it
+shall not; for the ground is mine, and beneath this tree your captain
+shall rest undisturbed." The promise was faithfully kept. In August
+1845, the baron revisited the spot. The tree still stood, and the
+soldier's humble grave had been respected.
+
+Whilst wandering over the field of battle, followed by Zaenker, his
+sergeant, Von Rahden heard a suppressed moaning, and found amongst the
+brushwood, close to the bank of a little rivulet, a sorely wounded
+French soldier. The unfortunate fellow had been hit in three or four
+places. One ball had entered behind his eyes, which projected, bloody
+and swollen, from their sockets, another had shattered his right hand,
+and a third had broken the bones of the leg. He could neither see, nor
+move, nor die; he lay in the broad glare of the sun, parched with
+thirst, listening to the ripple of the stream, which he was unable to
+reach. In heart-rending tones he implored a drink of water.
+Six-and-thirty hours had he lain there, he said, suffering agonies from
+heat, and thirst, and wounds. "In an instant Zaenker threw down his
+knapsack, filled his canteen, and handed it to the unhappy Frenchman,
+who drank as if he would never leave off. When at last satisfied, he
+said very calmly, 'Stop, friend! one more favour; blow my brains out!' I
+looked at Zaenker, and made a sign with my hand, as much as to say, 'Is
+your gun loaded?' Zaenker drew his ramrod, ran it into the barrel quite
+noiselessly, so that the wounded man might not hear, and nodded his head
+affirmatively. Without a word, I pointed to a thicket about twenty paces
+off, giving him to understand that he was not to fire till I had reached
+it, and, hurrying away, I left him alone with the Frenchman. Ten minutes
+passed without a report, and then, on turning a corner of the wood, I
+came face to face with Zaenker. 'I can't do it, lieutenant,' said he.
+'Thrice I levelled my rifle, but could not pull the trigger.' He had
+left the poor French sergeant-major--such four gold chevrons on his
+coat-sleeve denoted him to be--a canteen full of water, had arranged a
+few boughs above his head to shield him from the sun, and as soon as we
+reached the camp, he hastened to the field hospital to point out the
+spot where the wounded man lay, and procure surgical assistance."
+
+The battle of Kulm was lost by the French through the negligence of
+Vandamme, who omitted to occupy the defiles in his rear--an
+extraordinary blunder, for which a far younger soldier might well be
+blamed. The triumph was complete, and, in conjunction with those at the
+Katzbach and Gross-Beeren, greatly raised the spirits of the Allies. At
+Kulm, the French fought, as usual, most gallantly, but for once they
+were outmanoeuvred. A brilliant exploit of three or four hundred
+chasseurs, belonging to Corbineau's light cavalry division, is worthy
+of mention. Sabre in hand, they cut their way completely through
+Kleist's corps, and did immense injury to the Allies, especially to the
+artillery. Of themselves, few, if any, escaped alive. "Not only," says
+Baron Von Rahden, "did they ride down several battalions at the lower
+end of the defile, and cut to pieces and scatter to the winds the staff
+and escort of the general, which were halted upon the road, but they
+totally annihilated our artillery for the time, inasmuch as they threw
+the guns into the ditches, and killed nearly all the men and horses. By
+this example one sees what resolute men on horseback, with good swords
+in their hands, and bold hearts in their bosoms, are able to
+accomplish." In a letter of Prince Augustus of Prussia, we find that
+"the artillery suffered so great a loss at Kulm, that there are still
+(this was written in the middle of September, fifteen days after the
+action) eighteen officers, eighty non-commissioned officers, one hundred
+and twenty-six bombardiers, seven hundred and eighteen gunners, besides
+bandsmen and surgeons, wanting to complete the strength." In both days'
+fight the present King of the Belgians greatly distinguished himself. He
+was then in the Russian service, and, on the 29th, fought bravely at the
+head of his cavalry division. On the 30th, the Emperor Alexander sent
+him to bring up the Austrian cavalry reserves, and the judgment with
+which he performed this duty was productive of the happiest results.
+
+The Russian guards fought nobly at Kulm, and held the valley of Toeplitz
+one whole day against four times their numbers. To reward their valour,
+the King of Prussia gave them the Kulm Cross, as it was called, which
+was composed of black shining leather with a framework of silver. The
+Prussians were greatly annoyed at its close resemblance to the first and
+best class of the Iron Cross, which order had been instituted a few
+months previously, and was sparingly bestowed, for instances of
+extraordinary personal daring, upon those only who fought under Prussian
+colours. It was of iron with a silver setting, and could scarcely be
+distinguished from the Kulm cross. "Many thousands of us Prussians,"
+says the Baron, "fought for years, poured out our blood, and threw away
+our lives, in vain strivings after a distinction which the Muscovite
+earned in a few hours. For who would notice whether it was leather or
+iron? The colour and form were the same, and only the initiated knew the
+difference, which was but nominal. In the severe winter of 1829-30, when
+travelling in a Russian sledge and through a thorough Russian
+snow-storm, along the shores of the Peipus lake, I passed a company of
+soldiers wrapped in their grey coats. On the right of the company were
+ten or twelve Knights of the Iron Cross, as it appeared to me, and of
+the first class of that order. This astonished me so much the more, that
+in Prussia it was an unheard-of thing for more than one or two private
+soldiers in a regiment to achieve this high distinction. I started up,
+and rubbed my eyes, and thought I dreamed. At Dorpat I was informed that
+several hundred men from the Semenofskoi regiment of guards, (the heroes
+of Kulm,) had been drafted into the provincial militia as a punishment
+for having shared in a revolt at St Petersburg."
+
+On the 14th of October occurred the battle of cavalry in the plains
+between Gueldengossa, Groebern, and Liebertwolkwitz, where the Allied
+horse, fifteen thousand strong, encountered ten to twelve thousand
+French dragoons, led by the King of Naples, who once, during that day,
+nearly fell into the hands of his foes. The incident is narrated by Von
+Schoening in his history of the third Prussian regiment of dragoons, then
+known as the Neumark dragoons. "It was about two hours after daybreak;
+the regiment had made several successful charges, and at last obtained a
+moment's breathing-time. The dust had somewhat subsided; the French
+cavalry stood motionless, only their general, followed by his staff,
+rode, encouraging the men, as it seemed, along the foremost line, just
+opposite to the Neumark dragoons. Suddenly a young lieutenant, Guido von
+Lippe by name, who thought he recognised Murat in the enemy's leader,
+galloped up to the colonel. 'I must and will take him!' cried he; and,
+without waiting for a Yes or a No, dashed forward at the top of his
+horse's speed, followed by a few dragoons who had been detached from the
+ranks as skirmishers. At the same time the colonel ordered the charge to
+be sounded. A most brilliant charge it was, but nothing more was seen of
+Von Lippe and his companions. Two days afterwards, his corpse was found
+by his servant, who recognised it amongst a heap of dead by the scars of
+the yet scarcely healed wounds received at Lutzen. A sabre-cut and a
+thrust through the body had destroyed life." An interesting confirmation
+of this story may be read in Von Odeleben's "Campaign of Napoleon in
+Saxony in the year 1813," p. 328. "He (Murat) accompanied by a very
+small retinue, so greatly exposed himself, that at last one of the
+enemy's squadrons, recognising him by his striking dress, and by the
+staff that surrounded him, regularly gave him chase. One officer in
+particular made a furious dash at the king, who, by the sudden facing
+about of his escort, found himself the last man, a little in the rear,
+and with only one horseman by his side. In the dazzling anticipation of
+a royal prisoner, the eager pursuer called to him several times, 'Halt,
+King, halt!' At that moment a crown was at stake. The officer had
+already received a sabre-cut from Murat's solitary attendant, and as he
+did not regard it, but still pressed forward, the latter ran him through
+the body. He fell dead from his saddle, and the next day his horse was
+mounted by the king's faithful defender, from whose lips I received
+these details. Their truth has been confirmed to me from other sources.
+Murat made his rescuer his equerry, and promised him a pension. The
+Emperor gave him the cross of the legion of honour."
+
+The second Silesian regiment suffered terribly at the great battle of
+Leipzig. Von Rahden's battalion, in particular, was reduced at the close
+of the last day's fight to one hundred and twenty effective men,
+commanded by a lieutenant, the only unwounded officer. Kleist's
+division, of which it formed part, had sustained severe losses in every
+action since the truce, and after Leipzig it was found to have melted
+down to one-third of its original strength. Disease also broke out in
+its ranks. To check this, to recruit the numbers, and repose the men,
+the division was sent into quarters. Von Rahden's regiment went to the
+duchy of Meiningen, and his battalion was quartered in the town of that
+name. The friendly and hospitable reception here given to the victors of
+Kulm and Leipzig was well calculated to make them forget past hardships
+and sufferings. The widowed Duchess of Meiningen gave frequent balls and
+entertainments, to which officers of all grades found ready admittance.
+The reigning duke was then a boy; his two sisters, charming young women,
+were most gracious and condescending. In those warlike days, the
+laurel-wreath was as good a crown as any other, and raised even the
+humble subaltern to the society of princes.
+
+"It chanced one evening," says the Baron, "that our major, Count
+Reichenbach, stood up to dance a quadrille with the Princess Adelaide of
+Meiningen. His toilet was not well suited to the ball-room; his boots
+were heavy, the floor was slippery, and he several times tripped. At
+last he fairly fell, dragging his partner with him. His right arm was in
+a sling, and useless from wounds received at Lutzen, and some short time
+elapsed before the princess was raised from her recumbent position by
+the ladies and gentlemen of the court, and conducted into an adjoining
+apartment. With rueful countenance, and twisting his red mustache from
+vexation, Count Reichenbach tried to lose himself in the crowd, and to
+escape the annoyance of being stared at and pointed out as the man who
+had thrown down the beautiful young princess. It was easy to see that he
+would rather have stormed a dozen hostile batteries than have made so
+unlucky a _debut_ in the royal ball-room. In a short quarter of an hour,
+however, when the fuss caused by the accident had nearly subsided, the
+princess reappeared, looking more charming than ever, and sought about
+until she discovered poor Count Reichenbach, who had got into a corner
+near the stove. With the most captivating grace, she invited him to
+return to the dance, saying, loud enough for all around to hear, 'that
+she honoured a brave Prussian soldier whose breast was adorned with the
+Iron Cross, and whose badly-wounded arm had not prevented his fighting
+the fight of liberation at Leipzig, and that with all her heart she
+would begin the dance again with him.' The Count's triumph was complete;
+the court prudes and parasites, who a moment before had looked down upon
+him from the height of their compassion, now rivalled each other in
+amiability. With a well-pleased smile the Count stroked his great beard,
+led the princess to the quadrille, and danced it in first-rate style."
+The reader will have recognised our excellent Queen Dowager in the
+heroine of the charming trait which an old soldier thus bluntly
+narrates. The kind heart and patriotic spirit of the German Princess
+were good presage of the benevolence and many virtues of the English
+Queen. "When, in May 1836," continues Captain Von Rahden, "I was
+presented, as captain in the Dutch service, to the Princess Adelaide,
+then Queen of England, at St James's Palace, her majesty perfectly
+remembered the incident I have here narrated to my readers. To her
+inquiries after Count Reichenbach, I unfortunately had to reply that he
+was long since dead."
+
+In January 1814, the Baron's regiment left Meiningen, crossed the Rhine,
+joined the great Silesian army under old Blucher, and began the campaign
+in France. The actions of Montmirail, Mery sur Seine, La Ferte sous
+Jouarre, and various other encounters, followed in rapid succession.
+Hard knocks for the Allies, many of them. But all Napoleon's brilliant
+generalship was in vain; equally in vain did his young troops emulate
+the deeds of those iron veterans whose bones lay bleaching on the
+Beresina's banks, and in the passes of the Sierra Morena. The month of
+February was passed in constant fighting, and was perhaps the most
+interesting period of the campaigns of 1813-14. On the 13th, the
+Prussian advanced guard, Ziethen's division, was attacked by superior
+numbers and completely beaten at Montmirail. Von Rahden's battalion was
+one of those which had to cover the retreat of the routed troops, and
+check the advance of the exulting enemy. Retiring slowly and in good
+order, the rearmost of the whole army, it reached the village of Etoges,
+when it was assailed by a prodigious mass of French cavalry. But the
+horsemen could make no impression on the steady ranks of Count
+Reichenbach's infantry.
+
+"Here the hostile dragoons, formed in columns of squadrons and
+regiments, charged us at least twelve or fifteen times, always without
+success. Each time Count Reichenbach let them approach to within fifty
+or sixty paces, then ordered a halt, formed square, and opened a heavy
+and well-sustained fire, which quickly drove back the enemy. As soon as
+they retired, I and my skirmishers sprang forward, and peppered them
+till they again came to the charge, when we hurried back to the
+battalion. Count Reichenbach himself never entered the square, but
+during the charges took his station on the left flank, which could not
+fire, because it faced the road along which our artillery marched. Our
+gallant commander gave his orders with the same calm coolness and
+precision as on the parade ground. His voice and our volleys were the
+only sounds heard, and truly that was one of the most glorious
+afternoons of Count Reichenbach's life. Our western neighbours love to
+celebrate the deeds of their warriors by paint-brush and graver; our
+heroes are forgotten, but for the occasional written reminiscences of
+some old soldier, witness of their valiant deeds. And truly, if Horace
+Vernet has handed Colonel Changarnier down to posterity for standing
+_inside_ his square whilst it received the furious but disorderly charge
+of semi-barbarous horse, he might, methinks, and every soldier and true
+Prussian will share my opinion, find a far worthier subject for his
+pencil in Count Reichenbach, awaiting _outside_ his square the
+formidable attacks of six thousand French cavalrymen.
+
+"It became quite dark, and the enemy ceased to charge. Pity it was! for
+such was the steadiness and discipline of our men, that the defence went
+on like some well-regulated machine, and might have been continued for
+hours longer, or till our last cartridge was burnt. The count seemed
+unusually well pleased. Twirling his mustache with a satisfied chuckle,
+he offered several officers and soldiers a dram from a little flask
+which he habitually carried in his holster, and turned to me with the
+words, 'Well done, my dear Rahden, bravo!' On hearing this praise, short
+and simple as it was, I could have embraced my noble commander for joy,
+and with feelings in my heart which only such men as Reichenbach know
+how to awaken, I resumed my place on the right of the battalion, which
+now marched away."
+
+Gradually the Allies approached Paris. On the 28th March, at the village
+of Claye, only five leagues from the capital, Kleist's division came to
+blows with the French troops under General Compan, who had marched out
+to meet them. As usual, Von Rahden was with the skirmishers, as was also
+another lieutenant of his battalion, a Pole of gigantic frame and
+extraordinary strength, who here met his death. He was rushing forward
+at the head of his men, when a four-pound shot struck him in the breast.
+It went through his body, passing very near the heart, but, strange to
+say, without causing instant death. For most men, half an ounce of lead
+in the breast is an instant quietus; but so prodigious was the strength
+and vitality of this Pole, that he lingered, the baron assures us, full
+six-and-thirty hours.
+
+"We now followed up the French infantry, which hastily retreated to a
+farm-yard surrounded by lofty linden and chestnut trees, and situated on
+a small vine-covered hill. When half-way up the eminence, we saw, upon
+the open space beneath the trees, several companies of the enemy in full
+parade uniform, with bearskin caps, large red epaulets upon their
+shoulders, and white breeches, form themselves into a sort of phalanx,
+which only replied to our fire by single shots. Presently even these
+ceased. Scheliha and myself immediately ordered our men to leave off
+firing; and Scheliha, who spoke French very intelligibly, advanced to
+within thirty paces of the enemy and summoned them to lay down their
+arms, supposing that they intended to yield themselves prisoners. They
+made no reply, but stood firm as a wall. Scheliha repeated his summons:
+a shot was fired at him. This served as a signal to our impatient
+followers, who opened a murderous fire upon the dense mass before them.
+We tried a third time to get the brave Frenchmen to yield; others of our
+battalions had come up, and they were completely cut off; but the sole
+reply we received was a sort of negative murmur, and some of them even
+threatened us with their muskets. Within ten minutes they all lay dead
+or wounded upon the ground; for our men were deaf alike to commands and
+entreaties, and to the voice of mercy. Most painful was it to us
+officers to look on at such a butchery, impotent to prevent it." It
+afterwards appeared that these French grenadiers, who belonged to the
+_Jeune Garde_, had left Paris that morning. By some mismanagement their
+stock of ammunition was insufficient, and having expended it, they
+preferred death, with arms in their hands, to captivity.
+
+At eight o'clock on the thirtieth, Kleist's and York's corps, now
+united, passed the Ourcq canal, and marched along the Pantin road
+towards Paris. Upon that morning they saw old Blucher for the first time
+for more than a month. He seemed on the brink of the grave, and wore a
+woman's bonnet of green silk to protect his eyes, which were dangerously
+inflamed. He was on horseback, but was soon obliged to return to his
+travelling carriage in rear of the army, and to give up the command to
+Barclay de Tolly. "Luckily," says the baron, "the troops knew nothing of
+the substitution." Although it would probably hardly have mattered much,
+for there was little more work to do. For that year this was the last
+day's fight. After some flank movement which took up several hours, the
+allied infantry attacked the village of La Villette, but were repulsed
+by the artillery from the adjacent barrier. The brigade batteries
+loitered in the rear, and Prince Augustus, vexed at their absence, sent
+an aide-de-camp to bring them up. One of them was commanded by
+Lieutenant Holsche, Von Rahden's former instructor at the artillery
+school, of whom we have already related an anecdote. Although an
+undoubtedly brave and circumspect officer, on this occasion he remained
+too far behind the infantry; and Captain Decker,[49] who was dispatched
+to fetch him, was not sorry to be the medium of conveying the Prince's
+sharp message, the less so as he had observed a certain nonchalance and
+want of deference in the artillery lieutenant's manner of receiving the
+orders of his superiors. At a later period, Baron Von Rahden heard from
+Decker himself the following characteristic account of his reception by
+the gallant but eccentric Holsche.
+
+"I came up to the battery," said Decker, "at full gallop. The men were
+dismounted, and their officer stood chatting with his comrades beside a
+newly-made fire. 'Lieutenant Holsche,' said I, rather sharply, 'his
+Royal Highness is exceedingly astonished that you remain idle here, and
+has directed me to command you instantly to advance your battery against
+the enemy.'
+
+"'Indeed?' was Holsche's quiet reply, 'his Royal Highness is
+astonished!' and then, turning to his men with the same calmness of tone
+and manner, 'Stand to your horses! Mount! Battery, march!'
+
+"I thought the pace commanded was not quick enough, and in the same loud
+and imperious voice as before, I observed to Lieutenant Holsche that he
+would not be up in time; he had better move faster. 'Indeed! not quick
+enough?' quietly answered Holsche, and gave the word, 'March, march!' We
+now soon got over the ground and within the enemy's fire, and,
+considering my duty at an end, I pointed out to the Lieutenant the
+direction he should take, and whereabouts he should post his battery.
+But Holsche begged me in the most friendly manner to go on and show him
+exactly where he should halt. I naturally enough complied with his
+request. The nearer we got to the French, the faster became the pace,
+until at last we were in front of our most advanced battalions. The
+bullets whizzed about us on all sides; I once more made a move to turn
+back, and told Holsche he might stop where he was. With the same
+careless air as before, he repeated his request that I would remain, in
+order to be able to tell his Royal Highness where Lieutenant Holsche and
+his battery had halted! What could I do? It was any thing but pleasant
+to share so great a danger, without either necessity or profit; and
+certainly I might very well have turned back, but Holsche, by whose side
+I galloped, fixed his large dark eyes upon my countenance, as though he
+would have read my very soul. We were close to our own skirmishers; on
+we went, right through them, into the middle of the enemy's riflemen,
+who, quite surprised at being charged by a battery, retired in all
+haste. It really seemed as if the artillery was going over to the enemy.
+At two hundred paces from the French columns, however, Holsche halted,
+unlimbered, and gave two discharges from the whole battery, with such
+beautiful precision and astounding effect, that he sent the hostile
+squadrons and battalions to the right about, and even silenced some of
+the heavy guns within the barriers. That done he returned to me, and
+begged me to inform the Prince where I had left Lieutenant Holsche and
+his battery. 'Perhaps,' added he, 'his Royal Highness will again find
+occasion to be astonished; and I shall be very glad of it.' And truly
+the Prince and all of us _were_ astonished at this gallant exploit; it
+had been achieved in sight of the whole army, and had produced a
+glorious and most desirable result."
+
+For this feat Holsche was rewarded with the Iron Cross of the first
+class. He had already at Leipzig gained that of the second, and on
+receiving it his ambition immediately aspired to the higher decoration.
+Many a time had he been heard to vow, that if he obtained it, he would
+have a cross as large as his hand manufactured by the farrier of his
+battery, and wear it upon his breast. To this he pledged his word. The
+manner in which he kept it is thus related by his old friend and pupil.
+
+"We were on our march from Paris to Amiens, when we were informed, one
+beautiful morning, that our brigade battery, under Lieutenant Holsche,
+was in cantonments in the next village. The music at our head, we
+marched through the place in parade time, and paid Holsche military
+honours as ex-commandant of the Straw-bonnet, which title he still
+retained. Intimate acquaintance and sincere respect might well excuse
+this little deviation from the regulations of the service. Our hautboys
+blew a favourite march, to which Holsche himself had once in Glatz
+written words, beginning:--
+
+    'Natz, Natz, Annemarie,
+    Da kommt die Glaetzer Infanterie.'
+
+In his blue military frock, with forage cap and sword, Holsche stood
+upon a small raised patch of turf in front of his quarters, gravely
+saluting in acknowledgment of the honours paid him, which he received
+with as proud a bearing as if he was legitimately entitled to them. This
+did not surprise us, knowing him as we did, but not a little were we
+astonished when we saw an Iron Cross of the first class, as large as a
+plate, fastened upon his left breast. The orders for the battle of Paris
+and the other recent fights in France had just been distributed; Holsche
+was amongst the decorated, and the jovial artilleryman took this
+opportunity to fulfil his oft-repeated vow. Only a few hours before our
+arrival he had had the cross manufactured by his farrier."
+
+This dashing but wrong-headed officer soon afterwards became a captain,
+and subsequently major, but his extravagances, and especially his
+addiction to wine, got him into frequent trouble, until at last he was
+put upon the retired list as lieutenant-colonel, and died at Schweidnitz
+in Silesia.
+
+At six in the evening of the 30th March, the last fight of the campaign
+was over, and aides-de-camp galloped hither and thither, announcing the
+capitulation of Paris. Right pleasant were such sounds to the ears of
+the war-worn soldiers. Infantry grounded their arms, dragoons
+dismounted, artillerymen leaned idly against their pieces; Langeron
+alone, who had begun the storm of Montmartre, would not desist from his
+undertaking. Officers rode after him, waving their white handkerchiefs
+as a signal to cease firing, but without effect. The Russians stormed
+on; and if Langeron attained his end with comparatively small loss, the
+enemy being already in retreat, there were nevertheless four or five
+hundred men sacrificed to his ambition, and that he might have it to say
+that he and his Russians carried Montmartre by storm. Whilst the rest of
+the troops waited till he had attained his end, and congratulated each
+other on the termination of the hardships and privations of the
+preceding three months, a Russian bomb-carriage took fire, the drivers
+left it, and its six powerful horses, scorched and terrified by the
+explosion of the projectiles, ran madly about the field, dragging at
+their heels this artificial volcano. The battalions which they
+approached scared them away by shouts, until the unlucky beasts knew not
+which way to turn. At last, the shells and grenades being all burnt out,
+the horses stood still, and, strange to say, not one of them had
+received the slightest injury.
+
+Terrible was the disappointment of Kleist's and York's divisions, when
+they learned on the morning subsequent to the capitulation that they
+were not to enter Paris; but, after four-and-twenty hours' repose in the
+faubourg Montmartre, where they had passed the previous night, were to
+march from the capital into country quarters. Their motley and
+weather-beaten aspect was the motive of this order--a heart-breaking one
+for the brave officers and soldiers who had borne the heat and burden of
+the day during a severe and bloody campaign, and now found themselves
+excluded on the earthly paradise of their hopes. They had fought and
+suffered more than the Prussian and Russian guards; but the latter were
+smart and richly uniformed, whilst the poor fellows of the line had
+rubbed off and besmirched in many a hard encounter and rainy bivouac
+what little gilding they ever possessed. So long as fighting was the
+order of the day, they were in request; but it was now the turn of
+parades, and on these they would cut but a sorry figure. So "right
+about" was the word, and Amiens the route. A second day's respite was
+allowed them, however; and although they were strictly confined to their
+quarters, lest they should shock the sensitiveness of the Parisian
+_bourgeoisie_ by their ragged breeks, long beards, and diversity of
+equipment, some of the officers obtained leave to go into Paris. Von
+Rahden was amongst these, and, after a dinner at Very's, where his
+Silesian simplicity and campaigning appetite were rather astonished by
+the exiguity of the _plats_ placed before him, whereof he managed to
+consume some five-and-twenty, after admiring the wonders of the Palace
+Royal, and the rich uniforms of almost every nation with which the
+streets were crowded, he betook himself to the Place Vendome to gaze at
+the fallen conqueror's triumphant column. It was surrounded by a mob of
+fickle Parisians, eager to cast down from its high estate the idol they
+so recently had worshipped. One daredevil fellow climbed upon the
+Emperor's shoulders, slung a cord round his neck, dragged up a great
+ship's cable and twisted it several times about the statue. The rabble
+seized the other end of the rope, and with cries of "_a bas ce
+canaille!_" tugged furiously at it. Their efforts were unavailing,
+Napoleon stood firm, until the Allied sovereigns, who, from the window
+of an adjacent house, beheld this disgraceful riot, sent a company of
+Russian grenadiers to disperse the mob. The masses gave way before the
+bayonet, but not till the same man who had fastened the rope, again
+climbed up, and with a white cloth shrouded the statue of the once
+adored Emperor from the eyes of his faithless subjects. It is well known
+that, a few weeks later, the figure was taken down by order of the
+Emperor Alexander, who carried it away as his sole trophy, and gave it a
+place in the winter palace at St Petersburg. When Louis XVIII. returned
+to Paris, a broad white banner, embroidered with three golden lilies,
+waved from the summit of the column; but this in its turn was displaced,
+by the strong south wind that blew from Elba in March 1815, when
+Napoleon re-entered his capital. A municipal deputation waited upon him
+to know what he would please to have placed on the top of the triumphant
+column. "A weathercock" was the little corporal's sarcastic reply. Since
+that day, the lilies and the tricolor have again alternated on the
+magnificent column, until the only thing that ought to surmount it, the
+statue of the most extraordinary man of modern, perhaps of any, times,
+has resumed its proud position, and once more overlooks the capital
+which he did so much to improve and embellish.
+
+"I now wandered to the operahouse," says the baron, "to hear Spontini's
+_Vestale_. The enormous theatre was full to suffocation; in every box
+the Allied uniforms glittered, arms flashed in the bright light, police
+spies loitered and listened, beautiful women waved their kerchiefs and
+joined in the storm of applause, as if that day had been a most glorious
+and triumphant one for France. The consul Licinius, represented, if I
+remember aright, by the celebrated St Priest, was continually
+interrupted in his songs, and called upon for the old national melody
+'Vive Henri Quatre,' which he gave with couplets composed for the
+occasion, some of which, it was said, were improvisations. In the midst
+of this rejoicing, a rough voice made itself heard from the upper
+gallery. '_A bas l'aigle imperial!_' were the words it uttered, and in
+an instant every eye was turned to the Emperor's box, whose purple
+velvet curtains were closely drawn, and to whose front a large and
+richly gilt eagle was affixed. The audience took up the cry and repeated
+again and again--'_A bas l'aigle imperial!_' Presently the curtains were
+torn asunder, a fellow seated himself upon the cushioned parapet, twined
+his legs round the eagle, and knocked, and hammered, till it fell with a
+crash to the ground. Again the royalist ditty was called for, with _ad
+libitum_ couplets, in which the words '_ce diable a quatre_' were only
+too plainly perceptible; the unfortunate consul had to repeat them till
+he was hoarse, and so ended the great comedy performed that day by the
+'Grande Nation.' Most revolting it was, and every right-thinking man
+shuddered at such thorough Gallic indecency."
+
+Baron Von Rahden tells the story of his life well and pleasantly,
+without pretensions to brilliancy and elegance of style, but with
+soldierly frankness and spirit. We have read this first portion of his
+memoirs with pleasure and interest, and may take occasion again to refer
+to its lively and varied contents.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[48] In the third volume of Von Schoening's _History of the Artillery_,
+we find the following extract from an official report of Captain
+Spreuth, an artillery officer, dated Koenigsberg, 18th December 1812.
+"The 'Grand Army' is retreating across the Weichsel, if indeed it may be
+called a retreat; it is more like a total rout or disbandment, for the
+fugitives came without order or baggage. The post-horses are at work day
+and night. From the 16th to the 17th, 71 generals 60 colonels, 1243
+staff and other officers, passed through this place; the majority
+continued their route on foot, being unable to procure horses; the
+officers' baggage is all lost, some of it has been plundered by their
+own men, and we have even seen officers fighting in the streets with the
+common soldiers."
+
+[49] The noted military writer, Carl Von Decker, since General.
+
+
+
+
+ADVICE TO AN INTENDING SERIALIST.
+
+A LETTER TO T. SMITH, ESQ., SCENE-PAINTER AND TRAGEDIAN AT THE
+AMPHITHEATRE.
+
+
+My dear Smith,--Your complaint of my unwarrantable detention of the
+manuscript which, some months ago, you were kind enough to forward for
+my perusal, is founded upon a total misconception of the nature of my
+interim employments. I have not, as you somewhat broadly insinuate, been
+prigging bits of your matchless rhetoric in order to give currency and
+flavour to my own more maudlin articles. The lemon-peel of Smith has not
+entered into the composition of any of my literary puddings; neither
+have I bartered a single fragment of your delectable facetiae for gold. I
+return you the precious bundle as safe and undivulged as when it was
+committed to my custody, and none the worse for the rather extensive
+journey which it has materially contributed to cheer.
+
+The fact is, that I have been sojourning this summer utterly beyond the
+reach of posts. To you, whose peculiar vocation it is to cater for the
+taste of the public, I need hardly remark that novelty is, now-a-days,
+in literature as in every thing else, an indispensable requisite for
+success. People will not endure the iteration of a story, however well
+it may be told. The same locality palls upon their ears, and that style
+of wit which, last year, was sufficient to convulse an audience, may, if
+continued for another session, be branded with the infamy of slang. Even
+our mutual friend Barry, whose jests are the life of the arena, is quite
+aware of this unerring physiological rule. He does not depend upon
+captivating the galleries for ever by his ingenious conundrum of getting
+into an empty quart bottle. His inimitable "be quiet, will ye?" as the
+exasperated Master of the Ring flicks off an imaginary fly from his
+motley inexpressibles, is now reserved as a great point for rare and
+special occasions; and he now lays in a new stock of witticisms at the
+commencement of each campaign, as regularly as you contract for
+lamp-black and ochre when there is an immediate prospect of a grand new
+military spectacle. The want of attention to this rule has, I fear,
+operated prejudicially upon the fortunes of our agile acquaintance,
+Hervio Nano, whom I last saw devouring raw beef in the character of a
+human Nondescript. Harvey depended too much upon his original popularity
+as the Gnome Fly, and failed through incessant repetition. The public at
+length would not stand the appearance of that eternal blue-bottle. The
+sameness of his entomology was wearisome. He should have varied his
+representations by occasionally assuming the characters of the Spectre
+Spider, or the Black Tarantula of the Tombs.
+
+Now you must know, that for the last three years I have been making my
+living exclusively out of the Swedish novels and the Countess Ida von
+Hahn-Hahn. To Frederike Bremer I owe a prodigious debt of gratitude; for
+she has saved me the trouble--and it is a prodigious bore--of inventing
+plots and characters, as I was compelled to do when the Rhine and the
+Danube were the chosen seats of fiction. For a time the literary plough
+went merrily through the sward of Sweden; nor can I, with any degree of
+conscience, complain of the quality of the crop. But, somehow or other,
+the thing was beginning to grow stale. People lost their relish for the
+perpetual raspberry jam, tart-making, spinning, and the other processes
+of domestic kitchen economy which formed our Scandinavian staple;
+indeed, I had a shrewd suspicion from the first that the market would
+soon be glutted by the introduction of so much linen and flannel. It is
+very difficult to keep up a permanent interest in favour of a heroine in
+homespun, and the storeroom is but a queer locality for the interchange
+of lovers' sighs. I therefore was not surprised, last spring, to find my
+publishers somewhat shy of entering into terms for a new translation of
+"_Snorra Gorvundstrul; or, The Barmaid of Strundschensvoe_," and, in
+the true spirit of British enterprise, I resolved to carry my flag
+elsewhere.
+
+On looking over the map of the world, with the view of selecting a novel
+field, I was astonished to find that almost every compartment was
+already occupied by one of our literary brethren. There is in all Europe
+scarce a diocese left unsung, and, like romance, civilisation is making
+rapid strides towards both the east and the west. In this dilemma I
+bethought me of Iceland as a virgin soil. Victor Hugo, it is true, had
+made some advances towards it in one of his earlier productions; but, if
+I recollect right, even that daring pioneer of letters did not penetrate
+beyond Norway, and laid the scene of his stirring narrative somewhere
+about the wilds of Drontheim. The bold dexterity with which he has
+transferred the Morgue from Paris to the most artic city of the world,
+has always commanded my most entire admiration. It is a stroke of
+machinery equal to any which you, my dear Smith, have ever introduced
+into a pantomime; and I question whether it was much surpassed by the
+transit of the Holy Chapel to Loretto. In like manner I had intended to
+transport a good deal of ready-made London ware to Iceland; or
+rather--if that will make my meaning clearer--to take my idea both of
+the scenery and characters from the Surrey Zoological Gardens, wherein
+last year I had the privilege of witnessing a superb eruption of Mount
+Hecla. On more mature reflection, however, I thought it might be as well
+to take an actual survey of the regions which I intend henceforward to
+occupy as my own especial domain; and--having, moreover, certain reasons
+which shall be nameless, for a temporary evacuation of the metropolis--I
+engaged a passage in a northern whaler, and have only just returned
+after an absence of half a year. Yes, Smith! Incredible as it may appear
+to you, I have actually been in Iceland, seen Hecla in a state of
+conflagration; and it was by that lurid light, while my mutton was
+boiling in the Geyser, that I first unfolded your manuscript, and read
+the introductory chapters of "SILAS SPAVINHITCH; _or, Rides around the
+Circus with Widdicomb and Co._"
+
+I trust, therefore, that after this explanation, you will discontinue
+the epithet of "beast," and the corresponding expletives which you have
+used rather liberally in your last two epistles. When you consider the
+matter calmly, I think you will admit that you have suffered no very
+material loss in consequence of the unavoidable delay; and, as to the
+public, I am quite sure that they will devour Silas more greedily about
+Christmas, than if he had made his appearance, all booted and spurred,
+in the very height of the dog-days. You will also have the opportunity,
+as your serial is not yet completed, of reflecting upon the justice of
+the hints which I now venture to offer for your future guidance--hints,
+derived not only from my observation of the works of others, but from
+some little personal experience in that kind of popular composition;
+and, should you agree with me in any of the views hereinafter expressed,
+you may perhaps be tempted to act upon them in the revision and
+completion of your extremely interesting work. First, then, let me say a
+few words regarding the purpose and the nature of that sort of
+_feuilleton_ which we now denominate the serial.
+
+Do not be alarmed, Smith. I am not going to conglomerate your faculties
+by any Aristotelian exposition. You are a man of by far too much
+practical sense to be humbugged by such outworn pedantry, and your own
+particular purpose in penning Silas is of course most distinctly
+apparent. You want to sack as many of the public shillings as possible.
+That is the great motive which lies at the foundation of all literary or
+general exertion, and the man who does not confess it broadly and openly
+is an ass. If your study of Fitzball has not been too exclusive, you may
+perhaps recollect the lines of Byron:--
+
+    "No! when the sons of song descend to trade,
+     Their bays are sear, their former laurels fade,
+     Let such forego the poet's sacred name,
+     Who rack their brains for lucre, not for fame;
+     Low may they sink to merited contempt,
+     And scorn remunerate the mean attempt!
+     Such be their meed, such still the just reward
+     Of prostituted muse and hireling bard!"
+
+Now these, although they have passed current in the world for some
+thirty years, are in reality poor lines, and the sentiment they intend
+to inculcate is contemptible. Byron lived long enough to know the value
+of money, as his correspondence with the late Mr Murray most abundantly
+testifies--indeed, I question whether any author ever beat him at the
+art of chaffering. If it be a legitimate matter of reproach against an
+author that he writes for money, then heaven help the integrity of every
+profession and trade in this great and enlightened kingdom! What else,
+in the name of common sense, should he write for? Fame? Thank you! Fame
+may be all very well in its way, but it butters no parsnips; and, if I
+am to be famous, I would much rather case my renown in fine linen than
+in filthy dowlas. Let people say what they please, the best criterion of
+every article is its marketable value, and no man on the face of this
+earth will work without a reasonable wage.
+
+Your first and great purpose, therefore, is to make money, and to make
+as much as you can. But then there is another kind of purpose, which, if
+I was sure you could comprehend me, I should call the intrinsic one, and
+which must be considered very seriously before you obtrude yourself upon
+the public. In other words, what is to be the general tendency of your
+work? "Fun," I think I hear you reply, "and all manner of sky-larking."
+Very good. But then, my dear friend, you must consider that there is a
+sort of method even in grimacing. There is a gentleman connected with
+your establishment, who is popularly reported to possess the inestimable
+talent of turning his head inside out. I never saw him perform that
+cephalic operation, but I have heard it highly spoken of by others who
+have enjoyed the privilege. But this it is obvious, though a very
+admirable and effective incident, could hardly be taken as the
+groundwork of a five-act play, or even a three-act melodrama; and, in
+like manner, your fun and sky-larking must have something of a positive
+tendency. I don't mean to insinuate that there is no story in Silas
+Spavinhitch. He is, if I recollect aright, the younger son of a
+nobleman, who falls in love--at Astley's, of course--with Signora
+Estrella di Canterini, the peerless Amazon of the ring. He forsakes his
+ancestral halls, abjures Parliament, and enlists in the cavalry of the
+Hippodrome. In that gallant and distinguished corps he rises to an
+unusual rank, utterly eclipses Herr Pferdenshuf, more commonly known by
+the title of the Suabian acrobat--wins the heart of the Signora by
+taming Centaur, the fierce Arabian stallion; and gains the notice and
+favour of royalty itself, by leaping the Mammoth horse over nineteen
+consecutive bars. Your manuscript ends at the point where Spavinhitch,
+having accidentally discovered that the beautiful Canterini is the
+daughter of Abd-el-Kader by a Sicilian princess, resolves to embark for
+Africa with the whole chivalry of the Surrey side, and, by driving the
+French from Algiers, to substantiate his claim upon the Emir for his
+daughter's hand. There is plenty incident here; but, to say the truth, I
+don't quite see my way out of it. Are you going to take history into
+your own hands, and write in the spirit of prophecy? The experiment is,
+to say the least of it, dangerous; and, had I been you, I should have
+preferred an earlier period for my tale, as there obviously could have
+been no difficulty in making Spavinhitch and his cavaliers take a
+leading part in the decisive charge at Waterloo.
+
+Your serial, therefore, so far as I can discover, belongs to the
+military-romantic school, and is intended to command admiration by what
+we may call a series of scenic effects. I an not much surprised at this.
+Your experience has lain so much in the line of gorgeous spectacle, and,
+indeed, you have borne a part in so many of those magnificent tableaux
+in which blue fire, real cannon, charging squadrons, and the
+transparency of Britannia are predominant, that it was hardly to be
+expected that the current of your ideas would have flowed in a humbler
+channel. At the same time, you must forgive me for saying, that I think
+the line is a dangerous one. Putting tendency altogether aside, you
+cannot but recollect that a great many writers have already
+distinguished themselves by narratives of military adventure. Of these,
+by far the best and most spirited is Charles Lever. I don't know whether
+he ever was in the army, or bore the banner of the Enniskillens; but I
+say deliberately, that he has taken the shine out of all military
+writers from the days of Julius Caesar downwards. There is a rollocking
+buoyancy about his battles which to me is perfectly irresistible. In one
+chapter you have the lads of the fighting Fifty-fifth bivouacking under
+the cork-trees of Spain, with no end of spatchcocks and sherry--telling
+numerous anecdotes of their early loves, none the worse because the
+gentleman is invariably disappointed in his pursuit of the
+well-jointured widow--or arranging for a speedy duel with that ogre of
+the army, the saturnine and heavy dragoon. In the next, you have them
+raging like lions in the very thick of the fight, pouring withering
+volleys into the shattered columns of the Frenchmen--engaged in
+single-handed combats with the most famous marshals of the empire, and
+not unfrequently leaving marks of their prowess upon the persons of
+Massena or Murat. Lever, in fact, sticks at nothing. His heroes
+indiscriminately hob-a-nob with Wellington, or perform somersets at
+leap-frog over the shoulders of the astounded Bonaparte; and, though
+somewhat given to miscellaneous flirtation, they all, in the twentieth
+number, are married to remarkably nice girls, with lots of money and
+accommodating papas, who die as soon as they are desired. It may be
+objected to this delightful writer--and a better never mixed a
+tumbler--that he is, if any thing, too helter-skelter in his narratives;
+that the officers of the British army do not, as an invariable rule, go
+into action in a state of _delirium tremens_; and that O'Shaughnessy, in
+particular, is rather too fond of furbishing up, for the entertainment
+of the mess, certain stories which have been current for the last fifty
+years in Tipperary. These, however, are very minor points of criticism,
+and such as need not interfere with our admiration of this light lancer
+of literature, who always writes like a true and a high-minded
+gentleman.
+
+Now, my dear Smith, I must own that I have some fear of your success
+when opposed to such a competitor. You have not been in the army--that
+is, the regulars--and I should say that you were more conversant in
+theory and in practice with firing from platforms than firing in
+platoons. I have indeed seen you, in the character of Soult, lead
+several desperate charges across the stage, with consummate dramatic
+effect. Your single combat with Gomersal as Picton, was no doubt a
+masterpiece of its kind; for in the course of it you brought out as many
+sparks from the blades of your basket-hilts, as might have served in the
+aggregate for a very tolerable illumination. Still I question whether
+the style of dialogue you indulged in on that occasion, is quite the
+same as that which is current on a modern battle-field. "Ha! English
+slave! Yield, or thou diest!" is an apostrophe more appropriate to the
+middle ages than the present century; and although the patriotism of the
+following answer by your excellent opponent is undeniable, its propriety
+may be liable to censure. Crossing the stage at four tremendous strides,
+the glorious Gomersal replied, "Yield, saidst thou? Never! I tell thee,
+Frenchman, that whilst the broad banner of Britain floats over the
+regions on which the day-star never sets--while peace and plenty brood
+like guardian angels over the shores of my own dear native isle--whilst
+her sons are brave, and her daughters virtuous--whilst the British lion
+reposes on his shadow in perfect stillness--whilst with thunders from
+our native oak we quell the floods below--I tell thee, base satellite of
+a tyrant, that an Englishman never will surrender!" In the applause
+which followed this declaration, your remark, that several centuries
+beheld you from the top of a canvass pyramid, was partially lost upon
+the audience; but to it you went tooth and nail for at least a quarter
+of an hour; and I must confess that the manner in which you traversed
+the stage on your left knee, parrying all the while the strokes of your
+infuriated adversary, was highly creditable to your proficiency in the
+broadsword and gymnastic exercises.
+
+But all this, Smith, will not enable you to write a military serial. I
+therefore hope, that on consideration you will abandon the Algiers
+expedition, and keep Silas in his native island, where, if you will
+follow my advice, you will find quite enough for him to do in the way of
+incident and occupation.
+
+Now let us return to the question of tendency. Once upon a time, it was
+a trite rule by which all romance writers were guided, that in the
+_denoument_ of their plots, virtue was invariably rewarded, and vice as
+invariably punished. This gave a kind of moral tone to their writings,
+which was not without its effect upon our grandfathers and grandmothers,
+many of whom were inclined to consider all works of fiction as direct
+emanations from Beelzebub. The next generation became gradually less
+nice and scrupulous, demanded more spice in their pottage, and attached
+less importance to the prominence of an ethical precept. At last we
+became, strictly speaking, a good deal blackguardised in our taste.
+Ruffianism in the middle ages bears about it a stamp of feudality which
+goes far to disguise its lawlessness, and even to excuse its immorality.
+When a German knight of the empire sacks and burns some peaceful and
+unoffending village--when a Bohemian marauder of noble birth bears off
+some shrieking damsel from her paternal castle, having previously
+slitted the weasand of her brother, and then weds her in a subterranean
+chapel--or when a roaring red-bearded Highlander drives his dirk into a
+gauger, or chucks a score of Sassenachs, tied back to back, with a few
+hundredweight of greywacke at their heels, into the loch--we think less
+of the enormity of the deeds than of the disagreeable habits of the
+times. It does not follow that either German, Bohemian, or Celt, were
+otherwise bad company or disagreeable companions over a flagon of
+Rhenish, a roasted boar, or a gallon or so of usquebae. But when you come
+to the Newgate Callendar for subjects, I must say that we are getting
+rather low. I do not know what your feelings upon the subject may be,
+but I, for one, would certainly hesitate before accepting an invitation
+to the town residence of Mr Fagin; neither should I feel at all
+comfortable if required to plant my legs beneath the mahogany in company
+with Messrs Dodger, Bates, and the rest of their vivacious associates.
+However fond I may be of female society, Miss Nancy is not quite the
+sort of person I should fancy to look in upon of an evening about
+tea-time; and as for Bill Sykes, that infernal dog of his would be quite
+enough to prevent any advances of intimacy between us. In fact, Smith,
+although you may think the confession a squeamish one, I am not in the
+habit of selecting my acquaintance from the inhabitants of St Giles, and
+on every possible occasion I should eschew accepting their
+hospitalities.
+
+I have, therefore, little opportunity of judging whether the characters
+depicted by some of our later serialists, are exact copies from nature
+or the reverse. I have, however, heard several young ladies declare them
+to be extremely natural, though I confess to have been somewhat puzzled
+as to their means of accurate information. But I may be allowed _en
+passant_ to remark, that it seems difficult to imagine what kind of
+pleasure can be derived from the description of a scene, which, if
+actually contemplated by the reader, would inspire him with loathing and
+disgust, or from conversations in which the brutal alternates with the
+positive obscene. The fetid den of the Jew, the stinking cellar of the
+thief, the squalid attic of the prostitute, are not haunts for honest
+men, and the less that we know of them the better. Such places no doubt
+exist--the more is the pity; but so do dunghills, and a hundred other
+filthy things, which the imagination shudders at whenever they are
+forced upon it,--for the man who willingly and deliberately dwells upon
+such subjects, is, notwithstanding all pretext, in heart and soul a
+nightman! Don't tell me about close painting after nature. Nature is
+not always to be painted as she really is. Would you hang up such
+paintings in your drawing-room? If not, why suffer them in print to lie
+upon your drawing-room tables? What are Eugene Sue and his English
+competitors, but coarser and more prurient Ostades?
+
+Oh, but there is a moral in these things! No doubt of it. There is a
+moral in all sin and misery, as there is in all virtue and happiness.
+There is a moral every where, and the veriest bungler cannot fail to
+seize it. But is that a reason why the minds of our sons and daughters
+should be polluted by what is notoriously the nearest thing to contact
+with absolute vice--namely, vivid and graphic descriptions of it by
+writers of undenied ability? Did _Life in London_, or the exploits of
+Tom, Jerry, and Logic, make the youth of the metropolis more staid, or
+inspire them with a wholesome horror of dissipation? Did the memoirs of
+Casanova ever reclaim a rake--the autobiography of David Haggart convert
+an aspiring pickpocket--or the daring feats of Jack Sheppard arrest one
+candidate for the gallows? These are the major cases; but look at the
+minor ones. What are the favourite haunts of the heroes in even the most
+blameless of our serials? Pot-houses--cigariums--green-rooms of
+theatres--hells--spunging-houses--garrets--and the scullery! Nice and
+improving all this--isn't it, Smith?--for the young and rising
+generation! No need now for surreptitious works, entitled, "A Guide to
+the Larks of London," or so forth, which used formerly to issue from the
+virgin press of Holywell Street. Almost any serial will give hints
+enough to an acute boy, if he wishes to gain an initiative knowledge of
+subjects more especially beneath the cognisance of the police. They will
+at least guide him to the door with the red lamp burning over it, and
+only one plank betwixt its iniquity and the open street. And all this is
+for a moral! Heaven knows, Smith, I am no Puritan; but when I think upon
+the men who now call themselves the lights of the age, and look back
+upon the past, I am absolutely sick at heart, and could almost wish for
+a return of the days of Mrs Radcliffe and the Castle of Otranto.
+
+Now, my dear fellow, as I know you to be a thoroughly good-hearted
+man--not overgiven to liquor, although your estimate of beer is a just
+one--a constant husband, and, moreover, the father of five or six
+promising olive-branches, I do not for a moment suppose that you are
+likely to inweave any such tendencies in your tale. You would consider
+it low to make a prominent character of a scavenger; and although some
+dozen idiots who call themselves philanthropists would brand you as an
+aristocrat for entertaining any such opinion, I think you are decidedly
+in the right. But there is another tendency towards which I suspect you
+are more likely to incline. You are a bit of a Radical, and, like all
+men of genius, you pique yourself on elbowing upwards. So far well. The
+great ladder, or rather staircase of ambition, is open to all of us, and
+it is fortunately broader than it is high. It is not the least too
+narrow to prevent any one from approaching it, and after you have taken
+the first step, there is nothing more than stamina and perseverance
+required. But then I do not see that it is necessary to be perpetually
+plucking at the coat-tails, or seizing hold of the ankles of those who
+are before. Such conduct is quite as indecorous, and indeed ungenerous,
+as it would be to kick back, and systematically to smite with your heel
+the unprotected foreheads of your followers. Nor would I be perpetually
+pitching brickbats upwards, in order to show my own independence; or
+raising a howl of injustice, because another fellow was considerably
+elevated above me. In the social system, Smith, as it stands at present,
+has always stood, and will continue to stand long after Astley's is
+forgotten, it is not necessary that every one should commence at the
+lowest round of the staircase. Their respective fathers and progenitors
+have secured an advantageous start for many. They have achieved, as the
+case may be, either rank or fame, or honour, or wealth, or credit--and
+these possessions they are surely entitled to leave as an inheritance of
+their offspring. If we want to rise higher in the social scale than
+they did, we must make exertions for ourselves; if we are indolent, we
+must be contented to remain where we are, though at imminent risk of
+descending. But you, I take it for granted, and indeed the most of us
+who owe little to ancestral enterprise and are in fact men of the
+masses, are struggling forward towards one or other of the good things
+specified above, and no doubt we shall in time attain them. In the
+meanwhile, however, is it just--nay, is it wise--that we should mar our
+own expectancies, and depreciate the value of the prizes which we covet,
+by abusing not only the persons but the position of those above us? How
+are they to blame? Are they any the worse that they stand, whether
+adventitiously or not, at a point which we are endeavouring to reach? Am
+I necessarily a miscreant because I am born rich, and you a martyr
+because you are poor? I do not quite follow the argument. If there is
+any one to blame, you will find their names written on the leaves of
+your own family-tree; but I don't see that on that account you have any
+right to execrate me or my ancestors.
+
+I am the more anxious to caution you against putting any such rubbish
+into your pages, because I fear you have contracted some sort of
+intimacy with a knot of utilitarian ninnyhammers. The last time I had
+the pleasure of meeting you at the Ducrow's Head, there was a
+seedy-looking, ill-conditioned fellow seated on your right, who, between
+his frequent draughts of porter, (which you paid for,) did nothing but
+abuse the upper classes as tyrants, fools, and systematical grinders of
+the poor. I took the liberty, as you may remember, of slightly differing
+from some of his wholesale positions; whereupon your friend, regarding
+me with a cadaverous sneer, was pleased to mutter something about a
+sycophant, the tenor of which I did not precisely comprehend. Now,
+unless I am shrewdly mistaken, this was one of the earnest men--fellows
+who are continually bawling on people to go forward--who set themselves
+up for popular teachers, and maunder about "a oneness of purpose,"
+"intellectual elevation," "aspirations after reality," and suchlike
+drivel, as though they were absolute Solons, not blockheads of the
+muddiest water. And I was sorry to observe that you rather seemed to
+agree with the rusty patriot in some of his most sweeping strictures,
+and evinced an inclination to adopt his theory of the coming Utopia,
+which, judging from the odour that pervaded his apostolic person and
+raiment, must bear a strong resemblance to a modern gin-shop. Now,
+Smith, this will not do. There may be inequalities in this world, and
+there may also be injustice; but it is a very great mistake to hold that
+one-half of the population of these islands is living in profligate ease
+upon the compulsory labour of the other. I am not going to write you a
+treatise upon political economy; but I ask you to reflect for a moment,
+and you will see how ludicrous is the charge. This style of thinking,
+or, what is worse, this style of writing, is positively the most
+mischievous production of the present day. Disguised under the specious
+aspect of philanthropy, it fosters self-conceit and discontent, robs
+honest industry of that satisfaction which is its best reward, and,
+instead of removing, absolutely creates invidious class-distinctions.
+And I will tell you from what this spirit arises--it is the working of
+the meanest envy.
+
+There never was a time when talent, and genius, and ability, had so fair
+a field as now. The power of the press is developed to an extent which
+almost renders exaggeration impossible, and yet it is still upon the
+increase. A thousand minds are now at work, where a few were formerly
+employed. We have become a nation of readers and of writers. The
+rudiments of education, whatever may be said of its higher branches, are
+generally distributed throughout the masses--so much so, indeed, that
+without them no man can hope to ascend one step in the social scale.
+This is a great, though an imperfect gain, and, like all such, it has
+its evils.
+
+Of these not the least is the astounding growth of quackery. It assails
+us every where, and on every side; and, with consummate impudence, it
+asserts its mission to teach. Look at the shoals of itinerant lecturers
+which at this moment are swarming through the land. No department of
+science is too deep, no political question too abstruse, for their
+capacity. They have their own theories on the subjects of philosophy and
+religion--of which theories I shall merely remark, that they differ in
+many essentials from the standards both of church and college--and these
+they communicate to their audience with the least possible regard to
+reservation. Had you ever the pleasure, Smith, of meeting one of these
+gentlemen amongst the amenities of private life? I have upon various
+occasions enjoyed that luxury; and, so far as I am capable of judging,
+the Pericles of the platform appeared to me a coarse-minded, illiterate,
+and ignorant Cockney, with the manners and effrontery of a bagman. Such
+are the class of men who affect to regenerate the people with the
+tongue, and who are listened to even with avidity, because impudence,
+like charity, can cover a multitude of defects; and thus they stand,
+like so many sons of Telamon, each secure behind the shelter of his
+brazen shield. As to the pen-regenerators, they are at least equally
+numerous. I do not speak of the established press, the respectability
+and talent of which is undeniable; but of the minor crew, who earn their
+bread partly by fostering discontent, and partly by pandering to the
+worst of human passions. The merest whelp, who can write a decent
+paragraph, considers himself, now-a-days, entitled to assume the airs of
+an Aristarchus, and will pronounce opinions, _ex cathedra_, upon every
+question, no matter of what importance, for he too is a teacher of the
+people!
+
+This is the lowest sort of quackery; but there are also higher degrees.
+Our literature, of what ought to be the better sort, has by no means
+escaped the infection. In former times, men who devoted themselves to
+the active pursuit of letters, brought to the task not only high talent,
+but deep and measured thought, and an accumulated fund of acquirement.
+They studied long before they wrote, and attempted no subject until they
+had thoroughly and comprehensively mastered its details. But we live
+under a new system. There is no want of talent, though it be of a
+rambling and disjointed kind; but we look in vain for marks of the
+previous study. Our authors deny the necessity or advantage of an
+apprenticeship, and set up for masters before they have learned the
+rudiments of their art, and they dispense altogether with reflection.
+Few men now think before they write. The consequence is, that a great
+proportion of our modern literature is of the very flimsiest
+description--vivid, sometimes, and not without sparkles of genuine
+humour; but so ill constructed as to preclude the possibility of its
+long existence. No one is entitled to reject models, unless he has
+studied them, and detected their faults; but this is considered by far
+too tedious a process for modern ingenuity. We are thus inundated with a
+host of clever writers, each relying upon his peculiar and native
+ability, jesting--for that is the humour of the time--against each
+other, and all of them forsaking nature, and running deplorably into
+caricature.
+
+These are the men who make the loudest outcry against the social system,
+and who appear to be imbued with an intense hatred of the aristocracy,
+and indeed with every one of our time-honoured institutions. This I know
+has been denied; but, in proof of my assertion, I appeal to their
+published works. Read any one of them through, and I ask you if you do
+not rise from it with a sort of conviction, that you must search for the
+cardinal virtues solely in the habitations of the poor--that the rich
+are hard, selfish, griping, and tyrannical--and that the nobility are
+either fools, spendthrifts, or debauchees? Is it so, as a general rule,
+in actual life? Far from it. I do not need to be told of the virtue and
+industry which grace the poor man's lot; for we all feel and know it,
+and God forbid that it should be otherwise. But we know also that there
+is as great, if not greater temptation in the hovel than in the palace,
+with fewer counteracting effects from education and principle to
+withstand it; and it is an insult to our understanding to be told, that
+fortune and station are in effect but other words for tyranny,
+callousness, and crime.
+
+The fact is, that most of these authors know nothing whatever of the
+society which they affect to describe, but which in truth they grossly
+libel. Their starting-point is usually not a high one; but by dint of
+some talent--in certain cases naturally great--and a vivacity of style,
+joined with a good deal of drollery and power of bizarre description,
+they at last gain a portion of the public favour, and become in a manner
+notables. This is as it should be; and such progress is always
+honourable. Having arrived at this point, not without a certain degree
+of intoxication consequent upon success, our author begins to look about
+him and to consider his own position--and he finds that position to be
+both new and anomalous. On the one hand he has become a lion. The
+newspapers are full of his praises; his works are dramatized at the
+minor theatres; he is pointed at in the streets, and his publisher is
+clamorous for copy. At small literary reunions he is the cynosure of all
+eyes. And so his organ of self-esteem continues to expand day by day,
+until he fancies himself entitled to a statue near the altar in the
+Temple of Fame--not very far, perhaps, from those of Shakspeare, of
+Spencer, or of Scott. One little drop of gall, however, is mingled in
+the nectar of his cup. He does not receive that consideration which he
+thinks himself entitled to from the higher classes. Peers do not wait
+upon him with pressing invitations to their country-seats; nor does he
+receive any direct intimation of the propriety of presenting himself at
+Court. This appears to him not only strange but grossly unfair. He is
+one of nature's aristocracy--at least so he thinks; and yet he is
+regarded with indifference by the body of the class aristocrats! Why is
+this? He knows they have heard of his name; he is convinced that they
+have read his works, and been mightily tickled thereby; yet how is it
+that they show no manner of thirst whatever for his society? In vain he
+lays in scores of apple-green satin waistcoats, florid cravats, and a
+wilderness of mosaic jewellery--in vain he makes himself conspicuous
+wherever he can--he is looked at, to be sure; but the right hand of
+fellowship is withheld. Gradually he becomes savage and indignant. No
+man is better aware than he is, that not one scion of the existing
+aristocracy could write a serial or a novel at all to be compared to
+his; and yet Lord John and Lord Frederick--both of them literary men
+too--do not insist upon walking with him in the streets, and never once
+offer to introduce him to the bosom of their respective families! Our
+friend becomes rapidly bilious; is seized with a moral jaundice; and
+vows that, in his next work, he will do his uttermost to show up that
+confounded aristocracy. And he keeps his vow.
+
+Now, Smith, to say the least of it, this is remarkably silly conduct,
+and it argues but little for the intellect and the temper of the man. It
+is quite true that the English aristocracy, generally speaking, do not
+consider themselves bound to associate with every successful candidate
+for the public favour; but they neither despise him nor rob him of one
+tittle of his due. The higher classes of society are no more exclusive
+than the lower. Each circle is formed upon principles peculiar to
+itself, amongst which are undoubtedly similarity of interest, of
+position, and of taste; and it is quite right that it should be so. You
+will understand this more clearly if I bring the case home to yourself.
+I shall suppose that the success of Silas Spavinhitch is something
+absolutely triumphant--that it sells by tens and hundreds of thousands,
+and that the treasury of your publisher is bursting with the accumulated
+silver. You find yourself, in short, the great literary lion of the
+day--the intellectual workman who has produced the consummate
+masterpiece of the age. What, under such circumstances, would be your
+wisest line of conduct? I should decidedly say, to establish an account
+at your banker's, enjoy yourself reasonably with your friends, make Mrs
+Smith and your children as happy as possible, and tackle to another
+serial without deviating from the tenor of your way. I would not, if I
+were you, drop old acquaintances, or insist clamorously upon having new
+ones. I should look upon myself, not as a very great man, but as a very
+fortunate one; and I would not step an inch from my path to exchange
+compliments with King or with Kaisar. Don't you think such conduct
+would be more rational than quarrelling with society because you are not
+worshipped as a sort of demi-god? Is the Duke of Devonshire obliged to
+ask you to dinner, because you are the author of Silas Spavinhitch? Take
+my word for it, Smith, you would feel excessively uncomfortable if any
+such invitation came. I think I see you at a ducal table, with an
+immense fellow in livery behind you, utterly bewildered as to how you
+should behave yourself, and quite as much astounded as Abon Hassan when
+hailed by Mesrour, chief of the eunuchs, as the true Commander of the
+Faithful! How gladly would you not exchange these _souffles_ and
+_salmis_ for a rump-steak and onions in the back-parlour of the Ducrow's
+Head! Far rather would you be imbibing porter with Widdicomb than
+drinking hermitage with his Grace--and O!--horror of horrors! you have
+capsized something with a French name into the lap of the dowager next
+you, and your head swims round with a touch of temporary apoplexy, as
+you observe the snigger on the countenance of the opposite lackey, who,
+menial as he is, considers himself at bottom quite as much of a
+gentleman, and as conspicuous a public character as yourself.
+
+And--mercy on me!--what would you make of yourself at a ball? You are a
+good-looking fellow, Smith, and nature has been bountiful to you in
+calf; but I would not advise you to sport that plum-coloured coat and
+azure waistcoat of an evening. Believe me, that though you may pass
+muster in such a garb most creditably on the Surrey side, there are
+people in Grosvenor Square who will unhesitatingly pronounce you a
+tiger. And pray, whom are you going to dance with? You confess to
+yourself, whilst working on those relentless and impracticable kids,
+that you do not know a single soul in the saloon except the man who
+brought you there, and he has speedily abandoned you. That staid,
+haughty-looking lady with the diamonds, is a Countess in her own right,
+and those two fair girls with the auburn ringlets are her daughters, the
+flower of the English nobility, and the name they bear is conspicuous in
+history to the Conquest. Had you not better walk up to the noble matron,
+announce yourself as the author of Silas Spavinhitch, and request an
+introduction to Lady Edith or Lady Maude? You would just as soon consent
+to swing yourself like Fra Diavolo on the slack-rope! And suppose that
+you were actually introduced to Lady Maude, how would you contrive to
+amuse her? With anecdotes of the back slums, or the green-room, or the
+witticisms of medical students? Would you tell her funny stories about
+the loves of the bagmen, or recreations with a migratory giantess in the
+interior of a provincial caravan? Do you think that, with dulcet prattle
+of this sort, you could manage to efface the impression made long ago
+upon her virgin heart by that handsome young guardsman, who is now
+regarding you with a glance prophetic of a coming flagellation? Surely,
+you misguided creature, you are not going to expose yourself by dancing?
+Yes, you are! You once danced a polka with little Laura Wilkins on the
+boards at Astley's, and ever since that time you have been labouring
+under the delusion that you are a consummate Vestris. So you claw your
+shrinking partner round the waist, and set off, prancing like the pony
+that performs a pas-seul upon its hinder legs; and after bouncing
+against several couples in your rash and erratic career, you are
+arrested by the spur of a dragoon, which rips up your inexpressibles,
+lacerates your ankle, and stretches you on the broad of your back upon
+the floor, to the intense and unextinguishable delight of the assembled
+British aristocracy.
+
+Or, by way of a change, what would you say to go down with your
+acquaintance, Lord Walter, to Melton? You ride well--that is, upon
+several horses, with one foot upon the crupper of the first, and the
+other upon the shoulder of the fourth. But a hunting-field is another
+matter. I think I see you attempting to assume a light and jaunty air in
+the saddle; your long towsy hair flowing gracefully over the collar of
+your spotless pink; and the nattiest of conical castors secured by a
+ribband upon the head which imagined the tale of Spavinhitch. You have
+not any very distinct idea of what is going to take place; but you
+resolve to demean yourself like a man, and cover your confusion with a
+cigar. The hounds are thrown into cover. There is a yelping and the
+scouring of many brushes among the furze; a red hairy creature bolts out
+close beside you, and, with a bray of insane triumph, you commence to
+canter after him, utterly regardless of the cries of your
+fellow-sportsmen, entreating you to hold hard. In a couple of minutes
+more, you are in the middle of the hounds, knocking out the brains of
+one, crushing the spine of another, and fracturing the legs of a third.
+A shout of anger rises behind; no matter--on you go. Accidents will
+happen in the best regulated hunting-fields--and what business had these
+stupid brutes to get under your horse's legs? Otherwise, you are
+undeniably a-head of the field; and won't you show those tip-top fellows
+how a serialist can go the pace? But your delusion is drawing to an end.
+There is a clattering of hoofs, and a resonant oath behind you--and
+smack over your devoted shoulders comes the avenging whip of the
+huntsman, frantic at the loss of his most favourite hounds, and
+execrating you for a clumsy tailor. "Serve him right, Jem! Give it him
+again!" cries the Master of the hounds--a very different person from
+your old friend the Master of the Ring--as the scarlet crowd rushes by;
+and again and again, with intensest anguish, you writhe beneath the
+thong wielded by the brawny groom--and, after sufficient chastisement,
+sneak home to anoint your aching back, and depart, ere the sportsmen
+return, for your own Paddingtonian domicile.
+
+Now, Smith, are you not convinced that it would be the height of folly
+to expose yourself to any such unpleasant occurrences? To be sure you
+are; and yet there are some dozen of men, no better situated than
+yourself, who would barter their ears for the chance of being made such
+laughingstocks for life. The innate good sense and fine feeling of the
+upper classes, prevents these persons from assuming so extremely false
+and ridiculous a position, and yet this consideration is rewarded by the
+most foul and malignant abuse. It is high time that these gentlemen
+should be brought to their senses, and be taught the real value of
+themselves and of their writings. Personally they are objectionable and
+offensive--relatively they are bores--and, in a literary point of view,
+they have done much more to lower than to elevate the artistic standard
+of the age. Their affectation of philanthropy and maudlin sentiment is
+too shallow to deceive any one who is possessed of the ordinary
+intellect of a man; and in point of wit and humour, which is their
+stronghold, the best of them is far inferior to Paul de Kock, whose
+works are nearly monopolized for perusal by the _flaneurs_ and the
+_grisettes_ of Paris.
+
+Take my advice then, and have nothing to say to the earnest and
+oneness-of-purpose men. They are not only weak but wicked; and they will
+lead you most lamentably astray. Let us now look a little into your
+style, which, after all, is a matter of some importance in a serial.
+
+On the whole, I like it. It is nervous, terse, and epigrammatic--a
+little too high-flown at times; but I was fully prepared for that. What
+I admire most, however, is your fine feeling of humanity--the instinct,
+as it were, and dumb life which you manage to extract from inanimate
+objects as well as from articulately-speaking men. Your very furniture
+has a kind of automatonic life; you can make an old chest of drawers
+wink waggishly from the corner, and a boot-jack in your hands becomes a
+fellow of infinite fancy. This is all very pleasant and delightful;
+though I think, upon the whole, you give us a little too much of it, for
+I cannot fancy myself quite comfortable in a room with every article of
+the furniture maintaining a sort of espionage upon my doings. Then as to
+your antiquarianism you are perfect. Your description of "the old
+deserted stable, with the old rusty harness hanging upon the old decayed
+nails, so honey-combed, as it were, by the tooth of time, that you
+wondered how they possibly could support the weight; while across the
+span of an old discoloured stirrup, a great spider had thrown his web,
+and now lay waiting in the middle of it, a great hairy bag of venom, for
+the approach of some unlucky fly, like a usurer on the watch for a
+spendthrift,"--that description, I say, almost brought tears to my eyes.
+The catalogue, also, which you give us of the decayed curry-combs all
+clogged with grease, the shankless besoms, the worm-eaten corn-chest,
+and all the other paraphernalia of the desolate stable, is as finely
+graphic as any thing which I ever remember to have read.
+
+But your best scene is the opening one, in which you introduce us to the
+aerial dwelling of Estrella di Canterini, in Lambeth. I do not wish to
+flatter you, my dear fellow; but I hold it to be a perfect piece of
+composition, and I cannot resist the temptation of transcribing a very
+few sentences:--
+
+"It was the kitten that began it, and not the cat. It isn't no use
+saying it was the cat, because I was there, and I saw it and know it;
+and if I don't know it, how should any body else be able to tell about
+it, if you please? So I say again it was the kitten that began it, and
+the way it all happened was this.
+
+"There was a little bit, a small tiny string of blue worsted--no! I am
+wrong, for when I think again the string was pink--which was hanging
+down from a little ball that lay on the lap of a tall dark girl with
+large lustrous eyes, who was looking into the fire as intently as if she
+expected to see a salamander in the middle of it. Huggs, the old cat,
+was lying at her feet, coiled up with her tail under her, enjoying, to
+all appearance, a comfortable snooze: but she wasn't asleep, for all the
+time that she was pretending to shut her eyes, she was watching the
+movements of a smart little kitten, just six weeks old, who was pouncing
+upon, and then letting go, like an imaginary mouse, a little roll of
+paper, which, between ourselves, bore a strong resemblance to two or
+three others which occupied a more elevated position, being, in fact,
+placed in a festoon or sort of fancy-garland round the head of the dark
+girl who was so steadfastly gazing into the fire. But this sort of thing
+didn't last long; for the kitten, after making a violent pounce, shook
+its head and sneezed, as if it had been pricked by a pin, which was the
+case, and then cried mew, as much as to say, 'You nasty thing! if I had
+known that you were going to hurt me, I wouldn't have played with you so
+long; so go away, you greasy little rag!' And then the kitten put on a
+look of importance, as if its feelings had been injured in the nicest
+points, and then walked up demurely to Huggs, and began to pat her
+whiskers, as if it wanted, which it probably did, to tell her all about
+it. But Huggs didn't get up, or open her great green eyes, but lay still
+upon the rug, purring gently, as though she were dreaming that she had
+got into a dairy, and that there was nobody to interfere at all between
+her and the bowls of cream. So the smart little kitten gave another pat,
+and a harder one than the last, which might have roused Huggs, had it
+not observed at that moment the little pink string of worsted. Now the
+end of the little pink string reached down to within a foot of the
+floor, so that the smart little kitten could easily reach it; so the
+smart little kitten wagged its tail and stood up upon its hind-paws, and
+caught hold of the little pink string by the end, and gave it such a
+pull, that the worsted ball rolled off the girl's knee and fell upon the
+head of Huggs, who made believe to think that it was a rat, and got up
+and jumped after it, and the kitten ran too, and gave another mew, as
+much as to say, that the worsted was its own finding out, and that Huggs
+shouldn't have it at all. All this wasn't done without noise; so the
+tall girl looked round, and seeing her worsted ball roll away, and Huggs
+and the kitten after it, she said in a slightly foreign accent,
+
+"'Worrit that Huggs!'
+
+"All this while there was sitting at the other side of the fire, a young
+girl, a great deal younger than the other; in fact, a little, very
+little child, who was sucking a dried damson in her mouth, and looked as
+if she would have liked to have swallowed it, but didn't do it, for fear
+of the stone. Now Huggs was the particular pet of the little girl, who
+wouldn't have her abused on any account, and she said,
+
+"''Twor'n't Huggs, aunt Strelly, 'twore the kitten!'
+
+" 'Eliza Puddifoot!' replied the other, in a somewhat raucous and
+melo-dramatic tone--'Eliza Puddifoot! I is perticklarly surprised, I is,
+that you comes for to offer to contradick me. I knows better what's what
+than you, and all I says is, that there 'ere Huggs goes packing out of
+the windor!'
+
+"The child--she was a very little one--burst into a flood of tears."
+
+Now, that is what I call fine writing, and no mistake. There is a
+breadth--a depth--a sort of _chiaroscuro_, about the picture which
+betrays the hand of a master, and shows how deeply you have studied in a
+school which has no equal in modern, and never had a parallel in former
+times.
+
+Almost equal to this is your sketch of the soiree at Mr Grindlejerkin's,
+which is written with a close observance of character, and, at the same
+time, an ease and playfulness which cannot fail of attracting a large
+share of the popular regard. Your hero, Mr Spavinhitch, has
+distinguished himself so much by throwing a somerset through a blazing
+hoop, that at last he receives the honour of an invitation to the
+hospitalities of the Master of the Ring.
+
+"I can tell you, that an uncommonly fine man Mr Grindlejerkin was, with
+a stout Roman nose, only a little warty, and black whiskers curling
+under his chin, and a smart little imperial that gave quite a cock to
+his countenance, and made him altogether look a good deal like a hero.
+He was dressed in bright bottle-green, was Mr Grindlejerkin--that is, in
+so far as regarded his coat, which was garnished with large silver
+buttons and a horse's head upon them: but his trousers were of a
+light-blue colour, a little faded or so, and creased, as if they had
+been sent out a good deal to the washing, and had come home without
+having been pressed carefully through the mangle. He had evidently been
+drinking, had Mr Grindlejerkin, for he leaned against the fireplace in a
+sort of vibratory manner, as if he were not very sure of his own
+equilibrium, and couldn't trust it. However, he did his best to welcome
+Silas, which he did with an air of patronising affability, as if he
+wished him to understand that he was not to be considered as letting
+himself down by inviting a voltigeur to his table.
+
+"'Now, Mr Spavinhitch,' said Mr Grindlejerkin, 'glad to see you, sir, or
+any other rising member of the profession. May I perish of the
+string-halt, sir, if I do not consider you an eminent addition to the
+Ring! Your last vault through the hoops, sir, was extraordinary; upon my
+credentials, quite! It reminded me much of my late esteemed friend
+Goggletrumkins. Ah, what a man that was! Did you know Goggletrumkins, Mr
+Spavinhitch?'
+
+"Silas modestly repudiated that honour.
+
+"'Ah, sir, you should have known him!' replied the stately Master of the
+Ring. 'That was indeed a man, sir; the gem of the British arena. His
+Life-guardsman Shaw, sir, was one of the finest things in nature: quite
+statuesque, sir; it was enough to inspire a nation. You are, perhaps,
+not aware, sir, that he used to sit as a model for the Wellington
+statues?'
+
+"'Indeed!' said Silas.
+
+"'He did, sir,' continued Mr Grindlejerkin solemnly, 'and the boast of
+Astley's now lives in imperishable marble. But I forgot: you do not know
+my lady. Mrs Grindlejerkin, my cherub--Mr Spavinhitch, one of our most
+distinguished recruits.'
+
+"Mrs Grindlejerkin was a tall lady, with black treacly hair, a good deal
+younger than her lord, to whom she had been only recently united. She
+was married off the stage, which she had ornamented since she was three
+years old, when she used to appear as a little fairy crawling out of
+paste-board tulips, and frighten, by the magic of her rod, some older
+imps in green, who used to shoulder their legs like muskets, and go
+through all sorts of strange diabolical manoeuvres. Miss Clara Tiggs,
+such was her virgin name, then rose to the rank of the angels, and might
+be seen any evening flying across the stage with little gauze winglets
+fastened to her back, by aid of which it is not likely that she could
+have flown very far, if it had not been for the cross-wires and the cord
+attached to her waist. But she looked very pretty, did Clara Tiggs, as
+she fluttered from the side-wings like an exaggerated butterfly, and
+rained down white paper flowers upon the heads of imploring lovers. But
+she soon got too heavy for that business, and having no natural genius
+for tragedy, and being rather too splayfooted for the ballet, and too
+stiff-jointed for the hippodrome, she became one of those young ladies
+in white, who always walk before the queens in melodramatic spectacles,
+and who keep in pairs, and look like the most loving and affectionate
+creatures in the world, because they always are holding one another's
+hands. And it possibly might be this appearance of sisterly devotion
+which induced Mr Grindlejerkin to pay his addresses to Miss Clara Tiggs;
+for Miss Clara Tiggs never appeared in public except linked to Miss
+Emily Whax, another nice young lady, who was always dressed in white,
+and who carried around her neck a locket, which was supposed to contain
+the hair of a certain officer who always took a considerable number of
+tickets for her benefit. Such was Mrs Grindlejerkin, who now saluted Mr
+Spavinhitch with a pleasant smile.
+
+"'Clara, my own dear love,' said Mr Grindlejerkin after a pause, 'can
+you tell me what we are to have for supper?'
+
+"'La! Mr Grindlejerkin,' replied the lady, 'how should I know?
+Sassengers and pettitoes, I suppose. It's very odd,' continued she,
+addressing Silas--'it's very odd, but Mr Grindlejerkin always _does_ ask
+me what he is to have for supper!'
+
+"Silas didn't think it was odd at all, for the same idea had just been
+floating through his mind; but as he did not think it would be right to
+say so, he merely smiled, whereupon Mrs Grindlejerkin, who was a
+good-natured body in the main, smiled too, and Mr Grindlejerkin began to
+smile, but checked himself, and didn't, because it might have been
+thought that he was letting down his dignity. So he contented himself
+with ringing the bell, and directed the servant-girl who answered it,
+rather ferociously, to bring him a tumbler of rum-and-water.
+
+"'Ha! Bingo, my buck, how are you?' cried the Master of the Ring to the
+principal clown, who now entered the apartment, and who, being a
+personage of much consideration and importance in the theatrical
+circles, might be addressed with any kind of familiarity without a
+compromise of official reserve. 'How are ye, Bingo? Well and herty, eh?
+Won't you take a drop of summat?'
+
+"'I will,' replied the clown in a melancholy voice, well corresponding
+to his features, which, when the paint was washed off, were haggard and
+malagugrious in the extreme. 'I will; but I am not well. Spasms in the
+heart, kidneys, merry-thought, and liver. A silent sorrow here. Age
+brings care. I thank you. Stop. I like it stiff.'
+
+"'That's my rum 'un!' said Mr Grindlejerkin. 'Drown dull care in
+Jamaikey. But here is the Signora Estrella. Madame, you are most
+welcome!'
+
+"Silas felt the blood rise to his temples. And so at last he could meet
+her, the lady of his heart, the bright star of his boyish existence, not
+in the feverish whirl of the arena, beneath the glare of gas, surrounded
+by clouds of sawdust and the gazing eyes of thousands, but in the calm
+sanctuary of private life, where, at least if he could find the courage,
+he might pour forth the incense of his soul, and tell her how madly, how
+desolatingly he had begun to love her--no, not begun, for it seemed to
+him as if he had loved her long before he ever saw her: as if the love
+of her were something implanted in his bosom before yet he knew what it
+was to undergo the agonies of teething; long before, like a roasting
+oyster, he lay in his silken cradle, and squared with tiny and
+ineffectual fists at the approaching phantoms of time, existence, and
+futurity. It seemed to him as though the doll, with which, when a very
+little child, he had played, had just the same dark lustrous eyes, with
+something bead-like and mysterious in their expression, which lent such
+an inexpressible fascination to the countenance of the beautiful
+Canterini. That doll! he had fondled it a thousand times in his baby
+arms: had called it his duck, his dolly, his wifikin, and numerous other
+terms of childish prattle and endearment: had grown jealous of it,
+because, when his little brother kissed it, it did not cry out or show
+any symptoms of anger, and so, in a mad moment of rage and remorse, he
+had struck the waxen features against a mantelpiece, and shivered them
+into innumerable fragments. What would he not have given at that moment
+to have recalled the doll! But it could not be. The fragments had been
+long, long ago swept into the dust-hole of oblivion, and though they
+might afterwards have been carried out and scattered over the fresh
+green fields, where there are trees, and cows, and little singing-birds,
+and flowers, they could not be--oh no, never--reunited! But the lady,
+the Signora! no rude hand had marred the wax of that countenance; for
+though very, very pale, there still lingered beneath her eyes a touch of
+the enchanting carmine.
+
+"'The Signora,' said Mr Bingo. 'Fine woman. Grass though. Decidedly
+grass. All flesh is, you know.' And with this remark the mimic resumed
+his tumbler.
+
+"The Signora turned her dark lustrous eyes upon Silas, and instantly
+encountered his ardent and devoted gaze. She did not shrink from it;
+true love never does, for it is always bold if not happy; but she grew a
+shade paler as she accepted that involuntary homage, and, with a
+graceful wave of her hand, she sunk upon a calico sofa.
+
+"'The sassengers is dished!' said the pudding-faced servant-maid; and
+the whole party, now increased by the addition of Mr Jonas Fitzjunk, who
+did the nautical heroes, and Whang Gobretsjee Jeehohupsejee, the Brahmin
+conjurer, who talked English with a strong Aberdeen accent, besides one
+or two other notables, adjourned to the supper-room.
+
+"'Signora, sassenger?' said Mr Grindlejerkin.
+
+"'If you pleases; underdone and graveyless,' replied the beautiful
+foreigner.
+
+"'Oh, that I were that sausage, that so I might touch those ripe and
+tempting lips!' thought Silas, as he reached across the Brahmin for the
+pickles.
+
+"'Can the buddy no tak' a care!' cried Jeehohupsejee; 'fat's he gauen to
+dee wi' the wee joug?'
+
+"'Hush, conjurer!' cried Bingo. 'Eat. Swallow. That's your sort. Life is
+short. Victuals become cold.'
+
+"'Mr Grindlejerkin!' screamed the helpmate of that gentleman suddenly
+from the lower end of the table. 'Mr Grindlejerkin! I wish you would
+come here and stop Mr Fitzjunk from winking at me!'
+
+"'Mr Fitzjunk!' thundered the Master of the Ring, 'do you know, sir,
+that that lady has the honour to be my wife? What do you mean by this
+conduct, sir? How dare you wink?'
+
+"'Avast there, messmate!' said Fitzjunk, who always spoke as if he were
+in command of a Battersea steamer. 'Avast there! None of your
+fresh-water and loblolly-boy terms, if you please. Shiver my binnacle,
+if things haven't come to a pretty pass, when an old British sailor
+can't throw out a signal of distress to one of the prettiest craft that
+ever showed her sky-scrapers where Neptune's billows roll!'
+
+"'Oh, Mr Fitzjunk! but you _did_ wink at me!' said Mrs Grindlejerkin,
+considerably mollified by the compliment.
+
+"'I knows I did,' replied the representative of the British navy. 'The
+more by token, as how I ha'n't got nothing here to stow away into my
+locker; so I shut up one deadlight twice, and burned a blue fire for a
+cargo of pettitoes to heave to.'
+
+"'Was that all, sir?' said Mr Grindlejerkin, still rather sternly.
+
+"'Ay, ay, sir!' replied the tar.
+
+"'Then I shall be happy to drown all unkindness in a pot of porter,
+sir.'
+
+"'Good!' said Mr Bingo, 'Right. Harmony preserved. Glad to join you. Cup
+of existence. Gall at bottom.'
+
+"'I beg your pardink, sir,' said the Signora looking full at Silas, who
+was seated exactly opposite--'I beg your pardink, sir, but vos you
+pleased to vish anythink?'
+
+"'No, lady!' replied Silas blushing scarlet. 'No, lady, not I--That
+is--'
+
+"'O, very vell!' observed the Signora; 'it don't much sicknify; only I
+thought you might vant somethink, 'cos you vos a treadin' on my toes!'"
+
+I shall not, my dear Smith, pursue this delightful scene any further.
+It is enough to substantiate your claim--and I am sure the public will
+coincide with me in this opinion--to a very high place amongst the
+domestic and sentimental writers of the age. You have, and I think most
+wisely, undertaken to frame a new code of grammar and of construction
+for yourself; and the light and airy effect of this happy innovation is
+conspicuous not only in every page, but in almost every sentence of your
+work. There is no slipslop here--only a fine, manly disregard of syntax,
+which is infinitely attractive; and I cannot doubt that you are destined
+to become the founder of a far higher and more enduring school of
+composition, than that which was approved of and employed by the fathers
+of our English literature.
+
+You work will be translated, Smith, into French and German, and other
+European languages. I am sincerely glad of it. It is supposed abroad
+that a popular author must depict both broadly and minutely the manners
+of his particular nation--that his sketches of character have reference
+not only to individuals, but to the idiosyncrasy of the country in which
+he dwells. Your works, therefore, will be received in the saloons of
+Paris and Vienna--it may be of St Petersburg--as conveying accurate
+pictures of our everyday English life; and I need hardly remark how much
+that impression must tend to elevate our national character in the eyes
+of an intelligent foreigner. Labouring under old and absurd prejudices,
+he perhaps at present believes that we are a sober, unmercurial people,
+given to domestic habits, to the accumulation of wealth, and to our own
+internal improvements. It is reserved for you, Smith, to couch his
+visionary eye. You will convince him that a great part of our existence
+is spent about the doors of theatres, in tap-rooms, pot-houses, and
+other haunts, which I need not stay to particularize. You will prove to
+him that the British constitution rests upon no sure foundation, and
+that it is based upon injustice and tyranny. Above all, he will learn
+from you the true tone which pervades society, and the altered style of
+conversation and morals which is universally current among us. In minor
+things, he will discover, what few authors have taken pains to show, the
+excessive fondness of our nation for a pure Saxon nomenclature. He will
+learn that such names as Seymour, and Howard, and Percy--nay, even our
+old familiars, Jones and Robinson--are altogether proscribed among us,
+and that a new race has sprung up in their stead, rejoicing in the
+euphonious appellations of Tox and Wox, Whibble, Toozle, Whopper,
+Sniggleshaw, Guzzlerit, Gingerthorpe, Mugswitch, Smungle, Yelkins,
+Fizgig, Parksnap, Grubsby, Shoutowker, Hogswash, and Quiltirogus. He
+will also learn that our magistrates, unlike the starched official
+dignitaries of France, are not ashamed to partake, in the public
+streets, of tripe with a common workman--and a hundred other little
+particulars, which throw a vast light into the chinks and crevices of
+our social system.
+
+I therefore, Smith, have the highest satisfaction in greeting you, not
+only as an accomplished author, but as a great national benefactor. Go
+on, my dear fellow, steadfastly and cheerfully, as you have begun. The
+glories of our country were all very well in their way, but the subject
+is a hackneyed one, and it is scarcely worth while to revive it. Be it
+yours to chronicle the weaknesses and peculiarities of that society
+which you frequent--no man can do it better. Draw on for ever with the
+same felicitous pencil. Do not fear to repeat yourself over and over
+again; to indulge in the same style of one-sided caricature; and to harp
+upon the same string of pathos so long as it will vibrate pleasantly to
+the public ear. What we want, after all, is sale, and I am sure that you
+will not be disappointed. Use these hints as freely as you please, in
+the composition of that part of Silas Spavinhitch which is not yet
+completed; and be assured that I have offered them not in an arrogant
+spirit, but, as some of our friends would say, with an earnest tendency
+and a serious oneness of purpose. Good-by, my dear Smith! It is a
+positive pain to me to break off this letter, but I must conclude.
+Adieu! and pray, for all our sakes and your own, take care of yourself.
+
+
+
+
+A NEW SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY.
+
+
+ON A STONE.
+
+I have been toiling up this long steep road, under that broiling sun,
+for more than an hour; my cabriolet is I know not where. The last time I
+saw it was at the turn of the road, full half-a-mile behind me, and the
+lean postilion trying to put something comfortable into that lanky
+carcase of his at the auberge. "Ici on loge a pied et a cheval;" so said
+the sign: why did not I, who was literally _a pied_, stop and enjoy
+myself a little? whereas I stalked proudly by: and now that rogue of the
+big boots and the powdered queue, and the short jacket and the noisy
+whip, is getting still more and more slowness out of his sorry horses,
+and is the man _a cheval_, treated by the busy little woman of the house
+as her worthiest customer. The Marquis will be at least two hours in
+advance of me: I shall not see Madame till night: positively I will run
+down the hill again and pull that rascal off his horse. Am I not paying
+for the accommodation of posting? have I not a right to get on? do I not
+fee him like a prince? I'll try a shout at him.
+
+"Hilloa! hilloa! come along there!"--I might as well shout in the middle
+of the Atlantic; and as for running back again, why, I shall have to
+come over the same ground once more: the tariff shall be his fate: not a
+liard more: and I'll write him down in the post-book; I will crush the
+reptile: I'll annihilate him!
+
+Here, sit thee down, man: art thou not come hither to enjoy thyself? why
+this impatience? why this anxiety to go over ground in a hurry which, a
+few hours ago, thou wouldst have given many a crown to visit at thy
+leisure? Sit thee down and look around thee: hurry no man's cattle, and
+fret not thyself out of thy propriety.
+
+And, truly, 'tis a wondrous spot! what a wide extent of grassy slopes
+and barren rocky wastes! how white and hard and rough the road; how
+smooth the hill-side; how blue the distant landscape; how more than blue
+the cloudless sky! Look onwards towards the distant east; why, you can
+see almost across France to the Jura: what endless ridges of mountains,
+one above the other, like the billows of the green sea: what boundless
+plains between! But turn, for a moment, to the hills on either side of
+you; look at those wild copses of fir and stunted oak making good their
+'vantage ground wherever the scanty vegetation will allow them; and
+above, look at the little round clumps of box-trees, dotting the
+mountain-breast with their shadows, and relieving the dull uniformity of
+its surface. So dark are they that you might take them for black cattle
+at a distance; but that, ever and anon, the sun brings out from them a
+bright green tint, and dispels the illusion.
+
+Here, then, on this stone, am I resting, hundreds of miles away from my
+dull fatherland; where I have left behind me nought but pride and ennui,
+and heart-corroding cares, and soul-harrowing occupations. I have
+quitted that dense, black, throng of men, whose minds, pent up in the
+narrow circle of their insular limits, are intent on one thing only--and
+that thing, money! Thou land of the rich and the poor; of the lord and
+the slave; of the noble and the upstart; chosen home of labour and
+never-ending care; I have bid thee adieu: my face is to the world; my
+lot is on the waters of boundless life; and I am free to choose my
+dwelling wherever the clime suits my fancy, and my wishes tally with the
+clime. In this dry and barren valley, amidst those lofty hills, where
+once fire and sulphur and burning rocks poured forth as the only
+elements, and where the melted lava flowed along the face of the earth
+like an unloosed torrent; in this lonely spot, where few living beings
+are seen, and yet where the vast reproductive energies of the world
+have been so widely developed--even here, let me commune a while with
+nature and with myself.
+
+Thou mysterious power of expansion, whatever thou art, whether some
+igneous form existing within the womb of Earth, and demonstrating
+thyself ere our tiny planet revolved in its present orb--or whether some
+product of the combination of chemical fluids originating flames, and
+melting this prison-house with fervent heat--say when didst thou
+convulse this fair land, and raise up from the circumjacent plains these
+mountain-masses that now tower over my head? For I see around me the
+traces not of one, but of four separate convulsions; and I can pursue in
+fancy the long lapse of ages which have served to modify the crude forms
+of thy products, and to change the various classes of animated life
+which have lived and died at the feet of these vast steeps. First come
+thy granitic ebullitions, slow, lumpy, and amorphous--partly
+incandescent, yet glowing with heat that cooled not for ages;--and then,
+when these rude ribs of the earth had been worn and channeled by
+atmospheric action, through time too vast to be reckoned, they split
+again with a mighty rending up of their innermost frame, and thy power,
+fell spirit of destruction! thrust forth the great chain of the Monts
+Dor, and the Cantal. There thou raisedst them stratum above stratum of
+volcanic rock; and scoriae and boiling mud, and lava, and porphyry, and
+basalt, and light pumice, tier above tier, till the seven-thousandth
+foot above Old Ocean's level had been reached; and then thou restedst
+from thy labours awhile, rejoicing in thy force, and proud of the chaos
+thou hadst occasioned. But not to slumber long; for, glad to have made a
+new mineral combination, thou didst thrust forth at the northern point
+of thy work the great trachytic mass of the Puy de Dome: there it stands
+with its solid hump of felspathic crystals, a vast watch-tower of
+creation--white and purple within, glassy-green without. And then burst
+out the full hubbub of this mischief--twenty vast craters vomiting forth
+molten rocks and cinders and the deep lava-stream, and throwing their
+products leagues upon leagues, afar into the fair country:--twenty Etnas
+thundering away at the same time, and answered by twenty more in the
+Vivaraix, and the infernal chorus kept up by as many in the Cantal:--all
+the batteries of the Plutonic artillery launching forth destruction at
+once from the summits of their primaeval bastions. Well was it for man
+that he existed not when this Titanic warfare was going on, and when
+these hills, like those of ancient Thessaly, were heaped, each upon
+each, up to heaven's portal! If Europe then existed, it must have been
+shaken to its furthest bounds:--Hecla must have answered to the distant
+roar; and even the old Ural must have heaved its unwieldy sides.
+
+And now, what see we? A sea of volcanic waves; dark
+lava-currents--rough, black, and fresh as though vomited but
+yesterday:--vast chasms, red and burnt, and cinders, as though the fire
+which raised them were not yet extinguished. Why, from the Puy de Parion
+I could swear that smoke must rise at times, and that sulphurous vapours
+must still keep it in perpetual desolation. Yes, though winter's rains
+and snows visit this volcanic chain full sharply, and though the
+gigantic sawing force of frost disintegrates the softer portions of
+this, the Fire-king's Home, yet there they stand--and so they shall
+stand, till nature be again convulsed, the imperishable monuments, the
+stupendous demonstrations, of the Creator's illimitable energy. Yes, let
+the Almighty but touch these hills again, and they shall smoke!
+
+Thou dull, senseless stone, with thy numberless crystals variegating and
+glittering on the hard resting-place that I have chosen, whence came
+those minerals that combined to form thee? Did they exist, pell-mell,
+beneath, in the vast Tartaric depths, ready to assimilate themselves on
+the first signal of eruption? or did they arise suddenly,
+instantaneously, on the first darting of the electric current that
+summoned their different atoms into new forms of existence? Whence came
+this green olivine?--whence this plate of specular iron?--whence this
+quartz and felspar; and all these other minerals I see around me? Thou
+rude product of the great infernal Foundery, thy very existence is a
+problem--much more the formation of thy component parts.
+
+Stone! thou art not more varied in thy aspect--not less intelligible in
+thy constitution--not harder, not more unfeeling, than the heart of man!
+I would sooner have thee for my companion and my bosom friend, than any
+of that melancholy, solemn-faced crowd of hypocrites I have left behind
+me. Refuse me not thy rough welcome: thou art, for the time being, my
+couch: thou art even warmed by my contact: hast thou, then, some
+sympathy with the wanderer? Thou dull, crystallised block, I will think
+of thee, and will remember thy solid virtues, when the uncongenial
+offices of man shall plague me no more!
+
+
+THE PHILOSOPHER.
+
+"Monsieur!" said the postilion: "Monsieur!" he repeated; and he looked
+round wistfully to see if any one was at hand. Now, I hate to be
+interrupted in a reverie; and, indeed, I was so absorbed in the
+wheelings of a kite over my head, that I was thinking of any thing but
+of my lazy guide and my rolling wheels. A loud
+clack--clack--slap--tap--crack--crack of the whip, flourished over his
+head with all the gusto and the _savoir-craquer_ of a true postilion,
+brought me to myself. "Monsieur, I have been waiting your orders here
+for half an hour."
+
+The coolness with which the fellow lied, disarmed me of my wrath in a
+minute: I had else docked him of his pigtail, or broken the wooden sides
+of his boots for him. But he had such an imperturbable air of
+self-satisfaction, and he thrust his thumb so knowingly into his little
+black pipe, and this again he plunged with such nonchalance into his
+pocket, that I saw he was a philosopher of the true school--and I
+profited by his example.
+
+"Fellow," said I, "dost know that I have promised myself the pleasure of
+passing half an hour with M. de Montlosier on my road to the baths: and
+that at the rate thou takest me at, I shall not see Mont Dor till
+to-morrow?"
+
+"Don't be afraid, Monsieur: I know the Count's house well: we are not
+more than an hour's drive from it: I go there with some one or other
+every week; and as for Mont-Dor-les-bains, why--that depends on
+Monsieur: if you get there by dark it will do, I suppose--the provisions
+will not all be eaten, nor the beds filled!"
+
+Lucky fellow to live in a world where no greater stimulus to labour
+exists than here! why should we toil and wear ourselves to death as we
+do in England for the mere means of living--and forget the lapse of life
+itself? So, pocketing my dignity, and also pocketing sundry specimens of
+my mute companions the stones, I mounted into the cabriolet--and lost
+myself once more in my thoughts till I arrived at the Ferme de Randan.
+
+Just where the Puy de Vache circles round with two other red hollow
+craters, and at the end of a black sea of lava, stood the philosopher's
+house: a plain low building: half farm half cottage: with a few trees
+and enclosures shutting it in, and two or three acres of garden-ground
+bringing up the rear. There was an air of simplicity about the whole
+exceedingly striking, and the more so if one thought of the
+simple-minded man who dwelt within. My name was announced: my letters of
+introduction presented: and the Comte de Montlosier welcomed me to his
+mountain home.
+
+"You see me here, sir," he said, "quite a farmer; I am tired of the busy
+world: who would not be, after having lived in it so long, and after
+having seen such events? I can here give myself up to my books: I can
+speculate on the wonders of this remarkable district, I can attend to my
+little property--for I have not much remaining--and I can receive my
+friends. You would not believe it, but Dr D---- of Oxford was with me
+last week: he came to look at our volcanoes, and he stayed with me
+several days: a charming little man, sir, and very active in climbing
+over hills. You will excuse me, perhaps, if I do not offer to accompany
+you to the summit of the Puy de Vache: but my servants are at your
+orders: had I as few years over my head as when I first visited
+Arthur's Seat, I would be at your side in all your mountain rambles; but
+age and ease are fond of keeping company."
+
+"Ah, Monsieur le Comte, I came to make your acquaintance; your hills I
+will see at another time."
+
+"Young man, you are wrong: these volcanic mountains are worthy of your
+deepest study; for myself, I am nothing but a broken-down old man. I
+have nothing here attractive to my friends. The spot is full of charms
+for myself, but not for others. I have so many old associations
+connected with it: 'tis my paternal estate: I had to fly from it during
+those terrible days, and I never thought to see it again: but now that I
+find myself once more restored to it, my unwillingness to quit the place
+increases every day. After all, you can learn more about Auvergne from
+your learned countryman, Poulett Scrope, than from me; my little work,
+by the way, is at your service if you will accept it: I am as a lamp
+going out, you find me flickering, and when next you pass this way, the
+light may be extinguished."
+
+"True, sir; and it is from these expiring flames that the brightest
+sparks may be sometimes derived: at any rate I would know from you
+wherewith to trim my own lamp for future days."
+
+"Alas," replied the Count, "the present generation are not willing to
+give credit to the last for all they have witnessed, for all they have
+undergone. Had you, like me, seen all the phases of the Revolution, from
+the time when I was sent as a deputy to the States-General from
+Auvergne, to the Reign of Terror, and then the time of exile, and if you
+could have felt the joys of returning to your longlost home again, you
+might indeed look back on your life with emotion--let me say with
+gratitude."
+
+"Did you know many members of the literary and scientific world previous
+to the Revolution?"
+
+"Oh yes, I was acquainted with Condorcet, Lavoisier, and many others of
+that stamp. Who shall say that, in the deaths of those great men, France
+did not lose more than she gained by all her boasted freedom? Ah yes,
+the men of those days were giants in intellect! there was a force of
+originality in them, a vividness of thought and expression, which we
+shall never witness again: and, allow me to say, there was a dignity
+surrounding them, and accompanying them, which, with all our pretended
+liberality and respect for science, we are far from attributing to their
+followers now. Those of us, the actors in some of those tremendous
+scenes who still survive, are but as the blasted oaks of the forest
+after the hurricane has swept by. Some few remain erect; but withered,
+scorched, and leafless: all the rest are prostrate, snapped off at the
+root--many in the full vigour of vegetation: all now rotting on the
+ground. It was a national tempest--a tornado--an earthquake; it was like
+an eruption from the very volcano in whose bosom we are now sitting and
+talking. The world never has seen, and perhaps never shall see, any
+thing half so terrible as our Revolution. My young friend, excuse me;
+perhaps you are a politician--and you are newly arrived in France:
+things are tending to something ominous even at the present day. M. de
+Polignac has just been summoned to office: the king is an easy good
+man--a perfect gentleman--and an honest one, too; but there are people
+near the throne who would be glad to see it tottering, and who are ready
+to take advantage of the least false step. Mark my words, sir, another
+year will produce something decisive in the history of France."
+
+"But surely, M. le Comte, every thing is too much consolidated since the
+Restoration of Louis XVIII. to allow of any fresh changes--the French
+nation have all the liberty they can desire."
+
+"Much more, my dear sir, than they either understand or can enjoy
+properly. I am ashamed to say it, but my fellow countrymen are children
+in constitutional matters: every thing depends on the personal character
+of our governors for the time being. And again, we are too ambitious;
+every body wants to rise--by fair means or by foul; but rise he must:
+and every body expects to be a gainer by change. We are, and I am afraid
+we always shall be, fond of playing at revolutions."
+
+"Permit me to think better of the French, sir. I am delighted with their
+country, and I wish them all the happiness that the possession of so
+fine a territory can cause."
+
+"You are right: it is a fine territory: it might be the first
+agricultural country in Europe: there is hardly a square league of
+ground in it that is not suitable to some useful vegetable production.
+We have none of the cold clays nor barren heathtracts of Great Britain;
+our mountains all admit of pasturage to their tops, or are productive of
+wood; and our climate is so genial that even the bare limestone rocks of
+Provence yield, as you are aware, the finest grapes. Here, in the midst
+of the Monts Dor, you will come upon those vast primaeval forests of the
+silver-fir which have never been disturbed from the time of their
+erection, and you will judge for yourself how rich even this district
+really is. Look at our rivers: at our boundless plains, covered with
+corn and wine, and oil: and yet allowed to stand fallow one year in
+three. My good friends in Scotland--for, believe me, I shall ever
+remember with gratitude my stay in Edinburgh--do not farm their lands in
+our slovenly fashion. France, depend upon it, might be made, and I
+believe it will ultimately become, one of the richest and most
+prosperous countries of Europe. The wealth of England is fleeting: when
+you come to lose India and others of your colonies--and 'twill be your
+fate sooner or later, your power will, with your trade, fall to the
+ground: and, like your predecessors in a similar career, the Portuguese
+and the Dutch, you must infallibly become a second or third-rate power.
+France is solid and compact: her wealth lies in her land: you cannot
+break up that: she exists now, and is great without any colony worthy of
+mention: and she cannot but increase. Even Spain, from her mere
+geographical size and position, has a better chance of political
+longevity than England."
+
+"And yet Spain is rather decrepid at present, you will admit, M. le
+Comte."
+
+"True; but a century, you know, is nothing in the life of a
+nation:--England, to speak the truth, was only a second-rate power until
+the reign of George the Second. She has still her social revolution to
+go through: and whatever has been effected for the benefit of this
+country would have come without the Revolution: and it was paying rather
+dear to destroy the whole framework of society for what we should
+certainly have attained by easy and more natural means. It is a fearful
+catastrophe to break up all the old ideas and feelings of a people,
+merely to substitute in their place something new--you know not what:
+better or worse--and most probably the latter. Add to this, that the
+results of the Revolution have fully borne out what I maintain: we are
+neither better nor happier than we should have been had we gone on as
+usual: other countries which have not been revolutionised are just as
+happy and prosperous as we are."
+
+"But then the more equal distribution of property, M. le Comte; has not
+this effected some good?"
+
+"_Some_ it may have caused undoubtedly; but much less than is imagined:
+the effect of it has been only to raise up an aristocracy of money,
+instead of one of birth: and, aristocracy for aristocracy, the former is
+infinitely more overbearing and tyrannical than the latter. Before the
+Revolution, the country was said to be in the hands of the nobles and
+the clergy: what has happened since? It has merely been transferred to
+those of the lawyers and the employes. Every third man you meet, holds
+some place or other under government: and you can hardly transact the
+commonest affairs of life without the aid of the notary or the advocate.
+We cannot boast much of our comparative improvement in morality: for in
+Paris, the prefect of police can inform you, from the registers of
+births, that one in three children now born there is always
+illegitimate."
+
+"Of what good, then, has the Revolution been?"
+
+"My young friend, ask not that question; it was one of those inscrutable
+arrangements of Providence, the aim and extent of which we do not yet
+know. You might as well ask what these puys and volcanoes have done to
+benefit the country, which, no doubt, they once devastated; they may
+even yet break out into activity again, and France may even yet have to
+pass through another social trial. Things have not yet found their level
+amongst us.--But we are getting into a long political and philosophical
+discussion that makes me forget my duties to my guest. I am at least of
+opinion that the volcanoes have done me personally some good; for they
+have formed this wonderful country, and they attract hither many of my
+friends, whom I might otherwise never have seen again. You will
+appreciate them when you arrive at the Baths; and, apropos of this, I am
+coming over there myself in a few days to consult my friend Dr Bertrand.
+This will give me the opportunity of introducing you to several of the
+visitors worth knowing. You will find a gay and gallant crowd there; and
+let me advise you, take care of your heart and your pockets."
+
+"Monsieur, dinner is served," said a domestic, opening the door; so I
+followed the worthy Count into the salle-a-manger.
+
+
+A SHANDRYDAN.
+
+The top of the great plateau of Auvergne looked beautiful the evening I
+reached it--a fine July evening, when the sun had yet three hours to go
+down, and I was about a dozen miles from the village of the Baths. I had
+been vainly flattering myself that something or other might have
+detained M. de Mirepoix's carriage, and that I should have the pleasure
+of viewing this splendid scene in company with Madame. She had so strong
+a taste for the picturesque, that I knew her sympathies would be
+expressed, and I anticipated no small pleasure from eliciting her
+sentiments. To see what is magnificent in the society of one whose
+feelings of the sublime and beautiful emulate your own in intensity,
+multiplies the charm, and elevates the pleasure, by the mutual
+communication of the effects perceived and produced. So I looked out for
+their carriage anxiously.
+
+Nothing met my eye but the long undulating plain stretching like a
+rounded wave or swell of the ocean to the feet of the mountains, and the
+distant blue horizon--to the west nearly as far off as the Garonne--to
+the east as far as the Saone. The plateau was covered with fine grass,
+pastured by large herds of small dark-coloured cattle, goats, and a few
+sheep; wild-flowers grew here and there of fragrant smell, and the tops
+of the vast pine forests peeped up from the ends of the deep ravines
+that run far into the bosom of the still hills. The sky was without a
+cloud, and the sun seemed to gain double glory as he fell towards his
+western bed.
+
+My spirits rose with the scene; I was excited and yet happy; the full
+genial warmth of nature was before me, and around me, and in me. I could
+have danced and sung for joy. I could have stopped there for ever, and I
+wanted somebody to say all this to, and who should re-echo the same to
+me.
+
+There stood the postilion--dull, senseless, brutal animal--he had got
+off his horses, for I was once more out of the cabriolet, and was
+bounding over the turf to look over the edge of a precipice on my right
+hand: there he stood, he had lighted another pipe, and was thinking only
+of a good chopine of wine out of his pour-boire, when he should arrive
+at the village.
+
+"A fine view, mon ami!" said I, at last, in pure despair.
+
+He gave a shrug with his shoulders.
+
+"Very high mountains those," I went on.
+
+He turned round and looked at them; and then tapped his pipe against his
+whip.
+
+"What splendid forests!" I added.
+
+"Monsieur! voyez-vous! it is the most villainous road I know; and if we
+do not push on, we shall not get to Mont Dor before dark. I would not go
+over the bridge at the bottom there in the dark, no Monsieur, not if I
+had the honour to be carrying M. Le Prefet himself. They were never
+found, Monsieur!"
+
+"Who were never found?"
+
+"Why, sir, when Petit-jean was driving M. le Commandant, the last year
+but one--he was going to the Baths for the gout, sir--he did not get
+down to the bridge till near ten at night; there was no parapet then,
+the horses did not know the road, and over they went, roll, roll, all
+the way into the Dor at the bottom; thirty feet, sir, and more, and then
+the cascade to add to that."
+
+"Dreadful! and did no trace remain of the unfortunate traveller and your
+poor friend?"
+
+"Oh, certainly yes! they got well wetted; but they rode the horses into
+the village the same evening."
+
+"Who were lost, then?"
+
+"Petit-jean's new boots, and 'twas the first time he had put them on."
+
+I jumped into the cabriolet; "drive on," said I pettishly, "and go to
+the ----"
+
+"Hi! hardi! Sacre coquin!" and crash went the whip over the off horse's
+flank, enough to cut a steak of his lean sides had there been any flesh
+to spare. In a quarter of an hour we found ourselves going down a steep
+rough road, such as might break the springs of the best carriage,
+chariot, britscha, &c., that ever came out of Long-Acre; and the thumps
+that I got against the sides of my own vehicle, light as it was, made me
+call out for a little less speed, and somewhat more care.
+
+"Don't be afraid, Monsieur! Hi! hardi! heugh!"
+
+I thought it was all over with me; so, holding in my breath, and firmly
+clenching the top of my apron, I looked straight a-head, and made up my
+mind for a pitch over the wall at the bottom, and down through the wood,
+like the commandant and Petit-jean.
+
+Just as we got to the bottom of the hill, we turned a sharp corner, that
+I had not before perceived, and charged, full gallop, right into an old
+shandrydan, that had pulled up, and, with a single horse, was beginning
+to climb the ascent. Our impetus seemed to carry us over the poor animal
+that was straining against its load, for he fell under our two beasts,
+and the shafts of the cabriolet catching the shandrydan under the
+driver's seat, turned it completely topsy-turvy into the midst of the
+road.
+
+Such a shriek, or rather such a chorus of confused cries, came forth
+from the dark sides of that small and closely-shut vehicle!
+
+"Au secours!" "Jesus-Maria!" "Vite, vite!" "Relevez-nous!" "Pour l'amour
+de Dieu!"
+
+They were women's voices:--
+
+"Ah ca, j'etouffe!" said a deep, gruff voice, in the midst of the
+hubbub.
+
+As neither the postilion nor myself were hurt, we were quickly on our
+legs: he trying to get the horses disentangled--for they were kicking
+each other to pieces--and I to aid a thin, meek-looking peasant lad, who
+had been driving the shandrydan, to right the crazy vehicle.
+
+'Twas a square, black-looking thing, covered at top, with no opening
+whatever but a small window in the door behind. It might have been built
+some time in the reign of Louis le Bien-aime, and its cracked leather
+sides and harness seemed as if they had been strangers to oil ever
+since. If people were not very corpulent, four might have squeezed into
+it--not that they would have been comfortable, but they could have got
+in, and would have sat on the opposite seats, without much room to
+spare.
+
+Some honest old Frenchman, thought I to myself, with his wife and
+daughter, and perhaps their maid. Poor man! he is coming from the Baths,
+cured of some painful malady, and now has had the misfortune to run the
+risk of his life--if, indeed, his bones be not broken--and all through
+that etourdi of a postilion. "If I do not report him to the maitre de
+poste!" said I to myself.
+
+"For the love of God, messieurs," said a faint voice, "get us out!"
+
+"The door! the door! open the door then!" said at least three other
+voices, one after the other and all together.
+
+"Je meurs!" wept the bass-voice from the inmost recesses of the
+vehicle--or it might have been from under ground, so deep and sepulchral
+was its tone.
+
+"Don't disturb yourself, monsieur," grumbled the postilion, who had now
+got one of his horses on its legs; "'tis nothing! Come along, you
+varmint!" said he to the poor young peasant, who stood wringing his
+hands and looking distractedly at his whip--'twas broken clean in
+half--"Arrive, te dis-je!--pousse bien la!--la bien! encore! hardi!
+houp!"
+
+The door of the shandrydan burst open, and there emerged, in sadly
+rumpled state, a pitiable confusion of rustled petticoats and tumbled
+headgear, red as the roses on a summer's morn, and dewy as the grass on
+an autumn eve--_six soeurs-de-charite_, all white and black like
+sea-fowl thrown from the shooter's bag--and after them, slowly toiling
+forth and writhing through the door in unwieldy porpoise-guise--M. le
+Cure!
+
+
+
+
+HONOUR TO THE PLOUGH.
+
+    Though clouds o'ercast our native sky,
+      And seem to dim the sun,
+    We will not down in languor lie,
+      Or deem the day is done:
+    The rural arts we loved before
+      No less we'll cherish now;
+    And crown the banquet, as of yore,
+     With Honour to the Plough.
+
+    In these fair fields, whose peaceful spoil
+      To faith and hope are given,
+    We'll seek the prize with honest toil,
+      And leave the rest to Heaven.
+    We'll gird us to our work like men
+      Who own a holy vow,
+    And if in joy we meet again,
+      Give Honour to the Plough.
+
+    Let Art, array'd in magic power,
+      With Labour hand in hand,
+    Go forth, and now in peril's hour
+      Sustain a sinking land.
+    Let never Sloth unnerve the arm,
+      Or Fear the spirit cow;
+    These words alone should work a charm--
+      All Honour to the Plough.
+
+    The heath redress, the meadow drain,
+      The latent swamp explore,
+    And o'er the long-expecting plain
+      Diffuse the quickening store:
+    Then fearless urge the furrow deep
+      Up to the mountain's brow,
+    And when the rich results you reap,
+      Give Honour to the plough.
+
+    So still shall Health by pastures green
+      And nodding harvests roam,
+    And still behind her rustic screen
+      Shall Virtue find a home:
+    And while their bower the muses build
+      Beneath the neighbouring bough,
+    Shall many a grateful verse be fill'd
+      With Honour to the Plough.
+
+
+
+
+LUIGIA DE' MEDICI.
+
+The study of literary history offers an extraordinary charm, when it
+tends to raise the veil, frequently thrown by inattention and
+forgetfulness, over noble and graceful forms, which deserved to excite
+the interest, or even to receive the active thanks of posterity. At such
+moments, we find the mysterious sources of inspiration admired, through
+a long period, for their fulness and sincerity: we go back to the
+forgotten or falsely interpreted causes of celebrated actions, of
+classic writings, of resolutions, whose renown rang through many ages;
+the vagueness of poetic pictures gives place to positive forms; and that
+which appeared but a brilliant phantom is sometimes transformed into a
+living reality.
+
+Among the glorious titles which have borne the name of Michel Angelo
+Buonarotti to so high a pitch of celebrity, the least popular is that
+derived from the composition of his poetical works. The best judges,
+however, regard these productions not only with profound esteem, but yet
+more often with an ardent admiration. Michel Angelo lived during the
+_golden age_ of the Lingua Toscana. Among the poets who filled the
+interval between the publication of the _Orlando_ and that of the
+_Aminta_--first, in order of date, of the _chefs-d'o[eu]vres_ of
+Torquato--not one has raised himself above, nor, perhaps, to the level,
+of Buonarotti. In the study of his writings, we recognise all the
+essential characteristics of his genius, as revealed to the world in his
+marbles, frescos, and the edifices erected by his hand. It is a copious
+poetry--masculine and vigorous--fed with high thoughts--serious and
+severe in the expression. Berni wrote truly of it to Fra Sebastiano--"Ei
+dice cose: voi dite parole!" The poet exists always in entire possession
+of himself: enthusiasm elevates, carries him away, but seduces him
+never. We admire in his mind a constitution firm, healthful, and
+fertile--a constant equilibrium of passion, will, and conception--often
+of fervency--nowhere of delirium. The qualities necessary to the artist
+do no harm to those which make the thinker and good citizen--every
+where, as in the literary laws of ancient Greece, consonance,
+_sophrosyne_, moderation. Michel Angelo, amid the passions and illusions
+of his time, knew how to hold the helm of "that precious bark, which
+singing sailed."[50] Sincere and humble Christian, with a leaning to the
+austere, he succeeded in keeping himself free from all superstition;
+declared republican, he avoided all popular fanaticism, and bore, even
+during the siege of Florence, the _honourable_ hostility of the
+Arrabiati; admirer of Savonarola, he combated the sickly exaggerations
+of the _esprit piagnone_, and remained faithful to the worship of art;
+and last, guest of Leo X., favourite sculptor of Julius II., he never
+suffered himself to be seduced by the Pagan intoxication of the
+Renaissance; from his early youth, the frame, in which he was destined
+to form so many sublime conceptions, was irrevocably determined.
+
+But, in the poetical works of Michel Angelo, as in his works of
+sculpture and design, there is a side of grace and delicacy; the fire of
+a masculine and profound tenderness circulates, so to speak, in all the
+members of this marvellous body. Angelo's regularity of morals was never
+altered by doubts; it acquired, even at an early period, the externals
+of a rigid austerity. But had he, in his youthful years, experienced the
+power of a real love? We have nothing to reply to those who, after an
+attentive perusal of his writings, see in them nothing more than a
+_jeu-d'esprit_ produced by a vain fantasy. But to those who think, with
+us, that truth and force of expression suppose reality and depth of
+sentiment--to those who discover the burning traces of a passion which
+has conquered the heart, and imprinted a new direction on the thoughts
+of the writer, in the precious metal of this classical versification,
+we propose to follow us for a few moments. We shall seek whatever
+historical vestiges have been left of the object of this affection, as
+durable as sincere: we shall afterwards examine the manner in which
+Michel Angelo has expressed it in his rhyme; what order of philosophical
+and religious ideas developed themselves in his mind, in intimate
+connexion with the ardour that penetrated his heart; whatever
+influences, in short, which a love, whose object quitted this life so
+early, appears to have exercised upon the whole duration of a career
+prolonged, with so great _eclat_, for more than sixty years
+afterwards.[51]
+
+The smallest acquaintance with the character of Michel Angelo would lead
+to the belief that, according to the expression of his epoch, he could
+"have fixed his heart nowhere but in a lofty sphere. The conjectures
+which have been formed bore reference to the house of the first citizen
+of Florence and of Italy, at the period of Angelo's entrance on his
+career, to the family of the grandson of Cosmo Pater Patriae," of the man
+to whom the disinterested voice of foreigners and of posterity has
+confirmed all that his contemporaries attributed to him, in the great
+work of the Italian Renaissance--scientific, literary, artistic
+even--namely, the chief and most brilliant honour.
+
+Lorenzo the Magnificent, born in 1450, married Clarice Orsini in 1468.
+There were born from this alliance, besides the children who died in the
+cradle, three sons and four daughters. In 1492, Pietro succeeded to the
+offices and dignity of his father, and lost them in 1494; Giovanni
+mounted the Pontifical throne, and became the illustrious Leo X.;
+Giuliano died Duke of Nemours and "_prince du gouvernement_" of
+Florence. Of the four daughters, Maddalena became the wife of Francesco
+Cybo, Count dell Anguillara, Lucrezia married Giacopo Salviati; and
+Contessina, Piero Ridolfi. Luigia was the youngest, according to certain
+authorities; Count Pompeo Litta, however, in his _Illustri Famiglie
+Italiane_, places her in order of birth immediately after Maddalena.
+Whichever it may be, Clarice Orsini dying in 1488, Lorenzo contracted no
+other alliance, and, at the end of four years, followed his wife to the
+tomb. We have no means of determining the age Luigia had reached at the
+time of this melancholy event; but, as her marriage was then talked of,
+we cannot give her less than from fifteen to sixteen years. Michel
+Angelo, born the 6th March 1475,[52] wanted a month of his seventeenth
+year when he lost the generous protector of his early youth.
+
+It was in 1490 that Angelo first went to live in the house of the
+Magnificent Lorenzo. Apprenticed, the 1st April 1488, to the "master of
+painting," Domenico di Tommasso del Ghirlandajo, he astonished the grave
+and learned artist by his rapid progress and fire of imagination.
+Ghirlandajo, finding his disposition more decided for sculpture than for
+the pencil, hastened to recommend him to Lorenzo, who, in his gardens,
+situated near the convent of Saint Mark, was exerting himself to create
+a school capable of restoring to Florence the glorious days of the
+Ghiberti and the Donatello. It was no easy task for the prince of the
+Florentine government to buy the child of genius from the timorous
+avarice of his father, Lodovico Buonarotti.[53] At length, an office in
+the financial administration of the state, conferred upon the father,
+and a provision of five ducats monthly settled on the son, but of which
+it was agreed that Lodovico should derive the profit, conquered the
+scruples of the old citizen; and Michel Angelo, adopted as it were,
+among the children of Lorenzo, was enabled, at his own pleasure, to
+divide his hours between the practice of his favourite art, and the
+lessons that Pietro, Giovanni, and Giuliano received at "the Platonic
+Academy," of which the illustrious Politiano was director.
+
+This society, of which Lorenzo was the soul as well as the founder,[54]
+reckoned among its members certain individuals, whose names are still
+held in respect by posterity; and many others who, less distinguished or
+less fortunate, exercised, nevertheless, a useful influence on the
+regeneration of good studies, and the diffusion of the knowledge that
+may be derived from the works of antiquity. Among the former, the first
+rank was unanimously given to Politiano, Pico della Mirandola,
+Leon-Battista Alberti, and Marsilio Ficino. Lorenzo required that his
+sons should be present at the learned discourses of the academy. Michel
+Angelo listened to them in company with Pietro, and Cardinal Giovanni,
+and received most flattering consideration from Politiano. The
+subtilties of Grecian metaphysics, and the technical language of logic,
+discouraged Buonarotti's clear and free understanding; but the sublimity
+of conception, and majesty of expression of the Attic Bee, met with
+marvellous affinities in the disposition of the young Florentine. These
+studies developed in Michel Angelo, the poetical genius of which he has
+left admirable proofs in his marbles, his cartoons, and his writings.
+
+It was not only the affectionate interest of Lorenzo, the intimacy with
+his sons, and the generous cares of Politiano, in the house of the
+Medici, which aided the progress, and inflamed the energy of Michel
+Angelo. At this same time, more profound lessons were repeated in an
+austere pulpit, not far from the delicious gardens of Valfondo. Girolamo
+Savonarola, the celebrated dominican of Saint Mark, was at the zenith of
+his reputation; and his influence over the people of Florence, without
+directly thwarting that of Lorenzo, began, nevertheless, to
+counterbalance it. Michel Angelo, says the most exact of his
+biographers, (Vasari, _Vite dei Pittori_,) read "with great veneration"
+the works written by the enthusiastic and eloquent monk. From him he
+learned to seek in the Holy Scriptures for the pure and direct source of
+the highest inspiration; and, during his whole life, Buonarotti had
+constantly in his hand the sacred volume, and the _Divina Comedia_ of
+Dante, which he regarded as a commentary at once philosophical,
+theological, and, above all, poetical upon the former. An ardent love of
+art confined within due bounds the effect which Savonarola's
+exhortations produced upon the true and serious soul of the young
+sculptor; he neither followed the Dominican in his fanatical hostility
+to the artistic and literary Renaissance, then displaying all the riches
+of its spring, nor in the political aberrations which Savonarola, after
+the death of Lorenzo, had the misfortune to display in the public
+squares of Florence, and even in the heart of her councils.
+
+In the midst of a life so full and already fruitful, which the approach
+of a glory almost unequalled illuminated by a few precursive rays,
+Michel Angelo appears to have opened his heart to the sentiment of a
+love as true and elevated as the other emotions which swayed his soul,
+and directed his faculties: Luigia de' Medici seems to have been its
+object. It is, as already remarked, in the poetical compositions,
+forming the first part of Angelo's collection, that we must endeavour to
+find the imperishable memorials of this tenderness, to which the
+illusions even of early youth appear to have never lent, for a single
+moment, any hope of the union with which it might have been crowned.
+Michel Angelo's timid pride combined with his respect and gratitude to
+interdict to him all designation, even indirect, of the woman to whom
+his affections were bound by a chain whose embrace death alone could
+have relaxed. We shall see in the poetry of Buonarotti none of the
+artifice made use of by Petrarch to render the name of _Laura_
+intelligible, which Camoens afterwards employed to celebrate Donna
+_Caterina_, and from which, still later, the unhappy Torquato regretted,
+with much bitterness, to have wandered, when, in the intoxication of his
+illusions, he traced the fatal name of _Eleonora_.
+
+    "Quando sara che d'_Eleonora mia_
+    Potro goder in libertade amore."
+    (_Verse stolen from Tasso and given to the Duke of Ferrara._)
+
+It is but rarely, and with a light touch, that Angelo makes allusion to
+the extreme youth of her whom he loves,--
+
+        ----"il corpo umano
+    Mal segue poi ... d'un _angelletta_ il volo."--(_Sonnetto_ 15.)
+
+Once only he speaks of light hair:--
+
+    "Sovra quel _biondo crin_" ...
+
+    (_Sonnetto ultimo._)
+
+Never does he write a word that can be referred to the difference of
+rank existing between them, to the splendour which had surrounded the
+cradle even of the daughter of the great citizen whom all Italy seems to
+have made the arbiter of her political combinations. Michel Angelo
+speaks only of the touching beauty of her who has subjugated him by
+"that serene grace, certain mark of the nobility and purity of a soul in
+perfect harmony with its Creator;" (_Sonnetto 3, et passim_ in the first
+part.) Never does he give us to understand that his love received the
+least encouragement. It has been thought, however, that Luigia had
+detected the attachment of the youth whose genius had as yet been
+attested by no great work, and that she rewarded it by the tenderest
+friendship. It is certain that, in a transport of gratitude, Angelo
+wrote the beautiful verse--
+
+    "Unico spirto, e da me solo inteso!"
+
+    (_Sonnetto_ 16.)
+
+and that, in another _morceau_, he thanks "those beautiful eyes which
+lend him their sweet light, the genius that raises his own to heaven,
+the support that steadies his tottering steps,"
+
+    "Veggio co'bei vostri occhi un dolce lume." ...
+
+    --(_Sonnetto_ 12.)
+
+But, checking himself immediately in these half-revelations, the poet,
+on the contrary, multiplies the complaints torn from him by the coldness
+and apparent indifference of her whose beauty he celebrates, whom he can
+render immortal. See more particularly Sonnet 21--
+
+    "Perche d'ogni mia speme il verde e spento."
+
+He exclaims even that he has rarely enjoyed the presence on which his
+happiness depends:--"You know neither custom nor opportunity have served
+my affection: it is very rarely that my eyes kindle themselves at the
+fire which burns in yours, guarded by a reserve to which desire scarcely
+dares to approach--
+
+          ----'gli occhi vostri
+    Circonscritti ov' appena il desir vola.'
+
+A single look has made my destiny, and I have seen you, to say truly,
+but once."--(_Madrigale_ 5.)
+
+It has been said that the "divine hand" of Michel Angelo painted the
+portrait of Luigia de' Medici. This is the name given, in reality,
+during the last century, to the head of a young female, "handsome rather
+than really beautiful," writes father Della Valle--a work in which
+Buonarotti's drawing was said to be recognised, with a softer and more
+lively colouring than obtains in the other pictures from his easel.
+Angelo's repugnance to paint portraits is one of the best established
+traits of his character. But he sculptured several--among those
+positively known are that of Julius II., lost in the chateau of Ferrara,
+and another of Gabriel Faerne, preserved in the Museum Capitolinum. We
+know, besides, that he consented to paint the portrait of the noble and
+witty Messer Tomasso de' Cavalieri, (see _Vasari_,) of the natural size;
+but that was a rare favour. "For," said he, "I abhor the obligation to
+copy that which, in nature, is not of infinite beauty." In another
+place, sonnet nineteen, addressing the object of his tenderness, Michel
+Angelo reminds her, that works of art are endowed, so to say, with
+eternal life and youth. "Perhaps," he adds, (_Sonnetto_ 19 ,) "I shall
+be able to prolong thy life and mine beyond the tomb, by employing, if
+thou wilt, colour, or marble, if thou preferest, to fix the lines of our
+features and the resemblance of our affection!"
+
+Again he writes--"While I paint her features, why cannot I convey to her
+face the pallor which disfigures mine, and which comes from her cruelty
+to me?"--(_Madrigale_ 24.) But in some others of Angelo's poems, mention
+is made of a statue, or more probably of a bust, on which the young
+artist worked with an impassioned mixture of zeal and
+faint-heartedness.
+
+"I fear," he says, "to draw from the marble, instead of her image, that
+of my features worn, and void of grace."--(_Madrigale 22._ ) And when he
+drew near the term of his labour--"Behold," he exclaims, "an animated
+stone, which, a thousand years hence, will seem to breathe! What, then,
+ought heaven to do for her, its own work, while the portrait only is
+mine; for her whom the whole world, and not myself alone, regard as a
+goddess rather than a mortal? Nevertheless the stone remains, while she
+is about to depart."--(_Madrigale 39._)
+
+It was probably on this occasion that Michel Angelo wrote those
+charming, and mysterious verses, whose sense it is otherwise difficult
+to determine:-
+
+    "Qui risi e piansi, e con doglia infinita,
+    Da questo sasso vidi far partita
+    Colei ch 'a me mi tolse, e non mi volse."
+    (_Sonnetto 29._)
+
+The bust of Luigia de' Medici, if it really came from the hands of
+Angelo, has shared the fate of many other _chefs-d'oeuvres_, of which
+his contemporaries appear to have spoken with such great enthusiasm,
+only to increase our regret; while the most diligent researches have led
+to no recovery since their disappearance, caused by the disasters that
+visited Florence, and by the culpable negligence which, throughout the
+whole of Italy, followed the period of which Buonarotti was the
+principal ornament.
+
+If it be to the affection of Luigia de' Medici that Angelo's nineteenth
+sonnet[55] really refers, we are led to the belief that this lofty soul,
+temperate in its own hopes, yet imbued with a generous ambition, had
+suffered itself, for a moment, to be carried away by the illusion of a
+permanent happiness; but a blow, as terrible as unforeseen, scattered
+these thoughts. The "Magnificent" Lorenzo, scarcely in his forty-second
+year, sunk at his seat of Careggi, under a short illness, but of which
+he foresaw the inevitable term with great resignation from the earliest
+moment. With Lorenzo de' Medici descended to the tomb all that was yet
+bright in the glory of his family--all that was real in the prosperity
+of Florence--all that was assured in the fortune, or attractive in the
+labours of the young Buonarotti, then only seventeen years of age.
+
+Of the three sons left by Lorenzo, not one was capable of replacing him.
+The Cardinal Giovanni had a cultivated mind, engaging manners, and vast
+ambition; but, overwhelmed already, in spite of his youth,[56] with the
+weight of his benefices and ecclesiastical dignities, he pursued, at the
+Papal Court, the high fortune of which he then foresaw the
+accomplishment. Giuliano, born in 1478, was as yet little more than a
+child, in whom appeared the germ of amiable and even generous qualities,
+spoiled by pride, the hereditary vice of his house. With regard to
+Pietro, the new prince of the government--for he succeeded without
+opposition to the ill-defined and conventional, rather than regularly
+constituted authority which his ancestors and his father had left in his
+possession--he evinced only incapacity, presumption, improvidence, and
+foolish vanity. Aged twenty-one, he had already espoused Alfonsina
+Orsini, and drew a false security from an alliance in which he hoped for
+the support of one of the most warlike and powerful families of southern
+Italy. Michel Angelo felt the necessity of quitting the abode of the
+Medici, where Pietro, of too vulgar a mind to appreciate the artist's
+character, displayed a soul mean enough to make him feel the bitterness
+of protection. He returned to the paternal home; and although he
+continued to show a marked attachment for the legitimate interests of
+the Medici, and was even again sometimes employed--but not in important
+matters--by the younger members of the family, the separation was final,
+and the republican convictions of the young artist developed themselves,
+after that time, at full liberty. Angelo's poetical collection proves to
+us how cruelly his removal, from the house where Lorenzo had entertained
+him with the most agreeable hospitality, affected his heart. In future
+it must become a stranger, at least in looks and conversation, to her
+whom he loved with an inquiet fervour.
+
+     "How, separated from you, shall I ever have the power to guide my
+     life, if I can not, at parting, implore your assistance?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     Lest absence condemn my loyal devotion to forgetfulness, in
+     remembrance of my long affliction, take, Signora, take in pledge a
+     heart which hereafter belongs no more to me."--(_Madrigale 11._ )
+
+And in another place:
+
+     "He who departs from you has no more hope of light: where you are
+     not, there is no more heaven."--(_Madrigale 9._ )
+
+The hour approached, however, when, according to the usage of the
+country, and the relations of her family, Luigia's lot should be
+decided. Various projects of alliance were discussed. The choice
+hesitated between two brothers, descended from Giovanni de' Medici, a
+branch from the dominant house, and of that which took the name of its
+individual ancestor, Lorenzo. The latter, brother of Cosmo, Pater
+Patriae, had, by Ginevra Cavalcanti Piero Francesco, to whom his wife,
+Landomia Acciajuoli, brought two sons, Lorenzo and Giovanni. Both had
+arrived at the age of maturity, and were reckoned among the most
+considerable citizens of Florence. The marriage, however, did not take
+place. It is said that Luigia herself prevented its conclusion, until a
+misunderstanding, caused by some opposition of interests, had definitely
+separated Pietro from the two brothers, more especially from Giovanni,
+upon whom the reigning prince appears principally to have reckoned.
+Others, however, have supposed that the obstacles to the proposed union
+arose only on the part of Giovanni and his brother, who, in fact,
+followed the principal citizens in the opposition, then planned, against
+Pietro's unskilful administration. And last, it has been asserted, that
+Luigia was betrothed to Giovanni, but died before the time fixed for the
+marriage. Among these opinions, Litta appears to incline to the second;
+Roscoe adopts the last. However it may be, it is only certain that,
+alone of all Lorenzo's daughters, Luigia left the paternal house but to
+exchange it for the repose of the tomb.
+
+According to the historians, she died a few days before the catastrophe
+which overturned Pietro's government, and condemned all the descendants
+of Cosmo l'Antico to an exile of sixteen years. It was consequently late
+in the autumn of 1494 that Luigia departed this life. Amid the
+passionate prejudices which prepared, and the convulsions which
+followed, the Florentine revolution, the extinction of the beauteous
+light excited no sensation.
+
+Michel Angelo was not at that moment in Florence. Politiano's death
+seems to have broken the last ties that attached him to the obligations
+contracted in his early youth. His penetrating intelligence warned him
+of the coming fall of the Medici. He neither wished to renounce his
+ancient attachments, nor to give them the predominance over the duties
+of a citizen, to a free state, which it was of the highest importance to
+wean from a blind and dangerous course. In this painful alternative,
+Michel Angelo determined to withdraw for a time. He went first to
+Venice, and afterwards to Bologna, where the warm reception of the
+Aldrovandi kept him during an entire year, and even longer.
+
+According to all appearance, on quitting Florence, Buonarotti was aware
+of Luigia's declining health; and his poetry shows us the courageous
+artist sinking under the burden of his melancholy presentiments:--
+
+     "Be sure, O eyes, that the time is past, that the hour approaches
+     which will close the passage to your regards, even to your tears.
+     Remain, in pity to me, remain open while this divine maiden deigns
+     yet to dwell on this earth. But when the heaven shall open to
+     receive these unique and pure beauties ..., when she shall ascend
+     to the abode of glorified and happy souls, then close; I bid you
+     farewell."--(_Madrigale 40._ )
+
+It was while at Venice, at least so it is believed, that Michel Angelo
+learned the death of Luigia de' Medici. An expression of profound
+sadness and manly resignation pervades the poems which escaped from his
+oppressed soul, already familiarized with grief: he knew "that death and
+love are the two wings which bear man from earth to heaven."
+
+        ... "chi ama, qual chi muore,
+    Non ha da gire al ciel dal mondo altr'ale."
+
+    (Sonnetto: _Dall' aspra piaga._)
+
+There are, in Angelo's collection, four compositions which may be
+regarded as dedicated to the memory of Luigia de Medici; first, the
+sonnet.--"Spirto ben nato," ... in which the poet deplores "the cruel
+law which has not spared tenderness, compassion, mercy--treasures so
+rare, united to so much of beauty and fidelity; then the Sonnets 27, 28,
+and 30, where Michel Angelo, as though emboldened by the irreparable
+calamity which had befallen him, raises the veil under which the
+circumstances and the illusions of his love had hitherto been shrouded,
+for every one, and almost for himself. Now he exclaims:--"Oh, fallacious
+hopes! where shall I now seek thee--liberated soul? Earth has received
+thy beauteous form, and Heaven thy holy thoughts!--(_Sonnetto 27._)....
+This _first love_, which fixed my wandering affections, now overwhelms
+my exhausted soul with an insupportable weight.--(_Sonnetto 28._) ...
+Yes, the brightness of the flame, which nourished while consuming my
+heart, is taken from me by heaven; but one teeming spark remains to me,
+and I would wish to be reduced to ashes only after shining in my turn."
+The sense of the latter triplet is very enigmatical; it is here
+interpreted in accordance with the known character of the poet, and the
+direction which he delayed not to give to his faculties. From this
+moment Angelo, devoted to the threefold worship of God, art, and his
+country, constantly refused to think of other ties. He had, he remarked,
+"espoused the affectionate fantasy which makes of Art a monarch, an
+idol; "my children," he added, "will be the works that I shall leave
+behind me." More than thirty years were to elapse, ere in this heart,
+yet youthful at the approach of age, another woman, and she the first of
+her era, (Vittoria Colonna,) occupied in part the place left vacant by
+Luigia de' Medici.
+
+It is to these few imperfect indications, conjectures, and fugitive
+glimpses, to which the most perspicacious care has not always succeeded
+in giving a positive consistency, that all our knowledge is reduced of
+one of the purest and most amiable forms presented by the historical and
+poetical gallery of Florence, during what is named her _golden age_. But
+what destiny was more worthy than that of Luigia de' Medici to excite a
+generous envy? Orphan from her birth, her life experienced that alone
+which elevates and purifies: hope, grief, and love. No vulgar cares
+abased her thoughts; no bitter experience withered her heart; death, in
+compassion, spared her the spectacle of the reverses of her family, and
+participation in the guilty successes which followed those disasters.
+Delicate and stainless flower, she closed on the eve of the storm that
+would have bathed her in tears and blood! The only evidence remaining to
+us of her is poetry of a fame almost divine--of a purity almost
+religious; and this young maiden, of whom no mention has come down to
+us, in addressing herself to our imagination, borrows the accents of the
+most extraordinary genius possessed by a generation hitherto unequalled
+in achievements of the mind. The place of sepulture of Luigia de' Medici
+is unknown; her remains were most probably deposited, without monumental
+inscription, in the vaults of San Lorenzo, the _gentilizia_ church of
+her house. Among the epitaphs composed by Angelo, without attempting to
+indicate for whom, there is one whose application to Luigia de' Medici
+would be apt and touching. It may be thus translated:--"To earth the
+dust, to heaven the soul, have been returned by death. To him who yet
+loves me, dead, I have bequeathed the thought of my beauty and my glory,
+that he may perpetuate in marble the beautiful mask which I have left."
+
+The editors of Michel Angelo have assumed that this admirable
+composition, as well as those which accompany it under the same title,
+were written for a certain Francesco Bracci. The expression "chi _morta_
+ancor m' ama" is sufficient to refute this singular supposition.
+
+We shall now attempt to give some idea of the poetical compositions from
+which we have not yet quoted, and which we conjecture to have been
+similarly inspired in Michel Angelo by his love for Luigia de' Medici.
+We incline to consider as belonging to the earliest poetic age of the
+great artist, to the epoch of the first and only real love experienced
+by him, all the pieces forming the first part of his work, commencing
+with the celebrated sonnet--
+
+    "Non ha l'ottimo artista," *  *  *
+
+and ending with the thirtieth--
+
+    "Qual meraviglia e se vicino al fuoco."
+    *  *  *
+
+in addition, the sonnet, three _madrigali_, (pieces without division of
+stanzas or couplets,) and one _canzone_, which the editors have placed
+at the head of the collection, entitled by them--"Componimenti men gravi
+e giocosi." The commencement of a new era in Angelo's thoughts and
+poetic style appears to us marked by the composition of the two
+admirable pieces which he dedicated to the memory of Dante Alighieri:--
+
+    "Dal mondo scese ai ciechi abissi;"
+    *  *  *
+
+and
+
+    "Quanto dime si dee non si puo dire."
+
+Michel Angelo _petitioned_ but once: this was that Leo X. would grant
+the ashes of Dante to Florence, where the artist "offered to give a
+becoming burial to the divine poet, in an honourable place in the
+city."--(Condivi, _Vita di Michel Angelo_.)
+
+Previously a stranger to the sentiments of love, the young artist at
+first wonders and fears at their violence:
+
+     "Who, then, has lifted me by main force above myself? How can it be
+     that I am no longer my own? And what is the unknown power which,
+     nearer then myself, influences me; which has more control over me;
+     passes into my soul by the eyes; increases there without limit, and
+     overflows my whole being?"--_Madrigali_, 3, 4.
+
+Soon, however, he no longer doubts upon the character of this
+intoxication; he feels that he loves; he traces in sport the most
+graceful and animated picture of her who has captivated his heart! But
+this pure and ardent soul speedily becomes alarmed at the profound
+agitation in which it sees itself plunged; desires to go back to the
+cause, to recognise its origin, and measure its danger. Michel Angelo
+recognises, in conjunction with the danger, a sublime reward reserved
+for him who shall know how to merit it.
+
+     "The evil which I ought to shun, and the good to which I aspire,
+     are united and hidden in thee, noble and divine beauty! * * * Love,
+     beauty, fortune, or rigour of destiny, it is not you that I can
+     reproach for my sufferings; for in her heart she bears at once
+     compassion and death! Woe to me if my feeble genius succeed only,
+     while consuming itself, in obtaining death from it!"[57]
+
+Yes, dangerous and often fatal is that passion which seems to choose its
+favourite victims among hearts the most generous--intelligence the most
+ample:
+
+     "Very few are the men who raise themselves to the heaven; to him
+     who lives in the fire of love, and drinks of its poison, (for to
+     love is one of life's fatal conditions,) if grace transport him not
+     towards supreme and incorruptible beauties--if all his desires
+     learn not to direct themselves thither--Ah! what miseries overwhelm
+     the condition of lover!"--(_Sonnet_ 10.)
+
+But this declaration has not been applied to all passionate and deep
+affections:
+
+     "No, it is not always a mortal and impious fault to burn with an
+     immense love for a perfect beauty, if this love afterwards leave
+     the heart so softened that the arrows of divine beauty may
+     penetrate it."
+
+     "Love wakens the soul, and lends it
+
+
+     wings for its sublime flight: often its ardour is the first step by
+     which, discontented with earth, the soul remounts towards her
+     Creator."--(_Sonnet_ 8.)
+
+Transported with this thought, in which he feels the passion to which he
+has yielded at once transforming and tranquillising itself, Michel
+Angelo gives to it in his verses the most eloquent and most ingenious
+developments.
+
+     "No, it is not a mortal thing which my eyes perceived, when in them
+     was reflected, for the first time, the light of thine; but in thy
+     look, my soul, inquiet, because it mounts towards its object
+     without repose, has conceived the hope of finding her peace."
+
+     "She ascends, stretching her wings towards the abode from whence
+     she descended! The beauty which charms the eyes calls to her on her
+     flight; but, finding her weak and fugitive, she passes onwards to
+     the universal form, the divine archetype."
+
+This expression, and many others dispersed throughout the collection,
+show that he had profited more than he cared to acknowledge by the
+discourses of the Platonic Academy.
+
+     "Yes, I perceive it; that which must die can offer no repose to the
+     wise man. * * * That which kills the soul is not love; it is the
+     unbridled disorder of the senses. Love can render our souls perfect
+     here below, and yet more in heaven!"--(_Sonnet_ 2.)
+
+And fruther on:
+
+     "From the stars most near to the empyrean, descends sometimes a
+     brightness which attracts our desires towards them: it is that
+     which is called love!"--(_Mad._ 8.)
+
+But this celestial route demands extraordinary efforts on the part of
+him who aspires to travel it:
+
+     "How rash and how unworthy are the understandings, which bring down
+     to the level of the senses this beauty whose approaches aid the
+     true intelligence to remount to the skies. But feeble eyes cannot
+     go from the mortal to the divine;[58] never will they raise
+     themselves to that throne, where, without the grace from on high,
+     it is a vain thought to think of rising."
+
+Michel Angelo believed that he recognised these characteristics, as rare
+as sublime, in the love which pervaded his own heart.
+
+     "The life of my love is not the all in my heart. * * This affection
+     turns to that point where no earthly weakness, no guilty thought,
+     could exist."
+
+     "Love, when my soul left the presence of her Creator, made of her a
+     pure eye, of thee a splendour, and my ardent desire finds it every
+     hour in that which must, alas! one day die of thee."
+
+     "Like as heat and fire, so is the Beautiful inseparable from the
+     Eternal. * * * I see Paradise in thy eyes, and so return there
+     where I loved thee before this life,[59] I recur every hour to
+     consume myself under thy looks."--(_Sonnet_ 6.)
+
+He writes elsewhere, with a singular mixture of affectionate ardour and
+metaphysical boldness,--
+
+     "I know not if this is, in thee, the prolific light from its
+     Supreme Author which my soul feels, or if from the mysterious
+     treasures of her memory some other beauty, earlier perceived,
+     shines with thy aspect in my heart."[60]
+
+     "Or if the brilliant ray of _thy former existence_ is reflected in
+     my soul, leaving behind this kind of painful joy, which perhaps, at
+     this moment, is the cause of the tears I shed;"
+
+     "But after all, that which I feel, and see, which guides me, is not
+     with me, is not in me, * * sometimes I imagine that thou aidest me
+     to distinguish it." * * * * (_Sonnet_ 7.)
+
+It is easy to conjecture the danger of this inclination to metaphysical
+speculation for an ardent and subtile genius, which, even in its works
+of art, has left the proof of a constant disposition towards an obscure
+mysticism or a sombre austerity. Michel Angelo was enabled to avoid
+these two dangers, on one or the other of which he would have seen his
+genius wrecked, by the noble confidence which he ever maintained in "the
+two beacons of his navigation," tenderness of heart, and pure worship of
+beauty.
+
+Thus, we shall see with what outpouring he proclaims the necessity, for
+the human soul, to attach itself strongly to some generous love:
+
+     "The memory of the eyes, and this hope which suffices to my life,
+     and more to my happiness, * * * reason and passion, love and
+     nature, constrain me to fix my regard upon thee during the whole
+     time given me. * * * Eyes serene and sparkling; he who lives not in
+     you is not yet born!"
+
+And again:
+
+     "It is to thee that it belongs to bring out from the coarse and
+     rude bark within which my soul is imprisoned, that which has
+     brought and linked together in my intelligence, reason strength,
+     and love of the good." (_Mad._ 10.)
+
+Then was renewed that sweet and pregnant security in which the soul,
+"under the armour of a conscience which feels its purity," may gain new
+energy and journey towards her repose:[61]
+
+     "Yes, sometimes, with my ardent desire, my hope may also ascend; it
+     will not deceive me, for if all our affections are displeasing to
+     heaven, to what end would this world have been created by God?
+
+     "And what cause more just of the love with which I burn for thee,
+     than the duty of rendering glory to that eternal peace, whence
+     springs the divine charm which emanates from thee, which makes
+     every heart, worthy to comprehend thee, chaste and pious?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     "Firm is the hope founded on a noble heart, the changes of the
+     mortal bark strip no leaves from its crown; never does it languish,
+     and even here it receives an assurance of heaven."--(_Sonnet_ 9.)
+
+Now it is with accents of triumph and anon with the serener emotion of
+an immortal gratitude, that the poet exhibits the luminous ladder which
+his love assists him to mount, the support he finds in it when he
+descends again to the earth:
+
+     "The power of a beautiful countenance, the only joy I know on
+     earth, urges me to the heaven, I rise, yet living, to the abode of
+     elect souls--favour granted rarely to our mortal state!
+
+     "So perfect is the agreement of this divine work with its Creator,
+     that I ascend to Him on the wings of this celestial fervour; and
+     there I form all my thoughts, and purify all my words.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     "In her beautiful eyes, from which mine cannot divert themselves, I
+     behold the light, guide upon the way which leads to God;
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     "Thus, in my noble fire, calmly shines the felicity which smiles,
+     eternal, in the heavens!--(_Sonnet_ 3.)
+
+     "With _your_ beautiful eyes I see the mild light which my darkened
+     eyes could not discern. Your support enables me to bear a burden
+     which my weary steps could not endure to the end."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     "My thoughts are shaped in your heart; my words are born in your
+     mind.
+
+     "With regard to you, I am like the orb of night in its career; our
+     eyes can only perceive the portion on which the sun sheds his
+     rays."--(_Sonnet_ 12.)
+
+The admirable picture of indissoluble union in a settled tenderness, one
+of the most perfect pieces which has come from Angelo's pen, was
+sketched, doubtless, in one of those moments of severe and entire
+felicity:
+
+     "A refined love, a supreme affection, an equal fortune between two
+     hearts, to whom joys and sorrows are in common,
+
+
+     because one single mind actuates them both;
+
+     "One soul in two bodies, raising both to heaven, and upon equal
+     wings;
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     "To love the other always, and one's self never, to desire of Love
+     no other prize than himself; to anticipate every hour the wishes
+     with which the reciprocal empire regulates two existences:
+
+     "Such are the certain signs of an inviolable faith; shall disdain
+     or anger dissolve such a tie?"--(_Sonnet_ 20.)
+
+The last verse makes allusion to some incident of which we have been
+unable to find any historical explanation:
+
+"Or potra _sdegno_ tanto nodo sciorre?"
+
+But these ill-founded fears soon gave way to the presentiment of the
+cruel, the imminent trial, for which the poet's affection was reserved.
+
+     "Spirit born under happy auspices, to show us, in the chaste beauty
+     of thy terrestrial envelope, all the gifts which nature and heaven
+     can bestow on their favourite creation!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     "What inexorable law denies to this faithless world, to this
+     mournful and fallacious life, the long possession of such a
+     treasure? Why cannot death pardon so beautiful a work?"--(_Sonnet_
+     25.)
+
+The poet, however, already knew that such is the law, severe in
+appearance, but merciful in reality, which governs all things on this
+earth, "where nothing endures but tears."[62] It was then that Michel
+Angelo discovered in his heart that treasure of energy destined to
+sustain him in the multiplied trials of a life, of which he measured the
+probable length with a melancholy resignation.[63]
+
+     "Why," he exclaims, "grant to my wounded soul the vain solace of
+     tears and groaning words, since heaven, which clothed a heart with
+     bitterness, takes it away but late, and perhaps only in the tomb?"
+
+     "_Another_ must die. Why this haste to follow her? Will not the
+     remembrance of her look soothe my last hours? And what other
+     blessing would be worth so much as one of my sorrows?"[64]
+
+In fine, armed with "the faith that raises souls[65] to God, and
+sweetens their death," Michel Angelo, when the fatal blow fell, was
+enabled to impart to his regrets an expression of thankfulness to the
+Supreme Dispenser of our destinies; and giving a voice from the tomb to
+her whom he had so deeply loved, he puts these sublime words into her
+mouth:
+
+     "I was a mortal, now I am an angel. The world knew me for a little
+     space, and I possess heaven for ever. I rejoice at the glorious
+     exchange, and exult over the death which struck, to lead me to
+     eternal life!"--_Epitaffio_, v.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[50] "Dietro al mio legno, che cantando varca."--_Dante._
+
+[51] Michel Angelo lived until the beginning of the year 1564, the
+seventieth after the death of Luigia de' Medici.
+
+[52] In the Florentine style, 1474. The Florentine year began at Easter.
+
+[53] Michel Angelo was the fourth and last of the sons of Ludovico.
+
+[54] The Platonic Academy was established at Florence in 1474.
+Politiano's death, twenty years later, was the cause of its entire
+dispersion.
+
+[55] "But, perhaps, thy compassion regards with more justice than I
+thought in the beginning, my pure and loyal ardour, and the passion
+which thy looks have kindled in me for noble actions.
+
+"Oh, most happy day! if it ever arrive for me, let my days and hours
+concentrate themselves in that moment! and, to prolong it, let the sun
+forget his accustomed course!"
+
+[56] He was born in 1475.
+
+[57] The first sonnet of the collection; that commencing with the
+celebrated proposition--
+
+    "_Non ha l'ottimo artista alcun concetto._"
+
+
+[58]
+
+    "Dal mortale al divin non vanno gli occhi
+    Che sono infermi."   *   *   *   *
+
+
+[59]
+
+    "Veggendo ne tuo' occhi il Paradiso,
+    Per ritornar la dove io t'amai pria,
+    Ricorro ardendo sotto le tue ciglia."
+
+
+[60]
+
+    "Non so se e' _l'immaginata luce_
+    Del suo primo Fattor che l'alma sente,
+    O se dalla memoria.  *   *   *
+    Alcuna altra bella nel cor traluce,
+    *    *    *    *    *    *    *
+    _Del tuo primiero stato il raggio ardente_
+    Di se lasciando un non so che cocente."  *   *   *
+
+
+[61]
+
+    "La buona coscienza che l'uom franchigia,
+    Sotto l'usbergo di sentirsi pura."--_Dante._
+
+
+[62] "To what am I reserved?" writes Angelo in another piece. "To live
+long? that terrifies me. The shortest life is yet too long for the
+recompense obtained in serving with devotion."
+
+[63] "Ahi, che null altro che pianto al mondo dura!"--_Petrarca._
+
+[64] "_Ogni altro ben val men ch'una mia doglia!_"
+
+[65]
+
+    *  *  *  *  "Chi t'ama con fede
+    Si leva a Dio, e fa dolce la morte."
+
+
+
+
+THINGS IN GENERAL.
+
+A GOSSIPING LETTER FROM THE SEASIDE TO CHRISTOPHER NORTH, ESQ. BY AN OLD
+CONTRIBUTOR.
+
+    ------
+    Near ----, England,
+    _October 1846_.
+
+MY DEAR CHRISTOPHER,--Where am I? What am I doing? Why have I forgotten
+you and Maga? Bless us! what a pother!--Give a man time, my revered
+friend, to answer: I have _not_ forgotten either you or Maga; I am at
+the seaside; and I am doing, as well as I can, _nothing_. There are your
+testy questions answered: and as to divers objurgatory observations of
+your's, I shall not attempt to reply to them--regarding them as the
+results of some gout-twinges which have, I fear, a little quickened and
+heated the temper of that "old man eloquent," who, when in good health,
+plays but one part--that of a caressing father towards his children; for
+as such Christopher North has ever (as far as I know) regarded his
+contributors. "Why don't you _review_ something or other? There's ----,
+an impudent knave!--has just sent me his ----: you will find it pleasant
+to flagellate him, or ----, a Cockney coxcomb! And if you be not in that
+humour, there are several excellent, and one or two admirable works,
+which have appeared within the last eighteen months, and which really
+have as strong a claim on Maga as she has on her truant sons,--and you,
+among the rest, have repeatedly promised to take one, at least, in hand.
+If you be not in the critical vein--do, for heaven's sake, turn your
+hand to something else--you have lain fallow long enough!--With one of
+the many articles which you have so often told me that you were
+'seriously thinking of' on ----, or ----, or ----, &c., &c., &c.; and if
+_that_ won't do--why, rather than do _nothing_, set to work for an hour
+or two on a couple of mornings, and write me a gossiping sort of
+letter--such as I can print--such as you have once before done, and I
+printed,--on Things in General. Surely the last few months have
+witnessed events which must have set you, and all observant men,
+thinking, and thinking very earnestly. Set to work, be it only in a
+simple, natural, easy way--care not you, as I care not, how
+discursively--a little touch of modest egotism, even, I will forgive on
+this occasion, if you find that--" Here, dear Christopher, I
+recalcitrate, and decline printing the rest of the sentence; but as to
+"_Things in General_"--I am somewhat smitten with the suggestion. 'Tis a
+taking title--a roomy subject, in which one can flit about from gay to
+grave, from lively to severe, according to the humour of the moment; and
+since you really do not dislike the idea of an old contributor's gossip
+on men and things, given you in his own way, I shall forthwith begin to
+pour out my little thoughts as unreservedly as if you and I were sitting
+together alone here. _Here_; but where? As I said before, at the
+seaside; at my favourite resort--where (eschewing "Watering-places" with
+lively disgust) I have spent many a happy autumn. When I first found it
+out, I thought that the _lines_ had indeed _fallen_ to me in _pleasant
+places_, and I still think so; but were I to tell the public, through
+your pages, of this green spot, I suspect that by this time next year
+the sweet solitude and primitive simplicity of the scene around me would
+have vanished: greedy speculating builders, tempting the proprietors of
+the soil, would run up in all directions vile, pert, vulgar,
+brick-built, slate-roofed, Quakerish-looking abominations, exactly as a
+once lovely nook in the Isle of Wight--Ventnor to wit--has become a mere
+assemblage of eyesores, a mass of _un_favourable eruptions, so to
+speak--Bah! I once used to look forward to the Isle of Wight with
+springy satisfaction. Why, the infatuated inhabitants were lately
+talking of having a railroad in the island!!
+
+I quitted Babylon, now nearly eleven weeks ago, for this said sweet
+mysterious solitude. London I dearly, dearly love--except during the
+months of August, September, and October, when it goes to sleep, and
+lies utterly torpid. When I quitted it very early in August, London life
+was, as it were, at dead-low water-mark. I was myself somewhat jaded
+with a year's severe exertion in my lawful calling, (what that may be,
+it concerns none of your readers to know,) and my family also were in
+want of change of air and scene; so that, when the day of departure had
+arrived, we were in the highest possible spirits. _Our_ house would--we
+reflected--within a few hours put on the dismal, dismantled appearance
+which almost every other house in the street had presented for several
+weeks, and we, whirling away to ----; but first of all it occurred to me
+to lay in a stock of our good friend Lee's port and sherry, (for where
+were we to get drinkable wine at ----?)--ditto, in respect of six pounds
+of real tea--not _quasi_ tea, _i.e._, raisin-stalks and
+sloe-leaves--three bottles of whisky; four of Anchovy sauce; and four of
+Reading or Harvey's sauce; two pounds of mustard, and some cayenne and
+curry-powder: having an eye, in respect of this last, to--hot crab! a
+delicious affair! Arrangements these which we are resolved always to
+make hereafter, having repeatedly experienced the inconvenience of not
+doing so. Having packed up every thing, and given special orders for the
+_Times_ to be provided daily, and the _Spectator_ weekly, away we
+go--myself, wife, three hostages to fortune, and three other persons,
+and--bless him!--Tickler; Timothy Tickler--that sagacious, quaint,
+affectionate, ugly-beautiful Skye terrier, which found its way to me
+from you, my revered friend--and is now lying gracefully near me,
+pretending--the little rogue--to be asleep; but really watching the
+wasps buzzing round him, and every now and then snapping at them
+furiously, unconscious of the probable consequences of his
+success,--that,
+
+    "If 'twere _done_, when 'tis done,
+    _Then_--'twere well it were done quickly!"
+
+By what railway we went, I care not to say--beyond this, that it belongs
+to one of that exceedingly select class, the well-conducted railways;
+and we were brought to the end of that portion of our journey--whether
+one hundred, two hundred, or two hundred and fifty, or three hundred
+miles, signifies nothing--safely and punctually arriving two minutes
+earlier than our appointed time. Then, by means of steam-boats, cars,
+and otherwise, _taliter processum est_, that about eight o'clock in the
+evening we reached this place, which, in the brilliant moonlight, looked
+even more beautiful than I had ever seen it. Near us on our left--that
+is, within a few hundred feet--was the placid silvery sea, "its moist
+lips kissing the shore," as Thomas Campbell expressed it; and while
+supper was preparing, we went to the shore to enjoy its loveliness. Not
+a breath of wind was stirring--scarce a cloud interfered with the moon's
+serene effulgence. Lofty cliffs stretched on either side of us as we
+faced the sea, casting a kindly gloom over part of the shore; and on
+turning towards the land, we beheld nothing but solemn groves of trees,
+and one sweet cottage peeping modestly from among them, as it were a
+pearl glistening half-hid between the folds of green velvet, about
+half-way up the fissure in the cliffs by which we had descended. Two or
+three fishing-boats were moored under the cliff, and against one of them
+was leaning the fisherman, not far from his snugly-sheltered hut,
+pleasantly puffing at his pipe. Near him lay extended on the shingle,
+grisly even in death, a monster--viz. a shark, the victim of the
+patience, pluck, and tact, which had been exhibited that afternoon by
+the fisherman and his son, who had captured the marine fiend in the bay,
+at less than two miles' distance from the shore. 'Twas nine feet in
+length, wanting one inch;--and _its_ teeth made your teeth chatter to
+look at them. Tickler inspected him narrowly, having first cautiously
+ascertained by his nose that all was right, and then exclaimed, "Bow,
+wow, wow!"--thus showing that even as a live ass is better than a dead
+lion, so a live terrier was better than a dead shark. [As I find that
+several of these hideous creatures have been lately captured here,
+_quaere_ the propriety of bathing, as I had intended, from a boat, a
+little way of from the land? Hem!] The only visible occupants of those
+solitary sands at that moment were myself, my wife and children, the
+fisherman, Tickler, and the dead shark. I remained standing alone for a
+few moments after my companions had turned their steps towards our
+cottage, eager for supper, and gazed upon the sequestered loveliness
+around me with a sense of luxury. What a contrast this to the scene of
+exciting London life in which I had happened to bear a part on the
+preceding evening! The following verses of Lord Rosscommon happened to
+occur to me, and chimed in completely with the tone of my feelings:--
+
+    "Hail, sacred Solitude! from this calm bay
+    I view the world's tempestuous sea;
+        And with wise pride despise
+        All those senseless vanities:
+    With pity moved for others, cast away,
+    On rocks of hopes and fears I see them toss'd,
+    On rocks of folly and of vice I see them lost:
+    Since the prevailing malice of the great
+        Unhappy men, or adverse fate
+    Sunk deep into the gulfs of an afflicted state:
+    But more, far more, a numberless prodigious train,
+    Whilst virtue counts them, but, alas, in vain.
+        Fly from her kind embracing arms,
+    Deaf to her fondest call, blind to her greatest charms,
+        And sunk in pleasures and in brutish ease,
+    They in their shipwrecked state themselves obdurate please.
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+    Here may I always, on this downy grass,
+    Unknown, unseen, my easy moments pass,
+    Till, with a gentle force, victorious Death
+        My solitude invade,
+    And stopping for a while my breath,
+    With ease convey me to a better shade!"
+
+But a sharpened appetite for supper called me away, and I quickly
+followed my companions, casting a last glance around, and suppressing a
+faint sigh, fraught with the reflection, "All this--_Deo volente_--will
+be ours for nearly three months." Why _does_ one so often sigh on such
+an occasion?
+
+You may conceive how we enjoyed our supper to the utmost, and then all
+of us retired to our respective apartments, which were so brilliantly
+lit by the moon, as to make our candles pale their ineffectual fires. I
+stood for a long time gazing at the beautiful scenery visible from my
+little dressing-room window, and then retired to rest, grateful to the
+Almighty for our being allowed the prospect of another of these
+periodical intervals of relaxation and enjoyment. To me they get more
+precious every year; _they do_, decidedly. But why? Let me, however,
+return to this question by-and-by: 'tis one which, with kindred
+subjects, has much occupied my thoughts this autumn, in many a long,
+solitary stroll over the hills, and along the seashore.
+
+I wish I could do justice to my cottage and its lovely locality. Yet why
+should I try to set your's and your readers' teeth on edge? You have
+some lovely nooks on your Scottish coast; but you cannot beat this. We
+are about three hundred yards from the sea, of which our windows, on one
+side, command a full view; while from all the others are visible dark,
+high, steep downs, at so short a distance, that methinks, at this
+moment, I can hear the faint--the very faint--tinkle of a sheep-bell,
+proceeding from some of the little white tufts moving upon them. I am
+now writing to you towards the middle of this stormy October. Its winds
+have so much thinned the leaves of the huge elms which stand towards the
+south-eastern parts of our house, that I can now, from my study-window,
+distinctly see the church--very small, and very ancient--which, when
+first we came, the thick foliage rendered totally invisible from this
+point. My window looks directly upon the aforesaid downs, which at
+present appear somewhat gloomy and desolate. Yet have they a certain air
+of the wild picturesque, the effect of which is heightened by the
+howling winds, which are sweeping down over them to us, moaning and
+groaning through the trees, and round the gables of our house, (the
+aspect of the sky being, at the same time, bleak and threatening.) How
+it enhances my sense of snugness in the small antique, thoroughly
+wind-and-weather tight room in which I am writing! A little to my left
+is a vast natural hollow in the downs, from which springs a sort of
+little hanging wood or copse, the mottled variegated hues of which have
+a beautiful effect. Between me and the downs are small clumps of
+trees--abrupt little declivities, thickly lined with shrubs, all touched
+with the bronze tinting of the far-advanced autumn--two or three
+intensely-green fields, in the nearest of which are browsing the two
+cows belonging to the parsonage--which is, by the way, quite invisible
+from any part of my house, though at only a hundred yards' or two
+distance. Oh! 'tis a model--a love of a parsonage!--buried among lofty
+trees, richly adorned with myrtles, laurel, and clematis--the
+well-trimmed greensward immediately surrounding the long, low, thatched
+house, which combines rural elegance, simplicity, and comfort in its
+disposition--is bordered by spreading hydrangeas, dahlias, fuschias,
+mignionette, and roses--ay, roses, even yet in full bloom! Its occupant
+is my friend, a dignitary of the church, a scholar, a gentleman, and
+"given to hospitality;" but I will say nothing more on this head, lest,
+peradventure, I should offend his modesty, and disclose my locality. My
+own house is more than sufficient for my family; 'tis a small
+gentleman's cottage, delightfully situate, and containing every
+convenience, (especially for a _symposium_,) and surrounded by a
+luxuriant garden. Along one side of the house, and commanding an
+extensive and varied sea and land view, runs a little terrace of "soft,
+smooth-shaven green," made for a meditative man to pace up and down, as
+I have done some thousand times--by noonday sunlight, by midnight
+moonshine--buried in reverie, or charmed by contemplating the scenery
+around, disturbed by no sound save the caw! caw! caw! from the parsonage
+rookery, the _sough_ of the wind among the trees, and, latterly, the
+sullen echoes of the sea thundering on the shore. Ah! what an
+inexpressibly beautiful aspect is just given to the scene by that
+transient gleam of saddening sunlight!
+
+I can really give no account of my time for the last eleven weeks, which
+have slipped away almost unperceivedly--one day so like another, that
+scarce any thing can be recorded of one which would not be applicable to
+every other. Breakfast over, (crabs, lobster, or prawns, and honey
+indigenous, the constant racy accessaries,) all the intermediate time
+between that hour and dinner, (for I am no lunch-eater,) six P.M., is
+spent in sauntering along the shore, poking among the rocks, strolling
+over the clefts, and clambering up and wandering about the downs; and
+occasionally in pilgrimages to distant and pretty little farm-houses,
+(in quest of their products for our table,) generally accompanied by
+Tickler, always by a book, sometimes with my wife and children; but most
+frequently _alone_, chewing the cud of sweet and bitter fancies, and
+always avoiding, of set purpose, any other company (even were it here to
+be had) in my rambles, than as is aforesaid. 'Tis ecstacy to me to sit
+alone on a rock in a sequestered part of the shore, especially when the
+tide is high, and equally whether it be rough or smooth, or calm or
+stormy weather: for as to this last, I have discovered a friendly nook
+in the rocks, big enough to hold me only, and deep enough to give me
+shelter from the wind and rain, except when they beat right in upon me.
+You may laugh, perhaps, but in this retreat I have spent many an entire
+day--_i.e._ from ten A.M. to six P.M., sometimes pacing to and fro on
+the sands, near my hole, generally bathing about mid-day, taking with me
+always the _Times_ newspaper, (which I generally got from the old
+postman, whom I met on my way down to the sands,) the current number of
+_Maga_, or some favourite volume, being also frequent companions. I must
+acknowledge, however, that the first was my special luxury, to which I
+daily addressed myself with all the eager relish of a dog with a fresh
+bone in an unfrequented place--and whom I conceive to be, so
+circumstanced, in a state paradisiacal;--for, indeed, to such a pass are
+matters come, that no man whom I know of can miss his newspaper without
+a restless, uncomfortable feeling of having slipped a day behind the
+world. Surely I may here, in passing, say a word or two about
+NEWSPAPERS?
+
+And coming from one who, as you know, never had any thing to do with
+newspapers, except as having been an eager and regular reader of them
+for more than twenty years, I hope my testimony is worth having, when I
+express my opinion that our newspaper press is a very great honour to
+Great Britain, as well negatively in its abstinence from myriads of
+tempting but objectionable topics, as well as positively in the varied
+ability, the energy, accuracy, and amazing promptitude displayed in
+dealing with the ever-changing and often-perplexing affairs of the
+world. Inestimably precious is the unshackled freedom of these wondrous
+organs of public opinion: infringe, though never so slightly, and but
+for a moment, upon that independence, and you wound our LIBERTY in the
+very apple of the eye.
+
+Let any government unjustifiably or oppressively attack one of our
+newspapers--whatever may be its politics--how indifferent even soever
+its character--with an evident intention to impair its independence--and
+there is not a man in the country who would not suddenly feel a stifling
+sensation, as if some attempt had been made upon his immediate personal
+rights. The nation may be (though fancifully) compared to a huge
+monster, with myriads of _tentacles_--or whatever else you may call
+them--as its organ of existence and action, every single one of which is
+so sensitive, that, if touched, the whole _creature_ is instantly roused
+and in motion, as if you had touched them _all_, and stimulated _all_
+into simultaneous and frightful action. The public is this vast
+creature--the press are these tentacles. Fancy our Prime Minister
+pouncing oppressively and illegally upon the very obscurest provincial
+paper going--say the "Land's End Farthing Illuminator!" Why, the whole
+artillery of the press of the United Kingdom would instantly open upon
+him; in doing so, being the true exponent of the universal fury of the
+country--and in a twinkling where would be my Lord John, or would have
+been Sir Robert, with the strongest government that ever was organised?
+Extinguished, annihilated. Let some young and unreflecting Englishman
+compare this state of things with that which is at this moment in
+existence in Spain!--in which every newspaper daring to express itself
+independently, though moderately, on a stirring political event of the
+day, is instantly pounced upon by an infamous--a truly execrable
+government, and silenced and suppressed; and its conductors fined and
+imprisoned. We in this country cannot write or read the few words
+conveying the existence of such a state of facts, without our blood
+boiling. And is there no _other_ country where the press is
+overawed--submits, however sullenly, to be dictated to by government, to
+become the despicable organ of falsehood and deceit--and is accessible
+to bribery and corruption? And what are we to say of the press of the
+United States of America, pandering (with some bright exceptions) to the
+vilest passions, the most depraved tastes of the most abandoned among
+the people, and mercenary and merciless libellers? With scarcely more
+than a single foul exception--and that, one regrets to say, in our
+Metropolis, in which are published nearly forty newspapers--can any
+person point out a newspaper, in town or country, indulging in, ribald
+or obscene language or allusions, or--with two or three
+exceptions--professed impiety, or slanderous attacks upon public or
+private character. Some year or two ago there was manifested, in a
+certain portion of the metropolitan press, a tendency downwards of this
+sort; and how long was it before popular indignation rose, and--to use a
+legal phrase--abated the nuisance? Can the chief perpetrator of the
+enormities referred to, even now, after having undergone repeated legal
+punishment, show himself any where in public without encountering groans
+and hisses, and the risk even of personal violence? And did not the
+occasion in question rouse the legislature itself into action, the
+result of which was a law effectually protecting the public against
+wicked newspapers, and, on the other hand, justly affording increased
+protection to the freedom and independence of the virtuous part of the
+press? I repeat the question--Who can point out more than one or two of
+our newspapers which are morally discreditable to the country? No censor
+of the press want we: the British public is its own censor. What a vast
+amount of humbug, of fraud, of meanness, of corruption, of oppression,
+of cruelty, and wickedness, as well in private as in public life--as
+well in low as in high places--is not kept in check, and averted from
+us, by the sleepless vigilance, the fearless interference, the ceaseless
+denunciations of our public press! 'Tis a potent preventive to check
+evil--or rather may be regarded as a tremendous tribunal, to which the
+haughtiest and fiercest among us is amenable, before which, though he
+may outwardly bluster, he inwardly quails, whose decrees have toppled
+down headlong the most exalted, into obscurity and insignificance, and
+left them exposed to blighting ridicule and universal derision. It is
+true that this power may be, and has been, abused: that good
+institutions and their officials have been unjustly denounced. But this
+is rare: the vast power above spoken of exists not, except where the
+press is unanimous, or pretty nearly so: and as the British people are a
+just and truth-loving people, (with all their weaknesses and faults,)
+the various organs of their various sections and parties rarely come to
+approach unanimity, except in behalf of a good and just cause. Let the
+most potent journal in the empire run counter to the feeling and opinion
+of the country, if we could imagine a journal so obstinate and
+shortsighted, and its voice is utterly ineffectual--the objects of its
+deadliest animosity remain unscathed, though, it may be, for a brief
+space exposed to the irritating and annoying consequences of publicity.
+Let this country embark, for instance, in a just war--within a day or
+two our press would have roused the enthusiasm of this country, even as
+that of one man. Let it be an unjust war--and the government proposing
+it, or appearing likely to precipitate it, bombarded by the artillery of
+the press, will quickly be shattered to pieces. All our institutions
+profit prodigiously by the wholesome scrutiny of the press. The Church,
+the Army, the Navy, the Law, every department of the executive--down to
+our police-offices, our prisons, our workhouses--in any and every of
+them, tyranny, peculation, misconduct of every sort, is quickly
+detected, and as quickly stopped and redressed. While conferring these
+immense social benefits, how few are the evils, how rare--as I have
+already observed--the misconduct to be set off! How very, very rare are
+prosecutions for libel or sedition, or actions for libel, against the
+press; and even when they do occur, how rare is the success of such
+proceedings! I happen, by the way, to be able to give two instances of
+the generous and gentlemanlike conduct of the conductors of two leading
+metropolitan newspapers of opposite politics; one was of very recent
+occurrence:--A hot-headed political friend of mine, contrary to my
+advice, forwarded to _The ------_ a _fact_, duly authenticated,
+concerning a person in high station, which, if it had been published,
+would have exquisitely annoyed the party in question, whose politics
+were diametrically opposed to those of the newspaper referred to, and
+would also have afforded matter for party sarcasm and piquant gossip in
+society. The only notice taken of my crestfallen friend's communication
+was the following, in the next morning's "Notices to
+Correspondents:"--"To [Greek: S].--The occurrence referred to is hardly
+a fair topic for [or 'within the province of'] newspaper discussion."
+The other case was one which occurred two or three years ago; and the
+editor of the paper in question did not deign to take the least notice
+whatever of the communication--not even acknowledging the receipt of it.
+There is one feature of our leading London newspapers which always
+appears to me interesting and remarkable: it is their leading article on
+a debate, or on newly-arrived foreign intelligence. Let an important
+ministerial speech be delivered in either House of Parliament on a very
+difficult subject, and at a very late hour, or say at an early hour in
+the morning; and on our breakfast-tables, the same morning, is lying the
+speech and the editor's interesting and masterly commentary on
+it--evincing, first, a thorough familiarity with the speech itself, and
+with the difficult and often obscure and complicated topics which it
+deals with; and, secondly, a skilful confutation or corroboration,
+wherein it is difficult which most to admire, the logical acuteness,
+dexterity, and strength of the writer, the vigour and vivacity of his
+style, or the accuracy and extent of his political knowledge; and this,
+too, after making large allowance for occasional crudity, perversion,
+inconsistency, or flippancy. The same observation applies to their
+articles, often equally interesting and masterly, on newly-arrived
+foreign intelligence. Conceive the extent to which such a writer, such a
+journal must influence public opinion, and gradually and unconsciously
+bias the minds of even able and thinking readers. Engaged actively in
+their own concerns all day long, they have too often neither the
+inclination nor opportunity for sifting the sophistries, skilfully
+intermingled with just and brilliant reasoning, and disguised under
+splendid sarcasm and powerful invective. How, again, can they test the
+accuracy of historical and political references and assertions, if
+happening to lie beyond their own particular acquisitions and
+recollections? The other side of the question, such a one is aware, will
+probably be found in the _Chronicle_ or _Standard_, the _Times_ or
+_Globe_, _Sun_ or _Herald_ respectively, whose business it is to be
+continually on the watch for each other's lapses, to detect and expose
+them. To what does all this lead but the formation of an indolent habit
+of acquiescence in other men's opinions--a hasty, superficial
+acquaintance with _pros_ and _cons_, upon even the gravest question
+propounded by other men--a heedless, universal _taking upon trust_,
+instead of that salutary jealousy, vigilance, and independence, which
+insists in every thing, upon weighing matters in the balances of one's
+own understanding? Many a man is reading these sentence who knows that
+they are telling the truth; and doubtless he will be for the future upon
+his guard, resolved not to surrender his independence of judgement, or
+suffer his faculties to decay through inaction.--But, bless me! this
+glorious morning is slipping away. I hear Tickler scratching at the
+door. I shut up my writing-case, don my coat, hat, and walking-stick,
+and away to the shore. Scarcely have I got upon the sands, when behold,
+floating majestically past me, at little more than a mile's distance,
+the magnificent _St Vincent_ (one hundred and twenty guns.) There's a
+line-of-battle ship for you! I take off my hat involuntarily in the
+presence of our Naval Majesty. I gaze after her with those feelings and
+thoughts of fond pride and exultation which gush over the heart of an
+Englishman looking at one of HIS MEN-OF-WAR! Well--superb St Vincent,
+you have now rounded the corner, and are out of sight; but I remain
+riveted to the spot with folded arms, and ask of our naval rulers, with
+a certain stern anxiety, a question, which I shall throw into the
+striking language of Mr Canning--"Are _you_, my Lords and Gentlemen,
+_silently concentrating the force to be put forth on an adequate
+occasion_?" Who can tell how soon that adequate occasion will present
+itself? Is the peace of Europe at this moment so profound, is our own
+position so satisfactory and impregnable, that we may wisely and safely
+dismiss all anxiety from our minds? Why, has not, within these few days
+past, an event occurred which is calculated to give rise to very serious
+anxiety in the minds of those feeling an interest in public affairs? I
+allude to the Duc de Montpensier's marriage with the Infanta Donna
+Luisa, which I have just learned, was actually carried into effect at
+Madrid on the 10th instant, in the teeth of the stern and repeated
+protest of Great Britain. I do not take every thing for gospel which
+appears on this subject in the newspapers, from which alone we have
+hitherto derived all our knowledge of this affair; and, with a liberal
+allowance in respect of their excusable anxiety to make the most of what
+they regard as a godsend at this vapid period of the year, I would
+suspend my judgment till the country shall have had full and authentic
+information concerning the real state of the case. I hope it will prove
+that I for one have altogether mistaken the aspect and bearings of the
+affair. Discarding what may possibly turn out to be greatly exaggerated
+or wholly unfounded, I take it nevertheless for granted, that, (1st,)
+the youngest son of the reigning King of the French was, on the 10th
+instant, married to Donna Luisa, the sister of the reigning Queen of
+Spain, and heiress-presumptive to her crown; (2dly,) That this was done
+after and in spite of the distinct emphatic protest of the British
+government, conveyed to those of both Spain and France; (3dly,) That the
+British government and the British ambassadors at Madrid and Paris had
+been kept in profound ignorance of the whole affair up to the moment of
+the annunciation to the world at large of the fact, that the marriage
+had been finally--irrevocably determined upon. I think it, moreover,
+highly probable, that (1st,) this marriage is regarded by the people of
+Spain with sullen dislike and distrust; (2dly,) that there has been
+cruel coercion upon the two royal girls--for such they are--the result
+of an intrigue between their Mother, the notorious Christina, and Louis
+Philippe; (3dly,) that an express or implied promise was personally
+given, during the last year, at the Chateau d'Eu, by the French king and
+his minister, to our queen and her minister, that this event should
+_not_ take place;--and all this done while England was reposing in
+confident and gratified security, upon the supposed "_cordial
+understanding_" between herself and France; in contemptuous disregard of
+England's title to be consulted in such an affair, founded upon her
+stupendous sacrifices and exertions on behalf of the peace and liberty
+of Spain, and in deliberate defiance--as it appears to me--of the treaty
+of Utrecht! What is Louis Philippe about? On what principles are we to
+account for his conduct? Has he counted the cost of obtaining his
+immediate object? Has he calculated the consequences with respect to
+France and to Europe generally? Is he prepared, at the proper time, to
+demonstrate, that the step which he has taken is consistent with his
+character for sincerity and straight-forwardness--with his personal
+honour and welfare--with the honour and welfare of his family and of
+France? That he has not violated any pledge, or infringed any treaty?
+That England is not warranted in considering herself aggrieved,
+slighted, insulted? That he could have had no sinister object in view,
+and that his conduct has been consistent with his loud professions of
+friendship and respect for this country and its sovereign? Let him ask
+himself the startling question, whether he can afford to lose our
+friendship and support towards himself or his family and dynasty, in his
+rapidly declining years--or further, provoke our settled anger and
+hostility? England is frank and generous, but somewhat stern and
+sensitive in matters of honour and fidelity; and none is abler than
+Louis Philippe to appreciate the consequences of her resentment. Is he
+aware of the altered feeling towards him which his recent conduct has
+generated in this country? That his name, when coupled with that
+conduct, is mentioned only with the contempt and disgust due to gross
+insincerity, selfishness, and treachery; and that, too, in a country
+which, up to within a few months ago, gave him such unequivocal and
+gratefully-recognised tokens of respect and affection? Whenever he
+escaped from the hand of the assassin, where was the event hailed with
+such profound sympathy as here? _Now_, his name suggests to us only that
+of his execrable father, and reminds us that the blood running in his
+veins is that of Philip Egalite. Surely the equipoise of European
+interests has been seriously disturbed, either through the insane
+recklessness of an avaricious monarch, bent on enriching every member
+of his family, at all hazards, or in furtherance of a deep and
+long-considered scheme, having for its exclusive and sinister object the
+aggrandisement of his family and nation. Had he come to a secret
+understanding beforehand with America, or any European power, to support
+him throughout the consequences which might ensue? Was it his object to
+crush English influence in the Peninsula, and render it at no distant
+period a mere French province, and give him a right or pretext for
+interference? What will the Spanish nation say to what he has done? Has
+he rightly estimated the Spanish character, and foreseen the
+consequences of what he has done, in perpetrating an _abduction_ of
+their Infanta? What prospects has he opened for Spain? Has he considered
+what a line of policy is now open to Great Britain, with reference to
+Spain? Whether the northern powers of Europe will _announce_
+dissatisfaction at this proceeding remains to be seen. They cannot
+_feel_ satisfaction, unless their relations and policy towards this
+country and France are assuming a new character. I should like to know
+what M. Guizot really thinks on all these subjects, and am curious to
+hear what he will say--or rather suffer his royal master to coerce him
+into saying--when the time shall have arrived for public explanation. I
+trust that it will speedily appear that our representatives in Spain and
+France have acted, as became them, with promptitude, prudence, and
+spirit, and that neither our late nor present foreign Secretary has been
+guilty of neglect or bungling diplomacy, so as to place us now in a
+position of serious embarrassment, or ridiculous inability for action.
+If the contrary be the case--that is, if no such compromise of our
+national interests have occurred, and we are now free to say and do what
+we may consider consistent with our rights and character, it is to be
+hoped that our government, by whomsoever carried on, will act on the one
+hand with dignified and uncompromising determination, and on the other
+with the utmost possible circumspection. They have to deal with a very
+subtle and dangerous intriguer in Louis Philippe, who seems to have
+chosen a moment for the development of his plans most convenient for
+himself--viz., when our Parliament was newly prorogued, not to meet
+again till he should have had the benefit of the chapter of accidents.
+All will, however, assuredly come out; and if the main features of the
+case prove to have been already shadowed forth truly, I do not think
+that there will be found two opinions in this country upon the subject
+of Louis Philippe and his Montpensier marriage. It is represented by,
+_one_ of our journals as an event, the hubbub about which "will soon
+blow over;" but I do not think so--it appears, on the contrary, pregnant
+with very serious and far-stretching consequences--the first of which is
+the undoubted conversion of the "cordial understanding" between England
+and France, into a very "cordial _mis_understanding,"--with all its
+embarrassing and threatening incidents. Our diplomatic relations are now
+chilled and disordered; and the worst of it is, not by a temporary, but
+_permanent_ cause--one which, the more we contemplate it, the more
+distinctly we perceive the consequences which it was _meant_ should
+follow from it. The bearing of England towards France has become one of
+stern and guarded caution. In all human probability, Louis Philippe will
+never look again upon the face of our Queen Victoria, or partake of her
+hospitalities, or be permitted to pour his dulcet deceit into her ears.
+He may affect to regard with satisfaction and exultation the fact of his
+having become the father-in-law of the heiress-presumptive to the throne
+of Spain: but I do not think that he can really regard what he has just
+accomplished otherwise than with rapidly-increasing misgiving. "A few
+months," to adopt the language of one of our most powerful journalists,
+"will now probably show us how far Louis Philippe has succeeded in a
+feat which foiled the undying ambition of Louis le Grand, and the
+unexampled might of Napoleon; and what is the real value of the spoil
+for which he has not hesitated to imperil a thirty years' peace, and
+convulse the relations of Europe?" Let me return, however, to the topic
+which led me into this subject, and express again my deep anxiety for
+the efficient management of our navy: adding a significant fact
+disclosed by the last number of _La Presse_--which announces that the
+Minister of Marine has just concluded contracts for ship-timber to be
+supplied to the ports of Toulon, Cherbourg, Brest, L'Orient, and
+Rochefort, to the extent of upwards of 25,000,000 francs, (_i.e._
+upwards of a million sterling.) Does Louis Philippe meditate leaving to
+France the destructive legacy of a war with England, as a hoped-for
+prevention of the civil war which he may expect to ensue upon his death?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+If I were to write a diary here, it would be after the following sort:--
+
+_Monday._--Another shark! Mercy on us! What a brute! But not so big as
+the other.
+
+_Tuesday._--We had capital honey this morning to breakfast; eightpence
+per lb.--freshly expressed from the wax, and got from Granny Jolter's
+farm.
+
+_Wednesday._--My _Times_ did not come by to-day's post, and I feel I
+don't know how.
+
+_Thursday._--The "hot crab" which we had at the parsonage, where we
+dined to-day, was exquisite. The way it is done is--the whole of the
+inside, and the claws, having been mixed together with a little rich
+gravy, (sometimes cream is used;) curry-_paste_, not curry-powder, and
+very fine fried crumbs of bread, is put into the shell of the crab and
+then _salamandered_. If _my_ cook can do it on my return to town, I will
+give her half-a-crown.
+
+_Friday._--Nothing whatever happened; but it looked a little like rain,
+over the downs, about four o'clock in the afternoon.
+
+_Saturday._--A day of incidents. Ten o'clock A.M.--The coast-guard man
+told me, that about five o'clock this morning, as he was coming along
+---- cliff, a young fox popped out of a thicket close at his feet,
+looked "quite steady-like at him for about five seconds," and then ran
+back into the furze.
+
+Eleven o'clock.--Saw a Cockney "gent" on a walking tour, the first of
+the sort that I have seen in these parts, and he looked frightened at
+the solitariness of the scene. Every thing that he had on seemed new: a
+dandified shining hat; a kind of white pea-jacket; white trowsers;
+fawn-coloured, gloves; little cloth boots tipped with shining French
+polished leather; a very slight umbrella covered with oil-skin; and a
+little telescope in a leathern case, slung round his waist. He fancied,
+as he passed me, that he had occasion to use a gossamer white
+pocket-handkerchief, with a fine border to it; for he took it out of an
+outside breast-pocket, and unfolded it deliberately and jauntily. Whence
+came he, I wonder? He cannot walk four miles further, poor fellow! for
+evidently walking does not agree with him: yet he must, or sit down and
+cry in this out-of-the-way place.
+
+Two o'clock.--Tickler caught a little crab among the rocks. It got hold
+of his nose, and bothered him.
+
+Four o'clock.--As I was sitting on a tumble-down sort of gate, talking
+earnestly with my little boy, I heard some vehicle approaching--looked
+up as it turned the corner of the road, and behold--Her Gracious Majesty
+Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and one or two other persons, without
+outriders or any sort of state whatever! She was dressed exceedingly
+plain, and was laughing heartily at something said to her by a
+well-known nobleman who walked beside the carriage. I never saw her
+Majesty looking to so much advantage: in high spirits, with a fine fresh
+colour, and her hair a _little_ deranged by the wind. She and her little
+party seemed surprised at seeing any one in such an out-of-the-way
+place, and her Majesty and the Prince returned our obeisances with
+particular courtesy.
+
+Half-past Five.--Nick Irons met me with a large viper which he had just
+killed, after it had flown at his dog. Is there any difference between
+vipers and adders?
+
+A quarter past Six.--On arriving at home, found a hot crab, which had
+been sent in to us, as an addition to our dinner, from the parsonage. I
+lick my lips while thinking of it. I prefer the cream to the gravy.
+
+Half-past six.--Find I have got only three bottles of port and two of
+sherry left!
+
+Nine o'clock.--My four gallon cask of elderberry wine, made for me--and
+capitally made, too--by one of the villagers, came home. We are to put a
+quart of brandy in it, and "take care it don't _forment_." I fancy I see
+ourselves and the children regaling ourselves with it on the winter's
+evenings, in town. Altogether it has cost me twelve shillings and
+sixpence!
+
+Quarter past Nine.--Children go to bed; I had the candles brought in,
+resolved to read the new number of the ----; but fell asleep directly,
+and never woke till half-past twelve o'clock, when I knew not where I
+was; being in darkness--and alone. Really a journal of this sort is,
+upon consideration, so instructive and entertaining, that I wish to know
+whether you would like me to keep one during my next sojourn at the
+seaside and publish it in _Maga_? I would undertake not to exceed three
+numbers of _Maga_, each Part to contain only twenty pages.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+MISS STRICKLAND _v._ LORD CAMPBELL.
+
+Will his lordship favour the world with some reply to this clever and
+laborious lady's accusation contained in her letter to the _Times_? That
+letter is exceedingly specific and pointed in the charge of literary
+larceny, and committed under circumstances which every consideration of
+candour, gallantry, and literary character, concurs in rendering Lord
+Campbell's complete exculpation a matter of serious consequence to his
+reputation. Has he, or has he not, designedly appropriated to his own
+use, as the fruits of his own original research, the results of a
+literary fellow-labourer's meritorious and pains-taking original
+investigation--that fellow-labourer, too, being a lady? I sincerely hope
+that Lord Campbell's first literary attempt will prove not to be thus
+discreditably signalized. His book _is yet_ unnoticed in _Maga_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+According to that good old intelligible English saying, it is this
+morning _raining cats and dogs_. There's an end, Tickler, to our
+intended eighteen-mile walk (thither and back) to the lighthouse, the
+machinery of which I was very anxious to explain to you. _Bow, wow, wow,
+wow!_ indeed! I know what you mean, you little sinner! You want to be
+after the rabbits in yonder thickets, and you mean to intimate that you
+can go perfectly well by yourself, don't mind the rain, and will come
+safely home when you have finished your sport. Don't look so earnestly
+at me, and whine so piteously. By the way, do you call yourself a vermin
+dog? and yet every hair of your shaggy coat stood on end the other day,
+when I turned out for you the two pennyworth of mice--_mice!_--which I
+had bought for you from Nick Irons? What would you have done if a RAT
+were to meet you? Bah, you little wretch! Where's your spirit? Refined,
+and refined away by breeding, eh? What would you have done if you were
+to be allowed to go off now, and were to rout out accidentally a
+hedgehog, as _Hermit_ did yesterday? You may well whine! He's five times
+your size, eh? But I've seen a terrier that would tackle a hedgehog, and
+bring him home, too--your own second cousin, Tory, poor dear dog--peace
+to his little ashes. Besides, to return to the rabbits--in spite of all
+your snuffing and smelling, and scampering, and routing about, you never
+turned up a rabbit yet! And even our kitten has only to rise and curve
+her little back, and you slink away, like an arrant coward as you
+are--Well!--come along, doggy! you're a good little creature, with all
+your faults--these black eyes of yours, with your little erect ears,
+look as if you had really understood all that I have been saying to
+you--so I really think--and yet--pour! pour! pour!--[Enter Emily.]
+
+_Emily._--Papa, Miss ---- says that we have said _all_ our lessons, and
+_will_ you let us have Tickler to play with?
+
+_Tickler._--Bow--wow--wow!--Bow, wow!--Bow! bow! bow!--[Running up and
+scampering towards her, and they go away together.]
+
+_Servant._--Brown has called with some lobsters, sir--(shows them)--two
+very nice ones, and a small crab--only fifteenpence the lot.
+
+_Self._--Very well--buy 'em.
+
+_Wife._--(Entering)--Lobsters and crabs again! Really one would think
+that you had had a surfeit of them long ago.
+
+_Servant._--Brown says, sir, he mayn't be able to get any more for some
+time, the wind's so high.
+
+_Wife._--Oh, buy them, of course! Every thing is bought that comes here!
+That's eleven crabs this week!
+
+_Self._--What have you got there, my Xantippe?
+
+_Wife._--I wish you would drop that odious name.
+
+_Self._--What have you there, my Angel?
+
+_Wife._--No, _that_ won't do either.
+
+_Self._--Well, Fanny, then--what have you got there?
+
+_Wife._--Why, 'tis the new work of Mr Dickens--_Dombey & Son._ What an
+odd name for a tale!
+
+_Self._--Why, how did you get it?
+
+_Wife._--Mrs ---- (at the parsonage) has just got a packet of books from
+town, and has lent us this, as it is a wet day, till the evening, and
+they have got lots to read at present.
+
+_Self._--I am very much obliged to them.
+
+_Wife._--So am I, for I want to read it first; manners, if you please.
+
+_Self._--Come, come, Fanny, I really want it; I've a good deal of
+curiosity.
+
+_Wife._--So have I, too!
+
+_Self._--Well, at any rate, let me look at the plates.
+
+_Wife._--Certainly; and suppose, by the way, as I've no letter to
+write--suppose I sit down with you, and read it to you! 'Twill save your
+eyes, and I'm all alone in the other room.
+
+_Self._--Very well. [Madame shuts the door; seats herself on the
+miniature sofa; I poke the fire; and she begins.] Being called away soon
+afterwards on some domestic exigency, she leaves me--and I read for
+myself. You said that you should like to know my opinion of Mr Dickens'
+new story, and I read it with interest, and some care. 'Tis exactly what
+I had expected; containing clear evidence of original genius, disfigured
+by many most serious, and now plainly incurable, blemishes. The first
+thing striking me, on perusing this new performance, is, that its author
+writes, as it were, from amidst a thick theatrical mist. Cursed be the
+hour--should say a sincere admirer of Mr Dickens' genius--that he ever
+set foot within a theatre, or became intimate with theatrical people.
+You fancy that every scene, incident, and character, is conceived with a
+view to its _telling_--from the stage. This suggestion seems to me to
+afford a key to most of the prominent faults and deficiencies of Mr
+Dickens as an imaginative writer; the lamentable absence of that
+simplicity and sobriety which invest the writings, for instance, of
+Goldsmith with immortal freshness and beauty. With what truthful
+tenderness does _such_ a writer depict nature!--how different is his
+treatment from the spasmodic, straining, extravagant, vulgarizing
+efforts of the play-wright! The one is delicate and exquisite limning;
+the other, gross daubing:--the one faithfully represents; the other
+monstrously caricatures. This is the case with Mr Dickens; and it is
+intolerably provoking that it should be so; for he has the penetrating
+eye and accurate pencil, which--properly disciplined and trained--might
+have produced pictures worthy to stand beside those of the greatest
+masters. As it is, you might imagine his sketches to be the result of
+the combined simultaneous efforts of two artists--one the delicate
+limner, the other the vulgar dauber and scene-painter above spoken of.
+He has invention and skill enough to produce an interesting character;
+and place him in a situation favourable for developing his
+eccentricities, his failings, his excellences--in a word, his
+peculiarities. Well; he prepares his reader's mind--sets before you an
+interesting, a moving, a mirth-stirring occasion, when--bah!--all is
+ruined; the spasmodic straining after effect becomes instantly and
+painfully visible; and the personage before you is made to talk to the
+level of a theatrical audience, especially pit and gallery--and in
+unison with "gingerbeer, apples, oranges, and sodawater" associations
+and recollections. Let me give two striking instances, occurring at the
+very opening of "_Dombey and Son_." The first is the colloquy at pp. 3,
+4; the other at p. 9. The former presents you Dr Parker Peps, a
+fashionable accoucheur, and the humble admiring family medical man--the
+occasion being a momentary absence of both from the clamber of a lady
+dying in childbed, Mrs Dombey; and can any one of correct taste or
+feeling bear in mind that occasion, and fail of being revolted by the
+drivel put into the mouth of the consulting accoucheur?--who, when
+telling Mr Dombey of the mortal peril in which his wife overhead is
+lying--apologises to him for speaking of her as "_Her Grace the
+Duchess!_" "_Lady Cankaby_," "_The Countess of Dombey_:" his obsequious
+companion accounting for such lapses on the score of his "West End
+practice." Is this nature? Is it actual life? Any thing approaching to
+either? If not, what is it meant for? Why, to tickle a Christmas
+audience at one of the minor playhouses! The other (these are only two
+out of many) is the character of Mr Chick, an old fool, who has a habit
+of whistling and humming droll tunes on the most solemn occasions,
+interrupting and interlarding conversation with "_Right tol loor-rul_,"
+"_A cobbler there was_," "_Rumpti-iddity bow, wow, wow!_" is it not
+certain that Mr Dickens here had his eye on Tilbury or Bedford enacting
+the part? And for no other purpose whatever is this precious character
+introduced than to hit off this very original peculiarity! From the same
+theatrical habit of mind, it happens that Mr Dickens cannot carry on his
+stories in an even, straightforward course, but presents us with a
+series of "scenes!"--utterly marring the effect and annihilating the
+truthfulness and reality of the whole; _e. g._ the jarring interruption
+of this story at a touching and interesting moment--at the moment of the
+two doctors and Mr Dombey's return to poor Mrs Dombey's death-bed, when
+the reader _feels_ that they are almost instantly to witness her death,
+by the introduction of two tiresome twaddlers, reproductions of old
+stock characters of the author, Mrs Chick and Miss Tox, whose
+descriptions and utterly irrelevant conversation detain us for nearly
+three pages. At length these motley "stagers"--if I may be allowed the
+word--are grouped round the poor lady's death-bed; and let me here say,
+that in my opinion the character and situation of poor Mrs Dombey are
+both exquisitely conceived, and appeal to the deepest sympathies of the
+heart; but, alas! the perverse, provoking, incorrigible writer will not
+let us enjoy "the luxury of grief;" but while we are bending over her
+death-bed, our attention is called off to a remarkably interesting and
+appropriate circumstance--two watches of two of the doctors "seem in the
+silence to be _running a race_!" * * "they seem to be racing faster!!" *
+* "The race, in the ensuing pause, was fierce and furious. The watches
+seemed to jostle, and to trip each other up!!!" and a moment or two
+afterwards the lady expires, under very moving circumstances, touched
+with perfect delicacy and truthfulness. Would the intrusion of a sow
+into a lovely flower-garden be more shocking or disgusting to the
+beholder? Again, in the first page, we are presented to Mr Dombey,
+gazing with unutterable feelings at his newly-born son, "forty-eight
+minutes of age;" and Mr Dickens tastefully suggests the comparison of
+the little creature, which is "somewhat _crushed and spotty_ in his
+general effect!!" whose mother is at that moment in dying agonies in
+that very room, to "a _muffin_, which it was essential to toast brown
+while it was very new!!" And a few lines forward, the posture of the
+innocent unconscious little being suggests the brutal idea of a
+_prize-fighter_--his "little fists, curled up and clenched, seemed, in
+his feeble way, to be SQUARING AT EXISTENCE for having come upon him so
+unexpectedly!!!" Was ever any thing more monstrous? To find a gentleman
+of Mr Dickens' great genius, and experience in literary composition,
+sinning in this way, is provoking beyond all measure. The above
+abominations to be perpetrated by him, who at page seventeen can present
+us with so exquisite a touch as the following:--He is describing the
+blank appearance of the dismantled house, immediately after the funeral
+of the poor, neglected, and heart-broken lady. "The dead and buried lady
+was awful, in a picture frame of ghastly bandages. Every gust of wind
+that rose, brought eddying round the corner, from the neighbouring mews,
+some fragments of the straw that had been strewn before the house when
+she was ill; mildewed remains of which were still cleaving to the
+neighbourhood, and these being always drawn by some invisible attraction
+to the threshold of the dirty house to let opposite, addressed a dismal
+eloquence to Mr Dombey's window." The thirty-two pages of this first
+number contain very many provocatives to unfavourable criticism. They
+bristle all over with mannerisms--abound with grotesque, unseemly,
+extravagant comparisons and personation, (one of Mr Dickens' chiefly
+besetting sins)--many of the scenes contain truth and humour, smothered
+and lost by prolixity, incident and character diluted by a tedious and
+excessive minuteness of description; and it is to be feared that several
+of the characters will bear a painfully strong resemblance to some of
+their predecessors in Mr Dickens' other stories. Mr Dickens may feel
+angry at my plainness; and, in return, I must express my fears that he
+is not aware of the extent of injury which has been inflicted upon him
+by _clique-homage_--the flattery of fluent, incompetent admirers--the
+misconstrued silence of critics of experienced taste and refinement.
+Does Mr Dickens really consider the light in which his writings,
+containing such faults as those above adverted to, must be viewed by the
+upper and thinking classes of society--persons of cultivated taste, of
+refinement, of piercing critical capacity, who disdain to enter the
+little, babbling, vulgar, narrow-minded circles miscalled "literary?"
+
+But I have done. Mr Dickens has been magnificently patronised by the
+public, who--I being one of them--have a right to speak plainly to, and
+of a gentleman whose writings have so large a circulation at home and
+abroad; who has no excuse, that I am aware of, for negligence or
+inattention; who is bound to consider the effect of example on the minds
+of tens of thousands of young and inexperienced readers who may take all
+for gospel that he chooses to tell them--and to be very very guarded as
+to moral object or effect--if moral object or effect his writings have,
+and be not intended solely to provoke, by their amusing and farcical
+absurdity and extravagance, an idle and forgotten laugh. I have no
+personal acquaintance with Mr Dickens, and have written in an impartial
+spirit, paying homage to his undoubted genius, denouncing his literary
+faults--for his own good, and the advantage of his readers, and of the
+literary character of the country.
+
+Speaking of the literary character of the country, puts me in mind of
+the intention which I had formed some months ago, of writing an article
+upon the prevalent style of literary composition. May I take _this_
+opportunity of making a few observations upon that subject? And yet I
+must first admit, that my own style in writing this letter is far more
+loose, and inexact, and slovenly, than ought to be tolerated in even
+such a letter as this. Herein, however, I only imitate Dr Whately, who,
+on arriving at that part of his "rhetoric" which deals with public
+speaking, starts with an admission that he himself does not possess the
+qualifications, the acquisition of which he proceeds to enforce upon
+others.
+
+The writing of the present day has many distinguishing excellences and
+faults. The most conspicuous of the latter is, perhaps, a want of
+simplicity and steadiness of style. Force--startling energy--are too
+uniformly aimed at by some; others affect continual sarcasm and irony,
+whatever may be the nature of the occasion. One class of writers are so
+priggishly curt and epigrammatic as to throw over their lucubrations an
+uniform air of small impertinence: it would be easy to point out, I
+think, an incessant illustration of this "school," if one may use the
+word. Others uniformly affect the trenchant and tremendous, with very
+big words, and awful accumulations of them. Some seem to aim at a
+picturesque ruggedness of style--defying rule, and challenging
+imitation. Very many writers of all classes are so parenthetical and
+involved in their sentences, that by the time that they have got to the
+end of a sentence, both they and their readers have forgotten where they
+set out from, and how the plague they got where they are: looking back
+breathless and dismayed at a confused series of hyphens entangled among
+all sorts of exceptions, reservations, and qualifications. This fault,
+and a grievous one it is, is daily illustrated, and by writers, who, by
+their carelessness in this matter, do themselves incalculable injustice,
+rendering apparently turbid the clearest possible stream of reasoning,
+marring the effect of the most beautiful and apposite illustration, and
+irritating and confusing the reader. In my opinion, this fault of our
+public writers is to be traced to the influence of Lord Brougham's
+style. He has, and always had, a prodigious command of nervous and
+apposite language, always writing or speaking with a violent _impetus_
+upon him; and yet, while crashing along, his versatile and suggestive
+faculties hurried him incessantly from one side to the other, hither and
+thither--anticipating _this_, qualifying that, guarding against _this_,
+reserving that--extruding undesirable implications and inferences, with
+a sort of wild rapidity and energy--adopting ever-varying fanciful
+equivalent expressions--crowding, in fact, a dozen considerable
+sentences into one turbid monster. Yet it must be owned, that in all
+this he seldom misses his way; his original _impetus_ carries him
+headlong on to the point at which he had aimed. Not so with his
+imitators. They start with an imaginary equality of force, of fulness,
+and variety; but forthwith rush into a strange higgle-piggledy,
+helter-skelter sort of imposing wordiness, equally bewildering and
+stupifying to their readers and themselves. No man can fall into this
+sort of fault who is habituated to leisurely distinctness of thought: he
+will conceive beforehand with deliberate purpose, and that, _caeteris
+paribus_, will induce a clear, close, and energetic expression of his
+thoughts, preventing misapprehension, and convincing even a strongly
+prejudiced opponent. Shorten your sentences, gentlemen; take one thing
+at a time; put every thing in its proper place; attempt not to _put a
+quart into a pint pot_; do not write in such a desperate hurry, nor
+attempt to hit half-a-dozen birds with one stone. Another prevalent vice
+is a sickening redundancy of classical quotation and allusion. Many of
+our newspaper writers, and among them some of the very cleverest, cannot
+contemplate any topic which they propose to discuss, without its
+suggesting, as if by a sudden, secret sort of elective affinity,
+previous events and occurrences of past ages. Out tumble scraps from
+Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Terence, Plautus, Lucretius, with their prose
+companions; and this, too, be it observed, almost always _Roman_;--it
+requires a certain hardihood to adopt the Greek language in modern
+composition. In short, one really thinks himself entitled to infer, from
+this extravagant amount of quotation and allusion, as well ancient as
+modern, that its perpetrators are very young: red-hot from their
+classical studies, panting to exhibit the extent of their acquisitions,
+the scholarly ease and precision with which they can apply the most
+recondite passages and allusions to the fresh occurrences of the moment.
+One is apt to suspect that one great motive for acquiring, extending,
+and retaining knowledge, is the simple desire to exhibit the possession
+of it. But all this is very vain and foolish. It looks stupidly
+ridiculous to persons of experienced judgment. An occasional and very
+sparing use of this sort of accessory is always desirable, often
+marvellously graceful and happy; an excess of it decisively indicates
+pedantic puerility, ostentation, and a grievous deficiency of strength
+and originality. It is likely, moreover, to have a very unpleasant and
+irritating effect, when apparent in popular compositions--in leading or
+other articles in newspapers, for instance--viz. on occasions where the
+persons addressed, or at least very many of them, do not comprehend or
+appreciate the allusion or quotation. A really classical turn of mind is
+usually accompanied by too fine and correct a taste to admit of these
+eccentricities and vagaries. The English language is a very fine
+language, my friends; and a very, _very_ fine and rare thing it is to be
+able to use it with freedom, and purity, and power. Another very
+censurable kindred habit of many of our public writers is, the
+interlarding their compositions with abominable scraps of French, and
+even of Italian. Faugh!--is not this adding insult to injury, in dealing
+with the noble language of our country?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A week has elapsed since I penned the foregoing sentences, and during
+that week only two things have occurred to me worthy of noticing. First,
+a couple (apparently newly married) put up for a few hours at the little
+inn in the village. They were both of a certain age. _He_ wore a
+ponderous watch-chain and seals; she also was sufficiently bedizened
+after the same fashion. Twice I encountered them. First, on the
+seashore, where they took their seat very coolly on the rock next
+adjoining _my_ old perch, which I was then occupying. After some
+considerable swagger, my gentleman produced a newspaper from his pocket,
+and distinctly said to his fair companion--"What an uncommon good thing
+the Illus_trious London News_ is for the lower classes!" Second, the
+worthy couple were walking together, at a subsequent period of the day,
+laden with provender for an open-air lunch--with sandwiches and a black
+bottle, and with a matter-of-fact air, turned into a beautifully
+disposed rustic walk, having palpable _indicia_ of privacy--it
+belonging, in fact, to the residence of a nobleman. My lord's gentleman,
+or gentleman's gentleman, happening to meet them, (I passing at the
+time,) asked them, with great courtesy of manner, if they were aware
+"that that was private property?" "Well," replied our male friend
+angrily, "and what if it is? I thought an Englishman might go any where
+he pleased in his own country, _provided he didn't do any mischief_. But
+come along, my dear," giving his arm to his flustered companion, "times
+are come to a pretty pass, aren't they?" With this, the offended
+dignities retraced their steps, but prodigiously slowly, and I saw no
+more of them.--The other occurrence was a dream, as odd, as obstinate in
+adherence to my memory. Methought I went one day to church to hear a
+revered elderly relative of mine preach. The church was crammed with an
+attentive and solemnly-disposed audience, whom the preacher was
+addressing very calmly but seriously, without gown or bands, but wearing
+two neckerchiefs, one resting upon the topmost edge of the other, and
+being of blue silk, with white spots! Though aware of this slight
+departure from clerical costume, it occasioned me no surprise, but I
+listened with serious attention. 'Twas only when I had awoke that the
+fantastic absurdity of the thing became apparent.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The "British Association" has just been making, at Southampton, as I see
+by the papers, one of its annual exhibitions of childish inanity. This
+sort of thing appears to me to be humiliating to the country, in respect
+of so many men of real scientific eminence, like Sir John Herschel and
+Dr Faraday, and one or two others, permitting themselves to be trotted
+out on such occasions for the amusement of the vulgar, and, in doing so,
+countenancing the herd of twaddling ninnies who figure on these
+occasions as spouters, or patronising listeners to the fluent confident
+sciolists of the various "sections." I can fancy one of these personages
+carefully bottling up against the day of display, some such precious
+discovery as that of "a peculiar appearance in the flame of a
+candle!"--which actually formed the subject of a paper at the last
+meeting; or, "on certain magnetic phenomena attending corns on the human
+foot,"--which latter, after a stiff debate as to the propriety of
+publishing it, is not, it seems, at present, to edify the world at
+large. The whole thing is resolvable into a paltry love of lionising,
+and being lionised--of enacting the part of prodigies before pretty
+admiring women, and simpering simpletons of the other sex. 'Tis an
+efflorescence of that vicious system which of late years continually
+manifests itself in the shape of flaunting _reunions_, _soirees_,
+_conversazioni_, &c. &c., where is to be heard little else than senile
+garrulity, the gabble of ignorant eulogy, or virulent envious
+depreciation and detraction. 'Tis true that distinguished scientific
+foreigners now and then make their appearance at the meetings of the
+Association; but there can be little doubt that they come over in utter
+ignorance of the really trifling character of those meetings, misled by
+the eager exaggerations of their friends and correspondents in this
+country. Can you conceive any thing more preposterous in its way, than
+the chartering of the steam-boat by the Association, to convey its
+members from Southampton to the Isle of Wight on a geological
+expedition? Methinks I see the crowd of "venerable boys"--to adopt the
+bitterly-humorous language of the _Times_--landing at Black Gang Chine,
+each with his bag slung round him, and hammer in hand, dispersing about,
+rap! rap! rap!--chick! chick! chick!--and fondly fancying that they are
+effectually learning, or teaching, geology, in the hour or two thus
+idled away! _Can_ any thing be more exquisitely absurd? Bah! all this
+might be harmless and pleasant enough, in the way of a holiday
+recreation for school-boys or girls; but for grave, grown-up men--peers,
+baronets, knights, doctors, F.R.S., F.A.S.'s, &c. &c.,--the thing really
+does not bear dwelling upon.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I can have no hesitation, to whatever amount of obloquy, or of
+forfeited friendship, the avowal may expose me, in stating the
+conclusion, which anxious and repeated consideration of the state of
+Ireland has at length forced upon me, (_Cheers._) It is, that the time
+has arrived for reconsidering the state of our relations with Ireland,
+with a view to a repeal of the Legislative Union between the two
+countries, (_Hear, hear._) I see no other adequate remedy for the ills
+which desolate that unhappy country, and think that such a step would
+also happily free England from a burden long felt to be intolerable,
+(_Hear._) I am fortified in arriving at this result, by a review of the
+favourable effects produced on Ireland by the measures which, during the
+last few years, I have had the honour to bring forward in this house,
+and see carried into effect by the legislature, (_Cheers._) I am aware
+that this avowal may startle some of the more timid (_hear, hear_) of
+those gentlemen who have usually done me the honour to act with me; but
+an imperious sense of duty compels me to be prompt and explicit upon
+this vital question, which I am fixedly resolved to settle in the way I
+propose; and I will, for that purpose, avail myself of every means which
+the constitution places at the disposal of her Majesty's responsible
+advisers, (_Cheers._) * * * I claim no credit for proposing this great
+measure of justice and mercy, nor wish to detract from the merit due to
+those whose minds the light of truth and reason reached earlier than
+mine. Whatever credit is due, I have no hesitation in ascribing
+to--_Daniel O'Connell_," (_Cheers._) * * * * Is there a man in the
+empire who would be seriously surprised if he were to hear Sir Robert
+Peel make the above statement in the next session of Parliament, if he
+met the house once more as Prime Minister? And so, in the session after,
+might we expect a similar announcement with reference to the Protestant
+succession to the throne; and then--but by no means to stop even
+there--the conversion of our form of government from a limited monarchy
+into a republic. What, in short, may not be predicted of such a
+statesman as Sir Robert Peel? Who can conceive of him taking his stand
+_any where_? Assisting _any body_ or _any thing_? It pains me to ask,
+whether the history of this country ever saw a man who had done so many
+things, the impropriety and danger of which he had himself uniformly
+beforehand _demonstrated_? Sir Robert Peel has been converted into a
+sort of political pillar of salt--a melancholy instructive memento of
+the evils of unprincipled statesmanship--the former word being used, not
+in a vulgar offensive sense, but as signifying, simply and solely, _the
+absence of any fixed principles of political action_; or the habit of
+action irrespective of principle. I will not, however, pursue this
+painful and humiliating topic further, than to express the deep concern
+and perplexity occasioned to me, amongst hundreds of thousands of
+others, by the recent movements of Sir Robert Peel. I have never thought
+or spoken of him, up even to the present moment, otherwise than with
+sincere respect for his spotless personal character, and the highest
+admiration of his intellectual and administrative qualities. I would
+scout the very faintest insinuation against the purity of his motives,
+at the same time loudly expressing my concern and amazement at
+witnessing such conduct as his, in _such_ a man!
+
+    "Who would not weep if such a man there be--
+    Who would not weep if Atticus were he?"
+
+I said just now, that Sir Robert Peel's signal characteristic was the
+doing things, the impropriety and danger of doing which he had himself
+beforehand demonstrated; and that was the reflection with which I
+yesterday concluded the perusal of a memorable little document which I
+took care to preserve at the time--I mean his national manifesto at the
+general election of 1841, in the shape of his address to the electors of
+Tamworth. Apply it now like a plummet to the edifice of Sir Robert
+Peel's political character; how conclusively it shows the extent to
+which it has diverged or swelled from the perpendicular line of
+right--how much he has departed from the standard which he had himself
+set up! What must be his feelings on recurring to such a declaration as
+this?
+
+"That party," [the Conservative,] "gentlemen, has been pleased to
+intrust your representative with its confidence--(_cheers_;) and,
+notwithstanding all the remarks that have been made at various times,
+respecting differences of opinion and jealousy among them, you may
+depend upon it that they are altogether without foundation; and that
+that party which has paid me the compliment of taking my advice, and
+following my counsel, _are a united and compact party, among which there
+does not exist the slightest difference of opinion in respect to the
+principles they support, and the course they may desire to pursue.
+(Cheers.) Gentlemen, I hope I have not abused the confidence of that
+great party."[66] (Loud cheers.)!!!_ I give the eloquent and eminent
+speaker credit for feeling a sort of twinge, a pang, a spasm, on reading
+the above. One more extract I will give relative to the recent conduct
+of Sir R. Peel on the sugar-duties:--"The question now is, gentlemen,
+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, we shall run the risk of losing the benefit of these
+sacrifices, and _tarnishing for ever that glory_, by admitting to the
+British markets sugar, the produce of foreign slavery? Gentlemen, the
+character of this country, in respect to slavery, is thus spoken of by
+one of the most eloquent writers and statesmen of another country, Dr
+Channing, of the United States:--'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 sink into a more and more narrow space on the records of
+our race. This moral triumph will fill a broader, brighter page.'
+_Gentlemen_," proceeded Sir Robert Peel, "_let us take care that this
+'brighter page' be not sullied by the admission of slave sugar into the
+consumption of this country, by our unnecessary encouragement of slavery
+and the slave-trade._"[67]
+
+Is it not humiliating and distressing to compare these sentences, and
+the lofty spirit which pervades them, with the speech, and the _animus_
+pervading it, delivered by Sir Robert Peel in the House of Commons, on
+Lord John Russell's bringing in his bill for "sullying this bright page"
+of English glory? Did Sir Robert Peel, true to principle, solemnly and
+peremptorily announce the refusal of his assent to that cruel, and
+foolish, and wicked measure? I forbear to press this topic, also
+quitting it, with the expression of my opinion, that that speech alone
+was calculated to do him fearful and irreparable injury in public
+estimation. It is impossible for the most zealous and skilful advocacy
+to frame a plausible vindication of this part of Sir Robert Peel's
+conduct. I sincerely acquit him of having any sinister or impure motive;
+the fact was, simply, that he found that he had placed himself in a dire
+perplexity and dilemma.
+
+I think it next to impossible that Sir Robert Peel can ever again be in
+a position, even if he desired it, to sway the destinies of this
+country, either as a prime minister, or by the force of his personal
+influence and opinion. Has he or has he not done rightly by the
+greatest party that ever gave its noble and ennobling support to a
+minister? Can he himself, in 1846, express the "hope" of 1841, that "he
+has not abused the confidence of that great party?" If he again take
+part in the debates of Parliament, he will always be listened to,
+whoever may be in power, with the interest and attention justly due to
+his masterly acquaintance with the conduct of the public business, most
+especially on matters of finance. But with what involuntary shrinking
+and distrust is his advocacy or defence of any of our great institutions
+likely to be received hereafter by their consistent and devoted friends?
+Will they not be prepared to find the splendid vindication of the
+preceding evening, but the prelude to the next evening's abandonment and
+denunciation? Is not, in short, the national confidence thoroughly
+shaken? His support and advocacy of any great interest are too likely to
+be received with guarded satisfaction--as far as they go, _as long as
+they continue_--not with the enthusiastic confidence due to surpassing
+and consistent statesmanship.
+
+It has sometimes occurred to me, in scrutinising his later movements,
+that one of his set purposes was finally to break up the Conservative
+party, and scatter among it the seeds of future dissension and
+difficulty; possibly thinking, conscientiously, that in the state of
+things which he had brought about, the continued existence of a
+Conservative party with definite points of cohesion, with visible
+acknowledged rallying-points, could no longer be beneficial to the
+country. He may have in his eye the formation of another party, willing
+to accept of his leadership, after another general election; of which
+said new party his present few adherents are to form the nucleus. But I
+do not see how this is to be done. Confounding, for a time, to all party
+connexions and combinations as have been the occurrences of the last
+session, of perhaps the last two sessions, of Parliament, a steady
+watchful eye may already see the two great parties of the state--Liberal
+and Conservatives--readjusting themselves in conformity with their
+respective _general_ views and principles. The Conservative party has at
+the moment a prodigious strength of hold upon the country--not noisy or
+ostentatious, but real, and calculated to have its strength rapidly,
+though secretly, increased by alarmed seceders from the Liberal ranks,
+on seeing the spirit of change become more bold and active, and
+directing its steps towards the regions of revolution and democracy. Sir
+Robert Peel's speech, on resigning office, presented several features of
+an alarming character. Several of his sentences, especially with
+reference to Ireland,
+
+    --"made the boldest hold their breath
+      For a time."
+
+Candid persons did not see in what he was doing, the paltry desire to
+outbid his perplexed successors, but suspected that he was
+designedly--advisedly--laying down visible lines of eternal separation
+between him and his former supporters, rendering it impossible for him
+to return to them, or for them to go over to him; and so at once putting
+an extinguisher upon all future doubts and speculation. To me it
+appeared that the speech in question evidenced an astounding
+revolution--astounding in its suddenness and violence--of the speaker's
+political system; announcing _results_, while other men were only just
+beginning to see the process. Will Sir Robert Peel join Lord John
+Russell? What, serve under him, and become a fellow-subordinate of Lord
+Palmerston's? I think not. What post would be offered to him? What post
+would _he_, the late prime minister, consent to fill under his
+victorious rival? Will, then, Lord John Russell act under Sir Robert
+Peel? Most certainly--at least in my opinion--not. What then is to be
+done, in the event of Sir Robert Peel's being willing to resume official
+life? _Over_ whom, _under_ whom, _with_ whom, is he to act? The
+Conservative party have already elected his successor, Lord Stanley, who
+cannot, who will not be deposed in favour of _any_ one; a man of very
+splendid talents, of long official experience, of lofty personal
+character, of paramount hereditary claims to the support of the
+aristocracy, who has never sacrificed consistency, but rather sacrificed
+every thing for consistency. Ever since he accepted the leadership of
+the great Conservative party, he has evinced a profound sense of its
+responsibilities and requirements, and the possession of these
+qualifications in respect of prudence and moderation, which some had
+formerly doubted. Lord Stanley, then, will continue the Conservative
+leader, and Lord John Russell the Liberal leader; and I doubt whether
+any decisive move will be made till after the ensuing general election.
+What will be the result of it? What will be the rallying-cries of party?
+What will Sir Robert Peel say to the Tamworth electors?
+
+However these questions may be answered, I would, had I the power, speak
+trumpet-tongued to our Conservative friends in every county and borough
+in the kingdom, and say, "up, and be doing." Spare no expense or
+exertion, but do it prudently. Use every instrument of legitimate
+influence--for the stake played for is tremendous; the national
+interests evidently marked out for assault, are vital; and they will
+stand or fall, and we enjoy peace, or be condemned to agitation and
+alarm, according to the result of the next General Election, which will
+assuredly palsy the hands of either the friends or enemies of the best
+interests of the country.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And now, dear Christopher, I draw towards the close of this long letter,
+without having been able even to touch upon several other "_Things_"
+which I had noted down for observation and comment. As my letter draws
+to a close, so also draws rapidly to a close my seaside sojourn. My
+hours of relaxation are numbered. I must return to the busy scenes of
+the metropolis, and resume my interrupted duties. And you, too, have
+returned to the scene of your renown, the sphere of your honourable and
+responsible duties. May your shadow never grow less! _Floreat Maga!_ I
+have done. The old postman, wet through in coming over the hills, is
+waiting for my letter, and, having finished his beer, is fidgeting to be
+off. "What! can't you spare me one five minutes more?" "No,
+sir--impossible--I ought to have been at----an hour ago"
+
+    Farewell then, dear Christopher,
+    Your faithful friend,
+    AN OLD CONTRIBUTOR.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[66] Speech of Sir R. Peel at the Tamworth election, pp. 4,
+5.--Ollivier, Pall-Mall.
+
+[67] _Ibid._ pp. 8, 9.
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Transcribers notes:
+
+Maintained original spelling and punctuation.
+
+Silently corrected a few typesetting errors.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol.
+60, No. 373, November 1846, by Various
+
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