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Vol. 53, No. 328.</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + } + HR { width: 33%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .footnote {margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} /* footnote */ + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */ + .sidenote {width: 20%; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding-left: 1em; font-size: smaller; float: right; clear: right;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 1em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i1 {display: block; margin-left: 0.5em;} + .poem span.i19 {display: block; margin-left: 9.5em;} + .poem span.i23 {display: block; margin-left: 11.5em;} + .poem span.i24 {display: block; margin-left: 12em;} + .poem .caesura {vertical-align: -200%;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. +CCCXXVIII. February, 1843. Vol. LIII., by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXVIII. February, 1843. Vol. LIII. + +Author: Various + +Release Date: July 30, 2004 [EBook #13062] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH *** + + + + +Produced by Jon Ingram, Brendan O'Connor and PG Distributed +Proofreaders. Produced from page scans provided by The Internet +Library of Early Journals. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1>BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.</h1> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2>NO. CCCXXVIII. FEBRUARY, 1843. VOL. LIII.</h2> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<ul> + <li><a href="#bw328s1">ARNOLD'S LECTURES ON HISTORY.</a></li> + <li><a href="#bw328s2">POEMS AND BALLADS OF SCHILLER.—NO. V.</a></li> + <li><a href="#bw328s3">REYNOLDS'S DISCOURSES. PART II.</a></li> + <li><a href="#bw328s4">THE YOUNG GREY HEAD.</a></li> + <li><a href="#bw328s5">IMAGINARY CONVERSATION. BY WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR. OLIVER CROMWELL AND SIR OLIVER CROMWELL</a></li> + <li><a href="#bw328s6">CALEB STUKELY. PART XI.</a></li> + <li><a href="#bw328s7">THE WORLD OF LONDON. SECOND SERIES. PART II.</a></li> + <li><a href="#bw328s8">EYRE'S CABUL.</a></li> + <li><a href="#bw328s9">THE EVACUATION OF AFFGHANISTAN.</a></li> + <li><a href="#bw328s10">DEATH OF THOMAS HAMILTON, ESQ.</a></li> + <li><a href="#bw328-footnotes">[FOOTNOTES]</a></li> +</ul> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h3>EDINBURGH: WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS.</h3> + +<hr style='width: 100%;' /> +<a class="pagenum" name="page141" id="page141" title="141"></a> +<a name="bw328s1" id="bw328s1"></a><h2>ARNOLD'S LECTURES ON HISTORY.</h2> + +<p>If any doubt could exist as to the nature +of the loss which the premature +death of Dr Arnold has inflicted on +the literature of his country, the perusal +of the volume before us must be +sufficient to show how great, how serious, +nay, all circumstances taken together, +we had almost said how irreparable, +it ought to be considered. +Recently placed in a situation which +gave his extraordinary faculties as a +teacher still wider scope than they +before possessed, at an age when the +vivacity and energy of a commanding +intellect were matured, not chilled, by +constant observation and long experience—gifted +with industry to collect, +with sagacity to appreciate, with +skill to arrange the materials of history—master +of a vivid and attractive +style for their communication and display—eminent, +above all, for a degree +of candour and sincerity which gave +additional value to all his other endowments—what +but leisure did Dr +Arnold require to qualify him for a +place among our most illustrious authors? +Under his auspices, we might +not unreasonably have hoped for +works that would have rivalled those +of the great continental writers in +depth and variety of research; in +which the light of original and contemporaneous +documents would be +steadily flung on the still unexplored +portions of our history; and that +Oxford would have balanced the fame +of Schlösser and Thierry and Sismondi, +by the labours of a writer peculiarly, +and, as this volume proves, +most affectionately her own.</p> + +<p>The first Lecture in the present +volume is full of striking and original +remarks, delivered with a delightful +simplicity; which, since genius has become +rare among us, has almost disappeared +from the conversation and +writings of Englishmen. Open the +pages of Herodotus, or Xenophon, or +Cæsar, and how plain, how unpretending +are the preambles to their immortal +works—in what exquisite proportion +does the edifice arise, without +apparent effort, without ostentatious +struggle, without, if the allusion may +be allowed, the sound of the axe or +hammer, till "the pile stands fixed +her stately height" before us—the just +admiration of succeeding ages! But +our modern <i>filosofastri</i> insist upon +stunning us with the noise of their +machinery, and blinding us with the +dust of their operations. They will +not allow the smallest portion of their +vulgar labours to escape our notice. +They drag us through the chaos of +sand and lime, and stone and bricks, +which they have accumulated, hoping +that the magnitude of the preparation +may atone for the meanness of the performance. +<a class="pagenum" name="page142" id="page142" title="142"></a>Very different from this +is the style of Dr Arnold. We will +endeavour to exhibit a just idea of his +views, so far as they regard the true +character of history, the manner in +which it should be studied, and the +events by which his theory is illustrated. +To study history as it should be +studied, much more to write history +as it should be written, is a task which +may dignify the most splendid abilities, +and occupy the most extended life.</p> + +<p>Lucian in one of his admirable +treatises, ridicules those who imagine +that any one who chooses may sit +down and write history as easily as +he would walk or sleep, or perform +any other function of nature,</p> + +<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'> +<span>"Thought, to the man that never thinks, may seem<br /></span> +<span>As natural as when asleep to dream."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>From the remarks of this greatest +of all satirists, it is manifest that, in +his days, history had been employed, +as it has in ours, for the purposes of +slander and adulation. He selects +particularly a writer who compared, +in his account of the Persian wars, +the Roman emperor to Achilles, his +enemy to Thersites; and if Lucian +had lived in the present day, he would +have discovered that the race of such +writers was not extinguished. He +might have found ample proofs that +the detestable habit still prevails of +interweaving the names of our contemporaries +among the accounts of +former centuries, and thus corrupting +the history of past times into a means +of abuse and flattery for the present. +This is to degrade history into the +worst style of a Treasury pamphlet, +or a daily newspaper. It is a fault almost +peculiar to this country.</p> + +<p>We are told in one of these works, +for instance, that the "tones of Sir +W. Follett's voice are silvery"—a proposition +that we do not at all intend +to dispute; nor would it be easy to +pronounce any panegyric on that +really great man in which we should +not zealously concur; but can it be +necessary to mention this in a history +of the eighteenth century? Or can +any thing be more trivial or offensive, +or totally without the shadow of justification, +than this forced allusion to +the "ignorant present time," in the +midst of what ought to be an unbiassed +narrative of events that affected +former generations? We do not know +whether the author of this ingenious +allusion borrowed the idea from the +advertisements in which our humbler +artists recommend their productions +to vulgar notice; or whether it is the +spontaneous growth of his own happy +intellect: but plagiarized or original, +and however adapted it may be to +the tone and keeping of his work, its +insertion is totally irreconcilable with +the qualities that a man should possess +who means to instruct posterity. +When gold is extracted from lead, or +silver from tin, such a writer may become +an historian. "Forget," says +Lucian, "the present, look to future +ages for your reward; let it be said +of you that you are high-spirited, full +of independence, that there is nothing +about you servile or fulsome."</p> + +<p>Modern history is now exclusively +to be considered. Modern history, +separated from the history of Greece +and Rome, and the annals of barbarous +emigration, by the event which +above all others has influenced, and +continues still to influence, after so +many centuries, the fate of Europe—the +fall of the Western Empire—the +boundary line which separates modern +from ancient history, is not ideal and +capricious, but definite and certain. +It can neither be advanced nor carried +back. Modern history displays a +national life still in existence. It commences +with that period in which the +great elements of separate national +existence now in being—race, language, +institutions, and religion—can +be traced in simultaneous operation. +To the influences which pervaded the +ancient world, another, at first scarcely +perceptible, for a time almost predominant, +and even now powerful and +comprehensive, was annexed. In the +fourth century of the Christian era, the +Roman world comprised Christianity, +Grecian intellect, Roman jurisprudence—all +the ingredients, in short, +of modern history, except the Teutonic +element. It is the infusion of this +element which has changed the quality +of the compound, and leavened the +whole mass with its peculiarities. To +this we owe the middle ages, the law +of inheritance, the spirit of chivalry, +and the feudal system, than which no +cause more powerful ever contributed +to the miseries of mankind. It filled +Europe not with men but slaves; and +the tyranny under which the people +groaned was the more intolerable, as it +<a class="pagenum" name="page143" id="page143" title="143"></a>was wrought into an artificial method, +confirmed by law, established by inveterate +custom, and even supported +by religion. In vain did the nations +cast their eyes to Rome, from whom +they had a right to claim assistance, +or at least sympathy and consolation. +The appeal was useless. The living +waters were tainted in their source. +Instead of health they spread abroad +infection—instead of giving nourishment +to the poor, they were the narcotics +which drenched in slumber the +consciences of the rich. Wretched +forms, ridiculous legends, the insipid +rhetoric of the Fathers, were the substitutes +for all generous learning. The +nobles enslaved the body; the hierarchy +put its fetters on the soul. The +growth of the public mind was checked +and stunted and the misery of Europe +was complete. The sufferer was taught +to expect his reward in another world; +their oppressor, if his bequests were +liberal, was sure of obtaining consolation +in this, and the kingdom of God +was openly offered to the highest bidder. +But to the causes which gave +rise to this state of things, we must +trace our origin as a nation.</p> + +<p>With the Britons whom Cæsar conquered, +though they occupied the surface +of our soil, we have, nationally +speaking, no concern; but when the +white horse of Hengist, after many a +long and desperate struggle, floated in +triumph or in peace from the Tamar +to the Tweed, our existence as a nation, +the period to which we may refer +the origin of English habits, language, +and institutions, undoubtedly begins. +So, when the Franks established themselves +west of the Rhine, the French +nation may be said to have come into +being. True, the Saxons yielded to +the discipline and valour of a foreign +race; true, the barbarous hordes of +the Elbe and the Saal were not the +ancestors, as any one who travels in +the south of France can hardly fail to +see, of the majority of the present nation +of the French: but the Normans +and Saxons sprang from the same +stock, and the changes worked by +Clovis and his warriors were so vast +and durable, (though, in comparison +with their conquered vassals, they +were numerically few,) that with +the invasion of Hengist in the one +case, and the battle of Poictiers in the +other, the modern history of both +countries may not improperly be said +to have begun. To the student of +that history, however, one consideration +must occur, which imparts to the +objects of his studies an interest emphatically +its own. It is this: he has +strong reason to believe that all the +elements of society are before him. +It may indeed be true that Providence +has reserved some yet unknown tribe, +wandering on the banks of the Amour +or of the Amazons, as the instrument +of accomplishing some mighty purpose—humanly +speaking, however, +such an event is most improbable. +To adopt such an hypothesis, would +be in direct opposition to all the analogies +by which, in the absence of +clearer or more precise motives, human +infirmity must be guided. The +map of the world is spread out before +us; there are no regions which we +speak of in the terms of doubt and +ignorance that the wisest Romans applied +to the countries beyond the Vistula +and the Rhine, when in Lord +Bacon's words "the world was altogether +home-bred." When Cicero +jested with Trebatius on the little importance +of a Roman jurist among +hordes of Celtic barbarians, he little +thought that from that despised country +would arise a nation, before the +blaze of whose conquests the splendour +of Roman Empire would grow +pale; a nation which would carry +the art of government and the enjoyment +of freedom to a perfection, the +idea of which, had it been presented +to the illustrious orator, stored as his +mind was with all the lore of Grecian +sages, and with whatever knowledge +the history of his own country +could supply, would have been +consigned by him, with the glorious +visions of his own Academy, to the +shady spaces of an ideal world. Had +he, while bewailing the loss of that +freedom which he would not survive, +disfigured as it was by popular tumult +and patrician insolence—had he +been told that a figure far more faultless +was one day to arise amid the unknown +forests and marshes of Britain, +and to be protected by the rude hands +of her barbarous inhabitants till it +reached the full maturity of immortal +loveliness—the eloquence of Cicero +himself would have been silenced, and, +whatever might have been the exultation +of the philosopher, the pride of +the Roman would have died within +him. But we can anticipate no similar +<a class="pagenum" name="page144" id="page144" title="144"></a>revolution. The nations by which +the world is inhabited are known to +us; the regions which they occupy are +limited; there are no fresh combinations +to count upon, no reserves upon +which we can depend;—there is every +reason to suppose that, in the great +conflict with physical and moral evil, +which it is the destiny of man to wage, +the last battalion is in the field.</p> + +<p>The course to be adopted by the student +of modern history is pointed out in +the following pages; and the remarks +of Dr Arnold on this subject are +distinguished by a degree of good sense +and discrimination which it is difficult +to overrate. Vast indeed is the difference +between ancient and modern annals, +as far as relates to the demand +upon the student's time and attention. +Instead of sailing upon a narrow channel, +the shores of which are hardly +ever beyond his view, he launches out +upon an ocean of immeasurable extent, +through which the greatest skill +and most assiduous labour are hardly +sufficient to conduct him—</p> + +<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'> +<span>"Ipse diem noctemque negat discernere cœlo,<br /></span> +<span>Nec meminisse viæ, mediâ Palinurus in undâ."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Instead of a few great writers, the +student is beset on all sides by writers +of different sort and degree, from the +light memorialist to the great historian; +instead of two countries, two +hemispheres are candidates for his +attention; and history assumes a variety +of garbs, many of which were +strangers to her during the earlier +period of her existence. To the careful +study of many periods of history, +not extending over any very wide +portion of time, the labour of a tolerably +long life would be inadequate. +The unpublished Despatches of Cardinal +Granvelle at Besançon, amount +to sixty volumes. The archives of +Venice (a mine, by the way, scarcely +opened) fill a large apartment. For +printed works it may be enough to +mention the Benedictine editions and +Munatoris Annals, historians of the +dark and middle ages, relating to two +countries only, and two periods. All +history, therefore, however insatiable +may be the intellectual <i>boulimia</i> that +devours him, can never be a proper object +of curiosity to any man. It is +natural enough that the first effect +produced by this discovery on the +mind of the youthful student should +be surprise and mortification; nor is it +before the conviction that his researches, +to be valuable, must be limited, +forces itself upon him, that he concentrates +to some particular period, +and perhaps to some exclusive object, +the powers of his undivided attention. +When he has thus put an end to his +desultory enquiries, and selected the +portion of history which it is his purpose +to explore, his first object should +be to avail himself of the information +which other travellers in the same regions +have been enabled to collect. +Their mistakes will teach him caution; +their wanderings will serve to keep +him in the right path. Weak and +feeble as he may be, compared with +the first adventurers who have visited +the mighty maze before him, yet he +has not their difficulties to encounter, +nor their perils to apprehend. The +clue is in his hands which may lead +him through the labyrinth in which +it has been the lot of so many master-spirits +to wander—</p> + +<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'> +<span>"And find no end, in boundless mazes lost."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>But it is time to hear Dr Arnold:—</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"To proceed, therefore, with our supposed +student's course of reading. Keeping +the general history which he has been +reading as his text, and getting from it +the skeleton, in a manner, of the future +figure, he must now break forth excursively +to the right and left, collecting richness +and fulness of knowledge from the +most various sources. For example, we +will suppose that where his popular historian +has mentioned that an alliance was +concluded between two powers, or a +treaty of peace agreed upon, he first of all +resolves to consult the actual documents +themselves, as they are to be found in +some one of the great collections of European +treaties, or, if they are connected +with English history, in Rymer's <i>Fœdera</i>. +By comparing the actual treaty with his +historian's report of its provisions, we +get, in the first place, a critical process of +some value, inasmuch as the historian's +accuracy is at once tested: but there are +other purposes answered besides. An +historian's report of a treaty is almost always +an abridgement of it; minor articles +will probably be omitted, and the rest +condensed, and stripped of all their formal +language. But our object now being +to reproduce to ourselves so far as it is +possible, the very life of the period which +we are studying, minute particulars help +<a class="pagenum" name="page145" id="page145" title="145"></a>us to do this; nay, the very formal enumeration +of titles, and the specification of +towns and districts in their legal style, +help to realize the time to us, if it be only +from their very particularity. Every common +history records the substance of the +treaty of Troyes, May 1420, by which the +succession to the crown of France was +given to Henry V. But the treaty in +itself, or the English version of it which +Henry sent over to England to be proclaimed +there, gives a far more lively impression +of the triumphant state of the +great conqueror, and the utter weakness +of the poor French king, Charles VI., +in the ostentatious care taken to provide +for the recognition of his formal title during +his lifetime, while all real power is +ceded to Henry, and provision is made +for the perpetual union hereafter of the +two kingdoms under his sole government.</p> + +<p>"I have named treaties as the first class +of official instruments to be consulted, because +the mention of them occurs unavoidably +in every history. Another class of +documents, certainly of no less importance, +yet much less frequently referred to by +popular historians, consists of statutes, ordinances, +proclamations, acts, or by whatever +various names the laws of each particular +period happen to be designated. <i>That +the Statute Book has not been more habitually +referred to by writers on English +history</i>, has always seemed to me +a matter of surprise. Legislation has not +perhaps been so busy in every country as +it has been with us; yet every where, and +in every period, it has done something. +Evils, real or supposed, have always existed, +which the supreme power in the nation +has endeavoured to remove by the provisions +of law. And under the name of +laws I would include the acts of councils, +which form an important part of the history +of European nations during many +centuries; provincial councils, as you are +aware, having been held very frequently, +and their enactments relating to local and +particular evils, so that they illustrate history +in a very lively manner. Now, in +these and all the other laws of any given +period, we find in the first place, from +their particularity, a great additional help +towards becoming familiar with the times +in which they were passed; we learn the +names of various officers, courts, and +processes; and these, when understood, +(and I suppose always the habit of reading +nothing without taking pains to understand +it,) help us, from their very number, +to realize the state of things then existing; +a lively notion of any object depending on +our clearly seeing some of its parts, and +the more we people it, so to speak, with +distinct images, the more it comes to +resemble the crowded world around us. +But in addition to this benefit, which I +am disposed to rate in itself very highly, +every thing of the nature of law has a +peculiar interest and value, <i>because it is +the expression of the deliberate mind of +the supreme government of society</i>; and +as history, as commonly written, records +so much of the passionate and unreflecting +part of human nature, we are bound in +fairness to acquaint ourselves with its +calmer and better part also."</p></div> + +<p>The inner life of a nation will be +determined by its end, that end being +the security of its highest happiness, +or, as it is "conceived and expressed +more piously, a setting forth of God's +glory by doing his appointed work." +The history of a nation's internal life +is the history of its institutions and its +laws. Here, then, it is that we shall +find the noblest lessons of history; +here it is that we must look for the +causes, direct and indirect, which have +modified the characters, and decided +the fate of nations. To this imperishable +possession it is that the philosopher +appeals for the corroboration of +his theory, as it is to it also that the +statesman ought to look for the regulation +of his practice. Religion, property, +science, commerce, literature, +whatever can civilize and instruct +rude mankind, whatever can embellish +life in its more advanced condition, +even till it exhibit the wonders of +which it is now the theatre, may be +referred to this subject, and are comprised +under this denomination. The +importance of history has been the +theme of many a pen, but we question +whether it has ever been more beautifully +described than in the following +passage:—</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"Enough has been said, I think, to +show that history contains no mean treasures; +that, as being the biography of a +nation, it partakes of the richness and variety +of those elements which make up a +nation's life. Whatever there is of greatness +in the final cause of all human thought +and action, God's glory and man's perfection, +that is the measure of the greatness +of history. Whatever there is of variety +and intense interest in human nature, in +its elevation, whether proud as by nature, +or sanctified as by God's grace; in its suffering, +whether blessed or unblessed, a +martyrdom or a judgment; in its strange +reverses, in its varied adventures, in its +yet more varied powers, its courage and +<a class="pagenum" name="page146" id="page146" title="146"></a>its patience, its genius and its wisdom, +its justice and its love, that also is the +measure of the interest and variety of history. +The treasures indeed are ample, +but we may more reasonably fear whether +we may have strength and skill to win +them."</p></div> + +<p>In passing we may observe, after +Dr Arnold, that the most important +bearing of a particular institution +upon the character of a nation is not +always limited to the effect which is +most obvious; few who have watched +the proceedings in our courts of justice +can doubt that, in civil cases, the +interference of a jury is often an obstacle, +and sometimes an insurmountable +obstacle, to the attainment of justice. +Dr Arnold's remarks on this subject +are entitled to great attention:—</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"The effect," he says, "of any particular +arrangement of the judicial power, is seen +directly in the greater or less purity with +which justice is administered; but there is +a further effect, and one of the highest +importance, in its furnishing to a greater +or less portion of the nation one of the +best means of moral and intellectual culture—the +opportunity, namely, of exercising +the functions of a judge. I mean, +that to accustom a number of persons to +the intellectual exercise of attending to, +and weighing, and comparing evidence, and +to the moral exercise of being placed in a +high and responsible situation, invested +with one of God's own attributes, that of +judgment, and having to determine with +authority between truth and falsehood, +right and wrong, is to furnish them with +very high means of moral and intellectual +culture—in other words, it is providing +them with one of the highest kinds of +education. And thus a judicial constitution +may secure a pure administration of +justice, and yet fail as an engine of national +cultivation, where it is vested in the +hands of a small body of professional men, +like the old French parliament. While, +on the other hand, it may communicate +the judicial office very widely, as by our +system of juries, and thus may educate, if +I may so speak, a very large portion of +the nation, but yet may not succeed in +obtaining the greatest certainty of just +legal decisions. I do not mean that our +jury system does not succeed, but it is +conceivable that it should not. So, in +the same way, different arrangements of +the executive and legislative powers should +be always regarded in this twofold aspect—as +effecting their direct objects, good +government and good legislation; and as +educating the nation more or less extensively, +by affording to a greater or less +number of persons practical lessons in +governing and legislating."</p></div> + +<p>History is an account of the common +purpose pursued by some one of +the great families of the human race. +It is the biography of a nation; as +the history of a particular sect, or a +particular body of men, describes the +particular end which the sect or body +was instituted to pursue, so history, +in its more comprehensive sense, describes +the paramount object which +the first and sovereign society—the +society to which all others are +necessarily subordinate—endeavours to attain. +According to Dr Arnold, a +nation's life is twofold, external and +internal. Its external life consists +principally in wars. "Here history +has been sufficiently busy. The wars +of the human race have been recorded +when every thing else has perished."</p> + +<p>Mere antiquarianism, Dr Arnold +justly observes, is calculated to contract +and enfeeble the understanding. +It is a pedantic love of detail, with an +indifference to the result, for which +alone it can be considered valuable. +It is the mistake, into which men +are perpetually falling, of the means +for the end. There are people to +whom the tragedies of Sophocles +are less precious than the Scholiast +on Lycophron, and who prize the +speeches of Demosthenes chiefly because +they may fling light on the dress +of an Athenian citizen. The same +tendency discovers itself in other pursuits. +Oxen are fattened into plethoras +to encourage agriculture, and men +of station dress like grooms, and bet +like blacklegs, to keep up the breed +of horses. It is true that such evils +will happen when agriculture is encouraged, +and a valuable breed of +horses cherished; but they are the +consequences, not the cause of such a +state of things. So the disciples of +the old philosophers drank hemlock to +acquire pallid countenances—but they +are as far from obtaining the wisdom +of their masters by this adventitious +resemblance, as the antiquarian is +from the historian. To write well +about the past, we must have a vigorous +and lively perception of the present. +This, says Dr Arnold, is the +merit of Mitford. It is certainly the +only one he possesses; a person more +totally unqualified for writing history +at all—to say nothing of the history of +<a class="pagenum" name="page147" id="page147" title="147"></a>Greece—it is difficult for us, aided as +our imagination may be by the works +of our modern writers, to conceive. +But Raleigh, whom he quotes afterwards, +is indeed a striking instance of +that combination of actual experience +with speculative knowledge which +all should aim at, but which it seldom +happens that one man in a generation +is fortunate enough to obtain.</p> + +<p>From the sixteenth century, the +writers of history begin to assume a +different character from that of their +predecessors. During the middle ages, +the elements of society were fewer and +less diversified. Before that time the +people were nothing. Popes, emperors, +kings, nobles, bishops, knights, +are the only materials about which +the writer of history cared to know or +enquire. Perhaps some exception to +this rule might be found in the historians +of the free towns of Italy; but +they are few and insignificant. After +that period, not only did the classes +of society increase, but every class +was modified by more varieties of +individual life. Even within the last +century, the science of political economy +has given a new colouring to +the thoughts and actions of large +communities, as the different opinions held +by its votaries have multiplied them into +distinct and various classes. Modern +historians, therefore, may be +divided into two classes; the one describing +a state of society in which the +elements are few; the other the times +in which they were more numerous. +As a specimen of the first order, he +selects Bede. Bede was born in 674, +fifty years after the flight of Mahomet +from Mecca. He died in 755, two or +three years after the victory of Charles +Martel over the Saracens. His ecclesiastical +history, in five books, describes +the period from Augustine's arrival in +Kent, 597.</p> + +<p>Dr Arnold's dissertation on Bede +involves him in the discussion of a +question on which much skill and ability +have been exercised. We allude +to the question of miracles. "The +question," says he, "in Bede takes +this form—What credit is to be attached +to the frequent stories of miracles +or wonders which occur in his +narrative?" He seizes at once upon +the difficulty, without compromise or +evasion. He makes a distinction +between a wonder and a miracle: "to +say that all recorded wonders are false, +from those recorded by Herodotus to +the latest reports of animal magnetism, +would be a boldness of assertion +wholly unjustifiable." At the same +time he thinks the character of Bede, +added to the religious difficulty, may +incline us to limit miracles to the +earliest times of Christianity, and refuse +our belief to all which are reported +by the historians of subsequent +centuries. He then proceeds to consider +the questions which suggest +themselves when we read Matthew +Paris, or still more, any of the French, +German, or Italian historians of the +same period:—</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"The thirteenth century contains in it, +at its beginning, the most splendid period +of the Papacy, the time of Innocent the +Third; its end coincides with that great +struggle between Boniface the Eighth and +Philip the Fair, which marks the first +stage of its decline. It contains the reign +of Frederick the Second, and his long +contest with the popes in Italy; the foundation +of the orders of friars, Dominican +and Franciscan; the last period of the +crusades, and the age of the greatest glory +of the schoolmen. Thus, full of matters of +interest as it is, it will yet be found that +all its interest is more or less connected +with two great questions concerning the +church; namely, the power of the priesthood +in matters of government and in +matters of faith; the merits of the contest +between the Papacy and the kings of +Europe; the nature and character of that +influence over men's minds which affected +the whole philosophy of the period, the +whole intellectual condition of the Christian +world."—P. 138.</p></div> + +<p>The pretensions and corruptions of +the Church are undoubtedly the chief +object to which, at this period, the attention +of the reader must be attracted. +"Is the church system of Innocent +III. in faith or government the +system of the New Testament?" Is the +difference between them inconsiderable, +such as may be accounted for by +the natural progress of society, or does +the rent extend to the foundation? +"The first century," says Dr Arnold, +"is to determine our judgment of the +second and of all subsequent centuries. +It will not do to assume that the +judgment must be interpreted by the +very practices and opinions, the merits +of which it has to try." As a specimen +of the chroniclers, he selects +Philip de Comines, almost the last +great writer of his class. In him is +<a class="pagenum" name="page148" id="page148" title="148"></a>exemplified one of the peculiar distinctions +of attaching to modern history the +importance of attending to genealogies.</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"For instance, Comines records the marriage +of Mary, duchess of Burgundy, daughter +and sole heiress of Charles the Bold, with +Maximilian, archduke of Austria. This +marriage, conveying all the dominions of +Burgundy to Maximilian and his heirs, established +a great independent sovereign +on the frontiers of France, giving to him +on the north, not only the present kingdoms +of Holland and Belgium, but large +portions of what is now French territory, +the old provinces of Artois and French +Flanders, French Hainault and French +Luxemburg; while on the east it gave +him Franche Comté, thus yielding him a +footing within the Jura, on the very banks +of the Saône. Thence ensued in after +ages, when the Spanish branch of the +house of Austria had inherited this part +of its dominions—the long contests +which deluged the Netherlands with +blood, the campaigns of King William +and Luxembourg, the nine years of efforts, +no less skilful than valiant, in which +Marlborough broke his way through the +fortresses of the iron frontier. Again, +when Spain became in a manner French +by the accession of the House of Bourbon, +the Netherlands reverted once more to +Austria itself; and from thence the powers +of Europe advanced, almost in our own +days, to assail France as a republic; and +on this ground, on the plains of Fleurus, +was won the first of those great victories +which, for nearly twenty years, carried the +French standards triumphantly over Europe. +Thus the marriage recorded by +Comines has been working busily down to +our very own times: it is only since the +settlement of 1814, and that more recent +one of 1830, that the Netherlands have +ceased to be effected by the union of +Charles the Bold's daughter with Maximilian +of Austria"—P. 148.</p></div> + +<p>Again, in order to understand the +contest which Philip de Comines records +between a Frenchman and a +Spaniard for the crown of Naples, we +must go back to the dark and bloody +page in the annals of the thirteenth +century, which relates the extinction +of the last heir of the great Swabian +race of Hohenstauffen by Charles of +Anjou, the fit and unrelenting instrument +of Papal hatred—the dreadful +expiation of that great crime by the +Sicilian Vespers, the establishment of +the House of Anjou in Sicily, the +crimes and misfortunes of Queen Joanna, +the new contest occasioned by +her adoption—all these events must +be known to him who would understand +the expedition of Charles +VIII. The following passage is an admirable +description of the reasons which +lend to the pages of Philip de Comines +a deep and melancholy interest:—</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"The Memoirs of Philip de Comines +terminate about twenty years before the +Reformation, six years after the first voyage +of Columbus. They relate, then, to +a tranquil period immediately preceding a +period of extraordinary movement; to the +last stage of an old state of things, now on +the point of passing away. Such periods, +the lull before the burst of the hurricane, +the almost oppressive stillness which +announces the eruption, or, to use Campbell's +beautiful image—</p> + +<p>'The torrent's smoothness ere it dash below,'—</p> + +<p>are always, I think, full of a very deep interest. +But it is not from the mere force +of contrast with the times that follow, nor +yet from the solemnity which all things +wear when their dissolution is fast approaching—the +interest has yet another +source; our knowledge, namely, that in +that tranquil period lay the germs of the +great changes following, taking their shape +for good or for evil, and sometimes irreversibly, +while all wore an outside of unconsciousness. +We, enlightened by experience, +are impatient of this deadly slumber; +we wish in vain that the age could +have been awakened to a sense of its condition, +and taught the infinite preciousness +of the passing hour. And as, when a man +has been cut off by sudden death, we are +curious to know whether his previous +words or behaviour indicated any sense of +his coming fate, so we examine the records +of a state of things just expiring, anxious +to observe whether, in any point, there +may be discerned an anticipation of the +great future, or whether all was blindness +and insensibility. In this respect, Comines' +Memoirs are striking from their perfect +unconsciousness: the knell of the middle +ages had been already sounded, yet Comines +has no other notions than such as +they had tended to foster; he describes +their events, their characters, their relations, +as if they were to continue for centuries. +His remarks are such as the +simplest form of human affairs gives birth +to; he laments the instability of earthly +fortune, as Homer notes our common mortality, +or in the tone of that beautiful dialogue +between Solon and Crœsus, when +the philosopher assured the king, that to +be rich was not necessarily to be happy. +But, resembling Herodotus in his simple +morality, he is utterly unlike him in another +point; for whilst Herodotus speaks +freely and honestly of all men, without respect +<a class="pagenum" name="page149" id="page149" title="149"></a>of persons, Philip de Comines praises +his master Louis the Eleventh as one of +the best of princes, although he witnessed +not only the crimes of his life, but the miserable +fears and suspicions of his latter +end, and has even faithfully recorded them. +In this respect Philip de Comines is in no +respect superior to Froissart, with whom +the crimes committed by his knights and +great lords never interfere with his general +eulogies of them: the habit of deference +and respect was too strong to be +broken, and the facts which he himself relates +to their discredit, appear to have +produced on his mind no impression."</p></div> + +<p>We now enter upon a period which +may be called the modern part of modern +history, the more complicated +period, in contradistinction to the +more simple state of things which, up +to this moment, has occupied the student's +attention. It is impossible to +read, without deep regret, the passage +in which Dr Arnold speaks of his intention—"if +life and health be spared +him, to enter into minute details; +selecting some one country as the principal +subject of his enquiries, and illustrating +the lessons of history for the +most part from its particular experience."</p> + +<p>He proceeds, however, to the performance +of the task immediately before +him. After stating that the great +object, the <span lang="el" title="teleiotaton telos">τελειοτατον τελος</span>, of history +is that which most nearly touches the +inner life of civilized man, he pauses +for a while at the threshold before +he enters into the sanctuary, and undoubtedly +some external knowledge +is requisite before we penetrate into +its recesses: we want some dwelling-place, +as it were, for the mind, some +local habitation in which our ideas +may be arranged, some topics that +may be firmly grasped by the memory, +and on which the understanding may +confidently rest; and thus it is that +geography, even with a view to other +purposes, must engross, in the first +instance, a considerable share of our +attention. The sense in which Dr +Arnold understands a knowledge of +geography, is explained in the following +luminous and instructive commentary:—</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"I said that geography held out one +hand to geology and physiology, while she +held out the other to history. In fact, +geology and physiology themselves are +closely connected with history. For instance, +what lies at the bottom of that +question which is now being discussed +every where, the question of the corn-laws, +but the geological fact that England is +more richly supplied with coal-mines than +any other country in the world? what has +given a peculiar interest to our relations +with China, but the physiological fact, +that the tea-plant, which is become so necessary +to our daily life, has been cultivated +with equal success in no other climate +or country? what is it which threatens the +permanence of the union between the northern +and southern states of the American +confederacy, but the physiological fact, that +the soil and climate of the southern states +render them essentially agricultural, while +those of the northern states, combined +with their geographical advantages as to +sea-ports, dispose them no less naturally +to be manufacturing and commercial? +The whole character of a nation may be +influenced by its geology and physical geography. +But for the sake of its mere +beauty and liveliness, if there were no +other consideration, it would be worth our +while to acquire this richer view of geography. +Conceive only the difference between +a ground-plan and a picture. The +mere plan geography of Italy gives us its +shape, as I have observed, and the position of +its towns; to these it may add a semicircle +of mountains round the northern boundary +to represent the Alps, and another +long line stretching down the middle of the +country to represent the Apennines. But +let us carry on this a little further, and +give life and meaning and harmony to +what is at present at once lifeless and confused. +Observe, in the first place, how the +Apennine line, beginning from the southern +extremity of the Alps, runs across +Italy to the very edge of the Adriatic, and +thus separates naturally the Italy proper of +the Romans, from Cisalpine Gaul. Observe +again, how the Alps, after running +north and south, where they divide Italy +from France, turn then away to the eastward, +running almost parallel to the +Apennines, till they too touch the head of +the Adriatic, on the confines of Istria. +Thus between these two lines of mountains +there is enclosed one great basin or plain; +enclosed on three sides by mountains, open +only on the east to the sea. Observe how +widely it spreads itself out, and then see +how well it is watered. One great river +flows through it in its whole extent, and +this is fed by streams almost unnumbered, +descending towards it on either side, from +the Alps on the one side, and from the +Apennines on the other. Who can wonder +that this large and rich and well-watered +plain should be filled with flourishing +cities, or that it should have been contended +for so often by successive invaders? +<a class="pagenum" name="page150" id="page150" title="150"></a>Then descending into Italy proper, we +find the complexity of its geography quite +in accordance with its manifold political +division. It is not one simple central +ridge of mountains, leaving a broad belt of +level country on either side between it and +the sea, nor yet is it a chain rising immediately +from the sea on one side, like the +Andes in South America, and leaving +room, therefore, on the other side for +wide plains of table-land, and rivers with +a sufficient length of course to become at +last great and navigable. It is a back-bone +thickly set with spines of unequal length, +some of them running out at regular distances +parallel to each other, but others +twisted so strangely that they often run +for a long way parallel to the back-bone, +or main ridge, and interlace with one +another in a maze almost inextricable. +And, as if to complete the disorder, in +those spots where the spines of the Apennines, +being twisted round, run parallel to +the sea and to their own central chain, +and thus leave an interval of plain between +their bases and the Mediterranean, volcanic +agency has broken up the space thus +left with other and distinct groups of hills +of its own creation, as in the case of Vesuvius, +and of the Alban hills near Rome. +Speaking generally then, Italy is made up +of an infinite multitude of valleys pent in +between high and steep hills, each forming +a country to itself, and cut off by natural +barriers from the others. Its several +parts are isolated by nature, and no art of +man can thoroughly unite them. Even +the various provinces of the same kingdom +are strangers to each other; the Abruzzi +are like an unknown world to the inhabitants +of Naples, insomuch, that when two +Neapolitan naturalists, not ten years since, +made an excursion to visit the Majella, one +of the highest of the central Apennines, +they found there many medicinal plants +growing in the greatest profusion, which +the Neapolitans were regularly in the habit +of importing from other countries, as +no one suspected their existence within +their own kingdom. Hence arises the +romantic character of Italian scenery: the +constant combination of a mountain outline +and all the wild features of a mountain +country, with the rich vegetation of a +southern climate in the valleys. Hence +too the rudeness, the pastoral simplicity, +and the occasional robber habits, to be +found in the population; so that to this day +you may travel in many places for miles +together in the plains and valleys without +passing through a single town or village; +for the towns still cluster on the mountain +sides, the houses nestling together on some +scanty ledge, with cliffs rising above them +and sinking down abruptly below them, +the very 'congesta manu præruptis oppida +saxis' of Virgil's description, which he +even then called 'antique walls,' because +they had been the strongholds of the primæval +inhabitants of the country, and +which are still inhabited after a lapse of so +many centuries, nothing of the stir and +movement of other parts of Europe having +penetrated into these lonely valleys, and +tempted the people to quit their mountain +fastnesses for a more accessible dwelling +in the plain.</p> + +<p>"I have been led on further than I intended, +but I wished to give an example of +what I meant by a real and lively knowledge +of geography, which brings the whole +character of a country before our eyes, +and enables us to understand its influence +upon the social and political condition of +its inhabitants. And this knowledge, as +I said before, is very important to enable +us to follow clearly the external revolutions +of different nations, which we want to comprehend +before we penetrate to what has +been passing within."</p></div> + +<p>This introductory discussion is followed +by a rapid sketch of the different +struggles for power and independence +in Europe during the three last +centuries. The general tendency of +this period has been to consolidate +severed nations into great kingdoms; +but this tendency has been checked +when the growth of any single power +has become excessive, by the combined +efforts of other European nations. +Spain, France, England, and Austria, +all in their turns have excited the +jealousy of their neighbours, and have +been attacked by their confederate +strength. But in 1793 the peace of +Europe was assailed by an enemy still +more dangerous and energetic—still +more destructive—we doubt whether +in the English language a more vivid +description is to be found of the evil, +its progress, and its termination, than +Dr Arnold has given in the following +passage:—</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"Ten years afterwards there broke out +by far the most alarming danger of universal +dominion, which had ever threatened +Europe. The most military people in +Europe became engaged in a war for their +very existence. Invasion on the frontiers, +civil war and all imaginable horrors raging +within, the ordinary relations of life went +to wreck, and every Frenchman became a +soldier. It was a multitude numerous +as the hosts of Persia, but animated by the +courage and skill and energy of the old +Romans. One thing alone was wanting, +that which Pyrrhus said the Romans +<a class="pagenum" name="page151" id="page151" title="151"></a>wanted, to enable them to conquer the +world—a general and a ruler like himself. +There was wanted a master hand to restore +and maintain peace at home, and to +concentrate and direct the immense military +resources of France against her foreign +enemies. And such an one appeared in +Napoleon. Pacifying La Vendée, receiving +back the emigrants, restoring the +church, remodelling the law, personally +absolute, yet carefully preserving and +maintaining all the great points which the +nation had won at the Revolution, Napoleon +united in himself, not only the power, +but the whole will of France; and that +power and will were guided by a genius +for war such as Europe had never seen +since Cæsar. The effect was absolutely +magical. In November 1799, he was made +First Consul; he found France humbled +by defeats, his Italian conquests lost, his +allies invaded, his own frontier threatened. +He took the field in May 1800, and in June +the whole fortune of the war was changed, +and Austria driven out of Lombardy by the +victory of Marengo. Still the flood of +the tide rose higher and higher, and every +successive wave of its advance swept away +a kingdom. Earthly state has never +reached a prouder pinnacle than when +Napoleon, in June 1812, gathered his army +at Dresden—that mighty host, unequalled +in all time, of 450,000, not men merely, +but effective soldiers, and there received +the homage of subject kings. And now, +what was the principal adversary of this +tremendous power? by whom was it +checked, and resisted, and put down? By +none, and by nothing, but the direct and +manifest interposition of God. I know of +no language so well fitted to describe that +victorious advance to Moscow, and the +utter humiliation of the retreat, as the +language of the prophet with respect to +the advance and subsequent destruction of +the host of Sennacherib. 'When they +arose early in the morning, behold they +were all dead corpses,' applies almost literally +to that memorable night of frost, in +which twenty thousand horses perished, and +the strength of the French army was +utterly broken. Human instruments, no +doubt, were employed in the remainder of +the work; nor would I deny to Germany +and to Prussia the glories of the year +1813, nor to England the honour of her +victories in Spain, or of the crowning victory +of Waterloo. But at the distance of +thirty years, those who lived in the time of +danger and remember its magnitude, and +now calmly review what there was in human +strength to avert it, must acknowledge, +I think, beyond all controversy, that the +deliverance of Europe from the dominion +of Napoleon was effected neither by Russia, +nor by Germany, nor by England, but +by the hand of God alone."</p></div> + +<p>The question, whether some races +of men possess an inherent superiority +over others, is mooted by Dr Arnold, +in his dissertation on military science. +Without laying down any universal +rule, it may be stated that such a +superiority can be predicated of no +European nation. Frederick the Great +defeated the French at Rosbach, as +easily as Napoleon overcame the Prussians +at Jena. If Marlborough was +uniformly successful, William III. +was always beaten by Luxembourg, +and the Duke of Cumberland by +D'Etrées and Saxe. It seems, therefore, +a fair inference, that no civilized +European nation possesses over its +neighbours that degree of superiority +which greater genius in the general, +or greater discipline in the troops of +its antagonists, will not be sufficient +to counteract. The defeat of the +Vendéans in France, by the soldiers +of the garrison of Mentz; and the +admirable conduct of our own Sepoys +under British generals, are, no doubt, +strong instances to show the prodigious +importance of systematic discipline. +Still, we cannot quite coincide +with Dr Arnold's opinion on this +subject. We are quite ready to admit—who, +indeed, for a moment +would deny?—in military as well as +in all other subjects, the value of professional +attainments and long experience. +We cannot, however, consider +them superior to those great +qualities of our nature which discipline +may regulate and embellish, but +which it can never destroy or supersede. +As every man is bound to form +his own opinion on religious matters, +though he may not be a priest, every +man is obliged to defend his country +when invaded, though he may not be +a soldier. Nor can the miseries which +such a state of things involves, furnish +any argument against its necessity. +All war must be attended with misfortunes, +which freeze the blood and +make the soul sick in their contemplation; +but these very misfortunes +deter those who wield the reins of +empire from appealing wantonly to +its determination. The resistance of +Saragossa was not the less glorious, it +does not the less fire the heart of every +reader with a holy and passionate enthusiasm, +because it was not conducted +<a class="pagenum" name="page152" id="page152" title="152"></a>according to the strict forms of military +tactics, because citizens and even +women participated in its fame. The +inextinguishable hatred of the Spanish +nation for its oppressor—which wore +down the French armies, which no +severities, no violence, no defeat, +could subdue—will be, as long as time +shall last, a terrible lesson to ambitious +conquerors. They will learn that +there is in the fury of an insulted nation +a danger which the most exquisite +military combinations cannot remove, +which the most perfectly served artillery +cannot sweep away, before which +all the bayonets, and gunpowder, and +lines of fortification in the world are +useless—and compared with which the +science of the commander is pedantry, +and strategy but a word. They will +discover that something more than +mechanical power, however great—something +more than the skill of the +practised officer, or the instinct of well-trained +soldiers, are requisite for success—where +every plain is a Marathon, +and every valley a Thermopylæ.</p> + +<p>Would to God that the same reproach +urged against the Spanish nation—that +they defended their native +soil irregularly—that they fought like +freemen rather than like soldiers—that +they transgressed the rules of war by +defending one side of a street while +the artillery of the enemy, with its +thousand mouths, was pouring death +upon them from the other—that they +struggled too long, that they surrendered +too late, that they died too +readily, could have been applied to +Poland—one fearful instance of success +would have been wanting to encourage +the designs of despotism!</p> + +<p>Some of the rights of war are next +considered—that of sacking a town +taken by assault, and of blockading a +town defended, not by the inhabitants, +but by a military garrison—are next +examined;—in both these cases the +penalty falls upon the innocent. The +Homeric description of a town taken +by assault, is still applicable to modern +warfare:—</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p><span lang="el" title="andras men kteinoysi, polin de te pyr amathynei">ανδρας μεν +κτεινουσι, πολιν δε τε πυρ αμαθυνει</span><br /> +<span lang="el" title="tekna de t' alloi agoysi, bathyzônoys te gynaikas.">τεκνα δε τ' αλλοι +αγουσι, βαθυζωνους τε γυναικας</span></p></div> + +<p>The unhappy fate of Genoa is thus +beautifully related—</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"Some of you, I doubt not, remember +Genoa; you have seen that queenly city +with its streets of palaces, rising tier above +tier from the water, girdling with the long +lines of its bright white houses the +vast sweep of its harbour, the mouth of +which is marked by a huge natural mole of +rock, crowned by its magnificent lighthouse +tower. You remember how its +white houses rose out of a mass of fig and +olive and orange trees, the glory of its old +patrician luxury. You may have observed +the mountains, behind the town, spotted +at intervals by small circular low towers; +one of which is distinctly conspicuous +where the ridge of the hills rises to its +summit, and hides from view all the country +behind it. Those towers are the forts +of the famous lines, which, curiously resembling +in shape the later Syracusan walls +enclosing Epipalæ, converge inland from +the eastern and western extremities of +the city, looking down—the western line +on the valley of the Polcevera, the eastern, +on that of the Bisagno—till they meet, +as I have said, on the summit of the mountains, +where the hills cease to rise from +the sea, and become more or less of a +table land, running off towards the interior, +at the distance, as well as I remember, +of between two and three miles from the +outside of the city. Thus a very large +open space is enclosed within the lines, +and Genoa is capable therefore of becoming +a vast intrenched camp, holding not +so much a garrison as an army. In the +autumn of 1799, the Austrians had driven +the French out of Lombardy and Piedmont; +their last victory of Fossano or +Genola had won the fortress of Coni or +Cunco, close under the Alps, and at the +very extremity of the plain of the Po; +the French clung to Italy only by their +hold of the Riviera of Genoa—the narrow +strip of coast between the Apennines +and the sea, which extends from the frontiers +of France almost to the mouth of +the Arno. Hither the remains of the +French force were collected, commanded +by General Massena; and the point of +chief importance to his defence was the +city of Genoa. Napoleon had just returned +from Egypt, and was become First +Consul; but he could not be expected to +take the field till the following spring, and +till then Massena was hopeless of relief +from without—every thing was to depend +on his own pertinacity. The strength of +his army made it impossible to force it in +such a position as Genoa; but its very +numbers, added to the population of a +great city, held out to the enemy a hope +of reducing it by famine; and as Genoa +derives most of its supplies by sea, Lord +Keith, the British naval commander-in-chief +in the Mediterranean, lent the assistance +of his naval force to the Austrians; +<a class="pagenum" name="page153" id="page153" title="153"></a>and, by the vigilance of his cruizers, the +whole coasting trade right and left along +the Riviera, was effectually cut off. It is +not at once that the inhabitants of a great +city, accustomed to the daily sight of well-stored +shops and an abundant market, begin +to realize the idea of scarcity; or that +the wealthy classes of society, who have +never known any other state than one of +abundance and luxury, begin seriously to +conceive of famine. But the shops were +emptied; and the storehouses began to be +drawn upon; and no fresh supply, or hope +of supply, appeared.</p> + +<p>"Winter passed away and spring returned, +so early and so beautiful on that garden-like +coast, sheltered as it is from the north +winds by its belts of mountains, and open +to the full rays of the southern sun. Spring +returned and clothed the hill-sides within +the lines with its fresh verdure. But that +verdure was no longer the mere delight of +the careless eye of luxury, refreshing the +citizens by its liveliness and softness, when +they rode or walked up thither from the city +to enjoy the surpassing beauty of the prospect. +The green hill-sides were now visited +for a very different object; ladies of the +highest rank might be seen cutting up +every plant which it was possible to turn to +food, and bearing home the common weeds +of our road-sides as a most precious treasure. +The French general pitied the distresses +of the people; but the lives and +strength of his garrison seemed to him more +important than the lives of the Genoese, +and such provisions as remained were reserved, +in the first place, for the French army. +Scarcity became utter want, and want became +famine. In the most gorgeous palaces of +that gorgeous city, no less than in the humblest +tenements of its humblest poor, death was +busy; not the momentary death of battle or +massacre, nor the speedy death of pestilence, +but the lingering and most miserable death +of famine. Infants died before their parents' +eyes, husbands and wives lay down to +expire together. A man whom I saw at +Genoa in 1825, told me, that his father and +two of his brothers had been starved to +death in this fatal siege. So it went on, till +in the month of June, when Napoleon had +already descended from the Alps into the +plain of Lombardy, the misery became unendurable, +and Massena surrendered. But +before he did so, twenty thousand innocent +persons, old and young, women and children, +had died by the most horrible of deaths +which humanity can endure. Other horrors +which occurred besides during this blockade, +I pass over; the agonizing death of twenty +thousand innocent and helpless persons requires +nothing to be added to it.</p> + +<p>"Now, is it right that such a tragedy as +this should take place, and that the laws of +war should be supposed to justify the authors +of it? Conceive having been an officer +in Lord Keith's squadron at that time, and +being employed in stopping the food which +was being brought for the relief of such misery. +For the thing was done deliberately; +the helplessness of the Genoese was known; +their distress was known; it was known +that they could not force Massena to surrender; +it was known that they were dying +daily by hundreds, yet week after week, +and month after month, did the British ships +of war keep their iron watch along all the +coast; no vessel nor boat laden with any +article of provision could escape their vigilance. +One cannot but be thankful that +Nelson was spared from commanding at this +horrible blockade of Genoa.</p> + +<p>"Now, on which side the law of nations +should throw the guilt of most atrocious +murder, is of little comparative +consequence, or whether it should attach +it to both sides equally; but that the deliberate +starving to death of twenty thousand +helpless persons should be regarded +as a crime in one or both of the parties +concerned in it, seems to me self-evident. +The simplest course would seem to be, +that all non-combatants should be allowed +to go out of a blockaded town, and that +the general who should refuse to let them +pass, should be regarded in the same light +as one who were to murder his prisoners, +or who were to be in the habit of butchering +women and children. For it is not +true that war only looks to the speediest +and most effectual way of attaining its +object; so that, as the letting the inhabitants +go out would enable the garrison to maintain +the town longer, the laws of war +authorize the keeping them in and starving +them. Poisoning wells might be a +still quicker method of reducing a place; +but do the laws of war therefore sanction +it? I shall not be supposed for a moment to +be placing the guilt of the individuals concerned +in the two cases which I am going +to compare, on an equal footing; it would +be most unjust to do so—for in the one +case they acted, as they supposed, according +to a law which made what they did +their duty. But, take the cases themselves, +and examine them in all their circumstances; +the degree of suffering inflicted—the +innocence and helplessness of the +sufferers—the interests at stake—and the +possibility of otherwise securing them; +and if any man can defend the lawfulness +in the abstract of the starvation of the +inhabitants of Genoa, I will engage also +to establish the lawfulness of the massacres +of September."</p></div> + +<p>We rejoice to find that the great +authority of Colonel W. Napier—an +<a class="pagenum" name="page154" id="page154" title="154"></a>authority of which posterity will know +the value—is arrayed on the side of +those who think that war, the best +school, as after all it must often be, of +some of our noblest virtues, need not +be always the cause of such atrocities.</p> + +<p>This enquiry shows us how the +centre of external movement in Europe +has varied; but it is not merely +to the territorial struggle that our +attention should be confined—mighty +principles, Christian truth, civil freedom, +were often partially at issue on +one side, or on the other, in the different +contests which the gold and +steel of Europe were set in motion to +determine; hence the necessity of considering +not only the moral power, +but the economical and military +strength of the respective countries. +It requires no mean share of political +wisdom to mitigate an encounter with +the financial difficulties by which +every contest is beset. The evils of +the political and social state of France +were brought to a head by the dilapidation +of its revenues, and occasioned, +not the Revolution itself, but the +disorders by which it was accompanied. +And more than half of our national +revenue is appropriated to the payment +of our own debt; in other words, +every acre of land, besides the support +of its owner and the actual demands of +the State, is encumbered with the support +of two or three persons who represent +the creditors of the nation; +and every man who would have laboured +twelve hours, had no national +debt existed, is now obliged to toil +sixteen for the same remuneration: +such a state of things may be necessary, +but it certainly requires investigation.</p> + +<p>Other parts of the law of nations, +the maritime law especially, require +improvement. Superficial men are +apt to overlook the transcendent importance +of error on these subjects +by which desolation may be spread +from one quarter of the globe to the +other. As no man can bear long the +unanimous disapprobation of his fellows, +no nation can long set at defiance +the voice of a civilized world. +But we return to history in military +operations. A good map is essential +to this study. For instance, to understand +the wars of Frederick the +Great, it is not enough to know that +he was defeated at Kolin, Hochkirchen, +and Cunersdorf—that he was victorious +at Rosbach, Lowositz, Zorndorf, +and Prague—that he was opposed +by Daun, and Laudohn, and Soltikoff—we +must also comprehend the +situation of the Prussian dominions +with regard to those of the allies—the +importance of Saxony as covering +Prussia on the side of Austria—the +importance of Silesia as running into +the Austrian frontier, and flanking a +large part of Bohemia, should also +be considered—this will alone enable +us to account for Frederick's attack +on Saxony, and his pertinacity in +keeping possession of Silesia; nor +should it be forgotten, that the military +positions of one generation are +not always those of the next, and that +the military history of one period will +be almost unintelligible, if judged according +to the roads and fortresses of +another. For instance, St Dizier in +Champagne, which arrested Charles +the Fifth's invading army, is now perfectly +untenable—Turin, so celebrated +for the sieges it has sustained, is an +open town, while Alexandria is the +great Piedmontese fortress. The addition +of Paris to the list of French +strongholds, is, if really intended, a +greater change than any that has +been enumerated. This discussion +leads to an allusion to mountain warfare, +which has been termed the poetry +of the military art, and of which the +struggle in Switzerland in 1799, +when the eastern part of that country +was turned into a vast citadel, defended +by the French against Suwaroff, +is a most remarkable instance, as well +as the most recent. The history by +General Mathieu Dumas of the campaign +in 1799 and 1800, is referred +to as containing a good account and +explanation of this branch of military +science.</p> + +<p>The internal history of Europe +during the three hundred and forty +years which have elapsed since the +middle ages, is the subject now proposed +for our consideration. To the +question—What was the external object +of Europe during any part of this +period? the answer is obvious, that it +was engaged in resisting the aggression +of Spain, or France, or Austria. +But if we carry our view to the moral +world, do we find any principle equally +obvious, and a solution as satisfactory? +By no means. We may, indeed, say, +with apparent precision, that during +the earliest part of this epoch, Europe +<a class="pagenum" name="page155" id="page155" title="155"></a>was divided between the champions +and antagonists of religion, as, during +its latter portion, it was between the +enemies and supporters of political +reformation. But a deeper analysis +will show us that these names were +but the badges of ideas, always complex, +sometimes contradictory—the +war-cry of contending parties, by +whom the reality was now forgotten, +or to whom, compared with other +purposes, it was altogether subordinate.</p> + +<p>Take, for instance, the exercise of +political power. Is a state free in +proportion to the number of its subjects +who are admitted to rank among +its citizens, or to the degree in which +its recognised citizens are invested +with political authority? In the latter +point of view, the government of +Athens was the freest the world has +ever seen. In the former it was a +most exclusive and jealous oligarchy. +"For a city to be well governed," +says Aristotle in his Politics, "those +who share in its government must be +free from the care of providing for +their own support. This," he adds, +"is an admitted truth."</p> + +<p>Again, the attentive reader can +hardly fail to see that, in the struggle +between Pompey and Cæsar, Cæsar +represented the popular as Pompey +did the aristocratical party, and that +Pompey's triumph would have been +attended, as Cicero clearly saw, by +the domination of an aristocracy in +the shape most oppressive and intolerable. +The government of Rome, +after several desperate struggles, had +degenerated into the most corrupt oligarchy, +in which all the eloquence of +Cicero was unable to kindle the faintest +gleam of public virtue. Owing +to the success of Cæsar, the civilized +world exchanged the dominion of +several tyrants for that of one, and +the opposition to his design was the +resistance of the few to the many.</p> + +<p>Or we may take another view of +the subject. By freedom do we mean +the absence of all restraint in private +life, the non-interference by the state +in the details of ordinary intercourse? +According to such a view, the old +government of Venice and the present +government of Austria, where debauchery +is more than tolerated, would +be freer than the Puritan commonwealths +in North America, where +dramatic representations were prohibited +as impious, and death was the +legal punishment of fornication.</p> + +<p>These are specimens of the difficulties +by which we are beset, when we +endeavour to obtain an exact and +faithful image from the troubled medium +through which human affairs are +reflected to us. Dr Arnold dwells on +this point with his usual felicity of +language and illustration.</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"This inattention to altered circumstances, +which would make us be Guelfs +in the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries, +because the Guelf cause had been right in +the eleventh or twelfth, is a fault of most +universal application in all political questions, +and is often most seriously mischievous. +It is deeply seated in human nature, +being, in fact, no other than an +exemplification of the force of habit. It +is like the case of a settler, landing in +a country overrun with wood and undrained, +and visited therefore by excessive +falls of rain. The evil of wet, and damp, +and closeness, is besetting him on every +side; he clears away the woods, and he +drains his land, and he, by doing so, mends +both his climate and his own condition. +Encouraged by his success, he perseveres +in his system; clearing a country is with +him synonymous with making it fertile and +habitable; and he levels, or rather sets fire +to, his forests without mercy. Meanwhile, +the tide is turned without his observing +it; he has already cleared enough, and +every additional clearance is a mischief; +damp and wet are no longer the evil most +to be dreaded, but excessive drought. +The rains do not fall in sufficient quantity; +the springs become low, the rivers become +less and less fitted for navigation. Yet +habit blinds him for a long while to the +real state of the case; and he continues +to encourage a coming mischief in his +dread of one that is become obsolete. We +have been long making progress on our +present tack; yet if we do not go about +now, we shall run ashore. Consider the +popular feeling at this moment against +capital punishment; what is it but continuing +to burn the woods, when the +country actually wants shade and moisture? +Year after year, men talked of the +severity of the penal code, and struggled +against it in vain. The feeling became +stronger and stronger, and at last effected +all, and more than all, which it had at first +vainly demanded; yet still, from mere +habit, it pursues its course, no longer to +the restraining of legal cruelty, but to the +injury of innocence and the encouragement +of crime, and encouraging that worse +evil—a sympathy with wickedness justly +punished rather than with the law, whether +<a class="pagenum" name="page156" id="page156" title="156"></a>of God or man, unjustly violated. So +men have continued to cry out against the +power of the Crown after the Crown had +been shackled hand and foot; and to +express the greatest dread of popular +violence long after that violence was exhausted, +and the anti-popular party was +not only rallied, but had turned the tide +of battle, and was victoriously pressing +upon its enemy."</p></div> + +<p>The view which Dr Arnold gives +of the parties in England during the +sixteenth century—that great epoch +of English genius—is remarkable for +its candour and moderation. He considers +the distinctions which then +prevailed in England as political rather +than religious, "inasmuch as +they disputed about points of church +government, without any reference to +a supposed priesthood; and because +even those who maintained that one +or another form was to be preferred, +because it was of divine appointment, +were influenced in their interpretation +of the doubtful language of the Scriptures +by their own strong persuasion +of what that language could not but +mean to say."</p> + +<p>And he then concludes by the unanswerable +remark, that in England, +according to the theory of the constitution +during the sixteenth century, +church and state were one. The proofs +of this proposition are innumerable—not +merely the act by which the supremacy +was conferred on Henry VIII.—not +merely the powers, almost unlimited, +in matters ecclesiastical, delegated +to the king's vicegerent, that +vicegerent being a layman—not merely +the communion established by the sole +authority of Edward VI.—without the +least participation in it by any bishop +or clergyman; but the still more conclusive +argument furnished by the +fact, that no point in the doctrine, discipline, +or ritual of our church, was +established except by the power of +Parliament, and the power of Parliament +alone—nay, more, that they +were established in direct defiance of +the implacable opposition of the bishops, +by whom, being then Roman +Catholics, the English Church, on the +accession of Elizabeth, was represented—to +which the omission of the +names of the Lords Spiritual in the +Act of Uniformity, which is said to be +enacted by the "Queen's Highness," +with the assent of the Lords and Commons +in Parliament assembled, is a +testimony, at once unanswerable and +unprecedented. We have dwelt with +the more anxiety on this part of Dr +Arnold's work, as it furnishes a complete +answer to the absurd opinions +concerning the English Church, which +it has been of late the object of a few +bigots, unconsciously acting as the +tools of artful and ambitious men, to +propagate, and which would lead, by +a direct and logical process, to the +complete overthrow of Protestant faith +and worship. Such, then, being the +state of things "recognized on all +hands, church government was no +light matter, but one which essentially +involved in it the government of the +state; and the disputing the Queen's +supremacy, was equivalent to depriving +her of one of the most important +portions of her sovereignty, and committing +half of the government of the +nation to other hands."</p> + +<p>At the accession of Henry VIII., +the most profound tranquillity prevailed +over England. The last embers +of those factions by which, during his +father's reign, the peace of the nation +had been disturbed rather than endangered, +were quenched by the vigilance +and severity of that able monarch; +during the wars of the Roses, the +noblest blood in England had been +poured out on the field or on the +scaffold, and the wealth of the most +opulent proprietors had been drained +by confiscation. The parties of York +and Lancaster were no more—the +Episcopal and Puritan factions were +not yet in being—every day diminished +the influence of the nobles—the +strength of the Commons was in its +infancy—the Crown alone remained, +strong in its own prerogative, stronger +still in the want of all competitors. +Crime after crime was committed by the +savage tyrant who inherited it; he was +ostentatious—the treasures of the nation +were lavished at his feet; he was +vindictive—the blood of the wise, the +noble, and the beautiful, was shed, like +water, to gratify his resentment; he +was rapacious—the accumulations of +ancient piety were surrendered to glut +his avarice; he was arbitrary—and his +proclamations were made equivalent +to acts of Parliament; he was fickle—and +the religion of the nation was +changed to gratify his lust. To all +this the English people submitted, as +to some divine infliction, in silence and +<a class="pagenum" name="page157" id="page157" title="157"></a>consternation—the purses, lives, liberties, +and consciences of his people +were, for a time, at his disposal. During +the times of his son and his eldest +daughter, the general aspect of affairs +was the same. But, though the hurricane +of royal caprice and bigotry +swept over the land, seemingly without +resistance, the sublime truths which +were the daily subject of controversy, +and the solid studies with which the +age was conversant, penetrated into +every corner of the land, and were +incorporated with the very being of +the nation. Then, as the mist of +doubt and persecution which had covered +Mary's throne cleared away, the +intellect of England, in all its health, +and vigour, and symmetry, stood revealed +in the men and women of the +Elizabethan age:—</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"To say," observes Dr Arnold, "that +the Puritans were wanting in humility +because they did not acquiesce in the state +of things which they found around them, +is a mere extravagance, arising out of a +total misapprehension of the nature of +humility, and of the merits of the feeling +of veneration. All earnestness and depth +of character is incompatible with such a +notion of humility. A man deeply penetrated +with some great truth, and compelled, +as it were, to obey it, cannot listen +to every one who may be indifferent to it, +or opposed to it. There is a voice to +which he already owes obedience, which +he serves with the humblest devotion, +which he worships with the most intense +veneration. It is not that such feelings +are dead in him, but that he has bestowed +them on one object, and they are claimed +for another. To which they are most due +is a question of justice; he may be wrong +in his decision, and his worship may be +idolatrous; but so also may be the worship +which his opponents call upon him to +render. If, indeed, it can be shown that +a man admires and reverences nothing, he +may be justly taxed with want of humility; +but this is at variance with the very notion +of an earnest character; for its earnestness +consists in its devotion to some one +object, as opposed to a proud or contemptuous +indifference. But if it be meant that +reverence in itself is good, so that the more +objects of veneration we have the better is +our character, this is to confound the +essential difference between veneration and +love. The excellence of love is its universality; +we are told that even the highest +object of all cannot be loved if inferior +objects are hated."</p></div> + +<p>Opinions, in the meanwhile, not +very favourable to established authority +in the state, and marked by a rooted +antipathy to ecclesiastical pretensions, +were rapidly gaining proselytes in +the nation, and even at the court. +But the prudence and spirit of Elizabeth, +and, still more, the great veneration +and esteem for that magnanimous +princess, which were for many years +the ruling principle—we might almost +say, the darling passion—of Englishmen, +enabled her to keep at bay the +dangerous animosities which her miserable +successor had neither dexterity +to conciliate nor vigour to subdue. In +his time the cravings, moral and intellectual, +of the English nation discovered +themselves in forms not to be +mistaken—some more, some less formidable +to established government; +but all announcing that the time was +come when concession to them was +inevitable. No matter whether it +was the Puritan who complained of +the rags of popery, or the judge who +questioned the prerogative of the sovereign, +or the patriot who bewailed the +profligate expenditure of James's polluted +court, or the pamphleteer whom +one of our dramatists has described so +admirably, or the hoarse murmur of +the crowd execrating the pusillanimous +murder of Raleigh—whosesoever the +voice might be, whatever shape it +might assume, petition, controversy, +remonstrance, address, impeachment, +libel, menace, insurrection, the language +it spoke was uniform and unequivocal; +it demanded for the people +a share in the administration of their +government, civil and ecclesiastical—it +expressed their determination to +make the House of Commons a reality.</p> + +<p>The observations that follow are +fraught with the most profound wisdom, +and afford an admirable exemplification +of the manner in which +history should be read by those who +wish to find in it something more than +a mere register of facts and anecdotes:—</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"Under these circumstances there were +now working together in the same party +many principles which, as we have seen, are +sometimes perfectly distinct. For instance +the popular principle, that the influence +of many should not be overborne +by that of one, was working side by side +with the principle of movement, or the +desire of carrying on the work of the Reformation +to the furthest possible point, +and not only the desire of completing the +<a class="pagenum" name="page158" id="page158" title="158"></a>Reformation, but that of shaking off the +manifold evils of the existing state of +things, both political and moral. Yet it is +remarkable that the spirit of intellectual +movement stood as it were hesitating +which party it ought to join: and as the +contest went on, it seemed rather to incline +to that party which was most opposed +to the political movement. This +is a point in the state of English party in +the seventeenth century which is well +worth noticing, and we must endeavour +to comprehend it.</p> + +<p>"We might think, <i>a priori</i>, that the spirit +of political, and that of intellectual, +and that of religious movement, would go +on together, each favouring and encouraging +the other. But the Spirit of intellectual +movement differs from the other +two in this, that it is comparatively one with +which the mass of mankind have little sympathy. +Political benefits all men can appreciate; +and all good men, and a great +many more than we might well dare to +call good, can appreciate also the value, +not of all, but of some religious truth +which to them may seem all: the way to +obtain God's favour and to worship Him +aright, is a thing which great bodies of +men can value, and be moved to the most +determined efforts if they fancy that they +are hindered from attaining to it. But +intellectual movement in itself is a thing +which few care for. Political truth may +be dear to them, so far as it effects their +common well-being; and religious truth +so far as they may think it their duty to +learn it; but truth abstractedly, and because +it is truth, which is the object, I suppose, +of the pure intellect, is to the mass +of mankind a thing indifferent. Thus the +workings of the intellect come even to be +regarded with suspicion as unsettling: we +have got, we say, what we want, and we +are well contented with it; why should we +be kept in perpetual restlessness, because +you are searching after some new truths +which, when found, will compel us to derange +the state of our minds in order to +make room for them. Thus the democracy +of Athens was afraid of and hated +Socrates; and the poet who satirized +Cleon, knew that Cleon's partizans, no less +than his own aristocratical friends, would +sympathize with his satire when directed +against the philosophers. But if this hold +in political matters, much more does it +hold religiously. The two great parties +of the Christian world have each their own +standard of truth, by which they try all +things: Scripture on the one hand, the +voice of the church on the other. To +both, therefore, the pure intellectual +movement is not only unwelcome, but they +dislike it. It will question what they will +not allow to be questioned; it may arrive +at conclusions which they would regard as +impious. And, therefore, in an age of +religious movement particularly, the spirit +of intellectual movement soon finds +itself proscribed rather than countenanced."</p></div> + +<p>In the extract which follows, the +pure and tender morality of the sentiment +vies with the atmosphere of fine +writing that invests it. The passage +is one which Plato might have +envied, and which we should imagine +the most hardened and successful of +our modern apostates cannot read +without some feeling like contrition +and remorse. Fortunate indeed were +the youth trained to virtue by such a +monitor, and still more fortunate the +country where such a duty was confided +to such a man:—</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"I have tried to analyze the popular +party: I must now endeavour to do the +same with the party opposed to it. Of +course an anti-popular party varies exceedingly +at different times; when it is +in the ascendant, its vilest elements are +sure to be uppermost: fair and moderate,—just +men, wise men, noble-minded men,—then +refuse to take part with it. But +when it is humbled, and the opposite side +begins to imitate its practices, then again +many of the best and noblest spirits return +to it, and share its defeat though they +abhorred its victory. We must distinguish, +therefore, very widely, between the +anti-popular party in 1640, before the +Long Parliament met, and the same party +a few years, or even a few months, afterwards. +Now, taking the best specimens +of this party in its best state, we can +scarcely admire them too highly. A man +who leaves the popular cause when it is +triumphant, and joins the party opposed +to it, without really changing his principles +and becoming a renegade, is one of +the noblest characters in history. He +may not have the clearest judgment, or +the firmest wisdom; he may have been +mistaken, but, as far as he is concerned +personally, we cannot but admire him. +But such a man changes his party not to +conquer but to die. He does not allow +the caresses of his new friends to make +him forget that he is a sojourner with +them, and not a citizen: his old friends +may have used him ill, they may be dealing +unjustly and cruelly: still their faults, +though they may have driven him into +exile, cannot banish from his mind the +consciousness that with them is his true +home: that their cause is habitually just +and habitually the weaker, although now +<a class="pagenum" name="page159" id="page159" title="159"></a>bewildered and led astray by an unwonted +gleam of success. He protests so +strongly against their evil that he chooses +to die by their hands rather than in their +company; but die he must, for there is no +place left on earth where his sympathies +can breathe freely; he is obliged to leave +the country of his affections, and life elsewhere +is intolerable. This man is no renegade, +no apostate, but the purest of +martyrs: for what testimony to truth can +be so pure as that which is given uncheered +by any sympathy; given not +against friends, amidst unpitying or half-rejoicing +enemies. And such a martyr +was Falkland!</p> + +<p>"Others who fall off from a popular party +in its triumph, are of a different character; +ambitious men, who think that +they become necessary to their opponents +and who crave the glory of being able to +undo their own work as easily as they +had done it: passionate men, who, quarrelling +with their old associates on some +personal question, join the adversary in +search of revenge; vain men, who think +their place unequal to their merits, and +hope to gain a higher on the opposite side: +timid men, who are frightened as it were +at the noise of their own guns, and the +stir of actual battle—who had liked to +dally with popular principles in the parade +service of debating or writing in quiet +times, but who shrink alarmed when both +sides are become thoroughly in earnest: +and again, quiet and honest men, who +never having fully comprehended the general +principles at issue, and judging only +by what they see before them, are shocked +at the violence of their party, and think +that the opposite party is now become innocent +and just, because it is now suffering +wrong rather than doing it. Lastly, +men who rightly understand that good +government is the result of popular and +anti-popular principles blended together, +rather than of the mere ascendancy of +either; whose aim, therefore, is to prevent +either from going too far, and to +throw their weight into the lighter scale: +wise men and most useful, up to the moment +when the two parties are engaged +in actual civil war, and the question is—which +shall conquer? For no man can +pretend to limit the success of a party, +when the sword is the arbitrator: he who +wins in that game does not win by halves: +and therefore the only question then is, +which party is on the whole the best, or +rather perhaps the least evil; for as one +must crush the other, it is at least desirable +that the party so crushed should be +the worse."</p></div> + +<p>Dr Arnold—rightly, we hope—assumes, +that in lectures addressed +to Englishmen and Protestants, it is +unnecessary to vindicate the principles +of the Revolution; it would, indeed, +be an affront to any class of +educated Protestant freemen, to argue +that our present constitution was +better than a feudal monarchy, or the +religion of Tillotson superior to that +of Laud—in his own words, "whether +the doctrine and discipline of our Protestant +Church of England, be not +better and truer than that of Rome." +He therefore supposes the Revolution +complete, the Bill of Rights and the +Toleration Act already passed, the +authority of King William recognized +in England and in Scotland, while in +Ireland the party of King James was +still predominant. He then bids us +consider the character and object of +the parties by which Great Britain +was then divided; on the side of the +Revolution were enlisted the great +families of our aristocracy, and the +bulk of the middle classes. The faction +of James included the great mass +of country gentlemen, the lower orders, +and, (after the first dread of a +Roman Catholic hierarchy had passed +away,) except in a very few instances, +the parochial and teaching clergy; +civil and religious liberty was the +motto of one party—hereditary right +and passive obedience, of the other. +As the Revolution had been bloodless, +it might have been supposed that its +reward would have been secure, and +that our great deliverer would have +been allowed to pursue his schemes +for the liberty of Europe, if not without +opposition, at least without hostility. +But the old Royalist party had +been surprised and confounded, not +broken or altogether overcome. They +rallied—some from pure, others from +selfish and sordid motives—under the +banner to which they had been so +long accustomed; and, though ultimately +baffled, they were able to place +in jeopardy, and in some measure to +fling away the advantages which the +blood and treasure of England had +been prodigally lavished to obtain.</p> + +<p>The conquest of Ireland was followed +by that terrible code against +the Catholics, the last remnant of +which is now obliterated from our +statute-book. It is singular that this +savage proscription should have been +the work of the party at whose head +stood the champion of toleration. +<a class="pagenum" name="page160" id="page160" title="160"></a>The account which Mr Burke has +given of it, and for the accuracy of +which he appeals to Bishop Burnet, +does not entirely coincide with the +view taken by Dr Arnold. Mr Burke +says—</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"A party in this nation, enemies to the +system of the Revolution, were in opposition +to the government of King William. +They knew that our glorious deliverer +was an enemy to all persecution. They +knew that he came to free us from slavery +and Popery, out of a country where a +third of the people are contented Catholics, +under a Protestant government. He +came, with a part of his army composed of +those very Catholics, to overset the power +of a Popish prince. Such is the effect of +a tolerating spirit, and so much is liberty +served in every way, and by all persons, +by a manly adherence to its own principles. +Whilst freedom is true to itself, +every thing becomes subject to it, and its +very adversaries are an instrument in its +hands.</p> + +<p>"The party I speak of (like some +amongst us who would disparage the best +friends of their country) resolved to +make the King either violate his principles +of toleration, or incur the odium of protecting +Papists. They, therefore, brought +in this bill, and made it purposely wicked +and absurd, that it might be rejected. +The then court-party discovering their +game, turned the tables on them, and returned +their bill to them stuffed with still +greater absurdities, that its loss might lie +upon its original authors. They, finding +their own ball thrown back to them, kicked +it back again to their adversaries. +And thus this act, loaded with the double +injustice of two parties, neither of whom +intended to pass what they hoped the +other would be persuaded to reject, went +through the legislature, contrary to the +real wish of all parts of it, and of all +the parties that composed it. In this manner +these insolent and profligate factions, as if +they were playing with balls and counters, +made a sport of the fortunes and the liberties +of their fellow-creatures. Other acts +of persecution have been acts of malice. +This was a subversion of justice from wantonness."</p></div> + +<p>Whether Dr Arnold's theory be +applicable or not to this particular +case, it furnishes but too just a solution +of Irish misgovernment in general. +It is, that excessive severity +toward conquered rebels, is by no +means inconsistent with the principles +of free government, or even +with the triumph of a democracy. +The truth of this fact is extorted from +us by all history, and may be accounted +for first, by the circumstance, that +large bodies of men are less affected +than individuals, by the feelings of +shame and a sense of responsibility; +and, secondly, that conduct the most +selfish and oppressive, the mere suspicion +of which would be enough to +brand an individual with everlasting +infamy, assumes, when adopted by +popular assemblies, the air of statesmanlike +wisdom and patriotic inflexibility. +The main cause of the difference +with which the lower orders in +France and England regarded the +Revolution in their respective countries, +is to be found in the different +nature of the evils which they were +intended to remove. The English +Revolution was merely political—the +French was social also; the benefits of +the Bill of Rights, great and inestimable +as they were, were such as demanded +some knowledge and reflection to appreciate—they +did not come home +directly to the business and bosom of +the peasant; it was only in rare and +great emergencies that he could become +sensible of the rights they gave, +or of the means of oppression they +took away: while the time-honoured +dwellings of the Cavendishes and Russells +were menaced and assailed, nothing +but the most senseless tyranny +could render the cottage insecure; +but the abolition of the seignorial +rights in France, free communication +between her provinces, equal taxation, +impartial justice—these were blessings +which it required no economist to +illustrate, and no philosopher to explain. +Every labourer in France, +whose sweat had flowed for the benefit +of others, whose goods had been +seized by the exactors of the Taille +and the Gabelle,<a id="footnotetag1" name="footnotetag1" href="#footnote1"><sup>1</sup></a> the fruits of whose +soil had been wasted because he was +<a class="pagenum" name="page161" id="page161" title="161"></a>not allowed to sell them at the neighbouring +market, whose domestic happiness +had been polluted, or whose +self-respect had been lowered by injuries +and insults, all retribution for +which was hopeless, might well be +expected to value these advantages +more than life itself. But when the +principles of the Revolution were +triumphant, and the House of Brunswick +finally seated on the throne of +this country, it remains to be seen +what were, during the eighteenth century, +the fruits of this great and lasting +victory. The answer is a melancholy +one. Content with what had +been achieved, the nation seems at +once to have abandoned all idea of +any further moral or intellectual progress. +In private life the grossest +ignorance and debauchery were written +upon our social habits, in the +broadest and most legible characters. +In public life, we see chicanery in the +law, apathy in the Church, corruption +in Parliament, brutality on the seat of +justice; trade burdened with a great +variety of capricious restrictions; the +punishment of death multiplied with +the most shocking indifference; the +state of prisons so dreadful, that imprisonment—which +might be, and in +those days often was, the lot of the +most innocent of mankind—became in +itself a tremendous punishment; the +press virtually shackled; education +every where wanted, and no where to +be found.</p> + +<p>The laws that were passed resemble +the edicts of a jealous, selfish, and +even vindictive oligarchy, rather than +institutions adopted for the common +welfare, by the representatives of a +free people. Turn to any of the works +which describe the manners of the +age, from the works of Richardson or +Fielding, to the bitter satire of Churchill +and the melancholy remonstrances of +Cowper, and you are struck with the +delineation of a state and manners, and +a tone of feeling which, in the present +day, appears scarcely credible. +"'Sdeath, madam, do you threaten +me with the law?" says Lovelace to +the victim of his calculating and sordid +violence. Throughout the volumes +of these great writers, the features +perpetually recur of insolence, corruption, +violence, and debauchery in the +one class, and of servility and cunning +in the other. It is impossible for the +worst quality of an aristocracy—nominally, +to be sure, subject to the restraint +of the law, but practically, almost +wholly exempt from its operation—to +be more clearly and more +fearfully represented. The South Sea +scheme, the invasion of Scotland, the +disgraceful expeditions on the coast of +France; the conduct of Lord George +Sackville at Minden, the miserable attempt +on Carthagena, the loss of Minorca, +the convention of Closterseven, +the insecurity of the high-roads, nay, +of the public streets in the metropolis +itself, all serve to show the deplorable +condition into which the nation was +fast sinking, abroad and at home, when +the "Great Commoner" once more +aroused its energies, concentrated its +strength, and carried it to a higher +pinnacle of glory than it has ever been +the lot even of Great Britain to attain. +Yet this effect was transient—the progress +of corruption was checked, but +the disease still lurked in the heart, +and tainted the life-blood of the +community. The orgies of Medmenham +Abbey, the triumphs of Wilkes, and +the loss of America, bear fatal testimony +to the want of decency and disregard +of merit in private as well as +public life which infected Great Britain, +polluting the sources of her domestic +virtues, and bringing disgrace +upon her arms and councils during +the greater part of the eighteenth century. +It is with a masterly review of +this period of our history that Dr Arnold +closes his analysis of the three last +centuries. His remaining lecture is +dedicated to the examination of historical +evidence—a subject on which it is +not our present intention to offer any +commentary.</p> + +<p>To trace effects to their causes, is +the object of all science; and by this +object, as it is accomplished or incomplete, +the progress of any particular +science must be determined. The order +of the moral is in reality as immutable +as the laws of the physical world; +and human actions are linked to their +consequences by a necessity as inexorable +<a class="pagenum" name="page162" id="page162" title="162"></a>as that which controls the +growth of plants or the motion of the +earth, though the connexion between +cause and effect is not equally discernible. +The depression of the nobles +and the rise of the commons in England, +after the statutes of alienation, +were the result of causes as infallible +in their operation as those which regulate +the seasons and the tides. Repeated +experiments have proved beyond +dispute, that gold is heavier than +iron. Is the superior value of gold to +iron a fact more questionable? Yet is +value a quality purely moral, and absolutely +dependent on the will of man. +The events of to-day are bound to +those of yesterday, and those of to-morrow +will be bound to those of to-day, +no less certainly than the harvest +of the present year springs from the +grain which is the produce of former +harvests. When by a severe and diligent +analysis we have ascertained all +the ingredients of any phenomenon, +and have separated it from all that is +foreign and adventitious, we know its +true nature, and may deduce a general +law from our experiment; for a general +law is nothing more than an expression +of the effect produced by the +same cause operating under the same +circumstances. In the reign of Louis +XV., a Montmorency was convicted +of an atrocious murder. He was punished +by a short imprisonment in the +Bastile. His servant and accomplice +was, for the same offence at the same +time, broken alive upon the wheel. +Is the proposition, that the angles +of a triangle are equal to two right +angles, more certain than the ruin of a +system under which such a state of +things was tolerated? How, then, does +it come to pass, that the same people +who cling to one set of truths reject +the other with obstinate incredulity? +Cicero shall account for it:—"Sensus +nostros non parens, non nutrix, +non poeta, non scena depravat; animis +omnes tendentur insidiæ." The discoveries +of physical science, in the +present day at least, allow little scope +to prejudice and inclination. Whig +and Tory, Radical and Conservative, +agree, that fire will burn and water +suffocate; nay, no tractarian, so far +as we know, has ventured to call in +question the truths established by Cuvier +and La Place. But every proposition +in moral or political science enlists +a host of feelings in zealous support +or implacable hostility; and the +same system, according to the creed +and prepossessions of the speaker, is +put forward as self-evident, or stigmatized +as chimerical. One set of people +throw corn into the river and burn +mills, in order to cheapen bread—another +vote that sixteen shillings are +equal to twenty-one, in order to support +public credit—proceedings in no +degree more reasonable than a denial +that two and two make four, or using +gunpowder instead of water to stop a +conflagration. Again, in physical +science, the chain which binds the +cause to its effect is short, simple, and +passes through no region of vapour +and obscurity; in moral phenomena, +it is long hidden and intertwined with +the links of ten thousand other chains, +which ramify and cross each other in +a confusion which it requires no common +patience and sagacity to unravel. +Therefore it is that the lessons of history, +dearly as they have been purchased, +are forgotten and thrown away—therefore +it is that nations sow in +folly and reap in affliction—that +thrones are shaken, and empires convulsed, +and commerce fettered by +vexatious restrictions, by those who +live in one century, without enabling +their descendants to become wiser or +richer in the next. The death of +Charles I. did not prevent the exile of +James II., and, in spite of the disasters +of Charles XII., Napoleon tempted +fortune too often and too long. It +is not, then, by the mere knowledge of +separate facts that history can contribute +to our improvement or our happiness; +it would then exchange the +character of philosophy treated by +examples, for that of sophistry misleading +by empiricism. The more systematic +the view of human events +which it enables us to gain, the more +nearly does it approach its real office, +and entitle itself to the splendid panegyric +of the Roman statesman—"Historia, +testis temporum, lux veritatis, vita +memoriæ, magistra vitæ, nuntia vetustatis."</p> + +<p>But while we insist upon the certainty +of those truths which a calm +examination of history confirms, and +the sure operation of those general +laws by which Providence in its wisdom +has ordained that the affairs of +this lower world shall be controlled—let +<a class="pagenum" name="page163" id="page163" title="163"></a>it not be supposed that we for a +moment doubt the truth which Demosthenes +took such pains to inculcate +upon his countrymen, that fortune +in human affairs is for a time omnipotent. +That fortune, which "erring +men call chance," is the name which +finite beings must apply to those secret +and unknown causes which no human +sagacity can penetrate or comprehend. +What depends upon a few persons, +observes Mr Hume, is to be ascribed +to chance; what arises from a great +number, may often be accounted for +by known and determinate causes; +and he illustrates this position by the +instance of a loaded die, the bias of +which, however it may for a short +time escape detection, will certainly +in a great number of instances become +predominant. The issue of a battle +may be decided by a sunbeam or a +cloud of dust. Had an heir been born +to Charles II. of Spain—had the +youthful son of Monsieur De Bouillé +not fallen asleep when Louis XVI. +entered Varennes—had Napoleon, on +his return from Egypt, been stopped +by an English cruizer—how different +would have been the face of Europe. +The <i>poco di piu</i> and <i>poco di meno</i> +has, in such contingencies, an unbounded +influence. The trade-winds +are steady enough to furnish grounds +for the most accurate calculation; but +will any man in our climate venture +to predict from what quarter, on any +particular day, the wind may chance +to blow?</p> + +<p>Therefore, in forming our judgment +of human affairs, we must apply a +"Lesbian rule," instead of one that is +inflexible. Here it is that the line is +drawn between science, and the wisdom +which has for its object the administration +of human affairs. The +masters of science explore a multitude +of phenomena to ascertain a single +cause; the statesman and legislator, +engaged in pursuits "hardliest reduced +to axiom," examine a multitude +of causes to explain a solitary phenomenon. +The investigations, however, +to which such questions lead, are singularly +difficult, as they require an +accurate analysis of the most complicated +class of facts which can possibly +engross our attention, and to the complete +examination of which the faculties +of any one man must be inadequate. +The finest specimens of such +enquiries which we possess are the +works of Adam Smith and Montesquieu. +The latter, indeed, may be +called a great historian. He sought +in every quarter for his account of +those fundamental principles which +are common to all governments, as +well as of those peculiarities by which +they are distinguished one from +another. The analogy which reaches +from the first dim gleam of civility +to the last and consummate result of +policy and intelligence, from the law +of the Salian Franks to the Code +Napoleon, it was reserved for him to +discover and explain. He saw that, +though the shape into which the expression +of human thought and will +was moulded as the family became a +tribe, and the tribe a nation, might be +fantastic and even monstrous—that +the staple from which it unrolled itself +must be the same. Treading in +the steps of Vico, he more than realized +his master's project, and in his +immortal work (which, with all its faults, +is a magnificent, and as yet unrivalled, +trophy of his genius, and will serve as +a landmark to future enquirers when +its puny critics are not known enough +to be despised) he has extracted from +a chaos of casual observations, detached +hints—from the principles concealed +in the intricate system of Roman +jurisprudence, or exposed in the +rules which barely held together the +barbarous tribes of Gaul and Germany—from +the manners of the polished +Athenian, and from the usages +of the wandering Tartar—from the +rudeness of savage life, and the corruptions +of refined society—a digest +of luminous and coherent evidence, +by which the condition of man, in the +different stages of his social progress, +is exemplified and ascertained. The +loss of the History of Louis XI.—a +work which he had projected, and of +which he had traced the outline—is +a disappointment which the reader of +modern history can never enough deplore.</p> + +<p>The province of science lies in +truths that are universal and immutable; +that of prudence in second +causes that are transient and subordinate. +What is universally true is +alone necessarily true—the knowledge +that rests in particulars must be accidental. +The theorist disdains experience—the +empiric rejects principle. +The one is the pedant who read Hannibal +a lecture on the art of war; the +<a class="pagenum" name="page164" id="page164" title="164"></a>other is the carrier who knows the +road between London and York better +than Humboldt, but a new road is +prescribed to him and his knowledge +becomes useless. This is the state of +mind La Fontaine has described so +perfectly in his story of the "Cierge."</p> + +<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'> +<span>"Un d'eux, voyant la brique au feu endurcie<br /></span> +<span>Vaincre l'effort des ans, il eut la même envie;<br /></span> +<span>Et nouvel Empédocle, aux flammes condamné<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Par sa pure et propre folie,<br /></span> +<span>Il se lança dédans—ce fût mal raisonné,<br /></span> +<span>Le Cierge ne savait grain de philosophie."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The mere chemist or mathematician +will apply his truths improperly; the +man of detail, the mere empiric, will +deal skilfully with particulars, while +to all general truths he is insensible. +The wise man, the philosopher in action, +will use the one as a stepping-stone +to the other, and acquire a vantage-ground +from whence he will +command the realms of practice and +experience.</p> + +<p>History teems with instances that—although +the general course of the +human mind is marked out, and each +succeeding phasis in which it exhibits +itself appears inevitable—the human +race cannot be considered, as Vico +and Herder were, perhaps, inclined to +look upon it, as a mass without intelligence, +traversing its orbit according +to laws which it has no power to modify +or control. On such an hypothesis, +Wisdom and Folly, Justice +and Injustice, would be the same, +followed by the same consequences +and subject to the same destiny—no +certain laws establishing invariable +grounds of hope and fear, would keep +the actions of men in a certain course, +or direct them to a certain end; the +feelings, faculties, and instincts of man +would be useless in a world where the +wise was always as the foolish, the +just as the unjust, where calculation +was impossible, and experience of no +avail.</p> + +<p>Man is no doubt the instrument, but +the unconscious instrument, of Providence; +and for the end they propose to +themselves, though not for the result +which they attain, nations as well as +individuals are responsible. Otherwise, +why should we read or speak of +history? it would be the feverish +dream of a distempered imagination, +full of incoherent ravings, a disordered +chaos of antagonist illusions—</p> + +<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'> +<span class='i4'>——"A tale<br /></span> +<span>Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,<br /></span> +<span>Signifying nothing."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>But on the contrary, it is in history +that the lessons of morality are +delivered with most effect. The priest +may provoke our suspicion—the moralist +may fail to work in us any practical +conviction; but the lessons of +history are not such as vanish in the +fumes of unprofitable speculation, or +which it is possible for us to mistrust, +or to deride. Obscure as the dispensations +of Providence often are, it +sometimes, to use Lord Bacon's language—"pleases +God, for the confutation +of such as are without God +in the world, to write them in such +text and capital letters that he who +runneth by may read it—that is, mere +sensual persons which hasten by God's +judgments, and never tend or fix their +cogitations upon them, are nevertheless +in their passage and race urged to +discern it." In all historical writers, +philosophical or trivial, sacred or profane, +from the meagre accounts of the +monkish chronicler, no less than from +the pages stamped with all the indignant +energy of Tacitus, gleams forth +the light which, amid surrounding +gloom and injustice, amid the apparent +triumph of evil, discovers the +influence of that power which the +heathens personified as Nemesis. Her +tread, indeed, is often noiseless—her +form may be long invisible—but the +moment at length arrives when the +measure of forbearance is complete; +the echoes of her step vibrate upon +the ear, her form bursts upon the eye, +and her victim—be it a savage tyrant, +or a selfish oligarchy, or a hypocritical +church, or a corrupt nation—perishes.</p> + +<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'> +<span class='i4'>"Come quei che va di notte,<br /></span> +<span>Che porta il lume dietro, <i>e a se non giova,</i><br /></span> +<span><i>Ma dopo se fa le persone dotte</i>."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>And as in daily life we rejoice to +trace means directed to an end, and +proofs of sagacity and instinct even +among the lower tribes of animated +nature, with how much greater delight +do we seize the proofs vouchsafed +to us in history of that eternal +law, by which the affairs of the universe +are governed? How much more +do we rejoice to find that the order to +<a class="pagenum" name="page165" id="page165" title="165"></a>which physical nature owes its existence +and perpetuity, does not stop at +the threshold of national life—that the +moral world is not <i>fatherless</i>, and that +man, formed to look before and after, +is not abandoned to confusion and +insecurity?</p> + +<p>Fertile and comprehensive indeed +is the domain of history, comprising +the whole region of probabilities +within its jurisdiction—all the various +shapes into which man has been cast—all +the different scenes in which he +has been called upon to act or suffer; +his power and his weakness, his folly +and his wisdom, his virtues in their +meridian height, his vices in the +lowest abyss of their degradation, are +displayed before us, in their struggles, +vicissitudes, and infinitely diversified +combinations: an inheritance beyond +all price—a vast repository of +fruitful and immortal truths. There +is nothing so mean or so dignified; +nothing so obscure or so glorious; +no question so abstruse, no problem +so subtile, no difficulty so arduous, no +situation so critical, of which we may +not demand from history an account +and elucidation. Here we find all that +the toil, and virtues, and sufferings, +and genius, and experience, of our +species have laboured for successive +generations to accumulate and preserve. +The fruit of their blood, of +their labour, of their doubts, and their +struggles, is before us—a treasure that +no malignity can corrupt, or violence +take away. And above all, it is here +that, when tormented by doubt, or +startled by anomalies, stung by disappointment, +or exasperated by injustice, +we may look for consolation and +encouragement. As we see the same +events, that to those who witnessed +them must have appeared isolated +and capricious, tending to one great +end, and accomplishing one specific +purpose, we may learn to infer that +those which appear to us most extraordinary, +are alike subservient to a +wise and benevolent dispensation. +Poetry, the greatest of all critics has +told us, has this advantage over history, +that the lessons which it furnishes +are not mixed and confined to +particular cases, but pure and universal. +Studied, however, in this spirit, +history, while it improves the reason, +may satisfy the heart, enabling us to +await with patience the lesson of the +great instructor, Time, and to employ +the mighty elements it places within +our reach, to the only legitimate purpose +of all knowledge—"The advancement +of God's glory, and the +relief of man's estate."</p> + + + + +<hr style='width: 100%;' /> +<a class="pagenum" name="page166" id="page166" title="166"></a> +<a name="bw328s2" id="bw328s2"></a><h2>POEMS AND BALLADS OF SCHILLER.</h2> + +<h3>No. V.</h3> + +<h3>THE VICTORY FEAST.</h3> + +<p>[This noble lyric is perhaps the happiest of all those poems in which +Schiller has blended the classical spirit with the more deep and tender philosophy +which belongs to modern romance. The individuality of the heroes +introduced is carefully preserved. The reader is every where reminded of +Homer; and yet, as a German critic has observed, <i>there is an under current +of sentiment</i> which betrays the thoughtful <i>Northern</i> minstrel. This detracts +from the art of the Poem viewed as an imitation, but constitutes its very +charm as an original composition. Its inspiration rises from a source purely +Hellenic, but the streamlets it receives at once adulterate and enrich, or (to +change the metaphor) it has the costume and the gusto of the Greek, but the +toning down of the colours betrays the German.]</p> + +<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'> +<span>The stately walls of Troy had sunken,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Her towers and temples strew'd the soil;<br /></span> +<span>The sons of Hellas, victory-drunken,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Richly laden with the spoil,<br /></span> +<span>Are on their lofty barks reclin'd<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Along the Hellespontine strand;<br /></span> +<span>A gleesome freight the favouring wind<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Shall bear to Greece's glorious land;<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And gleesome sounds the chaunted strain,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>As towards the household altars, now,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Each bark inclines the painted prow—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>For Home shall smile again!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>And there the Trojan women, weeping,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Sit ranged in many a length'ning row;<br /></span> +<span>Their heedless locks, dishevell'd, sweeping<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Adown the wan cheeks worn with woe.<br /></span> +<span>No festive sounds that peal along,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'><i>Their</i> mournful dirge can overwhelm;<br /></span> +<span>Through hymns of joy one sorrowing song<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Commingled, wails the ruin'd realm.<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>"Farewell, beloved shores!" it said,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>"From home afar behold us torn,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>By foreign lords as captives borne—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Ah, happy are the Dead!"<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>And Calchas, while the altars blaze,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Invokes the high gods to their feast!<br /></span> +<span>On Pallas, mighty or to raise<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Or shatter cities, call'd the Priest—<br /></span> +<span>And Him, who wreathes around the land<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The girdle of his watery world,<br /></span> +<span>And Zeus, from whose almighty hand<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The terror and the bolt are hurl'd.<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Success at last awards the crown—<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>The long and weary war is past;<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Time's destined circle ends at last—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And fall'n the Mighty Town!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>The Son of Atreus, king of men,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The muster of the hosts survey'd,<br /></span> +<span>How dwindled from the thousands, when<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Along Scamander first array'd!<br /></span> +<span><a class="pagenum" name="page167" id="page167" title="167"></a>With sorrow and the cloudy thought,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The Great King's stately look grew dim—<br /></span> +<span>Of all the hosts to Ilion brought,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>How few to Greece return with him!<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Still let the song to gladness call,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>For those who yet their home shall greet!—<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>For them the blooming life is sweet:<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Return is not for all!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>Nor all who reach their native land<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>May long the joy of welcome feel—<br /></span> +<span>Beside the household gods may stand<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Grim Murther with awaiting steel;<br /></span> +<span>And they who 'scape the foe, may die<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Beneath the foul familiar glaive.<br /></span> +<span>Thus He<a id="footnotetag2" name="footnotetag2" href="#footnote2"><sup>2</sup></a> to whose prophetic eye<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Her light the wise Minerva gave:—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>"Ah! blest whose hearth, to memory true,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>The goddess keeps unstain'd and pure—<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>For woman's guile is deep and sure,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And Falsehood loves the New!"<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>The Spartan eyes his Helen's charms,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>By the best blood of Greece recaptured;<br /></span> +<span>Round that fair form his glowing arms—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>(A second bridal)—wreathe enraptured.<br /></span> +<span>"Woe waits the work of evil birth—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Revenge to deeds unblest is given!<br /></span> +<span>For watchful o'er the things of earth,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The eternal Council-Halls of Heaven.<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Yes, ill shall ever ill repay—<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Jove to the impious hands that stain<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>The Altar of Man's Hearth, again<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The doomer's doom shall weigh!"<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>"Well they, reserved for joy to day,"<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Cried out Oïleus' valiant son,<br /></span> +<span>"May laud the favouring gods who sway<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Our earth, their easy thrones upon;<br /></span> +<span>Without a choice they mete our doom,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Our woe or welfare Hazard gives—<br /></span> +<span>Patroclus slumbers in the tomb,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And all unharm'd Thersites lives.<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>While luck and life to every one<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Blind Fate dispenses, well may they<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Enjoy the life and luck to day<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>By whom the prize is won!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>"Yes, war will still devour the best!—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Brother, remember'd in this hour!<br /></span> +<span>His shade should be in feasts a guest,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Whose form was in the strife a tower!<br /></span> +<span>What time our ships the Trojan fired,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Thine arm to Greece the safety gave—<br /></span> +<span>The prize to which thy soul aspired,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The crafty wrested from the brave.<a id="footnotetag3" name="footnotetag3" href="#footnote3"><sup>3</sup></a><br /></span> +<span class='i2'><a class="pagenum" name="page168" id="page168" title="168"></a>Peace to thine ever-holy rest—<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Not thine to fall before the foe!<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Ajax alone laid Ajax low:<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Ah—wrath destroys the best!"<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>To his dead sire—(the Dorian king)—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The bright-hair'd Pyrrhus<a id="footnotetag4" name="footnotetag4" href="#footnote4"><sup>4</sup></a> pours the wine:—<br /></span> +<span>"Of every lot that life can bring,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>My soul, great Father, prizes thine.<br /></span> +<span>Whate'er the goods of earth, of all,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The highest and the holiest—FAME!<br /></span> +<span>For when the Form in dust shall fall,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>O'er dust triumphant lives the Name!<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Brave Man, thy light of glory never<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Shall fade, while song to man shall last;<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>The Living, soon from earth are pass'd,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>'THE DEAD—ENDURE FOR EVER!'"<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>"While silent in their grief and shame,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The conquer'd hear the conqueror's praise,"<br /></span> +<span>Quoth Tydeus' son, "let Hector's fame,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>In me, his foe, its witness raise!<br /></span> +<span>Who, battling for the altar-hearth,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>A brave defender, bravely fell—<br /></span> +<span>It takes not from the victor's worth,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>If honour with the vanquish'd dwell.<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Who falleth for the altar-hearth,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>A rock and a defence laid low,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Shall leave behind him, in the foe,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The lips that speak his worth!"<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>Lo, Nestor now, whose stately age<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Through threefold lives of mortals lives!—<br /></span> +<span>The laurel'd bowl, the kingly sage<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>To Hector's tearful mother gives.<br /></span> +<span>"Drink—in the draught new strength is glowing,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The grief it bathes forgets the smart!<br /></span> +<span>O Bacchus! wond'rous boons bestowing,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Oh how thy balsam heals the heart!<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Drink—in the draught new vigour gloweth,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>The grief it bathes forgets the smart—<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>And balsam to the breaking heart,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The healing god bestoweth.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>"As Niobe, when weeping mute,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>To angry gods the scorn and prey,<br /></span> +<span>But tasted of the charmed fruit,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And cast despair itself away;<br /></span> +<span>So, while unto thy lips, its shore,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>This stream of life enchanted flows,<br /></span> +<span>Remember'd grief, that stung before,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Sinks down to Lethè's calm repose.<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>So, while unto thy lips, its shore,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>The stream of life enchanted flows—<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Drown'd deep in Lethè's calm repose,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The grief that stung before!"<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span><a class="pagenum" name="page169" id="page169" title="169"></a>Seized by the god—behold the dark<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And dreaming Prophetess<a id="footnotetag5" name="footnotetag5" href="#footnote5"><sup>5</sup></a> arise!<br /></span> +<span>She gazes from the lofty bark,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Where Home's dim vapour wraps the skies—<br /></span> +<span>"A vapour, all of human birth!<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>As mists ascending, seen and gone,<br /></span> +<span>So fade earth's great ones from the earth,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And leave the changeless gods alone!<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Behind the steed that skirs away,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Or on the galley's deck—sits Care!<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>To-morrow comes—and Life is where?<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>At least—we'll live to-day!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<br /> + +<h3>RUDOLPH OF HAPSBURG.—A BALLAD.</h3> + +<p>[Hinrichs properly classes this striking ballad (together with the yet grander +one of the "Fight with the Dragon") amongst those designed to depict and +exalt the virtue of Humility. The source of the story is in Ægidius Tschudi—a +Swiss chronicler—and Schiller (who, as Hinrichs suggests,) probably met +with it in the researches connected with the compositions of his drama, "William +Tell," appears to have adhered, with much fidelity, to the original narrative.]</p> + +<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'> +<span>At Aachen, in imperial state,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>In that time-hallow'd hall renown'd,<br /></span> +<span>At solemn feast King Rudolf sate,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The day that saw the hero crown'd!<br /></span> +<span>Bohemia and thy Palgrave, Rhine,<br /></span> +<span>Give this the feast, and that the wine;<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>The Arch Electoral Seven,<br /></span> +<span>Like choral stars around the sun,<br /></span> +<span>Gird him whose hand a world has won,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>The anointed choice of Heaven.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>In galleries raised above the pomp,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Press'd crowd on crowd, their panting way;<br /></span> +<span>And with the joy-resounding tromp,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Rang out the million's loud hurra!<br /></span> +<span>For closed at last the age of slaughter,<br /></span> +<span>When human blood was pour'd as water—<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>LAW dawns upon the world!<a id="footnotetag6" name="footnotetag6" href="#footnote6"><sup>6</sup></a><br /></span> +<span>Sharp Force no more shall right the wrong,<br /></span> +<span>And grind the weak to crown the strong—<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>War's carnage-flag is furl'd!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>In Rudolf's hand the goblet shines—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And gaily round the board look'd he;<br /></span> +<span>"And proud the feast, and bright the wines,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>My kingly heart feels glad to me!<br /></span> +<span>Yet where the lord of sweet desire,<br /></span> +<span>Who moves the heart beneath the lyre,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>And dulcet Sound Divine?<br /></span> +<span>Dear from my youth the craft of song,<br /></span> +<span>And what as knight I loved so long,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>As Kaisar, still be mine."<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span><a class="pagenum" name="page170" id="page170" title="170"></a>Lo, from the circle bending there,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>With sweeping robe the Bard appears,<br /></span> +<span>As silver, white his gleaming hair,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Bleach'd by the many winds of years:<br /></span> +<span>"And music sleeps in golden strings—<br /></span> +<span>The minstrel's hire, the LOVE he sings;<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Well known to him the ALL<br /></span> +<span>High thoughts and ardent souls desire!—<br /></span> +<span>What would the Kaisar from the lyre<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Amidst the banquet-hall?"<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>The Great One smiled—"Not mine the sway—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The minstrel owns a loftier power—<br /></span> +<span>A mightier king inspires the lay—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Its hest—THE IMPULSE OF THE HOUR!<br /></span> +<span>As through wide air the tempests sweep,<br /></span> +<span>As gush the springs from mystic deep,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Or lone untrodden glen;<br /></span> +<span>So from dark hidden fount within,<br /></span> +<span>Comes SONG, its own wild world to win<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Amidst the souls of men!"<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>Swift with the fire the minstrel glow'd,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And loud the music swept the ear:—<br /></span> +<span>"Forth to the chase a Hero rode,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>To hunt the bounding chamois-deer:<br /></span> +<span>With shaft and horn the squire behind:—<br /></span> +<span>Through greensward meads the riders wind—<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>A small sweet bell they hear.<br /></span> +<span>Lo, with the HOST, a holy man,—<br /></span> +<span>Before him strides the sacristan,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>And the bell sounds near and near.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>The noble hunter down-inclined<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>His reverent head and soften'd eye,<br /></span> +<span>And honour'd with a Christian's mind<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The Christ who loves humility!<br /></span> +<span>Loud through the pasture, brawls and raves<br /></span> +<span>A brook—the rains had fed the waves,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>And torrents from the hill.<br /></span> +<span>His sandal shoon the priest unbound,<br /></span> +<span>And laid the Host upon the ground,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>And near'd the swollen rill!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>"What wouldst thou, priest?" the Count began,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>As, marvelling much, he halted there.<br /></span> +<span>"Sir Count, I seek a dying man,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Sore hungering for the heavenly fare.<br /></span> +<span>The bridge that once its safety gave,<br /></span> +<span>Rent by the anger of the wave,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Drifts down the tide below.<br /></span> +<span>Yet barefoot now, I will not fear<br /></span> +<span>(The soul that seeks its God, to cheer)<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Through the wild wave to go!"<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>He gave that priest the knightly steed,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>He reach'd that priest the lordly reins,<br /></span> +<span>That he might serve the sick man's need,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Nor slight the task that heaven ordains.<br /></span> +<span>He took the horse the squire bestrode;<br /></span> +<span>On to the chase the hunter rode,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>On to the sick the priest!<br /></span> +<span>And when the morrow's sun was red,<br /></span> +<span>The servant of the Saviour led<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Back to its lord the beast.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span><a class="pagenum" name="page171" id="page171" title="171"></a>"Now Heaven forefend," the hero cried,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>"That e'er to chase or battle more<br /></span> +<span>These limbs the sacred steed bestride,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>That once my Maker's image bore!<br /></span> +<span>But not for sale or barter given;<br /></span> +<span>Henceforth its Master is the Heaven—<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>My tribute to that King,<br /></span> +<span>From whom I hold as fiefs, since birth,<br /></span> +<span>Honour, renown, the goods of earth,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Life, and each living thing."<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>"So may the God who faileth never<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>To hear the weak and guide the dim,<br /></span> +<span>To thee give honour here and ever,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>As thou hast duly honour'd Him!<br /></span> +<span>Far-famed ev'n now through Switzerland<br /></span> +<span>Thy generous heart and dauntless hand;<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>And fair from thine embrace<br /></span> +<span>Six daughters bloom—six crowns to bring—<br /></span> +<span>Blest as the Daughters of a KING—<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>The Mothers of a RACE!"<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>The mighty Kaisar heard amazed;<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>His heart was in the days of old:<br /></span> +<span>Into the minstrel's eyes he gazed—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>That tale the Kaisar's own had told.<br /></span> +<span>Yes, in the bard, the priest he knew,<br /></span> +<span>And in the purple veil'd from view<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>The gush of holy tears.<br /></span> +<span>A thrill through that vast audience ran,<br /></span> +<span>And every heart the godlike man,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Revering God, reveres!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<br /> + +<h3>THE WORDS OF ERROR.</h3> + + +<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'> +<span>Three errors there are, that for ever are found<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>On the lips of the good, on the lips of the best;<br /></span> +<span>But empty their meaning and hollow their sound—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And slight is the comfort they bring to the breast.<br /></span> +<span>The fruits of existence escape from the clasp<br /></span> +<span>Of the seeker who strives but these shadows to grasp—<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>So long as Man dreams of some Age in <i>this</i> life<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>When the Right and the Good will all evil subdue;<br /></span> +<span>For the Right and the Good lead us ever to strife,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And wherever they lead us, the Fiend will pursue.<br /></span> +<span>And (till from the earth borne, and stifled at length)<br /></span> +<span>The earth that he touches still gifts him with strength!<a id="footnotetag7" name="footnotetag7" href="#footnote7"><sup>7</sup></a><br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>So long as Man fancies that Fortune will live,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Like a bride with her lover, united with Worth;<br /></span> +<span>For her favours, alas! to the mean she will give—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And Virtue possesses no title to earth!<br /></span> +<span>That Foreigner wanders to regions afar,<br /></span> +<span>Where the lands of her birthright immortally are!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span><a class="pagenum" name="page172" id="page172" title="172"></a>So long as Man dreams that, to mortals a gift,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The Truth in her fulness of splendour will shine;<br /></span> +<span>The veil of the goddess no earth-born may lift,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And all we can learn is—to guess and divine!<br /></span> +<span>Dost thou seek, in a dogma, to prison her form?<br /></span> +<span>The spirit flies forth on the wings of the storm!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>O, Noble Soul! fly from delusions like these,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>More heavenly belief be it thine to adore;<br /></span> +<span>Where the Ear never hearkens, the Eye never sees,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Meet the rivers of Beauty and Truth evermore!<br /></span> +<span>Not <i>without</i> thee the streams—there the Dull seek them;—No!<br /></span> +<span>Look <i>within</i> thee—behold both the fount and the flow!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<br /> + +<h3>THE WORDS OF BELIEF.</h3> + + +<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'> +<span>Three Words will I name thee—around and about,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>From the lip to the lip, full of meaning, they flee;<br /></span> +<span>But they had not their birth in the being without,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And the heart, not the lip, must their oracle be!<br /></span> +<span>And all worth in the man shall for ever be o'er<br /></span> +<span>When in those Three Words he believes no more.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>Man is made FREE!—Man, by birthright, is free,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Though the tyrant may deem him but born for his tool.<br /></span> +<span>Whatever the shout of the rabble may be—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Whatever the ranting misuse of the fool—<br /></span> +<span>Still fear not the Slave, when he breaks from his chain,<br /></span> +<span>For the Man made a Freeman grows safe in his gain.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>And VIRTUE is more than a shade or a sound,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And Man may her voice, in this being, obey;<br /></span> +<span>And though ever he slip on the stony ground,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Yet ever again to the godlike way.<br /></span> +<span>Though <i>her</i> wisdom <i>our</i> wisdom may not perceive,<br /></span> +<span>Yet the childlike spirit can still believe.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>And a GOD there is!—over Space, over Time,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>While the Human Will rocks, like a reed, to and fro,<br /></span> +<span>Lives the Will of the Holy—A Purpose Sublime,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>A Thought woven over creation below;<br /></span> +<span>Changing and shifting the All we inherit,<br /></span> +<span>But changeless through all One Immutable Spirit!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>Hold fast the Three Words of Belief—though about<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>From the lip to the lip, full of meaning they flee;<br /></span> +<span>Yet they take not their birth from the being without—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>But a voice from within must their oracle be;<br /></span> +<span>And never all worth in the Man can be o'er,<br /></span> +<span>Till in those Three Words he believes no more.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<br /> + +<h3>THE MIGHT OF SONG.</h3> + + +<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'> +<span>A rain-flood from the mountain-riven,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>It leaps, in thunder, forth to Day,<br /></span> +<span>Before its rush the crags are driven—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The oaks uprooted, whirl'd away—<br /></span> +<span>Aw'd, yet in awe all wildly glad'ning,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'><a class="pagenum" name="page173" id="page173" title="173"></a>The startled wanderer halts below;<br /></span> +<span>He hears the rock-born waters mad'ning,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Nor wits the source from whence they go,—<br /></span> +<span>So, from their high, mysterious Founts along,<br /></span> +<span>Stream on the silenc'd world the Waves of Song!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>Knit with the threads of life, for ever,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>By those dread Powers that weave the woof,—<br /></span> +<span>Whose art the singer's spell can sever?<br /></span> +<span class='i1'>Whose breast has mail to music proof?<br /></span> +<span>Lo, to the Bard, a wand of wonder<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The Herald<a id="footnotetag8" name="footnotetag8" href="#footnote8"><sup>8</sup></a> of the Gods has given:<br /></span> +<span>He sinks the soul the death-realm under,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Or lifts it breathless up to heaven—<br /></span> +<span>Half sport, half earnest, rocking its devotion<br /></span> +<span>Upon the tremulous ladder of emotion.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>As, when the halls of Mirth are crowded,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Portentous, on the wanton scene—<br /></span> +<span>Some Fate, before from wisdom shrouded,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Awakes and awes the souls of Men—<br /></span> +<span>Before that Stranger from ANOTHER,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Behold how THIS world's great ones bow—<br /></span> +<span>Mean joys their idle clamour smother,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The mask is vanish'd from the brow—<br /></span> +<span>And from Truth's sudden, solemn flag unfurl'd,<br /></span> +<span>Fly all the craven Falsehoods of the World!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>So, rapt from every care and folly,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>When spreads abroad the lofty lay,<br /></span> +<span>The Human kindles to the Holy,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And into Spirit soars the Clay!<br /></span> +<span>One with the Gods the Bard: before him<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>All things unclean and earthly fly—<br /></span> +<span>Hush'd are all meaner powers, and o'er him<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The dark fate swoops unharming by;<br /></span> +<span>And while the Soother's magic measures flow,<br /></span> +<span>Smooth'd every wrinkle on the brows of Woe!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>Even as a child that, after pining<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>For the sweet absent mother—hears<br /></span> +<span>Her voice—and, round her neck entwining<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Young arms, vents all his soul in tears;—<br /></span> +<span>So, by harsh custom far estranged,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Along the glad and guileless track,<br /></span> +<span>To childhood's happy home, unchanged,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The swift song wafts the wanderer back—<br /></span> +<span>Snatch'd from the coldness of unloving Art<br /></span> +<span>To Nature's mother arms—to Nature's glowing heart!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<br /> + +<h3>HONOUR TO WOMAN.</h3> + + +<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'> +<span>Honour to Woman! To her it is given<br /></span> +<span>To garden the earth with the roses of Heaven!<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>All blessed, she linketh the Loves in their choir—<br /></span> +<span>In the veil of the Graces her beauty concealing,<br /></span> +<span>She tends on each altar that's hallow'd to Feeling,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And keeps ever-living the fire!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span class='i2'><a class="pagenum" name="page174" id="page174" title="174"></a>From the bounds of Truth careering,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Man's strong spirit wildly sweeps,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>With each hasty impulse veering,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Down to Passion's troubled deeps.<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And his heart, contented never,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Greeds to grapple with the Far,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Chasing his own dream for ever,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>On through many a distant Star!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>But Woman with looks that can charm and enchain,<br /></span> +<span>Lureth back at her beck the wild truant again,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>By the spell of her presence beguil'd—<br /></span> +<span>In the home of the Mother her modest abode,<br /></span> +<span>And modest the manners by Nature bestow'd<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>On Nature's most exquisite child!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span class='i2'>Bruised and worn, but fiercely breasting,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Foe to foe, the angry strife;<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Man the Wild One, never resting,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Roams along the troubled life;<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>What he planneth, still pursuing;<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Vainly as the Hydra bleeds,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Crest the sever'd crest renewing—<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Wish to wither'd wish succeeds.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>But Woman at peace with all being, reposes,<br /></span> +<span>And seeks from the Moment to gather the roses—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Whose sweets to her culture belong.<br /></span> +<span>Ah! richer than he, though his soul reigneth o'er<br /></span> +<span>The mighty dominion of Genius and Lore,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And the infinite Circle of Song.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span class='i2'>Strong, and proud, and self-depending,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Man's cold bosom beats alone;<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Heart with heart divinely blending,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>In the love that Gods have known,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Souls' sweet interchange of feeling,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Melting tears—he never knows,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Each hard sense the hard one steeling,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Arms against a world of foes.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>Alive, as the wind-harp, how lightly soever<br /></span> +<span>If woo'd by the Zephyr, to music will quiver,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Is Woman to Hope and to Fear;<br /></span> +<span>Ah, tender one! still at the shadow of grieving,<br /></span> +<span>How quiver the chords—how thy bosom is heaving—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>How trembles thy glance through the tear!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span class='i2'>Man's dominion, war and labour;<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Might to right the Statute gave;<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Laws are in the Scythian's sabre;<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Where the Mede reign'd—see the Slave!<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Peace and Meekness grimly routing,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Prowls the War-lust, rude and wild;<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Eris rages, hoarsely shouting,<br /></span> +<span class='i4'>Where the vanish'd Graces smil'd.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>But Woman, the Soft One, persuasively prayeth—<br /></span> +<span>Of the Senses she charmeth, the sceptre she swayeth;<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>She lulls, as she looks from above,<br /></span> +<span>The Discord whose Hell for its victims is gaping,<br /></span> +<span>And blending awhile the for-ever escaping,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Whispers Hate to the Image of Love!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<br /> + +<a class="pagenum" name="page175" id="page175" title="175"></a> +<h3>THE FIGHT WITH THE DRAGON.</h3> + + +<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'> +<span>Who comes?—why rushes fast and loud,<br /></span> +<span>Through lane and street the hurtling crowd,<br /></span> +<span>Is Rhodes on fire?—Hurrah!—along<br /></span> +<span>Faster and fast storms the throng!<br /></span> +<span>High towers a shape in knightly garb—<br /></span> +<span>Behold the Rider and the Barb!<br /></span> +<span>Behind is dragg'd a wondrous load;<br /></span> +<span>Beneath what monster groans the road?<br /></span> +<span>The horrid jaws—the Crocodile,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The shape the mightier Dragon, shows—<br /></span> +<span>From Man to Monster all the while—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The alternate wonder glancing goes.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>Shout thousands, with a single voice,<br /></span> +<span>"Behold the Dragon, and rejoice,<br /></span> +<span>Safe roves the herd, and safe the swain!<br /></span> +<span>Lo!—there the Slayer—here the Slain!<br /></span> +<span>Full many a breast, a gallant life,<br /></span> +<span>Has waged against the ghastly strife,<br /></span> +<span>And ne'er return'd to mortal sight—<br /></span> +<span>Hurrah, then, for the Hero Knight!"<br /></span> +<span>So to the Cloister, where the vow'd<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And peerless Brethren of St John<br /></span> +<span>In conclave sit—that sea-like crowd,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Wave upon wave, goes thundering on.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>High o'er the rest, the chief is seen—<br /></span> +<span>There wends the Knight with modest mien;<br /></span> +<span>Pours through the galleries raised for all<br /></span> +<span>Above that Hero-council Hall,<br /></span> +<span>The crowd—And thus the Victor One:—<br /></span> +<span>"Prince—the knight's duty I have done.<br /></span> +<span>The Dragon that devour'd the land<br /></span> +<span>Lies slain beneath thy servant's hand;<br /></span> +<span>Free, o'er the pasture, rove the flocks—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And free the idler's steps may stray—<br /></span> +<span>And freely o'er the lonely rocks,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The holier pilgrim wends his way!"<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>A lofty look the Master gave,<br /></span> +<span>"Certes," he said; "thy deed is brave;<br /></span> +<span>Dread was the danger, dread the fight—<br /></span> +<span>Bold deeds bring fame to vulgar knight;<br /></span> +<span>But say, what sways with holier laws<br /></span> +<span>The knight who sees in Christ his cause,<br /></span> +<span>And wears the cross?"—Then every cheek<br /></span> +<span>Grew pale to hear the Master speak;<br /></span> +<span>But nobler was the blush that spread<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>His face—the Victor's of the day—<br /></span> +<span>As bending lowly—"Prince," he said;<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>"His noblest duty—TO OBEY!"<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>"And yet that duty, son," replied<br /></span> +<span>The chief, "methinks thou hast denied;<br /></span> +<span>And dared thy sacred sword to wield<br /></span> +<span>For fame in a forbidden field."<br /></span> +<span>"Master, thy judgment, howsoe'er<br /></span> +<span>It lean, till all is told, forbear—<br /></span> +<span><a class="pagenum" name="page176" id="page176" title="176"></a>Thy law in spirit and in will,<br /></span> +<span>I had no thought but to fulfil.<br /></span> +<span>Not rash, as some, did I depart<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>A Christian's blood in vain to shed;<br /></span> +<span>But hoped by skill, and strove by art,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>To make my life avenge the dead.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>"Five of our Order, in renown<br /></span> +<span>The war-gems of our saintly crown,<br /></span> +<span>The martyr's glory bought with life;<br /></span> +<span>'Twas then thy law forbade the strife.<br /></span> +<span>Yet in my heart there gnaw'd, like fire,<br /></span> +<span>Proud sorrow, fed with stern desire:<br /></span> +<span>In the still visions of the night,<br /></span> +<span>Panting, I fought the fancied fight;<br /></span> +<span>And when the morrow glimmering came,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>With tales of ravage freshly done,<br /></span> +<span>The dream remember'd, turn'd to shame,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>That night should dare what day should shun.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>"And thus my fiery musings ran—<br /></span> +<span>'What youth has learn'd should nerve the man;<br /></span> +<span>How lived the great in days of old,<br /></span> +<span>Whose Fame to time by bards is told—<br /></span> +<span>Who, heathens though they were, became<br /></span> +<span>As gods—upborne to heaven by fame?<br /></span> +<span>How proved they best the hero's worth?<br /></span> +<span>They chased the monster from the earth—<br /></span> +<span>They sought the lion in his den—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>They pierced the Cretan's deadly maze—<br /></span> +<span>Their noble blood gave humble men<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Their happy birthright—peaceful days.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>"'What! sacred, but against the horde<br /></span> +<span>Of Mahound, is the Christian's sword?<br /></span> +<span>All strife, save one, should he forbear?<br /></span> +<span>No! earth itself the Christian's care—<br /></span> +<span>From every ill and every harm,<br /></span> +<span>Man's shield should be the Christian's arm.<br /></span> +<span>Yet art o'er strength will oft prevail,<br /></span> +<span>And mind must aid where heart may fail!'<br /></span> +<span>Thus musing, oft I roam'd alone,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Where wont the Hell-born Beast to lie;<br /></span> +<span>Till sudden light upon me shone,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And on my hope broke victory!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>"Then, Prince, I sought thee with the prayer<br /></span> +<span>To breathe once more my native air;<br /></span> +<span>The license given—the ocean past—<br /></span> +<span>I reach'd the shores of home at last.<br /></span> +<span>Scarce hail'd the old beloved land,<br /></span> +<span>Than huge, beneath the artist's hand,<br /></span> +<span>To every hideous feature true,<br /></span> +<span>The Dragon's monster-model grew.<br /></span> +<span>The dwarf'd, deformed limbs upbore<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The lengthen'd body's ponderous load;<br /></span> +<span>The scales the impervious surface wore,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Like links of burnish'd harness, glow'd.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>"Life-like, the huge neck seem'd to swell,<br /></span> +<span>And widely, as some porch to hell<br /></span> +<span>You might the horrent jaws survey,<br /></span> +<span>Griesly, and greeding for their prey.<br /></span> +<span><a class="pagenum" name="page177" id="page177" title="177"></a>Grim fangs an added terror gave,<br /></span> +<span>Like crags that whiten through a cave.<br /></span> +<span>The very tongue a sword in seeming—<br /></span> +<span>The deep-sunk eyes in sparkles gleaming.<br /></span> +<span>Where the vast body ends, succeed<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The serpent spires around it roll'd—<br /></span> +<span>Woe—woe to rider, woe to steed,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Whom coils as fearful e'er enfold!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>"All to the awful life was done—<br /></span> +<span>The very hue, so ghastly, won—<br /></span> +<span>The grey, dull tint:—the labour ceased,<br /></span> +<span>It stood—half reptile and half beast!<br /></span> +<span>And now began the mimic chase;<br /></span> +<span>Two dogs I sought, of noblest race,<br /></span> +<span>Fierce, nimble, fleet, and wont to scorn<br /></span> +<span>The wild bull's wrath and levell'd horn;<br /></span> +<span>These, docile to my cheering cry,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>I train'd to bound, and rend, and spring,<br /></span> +<span>Now round the Monster-shape to fly,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Now to the Monster-shape to cling!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>"And where their gripe the best assails,<br /></span> +<span>The belly left unsheath'd in scales,<br /></span> +<span>I taught the dexterous hounds to hang<br /></span> +<span>And find the spot to fix the fang;<br /></span> +<span>Whilst I, with lance and mailèd garb,<br /></span> +<span>Launch'd on the beast mine Arab barb.<br /></span> +<span>From purest race that Arab came,<br /></span> +<span>And steeds, like men, are fired by fame.<br /></span> +<span>Beneath the spur he chafes to rage;<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Onwards we ride in full career—<br /></span> +<span>I seem, in truth, the war to wage—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The monster reels beneath my spear!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>"Albeit, when first the <i>destrier</i><a id="footnotetag9" name="footnotetag9" href="#footnote9"><sup>9</sup></a> eyed<br /></span> +<span>The laidly thing, it swerved aside,<br /></span> +<span>Snorted and rear'd—and even they,<br /></span> +<span>The fierce hounds, shrank with startled bay;<br /></span> +<span>I ceased not, till, by custom bold,<br /></span> +<span>After three tedious moons were told,<br /></span> +<span>Both barb and hounds were train'd—nay, more,<br /></span> +<span>Fierce for the fight—then left the shore!<br /></span> +<span>Three days have fleeted since I prest<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>(Return'd at length) this welcome soil,<br /></span> +<span>Nor once would lay my limbs to rest,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Till wrought the glorious crowning toil.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>"For much it moved my soul to know<br /></span> +<span>The unslack'ning curse of that grim foe.<br /></span> +<span>Fresh rent, mens' bones lay bleach'd and bare<br /></span> +<span>Around the hell-worm's swampy lair;<br /></span> +<span>And pity nerved me into steel:—<br /></span> +<span>Advice?—I had a heart to feel,<br /></span> +<span>And strength to dare! So, to the deed.—<br /></span> +<span>I call'd my squires—bestrode my steed,<br /></span> +<span>And with my stalwart hounds, and by<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Lone secret paths, we gaily go<br /></span> +<span>Unseen—at least by human eye—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Against a worse than human foe!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span><a class="pagenum" name="page178" id="page178" title="178"></a>"Thou know'st the sharp rock—steep and hoar?—<br /></span> +<span>The abyss?—the chapel glimmering o'er?<br /></span> +<span>Built by the Fearless Master's hand,<br /></span> +<span>The fane looks down on all the land.<br /></span> +<span>Humble and mean that house of prayer—<br /></span> +<span>Yet God hath shrined a wonder there:—<br /></span> +<span>Mother and Child, to whom of old<br /></span> +<span>The Three Kings knelt with gifts, behold!<br /></span> +<span>By three times thirty steps, the shrine<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>The pilgrim gains—and faint, and dim,<br /></span> +<span>And dizzy with the height, divine<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Strength on the sudden springs to him!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>"Yawns wide within that holy steep<br /></span> +<span>A mighty cavern dark and deep—<br /></span> +<span>By blessed sunbeam never lit—<br /></span> +<span>Rank fœtid swamps engirdle it;<br /></span> +<span>And there by night, and there by day,<br /></span> +<span>Ever at watch, the fiend-worm lay,<br /></span> +<span>Holding the Hell of its abode<br /></span> +<span>Fast by the hallow'd House of God.<br /></span> +<span>And when the pilgrim gladly ween'd<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>His feet had found the healing way,<br /></span> +<span>Forth from its ambush rush'd the fiend,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And down to darkness dragg'd the prey.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>"With solemn soul, that solemn height<br /></span> +<span>I clomb, ere yet I sought the fight—<br /></span> +<span>Kneeling before the cross within,<br /></span> +<span>My heart, confessing, clear'd its sin.<br /></span> +<span>Then, as befits the Christian knight,<br /></span> +<span>I donn'd the spotless surplice white,<br /></span> +<span>And, by the altar, grasp'd the spear:—<br /></span> +<span>So down I strode with conscience clear—<br /></span> +<span>Bade my leal squires afar the deed,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>By death or conquest crown'd, await—<br /></span> +<span>Leapt lightly on my lithesome steed,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And gave to God his soldier's fate!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>"Before me wide the marshes lay—<br /></span> +<span>Started the hounds with sudden bay—<br /></span> +<span>Aghast the swerving charger slanting<br /></span> +<span>Snorted—then stood abrupt and panting—<br /></span> +<span>For curling there, in coilèd fold,<br /></span> +<span>The Unutterable Beast behold!<br /></span> +<span>Lazily basking in the sun.<br /></span> +<span>Forth sprang the dogs. The fight's begun!<br /></span> +<span>But lo! the hounds in cowering fly<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Before the mighty poison-breath—<br /></span> +<span>A yell, most like the jackall's cry,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Howl'd, mingling with that wind of death!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>"No halt—I gave one cheering sound;<br /></span> +<span>Lustily springs each dauntless hound—<br /></span> +<span>Swift as the dauntless hounds advance,<br /></span> +<span>Whirringly skirrs my stalwart lance—<br /></span> +<span>Whirringly skirrs; and from the scale<br /></span> +<span>Bounds, as a reed aslant the mail.<br /></span> +<span>Onward—but no!—the craven steed<br /></span> +<span>Shrinks from his lord in that dread need—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'><a class="pagenum" name="page179" id="page179" title="179"></a>Smitten and scared before that eye<br /></span> +<span>Of basilisk horror, and that blast<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Of death, it only seeks to fly—<br /></span> +<span>And half the mighty hope is past!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>"A moment, and to earth I leapt;<br /></span> +<span>Swift from its sheath the falchion swept;<br /></span> +<span>Swift on that rock-like mail it plied—<br /></span> +<span>The rock-like mail the sword defied:<br /></span> +<span>The monster lash'd its mighty coil—<br /></span> +<span>Down hurl'd—behold me on the soil!<br /></span> +<span>Behold the hell-jaws gaping wide—<br /></span> +<span>When lo! they bound—the flesh is found;<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Upon the scaleless parts they spring!<br /></span> +<span>Springs either hound;—the flesh is found—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>It roars; the blood-dogs cleave and cling!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>"No time to foil its fast'ning foes—<br /></span> +<span>Light, as it writhed, I sprang, and rose;<br /></span> +<span>The all-unguarded place explored,<br /></span> +<span>Up to the hilt I plunged the sword—<br /></span> +<span>Buried one instant in the blood—<br /></span> +<span>The next, upsprang the bubbling flood!<br /></span> +<span>The next, one Vastness spread the plain—<br /></span> +<span>Crush'd down—the victor with the slain;<br /></span> +<span>And all was dark—and on the ground<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>My life, suspended, lost the sun,<br /></span> +<span>Till waking—lo my squires around—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And the dead foe!—my tale is done."<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>Then burst, as from a common breast,<br /></span> +<span>The eager laud so long supprest—<br /></span> +<span>A thousand voices, choral-blending,<br /></span> +<span>Up to the vaulted dome ascending—<br /></span> +<span>From groined roof and banner'd wall,<br /></span> +<span>Invisible echoes answering all—<br /></span> +<span>The very Brethren, grave and high,<br /></span> +<span>Forget their state, and join the cry.<br /></span> +<span>"With laurel wreaths his brows be crown'd,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Let throng to throng his triumph tell;<br /></span> +<span>Hail him all Rhodes!"—the Master frown'd,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And raised his hand—and silence fell.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>"Well," said that solemn voice, "thy hand<br /></span> +<span>From the wild-beast hath freed the land.<br /></span> +<span>An idol to the People be!<br /></span> +<span>A foe our Order frowns on thee!<br /></span> +<span>For in thy heart, superb and vain,<br /></span> +<span>A hell-worm laidlier than the slain,<br /></span> +<span>To discord which engenders death,<br /></span> +<span>Poisons each thought with baleful breath!<br /></span> +<span>That hell-worm is the stubborn Will—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Oh! What were man and nations worth<br /></span> +<span>If each his own desire fulfil,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>And law be banish'd from the earth?<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>"<i>Valour</i> the Heathen gives to story—<br /></span> +<span><i>Obedience</i> is the Christian's glory;<br /></span> +<span>And on that soil our Saviour-God<br /></span> +<span>As the meek low-born mortal trod.<br /></span> +<span>We the Apostle-knights were sworn<br /></span> +<span>To laws thy daring laughs to scorn—<br /></span> +<span><a class="pagenum" name="page180" id="page180" title="180"></a>Not <i>fame</i>, but <i>duty</i> to fulfil—<br /></span> +<span>Our noblest offering—man's wild will.<br /></span> +<span>Vain-glory doth thy soul betray—<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Begone—thy conquest is thy loss:<br /></span> +<span>No breast too haughty to obey,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Is worthy of the Christian's cross!"<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>From their cold awe the crowds awaken,<br /></span> +<span>As with some storm the halls are shaken;<br /></span> +<span>The noble brethren plead for grace—<br /></span> +<span>Mute stands the doom'd, with downward face;<br /></span> +<span>And mutely loosen'd from its band<br /></span> +<span>The badge, and kiss'd the Master's hand,<br /></span> +<span>And meekly turn'd him to depart:<br /></span> +<span>A moist eye follow'd, "To my heart<br /></span> +<span>Come back, my son!"—the Master cries:<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>"Thy grace a harder fight obtains;<br /></span> +<span>When Valour risks the Christian's prize,<br /></span> +<span class='i2'>Lo, how Humility regains!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>[In the ballad just presented to the reader, Schiller designed, as he wrote +to Goethe, to depict the old Christian chivalry—half-knightly, half-monastic. +The attempt is strikingly successful; and, even in so humble a translation, +the unadorned simplicity and earnest vigour of a great poet, enamoured of his +subject, may be sufficiently visible to a discerning critic. "The Fight of the +Dragon" appears to us the most spirited and nervous of all Schiller's ballads, +with the single exception of "The Diver;" and if its interest is less intense +than that of the matchless "Diver," and its descriptions less poetically striking +and effective, its interior meaning or philosophical conception is at once +more profound and more elevated. The main distinction, indeed, between the +ancient ballad and the modern, as revived and recreated by Goethe and +Schiller, is, that the former is a simple narrative, and the latter a narrative +which conveys some intellectual idea—some dim, but important truth. The one +has but the good faith of the minstrel, the other the high wisdom of the poet. +In "The Fight of the Dragon," is expressed the moral of that humility which +consists in self-conquest—even merit may lead to vain-glory—and, after vanquishing +the fiercest enemies without, Man has still to contend with his worst +foe,—the pride or disobedience of his own heart. "Every one," as a recent +and acute, but somewhat over-refining critic has remarked, "has more or +less—his own 'fight with the Dragon,'—his own double victory (without and +within) to achieve." The origin of this poem is to be found in the Annals of +the Order of Malta—and the details may be seen in Vertot's History. The +date assigned to the conquest of the Dragon is 1342. Helion de Villeneuve +was the name of the Grand Master—that of the Knight, Dieu-Donné de +Gozon. Thevenot declares, that the head of the monster, (to whatever species +it really belonged,) or its effigies, was still placed over one of the gates of the +city in his time.]</p> + + + + +<hr style='width: 100%;' /> +<a class="pagenum" name="page181" id="page181" title="181"></a> +<a name="bw328s3" id="bw328s3"></a><h2>REYNOLDS'S DISCOURSES. PART II.</h2> + +<p>Having shown that the standard of +Taste is in the Truth of Nature, and +that this truth is in the mind, Sir Joshua, +in the Eighth Discourse, proceeds +to a further development of the +principles of art. These principles, +whether poetry or painting, have their +foundation in the mind; which by +its sensitive faculties and intellectual +requirements, remodels all that it receives +from the external world, vivifying +and characterizing all with itself, +and thus bringing forth into light the +more beautiful but latent creations of +nature. The "activity and restlessness" +of the mind seek satisfaction +from curiosity, novelty, variety, and +contrast. Curiosity, "the anxiety +for the future, the keeping the event +suspended," he considers to be exclusively +the province of poetry, and +that "the painter's art is more confined, +and has nothing that corresponds +with, or perhaps is equivalent to, this +power and advantage of leading the +mind on, till attention is totally engaged. +What is done by painting +must be done at one blow; curiosity +has received at once all the satisfaction +it can have." Novelty, variety, and +contrast, however, belong to the painter. +That poetry has this power, and +operates by more extensively raising +our curiosity, cannot be denied; but +we hesitate in altogether excluding +this power from painting. A momentary +action may be so represented, +as to elicit a desire for, and even an +intimation of its event. It is true +<i>that</i> curiosity cannot be satisfied, but +it works and conjectures; and we suspect +there is something of it in most +good pictures. Take such a subject +as the "Judgment of Solomon:" is +not the "event suspended," and a +breathless anxiety portrayed in the +characters, and freely acknowledged +by the sympathy of the spectator? Is +there no mark of this "curiosity" in +the "Cartoon of Pisa?" The trumpet +has sounded, the soldiers are some +half-dressed, some out of the water, +others bathing; one is anxiously looking +for the rising of his companion, +who has just plunged in, and we see +but his hands above the water; the +very range of rocks, behind which the +danger is shown to come, tends to excite +our curiosity; we form conjectures +of the enemy, their number, +nearness of approach, and from among +the manly warriors before us form episodes +of heroism in the great intimated +epic: and have we not seen pictures +by Rembrandt, where "curiosity" +delights to search unsatisfied and +unsatiated into the mysteries of colour +and chiaro-scuro, receding further as +we look into an atmosphere pregnant +with all uncertain things? We think +we have not mistaken the President's +meaning. Mr Burnet appears to agree +with us: though he makes no remark +upon the power of raising curiosity, +yet it surely is raised in the very picture +to which we presume he alludes, +Raffaelle's "Death of Ananias;" the +event, in Sapphira, is intimated and suspended. +"Though," says Mr Burnet, +"the painter has but one page to +represent his story, he generally +chooses that part which combines the +most illustrative incidents with the +most effective denouement of the +event. In Raffaelle we often find not +only those circumstances which precede +it, <i>but its effects upon the</i> personages +introduced after the catastrophe."</p> + +<p>There is, however, a natural indolence +of our disposition, which seeks +pleasure in repose, and the resting in +old habits, which must not be too violently +opposed by "variety," "reanimating +the attention, which is apt to +languish under a continual sameness;" +nor by "novelty," making "more +forcible impression on the mind than +can be made by the representation of +what we have often seen before;" nor +by "contrasts," that "rouse the power +of comparison by opposition."</p> + +<p>The mind, then, though an active +principle, having likewise a disposition +to indolence, (might we have said repose?) +limits the quantity of variety, +novelty, and contrast which it will +bear;—these are, therefore, liable to +excesses. Hence arise certain rules +of art, that in a composition objects +must not be too scattered and divided +into many equal parts, that perplex +and fatigue the eye, at a loss where to +find the principal action. Nor must +there be that "absolute unity," +"which, consisting of one group or +mass of light only, would be as defective +as an heroic poem without episode, +or any collateral incidents to +recreate the mind with that variety +which it always requires." Sir Joshua +<a class="pagenum" name="page182" id="page182" title="182"></a>instances Rembrandt and Poussin, the +former as having the defect of "absolute +unity," the latter the defect of the +dispersion and scattering his figures +without attention to their grouping. +Hence there must be "the same just +moderation observed in regard to ornaments;" +for a certain repose must +never be destroyed. Ornament in +profusion, whether of objects or +colours, does destroy it; and, "on +the other hand, a work without ornament, +instead of simplicity, to which it +makes pretensions, has rather the appearance +of poverty." "We may be +sure of this truth, that the most ornamental +style requires repose to set off +even its ornaments to advantage." He +instances, in the dialogue between +Duncan and Banquo, Shakspeare's +purpose of repose—the mention of the +martlets' nests, and that "where those +birds most breed and haunt, the air is +delicate;" and the practice of Homer, +"who, from the midst of battles and +horrors, relieves and refreshes the +mind of the reader, by introducing +some quiet rural image, or picture of +familiar domestic life. The writers +of every age and country, where taste +has begun to decline, paint and adorn +every object they touch; are always +on the stretch; never deviate or sink +a moment from the pompous and the +brilliant."<a id="footnotetag10" name="footnotetag10" href="#footnote10"><sup>10</sup></a></p> + +<p>Novelty, Variety, and Contrast are +required in Art, because they are the +natural springs that move the mind to +attention from its indolent quiescence; +but having moved, their duty is performed—the +mind of itself will do the +rest; they must not act prominent +parts. In every work there must be a +simplicity which binds the whole together, +as a whole; and whatever comes +not within that girdle of the graces, +is worse than superfluous—it draws +off and distracts the attention which +should be concentrated. Besides that +simplicity which we have spoken of—and +we have used the word in its +technical sense, as that which keeps +together and makes one thing of many +parts—there is a simplicity which is +best known by its opposite, affectation; +upon this Sir Joshua enlarges. +"Simplicity, being a negative virtue, +cannot be described or defined." But +it is possible, even in avoiding affectation, +to convert simplicity into the +very thing we strive to avoid. N. +Poussin—whom, with regard to this +virtue, he contrasts with others of the +French school—Sir Joshua considers, +in his abhorrence of the affectation +of his countrymen, somewhat to approach +it, by "what in writing +would be called pedantry." Du Piles +is justly censured for his recipe of +grace and dignity. "If," says he, +"you draw persons of high character +and dignity, they ought to be drawn +in such an attitude that the portraits +must seem to speak to us of themselves, +and as it were to say to us, +'Stop, take notice of me—I am the +invincible king, surrounded by majesty.' +'I am the valiant commander +who struck terror every where,' 'I +am that great minister, who knew all +the springs of politics.' 'I am that +magistrate of consummate wisdom +and probity.'" This is indeed affectation, +and a very vulgar notion of +greatness. We are reminded of Partridge, +and his admiration of the overacting +king. All the characters in +thus seeming to say, would be little +<a class="pagenum" name="page183" id="page183" title="183"></a>indeed. Not so Raffaelle and Titian +understood grace and dignity. Simplicity +he holds to be "our barrier +against that great enemy to truth and +nature, affectation, which is ever +clinging to the pencil, and ready to +drop and poison every thing it touches." +Yet that, "when so very inartificial +as to seem to evade the difficulties +of art, is a very suspicious virtue." +Sir Joshua dwells much upon this, +because he thinks there is a perpetual +tendency in young artists to run into +affectation, and that from the very +terms of the precepts offered them. +"When a young artist is first told +that his composition and his attitudes +must be contrasted; that he must turn +the head contrary to the position of +the body, in order to produce grace +and animation; that his outline must +be undulating and swelling, to give +grandeur; and that the eye must be +gratified with a variety of colours; +when he is told this with certain animating +words of spirit, dignity, energy, +greatness of style, and brilliancy of +tints, he becomes suddenly vain of his +newly-acquired knowledge, and never +thinks he can carry those rules too +far. It is then that the aid of simplicity +ought to be called in to correct +the exuberance of youthful ardour." +We may add that hereby, too, is shown +the danger of particular and practical +rules; very few of the kind are to be +found in the "Discourses." Indeed +the President points out, by examples +from Raffaelle, the good effect of setting +aside these academical rules. We +suspect that they are never less wanted +than when they give direction to attitudes +and forms of action. He admits +that, in order "to excite attention to +the more manly, noble, and dignified +manner," he had perhaps left "an +impression too contemptuous of the +ornamental parts of our art." He +had, to use his own expression, bent +the bow the contrary way to make it +straight. "For this purpose, then, +and to correct excess or neglect of +any kind, we may here add, that it is +not enough that a work be learned—it +must be pleasing." Pretty much +as Horace had said of poetry,</p> + +<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'> +<span>"Non satis est pulchra esse poemata, <i>dulcia</i> sunto."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>To which maxim the Latin poet has +unconsciously given the grace of +rhyme—</p> + +<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'> +<span>"Et quocunque volent animum auditoris agunto."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>He again shows the danger of +particular practical rules.—"It is +given as a rule by Fresnoy, that +'<i>the principal figure of a subject must +appear in the midst of the picture, +under the principal light, to distinguish +it from the rest.</i>' A painter who should +think himself obliged strictly to follow +this rule, would encumber himself +with needless difficulties; he would +be confined to great uniformity of +composition, and be deprived of many +beauties which are incompatible with +its observance. The meaning of this +rule extends, or ought to extend, no +further than this: that the principal +figure should be immediately distinguished +at the first glance of the eye; +but there is no necessity that the principal +light should fall on the principal +<a class="pagenum" name="page184" id="page184" title="184"></a>figure, or that the principal figure +should be in the middle of the picture." +He might have added that it is the +very place where generally it ought +not to be. Many examples are given; +we could have wished he had given a +plate from any one in preference to +that from Le Brun. Felebein, in praising +this picture, according to preconceived +recipe, gives Alexander, +who is in shade, the principal light. +"Another instance occurs to me +where equal liberty may be taken in +regard to the management of light. +Though the general practice is to +make a large mass about the middle +of the picture surrounded by shadow, +the reverse may be practised, and +<i>the spirit of the rule be preserved</i>." +We have marked in italics the latter +part of the sentence, because it shows +that the rule itself must be ill-defined +or too particular. Indeed, we receive +with caution all such rules as belong +to the practical and mechanical of the +art. He instances Paul Veronese. +"In the great composition of Paul +Veronese, the 'Marriage of Cana,' the +figures are for the most part in half +shadow. The great light is in the +sky; and indeed the general effect of +this picture, which is so striking, is +no more than what we often see in +landscapes, in small pictures of fairs +and country feasts: but those principles +of light and shadow, being +transferred to a large scale, to a space +containing near a hundred figures as +large as life, and conducted, to all +appearance, with as much facility, and +with attention as steadily fixed upon +<i>the whole together</i>, as if it were a small +picture immediately under the eye, the +work justly excites our admiration, +the difficulty being increased as the +extent is enlarged." We suspect that +<i>the rule</i>, when it attempts to direct +beyond the words Sir Joshua has +marked in italics, refutes itself, and +shackles the student. Infinite must be +the modes of composition, and as infinite +the modes of treating them in +light and shadow and colour. "Whatever +mode of composition is adopted, +every variety and license is allowable." +All that is absolutely necessary is, +that there be no confusion or distraction, +no conflicting masses—in fact, that +the picture tell its tale at once and +effectually. A very good plate is +given by Mr Burnet of the "Marriage +of Cana," by Paul Veronese. Sir +Joshua avoids entering upon rules +that belong to "the detail of the +art." He meets with combatants, as +might have been expected, where he +is thus particular. We will extract +the passage which has been controverted, +and to oppose the doctrine of +which, Gainsborough painted his celebrated +"Blue Boy."</p> + +<p>"Though it is not my <i>business</i> to +enter into the detail of our art, yet I +must take this opportunity of mentioning +one of the means of producing +that great effect which we observe in +the works of the Venetian painters, as +I think it is not generally known or +observed, that the masses of light in +a picture be always of a warm mellow +colour, yellow red or yellowish white; +and that the blue, the grey, or the +green colours be kept almost entirely +out of these masses, and be used only +to support and set off these warm +colours; and for this purpose a small +proportion of cold colours will be sufficient. +Let this conduct be reversed; +let the light be cold, and the surrounding +colours warm, as we often see in +the works of the Roman and Florentine +painters, and it will be out of the +power of art, even in the hands of +Rubens or Titian, to make a picture +splendid and harmonious." Le Brun +and Carlo Maratti are censured as +being "deficient in this management of +colours." The "Bacchus and Ariadne," +now in our National Gallery, has ever +been celebrated for its harmony of +colour. Sir Joshua supports his theory +or rule by the example of this +picture: the red of Ariadne's scarf, +which, according to critics, was purposely +given to relieve the figure from +the sea, has a better object. "The +figure of Ariadne is separated from +the great group, and is dressed in +blue, which, added to the colour of the +sea, makes that quantity of cold +colour which Titian thought necessary +for the support and brilliancy of +the great group; which group is composed, +with very little exception, entirely +of mellow colours. But as the +picture in this case would be divided +into two distinct parts, one half cold +and the other warm, it was necessary +to carry some of the mellow colours +of the great group into the cold part +of the picture, and a part of the cold +into the great group; accordingly +Titian gave Ariadne a red scarf, and +to one of the Bacchantes a little blue +<a class="pagenum" name="page185" id="page185" title="185"></a>drapery." As there is no picture +more splendid, it is well to weigh and +consider again and again remarks +upon the cause of the brilliancy, given +by such an authority as Sir Joshua +Reynolds. With regard to his rule, +even among artists, "adhuc sub +judice lis est." He combats the common +notion of relief, as belonging +only to the infancy of the art, and +shows the advance made by Coreggio +and Rembrandt; though the first +manner of Coreggio, as well as of Leonardo +da Vinci and Georgione, was dry +and hard. "But these three were +among the first who began to correct +themselves in dryness of style, by no +longer considering relief as a principal +object. As these two qualities, relief +and fulness of effect, can hardly exist +together, it is not very difficult to determine +to which we ought to give +the preference." "Those painters +who have best understood the art of +producing a good effect, have adopted +one principle that seems perfectly conformable +to reason—that a part may +be sacrificed for the good of the whole. +Thus, whether the masses consist of +light or shadow, it is necessary that +they should be compact, and of a +pleasing shape; to this end some parts +may be made darker and some lighter, +and reflections stronger than nature +would warrant." He instances a +"Moonlight" by Rubens, now, we +believe, in the possession of Mr Rogers, +in which Rubens had given more +light and more glowing colours than +we recognize in nature,—"it might +easily be mistaken, if he had not likewise +added stars, for a fainter setting +sun." We stop not to enquire if that +harmony so praised, might not have +been preserved had the resemblance +to nature been closer. Brilliancy is +produced. The fact is, the <i>practice</i> of +art is a system of compensation. We +cannot exactly in all cases represent +nature,—we have not the means, but +our means will achieve what, though +<i>particularly</i> unlike, may, by itself or in +opposition, produce similar effects. +Nature does not present a varnished +polished surface, nor that very transparency +that our colours can give; +but it is found that this transparency, +in all its degrees, in conjunction +and in opposition to opaque +body of colour, represents the force +of light and shade of nature, which is +the principal object to attain. <i>The</i> +richness of nature is not the exact +richness of the palette. The painter's +success is in the means of compensation.</p> + +<p>This Discourse concludes with observations +on the Prize pictures. The +subject seems to have been the Sacrifice +of Iphigenia. All had copied +the invention of Timanthes, in hiding +the face of Agamemnon. Sir Joshua +seems to agree with Mr Falconet, +in a note in his translation of +Pliny, who would condemn the painter, +but that he copied the idea from +the authority of Euripides; Sir Joshua +considers it at best a trick, that +can only with success be practised +once. Mr Fuseli criticises the passage, +and assumes that the painter +had better reason than that given by +Mr Falconet. Mr Burnet has added +but two or three notes to this Discourse—they +are unimportant, with +the exception of the last, wherein he +combats Sir Joshua's theory of the +cold and warm colours. He candidly +prints an extract of a letter from Sir +Thomas Lawrence, who differs with +him. It is so elegantly written that +we quote the passage. Sir Thomas +says,—"Agreeing with you in so +many points, I will venture to differ +from you in your question with Sir +Joshua. Infinitely various as nature +is, there are still two or three truths +that limit her variety, or, rather, that +limit art in the imitation of her. I +should instance for one the ascendency +of white objects, which can never +be departed from with impunity, and +again, the union of colour with light. +Masterly as the execution of that picture +is (viz. the Boy in a blue dress,) +I always feel a never-changing impression +on my eye, that the "Blue +Boy" of Gainsborough is a difficulty +boldly combated, not conquered. The +light blue drapery of the Virgin in the +centre of the "Notte" is another instance; +a check to the harmony of +the celestial radiance round it." "Opposed +to Sir Thomas's opinion," says +Mr Burnet, "I might quote that of Sir +David Wilkie, often expressed, and +carried out in his picture of the 'Chelsea +Pensioners' and other works." +It strikes us, from our recollection of +the "Chelsea Pensioners," that it is +not at all a case in point; the blue +there not being light but dark, and +serving as dark, forcibly contrasting +with warmer light in sky and other +objects; the <i>colour</i> of blue is scarcely +given, and is too dark to be allowed +<a class="pagenum" name="page186" id="page186" title="186"></a>to enter into the question. He adds, +"A very simple method may be +adopted to enable the student to perceive +where the warm and red colours +are placed by the great colourists, by +his making a sketch of light and shade +of the picture, and then touching in +the warm colours with red chalk; or +by looking on his palette at twilight, +he will see what colours absorb the +light, and those that give it out, and +thus select for his shadows, colours +that have the property of giving depth +and richness." Unless the pictures +are intended to be seen at twilight, +we do not see how this can bear upon +the question; if it does, we would +notice what we have often observed, +that at twilight blue almost entirely +disappears, to such a degree that in +a landscape where the blue has even +been deep, and the sky by no means +the lightest part of the picture, at +twilight the whole landscape comes +out too hard upon the sky, which with +its colour has lost its tone, and become, +with relation to the rest, by far +too light. It is said that of all the +pictures in the National Gallery, +when seen at twilight, the Coreggios +retire last—we speak of the two, the +"Ecce Homo" and the "Venus, +Mercury, and Cupid." In these there +is no blue but in the drapery of the +fainting mother, and that is so dark +as to serve for black or mere shadow; +the lighter blue close upon the neck +is too small to affect the power of the +picture. It certainly is a fact, that +blue fades more than any colour at +twilight, and, relatively speaking, +leaves the image that contains it +lighter. We should almost be inclined +to ask the question, though with +great deference to authority, is blue, +when very light, necessarily cold; and +if so, has it not an activity which, being +the great quality of light, assimilates +it with light, and thus takes +in to itself the surrounding "radiance?" +A very little positive warm colour, +as it were set in blue, from whatever +cause, gives it a surprising glow. +We desire to see the theory of colours +treated, not with regard to their corresponding +harmony in their power +one upon the other, nor in their light +and shadow, but, if we may so express +it, in their sentimentality—the effect +they are capable of in moving the +passions. We alluded to this in our +last paper, and the more we consider +the subject, the more we convinced +that it is worth deeper investigation.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The NINTH DISCOURSE is short, and +general in its character; it was delivered +at the opening of the Royal +Academy in Somerset Place, October +16, 1780. It is an elegant address; +raises the aim of the artist; and gives +a summary of the origin of arts and +their use. "Let us for a moment +take a short survey of the progress of +the mind towards what is, or ought to +be, its true object of attention. Man +in his lowest state has no pleasures +but those of sense, and no wants but +those of appetite; afterwards, when +society is divided into different ranks, +and some are appointed to labour for +the support of others, those whom +their superiority sets free from labour +begin to look for intellectual entertainments. +Thus, while the shepherds +were attending their flocks, +their masters made the first astronomical +observations; so music is said +to have had its origin from a man at +leisure listening to the strokes of a +hammer. As the senses in the lowest +state of nature are necessary to direct +us to our support, when that support +is once secure, there is danger in following +them further; to him who has +no rule of action but the gratification +of the senses, plenty is always dangerous. +It is therefore necessary to +the happiness of individuals, and still +more necessary to the security of society, +that the mind should be elevated +to the idea of general beauty, and the +contemplation of general truth; by +this pursuit the mind is always carried +forward in search of something more +excellent than it finds, and obtains its +proper superiority over the common +sense of life, by learning to feel itself +capable of higher aims and nobler +enjoyments." This is well said. +Again.—"Our art, like all arts which +address the imagination, is applied to +a somewhat lower faculty of the mind, +which approaches nearer to sensuality, +but through sense and fancy +it must make its way to reason. For +such is the progress of thought, that +we perceive by sense, we combine by +fancy, and distinguish by reason; and +without carrying our art out of its +natural and true character, the more +we purify it from every thing that is +gross in sense, in that proportion we +<a class="pagenum" name="page187" id="page187" title="187"></a>advance its use and dignity, and in +proportion as we lower it to mere sensuality, +we pervert its nature, and degrade +it from the rank of a liberal +art; and this is what every artist +ought well to remember. Let him +remember, also, that he deserves just +so much encouragement in the state +as he makes himself a member of it +virtuously useful, and contributes in +his sphere to the general purpose and +perfection of society." Sir Joshua +has been blamed by those who have +taken lower views of art, in that he has +exclusively treated of the Great Style, +which neither he nor the academicians +of his day practised; but he +would have been unworthy the presidential +chair had he taken any other +line. His was a noble effort, to assume +for art the highest position, to +dignify it in its aim, and thus to honour +and improve first his country, +then all human kind. We rise from +such passages as these elevated above +all that is little. Those only can feel +depressed who would find excuses for +the lowness of their pursuits.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The TENTH DISCOURSE.—Sir Joshua +here treats of Sculpture, a less +extensive field than Painting. The +leading principles of both are the +same; he considers wherein they +agree, and wherein they differ. Sculpture +cannot, "with propriety and best +effect, be applied to many subjects." +Its object is "form and character." +It has "one style only,"—that one +style has relation only to one style of +painting, the Great Style, but that so +close as to differ only as operating +upon different materials. He blames +the sculptors of the last age, who +thought they were improving by borrowing +from the ornamental, incompatible +with its essential character. +Contrasts, and the littlenesses of picturesque +effects, are injurious to the +formality its austere character requires. +As in painting, so more particularly +in sculpture, that imitation +of nature which we call illusion, is in +no respect its excellence, nor indeed its +aim. Were it so, the Venus di Medici +would be improved by colour. It +contemplates a higher, a more perfect +beauty, more an intellectual than sensual +enjoyment. The boundaries of +the art have been long fixed. To +convey "sentiment and character, as +exhibited by attitude, and expression +of the passions," is not within its province. +Beauty of form alone, the +object of sculpture, "makes of itself +a great work." In proof of which +are the designs of Michael Angelo in +both arts. As a stronger instance:— +"What artist," says he, "ever looked +at the Torso without feeling a warmth +of enthusiasm as from the highest +efforts of poetry? From whence does +this proceed? What is there in this +fragment that produces this effect, but +the perfection of this science of abstract +form?" Mr Burnet has given +a plate of the Torso. The expectation +of deception, of which few divest +themselves, is an impediment to the +judgment, consequently to the enjoyment +of sculpture. "Its essence is +correctness." It fully accomplishes +its purpose when it adds the "ornament +of grace, dignity of character, +and appropriated expression, as in the +Apollo, the Venus, the Laocoon, the +Moses of Michael Angelo, and many +others." Sir Joshua uses expression +as will be afterwards seen, in a very +limited sense. It is necessary to lay +down perfect correctness as its essential +character; because, as in the case +of the Apollo, many have asserted the +beauty to arise from a certain incorrectness +in anatomy and proportion. +He denies that there is this incorrectness, +and asserts that there never ought +to be; and that even in painting these +are not the beauties, but defects, in +the works of Coreggio and Parmegiano. +"A supposition of such a +monster as Grace begot by Deformity, +is poison to the mind of a young artist." +The Apollo and the Discobolus +are engaged in the same purpose—the +one watching the effect of his arrow, +the other of his discus. "The graceful, +negligent, though animated air of +the one, and the vulgar eagerness of the +other, furnish a signal instance of the +skill of the ancient sculptors in their nice +discrimination of character. They are +both equally true to nature, and equally +admirable." Grace, character, and +expression, are rather in form and +attitude than in features; the general +figure more presents itself; "it is +there we must principally look for +expression or character; <i>patuit in corpore +vultus</i>." The expression in the +countenances of the Laocoon and his +two sons, though greater than in any +other antique statues, is of pain only; +and that is more expressed "by the +<a class="pagenum" name="page188" id="page188" title="188"></a>writhing and contortion of the body +than by the features." The ancient +sculptors paid but little regard to features +for their expression, their object +being solely beauty of form. "Take +away from Apollo his lyre, from Bacchus +his thyrsus and vine-leaves, and +from Meleager the boar's head, and +there will remain little or no difference +in their characters." John di Bologna, +he tells us, after he had finished a +group, called his friends together to +tell him what name to give it: they +called it the "Rape of the Sabines." +A similar anecdote is told of Sir +Joshua himself, that he had painted +the head of the old man who attended +him in his studio. Some one observed +that it would make a Ugolino. The +sons were added, and it became the +well-known historical picture from +Dante. He comments upon the ineffectual +attempts of modern sculptors +to detach drapery from the figure, to +give it the appearance of flying in the +air; to make different plans on the +same bas-relievos; to represent the +effects of perspective; to clothe in a +modern dress. For the first attempt +he reprehends Bernini, who, from +want of a right conception of the +province of sculpture, never fulfilled +the promise given in his early work of +Apollo and Daphne. He was ever +attempting to make drapery flutter in +the air, which the very massiveness of +the material, stone, should seem to +forbid. Sir Joshua does not notice +the very high authority for such an +attempt—though it must be confessed +the material was not stone, still it was +sculpture, and multitudinous are the +graces of ornament, and most minutely +described—the shield of Hercules, +by Hesiod; even the noise of the +furies' wings is affected. The drapery +of the Apollo he considers to have +been intended more for support than +ornament; but the mantle from the +arm he thinks "answers a much +higher purpose, by preventing that +dryness of effect which would inevitably +attend a naked arm, extended +almost at full length; to which we +may add, the disagreeable effect which +would proceed from the body and arm +making a right angle." He conjectures +that Carlo Maratti, in his love +for drapery, must have influenced the +sculptors of the Apostles in the church +of St John Lateran. "The weight +and solidity of stone was not to be +overcome."</p> + +<p>To place figures on different plans +is absurd, because they must still appear +all equally near the eye; the +sculptor has not adequate means of +throwing them back; and, besides, +the thus cutting up into minute parts, +destroys grandeur. "Perhaps the only +circumstance in which the modern +have excelled the ancient sculptors, +is the management of a single group +in basso-relievo." This, he thinks, +may have been suggested by the practice +of modern painters. The attempt +at perspective must, for the same reason, +be absurd; the sculptor has not +the means for this "humble ambition." +The ancients represented only the +elevation of whatever architecture +they introduced into their bas-reliefs, +"which is composed of little more +than horizontal and perpendicular +lines." Upon the attempt at modern +dress in sculpture, he is severe in his +censure. "Working in stone is a +very serious business, and it seems to +be scarce worth while to employ such +durable materials in conveying to +posterity a fashion, of which the +longest existence scarcely exceeds a +year;" and which, he might have +added, the succeeding year makes +ridiculous. We not only change our +dresses, but laugh at the sight of +those we have discarded. The gravity +of sculpture should not be subject to +contempt. "The uniformity and +simplicity of the materials on which +the sculptor labours, (which are only +white marble,) prescribe bounds to +his art, and teach him to confine himself +to proportionable simplicity of +design." Mr Burnet has not given +a better note than that upon Sir Joshua's +remark, that sculpture has but +one style. He shows how strongly +the ancient sculptors marked those +points wherein the human figure differs +from that of other animals. "Let +us take, for example, the human foot; +on examining, in the first instance, +those of many animals, we perceive +the toes either very long or very short +in proportion; of an equal size nearly, +and the claws often long and hooked +inwards: now, in rude sculpture, and +even in some of the best of the Egyptians, +we find little attempt at giving +a character of decided variation; +but, on the contrary, we see +<a class="pagenum" name="page189" id="page189" title="189"></a>the foot split up with toes of an +equal length and thickness; while, in +Greek sculpture, these points characteristic +of man are increased, that the +affinity to animals may be diminished. +In the Greek marbles, the great toe +is large and apart from the others, +where the strap of the sandal came; +while the others gradually diminish +and sweep round to the outside of the +foot, with the greatest regularity of +curve; the nails are short, and the toes +broad at the points, indicative of pressure +on the ground." Rigidity he considers +to have been the character of +the first epochs, changing ultimately as +in the Elgin marbles, "from the hard +characteristics of stone to the vivified +character of flesh." He thinks Reynolds +"would have acknowledged the +supremacy of beautiful nature, uncontrolled +by the severe line of mathematical +exactness," had he lived to see +the Elgin marbles. "The outline of +life, which changes under every respiration, +seems to have undulated under +the plastic mould of Phidias." This +is well expressed. He justly animadverts +upon the silly fashion of the day, +in lauding the vulgar imitation of the +worsted stockings by Thom. The +subjects chosen were most unfit for +sculpture,—their only immortality +must be in Burns. We do not understand +his extreme admiration of Wilkie; +in a note on parallel perspective +in sculpture, he adduces Raffaelle as +an example of the practice, and closes +by comparing him with Sir David +Wilkie,—"known by the appellation +of the Raffaelle of familiar life,"—men +perfect antipodes to each other! +There is a proper eulogy on Chantrey, +particularly for his busts, in which he +commonly represented the eye. We +are most anxious for the arrival of the +ancient sculpture from Lycia, collected +and packed for Government by +the indefatigable and able traveller, +Mr Fellowes.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The ELEVENTH DISCOURSE is upon +Genius, the particular genius of the +painter in his power of seizing and +representing nature, or his subject as +a whole. He calls it the "genius of +mechanical performance." This, with +little difference, is enforcing what has +been laid down in former Discourses. +Indeed, as far as precepts may be +required, Sir Joshua had already +performed his task; hence, there is +necessary repetition. Yet all is said +well, and conviction perpetuates the +impressions previously made. Character +is something independent of minute +detail; genius alone knows what +constitutes this character, and practically +to represent it, is to be a painter +of genius. Though it be true that he +"who does not at all express particulars +expresses nothing; yet it is certain +that a nice discrimination of minute +circumstances, and a punctilious +delineation of them, whatever excellence +it may have, (and I do not mean +to detract from it,) never did confer +on the artist the character of genius." +The impression left upon the mind is +not of particulars, when it would seem +to be so; such particulars are taken +out of the subject, and are each a +whole of themselves. Practically +speaking, as we before observed, genius +will be exerted in ascertaining +how to paint the "<i>nothing</i>" in every +picture, to satisfy with regard to detail, +that neither its absence nor its +presence shall be noticeable.</p> + +<p>Our pleasure is not in minute imitation; +for, in fact, that is not true imitation, +for it forces upon our notice +that which naturally we do not see. +We are not pleased with wax-work, +which may be nearer reality; "we +are pleased, on the contrary, by seeing +ends accomplished by seemingly inadequate +means." If this be sound, +we ought to be sensible of the inadequacy +of the means, which sets aside +at once the common notion that art is +illusion. "The properties of all objects, +as far as the painter is concerned +with them, are outline or drawing, +the colour, and the light and shade. +The drawing gives the form, the colour +its visible quality, and the light +and shade its solidity:" in every one +of these the habit of seeing as a whole +must be acquired. From this habit +arises the power of imitating by +"dexterous methods." He proceeds +to show that the fame of the greatest +painters does not rest upon their high +finish. Raffaelle and Titian, one in +drawing the other in colour, by no +means finished highly; but acquired +by their genius an expressive execution. +Most of his subsequent remarks +are upon practice in execution and +colour, in contradistinction to elaborate +finish. Vasari calls Titian, "giudicioso, +bello, e stupendo," with regard +to this power. He generalized by +<a class="pagenum" name="page190" id="page190" title="190"></a>colour, and by execution. "In his +colouring, he was large and general." +By these epithets, we think Sir Joshua +has admitted that the great style comprehends +colouring. "Whether it +is the human figure, an animal, or +even inanimate objects, there is nothing, +however unpromising in appearance, +but may be raised into dignity, +convey sentiment, and produce emotion, +in the hands of a painter of +genius." He condemns that high +finish which softens off. "This extreme +softening, instead of producing +the effect of softness, gives the appearance +of ivory, or some other hard +substance, highly polished. The value +set upon drawings, such as of Coreggio +and Parmegiano, which are +but slight, show how much satisfaction +can be given without high finishing, +or minute attention to particulars. +"I wish you to bear in mind, that +when I speak of a whole, I do not +mean simply <i>a whole</i> as belonging to +composition, but <i>a whole</i> with respect +to the general style of colouring; <i>a +whole</i> with regard to light and shade; +and <i>a whole</i> of every thing which may +separately become the main object of +a painter. He speaks of a landscape +painter in Rome, who endeavoured to +represent every individual leaf upon a +tree; a few happy touches would have +given a more true resemblance. There +is always a largeness and a freedom +in happy execution, that finish can +never attain. Sir Joshua says above, +that even "unpromising" subjects +may be thus treated. There is a +painter commonly thought to have +finished highly, by those who do not +look into his manner, whose dexterous, +happy execution was perhaps never surpassed; +the consequence is, that there +is "a largeness," in all his pictures. +We mean Teniers. The effect of the +elaborate work that has been added to +his class of subjects, is to make them +heavy and fatiguing to the eye. He +praises Titian for the same large manner +which he had given to his history +and portraits, applied to his landscapes, +and instances the back-ground +to the "Peter Martyr." He recommends +the same practice in portrait +painting—the first thing to be attained, +is largeness and general effect. +The following puts the truth clearly. +"Perhaps nothing that we can say +will so clearly show the advantage +and excellence of this faculty, as that +it confers the character of genius on +works that pretend to no other merit, +in which is neither expression, character, +nor dignity, and where none +are interested in the subject. We +cannot refuse the character of genius +to the 'Marriage' of Paolo Veronese, +without opposing the general sense of +mankind, (great authorities have called +it the triumph of painting,) or to +the Altar of St Augustine at Antwerp, +by Rubens, which equally deserves +that title, and for the same reason. +Neither of these pictures have +any interesting story to support them. +That of Paolo Veronese is only a representation +of a great concourse of +people at a dinner; and the subject of +Rubens, if it may be called a subject +where nothing is doing, is an assembly +of various saints that lived in different +ages. The whole excellence +of those pictures consists in mechanical +dexterity, working, however, under +the influence of that comprehensive +faculty which I have so often +mentioned."</p> + +<p>The power of <i>a whole</i> is exemplified +by the anecdote of a child going +through a gallery of old portraits. +She paid very little attention to the +finishing, or naturalness of drapery, +but put herself at once to mimic the +awkward attitudes. "The censure of +nature uninformed, fastened upon the +greatest fault that could be in a picture, +because it related to the character +and management of the whole." +What he would condemn is that substitute +for deep and proper study, +which is to enable the painter to conceive +and execute every subject as a +whole, and a finish which Cowley +calls "laborious effects of idleness." +He concludes this Discourse with some +hints on method of study. Many go +to Italy to copy pictures, and derive +little advantage. "The great business +of study is, to form a mind adapted +and adequate to all times and +all occasions, to which all nature is +then laid open, and which may be +said to possess the key of her inexhaustible +riches."</p> + +<p>Mr Burnet has supplied a plate of +the Monk flying from the scene of +murder, in Titian's "Peter Martyr," +showing how that great painter could +occasionally adopt the style of Michael +Angelo in his forms. In the +same note he observes, that Sir Joshua +had forgotten the detail of this picture, +<a class="pagenum" name="page191" id="page191" title="191"></a>which detail is noticed and +praised by Algarotti, for its minute +discrimination of leaves and plants, +"even to excite the admiration of a +botanist."—Sir Joshua said they were +not there. Mr Burnet examined the +picture at Paris, and found, indeed, +the detail, but adds, that "they are +made out with the same hue as the +general tint of the ground, which is a +dull brown," an exemplification of the +rule, "Ars est celare artem." Mr +Burnet remarks, that there is the +same minute detail in Titian's "Bacchus +and Ariadne."—He is right—we +have noticed it, and suspected that it +had lost the glazing which had subdued +it. As it is, however, it is not +important. Mr Burnet is fearful lest +the authority of Sir Joshua should induce +a habit of generalizing too much. +He expresses this fear in another note. +He says, "the great eagerness to acquire +what the poet calls</p> + +<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'> +<span class='i4'>'That voluntary style,<br /></span> +<span>Which careless plays, and seems to mock at toil,'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>and which Reynolds describes as so +captivating, has led many a student to +commence his career at the wrong +end. They ought to remember, that +even Rubens founded this excellence +upon years of laborious and careful +study. His picture of himself and +his first wife, though the size of life, +exhibits all the detail and finish of +Holbein." Sir Joshua nowhere recommends +<i>careless</i> style; on the contrary, +he every where urges the student +to laborious toil, in order that he +may acquire that facility which Sir +Joshua so justly calls captivating, and +which afterwards Rubens himself did +acquire, by studying it in the works +of Titian and Paul Veronese; and singularly, +in contradiction to his fears +and all he would imply, Mr Burnet +terminates his passage thus:—"Nor +did he (Rubens) quit the dry manner +of Otho Venius, till a contemplation +of the works of Titian and Paul Veronese +enabled him to display with +rapidity those materials which industry +had collected." It is strange to +argue upon the abuse of a precept, by +taking it at the wrong end.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The TWELFTH DISCOURSE recurs +likewise to much that had been before +laid down. It treats of methods of +study, upon which he had been consulted +by artists about to visit Italy. +Particular methods of study he considers +of little consequence; study +must not be shackled by too much +method. If the painter loves his art, +he will not require prescribed tasks;—to +go about which sluggishly, which +he will do if he have another impulse, +can be of little advantage. Hence +would follow, as he admirably expresses +it, "a reluctant understanding," +and a "servile hand." He supposes, +however, the student to be +somewhat advanced. The boy, like +other school-boys, must be under restraint, +and learn the "Grammar and +Rudiments" laboriously. It is not +such who travel for knowledge. The +student, he thinks, may be pretty +much left to himself; if he undertake +things above his strength, it is better +he should run the risk of discouragement +thereby, than acquire "a slow +proficiency" by "too easy tasks." +He has little confidence in the efficacy +of method, "in acquiring excellence +in any art whatever." Methodical +studies, with all their apparatus, enquiry, +and mechanical labour, tend +too often but "to evade and shuffle +off real labour—the real labour of +thinking." He has ever avoided giving +particular directions. He has +found students who have imagined +they could make "prodigious progress +under some particular eminent +master." Such would lean on any but +themselves. "After the Rudiments +are past, very little of our art can be +taught by others." A student ought +to have a just and manly confidence +in himself, "or rather in the persevering +industry which he is resolved +to possess." Raffaelle had done nothing, +and was quite young, when fixed +upon to adorn the Vatican with his +works; he had even to direct the best +artists of his age. He had a meek and +gentle disposition, but it was not inconsistent +with that manly confidence that +insured him success—a confidence in +himself arising from a consciousness of +power, and a determination to exert it. +The result is "in perpetuum."—There +are, however, artists who have too +much self-confidence, that is ill-founded +confidence, founded rather upon a +certain dexterity than upon a habit of +thought; they are like the improvisatori +in poetry; and most commonly, as +Metastasio acknowledged of himself, +had much to unlearn, to acquire a habit +<a class="pagenum" name="page192" id="page192" title="192"></a>of thinking with selection. To be able +to draw and to design with rapidity, +is, indeed, to be master of the grammar +of art; but in the completion, and +in the final settlement of the design, +the portfolio must again and again +have been turned over, and the nicest +judgment exercised. This judgment +is the result of deep study and intenseness +of thought—thought not +only upon the artist's own inventions, +but those of others. Luca Giordano +and La Fage are brought as examples +of great dexterity and readiness of invention—but +of little selection; for +they borrowed very little from others: +and still less will any artist, that can +distinguish between excellence and +insipidity, ever borrow from them. +Raffaelle, who had no lack of invention, +took the greatest pains to select; +and when designing "his greatest as +well as latest works, the Cartoons," +he had before him studies he had made +from Masaccio. He borrowed from +him "two noble figures of St Paul." +The only alteration he made was in +the showing both hands, which he +thought in a principal figure should +never be omitted. Masaccio's work +was well known; Raffaelle was not +ashamed to have borrowed. "Such +men, surely, need not be ashamed of +that friendly intercourse which ought +to exist among artists, of receiving from +the dead, and giving to the living, and +perhaps to those who are yet unborn. +The daily food and nourishment of +the mind of an artist is found in the +great works of his predecessors. 'Serpens +nisi serpentem comederit, non +fit draco.'" The fact is, the most self-sufficient +of men are greater borrowers +than they will admit, or perhaps know; +their very novelties, if they have any, +commence upon the thoughts of others, +which are laid down as a foundation in +their own minds. The common sense, +which is called "common property," +is that stock which all that have gone +before us have left behind them; and +we are but admitted to the heirship of +what they have acquired. Masaccio +Sir Joshua considers to have been +"one of the great fathers of modern +art." He was the first who gave largeness, +and "discovered the path that +leads to every excellence to which the +art afterwards arrived." It is enough to +say of him, that Michael Angelo, Leonardo +da Vinci, Pietro Perugino, Raffaelle, +Bartolomeo, Andrea del Sarto, +Il Rosso, and Pierino del Vaga, formed +their taste by studying his works. +"An artist-like mind" is best formed +by studying the works of great artists. +It is a good practice to consider figures +in works of great masters as statues +which we may take in any view. This did +Raffaelle, in his "Sergius Paulus," from +Masaccio. Lest there should be any misunderstanding +of this sort of borrowing, +which he justifies, he again refers +to the practice of Raffaelle in this his +borrowing from Masaccio. The two +figures of St Paul, he doubted if Raffaelle +could have improved; but "he +had the address to change in some +measure without diminishing the grandeur +of their character." For a serene +composed dignity, he has given +animation suited to their employment. +"In the same manner, he has given +more animation to the figure of Sergius +Paulus, and to that which is introduced +in the picture of Paul preaching, +of which little more than hints +are given by Masaccio, which Raffaelle +has finished. The closing the eyes of +this figure, which in Masaccio might +be easily mistaken for sleeping, is not +in the least ambiguous in the Cartoon. +His eyes, indeed are closed, but they +are closed with such vehemence, that +the agitation of a mind <i>perplexed in +the extreme</i> is seen at the first glance; +but what is most extraordinary, and I +think particularly to be admired, is, +that the same idea is continued through +the whole figure, even to the drapery, +which is so closely muffled about him, +that even his hands are not seen: By +this happy correspondence between +the expression of the countenance and +the disposition of the parts, the figure +appears to think from head to foot. +Men of superior talents alone are capable +of thus using and adapting other +men's minds to their own purposes, +or are able to make out and finish +what was only in the original a hint or +imperfect conception. A readiness in +taking such hints, which escape the +dull and ignorant, makes, in my opinion, +no inconsiderable part of that +faculty of mind which is called genius." +He urges the student not even +to think himself qualified to invent, +till he is well acquainted with the +stores of invention the world possesses; +and insists that, without such study, +he will not have learned to select from +nature. He has more than once enforced +this doctrine, because it is new. +<a class="pagenum" name="page193" id="page193" title="193"></a>He recommends, even in borrowing, +however, an immediate recurrence to +the model, that every thing may be +finished from nature. Hence he proceeds +to give some directions for +placing the model and the drapery—first +to impress upon the model the +purpose of the attitude required—next, +to be careful not to alter drapery +with the hand, rather trusting, if +defective, to a new cast. There is +much in being in the way of accident. +To obtain the freedom of accident +Rembrandt put on his colours with his +palette-knife; a very common practice +at the present day. "Works produced +in an accidental manner will +have the same free unrestrained air as +the works of nature, whose particular +combinations seem to depend upon +accident." He concludes this Discourse +by more strenuously insisting +upon the necessity of ever having nature +in view—and warns students by +the example of Boucher, Director of +the French Academy, whom he saw +working upon a large picture, "without +drawings or models of any kind." +He had left off the use of models many +years. Though a man of ability, his +pictures showed the mischief of his +practice. Mr Burnet's notes to this +Discourse add little to the material of +criticism; they do but reiterate in substance +what Sir Joshua had himself +sufficiently repeated. His object seems +rather to seize an opportunity of expressing +his admiration of Wilkie, +whom he adduces as a parallel example +with Raffaelle of successful +borrowing. It appears from the account +given of Wilkie's process, that +he carried the practice much beyond +Raffaelle. We cannot conceive any +thing <i>very</i> good coming from so very +methodical a manner of setting to work. +Would not the fire of genius be extinguished +by the coolness of the process? +"When he had fixed upon his +subject, he thought upon <i>all</i> pictures of +that class already in existence." The +after process was most elaborate. +Now, this we should think a practice +quite contrary to Raffaelle's, who more +probably trusted to his own conception +for the character of his picture as a +whole, and whose borrowing was more +of single figures; but, if of the whole +manner of treating his subject, it is +not likely that he would have thought +of more than one work for his imitation. +The fact is, Sir David Wilkie's +pictures show that he did carry this +practice too far—for there is scarcely +a picture of his that does not show +patches of imitations, that are not always +congruous with each other; there +is too often in one piece, a bit of Rembrandt, +a bit of Velasquez, a bit of +Ostade, or others. The most perfect, +as a whole, is his "Chelsea Pensioners." +We do not quite understand +the brew of study fermenting an accumulation +of knowledge, and imagination +exalting it. "An accumulation +of knowledge impregnated his mind, +fermented by study, and exalted by +imagination;" this is very ambitious, +but not very intelligible. He speaks of +Wilkie attracting the attention of admirers +and detractors. It is very absurd +to consider criticism that is not +always favourable, detraction. The +following passage is well put. "We +constantly hear the ignorant advising +a student to study the great book of +nature, without being biassed by what +has been done by other painters; it is +as absurd as if they would recommend +a youth to learn astronomy by lying +in the fields, and looking on the stars, +without reference to the works of Kepler, +Tycho Brahe, or of Newton." +There is indeed a world of cant in the +present day, that a man must do all +to his own unprejudiced reason, contemning +all that has been done before +him. We have just now been looking at +a pamphlet on Materialism (a pamphlet +of most ambitious verbiage,) in which, +with reference to all former education, +we are "the slaves of prejudice;" yet +the author modestly requires that +minds—we beg his pardon, we have <i>no +minds</i>—intellects must be <i>trained</i> to his +mode of thinking, ere they can arrive at +the truth and the perfection of human +nature. If this training is prejudice in +one set of teachers, may it not be in another? +We continually hear artists recommend +nature without "a prejudice +in favour of old masters." Such artists +are not likely to eclipse the fame of those +great men, the study of whose works +has so long <i>prejudiced</i> the world.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The THIRTEENTH DISCOURSE shows +that art is not imitation, but is under +the influence and direction of the imagination, +and in what manner poetry, +painting, acting, gardening, and architecture, +depart from nature. However +good it is to study the beauties of +artists, this is only to know art through +<a class="pagenum" name="page194" id="page194" title="194"></a>them. The principles of painting +remain to be compared with those +of other arts, all of them with human +nature. All arts address themselves +only to two faculties of the +mind, its imagination and its sensibility. +We have feeling, and an instantaneous +judgment, the result of the +experience of life, and reasonings +which we cannot trace. It is safer to +trust to this feeling and judgment, +than endeavour to control and direct +art upon a supposition of what ought +in reason to be the end or means. We +should, therefore, most carefully store +first impressions. They are true, +though we know not the process by +which the first conviction is formed. +Partial and after reasoning often +serves to destroy that character, the +truth of which came upon us as with +an instinctive knowledge. We often +reason ourselves into narrow and partial +theories, not aware that "<i>real</i> +principles of <i>sound reason</i>, and of so +much more weight and importance, +are involved, and as it were lie hid, +under the appearance of a sort of vulgar +sentiment. Reason, without doubt, +must ultimately determine every thing; +at this minute it is required to inform +us when that very reason is to give +way to feeling." Sir Joshua again +refers to the mistaken views of art, +and taken too by not the poorest +minds, "that it entirely or mainly depends +on imitation." Plato, even in +this respect, misleads by a partial +theory. It is with "such a false view +that Cardinal Bembo has chosen to +distinguish even Raffaelle himself, +whom our enthusiasm honours with +the name divine. The same sentiment +is adopted by Pope in his epitaph +on Sir Godfrey Kneller; and he +turns the panegyric solely on imitation +as it is a sort of deception." It +is, undoubtedly, most important that +the world should be taught to honour +art for its highest qualities; until this +is done, the profession will be a degradation. +So far from painting being +imitation, he proceeds to show +that "it is, and ought to be, in many +points of view, and strictly speaking, +no imitation at all of external nature." +Civilization is not the gross state of +nature; imagination is the result of +cultivation, of civilization; it is to +this state of nature art must be more +closely allied. We must not appeal +for judgment upon art to those who +have not acquired the faculty to admire. +The lowest style of all arts +please the uncultivated. But, to speak +of the unnaturalness of art—let it be +illustrated by poetry, which speaks +in language highly artificial, and "a +construction of measured words, such +as never is nor ever was used by man." +Now, as there is in the human mind +"a sense of congruity, coherence, and +consistency," which must be gratified; +so, having once assumed a language +and style not adopted in common discourse, +"it is required that the sentiments +also should be in the same proportion +raised above common nature." +There must be an agreement of all +the parts with the whole. He recognizes +the chorus of the ancient drama, +and the recitative of the Italian opera +as natural, under this view. "And +though the most violent passions, the +highest distress, even death itself, are +expressed in singing or recitative, +I would not admit as sound criticism +the condemnation of such exhibitions +on account of their being unnatural." +"Shall reason stand in the way, and +tell us that we ought not to like what +we know we do like, and prevent us +from feeling the full effect of this +complicated exertion of art? It appears +to us that imagination is that +gift to man, to be attained by cultivation, +that enables him to rise above +and out of his apparent nature; it is +the source of every thing good and +great, we had almost said of every +virtue. The parent of all arts, it is +of a higher devotion; it builds and +adorns temples more worthy of the +great Maker of all, and praises Him +in sounds too noble for the common +intercourse and business of life, which +demand of the most cultivated that +they put themselves upon a lower +level than they are capable of assuming. +So far, therefore, is a servile +imitation from being necessary, that +whatever is familiar, or in any way +reminds us of what we see and hear +every day, perhaps does not belong to +the higher provinces of art, either in +poetry or painting. The mind is to +be transported, as Shakspeare expresses +it, <i>beyond the ignorant present</i>, +to ages past. Another and a higher +order of beings is supposed, and to +those beings every thing which is introduced +into the work must correspond." +He speaks of a picture by +Jan Steen, the "Sacrifice of Iphigenia," +<a class="pagenum" name="page195" id="page195" title="195"></a>wherein the common nature, with the +silks and velvets, would make one +think the painter had intended to burlesque +his subject. "Ill taught reason" +would lead us to prefer a portrait +by Denner to one by Titian or +Vandyke. There is an eloquent passage, +showing that landscape painting +should in like manner appeal to +the imagination; we are only surprised +that the author of this description +should have omitted, throughout +these Discourses, the greatest of all +landscape painters, whose excellence +he should seem to refer to by his language. +"Like the poet, he makes +the elements sympathize with his subject, +whether the clouds roll in volumes, +like those of Titian or Salvator +Rosa—or, like those of Claude, are +gilded with the setting sun; whether +the mountains have hidden and bold +projections, or are gently sloped; +whether the branches of his trees +shoot out abruptly in right angles +from their trunks, or follow each +other with only a gentle inclination. +All these circumstances contribute +to the general character of the work, +whether it be of the elegant or of the +more sublime kind. If we add to this +the powerful materials of lightness +and darkness, over which the artist +has complete dominion, to vary and +dispose them as he pleases—to diminish +or increase them, as will best +suit his purpose, and correspond to +the general idea of his work; a landscape, +thus conducted, under the influence +of a poetical mind, will have +the same superiority over the more ordinary +and common views, as Milton's +"Allegro" and "Penseroso" have over +a cold prosaic narration or description; +and such a picture would make +a more forcible impression on the +mind than the real scenes, were they +presented before us." We have +quoted the above passage, because it +is wanted—we are making great mistakes +in that delightful, and (may we +not say?) that high branch of art. He +pursues the same argument with regard +to acting, and condemns the +<i>ignorant</i> praise bestowed by Fielding +on Garrick. Not an idea of deception +enters the mind of actor or author. +On the stage, even the expression +of strong passion must be without +the natural distortion and screaming +voice. Transfer, he observes, acting +to a private room, and it would be +ridiculous. "Quid enim deformius, +quum scenam in vitam transferre?" +Yet he gives here a caution, "that +no art can be grafted with success on +another art." "If a painter should +endeavour to copy the theatrical pomp +and parade of dress and attitude, instead +of that simplicity which is not a +greater beauty in life than it is in +painting, we should condemn such +pictures, as painted in the meanest +style." What will our academician, +Mr Maclise, say of this remark? He +then adduces gardening in support of +his theory,—"nature to advantage +dressed," "beautiful and commodious +for the recreation of man." +We cannot, however, go with Sir +Joshua, who adds, that "so dressed, +it is no longer a subject for the +pencil of a landscape painter, as all +landscape painters know." It is certainly +unlike the great landscape he +has described, but not very unlike +Claude's, nor out of the way of his +pencil. We have in our mind's eye +a garden scene by Vander Heyden, +most delightful, most elegant. It is +some royal garden, with its proper +architecture, the arch, the steps, and +balustrades, and marble walks. The +queen of the artificial paradise is entering, +and in the shade with her attendants, +but she will soon place her +foot upon the prepared sunshine. +Courtiers are here and there walking +about, or leaning over the balustrades. +All is elegance—a scene prepared for +the recreation of pure and cultivated +beings. We cannot say the picture +is not landscape. We are sure it +gave us ten times more pleasure than +ever we felt from any of our landscape +views, with which modern landscape +painting has covered the walls +of our exhibitions, and brought into +disrepute our "annuals." He proceeds +to architecture, and praises Vanburgh +for his poetical imagination; though +he, with Perrault, was a mark for the +wits of the day.<a id="footnotetag11" name="footnotetag11" href="#footnote11"><sup>11</sup></a> Sir Joshua points to +the façade of the Louvre, Blenheim, +and Castle Howard, as "the fairest +ornaments." He finishes this admirable +<a class="pagenum" name="page196" id="page196" title="196"></a>discourse with the following eloquent +passage:—"It is allowed on all +hands, that facts and events, however +they may bind the historian, have no +dominion over the poet or the painter. +With us history is made to bend and +conform to this great idea of art. And +why? Because these arts, in their +highest province, are not addressed +to the gross senses; but to the desires +of the mind, to that spark of divinity +which we have within, impatient of +being circumscribed and pent up by +the world which is about us. Just so +much as our art has of this, just so +much of dignity, I had almost said +of divinity, it exhibits; and those of +our artists who possessed this mark of +distinction in the highest degree, acquired +from thence the glorious appellation +of divine.</p> + +<p>Mr Burnet's notes to this Discourse +are not important to art. There is +an amusing one on acting, that discusses +the question of naturalness on the stage, +and with some pleasant anecdotes.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The FOURTEENTH DISCOURSE is +chiefly occupied with the character of +Gainsborough, and landscape painting. +It has brought about him, and +his name, a hornet's nest of critics, in +consequence of some remarks upon a +picture of Wilson's. Gainsborough +and Sir Joshua, and perhaps in some +degree Wilson, had been rivals. It has +been said that Wilson and Gainsborough +never liked each other. It is a +well-known anecdote that Sir Joshua, +at a dinner, gave the health of Gainsborough, +adding "the greatest landscape +painter of the age," to which +Wilson, at whom the words were supposed +to be aimed, dryly added, "and +the greatest portrait painter too." +We can, especially under circumstances, +for there had been a coolness +between the President and Gainsborough, +pardon the too favourable +view taken of Gainsborough's landscape +pictures. He was unquestionably +much greater as a portrait painter. +The following account of the interview +with Gainsborough upon his +death-bed, is touching, and speaks +well of both:—"A few days before +he died he wrote me a letter, to express +his acknowledgments for the +good opinion I entertained of his abilities, +and the manner in which (he +had been informed) I always spoke of +him; and desired that he might see +me once before he died. I am aware +how flattering it is to myself to be +thus connected with the dying testimony +which this excellent painter +bore to his art. But I cannot prevail +upon myself to suppress that I was +not connected with him by any habits +of familiarity. If any little jealousies +had subsisted between us, they were +forgotten in these moments of sincerity; +and he turned towards me as +one who was engrossed by the same +pursuits, and who deserved his good +opinion by being sensible of his excellence. +Without entering into a +detail of what passed at this last interview, +the impression of it upon my +mind was, that his regret at losing +life was principally the regret of +leaving his art; and more especially as +he now began, he said, to see what +his deficiencies were; which, he said, +he flattered himself in his last works +were in some measure supplied." +When the Discourse was delivered, +Raffaelle Mengs and Pompeo Batoni +were great names. Sir Joshua +foretells their fall from that high estimation. +Andrea Sacchi, and "<i>perhaps</i>" +Carlo Maratti, he considers the +"ultimi Romanorum." He prefers +"the humble attempts of Gainsborough +to the works of those regular +graduates in the great historical style." +He gives some account of the "customs +and habits of this extraordinary man." +Gainsborough's love for his art was +remarkable. He was ever remarking +to those about him any peculiarity of +countenance, accidental combination +of figures, effects of light and shade, +in skies, in streets, and in company. +If he met a character he liked, he +would send him home to his house. +He brought into his painting-room +stumps of trees, weeds, &c. He +even formed models of landscapes on +his table, composed of broken stones, +dried herbs, and pieces of looking-glass, +which, magnified, became rocks, +trees, and water. Most of this is the +common routine of every artist's life; +the modelling his landscapes in the +manner mentioned, Sir Joshua himself +seems to speak doubtingly about. +It in fact shows, that in Gainsborough +there was a poverty of invention; his +scenes are of the commonest kind, +such as few would stop to admire in +nature; and, when we consider the +wonderful variety that nature did present +to him, it is strange that his +<a class="pagenum" name="page197" id="page197" title="197"></a>sketches and compositions should +have been so devoid of beauty. He +was in the habit of painting by night, +a practice which Reynolds recommends, +and thought it must have been +the practice of Titian and Coreggio. +He might have mentioned the portrait +of Michael Angelo with the candle in +his cap and a mallet in his hand. +Gainsborough was ambitious of attaining +excellence, regardless of riches. +The style chosen by Gainsborough +did not require that he should go out +of his own country. No argument is to +be drawn from thence, that travelling +is not desirable for those who choose +other walks of art—knowing that +"the language of the art must be +learned somewhere," he applied himself +to the Flemish school, and certainly +with advantage, and occasionally +made copies from Rubens, Teniers, +and Vandyke. Granting him as +a painter great merit, Sir Joshua +doubts whether he excelled most in +portraits, landscapes, or fancy pictures. +Few now will doubt upon the +subject—next to Sir Joshua, he was +the greatest portrait painter we have +had, so as to be justly entitled to the +fame of being one of the founders of +the English School. He did not attempt +historical painting; and here +Sir Joshua contrasts him with Hogarth; +who did so injudiciously. It +is strange that Sir Joshua should have +characterised Hogarth as having given +his attention to "the Ridicule of Life." +We could never see any thing +ridiculous in his deep tragedies. +Gainsborough is praised in that he +never introduced "mythological +learning" into his pictures. "Our +late ingenious academician, Wilson, +has, I fear, been guilty, like many +of his predecessors, of introducing +gods and goddesses, ideal beings, into +scenes which were by no means prepared +to receive such personages. His +landscapes were in reality too near +common nature to admit supernatural +objects. In consequence of this mistake, +in a very admirable picture of +a storm, which I have seen of his +hand, many figures are introduced +in the foreground, some in apparent +distress, and some struck dead, as a +spectator would naturally suppose, by +lightning: had not the painter injudiciously, +(as I think,) rather chosen +that their death should be imputed +to a little Apollo, who appears in the +sky with his bent bow, and that those +figures should be considered as the +children of Niobe." This is the passage +that gave so much offence; foolish +admirers will fly into flame at the +slightest spark—the question should +have been, is the criticism just, not +whether Sir Joshua had been guilty +of the same error—but we like critics, +the only true critics, who give their +reason: and so did Sir Joshua. "To +manage a subject of this kind a peculiar +style of art is required; and it +can only be done without impropriety, +or even without ridicule, when we +adopt the character of the landscape, +and that too in all its parts, to the +historical or poetical representation. +This is a very difficult adventure, and +requires a mind thrown back two +thousand years, like that of Nicolo +Poussin, to achieve it. In the picture +alluded to, the first idea that presents +itself is that of wonder, at seeing a +figure in so uncommon a situation as +that in which Apollo is placed: for +the clouds on which he kneels have +not the appearance of being able to +support him—they have neither the +substance nor the form fit for the receptacle +of a human figure, and they +do not possess, in any respect, that +romantic character which is appropriated +to such an object, and which +alone can harmonize with poetical +stories." We presume Reynolds alludes +to the best of the two Niobes +by Wilson—that in the National Gallery. +The other is villanously faulty +as a composition, where loaf is piled +upon loaf for rock and castle, and the +tree is common and hedge-grown, for +the purpose of making gates; but the +other would have been a fine picture, +not of the historical class—the parts are +all common, the little blown about +underwood is totally deficient in all +form and character—rocks and trees, +and they do not, as in a former discourse—Reynolds +had laid down that +they should—sympathize with the subject; +then, as to the substance of the +cloud, he is right—it is not voluminous, +it is mere vapour. In the received +adoption of clouds as supporting +figures, they are, at least, pillowy, +capacious, and round—here it is quite +otherwise; and Sir Joshua might well +call it a little Apollo, with that immense +cloud above him, which is in +fact too much a portrait of a cloud, +too peculiar, too edgy, for any subject +<a class="pagenum" name="page198" id="page198" title="198"></a>where the sky is not to be all in +all. We do not say it is not fine and +grand, and what you please; but it is +not subordinate, it casts its lightning +as from its own natural power, there +was no need of a god's assistance.</p> + +<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'> +<span>"Nec Deus intersit nisi dignus vindice nodus;"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>and the action does not take place +in a "prepared" landscape. There +is nothing to take us back to a +fabled age. Reynolds is not unjust +to Wilson's merits, for he calls it, +notwithstanding this defect, "a +very admirable picture;" which +picture will, we suspect, in a few +years lose its principal charm, if it +has not lost it; the colour is sadly +changing, there is now little aerial in +the sky. It is said of Wilson, that he +ridiculed the experiments of Sir +Joshua, and spoke of using nothing +but "honest linseed"—to which, +however, he added varnishes and wax, +as will easily be seen in those pictures +of his which have so cracked—and +now lose their colour. "Honest" +linseed appears to have played +him a sad trick, or he to have played +a trick upon honest linseed. Sir +Joshua, however, to his just criticism, +adds the best precept, example—and +instances two pictures, historical +landscape, "Jacob's Dream"—which +was exhibited a year or two ago in +the Institution, Pall-Mall—by Salvator +Rosa, and the picture by Sebastian +Bourdon, "The Return of the +Ark from Captivity," now in the National +Gallery. The latter picture, as +a composition, is not perhaps good—it +is cut up into too many parts, and +those parts are not sufficiently poetical; +in its hue, it may be appropriate. +The other, "Jacob's Dream" is one +of the finest by the master—there is +an extraordinary boldness in the +clouds, an uncommon grandeur, +strongly marked, sentient of angelic +visitants. This picture has been recently +wretchedly engraved in mezzotinto; +all that is in the picture firm +and hard, is in the print soft, fuzzy, +and disagreeable. Sir Joshua treats +very tenderly the mistaken manner of +Gainsborough in his late pictures, the +"odd scratches and marks." "This +chaos, this uncouth and shapeless appearance, +by a kind of magic at a +certain distance, assumes form, and +all their parts seem to drop into their +places, so that we can hardly refuse +acknowledging the full effect of diligence, +under the appearance of chance +and heavy negligence." The <i>heavy</i> +negligence happily describes the fault +of the manner. It is horribly manifest +in that magnitude of vulgarity +for landscape, the "Market Cart" in +our National Gallery, and purchased at +we know not what vast sum, and presented +by the governors of the institution +to the nation. We have a very +high opinion of the genius of Gainsborough; +but we do not see it in his +landscapes, with very few exceptions. +His portraits have an air of truth +never exceeded, and that set off with +great power and artistical skill; and +his rustic children are admirable. He +stands alone, and never has had a +successful imitator. The mock sentimentality, +the affected refinement, +which has been added to his simple +style by other artists, is disgusting in +the extreme. Gainsborough certainly +studied colour with great success. +He is both praised and blamed for a +lightness of manner and effect possessed +"to an unexampled degree of +excellence;" but "the sacrifice which +he made, to this ornament of our art, +was too great." We confess we do not +understand Sir Joshua, nor can we +reconcile "the <i>heavy</i> negligence" with +this "lightness of manner." Mr Burnet, +in one of his notes, compares +Wilson with Gainsborough; he appears +to give the preference to +Wilson—why does he not compare +Gainsborough with Sir Joshua himself? +the rivalry should have been +in portrait. There is a long +note upon Sir Joshua's remarks +upon Wilson's "Niobe." We are not +surprised at Cunningham's "Castigation." +He did not like Sir Joshua, +and could not understand nor value +his character. This is evident in his +Life of the President. Cunningham +must have had but an ill-educated +classic eye when he asserted so grandiloquently,—"He +rose at once from +the tame insipidity of common scenery +into natural grandeur and magnificence; +his streams seem all abodes +for nymphs, his hills are fit haunts +for the muses, and his temples worthy +of gods,"—a passage, we think, most +worthy the monosyllable commonly +used upon such occasions by the +manly and simple-minded Mr Burchell. +That Sir Joshua occasionally +transgressed in his wanderings into +<a class="pagenum" name="page199" id="page199" title="199"></a>mythology, it would be difficult to +deny; nor was it his only transgression +from his legitimate ground, as +may be seen in his "Holy Family" +in the National Gallery. But we +doubt if the critique upon his "Mrs +Siddons" is quite fair. The chair +and the footstool may not be on the +cloud, a tragic and mysterious vapour +reconciling the bodily presence of the +muse with the demon and fatal ministers +of the drama that attend her. +Though Sir Joshua's words are here +brought against him, it is without attention +to their application in his critique, +which condemned their form +and character as not historical nor voluminous—faults +that do not attach to +the clouds, if clouds they must be in +the picture (the finest of Sir Joshua's +works) of Mrs Siddons as the Tragic +Muse. It is not our business to enter +upon the supposed fact, that Sir +Joshua was jealous of Wilson; the +one was a polished, the other perhaps +a somewhat coarse man. We have +only to see if the criticism be just. +In this Discourse Sir Joshua has the +candour to admit, that there were at +one time jealousies between him and +Gainsborough; there may have been +between him and Wilson, but, at all +events, we cannot take a just criticism +as a proof of it, or we must convict +him, and all others too, of being +jealous of artists and writers whose +works they in any manner censure.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The FIFTEENTH DISCOURSE.—We +come now to Sir Joshua's last Discourse, +in which the President takes +leave of the Academy, reviews his +"Discourses," and concludes with recommending +the study of Michael +Angelo.</p> + +<p>Having gone along with the President +of the Academy in the pursuit +of the principles of the art in these +Discourses, and felt a portion of the +enthusiasm which he felt, and knew +so well how to impart to others, we +come to this last Discourse, with a +melancholy knowledge that it was the +last; and reflect with pain upon that +cloud which so soon interposed between +Reynolds and at least the +practical enjoyment of his art. He +takes leave of the Academy affectionately, +and, like a truth-loving man +to the last, acknowledges the little +contentions (in so softening a manner +does he speak of the "rough hostility +of Barry," and "oppositions of Gainsborough") +which "ought certainly," +says he, "to be lost among ourselves +in mutual esteem for talents and acquirements: +every controversy ought +to be—I am persuaded will be—sunk +in our zeal for the perfection of our +common art." "My age, and my infirmities +still more than my age, make +it probable that this will be the last +time I shall have the honour of addressing +you from this place." This +last visit seemed to be threatened with +a tragical end;—the circumstance +showed the calm mind of the President; +it was characteristic of the man +who would die with dignity, and +gracefully. A large assembly were +present, of rank and importance, besides +the students. The pressure was +great—a beam in the floor gave way +with a loud crash; a general rush +was made to the door, all indiscriminately +falling one over the other, except +the President, who kept his seat +"silent and unmoved." The floor +only sunk a little, was soon supported, +and Sir Joshua recommenced his Discourse.</p> + +<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'> +<span>"Justum et tenacem propositi<br /></span> +<span>Impavidum ferient ruinæ."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>He compliments the Academy upon +the ability of the professors, speaks +with diffidence of his power as a writer, +(the world has in this respect +done him justice;) but that he had +come not unprepared upon the subject +of art, having reflected much upon his +own and the opinions of others. He +found in the art many precepts and +rules, not reconcilable with each +other. "To clear away those difficulties +and reconcile those contrary +opinions, it became necessary to distinguish +the greater truth, as it may be +called, from the lesser truth; the +larger and more liberal idea of nature +from the more narrow and confined: +that which addresses itself to the imagination, +from that which is solely addressed +to the eye. In consequence of +this discrimination, the different +branches of our art to which those +different truths were referred, were +perceived to make so wide a separation, +and put on so new an appearance, +that they seemed scarcely to have +proceeded from the same general +stock. The different rules and regulations +which presided over each department +of art, followed of course; +<a class="pagenum" name="page200" id="page200" title="200"></a>every mode of excellence, from the +grand style of the Roman and Florentine +schools down to the lowest rank +of still life, had its due weight and value—fitted +to some class or other; and +nothing was thrown away. By this +disposition of our art into classes, that +perplexity and confusion, which I apprehend +every artist has at some time +experienced from the variety of styles, +and the variety of excellence with +which he is surrounded, is, I should +hope, in some measure removed, and +the student better enabled to judge for +himself what peculiarly belongs to +his own particular pursuit." Besides +the practice of art, the student must +think, and speculate, and consider +"upon what ground the fabric of our +art is built." An artist suffers throughout +his whole life, from uncertain, confused, +and erroneous opinions. We +are persuaded there would be fewer +fatal errors were these Discourses more +in the hands of our present artists—"Nocturnâ +versate manu, versate diurnâ."—An +example is given of the +mischief of erroneous opinions. "I +was acquainted at Rome, in the early +part of my life, with a student of the +French Academy, who appeared to me +to possess all the qualities requisite to +make a great artist, if he had suffered +his taste and feelings, and I may add +even his prejudices, to have fair play. +He saw and felt the excellences of the +great works of art with which we +were surrounded, but lamented that +there was not to be found that nature +which is so admirable in the inferior +schools,—and he supposed with Felebien, +Du Piles, and other theorists, +that such an union of different excellences +would be the perfection of art. +He was not aware that the narrow +idea of nature, of which he lamented +the absence in the works of those +great artists, would have destroyed the +grandeur of the general ideas which +he admired, and which was indeed the +cause of his admiration. My opinions +being then confused and unsettled, I +was in danger of being borne down by +this plausible reasoning, though I remember +I then had a dawning suspicion +that it was not sound doctrine; +and at the same time I was unwilling +obstinately to refuse assent to what I +was unable to confute." False and +low views of art are now so commonly +taken both in and out of the profession, +that we have not hesitated to +quote the above passage; the danger +Sir Joshua confesses he was in, is common, +and demands the warning. To +make it more direct we should add, +"Read his Discourses." Again, without +intending to fetter the student's +mind to a particular method of study, +he urges the necessity and wisdom +of previously obtaining the appropriated +instruments of art, in a first +correct design, and a plain manly colouring, +before any thing more is attempted. +He does not think it, however, +of very great importance whether +or not the student aim first at grace +and grandeur before he has learned +correctness, and adduces the example +of Parmegiano, whose first public work +was done when a boy, the "St Eustachius" +in the Church of St Petronius, +in Bologna—one of his last is the "Moses +breaking the Tables," in Parma. +The former has grandeur and incorrectness, +but "discovers the dawnings +of future greatness." In mature age +he had corrected his defects, and the +drawing of his Moses was equally +admirable with the grandeur of the conception—an +excellent plate is given +of this figure by Mr Burnet. The +fact is, the impulse of the mind is not +to be too much restrained—it is better +to give it its due and first play, +than check it until it has acquired +correctness—good sense first or last, +and a love of the art, will generally insure +correctness in the end; the impulses +often checked, come with weakened +power, and ultimately refuse to +come at all; and each time that they +depart unsatisfied, unemployed, take +away with them as they retire a portion +of the fire of genius. Parmegiano +formed himself upon Michael +Angelo: Michael Angelo brought the +art to a "sudden maturity," as Homer +and Shakspeare did theirs. "Subordinate +parts of our art, and perhaps of +other arts, expand themselves by a +slow and progressive growth; but +those which depend on a native vigour +of imagination, generally burst forth +at once in fulness of beauty." +Correctness of drawing and imagination, +the one of mechanical genius the other +of poetic, undoubtedly work together +for perfection—"a confidence in the +mechanic produces a boldness in the +poetic." He expresses his surprise +that the race of painters, before Michael +Angelo, never thought of transferring +to painting the grandeur they +<a class="pagenum" name="page201" id="page201" title="201"></a>admired in ancient sculpture. "Raffaelle +himself seemed to be going on +very contentedly in the dry manner +of Pietro Perugino; and if Michael +Angelo had never appeared, the art +might still have continued in the same +style." "On this foundation the Caracci +built the truly great academical +Bolognian school; of which the first +stone was laid by Pellegrino Tibaldi." +The Caracci called him "nostro Michael +Angelo riformato." His figure +of Polyphemus, which had been attributed +to Michael Angelo in Bishop's +"Ancient Statues," is given in a plate +by Mr Burnet. The Caracci he considers +sufficiently succeeded in the +mechanical, not in "the divine part +which addresses itself to the imagination," +as did Tibaldi and Michael Angelo. +They formed, however, a school +that was "most respectable," and +"calculated to please a greater number." +The Venetian school advanced +"the dignity of their style, by adding +to their fascinating powers of colouring +something of the strength of Michael +Angelo." Here Sir Joshua seems +to contradict his former assertion; but +as he is here abridging, as it were, his +whole Discourses, he cannot avoid his +own observations. It was a point, +however, upon which he was still +doubtful; for he immediately adds—"At +the same time it may still be a +doubt, how far their ornamental elegance +would be an advantageous addition +to his grandeur. But if there is +any manner of painting, which may +be said to unite kindly with his (Michael +Angelo's) style, it is that of Titian. +His handling, the manner in +which his colours are left on the canvass, +appears to proceed (as far as that +goes) from congenial mind, equally +disdainful of vulgar criticism. He is +reminded of a remark of Johnson's, +that Pope's Homer, had it not been +clothed with graces and elegances not +in Homer, would have had fewer +readers, thus justifying by example +and authority of Johnson, the graces +of the Venetian school. Some Flemish +painters at "the great era of our +art" took to their country "as much +of this grandeur as they could carry." +It did not thrive, but "perhaps they +contributed to prepare the way for +that free, unconstrained, and liberal +outline, which was afterwards introduced +by Rubens, through the medium +of the Venetian painters." The +grandeur of style first discovered by +Michael Angelo passed through Europe, +and totally "changed the whole +character and style of design. His +works excite the same sensation as the +Epic of Homer. The Sybils, the statue +of Moses, "come nearer to a comparison +with his Jupiter, his demigods, +and heroes; those Sybils and +prophets being a kind of intermediate +beings between men and angels. +Though instances may be produced in +the works of other painters, which may +justly stand in competition with those +I have mentioned, such as the 'Isaiah,' +and 'Vision of Ezekiel,' by Raffaelle, +the 'St Mark' of Frate Bartolomeo, +and many others; yet these, it +must be allowed, are inventions so +much in Michael Angelo's manner of +thinking, that they may be truly considered +as so many rays which discover +manifestly the centre from whence +they emanated." The style of Michael +Angelo is so highly artificial that the +mind must be cultivated to receive it; +having once received it, the mind is improved +by it, and cannot go very far +back. Hence the hold this great style +has had upon all who are most learned +in art, and upon nearly all painters in +the best time of art. As art multiplies, +false tastes will arise, the early painters +had not so much to unlearn as +modern artists. Where Michael Angelo +is not felt, there is a lost taste to +recover. Sir Joshua recommends +young artists to follow Michael Angelo +as he did the ancient sculptors. +"He began, when a child, a copy of a +mutilated Satyr's head, and finished in +his model what was wanting in the original." +So would he recommend the student +to take his figures from Michael +Angelo, and to change, and alter, and +add other figures till he has caught the +manner. Change the purpose, and retain +the attitude, as did Titian. By +habit of seeing with this eye of grandeur, +he will select from nature all +that corresponds with this taste. Sir +Joshua is aware that he is laying himself +open to sarcasm by his advice, +but asserts the courage becoming a +teacher addressing students: "they +both must equally dare, and bid defiance +to narrow criticism and vulgar +opinion." It is the conceited who +think that art is nothing but inspiration; +and such appropriate it in their +own estimation; but it is to be learned,—if +so, the right direction to it is of +vast importance; and once in the right +direction, labour and study will accomplish +<a class="pagenum" name="page202" id="page202" title="202"></a>the better aspirations of the +artist. Michael Angelo said of Raffaelle, +that he possessed not his art by +nature but by long study. "Che +Raffaelle non ebbe quest' arte da natura, +ma per longo studio." Raffaelle +and Michael Angelo were rivals, but +ever spoke of each other with the respect +and veneration they felt, and the +true meaning of the passage was to +the praise of Raffaelle; those were +not the days when men were ashamed +of being laborious,—and Raffaelle +himself "thanked God that he was +born in the same age with that painter."—"I +feel a self-congratulation," +adds Sir Joshua, "in knowing myself +capable of such sensations as he intended +to excite. I reflect, not without +vanity, that these Discourses bear testimony +of my admiration of that truly +divine man; and I should desire that +the last words which I should pronounce +in this Academy, and from this place, +might be the name of Michael Angelo." +They were his last words from the academical +chair. He died about fourteen +months after the delivery of this Discourse. +Mr Burnet has given five +excellent plates to this Discourse—one +from Parmegiano, one from Tibaldi, +one from Titian, one from Raffaelle, +and one from Michael Angelo. +Mr Burnet's first note repeats what +we have again and again elsewhere +urged, the advantage of establishing +at our universities, Oxford and Cambridge, +Professorships of Painting—infinite +would be the advantage to art, +and to the public. We do not despair. +Mr Burnet seems to fear incorrect +drawing will arise from some +passages, which he supposes encourages +it, in these Discourses; and fearing +it, very properly endeavours to +correct the error in a note. We had +intended to conclude this paper with +some few remarks upon Sir Joshua, +his style, and influence upon art, but +we have not space. Perhaps we may +fulfil this part of our intention in +another number of Maga.</p> + + + + +<hr style='width: 100%;' /> +<a name="bw328s4" id="bw328s4"></a><h2>THE YOUNG GREY HEAD.</h2> + +<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'> +<span>Grief hath been known to turn the young head grey—<br /></span> +<span>To silver over in a single day<br /></span> +<span>The bright locks of the beautiful, their prime<br /></span> +<span>Scarcely o'erpast: as in the fearful time<br /></span> +<span>Of Gallia's madness, that discrownèd head<br /></span> +<span>Serene, that on the accursed altar bled<br /></span> +<span>Miscall'd of Liberty. Oh! martyr'd Queen!<br /></span> +<span>What must the sufferings of that night have been—<br /></span> +<span><i>That one</i>—that sprinkled thy fair tresses o'er<br /></span> +<span>With time's untimely snow! But now no more<br /></span> +<span>Lovely, august, unhappy one! of thee—<br /></span> +<span>I have to tell an humbler history;<br /></span> +<span>A village tale, whose only charm, in sooth,<br /></span> +<span>(If any) will be sad and simple truth.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>"Mother," quoth Ambrose to his thrifty dame—<br /></span> +<span>So oft our peasant's use his wife to name,<br /></span> +<span>"Father" and "Master" to himself applied,<br /></span> +<span>As life's grave duties matronize the bride—<br /></span> +<span>"Mother," quoth Ambrose, as he faced the north,<br /></span> +<span>With hard-set teeth, before he issued forth<br /></span> +<span>To his day labour, from the cottage door—<br /></span> +<span>"I'm thinking that, to-night, if not before,<br /></span> +<span>There'll be wild work. Dost hear old Chewton<a id="footnotetag12" name="footnotetag12" href="#footnote12"><sup>12</sup></a> roar?<br /></span> +<span>It's brewing up down westward; and look there,<br /></span> +<span>One of those sea-gulls! ay, there goes a pair;<br /></span> +<span><a class="pagenum" name="page203" id="page203" title="203"></a>And such a sudden thaw! If rain comes on,<br /></span> +<span>As threats, the waters will be out anon.<br /></span> +<span>That path by th' ford's a nasty bit of way—<br /></span> +<span>Best let the young ones bide from school to-day."<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>"Do, mother, do!" the quick-ear'd urchins cried;<br /></span> +<span>Two little lasses to the father's side<br /></span> +<span>Close clinging, as they look'd from him, to spy<br /></span> +<span>The answering language of the mother's eye.<br /></span> +<span><i>There</i> was denial, and she shook her head:<br /></span> +<span>"Nay, nay—no harm will come to them," she said,<br /></span> +<span>"The mistress lets them off these short dark days<br /></span> +<span>An hour the earlier; and our Liz, she says,<br /></span> +<span>May quite be trusted—and I know 'tis true—<br /></span> +<span>To take care of herself and Jenny too.<br /></span> +<span>And so she ought—she's seven come first of May—<br /></span> +<span>Two years the oldest: and they give away<br /></span> +<span>The Christmas bounty at the school to-day."<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>The mother's will was law, (alas for her<br /></span> +<span>That hapless day, poor soul!) <i>She</i> could not err,<br /></span> +<span>Thought Ambrose; and his little fair-hair'd Jane<br /></span> +<span>(Her namesake) to his heart he hugg'd again,<br /></span> +<span>When each had had her turn; she clinging so<br /></span> +<span>As if that day she could not let him go.<br /></span> +<span>But Labour's sons must snatch a hasty bliss<br /></span> +<span>In nature's tend'rest mood. One last fond kiss,<br /></span> +<span>"God bless my little maids!" the father said,<br /></span> +<span>And cheerly went his way to win their bread.<br /></span> +<span>Then might be seen, the playmate parent gone,<br /></span> +<span>What looks demure the sister pair put on—<br /></span> +<span>Not of the mother as afraid, or shy,<br /></span> +<span>Or questioning the love that could deny;<br /></span> +<span>But simply, as their simple training taught,<br /></span> +<span>In quiet, plain straightforwardness of thought,<br /></span> +<span>(Submissively resign'd the hope of play,)<br /></span> +<span>Towards the serious business of the day.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>To me there's something touching, I confess,<br /></span> +<span>In the grave look of early thoughtfulness,<br /></span> +<span>Seen often in some little childish face<br /></span> +<span>Among the poor. Not that wherein we trace<br /></span> +<span>(Shame to our land, our rulers, and our race!)<br /></span> +<span>The unnatural sufferings of the factory child,<br /></span> +<span>But a staid quietness, reflective, mild,<br /></span> +<span>Betokening, in the depths of those young eyes,<br /></span> +<span>Sense of life's cares, without its miseries.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>So to the mother's charge, with thoughtful brow,<br /></span> +<span>The docile Lizzy stood attentive now;<br /></span> +<span>Proud of her years and of imputed sense,<br /></span> +<span>And prudence justifying confidence—<br /></span> +<span>And little Jenny, more <i>demurely</i> still,<br /></span> +<span>Beside her waited the maternal will.<br /></span> +<span>So standing hand in hand, a lovelier twain<br /></span> +<span>Gainsb'rough ne'er painted: no—nor he of Spain,<br /></span> +<span>Glorious Murillo!—and by contrast shown<br /></span> +<span>More beautiful. The younger little one,<br /></span> +<span>With large blue eyes, and silken ringlets fair,<br /></span> +<span>By nut-brown Lizzy, with smooth parted hair,<br /></span> +<span>Sable and glossy as the raven's wing,<br /></span> +<span>And lustrous eyes as dark.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span class='i23'><a class="pagenum" name="page204" id="page204" title="204"></a>"Now, mind and bring<br /></span> +<span>Jenny safe home," the mother said—"don't stay<br /></span> +<span>To pull a bough or berry by the way:<br /></span> +<span>And when you come to cross the ford, hold fast<br /></span> +<span>Your little sister's hand, till you're quite past—<br /></span> +<span>That plank's so crazy, and so slippery<br /></span> +<span>(If not o'erflowed) the stepping-stones will be.<br /></span> +<span>But you're good children—steady as old folk,<br /></span> +<span>I'd trust ye any where." Then Lizzy's cloak,<br /></span> +<span>A good grey duffle, lovingly she tied,<br /></span> +<span>And amply little Jenny's lack supplied<br /></span> +<span>With her own warmest shawl. "Be sure," said she,<br /></span> +<span>"To wrap it round and knot it carefully<br /></span> +<span>(Like this) when you come home; just leaving free<br /></span> +<span>One hand to hold by. Now, make haste away—<br /></span> +<span>Good will to school, and then good right to play."<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>Was there no sinking at the mother's heart,<br /></span> +<span>When all equipt, they turn'd them to depart?<br /></span> +<span>When down the lane, she watch'd them as they went<br /></span> +<span>Till out of sight, was no forefeeling sent<br /></span> +<span>Of coming ill? In truth I cannot tell:<br /></span> +<span>Such warnings <i>have been sent</i>, we know full well,<br /></span> +<span>And must believe—believing that they are—<br /></span> +<span>In mercy then—to rouse—restrain—prepare.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>And, now I mind me, something of the kind<br /></span> +<span>Did surely haunt that day the mother's mind,<br /></span> +<span>Making it irksome to bide all alone<br /></span> +<span>By her own quiet hearth. Tho' never known<br /></span> +<span>For idle gossipry was Jenny Gray,<br /></span> +<span>Yet so it was, that morn she could not stay<br /></span> +<span>At home with her own thoughts, but took her way<br /></span> +<span>To her next neighbour's, half a loaf to borrow—<br /></span> +<span>Yet might her store have lasted out the morrow.<br /></span> +<span>—And with the loan obtain'd, she linger'd still—<br /></span> +<span>Said she—"My master, if he'd had his will,<br /></span> +<span>Would have kept back our little ones from school<br /></span> +<span>This dreadful morning; and I'm such a fool,<br /></span> +<span>Since they've been gone, I've wish'd them back. But then<br /></span> +<span>It won't do in such things to humour men—<br /></span> +<span>Our Ambrose specially. If let alone<br /></span> +<span>He'd spoil those wenches. But it's coming on,<br /></span> +<span>That storm he said was brewing, sure enough—<br /></span> +<span>Well! what of that?—To think what idle stuff<br /></span> +<span>Will come into one's head! and here with you<br /></span> +<span>I stop, as if I'd nothing else to do—<br /></span> +<span>And they'll come home drown'd rats. I must be gone<br /></span> +<span>To get dry things, and set the kettle on."<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>His day's work done, three mortal miles and more<br /></span> +<span>Lay between Ambrose and his cottage door.<br /></span> +<span>A weary way, God wot! for weary wight!<br /></span> +<span>But yet far off, the curling smoke in sight<br /></span> +<span>From his own chimney, and his heart felt light.<br /></span> +<span>How pleasantly the humble homestead stood,<br /></span> +<span>Down the green lane by sheltering Shirley Wood!<br /></span> +<span>How sweet the wafting of the evening breeze<br /></span> +<span>In spring-time, from his two old cherry-trees<br /></span> +<span>Sheeted with blossom! And in hot July<br /></span> +<span>From the brown moor-track, shadowless and dry,<br /></span> +<span><a class="pagenum" name="page205" id="page205" title="205"></a>How grateful the cool covert to regain<br /></span> +<span>Of his own <i>avenue</i>—that shady lane,<br /></span> +<span>With the white cottage, in a slanting glow<br /></span> +<span>Of sunset glory, gleaming bright below,<br /></span> +<span>And jasmine porch, his rustic portico!<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>With what a thankful gladness in his face,<br /></span> +<span>(Silent heart-homage—plant of special grace!)<br /></span> +<span>At the lane's entrance, slackening oft his pace,<br /></span> +<span>Would Ambrose send a loving look before;<br /></span> +<span>Conceiting the caged blackbird at the door,<br /></span> +<span>The very blackbird, strain'd its little throat<br /></span> +<span>In welcome, with a more rejoicing note;<br /></span> +<span>And honest Tinker! dog of doubtful breed,<br /></span> +<span>All bristle, back, and tail, but "good at need,"<br /></span> +<span>Pleasant his greeting to the accustomed ear;<br /></span> +<span>But of all welcomes pleasantest, most dear,<br /></span> +<span>The ringing voices, like sweet silver bells,<br /></span> +<span>Of his two little ones. How fondly swells<br /></span> +<span>The father's heart, as, dancing up the lane,<br /></span> +<span>Each clasps a hand in her small hand again;<br /></span> +<span>And each must tell her tale, and "say her say,"<br /></span> +<span>Impeding as she leads, with sweet delay,<br /></span> +<span>(Childhood's blest thoughtlessness!) his onward way.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>And when the winter day closed in so fast,<br /></span> +<span>Scarce for his task would dreary daylight last;<br /></span> +<span>And in all weathers—driving sleet and snow—<br /></span> +<span>Home by that bare, bleak moor-track must he go,<br /></span> +<span>Darkling and lonely. Oh! the blessed sight<br /></span> +<span>(His pole-star) of that little twinkling light<br /></span> +<span>From one small window, thro' the leafless trees,<br /></span> +<span>Glimmering so fitfully; no eye but his<br /></span> +<span>Had spied it so far off. And sure was he,<br /></span> +<span>Entering the lane, a steadier beam to see,<br /></span> +<span>Ruddy and broad as peat-fed hearth could pour,<br /></span> +<span>Streaming to meet him from the open door.<br /></span> +<span>Then, tho' the blackbird's welcome was unheard—<br /></span> +<span>Silenced by winter—note of summer bird<br /></span> +<span>Still hail'd him from no mortal fowl alive,<br /></span> +<span>But from the cuckoo-clock just striking five—<br /></span> +<span>And Tinker's ear and Tinker's nose were keen—<br /></span> +<span>Off started he, and then a form was seen<br /></span> +<span>Dark'ning the doorway; and a smaller sprite,<br /></span> +<span>And then another, peer'd into the night,<br /></span> +<span>Ready to follow free on Tinker's track,<br /></span> +<span>But for the mother's hand that held her back;<br /></span> +<span>And yet a moment—a few steps—and there,<br /></span> +<span>Pull'd o'er the threshold by that eager pair,<br /></span> +<span>He sits by his own hearth, in his own chair;<br /></span> +<span>Tinker takes post beside, with eyes that say,<br /></span> +<span>"Master! we've done our business for the day."<br /></span> +<span>The kettle sings, the cat in chorus purs,<br /></span> +<span>The busy housewife with her tea-things stirs;<br /></span> +<span>The door's made fast, the old stuff curtain drawn;<br /></span> +<span>How the hail clatters! Let it clatter on.<br /></span> +<span>How the wind raves and rattles! What cares he?<br /></span> +<span>Safe housed, and warm beneath his own roof-tree,<br /></span> +<span>With a wee lassie prattling on each knee.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>Such was the hour—hour sacred and apart—<br /></span> +<span>Warm'd in expectancy the poor man's heart.<br /></span> +<span><a class="pagenum" name="page206" id="page206" title="206"></a>Summer and winter, as his toil he plied,<br /></span> +<span>To him and his the literal doom applied,<br /></span> +<span>Pronounced on Adam. But the bread was sweet<br /></span> +<span>So earn'd, for such dear mouths. The weary feet<br /></span> +<span>Hope-shod, stept lightly on the homeward way;<br /></span> +<span>So specially it fared with Ambrose Gray<br /></span> +<span>That time I tell of. He had work'd all day<br /></span> +<span>At a great clearing: vig'rous stroke on stroke<br /></span> +<span>Striking, till, when he stopt, his back seem'd broke,<br /></span> +<span>And the strong arm dropt nerveless. What of that?<br /></span> +<span>There was a treasure hidden in his hat—<br /></span> +<span>A plaything for the young ones. He had found<br /></span> +<span>A dormouse nest; the living ball coil'd round<br /></span> +<span>For its long winter sleep; and all his thought<br /></span> +<span>As he trudged stoutly homeward, was of nought<br /></span> +<span>But the glad wonderment in Jenny's eyes,<br /></span> +<span>And graver Lizzy's quieter surprize,<br /></span> +<span>When he should yield, by guess, and kiss, and prayer,<br /></span> +<span>Hard won, the frozen captive to their care.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>'Twas a wild evening—wild and rough. "I knew,"<br /></span> +<span>Thought Ambrose, "those unlucky gulls spoke true—<br /></span> +<span>And Gaffer Chewton never growls for nought—<br /></span> +<span>I should be mortal 'mazed now, if I thought<br /></span> +<span>My little maids were not safe housed before<br /></span> +<span>That blinding hail-storm—ay, this hour and more—<br /></span> +<span>Unless, by that old crazy bit of board,<br /></span> +<span>They've not passed dry-foot over Shallow-ford,<br /></span> +<span>That I'll be bound for—swollen as it must be ...<br /></span> +<span>Well! if my mistress had been ruled by me ..."<br /></span> +<span>But, checking the half-thought as heresy,<br /></span> +<span>He look'd out for the Home-Star. There it shone,<br /></span> +<span>And with a gladden'd heart he hasten'd on.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>He's in the lane again—and there below,<br /></span> +<span>Streams from the open doorway that red glow,<br /></span> +<span>Which warms him but to look at. For his prize<br /></span> +<span>Cautious he feels—all safe and snug it lies—<br /></span> +<span>"Down Tinker!—down, old boy!—not quite so free—<br /></span> +<span>The thing thou sniffest is no game for thee.—<br /></span> +<span>But what's the meaning?—no look-out to-night!<br /></span> +<span>No living soul a-stir!—Pray God, all's right!<br /></span> +<span>Who's flittering round the peat-stack in such weather?<br /></span> +<span>Mother!" you might have fell'd him with a feather<br /></span> +<span>When the short answer to his loud—"Hillo!"<br /></span> +<span>And hurried question—"Are they come?"—was—"No."<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>To throw his tools down—hastily unhook<br /></span> +<span>The old crack'd lantern from its dusty nook,<br /></span> +<span>And while he lit it, speak a cheering word,<br /></span> +<span>That almost choked him, and was scarcely heard,<br /></span> +<span>Was but a moment's act, and he was gone<br /></span> +<span>To where a fearful foresight led him on.<br /></span> +<span>Passing a neighbour's cottage in his way—<br /></span> +<span>Mark Fenton's—him he took with short delay<br /></span> +<span>To bear him company—for who could say<br /></span> +<span>What need might be? They struck into the track<br /></span> +<span>The children should have taken coming back<br /></span> +<span>From school that day; and many a call and shout<br /></span> +<span>Into the pitchy darkness they sent out,<br /></span> +<span>And, by the lantern light, peer'd all about,<br /></span> +<span><a class="pagenum" name="page207" id="page207" title="207"></a>In every road-side thicket, hole, and nook,<br /></span> +<span>Till suddenly—as nearing now the brook—<br /></span> +<span>Something brush'd past them. That was Tinker's bark—<br /></span> +<span>Unheeded, he had follow'd in the dark,<br /></span> +<span>Close at his master's heels, but, swift as light,<br /></span> +<span>Darted before them now. "Be sure he's right—<br /></span> +<span>He's on the track," cried Ambrose. "Hold the light<br /></span> +<span>Low down—he's making for the water. Hark!<br /></span> +<span>I know that whine—the old dog's found them, Mark."<br /></span> +<span>So speaking, breathlessly he hurried on<br /></span> +<span>Toward the old crazy foot-bridge. It was gone!<br /></span> +<span>And all his dull contracted light could show<br /></span> +<span>Was the black void and dark swollen stream below.<br /></span> +<span>"Yet there's life somewhere—more than Tinker's whine—<br /></span> +<span>That's sure," said Mark. "So, let the lantern shine<br /></span> +<span>Down yonder. There's the dog—and, hark!"<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span class='i24'>"Oh dear!"<br /></span> +<span>And a low sob came faintly on the ear,<br /></span> +<span>Mock'd by the sobbing gust. Down, quick as thought,<br /></span> +<span>Into the stream leapt Ambrose, where he caught<br /></span> +<span>Fast hold of something—a dark huddled heap—<br /></span> +<span>Half in the water, where 'twas scarce knee-deep,<br /></span> +<span>For a tall man; and half above it, propp'd<br /></span> +<span>By some old ragged side-piles, that had stopt<br /></span> +<span>Endways the broken plank, when it gave way<br /></span> +<span>With the two little ones that luckless day!<br /></span> +<span>"My babes!—my lambkins!" was the father's cry.<br /></span> +<span><i>One little voice</i> made answer—"Here am I!"<br /></span> +<span>'Twas Lizzy's. There she crouch'd, with face as white,<br /></span> +<span>More ghastly, by the flickering lantern-light,<br /></span> +<span>Than sheeted corpse. The pale blue lips, drawn tight,<br /></span> +<span>Wide parted, showing all the pearly teeth,<br /></span> +<span>And eyes on some dark object underneath,<br /></span> +<span>Wash'd by the turbid water, fix'd like stone—<br /></span> +<span>One arm and hand stretch'd out, and rigid grown,<br /></span> +<span>Grasping, as in the death-gripe—Jenny's frock.<br /></span> +<span>There she lay drown'd. Could he sustain that shock,<br /></span> +<span>The doating father? Where's the unriven rock<br /></span> +<span>Can bide such blasting in its flintiest part<br /></span> +<span>As that soft sentient thing—the human heart?<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>They lifted her from out her wat'ry bed—<br /></span> +<span>Its covering gone, the lonely little head<br /></span> +<span>Hung like a broken snowdrop all aside—<br /></span> +<span>And one small hand. The mother's shawl was tied,<br /></span> +<span>Leaving <i>that</i> free, about the child's small form,<br /></span> +<span>As was her last injunction—"<i>fast</i> and warm"—<br /></span> +<span>Too well obeyed—too fast! A fatal hold<br /></span> +<span>Affording to the scrag by a thick fold<br /></span> +<span>That caught and pinn'd her in the river's bed,<br /></span> +<span>While through the reckless water overhead<br /></span> +<span>Her life-breath bubbled up.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span class='i24'>"She might have lived<br /></span> +<span>Struggling like Lizzy," was the thought that rived<br /></span> +<span>The wretched mother's heart when she knew all.<br /></span> +<span>"But for my foolishness about that shawl—<br /></span> +<span>And Master would have kept them back the day;<br /></span> +<span>But I was wilful—driving them away<br /></span> +<span>In such wild weather!"<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span class='i19'>Thus the tortured heart,<br /></span> +<span>Unnaturally against itself takes part,<br /></span> +<span><a class="pagenum" name="page208" id="page208" title="208"></a>Driving the sharp edge deeper of a woe<br /></span> +<span>Too deep already. They had raised her now,<br /></span> +<span>And parting the wet ringlets from her brow,<br /></span> +<span>To that, and the cold cheek, and lips as cold,<br /></span> +<span>The father glued his warm ones, ere they roll'd<br /></span> +<span>Once more the fatal shawl—her winding-sheet—<br /></span> +<span>About the precious clay. One heart still beat,<br /></span> +<span>Warm'd by <i>his heart's</i> blood. To his <i>only child</i><br /></span> +<span>He turn'd him, but her piteous moaning mild<br /></span> +<span>Pierced him afresh—and now she knew him not.—<br /></span> +<span>"Mother!"—she murmur'd—"who says I forgot?<br /></span> +<span>Mother! indeed, indeed, I kept fast hold,<br /></span> +<span>And tied the shawl quite close—she can't be cold—<br /></span> +<span>But she won't move—we slipt—I don't know how—<br /></span> +<span>But I held on—and I'm so weary now—<br /></span> +<span>And it's so dark and cold! oh dear! oh dear!—<br /></span> +<span>And she won't move—if daddy was but here!"<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<hr style='width: 45%;' /><br /> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>Poor lamb—she wander'd in her mind, 'twas clear—<br /></span> +<span>But soon the piteous murmur died away,<br /></span> +<span>And quiet in her father's arms she lay—<br /></span> +<span>They their dead burthen had resign'd, to take<br /></span> +<span>The living so near lost. For her dear sake,<br /></span> +<span>And one at home, he arm'd himself to bear<br /></span> +<span>His misery like a man—with tender care,<br /></span> +<span>Doffing his coat her shivering form to fold—<br /></span> +<span>(His neighbour bearing <i>that</i> which felt no cold,)<br /></span> +<span>He clasp'd her close—and so, with little said,<br /></span> +<span>Homeward they bore the living and the dead.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>From Ambrose Gray's poor cottage, all that night,<br /></span> +<span>Shone fitfully a little shifting light,<br /></span> +<span>Above—below:—for all were watchers there,<br /></span> +<span>Save one sound sleeper.—<i>Her</i>, parental care,<br /></span> +<span>Parental watchfulness, avail'd not now.<br /></span> +<span>But in the young survivor's throbbing brow,<br /></span> +<span>And wandering eyes, delirious fever burn'd;<br /></span> +<span>And all night long from side to side she turn'd,<br /></span> +<span>Piteously plaining like a wounded dove,<br /></span> +<span>With now and then the murmur—"She won't move"—<br /></span> +<span>And lo! when morning, as in mockery, bright<br /></span> +<span>Shone on that pillow, passing strange the sight—<br /></span> +<span>That young head's raven hair was streak'd with white!<br /></span> +<span>No idle fiction this. Such things have been<br /></span> +<span>We know. And <i>now I tell what I have seen</i>.<br /></span> +</div><div class='stanza'> +<span>Life struggled long with death in that small frame,<br /></span> +<span>But it was strong, and conquer'd. All became<br /></span> +<span>As it had been with the poor family—<br /></span> +<span>All—saving that which never more might be—<br /></span> +<span>There was an empty place—they were but three.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>C.</p> + + + + +<hr style='width: 100%;' /> +<a class="pagenum" name="page209" id="page209" title="209"></a> +<a name="bw328s5" id="bw328s5"></a><h2>IMAGINARY CONVERSATION.</h2> +<h3>BY WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR.</h3> + +<h3>OLIVER CROMWELL AND SIR OLIVER CROMWELL.</h3> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i>.—How many saints and Sions dost carry under thy cloak, lad? +Ay, what dost groan at? What art about to be delivered of? Troth, it must +be a vast and oddly-shapen piece of roguery which findeth no issue at such +capacious quarters. I never thought to see thy face again. Prythee what, +in God's name, hath brought thee to Ramsey, fair Master Oliver?</p> + +<p><i>Oliver</i>.—In His name verily I come, and upon His errand; and the love and +duty I bear unto my godfather and uncle have added wings, in a sort, unto +my zeal.</p> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i>.—Take 'em off thy zeal and dust thy conscience with 'em. I +have heard an account of a saint, one Phil Neri, who in the midst of his +devotions was lifted up several yards from the ground. Now I do suspect, +Nol, thou wilt finish by being a saint of his order; and nobody will promise +or wish thee the luck to come down on thy feet again, as he did. So! because +a rabble of fanatics at Huntingdon have equipped thee as their representative +in Parliament, thou art free of all men's houses, forsooth! I would have thee +to understand, sirrah, that thou art fitter for the house they have chaired +thee unto than for mine. Yet I do not question but thou wilt be as troublesome +and unruly there as here. Did I not turn thee out of Hinchinbrook +when thou wert scarcely half the rogue thou art latterly grown up to? And +yet wert thou immeasurably too big a one for it to hold.</p> + +<p><i>Oliver</i>.—It repenteth me, O mine uncle! that in my boyhood and youth the +Lord had not touched me.</p> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i>.—Touch thee! thou wast too dirty a dog by half.</p> + +<p><i>Oliver</i>.—Yea, sorely doth it vex and harrow me that I was then of ill conditions, +and that my name—even your godson's—stank in your nostrils.</p> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i>.—Ha! polecat! it was not thy name, although bad enough, that +stank first; in my house, at least.<a id="footnotetag13" name="footnotetag13" href="#footnote13"><sup>13</sup></a> But perhaps there are worse maggots in +stauncher mummeries.</p> + +<p><i>Oliver</i>.—Whereas in the bowels of your charity you then vouchsafed me +forgiveness, so the more confidently may I crave it now in this my urgency.</p> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i>.—More confidently! What! hast got more confidence? Where +didst find it? I never thought the wide circle of the world had within it +another jot for thee. Well, Nol, I see no reason why thou shouldst stand +before me with thy hat off, in the courtyard and in the sun, counting the +stones of the pavement. Thou hast some knavery in thy head, I warrant +thee. Come, put on thy beaver.</p> + +<p><i>Oliver</i>.—Uncle Sir Oliver! I know my duty too well to stand covered in +the presence of so worshipful a kinsman, who, moreover, hath answered at +baptism for my good behaviour.</p> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i>.—God forgive me for playing the fool before Him so presumptuously +and unprofitably! Nobody shall ever take me in again to do such an +absurd and wicked thing. But thou hast some left-hand business in the +neighbourhood, no doubt, or thou wouldst never more have come under my +archway.</p> + +<p><i>Oliver</i>.—These are hard times for them that seek peace. We are clay in +the hand of the potter.</p> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i>.—I wish your potters sought nothing costlier, and dug in their +own grounds for it. Most of us, as thou sayest, have been upon the wheel of +these artificers; and little was left but rags when we got off. Sanctified folks +are the cleverest skinners in all Christendom, and their Jordan tans and constringes +us to the averdupoise of mummies.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page210" id="page210" title="210"></a><i>Oliver</i>.—The Lord hath chosen his own vessels.</p> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i>.—I wish heartily He would pack them off, and send them anywhere +on ass-back or cart, (cart preferably,) to rid our country of 'em. But +now again to the point: for if we fall among the potsherds we shall hobble on +but lamely. Since thou art raised unto a high command in the army, and hast +a dragoon to hold yonder thy solid and stately piece of horse-flesh, I cannot +but take it into my fancy that thou hast some commission of array or disarray +to execute hereabout.</p> + +<p><i>Oliver</i>.—With a sad sinking of spirit, to the pitch well-nigh of swounding, +and with a sight of bitter tears, which will not be put back nor staid in anywise, +as you bear testimony unto me, uncle Oliver.</p> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i>.—No tears, Master Nol, I beseech thee! Thou never art more +pery than when it rains with thee. Wet days, among those of thy kidney, +portend the letting of blood. What dost whimper at?</p> + +<p><i>Oliver</i>.—That I, that I, of all men living, should be put upon this work!</p> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i>.—What work, prythee?</p> + +<p><i>Oliver</i>.—I am sent hither by them who (the Lord in his loving-kindness +having pity and mercy upon these poor realms) do, under his right hand, administer +unto our necessities and righteously command us, <i>by the aforesaid as +aforesaid</i> (thus runs the commission) hither am I deputed (woe is me!) to +levy certain fines in this county, or shire, on such as the Parliament in its wisdom +doth style malignants.</p> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i>.—If there is anything left about the house, never be over nice: +dismiss thy modesty and lay hands upon it. In this county or shire, we let +go the civet-bag to save the weazon.</p> + +<p><i>Oliver</i>.—O mine uncle and godfather! be witness for me.</p> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i>.—Witness for thee! not I indeed. But I would rather be witness +than surety, lad, where thou art docketed.</p> + +<p><i>Oliver</i>.—From the most despised doth the Lord ever choose his servants.</p> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i>.—Then, faith! thou art his first butler.</p> + +<p><i>Oliver</i>.—Serving Him with humility, I may peradventure be found worthy +of advancement.</p> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i>.—Ha! now if any devil speaks from within thee, it is thy own: +he does not sniffle: to my ears he speaks plain English. Worthy or unworthy +of advancement, thou wilt attain it. Come in; at least for an hour's rest. +Formerly thou knewest the means of setting the heaviest heart afloat, let it be +sticking in what mud-bank it might: and my wet-dock at Ramsey is pretty +near as commodious as that over-yonder at Hinchinbrook was erewhile. Times +are changed, and places too! yet the cellar holds good.</p> + +<p><i>Oliver</i>.—Many and great thanks! But there are certain men on the other +side of the gate, who might take it ill if I turn away and neglect them.</p> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i>.—Let them enter also, or eat their victuals where they are.</p> + +<p><i>Oliver</i>.—They have proud stomachs: they are recusants.</p> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i>.—Recusants of what? of beef and ale? We have claret, I trust, +for the squeamish, if they are above the condition of tradespeople. But of +course you leave no person of higher quality in the outer court.</p> + +<p><i>Oliver</i>.—Vain are they and worldly, although such wickedness is the most +abominable in their cases. Idle folks are fond of sitting in the sun: I would +not forbid them this indulgence.</p> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i>.—But who are they?</p> + +<p><i>Oliver</i>.—The Lord knows. May-be priests, deacons, and such like.</p> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i>.—Then, sir, they are gentlemen. And the commission you +bear from the parliamentary thieves, to sack and pillage my mansion-house, is +far less vexatious and insulting to me, than your behaviour in keeping them +so long at my stable-door. With your permission, or without it, I shall take +the liberty to invite them to partake of my poor hospitality.</p> + +<p><i>Oliver</i>.—But, uncle Sir Oliver! there are rules and ordinances whereby it +must be manifested that they lie under displeasure—not mine—not mine—but +my milk must not flow for them.</p> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i>.—You may enter the house or remain where you are at your +option; I make my visit to these gentlemen immediately, for I am tired +<a class="pagenum" name="page211" id="page211" title="211"></a>of standing. If thou ever reachest my age,<a id="footnotetag14" name="footnotetag14" href="#footnote14"><sup>14</sup></a> Oliver! (but God will not surely +let this be,) thou wilt know that the legs become at last of doubtful fidelity in +the service of the body.</p> + +<p><i>Oliver</i>.—Uncle Sir Oliver! now that, as it seemeth, you have been taking +a survey of the courtyard and its contents, am I indiscreet in asking your +worship whether I acted not prudently in keeping the <i>men-at-belly</i> under the +custody of the <i>men-at-arms</i>? This pestilence, like unto one I remember to +have read about in some poetry of Master Chapman's,<a id="footnotetag15" name="footnotetag15" href="#footnote15"><sup>15</sup></a> began with the dogs +and the mules, and afterwards crope up into the breasts of men.</p> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i>.—I call such treatment barbarous; their troopers will not let +the gentlemen come with me into the house, but insist on sitting down to +dinner with them. And yet, having brought them out of their colleges, +these brutal half-soldiers must know that they are fellows.</p> + +<p><i>Oliver</i>.—Yea, of a truth are they, and fellows well met. Out of their +superfluities they give nothing to the Lord or his Saints; no, not even stirrup +or girth, wherewith we may mount our horses and go forth against those +who thirst for our blood. Their eyes are fat, and they raise not up their +voices to cry for our deliverance.</p> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i>.—Art mad? What stirrups and girths are hung up in college +halls and libraries? For what are these gentlemen brought hither?</p> + +<p><i>Oliver</i>.—They have elected me, with somewhat short of unanimity, not +indeed to be one of themselves, for of that distinction I acknowledge and +deplore my unworthiness, nor indeed to be a poor scholar, to which, unless it +be a very poor one, I have almost as small pretension, but simply to undertake +awhile the heavier office of burser for them, to cast up their accounts; to overlook +the scouring of their plate; and to lay a list thereof, with a few specimens, +before those who fight the fight of the Lord, that his Saints, seeing the abasement +of the proud and the chastisement of worldlymindedness, may rejoice.</p> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i>.—I am grown accustomed to such saints and such rejoicings. +But, little could I have thought, threescore years ago, that the hearty and +jovial people of England would ever join in so filching and stabbing a jocularity. +Even the petticoated torch-bearers from rotten Rome, who lighted the +faggots in Smithfield some years before, if more blustering and cocksy, were +less bitter and vulturine. They were all intolerant, but they were not all +hypocritical; they had not always "<i>the Lord</i>" in their mouths.</p> + +<p><i>Oliver</i>.—According to their own notions, they might have had at an outlay +of a farthing.</p> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i>.—Art facetious, Nol? for it is as hard to find that out as any thing +else in thee, only it makes thee look, at times, a little the grimmer and sourer.</p> + +<p>But, regarding these gentlemen from Cambridge. Not being such as, by +their habits and professions, could have opposed you in the field, I hold it +unmilitary and unmanly to put them under any restraint, and so lead them +away from their peaceful and useful occupations.</p> + +<p><i>Oliver</i>.—I alway bow submissively before the judgment of mine elders; +and the more reverentially when I know them to be endowed with greater +wisdom, and guided by surer experience than myself. Alas! those collegians +not only are strong men, as you may readily see if you measure them round the +waistband, but boisterous and pertinacious challengers. When we, who live +in the fear of God, exhorted them earnestly unto peace and brotherly love, +they held us in derision. Thus far indeed it might be an advantage to us, +<a class="pagenum" name="page212" id="page212" title="212"></a>teaching us forbearance and self-seeking, but we cannot countenance the +evil spirit moving them thereunto. Their occupations, as you remark most +wisely, might have been useful and peaceful, and had formerly been so. Why +then did they gird the sword of strife about their loins against the children of +Israel? By their own declaration, not only are they our enemies, but enemies +the most spiteful and untractable. When I came quietly, lawfully, and +in the name of the Lord, for their plate, what did they? Instead of surrendering +it like honest and conscientious men, they attacked me and my people +on horseback, with syllogisms and centhymemes, and the Lord knows with +what other such gimcracks, such venemous and rankling old weapons as +those who have the fear of God before their eyes are fain to lay aside. Learning +should not make folks mockers—should not make folks malignants—should +not harden their hearts. We came with bowels for them.</p> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i>.—That ye did! and bowels which would have stowed within +them all the plate on board of a galloon. Tankards and wassil-bowls had +stuck between your teeth, you would not have felt them.</p> + +<p><i>Oliver</i>.—We did feel them; some at least: perhaps we missed too many.</p> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i>.—How can these learned societies raise the money you exact +from them, beside plate? dost think they can create and coin it?</p> + +<p><i>Oliver</i>.—In Cambridge, uncle Sir Oliver, and more especially in that college +named in honour (as they profanely call it) of the blessed Trinity, there +are great conjurors or chemists. Now the said conjurors or chemists not +only do possess the faculty of making the precious metals out of old books and +parchments, but out of the skulls of young lordlings and gentlefolks, which verily +promise less. And this they bring about by certain gold wires fastened at +the top of certain caps. Of said metals, thus devilishly converted, do they +make a vain and sumptuous use; so that, finally, they are afraid of cutting +their lips with glass. But indeed it is high time to call them.</p> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i>.—Well—at last thou hast some mercy.</p> + +<p><i>Oliver</i> (<i>aloud</i>.)—Cuffsatan Ramsbottom! Sadsoul Kiteclan! advance! +Let every gown, together with the belly that is therein, mount up behind you +and your comrades in good fellowship. And forasmuch as you at the country-places +look to bit and bridle, it seemeth fair and equitable that ye should +leave unto them, in full propriety, the mancipular office of discharging the +account. If there be any spare beds at the inns, allow the doctors and dons +to occupy the same—they being used to lie softly; and be not urgent that +more than three lie in each—they being mostly corpulent. Let pass quietly +and unreproved any light bubble of pride or impetuosity, seeing that they +have not alway been accustomed to the service of guards and ushers. The +Lord be with ye!—Slow trot! And now, uncle Sir Oliver, I can resist no +longer your loving-kindness. I kiss you, my godfather, in heart's and soul's +duty; and most humbly and gratefully do I accept of your invitation to dine +and lodge with you, albeit the least worthy of your family and kinsfolk. After +the refreshment of needful food, more needful prayer, and that sleep which +descendeth on the innocent like the dew of Hermon, to-morrow at daybreak +I proceed on my journey Londonward.</p> + +<p><i>Sir Oliver</i> (<i>aloud</i>.)—Ho, there! (<i>To a servant</i>.)—Let dinner be prepared +in the great diningroom; let every servant be in waiting, each in full +livery; let every delicacy the house affords be placed upon the table in due +courses; arrange all the plate upon the side-board: a gentleman by descent—a +stranger, has claimed my hospitality. (<i>Servant goes</i>.)</p> + +<p>Sir! you are now master. Grant me dispensation, I entreat you, from a +further attendance on you.</p> + + + + +<hr style='width: 100%;' /> +<a class="pagenum" name="page213" id="page213" title="213"></a> +<a name="bw328s6" id="bw328s6"></a><h2>CALEB STUKELY.</h2> + +<h3>PART XI.</h3> + +<h3>SAINTS AND SINNERS.</h3> + +<p>The history of my youth is the history +of my life. My contemporaries +were setting out on their journey +when my pilgrimage was at an end. +I had drained the cup of experience +before other men had placed it to +their lips. The vicissitudes of all seasons +occurred in one, and, before my +spring had closed, I had felt the +winter's gloominess and cold. The +scattered and separated experiences +that diversify and mark the passage of +the "threescore years and ten," +were collected and thrust into the narrow +period of my nonage. Within +that boundary, existence was condensed. +It was the time of action and of +suffering. I have passed from youth +to maturity and decline gently and +passively; and now, in the cool and +quiet sunset, I repose, connected with +the past only by the adhering memories +that will not be excluded from +my solitude. I have gathered upon +my head the enduring snow of age; +but it has settled there in its natural +course, with no accompaniment of +storm and tempest. I look back to +the land over which I have journeyed, +and through which I have been conveyed +to my present humble resting-place, +and I behold a broad extent of +plain, spreading from my very feet, +into the hazy distance, where all is +cloud, mountain, tumult, and agitation. +Heaven be praised, I can look +back with gratitude, chastened and +informed!</p> + +<p>Amongst all the startling and stirring +events that crowded into the small +division of time to which I refer, none +had so confounded, perplexed, alarmed, +and grieved me, as the discovery +of Mr Clayton's criminality and falsehood. +There are mental and moral +concussions, which, like physical +shocks, stun and stupify with their +suddenness and violence. This was +one of them. Months after I had been +satisfied of his obliquity, it was difficult +to <i>realize</i> the conviction that +truth and justice authoritatively demanded. +When I thought of the +minister—when his form presented +itself to my mind's eye, as it did, day +after day, and hour after hour, it was +impossible to contemplate it with the +aversion and distaste which were the +natural productions of his own base +conduct. I could see nothing but the +figure and the lineaments of him, +whose eloquence had charmed, whose +benevolent hand had nourished and +maintained me. There are likewise, +in this mysterious state of life, paroxysms +and intervals of disordered +consciousness, which memory refuses +to acknowledge or record; the epileptic's +waking dream is one—an unreal +reality. And similar to this was my +impression of the late events. They +lacked substantiality. Memory took +no account of them, discarded them, +and would connect the present only +with the bright experience she had +treasured up, prior to the dark +distempered season. I could not hate +my benefactor. I could not efface +the image, which months of apparent +love had engraven on my heart.</p> + +<p>Thrust from Mr Clayton's chapel, +and unable to obtain admission elsewhere, +I felt how insecure was my +tenure of office. I prepared myself +for dismissal, and hoped that, when +the hour arrived, I should submit +without repining. In the meanwhile, +I was careful in the performance of +every duty, and studious to give no +cause, not the remotest, for complaint +or dissatisfaction. It was not long, +however, before signs of an altered +state of things presented themselves +to view. A straw tells which way +the wind blows, and wisps began to +fly in all directions. I found at length +that I could do nothing right. To-day +I was too indolent; to-morrow, +too officious:—now I was too much of +a gentlemen; and now not half gentlemanly +enough. The hardest infliction +to bear was the treatment of +my new friend and colleague—of him +who had given me kind warning and +advice, when mischief was only threatening, +but who, on the first appearance +of trouble, took alarm, and deserted +my side. The moment that he +perceived my inevitable fate, he decided +upon leaving me alone to fight +my hard battle. At first he spoke to +me with shyness and reserve; afterwards +coolly, and soon, he said nothing +at all. Sometimes, perhaps, if +<a class="pagenum" name="page214" id="page214" title="214"></a>we were quite alone, and there was +no chance whatever of discovery, he +would venture half a word or so upon +the convenient subject of the weather; +but these occasions were very rare. +If a superior were present, hurricanes +would not draw a syllable from his +careful lips; and, under the eye of +the stout and influential Mr Bombasty, +it was well for me if frowns and +sneers were the only exhibitions of +rudeness on the part of my worldly +and far-seeing friend. Ah, Jacob +Whining! With all your policy and +sagacious selfishness, you found it difficult +to protract your own official +existence a few months longer. He +had hardly congratulated himself upon +the dexterity which had kept him +from being involved in my misfortunes, +before <i>he</i> fell under the ban of +<i>his</i> church, like me was persecuted, +and driven into the world a branded +and excommunicated outcast. Mr +Whining, however, who had learnt +much in the world, and more in his +<i>connexion</i>, was a cleverer and more +fortunate man than this friend and +coadjutor. He retired with his experience +into Yorkshire, drew a small +brotherhood about him, and in a short +time became the revered and beloved +founder of the numerous and far-spread +sect of <i>Whiningtonians</i>!</p> + +<p>It was just a fortnight after my expulsion +from the <i>Church</i>, that matters +were brought to a crisis as far as I +was concerned, by the determined +tone and conduct of the gentleman at +the head of our society. Mr Bombasty +arrived one morning at the +office, in a perturbed and anxious +state, and requested my attendance in +his private room. I waited upon him. +Perspiration hung about his fleshy +face—he wiped it off, and then began:</p> + +<p>"Young man," said he, "this +won't do at all."</p> + +<p>"What, sir?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"Come, don't be impudent. You +are done for, I can tell you."</p> + +<p>"How, sir?" I enquired. "What +have I done?"</p> + +<p>"Where are the subscriptions that +were due last Saturday?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet collected, sir."</p> + +<p>"What money have you belonging +to the society?"</p> + +<p>"Not a sixpence, sir."</p> + +<p>"Young man," continued the lusty +president in a solemn voice, "you are +in a woeful state; you are living in +the world without <i>a security</i>."</p> + +<p>"What is the matter, sir."</p> + +<p>"Matter!" echoed the gentleman.—"Matter +with a man that has lost +his security! Are you positive you +have got no funds about you? Just +look into your pocket, my friend, and +make sure."</p> + +<p>"I have nothing, sir. Pray, tell +me what I have done?"</p> + +<p>"Young man, holding the office +that I hold, feeling as I feel, and +knowing what I know, it would be +perfect madness in me to have any +thing to do with a man who has been +given over by his security. Don't +you understand me? Isn't that very +good English? Mr Clayton will have +nothing more to say to you. The society +gives you warning."</p> + +<p>"May I not be informed, sir, why +I am so summarily dismissed?"</p> + +<p>"Why, my good fellow, what is +the matter with you? You seem remarkably +stupid this morning. I can't +beat about the bush with you. You +must go."</p> + +<p>"Without having committed a +fault?" I added, mournfully.</p> + +<p>"Sir," said the distinguished president, +looking libraries at me, "when +one mortal has become security for +another mortal, and suddenly annuls +and stultifies his bond, to say that the +other mortal has committed a <i>fault</i> is +just to call brandy—<i>water</i>. Sir," continued +Mr Bombasty, adjusting his +India cravat, "that man has perpetrated +a crime—a crime <i>primy facey—exy +fishio</i>."</p> + +<p>I saw that my time was come, and +I said nothing.</p> + +<p>"If," said Mr Bombasty, "you had +lost your intellect, I am a voluntary +contributor, and could have got you +chains and a keeper in Bedlam. If +you had broken a limb, I am a life-governor, +and it would have been a +pleasure to me to send you to the +hospital. But you may as well ask +me to put life into a dead man, as to +be of service to a creature who has +lost his security. You had better die +at once. It would be a happy release. +I speak as a friend."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, sir," said I.</p> + +<p>"I hear complaints against you, +but I don't listen to them. Every +thing is swallowed up in one remarkable +fact. Your security has let you +down. You must go about your business. +I speak as the president of this +Christian society, and not, I hope, +without the feelings of a man. The +<a class="pagenum" name="page215" id="page215" title="215"></a>treasurer will pay your salary immediately, +and we dispense with your +services."</p> + +<p>"What am I to do?" I asked, half +aloud.</p> + +<p>"Just the best you can," answered +the gentleman. "The audience is at +an end."</p> + +<p>Mr Bombasty said no more, but +drew from his coat pocket a snuff-box +of enormous dimensions. From it he +grasped between his thumb and finger +a moderate handful of stable-smelling +dust. His nose and India handkerchief +partook of it in equal shares, and +then he rang his bell with presidential +dignity, and ordered up his customary +lunch of chops and porter. A few +hours afterwards I was again upon +the world, ready to begin the fight +of life anew, and armed with fifteen +guineas for the coming struggle. Mr +Clayton had kept his word with me, +and did not desert me until I was once +more fairly on the road to ruin.</p> + +<p>One of the first consequences of my +unlooked-for meeting with the faithful +Thompson, was the repayment of the +five shillings which he had so generously +spared me when I was about to +leave him for Birmingham, without as +many pence in my scrip. During my +absence, however, fortune had placed +my honest friend in a new relation +to a sum of this value. Five shillings +were not to him, as before, sixty +pence. The proprietor of the house +in which he lived, and which he had +found it so difficult to let out to his +satisfaction, had died suddenly, and +had thought proper to bequeath to +his tenant the bulk of his property, +amounting, perhaps, to five thousand +pounds. Thompson, who was an upholsterer +by trade, left the workshop in +which he was employed as journeyman +immediately, and began to work upon +his own account. He was a prosperous +and a thriving man when I rejoined +him. His manner was, as the +reader has seen, kind and straightforward +as ever, and the only change +that his wealth had wrought in him, +was that which gold may be supposed +to work a heart alive to its duties, +simple and honest in its intentions, +and lacking only the means to make +known its strong desire of usefulness. +His generosity had kept pace with his +success, his good wishes outstripped +both. His home was finer, yet scarcely +more sightly and happier than the +one large room, which, with its complement +of ten children, sire and +dame, had still a nook for the needy +and friendless stranger. The old house +had been made over for a twelvemonth +to the various tenants, free of all charge. +At the end of that period it was the +intention of Thompson to pull it down, +and build a better in its place. A +young widow, with her three orphans, +lodged on the attic floor, and the +grateful prayers of the four went far +to establish the buoyancy of the landlord's +spirit, and to maintain the smile +that seldom departed from his manly +cheek. Well might the poor creature, +whom I once visited in her happy +lodging, talk of the sin of destroying +so comfortable a residence, and feel +assured, that "let them build a palace, +they would never equal the present +house, or make a sleeping-room +where a body might rest so peacefully +and well." Thompson's mode of life +had scarcely varied. He was not idle +amongst his men. When labour was +suspended, he was with his children; +another had been added to the number, +and there were now eleven to +relieve him of the superabundant profits +created in the manufactory. Mrs +Thompson was still a noble housewife, +worthy of her husband. All was care, +cleanliness, and economy at home. +Griping stint would never have been +tolerated by the hospitable master, +and virtuous plenty only was admitted +by the prudent wife. Had there been +a oneness in the religious views of +this good couple, <i>Paradise</i> would have +been a word fit to write beneath the +board that made known to men John +Thompson's occupation; but this, +alas! was wanting to complete a scene +that otherwise looked rather like perfection. +The great enemy of man +seeks in many ways to defeat the +benevolent aims of Providence. Thompson +had remained at home one Sunday +afternoon to smoke a friendly pipe +with an old acquaintance, when he +should have gone to church. His wife +set out alone. Satan took advantage +of her husband's absence, drew her to +chapel, and made her—a <i>dissenter</i>. +This was Thompson's statement of +the case, and severer punishment, he +insisted, had never been inflicted on a +man for Sabbath-breaking.</p> + +<p>When I was dismissed by Mr Bombasty, +it was a natural step to walk +towards the abode of the upholsterer. +I knew his hour for supper, and his +long hour after that for ale, and pipe, +<a class="pagenum" name="page216" id="page216" title="216"></a>and recreation. I was not in doubt +as to my welcome. Mrs Thompson +had given me a general invitation to +supper, "because," she said, "it did +Thompson good to chat after a hard +day's work;" and the respected +Thompson himself had especially invited +me to the long hour afterwards, +"because," he added, "it did the ale +and 'baccy good, who liked it so much +better to go out of this here wicked +world in company." About seven +o'clock in the evening I found myself +under their hospitable roof, seated in +the room devoted to the general purposes +of the house. It was large, and +comfortably furnished. The walls +were of wainscot, painted white, and +were graced with two paintings. One, +a family group, consisting of Thompson, +wife, and eight children, most +wretchedly executed, was the production +of a slowly rising artist, a former +lodger of my friend's, who had contrived +to compound with his easy +landlord for two years and three quarters' +rent, with this striking display of +his ability. Thompson was prouder +of this picture than of the originals +themselves, if that were possible. The +design had been his own, and had cost +him, as he was ready and even anxious +to acknowledge, more time and trouble +than he had ever given before, or +meant to give again, to any luxury in +life. The artist, as I was informed, +had endeavoured to reduce to form +some fifty different schemes that had +arisen in poor Thompson's brain, but +had failed in every one, so difficult he +found it to introduce the thousand and +one effects that the landlord deemed +essential to the subject. His first idea +had been to bring upon the canvass +every feature of his life from boyhood +upwards. This being impracticable, +he wished to bargain for at least the +workshop and the private residence. +The lodgers, he thought, might come +into the background well, and the tools, +peeping from a basket in the corner, +would look so much like life and nature. +The upshot of his plans was the +existing work of art, which Thompson +considered matchless, and pronounced +"dirt cheap, if he had even given the +fellow a seven years' lease of the +entire premises." The situations were +striking certainly. In the centre +of the picture were two high chairs, +on which were seated, as grave as +judges, the heads of the establishment. +They sat there, drawn to their full +height, too dignified to look at one +another, and yet displaying a fond +attachment, by a joining of the hands. +The youngest child had clambered to +the father's knee, and, with a chisel, +was digging at his nose, wonderful to +say, without disturbing the stoic equanimity +that had settled on the father's +face. This was the favourite son. +Another, with a plane larger than +himself, was menacing the mother's +knee. The remaining six had each +a tool, and served in various ways +to effect most artfully the beloved +purpose of the vain upholsterer's +heart—viz. the introduction of the +entire workshop. The second painting +in the centre of the opposite wall, +represented Mr Clayton. The likeness +was a failure, and the colours +were coarse and glaring; but there +needed no instruction to know that the +carefully framed production attempted +to portray the unenviable man, +who, in spite of his immorality and +shameless life, was still revered and +idolized by the blind disciples who +had taken him for their guide. This +portrait was Mrs Thompson's peculiar +property. There were no other articles +of <i>virtu</i> in the spacious apartment; +but cleanliness and decorum +bestowed upon it a grace, the absence +of which no idle decoration could supply. +Early as the hour was, a saucepan +was on the fire, whose bubbling +water was busy with the supper that +at half-past eight must meet the assault +of many knives and forks. John +Thompson and two sons—the eldest—were +working in the shop. They had +been there with little intermission +since six that morning. The honest +man was fond of work; so was he of +his children—yes, dearly fond of <i>them</i>, +and they must share with him the +evening meal; and he must have them +all about him; and he must help them +all, and see them eat, and look with +manly joy and pride upon the noisy +youngsters, for whom his lusty arm +had earned the bread that came like +manna to him—so wholesome and so +sweet! Three girls, humbly but neatly +dressed, the three first steps of this +great human ladder, were seated at a +table administering to the necessities +of sundry shirts and stockings that +had suffered sensibly in their last week's +struggle through the world. <i>They</i> +were indeed a picture worth the looking +at. You grew a better man in +gazing on their innocence and industry. +<a class="pagenum" name="page217" id="page217" title="217"></a>What a lesson stole from their +quiet and contented looks, their patient +perseverance, their sweet unity! +How shining smooth the faces, how +healthy, and how round, and how impossible +it seemed for wrinkles ever +to disturb the fine and glossy surface! +Modesty never should forsake the +humble; the bosom of the lowly born +should be her home. Here she had +enshrined herself, and given to simplicity +all her dignity and truth. +They worked and worked on; who +should tell which was the most assiduous—which +the fairest—which the +most eager and successful to increase +the happiness of all! And turn to +Billy there, that half-tamed urchin! +that likeness in little of his sire, rocking +not so much against his will, as +against conviction, the last of all the +Thompsons—a six months' infant in +the wicker cradle. How, obedient to +his mother's wish, like a little man at +first, he rocks with all his might, and +then irregularly, and at long intervals—by +fits and starts—and ceases +altogether very soon, bobbing his +curly head, and falling gently into a +deep mesmeric sleep. The older lads +are making wooden boats, and two, +still older, stand on either side their +mother. A book is in the hands of +each, full of instruction and fine learning. +It was the source of all their +knowledge, the cause of all their earliest +woes. Good Mrs Thompson +had been neglected as a child, and +was enthusiastic in the cause of early +education. Sometimes they looked +into the book, but oftener still they +cast attentive eyes upon the fire, as if +"the book of knowledge fair" was there +displayed, and not a noisy saucepan, +almost unable to contain itself for joy +of the cod's head and shoulders, that +must be ready by John Thompson's +supper time. The whole family were +my friends—with the boys I was on +terms of warmest intimacy, and smiles +and nods, and shouts and cheers, welcomed +me amongst them.</p> + +<p>"Now, close your book, Bob," said +the mother, soon after I was seated, +"and, Alec, give me yours. Put your +hands down, turn from the fire, and +look up at me, dears. What is the +capital of Russia?"</p> + +<p>"The Birman empire," said Alec, +with unhesitating confidence.</p> + +<p>"The Baltic sea," cried Bob, emulous +and ardent.</p> + +<p>"Wait—not so fast; let me see, +my dears, which of you is right."</p> + +<p>Mrs Thompson appealed immediately +to her book, after a long and +private communication with which, she +emphatically pronounced both wrong.</p> + +<p>"Give us a chance, mother," said +Bob in a wheedling tone, (Bob knew +his mother's weaknesses.) "Them's +such hard words. I don't know how +it is, but I never can remember 'em. +Just tell us the first syllable—oh, do +now—please."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know now!" cried Alec. +"It's something with a G in it."</p> + +<p>"Think of the apostles, dears. +What are the names of the apostles?"</p> + +<p>"Why, there's Moses," began Bob, +counting on his fingers, "and there's +Sammywell, and there's Aaron, and +Noah's ark"——</p> + +<p>"Stop, my dear," said Mrs Thompson, +who was very busy with her +manual, and contriving a method of +rendering a solution of her question +easy. "Just begin again. I said—who +was Peter—no, not that—who +was an apostle?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know now!" cried Alec +again, (Alec was the sharp boy of the +family.) "It's Peter. Peter's the +capital of Russia."</p> + +<p>"No, not quite my dear. You are +very warm—very warm indeed, but +not quite hot. Try again."</p> + +<p>"Paul," half murmured Robert, +with a reckless hope of proving right.</p> + +<p>"No, Peter's right; but there's +something else. What has your father +been taking down the beds for?"</p> + +<p>There was a solemn silence, and +the three industrious sisters blushed +the faintest blush that could be raised +upon a maiden's cheek.</p> + +<p>"To rub that stuff upon the walls," +said the ready Alec.</p> + +<p>"Yes, but what was it to kill?" +continued the instructress.</p> + +<p>"The fleas," said Bob.</p> + +<p>"Worse than that, my dear."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know now," shrieked Alec, +for the third time. "<i>Petersbug's</i> the +capital of Russia."</p> + +<p>Mrs Thompson looked at me with +pardonable vanity and triumph, and I +bestowed upon the successful students +a few comfits which I had purchased +on my road for my numerous and +comfit-loving friends. The mere sight +of this sweet "reward of merit" immediately +inspired the two boys at +work upon the boats with a desire for +<a class="pagenum" name="page218" id="page218" title="218"></a>knowledge, and especially for learning +the capitals of countries, that was +most agreeable to contemplate. The +lesson was continued, more to my +amusement, I fear, than the edification +of the pupils. The boys were unable +to answer a single question until they +had had so many <i>chances</i>, and had become +so very <i>hot</i>, that not to have answered +at length would have bordered +on the miraculous. The persevering +governess was not displeased at this, +for she would not have lost the opportunity +of displaying her own skill in +metaphorical illustration, for a great +deal, I am very sure. The clock struck +eight; there was a general movement. +The three sisters folded their work, +and lodged it carefully in separate +drawers. The eldest then produced +the table-cloth, knives, forks, and +spoons. The second exhibited bibs +and pinafores; and the third brought +from their hiding-places a dozen modest +chairs, and placed them round +the table. Bob assured the company +"he was <i>so</i> hungry;" Alec said, "so +was he;" and the boatmen, in an +under tone, settled what should be +done with the great cod's eyes, which, +they contended, were the best parts of +the fish, and "shouldn't they be glad +if father would give 'em one a-piece." +The good woman must enquire, of +course, how nearly the much-relished +dainty had reached the critical +and interesting state when it became +most palatable to John Thompson; +for John Thompson was an epicure, +"and must have his little bits of +things done to a charm, or not at all." +Half-past eight had struck. The family +were bibbed and pinafored; the +easy coat and slippers were at the fire, +and warmed through and through—it +was a season of intenseness. +"Here's father!" shouted Alec, and +all the bibs and pinafores rushed like +a torrent to the door. Which shall +the father catch into his ready arms, +which kiss, which hug, which answer?—all +are upon him; they know their +playmate, their companion, and best +friend; they have hoarded up, since +the preceding night, a hundred things +to say, and now they have got their +loving and attentive listener. "Look +what I have done, father," says the +chief boatman, "Tom and I together." +"Well done, boys!" says the father—and +Tom and he are kissed. "I have +been <i>l</i>ocking baby," lisps little Billy, +who, in return, gets rocked himself. +"Father, what's the capital of Russia?" +shrieks Alec, tugging at his coat. +"What do you mean, you dog?" is +the reply, accompanied by a hearty +shake of his long flaxen hair. "Petersburg," +cry Tom and Alec both, +following him to the hearth, each one +endeavouring to relieve him of his +boots as soon as he is seated there. +The family circle is completed. The +flaky fish is ready, and presented for +inspection. The father has served +them all, even to little Billy—their +plates are full and smoking. "Mother" +is called upon to ask a blessing. +She rises, and assumes the looks of +Jabez Buster—twenty blessings might +be asked and granted in half the time +she takes—so think and look Bob, +Alec, and the boatmen; but at length +she pauses—the word is given, and +further ceremony is dispensed with. +In childhood, supper is a thing to look +forward to, and to <i>last</i> when it arrives; +but not in childhood, any more than +in old age, can sublunary joys endure +for ever. The meal is finished. A +short half-hour flies, like lightning, +by. The children gather round their +father; and in the name of all, upon +his knees, he thanks his God for all +the mercies of the day. Thompson is +no orator. His heart is warm; his +words are few and simple. The three +attendant graces take charge of their +brethren, detach them from their father's +side, and conduct them to their +beds. Happy father! happy children! +May Providence be merciful, and +keep the grim enemy away from your +fireside! Let him not come now in +the blooming beauty and the freshness +of your loves! Let him not darken +and embitter for ever the life that is +still bright, beautiful, and glorious in +the power of elevating and sustaining +thought that leads beyond it. Let +him wait the matured and not unexpected +hour, when the shock comes, +not to crush, to overwhelm, and to +annihilate, but to warn, to teach, and +to encourage; not to alarm and stagger +the untaught spirit, but to bring +to the subdued and long-tried soul its +last lesson on the vanity and evanescence +of its early dreams!</p> + +<p>It is half-past nine o'clock. Thompson, +his wife, and two eldest boys are +present, and, for the first time, I have +an opportunity to make known the +object of my visit.</p> + +<p>"And so they have turned you +off," said Thompson, when I had +<a class="pagenum" name="page219" id="page219" title="219"></a>finished. "And who's surprised at +that? Not I, for one. Missus," continued +he, turning to his wife, "why +haven't you got a curtain yet for that +ere pictur? I can't abear the sight of it."</p> + +<p>Mrs Thompson looked plaintively +towards the painting, and heaved a sigh.</p> + +<p>"Ah, dear good man! He has got +his enemies," said she.</p> + +<p>"Mrs Thompson!" exclaimed her +husband, "I have done with that good +man from this day for'ards; and I do +hope, old 'ooman, that you'll go next +Sunday to church with me, as we used +to do afore you got that pictur +painted."</p> + +<p>"It's no good talking, Thompson," +answered the lady, positively and +firmly. "I can't sit under a cold +man, and there's an end of it."</p> + +<p>"There, that's the way you talk, +missus."</p> + +<p>"Why, you know, Thompson, +every thing in the church is cold."</p> + +<p>"No, not now, my dear—they've +put up a large stove. You'll recollect +you haven't been lately."</p> + +<p>"Besides, do you think I can sit in +a place of worship, and hear a man +say, '<i>Let us pray</i>,' in the middle of +the service, making a fool of one, as +if we hadn't been praying all the time? +As that dear and persecuted saint +says, (turning to the picture,) it's a +common assault to our understandings."</p> + +<p>"Now, Polly, that's just always +how you go off. If you'd only listen +to reason, that could all be made out +right in no time. The clergyman +doesn't mean to say, <i>let us pray</i>, because +he hasn't been praying afore;—what +he means is—we have been praying +all this time, and so we'll go on +praying again—no, not again exactly—but +don't leave off. That isn't what +I mean either. Let me see, <i>let us +pray</i>. Oh, yes! Why—stay. Where +is it he does say, <i>let us pray</i>? There, +I say, Stukely, you know it all much +better than I do. Just make it right +to the missus."</p> + +<p>"It is not difficult," said I.</p> + +<p>"Oh no, Mr Stukely, I daresay +not!" added Mrs Thompson, interrupting +me. "Mr Clayton says, +Satan has got his janysarries abroad, +and has a reason for every thing. It +is very proper to say, too, I suppose, +that it is an <i>imposition</i> when the bishops +ordain the ministers? What a +word to make use of. It's truly frightful!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm blessed," exclaimed +Thompson, "if I don't think you had +better hold your tongue, old girl, +about impositions; for sich oudacious +robbers as your precious brothers is, +I never come across, since I was stopped +that ere night, as we were courting, +on Shooter's Hill. It's a system +of imposition from beginning to end."</p> + +<p>"Look to your Bible, Thompson; +what does that say? Does that tell +ministers to read their sermons? +There can't be no truth and right +feeling when a man puts down what +he's going to say; the vital warmth +is wanting, I'm sure. And then to +read the same prayers Sunday after +Sunday, till a body gets quite tired at +hearing them over and over again, +and finding nothing new! How can +you improve an occasion if you are +tied down in this sort of way."</p> + +<p>"Did you ever see one of the brothers +eat, Stukely?" asked Thompson, +avoiding the main subject. +"Don't you ask one of them to dinner—that's +all. That nice boy Buster +ought to eat for a wager. I had the +pleasure of his company to dinner one +fine afternoon. I don't mean to send +him another invitation just yet, at all +events."</p> + +<p>"Yes," proceeded the fair, but +stanch nonconformist; "what does +the Bible say, indeed! 'Take no +thought of what you should say.' +Why, in the church, I am told they +are doing nothing else from Monday +morning to Saturday night but writing +the sermon they are going to +read on the Sabbath. To <i>read</i> a sermon! +What would the apostles say +to that?"</p> + +<p>"Why, didn't you tell me, my dear, +that the gentleman as set for that pictur +got all his sermons by heart before +he preached 'em?"</p> + +<p>"Of course I did—but that's a very +different thing. Doesn't it all pour +from him as natural as if it had come +to him that minute? He doesn't fumble +over a book like a schoolboy. His +beautiful eyes, I warrant you, ain't +looking down all the time, as if he was +ashamed to hold 'em up. Isn't it a privilege +to see his blessed eyes rolling all +sorts of ways; and don't they speak +wolumes to the poor benighted sinner? +Besides, don't tell me, Thompson; +we had better turn Catholics at +once, if we are to have the minister +dressing up like the Pope of Rome, +and all the rest of it."</p> + +<p>"You are the gal of my heart," +exclaimed the uxorious Thompson; +<a class="pagenum" name="page220" id="page220" title="220"></a>"but I must say you have got some +of the disgracefulest notions out of +that ere chapel as ever I heard on. +Why, it's only common decency to +wear a dress in the pulpit; and I believe +in my mind, that that's come +down to us from time immemorable, +like every thing else in human natur. +What's your opinion, Stukely?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; and what's your opinion, +Mr Stukely," added the lady immediately, +"about calling a minister of +the gospel—a <i>priest</i>? Is that Paperistical +or not?"</p> + +<p>"That isn't the pint, Polly," proceeded +John. "We are talking about +the silk dress now. Let's have that +out first."</p> + +<p>"And then the absolution"——</p> + +<p>"No, Poll. Stick to the silk dress."</p> + +<p>"Ah, Thompson, it's always the +way!" continued the mistress of the +house, growing red and wroth, and +heedless of the presence of the eager-listening +children; "it's always the +way. Satan is ruining of you. You'll +laugh at the elect, and you'll not find +your mistake out till it's too late to +alter. Mr Clayton says, that the +Establishment is the hothouse of devils; +and the more I see of its ways, +the more I feel he is right. Thompson, +you are in the sink of iniquity."</p> + +<p>"Come, I can't stand no more of +this!" exclaimed Thompson, growing +uneasy in his chair, but without a +spark of ill-humour. "Let's change +the topic, old 'ooman; I'm sure it can't +do the young un's any good to hear +this idle talk. Let's teach 'em nothing +at all, if we can't larn 'em +something better than wrangling +about religion. Now, Jack," he continued, +turning to his eldest boy, +"what is the matter with you? What +are you sitting there for with your +mouth wide open?"</p> + +<p>"What's the meaning of Paperist, +father?" asked the boy, who had been +long waiting to propose the question.</p> + +<p>"What's that to you, you rascal?" +was the reply; "mind your own business, +my good fellow, and leave the +Paperist to mind his'n; that's your father's +maxim, who got it from his +father before him. You'll learn to +find fault with other people fast enough +without my teaching you. I tell you +what, Jack, if you look well after yourself, +you'll find little time left to bother +about others. If your hands are +ever idle—recollect you have ten brothers +and sisters about you. Look +about you—you are the oldest boy—and +see what you can do for them. +Do you mind that?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, father."</p> + +<p>"Very well, old chap. Then just +get out the bottle, and give your father +something to coax the cod down. +Poll, that fish won't settle."</p> + +<p>The long hour was beginning. +That bottle was the signal. A gin and +water nightcap, on this occasion, officiated +for the ale. Jack and his brother +received a special invitation to a sip +or two, which they at once unhesitatingly +accepted. The sturdy fellows +shook their father and fellow-labourer's +hand, and were not loth to go to rest. +Their mother was their attendant. +The ruffle had departed from her face. +It was as pleasant as before. She +was but half a dissenter. So Thompson +thought when he called her back +again, and bade his "old 'ooman give +her hobby one of her good old-fashioned +busses, and think no more +about it."</p> + +<p>Thompson and I were left together.</p> + +<p>"And what do you mean to do, sir, +now?" was his first question.</p> + +<p>"I hardly know." I answered.</p> + +<p>"Of course, you'll cut the gang +entirely—that's a nat'ral consequence."</p> + +<p>"No, Thompson, not at present. I +must not seem so fickle and inconstant. +I must not seem so to myself. +I joined this sect not altogether without +deliberation. I must have further +proof of the unsoundness of its principles. +A few of its professors have +been faithless even to their own position. +Of what religious profession +may not the same be said? I will be +patient, and examine further."</p> + +<p>"I was a-thinking," said Thompson, +musingly, "I was a-thinking, 'till +you've got something else to do——but +no, never mind, you won't like +that."</p> + +<p>"What is it?"</p> + +<p>"Why, I was thinking about the +young un's. They're shocking back'ard +in their eddication, and, between +you and me, the missus makes them +back'arder. I don't understand the +way she has got of larning 'em at +all. I don't want to make scholards +of 'em. Nobody would but a fool. +Bless 'em, they'll have enough to do +to get their bread with sweating and +toiling, without addling their brains +about things they can't understand. +But it is a cruelty, mind you, for a +parent to hinder his child from reading +<a class="pagenum" name="page221" id="page221" title="221"></a>his Bible on a Sunday afternoon, +and to make him stand ashamed of +himself before his fellow workman +when he grows up, and finds that he +can't put <i>paid</i> to a bill on a Saturday +night. The boys should all know +how to read and write, and keep accounts, +and a little summut of human +nature. This is what I wants to give +'em, and nobody should I like better +to put it into 'em than you, my old +friend, if you'd just take the trouble +'till you've got something better to do."</p> + +<p>"Thompson," I answered instantly, +"I will do it with pleasure. I ought +to have made the offer. It did not +occur to me. I shall rejoice to repay +you, in this trifling way, for all your +good feeling and kindness."</p> + +<p>"Oh no!" answered my friend, +"none of that. We must have an +understanding. Don't you think I +should have asked the question, if I +meant to sneak out in that dirty sort +of way. No, that won't do. It's very +kind of you, but we must make all +that right. We sha'n't quarrel, I dare +say. If you mean you'll do it, I have +only just a word or two to say before +you begin."</p> + +<p>"I shall be proud to serve you, +Thompson, and on any terms you +please."</p> + +<p>"Well, it is a serving me—I don't +deny it—but, mind you, only till you +have dropped into something worth +your while. What I wish to say is as +this: As soon as ever my missus +hears of what you are going to do, I +know as well what she'll be at as I +know what I am talking of now. +She'll just be breaking my heart to +have the boys larned French. Now, +I'd just as soon bind 'em apprentice +to that ere Clayton. I've seen too +much of that ere sort of thing in my +time. I'm as positive as I sit here, +that when a chap begins to talk French +he loses all his English spirit, and +feels all over him as like a mounseer +as possible. I'm sure he does. I've +seen it a hundred times, and that I +couldn't a-bear. Besides, I've been +told that French is the language the +thieves talk, and I solemnly believe +it. That's one thing. Now, here's +another. You'll excuse me, my dear +fellow. In course you know more +than I do, but I must say that you +have got sometimes a very roundabout +way of coming to the pint. I +mean no offence, and I don't blame +you. It's all along of the company +you have kept. You are—it's the +only fault you have got—you are +oudaciously fond of hard words. +Don't let the young uns larn 'em. +That's all I have to say, and we'll +talk of the pay some other time."</p> + +<p>At this turn of the conversation, +Thompson insisted upon my lighting +a pipe and joining him in the gin and +water. We smoked for many minutes +in silence. My friend had unbuttoned +his waistcoat, and had drawn +the table nearer to his warm and +hospitable fire. A log of wood was +burning slowly and steadily away, +and a small, bright—very bright—copper +kettle overlooked it from the +hob. My host had fixed his feet upon +the fender—the unemployed hand was +in his corduroys. His eyes were +three parts closed, enjoying what from +its origin may be called—a pure tobacco-born +soliloquy. The smoke +arose in thin white curls from the clay +cup, and at regular periods stole +blandly from the corner of his lips. +The silent man was blessed. He had +been happy at his work; he had +grown happier as the sun went down; +his happiness was ripening at the +supper table; <i>now</i>, half-asleep and +half-awake—half conscious and half +dreaming—wholly free from care, +and yet not free from pregnant +thought—the labourer had reached +the summit of felicity, and was at +peace—intensely.</p> + +<p>A few evenings only had elapsed +after this interesting meeting, before +I was again spending a delicious hour +or two with the simple-hearted and +generous upholsterer. There was +something very winning in these +moments snatched and secured from +the hurricane of life, and passed in +thorough and undisturbed enjoyment. +My friend, notwithstanding that he +had engaged my services, and was +pleased to express his satisfaction at +the mode in which I rendered them, +was yet alive to my interests, and too +apprehensive of injuring them by +keeping me away from loftier employment. +He did not like my being +<i>thrown out</i> of the chapel, especially +after he had heard my determination +not to forsake immediately the sect +to which I had attached myself. He +was indifferent to his own fate. His +worldly prospects could not be injured +by his expulsion; on the contrary, +<a class="pagenum" name="page222" id="page222" title="222"></a>he slyly assured me that "his +neighbours would begin to think better +of him, and give him credit for +having become an honester and more +trustworthy man." But with regard +to myself it was a different thing. I +should require "a character" at some +time or another, and there was a body +of men primed and ready to vilify +and crush me. He advised me, whilst +he acknowledged it was a hard thing +to say, and "it went agin him to do +it," to apply once more respectfully +for my dismission. "It won't do," +he pertinently said, "to bite your +nose off to be revenged on your +tongue." I was certainly in a mess, +and must get out of it in the best way +that I could. Buster and Tomkins +had great power in <i>the Church</i>, and if +I represented my case to either or +both of them, he did hope they might +be brought to consent not to injure +me, or stand in the way of my getting +bread. "In a quarrel," he said, in +conclusion, "some one must give in. +I was a young man, and had my way +to make, and though he should despise +his-self if he recommended me to do +any thing mean and dirty in the business, +yet, he thought, as the father of +a numerous family, he ought to advise +me to be civil, and to do the best for +myself in this unfortunate dilemmy."</p> + +<p>I accepted his advice, and determined +to wait upon the dapper deacon. +I was physically afraid to encounter +Buster, not so much on account of +what I had seen of his spiritual pretension, +as of what I had heard of his +domestic behaviour. It was not a very +difficult task to obtain from Mrs +Thompson the secret history of many +of her highly privileged acquaintances +and brethren. She enjoyed, in a powerful +degree, the peculiar virtue of +her amiable sex, and to communicate +secrets, delivered to her in strictest +confidence, and imparted by her again +with equal caution and provisory care, +was the choicest recreation of her well +employed and useful life. It was +through this lady that I was favoured +with a glance into the natural heart of +Mr Buster; or into what he would +himself have called, with a most unfilial +disgust, "HIS OLD MAN." It appeared +that, like most great <i>actors</i>, he +was a very different personage before +and behind the curtain. Kings, who +are miserable and gloomy through the +five acts of a dismal tragedy, and who +must needs die at the end of it, are your +merriest knaves over a tankard at the +Shakspeare's Head. Your stage fool +shall be the dullest dog that ever +spoiled mirth with sour and discontented +looks. Jabez Buster, his employment +being over at Mr Clayton's +theatre, his dress thrown aside, his +mask put by, was not to be recognised +by his nearest friend. This is +the perfection of art. A greater +tyrant on a small scale, with limited +means, never existed than the saintly +Buster when his character was done, +and he found himself again in the +bosom of his family. Unhappy bosom +was it, and a sad flustration did his +presence, nine times out of ten, produce +there. He had four sons, and a +delicate creature for a wife, born to +be crushed. The sons were remarkable +chiefly for their hypocrisy, which +promised, in the fulness of time, to +throw their highly-gifted parent's far +into the shade; and, secondarily, for +their persecution of their helpless and +indulgent mother. They witnessed +and approved so much the success of +Jabez in this particular, that during +his absence they cultivated the affectionate +habit until it became a kind of +second nature, infinitely more racy +and agreeable than the primary. In +proportion to their deliberate oppression +of their mother was their natural +dread and terror of their father. Mrs +Thompson pronounced it "the shockingest +thing in this world to be present +when the young blue-beards were +worryting their mother's soul out with +saying, '<i>I sha'n't</i>' and '<i>I won't</i>' to +every thing, and swearing '<i>they'd tell +their father this</i>,' '<i>and put him up to +that, and then wouldn't he make a jolly +row about it</i>,' with hollering out for +nothing at all, only to frighten the +poor timid cretur, and then making a +holabaloo with the chairs, or perhaps +falling down, roaring and kicking, +just to drive the poor thing clean out +of her wits, on purpose to laugh at +her for being so taken in. Well, but +it was a great treat, too," she added, +"to hear, in the midst of all this, Buster's +heavy foot in the passage, and to +see what a scrimmage there was at +once amongst all the young hypocrites. +How they all run in different +directions—one to the fire—one to the +table—one out at the back-door—one +any where he could—all of 'em as +silent as mice, and afeard of the very +eye of the blacksmith, who knew, +good man, how to keep every man +<a class="pagenum" name="page223" id="page223" title="223"></a>Jack of 'em in order, and, if a word +didn't do, wasn't by no means behind +hand with blows. Buster," she continued, +"had his faults like other +men, but he was a saint if ever there +was one. To be sure he did like to +have his own way at home, and wasn't +it natural? And if he was rather +overbearing and cruel to his wife, +wasn't that, she should like to know, +Satan warring with the new man, and +sometimes getting the better of it? +And if he was, as Thompson had +hinted, rayther partial to the creature, +and liked good living, what was this +to the purpose? it was an infirmity +that might happen to the best Christian +living. Nobody could say that +he wasn't a renewed man, and a chosen +vessel, and faithful to his call. A +man isn't a backslider because he's +carnally weak, and a man isn't a saint +because he's moral and well-behaved. +'Good works,' Mr Clayton said, 'was +filthy rags,' and so they were. To be +sure, between themselves, there were +one or two things said about Buster +that she couldn't approve of. For instance, +she had been told—but <i>this</i> +was quite in confidence, and really +must <i>not</i> go further—that he was—that—that, +in fact, he was overtaken +now and then with liquor, and then +the house could hardly hold him, he +got so furious, and, they did say, used +such horrid language. But, after all, +what was this? If a man's elected, +he is not so much the worse. Besides, +if one listened to people, one might +never leave off. She had actually +heard, she wouldn't say from whom, +that Buster very often kept out late +at night—sometimes didn't come home +at all, and sometimes did at two +o'clock in the morning, very hungry +and ill-tempered, and then forced his +poor wife out of bed, and made the +delicate and shivering creature light +a fire, cook beefsteaks, go into the +yard for beer, and wait upon him till +he had even eat every morsel up. +She for one would never believe all +this, though Mrs Buster herself had +told her every word with tears in her +eyes, and in the greatest confidence; +so she trusted I wouldn't repeat it, as +it wouldn't look well in her to be +found out telling other people's secrets." +Singular, perhaps, to say, the +tale did not go further. I kept the +lady's secret, and at the same time +declined to approach Mr Jabez Buster +in the character of a suppliant. If his +advocate and panegyrist had nothing +more to say for him, it could not be +uncharitable to conclude that the pretended +saint was as bold a sinner as +ever paid infamous courtship to religion, +and as such was studiously to be +avoided. I turned my attention from +him to Tomkins. There was no +grossness about him, no brutality, no +abominable vice. In the hour of my +defeat and desertion, he had extended +to me his sympathy, and, more in sorrow +than in anger, I am convinced he +voted for my expulsion from the +church when he found that his vote, +and twenty added to it, would not +have been sufficient to protect me. +He could not act in opposition to the +wishes of his friend and patron, Mr +Clayton, but very glad would he have +been, as every word and look assured +me, to meet the wishes of us both, had +that been practicable. If the great +desire of Jehu Tomkins' heart could +have been gratified, he never would +have been at enmity with a single +soul on earth. He was a soft, good-natured, +easy man; most desirous to +be let alone, and not uneasily envious +or distressed to see his neighbours +jogging on, so long as he could do his +own good stroke of business, and keep +a little way before them. Jehu was +a Liberal too—in politics and in religion—in +every thing, in fact, but the +one small article of <i>money</i>, and here, I +must confess, the good dissenter dissented +little from the best of us. He +was a stanch Conservative in matters +connected with the <i>till</i>. For his +private life it was exemplary—at least +it looked so to the world, and the +world is satisfied with what it sees. +Jehu was attentive to his business—yes, +very—and a business life is not +monotonous and dull, if it be relieved, +as it was in this case, by dexterous +arts, that give an interest and flavour +to the commonest pursuits. Sometimes +a customer would die—a natural +state of things, but a great event for +Jehu. First, he would "improve the +occasion" to the surviving relatives—condole +and pray with them. Afterwards +he would <i>improve</i> it to himself, +in his own little room, at night, when all +the children were asleep, and no one was +awake but Mrs Tomkins and himself. +Then he would get down his ledger, +and turn to the deceased's account—</p> + +<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'> +<span>"——How <i>long</i> it is thou see'st,<br /></span> +<span>And he would gaze 'till it became <i>much longer</i>;"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page224" id="page224" title="224"></a>"For who could tell whether six shirts +or twelve were bought in July last, and +what could be the harm of making those +eight handkerchiefs a dozen? He was a +strange old gentleman; lived by himself—and +the books might be referred +to, and speak boldly for themselves." +Yes, cunning Jehu, so they might, with +those interpolations and erasures that +would confound and overcome a lawyer. +When customers did not die, it +was pastime to be dallying with the +living. In adding up a bill with haste, +how many times will four and four +make <i>nine</i>? They generally did with +Jehu. The best are liable to errors. +It cost a smirk or smile; Jehu had +hundreds at command, and the accident +was amended. How easy is it sometimes +to give no bill at all! How very +easy to apply, a few months afterwards, +for second payment; how much more +easy still to pocket it without a word; +or, if discovered and convicted, to +apologize without a blush for the <i>mistake</i>! +No, Jehu Tomkins, let me do +you justice—this is not so easy—it +requires all your zeal and holy intrepidity +to reach this pitch of human +frailty and corruption. With regard +to the domestic position of my interesting +friend, it is painful to add, +that the less that is said about it the +better. In vain was his name in full, +painted in large yellow letters, over +the shop front. In vain was <i>Bot. of +Jehu Tomkins</i> engraven on satin paper, +with flourishes innumerable beneath +the royal arms; he was no more the +master of his house than was the small +boy of the establishment, who did +the dirty work of the place for nothing +a-week and the broken victuals. +If Jehu was deacon abroad, he was +taught to acknowledge an <i>arch</i>deacon +at home—one to whom he was indebted +for his success in life, and for reminding +him of that agreeable fact about four +times during every day of his existence. +I was aware of this delicate circumstance +when I ventured to the linen-draper's +shop on my almost hopeless +mission; but, although I had never +spoken to Mrs Tomkins, I had often +seen her in the chapel, and I relied +much on the feeling and natural tenderness +of the female heart. The +respectable shop of Mr Tomkins was +in Fleet Street. The establishment +consisted of Mrs Tomkins, <i>première</i>; +Jehu, under-secretary; and four sickly-looking +young ladies behind the counter. +It is to be said, to the honour of +Mrs Tomkins, that she admitted no +young woman into her service whose +character was not <i>decided</i>, and whose +views were not very clear. Accordingly, +the four young ladies were +members of the chapel. It is pleasing +to reflect, that, in this well-ordered +house of business, the ladies took their +turns to attend the weekly prayer +meetings of the church. Would that +I might add, that they were <i>not</i> severally +met on these occasions by their +young men at the corner of Chancery +Lane, and invariably escorted by +them some two or three miles in a +totally opposite direction. Had Mrs +Tomkins been born a man, it is difficult +to decide what situation she would +have adorned the most. She would +have made a good man of business—an +acute lawyer—a fine casuist—a +great divine. Her attainments were +immense; her self-confidence unbounded. +She was a woman of middle +height, and masculine bearing. She +was not prepossessing, notwithstanding +her white teeth and large mouth, +and the intolerable grin that a customer +to the amount of a halfpenny +and upwards could bring upon her +face under any circumstances, and at +any hour of the day. Her complexion +might have been good originally. +Red blotches scattered over her cheek +had destroyed its beauty. She wore +a modest and becoming cap, and a +gold eyeglass round her neck. She +was devoted to money-making—heart +and soul devoted to it during business +hours. What time she was not in the +shop, she passed amongst dissenting +ministers, spiritual brethren, and deluded +sinners. It remains to state +the fact, that, whilst a customer never +approached the lady without being +repelled by the offensive smirk that +she assumed, no dependent ever ventured +near her without the fear of the +scowl that sat naturally (and fearfully, +when she pleased) upon her dark and +inauspicious brow. What wonder +that little Jehu was crushed into nothingness, +behind his own counter, +under the eye of his own wife!</p> + + + + +<hr style='width: 100%;' /> +<a class="pagenum" name="page225" id="page225" title="225"></a> +<a name="bw328s7" id="bw328s7"></a><h2>THE WORLD OF LONDON. SECOND SERIES.</h2> + +<h3>PART II.</h3> + +<p>In our last, we had occasion to +speak sharply of that class of our +aristocratic youth known by the name +of fast fellows, and it may be thought +that we characterized their foibles +rather pointedly, and tinctured our +animadversions with somewhat of undue +asperity. This charge, however, +can be made with no ground of reason +or justice: the fact is, we only +lashed the follies for which that class +of men are pre-eminent, but left their +vices in the shade, in the hope that +the <i>raw</i> we have already established, +will shame the fast fellows into a sense +of the proprieties of conduct due to +themselves and their station.</p> + +<p>The misfortune is, that these fast +fellows forget, in the pursuit of their +favourite follies, that the mischief to +society begins only with themselves: +that man is naturally a servile, imitative +animal; and that he follows in the +track of a great name, as vulgar muttons +run at the heels of a belwether. +The poison of fashionable folly runs +comparatively innocuous while it circulates +in fashionable veins; but when +vulgar fellows are innoculated with +the virus, it becomes a plague, a +moral small-pox, distorting, disfiguring +the man's mind, pockpitting his small +modicum of brains, and blinding his +mind's eye to the supreme contempt +his awkward vagaries inspire.</p> + +<p>The fast fellows rejoice exceedingly +in the spread of their servile imitation +of fashionable folly, this gentlemanly +profligacy at second-hand; and +perhaps this is the worst trait in their +character, for it is at once malicious +and unwise: malicious, because the +contemplation of humanity, degraded +by bad example in high station, should +rather be a source of secret shame +than of devilish gratification: unwise, +because their example is a discredit to +their order, and a danger. To posses +birth, fashion, station, wealth, power, +is title enough to envy, and handle +sufficient for scandal. How much +stronger becomes that title—how +much longer that handle—when men, +enjoying this pre-eminence, enjoy it, +not using, but abusing their good fortune!</p> + +<p>We should not have troubled our +heads with the fast fellows at all, if +it were not absolutely essential to the +full consideration of our subject, widely +to sever the prominent classes of +fashionable life, and to have no excuse +for continuing in future to confound +them. We have now done +with the fast fellows, and shall like them +the more the less we hear of them.</p> + +<h3>CONCERNING SLOW FELLOWS.</h3> + +<p>The SLOW SCHOOL of fashionable +or aristocratic life, comprises those +who think that, in the nineteenth century, +other means must be taken to +preserve their order in its high and +responsible position than those which, +in dark ages, conferred honour upon +the tallest or the bravest. They think, +and think wisely, that the only method +of keeping above the masses, in this +active-minded age, is by soaring +higher and further into the boundless +realms of intellect; or at the least forgetting, +in a fair neck-and-neck race +with men of meaner birth, their purer +blood, and urging the generous contest +for fame, regardless of the allurements +of pleasure, or the superior +advantages of fortune. In truth, we +might ask, what would become of our +aristocratic classes ere long, if they +came, as a body, to be identified with +their gambling lords, their black-leg +baronets, their insolvent honourables, +and the seedy set of Chevaliers Diddlerowski +and Counts Scaramouchi, who +caper on the platform outside for their +living? The populace would pelt these +harlequin horse-jockeys of fashionable +life off their stage, if there was nothing +better to be seen inside; but +it fortunately happens that there is +better.</p> + +<p>We can boast among our nobles +and aristocratic families, a few men +of original, commanding, and powerful +intellect; many respectable in +most departments of intellectual rivalry; +many more laborious, hard-working +men; and about the same +proportion of dull, stupid, fat-headed, +crabbed, conceited, ignorant, insolent +<a class="pagenum" name="page226" id="page226" title="226"></a>men, that you may find among the +same given number of those commonly +called the educated classes. We +refer you to the aristocracies of other +countries, and we think we may safely +say, that we have more men of that +class, in this country, who devote +themselves to the high duties of their +station, regardless of its pleasures, +than in any other: men who recognize +practically the responsibility of +their rank, and do not shirk from +them; men who think they have +something to do, and something to +repay, for the accidents of birth and +fortune—who, in the senate, in the +field, or in the less prominent, but not +less noble, career of private life, act, +as they feel, with the poet:</p> + +<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'> +<span>"At heros, et decus, et quæ non fecimus ipsi,<br /></span> +<span>Vix ea nostra voco."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>It has been admirably remarked, by +some one whose name we forget, that +the grand advantage of high birth is, +placing a man as far forward at +twenty-five as another man is at fifty. +We might, as a corollary to this undeniable +proposition, add, that birth +not only places, but keeps a man in +that advance of his fellows, which in +the sum of life makes such vast ultimate +difference in the prominence of +their position.</p> + +<p>This advantage enjoyed by the aristocracy +of birth, of early enrolling +themselves among the aristocracy of +power, has, like every thing in the +natural and moral world, its compensating +disadvantage: they lose in one +way what they gain in another; and +although many of them become eminent +in public life, few, very few, +comparatively with the numbers who +enter the arena, become great. They +are respected, heard, and admired, by +virtue of a class-prepossession in their +favour; yet, after all, they must select +from the ranks of the aristocracy of +talent their firmest and best supporters, +to whom they may delegate the +heavy responsibilities of business, and +lift from their own shoulders the burden +of responsible power.</p> + +<p>One striking example of the force +of birth, station, and association in +public life, never fails to occur to us, +as an extraordinary example of the +magnifying power of these extrinsic +qualities, in giving to the aristocracy +of birth a consideration, which, +though often well bestowed, is yet +oftener bestowed without any desert +whatever; and that title to admiration +and respect, which has died with ancestry, +patriotism, and suffering in the +cause of freedom, is transferred from +the illustrious dead to the undistinguished +living.</p> + +<p>Without giving a catalogue <i>raisonné</i> +of the slow fellows, (we use the term +not disrespectfully, but only in contradistinction +to the others,) we may +observe that, besides the public service +in which the great names are +sufficiently known, you have poets, +essayists, dramatists, astronomers, +geologists, travellers, novelists, and, +what is better than all, philanthropists. +In compliment to human nature, +we take the liberty merely to +mention the names of Lord Dudley +Stuart and Lord Ashley. The works +of the slow fellows, especially their +poetry, indicate in a greater or less +degree the social position of the authors; +seldom or never deficient in +good taste, and not without feeling, +they lack power and daring. The +smooth style has their preference, and +their verses smack of the school of +Lord Fanny; indeed, we know not +that, in poetry or prose, we can point +out one of our slow fellows of the +present day rising above judicious +mediocrity. It is a curious fact, that +the most daring and original of our +noble authors have, in their day, +been fast fellows; it is only necessary +to name Rochester, Buckingham, and +Byron.</p> + +<p>Among the slow fellows, are multitudes +of pretenders to intellect in a +small way. These patronize a drawing-master, +not to learn to draw, but +to learn to talk of drawing; they also +study the <i>Penny Magazine</i> and other +profound works, to the same purpose; +they patronize the London University, +and the Society for the Diffusion +of Useful Knowledge, as far as lending +their names; for, being mostly of +the class of fashionable <i>screws</i>, they +take care never to subscribe to any +thing. They have a refined taste in +shawls, and are consequently in the +confidence of dressy old women, who +hold them up as examples of every +thing that is good. They take chocolate +of a morning, and tea in the evening; +drink sherry with a biscuit, and +wonder how people <i>can</i> eat those hot +lunches. They take constitutional +walks and Cockle's pills; and, by +virtue of meeting them at the Royal +<a class="pagenum" name="page227" id="page227" title="227"></a>Society, are always consulting medical +men, but take care never to offer them +a guinea. They talk of music, of +which they know something—of books, +of which they know little—and of pictures, +of which they know less; they +have always read "the last novel," +which is as much as they can well +carry; they know literary, professional, +and scientific men at Somerset +House, but, if they meet them in Park +Lane, look as if they never saw them +before; they are very peevish, have +something to say against every man, +and always say the worst first; they +are very quiet in their manner, almost +sly, and never use any of the colloquialisms +of the fast fellows; they +treat their inferiors with great consideration, +addressing them, "honest +friend," "my good man," and so on, +but have very little heart, and less +spirit.</p> + +<p>They equally abhor the fast fellows +and the pretenders to fashion. They +are afraid of the former, who are +always ridiculing them and their pursuits, +by jokes theoretical and practical. +If the fast fellows ascertain that +a slow fellow affects sketching, they +club together to annoy him, talking +of the "autumnal tints," and "the +gilding of the western hemisphere;" +if a botanist, they send him a cow-cabbage, +or a root of mangel-wurzel, +with a serious note, stating, that they +hear it is a great curiosity in <i>his line</i>; +if an entomologist, they are sure to +send him away "with a flea in his +ear." If he affects poetry, the fast +fellows make one of their servants +transcribe, from <i>Bell's Life</i>, Scroggins's +poetical version of the fight +between Bendigo and Bungaree, or +some such stuff; and, having got the +slow fellow in a corner, insist upon +having his opinion, and drive him +nearly mad. All these, and a thousand +other pranks, the fast fellows +play upon their slow brethren, not in +the hackneyed fashion which low people +call "<i>gagging</i>," and genteel people +"<i>quizzing</i>," but with a seriousness +and gravity that heightens all the +joke, and makes the slow fellow inexpressibly +ridiculous.</p> + +<p>It is astonishing, considering the +opportunities of the slow fellows, that +they do not make a better figure; it +seems wonderful, that they who glide +swiftly down the current of fortune +with wind and tide, should be distanced +by those who, close-hauled +upon a wind, are beating up against +it all their lives; but so it is;—the +compensating power that rules material +nature, governs the operations of +the mind. To whom much is given +of opportunity, little is bestowed of +the exertion to improve it. Those +who rely more or less on claims extrinsic, +are sure to be surpassed by +those whose power is from within. +After all, the great names of our nation +(with here and there an exception +to prove the rule) are plebeian.</p> + +<h3>OF THE ARISTOCRACY OF POWER.</h3> + +<p>In their political capacity, people of +fashion, among whom, for the present +purpose, we include the whole of the +aristocracy, are the common butt of +envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness.</p> + +<p>They are accused of standing between +the mass of the people and their +inalienable rights; of opposing, with obstinate +resistance, the progress of rational +liberty, and of——but, in short, you +have only to glance over the pages of +any democratic newspaper, to be made +aware of the horrible political iniquity +of the aristocracy of England.</p> + +<p>The aristocracy in England, considered +politically, is a subject too +broad, too wide, and too deep for us, +we most readily confess; nor is it exactly +proper for a work of a sketchy +nature, in which we only skim lightly +along the surface of society, picking +up any little curiosity as we go along, +but without dipping deep into motives +or habits of thought or action, especially +in state affairs.</p> + +<p>Since our late lamented friends, the +Whigs, have gone to enjoy a virtuous +retirement and dignified ease, we have +taken no delight in politics. There +is no fun going on now-a-days—no +quackery, no mountebankery, no asses, +colonial or otherwise. The dull jog-trot +fellows who have got into Downing +Street have made politics no joke; +and now that silence, as of the tomb, +reigns amongst <i>quondam</i> leaders of +the Treasury Benech—now that the +camp-followers have followed the +leader, and the auxiliaries are dispersed, +we really have nobody to laugh +at; and, like our departed friends, +have too little of the statesman to be +serious about serious matters.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page228" id="page228" title="228"></a>With regard to the aristocracy in +their public capacity, this is the way +we always look at them.</p> + +<p>In the first place, they govern us +through the tolerance of public opinion, +as men having station, power, +property, much to lose, and little +comparatively to gain—men who have +put in bail to a large amount for their +good behaviour: and, in the second +place, they govern us, because really +and truly there are so many outrageously +discordant political quacks, +desirous of taking our case in hand, +that we find it our interest to entrust +our public health to an accomplished +physician, even although he charges +a guinea a visit, and refuses to insure +a perfect cure with a box of pills costing +thirteenpence-halfpenny. There +can be no doubt whatever, that the +most careful men are the men who +have most to care for: he that has a +great deal to lose, will think twice, +where he that has nothing to lose, will +not think at all: and the government +of this vast and powerful empire, we +imagine, with great deference, must +require a good deal of thinking. In +a free press, we have a never-dying +exponent of public opinion, a perpetual +advocate of rational liberty, +and a powerful engine for the exposure, +which is ultimately the redress, of +wrong: and although this influential +member of our government receives +no public money, nor is called right +honourable, nor speaks in the House, +yet in fact and in truth it has a seat +in the Cabinet, and, upon momentous +occasions, a voice of thunder.</p> + +<p>That the aristocracy of power +should be in advance of public opinion, +is not in the nature of things, and +should no more be imputed as a crime +to them, than to us not to run when +we are not in a hurry: they cannot, +as a body, move upwards, because +they stand so near the top, that dangerous +ambition is extinguished; and +it is hardly to be expected that, as a +body, they should move downwards, +unless they find themselves supported +in their position upon the right of +others, in which case we have always +seen that, although they descend gradually, +they descend at last.</p> + +<p>This immobility of our aristocracy +is the origin of the fixity of our political +institutions, which has been, is, +and will continue to be, the great element +of our pre-eminence as a nation: +it possesses a force corrective and directive, +and at once restrains the excess, +while it affords a point of resistance, +to the current of the popular +will. And this immobility, it should +never be forgotten, is owing to that +very elevation so hated and so envied: +wanting which the aristocracy +would be subject to the vulgar ambitions, +vulgar passions, and sordid desires +of meaner aspirants after personal +advantage and distinction. It is a +providential blessing, we firmly believe, +to a great nation to possess a +class, by fortune and station, placed +above the unseemly contentions of +adventurers in public life: looked up +to as men responsible without hire for +the public weal, and, without sordid +ambitions of their own, solicitous to +preserve it: looked up to, moreover, +as examples of that refinement of feeling, +jealous sense of honour, and manly +independence, serving as detersives of +the grosser humours of commercial +life, and which, filtering through the +successive <i>strata</i> of society, clarify and +purify in their course, leaving the very +dregs the cleaner for their passage.</p> + +<p>A body thus by habit and constitution +opposed to innovation, and determined +against the recklessness of inconsiderate +reforms, has furnished a +stock argument to those who delight +in "going a-head" faster than their +feet, which are the grounds of their +arguments, can carry them. We +hear the aristocracy called stumbling-blocks +in the way of legislative improvements, +and, with greater propriety +of metaphor, likened to drags upon the +wheel of progressive reform; and so +on, through all the regions of illustration, +until we are in at the death of +the metaphor. How happens to be +overlooked the advantage of this anti-progressive +barrier, to the concentration +and deepening of the flood of +opinion on any given subject? how is +it that men are apt altogether to forget +that this very barrier it is which +prevents the too eager crowd from +trampling one another to death in +their haste? which gives time for the +ebullitions of unreasoning zeal, and +reckless enthusiasm, and the dregs of +agitation, quietly to subside; and, for +all that, bears the impress of reason and +sound sense to circulate with accumulated +pressure through the public +mind? Were it not for the barrier +which the aristocracy of power thus +<a class="pagenum" name="page229" id="page229" title="229"></a>interposes for a time, only to withdraw +when the time for interposition is past, +we should live in a vortex of revolution +and counter-revolution. Our whole +time, and our undivided energies, +would be employed in acting hastily, +and repenting at leisure; in repining +either because our biennial revolutions +went too far, or did not go far enough; +in expending our national strength in +the unprofitable struggles of faction +with faction, adventurer with adventurer: +with every change we should +become more changeful, and with +every settlement more unsettled: one +by one our distant colonies would follow +the bright example of our people +at home, and our commerce and trade +would fall with our colonial empire. +In fine, we should become in the eyes +of the world what France now is—a +people ready to sacrifice every solid +advantage, every gradual, and therefore +permanent, improvement, every +ripening fruit that time and care, and +the sunshine of peace only can mature, +to a genius for revolution.</p> + +<p>This turbulent torrent of headlong +reform, to-day flooding its banks, to-morrow +dribbling in a half-dry channel, +the aristocracy of power collects, +concentrates, and converts into a +power, even while it circumscribes it, +and represses. So have we seen a +mountain stream useless in summer, +dangerous in winter, now a torrent +now a puddle, wasting its unprofitable +waters in needless brawling; let a barrier +be opposed to its downward course, +let it be dammed up, let a point of +resistance be afforded where its waters +may be gathered together, and regulated, +you find it turned to valuable +account, acting with men's hands, becoming +a productive labourer, and +contributing its time and its industry +to advance the general sum of rational +improvement.</p> + +<p>From the material to the moral +world you may always reason by analogy. +If you study the theory of +revolutions, you will not fail to observe +that, wherever, in constructing your +barrier, you employ ignorant engineers, +who have not duly calculated +the depth and velocity of the current; +whenever you raise your dam to such +a height that no flood will carry away +the waste waters; whenever you talk +of finality to the torrent, saying, thus +long shalt thou flow, and no longer; +whenever you put upon your power +a larger wheel than it can turn—you +are slowly but surely preparing for +that flood which will overwhelm your +work, destroy your mills, your dams, +and your engines; in a word, you are +the remote cause of a revolution.</p> + +<p>This is the danger into which aristocracies +of power are prone to fall: +the error of democracies is, to delight +in the absolutism of liberty; but thus +it is with liberty itself, that true dignity +of man, that parent of all blessings: +absolute and uncontrolled, a +tyranny beyond the power to endure +itself, the worst of bad masters, a +fool who is his own client; restrained +and tempered, it becomes a wholesome +discipline, a property with its +rights and its duties, a sober responsibility, +bringing with it, like all other +responsibilities, its pleasures and its +cares; not a toy to be played with, nor +even a jewel to be worn in the bonnet, +but a talent to be put out to interest, and +enjoyed in the unbroken tranquillity +of national thankfulness and peace.</p> + +<p>Another defect in the aristocracy of +power is, the narrow sphere of their +sympathies, extending only to those +they know, and are familiar with; that +is to say, only as far as the circumference +of their own limited circle. +This it is that renders them keenly +apprehensive of danger close at hand, +but comparatively indifferent to that +which menaces them from a distance. +Placed upon a lofty eminence, they +are comparatively indifferent while +clouds obscure, and thunder rattles +along the vale; their resistance is of +a passive kind, directed not to the depression +of those beneath them, nor +to overcome pressure from above, but +to preserve themselves in the enviable +eminence of their position, and there +to establish themselves in permanent +security.</p> + +<p>As a remedy for this short-sightedness, +the result of their isolated position, +the aristocracy of power is always +prompt to borrow from the aristocracy +of talent that assistance in +the practical working of its government +which it requires; they are +glad to find safe men among the people +to whom they can delegate the +cares of office, the annoyances of patronage, +and the odium of power; +and, the better to secure these men, +they are always ready to lift them +among themselves, to identify them +with their exclusive interests, and to +give them a permanent establishment +among the nobles of the land.</p> + +<a class="pagenum" name="page230" id="page230" title="230"></a> +<h3>THE PHILOSOPHY OF DRESS.</h3> + +<p>Perhaps we may be expected to say +something of the dress of men of fashion, +as it is peculiar, and not less +characteristic than their manner. +Their clothes, like their lives, are +usually of a neutral tint; staring colours +they studiously eschew, and are +never seen with elaborate gradations +of under waistcoats. They would as +soon appear out of doors <i>in cuerpo</i>, as +in blue coats with gilt buttons, or +braided military frocks, or any dress +smacking of the professional. When +they indulge in fancy colours and patterns, +you will not fail to remark that +these are not worn, although imitated +by others. The moment a dressy man +of fashion finds that any thing he has +patronized gets abroad, he drops the +neckcloth or vest, or whatever it may +be, and condemns the tailor as an +"unsafe" fellow. But it is not often +that even the most dressy of our men +of fashion originate any thing <i>outré</i>, +or likely to attract attention; of late +years their style has been plain, almost +to scrupulosity.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding that the man of +fashion is plainly dressed, no more +than ordinary penetration is required +to see that he is excellently well +dressed. His coat is plain, to be sure, +much plainer than the coat of a Jew-clothesman, +having neither silk linings, +nor embroidered pocket-holes, nor cut +velvet buttons, nor fur collar; but see +how it fits him—not like cast iron, nor +like a wet sack, but as if he had been +born in it.</p> + +<p>There is a harmony, a propriety in +the coat of a man of fashion, an unstudied +ease, a graceful symmetry, a +delicacy of expression, that has always +filled us with the profoundest admiration +of the genius of the artist; indeed, +no ready money could purchase coats +that we have seen—coats that a real +love of the subject, and working upon +long credit, for a high connexion, +could alone have given to the world—coats, +not the dull conceptions of a +geometric cutter, spiritlessly outlined +upon the shop-board by the crayon of +a mercenary foreman, but the fortunate +creation of superior intelligence, +boldly executed in the happy moments +of a generous enthusiasm!</p> + +<p>Vain, very vain is it for the pretender +to fashion to go swelling into the +<i>atelier</i> of a first-rate coat architect, +with his ready money in his hand, to +order such a coat! <i>Order</i> such a +coat, forsooth! order a Raphael, a +Michael Angelo, an epic poem. Such +a coat—we say it with the generous +indignation of a free Briton—is one +of the exclusive privileges reserved, +by unjust laws, to a selfish aristocracy!</p> + +<p>The aristocratic trouser-cutter, too, +deserves our unlimited approbation. +Nothing more distinguishes the nineteenth +century, in which those who +can manage it have the happiness to +live, than the precision we have attained +in trouser-cutting. While yet +the barbarism of the age, or poverty +of customers, <i>vested</i> the office of +trouser-cutter and coat architect in +the same functionary, coats were without +<i>soul</i>, and "inexpressibles" inexpressibly +bad, or, as Coleridge would +have said, "ridiculous exceedingly." +In our day, on the contrary, we have +attained to such a pitch of excellence, +that the trouser-cutter who fails to +give expression to his works, is hunted +into the provinces, and condemned for +life to manufacture nether garments +for clergymen and country gentlemen.</p> + +<p>The results of the minute division +of labour, to which so much of the +excellence of all that is excellent in +London is mainly owing, is in nothing +more apparent than in that department +of the fine arts which people devoid +of taste call fashionable tailoring. +We have at the West End fashionable +<i>artistes</i> in riding coats, in dress coats, +in cut-aways; one is superlative in a +Taglioni, another devotes the powers +of his mind exclusively to the construction +of a Chesterfield, a third +gives the best years of his life to the +symmetrical beauty of a barrel-trouser; +from the united exertions of +these, and a thousand other men of +taste and genius, is your indisputably-dressed +man of fashion turned out +upon the town. Then there are constructors +of Horse Guards' and of Foot +Guards' jacket, full and undress; the +man who contrives these would expire +if desired to turn his attention to the +coat of a marching regiment; a hussar-pelisse-maker +despises the hard, heavy +style of the cutters for the Royal Artillery, +and so on. Volumes would +not shut if we were to fill them with +the infinite variety of these disguisers +of that nakedness which formerly was +<a class="pagenum" name="page231" id="page231" title="231"></a>our shame, but which latterly, it would +seem, has become our pride. With +the exception of one gentleman citywards, +who has achieved an immortality +in the article of box-coats, every +contriver of men of fashion, we mean +in the tailoring, which is the principal +department, reside in the parish of St +James's, within easy reach of their +distinguished patrons. These gentlemen +have a high and self-respecting +idea of the nobleness and utility of +their vocation. A friend of ours, of +whom we know no harm save that he +pays his tailors' bills, being one day +afflicted with this unusual form of insanity, +desired the artist to deduct +some odd shillings from his bill; in a +word, to make it pounds—"Excuse +me, sir," said Snip, "but pray, let <i>us</i> +not talk of pounds—pounds for tradesmen, +if you please; but artists, sir, +<i>artists</i> are always remunerated with +guineas!"</p> + +<p>To return to the outward and visible +man of fashion, from whose peculiarities +our dissertation upon the sublime +and beautiful in tailoring has too +long detained us. The same subdued +expression of elegance and ease +that pervades the leading articles of +his attire, extends, without exception, +to all the accessories; or if he is deficient +in aught, the accessorial <i>toggery</i>, +such as hats, boots, <i>choker</i>, gloves, are +always carefully attended to; for it is +in this department that so distinguished +a member of the detective police as +ourselves is always enabled to arrest disguised +snobbery. You will never see +a man of fashion affect a Paget hat, +for example, or a D'Orsayan beaver: +the former has a ridiculous exuberance +of crown, the latter a by no means +allowable latitude of brim—besides, +borrowing the fashion of a hat, is with +him what plagiarizing the interior +furniture of the head is with others. +He considers stealing the idea of a hat +low and vulgar, and leaves the unworthy +theft to be perpetrated by pretenders +to fashion: content with a hat +that becomes him, he is careful never +to be before or behind the prevailing +hat-intelligence of the time. Three +hats your man of fashion sedulously +escheweth—a new hat, a shocking bad +hat, and a gossamer. As the song says, +"when into a shop he goes" he never +"buys a four-and-nine," neither buyeth +he a Paris hat, a ventilator, or any +of the hats indebted for their glossy +texture to the entrails of the silk +worm; he sporteth nothing below a +two-and-thirty shilling beaver, and +putteth it not on his head until his +valet, exposing it to a shower of rain, +has "taken the shine out of it."</p> + +<p>In boots he is even more scrupulously +attentive to what Philosopher +Square so appropriately called the +fitness of things: his boots are never +square-toed, or round-toed, like the +boots of people who think their toes +are in fashion. You see that they fit +him, that they are of the best material +and make, and suitable to the season: +you never see him sport the Sunday +patent-leathers of the "snob," who +on week-a-days proceeds on eight-and-sixpenny +high-lows: you never see +him shambling along in boots a world +too wide, nor hobbling about a crippled +victim to the malevolence of +Crispin. The idiosyncrasy of his foot +has always been attended to; he has +worn well-fitting boots every day of +his life, and he walks as if he knew +not whether he had boots on or not. +As for stocks, saving that he be a military +man, he wears them not; they +want that easy negligence, attainable +only by the graceful folds of a well +tied <i>choker</i>. You never see a man of +fashion with his neck in the pillory, +and you hardly ever encounter a +Cockney whose cervical investment +does not convey at once the idea of +that obsolete punishment. A gentleman +never considers that his neck +was given him to show off a cataract +of black satin upon, or as a post +whereon to display gold-threaded fabrics, +of all the colours of the rainbow: +sooner than wear such things, +he would willingly resign his neck to +the embraces of a halter. His study is +to select a modest, unassuming <i>choker, +fine</i> if you please, but without pretension +as to pattern, and in colour harmonizing +with his residual <i>toggery</i>: +this he ties with an easy, unembarrassed +air, so that he can conveniently +look about him. Oxford men, we +have observed, tie chokers better than +any others; but we do not know whether +there are exhibitions or scholarships +for the encouragement of this +laudable faculty. At Cambridge +(except Trinity) there is a laxity in +chokers, for which it is difficult to +account, except upon the principle +that men there attend too closely to +the mathematics; these, as every body +knows, are in their essence inimical +to the higher departments of the fine +<a class="pagenum" name="page232" id="page232" title="232"></a>arts. There is no reason, however, +why in this important branch of learning, +which, as we may say, comes +home to the bosom of every man, one +Alma Mater should surpass another; +since at both the intellects of men are +almost exclusively occupied for years +in tying their abominable white chokers, +so as to look as like tavern waiters +as possible.</p> + +<p>Another thing: if a gentleman +sticks a pin in his choker, you may +be sure it has not a head as big as a +potatoe, and is not a sort of Siamese +Twin pin, connected by a bit of +chain, or an imitation precious stone, +or Mosaic gold concern. If he wears +studs, they are plain, and have cost +not less at the least than five guineas +the set. Neither does he ever make +a High Sheriff of himself, with chains +dangling over the front of his waistcoat, +or little pistols, seals, or trinketry +appearing below his waistband, +as much as to say, "<i>if you only knew +what a watch I have inside</i>!" Nor does +he sport trumpery rings upon raw-boned +fingers; if he wears rings, you +may depend upon it that they are of +value, that they are sparingly distributed, +and that his hand is not a paw.</p> + +<p>A man of fashion never wears +Woodstock gloves, or gloves with +double stitches, or eighteen-penny +imitation French kids: his gloves, +like himself and every thing about +him, are the real thing. Dressy young +men of fashion sport primrose kids in +the forenoon; and, although they take +care to avoid the appearance of snobbery +by never wearing the same pair +a second day, yet, after all, primrose +kids in the forenoon are not the thing, +not in keeping, not quiet enough: +we therefore denounce primrose kids, +and desire to see no more of them.</p> + +<p>If you are unfortunate enough to +be acquainted with a snob, you need +not put yourself to the unnecessary +expense of purchasing an almanac for +the ensuing year: your friend the +snob will answer that useful purpose +completely to your satisfaction. For +example, on Thursdays and Sundays +he shaves and puts on a clean shirt, +which he exhibits as freely as possible +in honour of the event: Mondays and +Fridays you will know by the vegetating +bristles of his chin, and the +disappearance of the shirt cuffs and +collar. These are replaced on Tuesdays +and Saturdays by supplementary +collar and cuffs, which, being white +and starched, form a pleasing contrast +with that portion of the original <i>chemise</i>, +vainly attempted to be concealed +behind the folds of a three-and-six-penny +stock. Wednesdays and Fridays +you cannot mistake; your friend +is then at the dirtiest, and his beard at +the longest, anticipating the half-weekly +wash and shave: on quarter-day, +when he gets his salary, he goes to a +sixpenny barber and has his hair cut.</p> + +<p>A gentleman, on the contrary, in +addition to his other noble inutilities, +is useless as an almanac. He is never +half shaven nor half shorn: you never +can tell when he has had his hair cut, +nor has he his clean-shirt days, and +his days of foul linen. He is not +merely outwardly <i>propre</i>, but asperges +his cuticle daily with "oriental scrupulosity:" +he is always and ever, in +person, manner, dress, and deportment, +the same, and has never been other +than he now appears.</p> + +<p>You will say, perhaps, this is all +very fine; but give me the money the +man of fashion has got, and I will be +as much a man of fashion as he: I +will wear my clothes with the same +ease, and be as free, unembarrassed, +<i>degagé</i>, as the veriest Bond Street +lounger of them all. Friend, thou +mayest say so, or even think so, but I +defy thee: snobbery, like murder, +will out; and, if you do not happen +to be a gentleman born, we tell you +plainly you will never, by dint of expense +in dress, succeed in "topping +the part."</p> + +<p>We have been for many years +deeply engaged in a philosophical enquiry +into the origin of the peculiar +attributes characteristic of the man of +fashion. A work of such importance, +however, we cannot think of giving +to the world, except in the appropriate +envelope of a ponderous quarto: +just now, by way of whetting the appetite +of expectation, we shall merely +observe, that, after much pondering, +we have at last discovered the secret +of his wearing his garments "with a +difference," or, more properly, with an +indifference, unattainable by others of +the human species. You will conjecture, +haply, that it is because he and +his father before him have been from +childhood accustomed to pay attention +to dress, and that habit has given +them that air which the occasional +dresser can never hope to attain: or +that, having the best <i>artistes</i>, seconded +by that beautiful division of labour of +<a class="pagenum" name="page233" id="page233" title="233"></a>which we have spoken heretofore, he +can attain an evenness of costume, an +undeviating propriety of toggery—not +at all: the whole secret consists +in <i>never paying, nor intending to pay, +his tailor</i>!</p> + +<p>Poor devils, who, under the Mosaic +dispensation, contract for three suits +a-year, the old ones to be returned, +and again made new; or those who, +struck with more than money madness, +go to a tailor, cash in hand, for +the purpose of making an investment, +are always accustomed to consider a +coat as a representative of so much +money, transferred only from the +pocket to the back. Accordingly, +they are continually labouring under +the depression of spirits arising from +a sense of the possible depreciation of +such a valuable property. Visions of +showers of rain, and March dust, perpetually +haunt their morbid imaginations. +Greasy collars, chalky seams, +threadbare cuffs, (three warnings that +the time must come when that tunic, +for which five pounds ten have been +lost to them and their heirs for ever, +will be worth no more than a couple +of shillings to an old-clothesman in +Holywell Street,) fill them, as they +walk along the Strand, with apprehensions +of anticipated expenditure. +They walk circumspectly, lest a baker, +sweep, or hodman, stumbling against +the coat, may deprive its wearer of +what to him represents so much ready +money. These real and imaginary +evils altogether prohibit the proprietor +of a paid-up coat wearing it with +any degree of graceful indifference.</p> + +<p>But when a family of fashion, for +generations, have not only never +thought of paying a tailor, but have +considered taking up bills, which the +too confiding snip has discounted for +them, as decidedly smacking of the +punctilious vulgarity of the tradesman; +thus drawing down upon themselves +the vengeance of that most intolerant +sect of Protestants, the Notaries +Public; when a young man of +fashion, taught from earliest infancy +to regard tailors as a Chancellor of +the Exchequer regards the people at +large, that is to say, as a class of +animals created to be victimized in +every possible way, it is astonishing +what a subtle grace and indescribable +expression are conveyed to coats which +are sent home to you for nothing, or, +what amounts to exactly the same +thing, which you have not the most +remote idea of paying for, <i>in secula +seculorum</i>. So far from caring whether +it rains or snows, or whether the +dust flies, when you have got on one +of these eleemosynary coats, you are +rather pleased than otherwise. There +is a luxury in the idea that on the +morrow you will start fresh game, and +victimize your tailor for another. The +innate cruelty of the human animal is +gratified, and the idea of a tailor's +suffering is never conceived by a customer +without involuntary cachinnation. +Not only is he denied the attribute +of integral manhood—which +even a man-milliner by courtesy enjoys—but +that principle which induces +a few men of enthusiastic temperament +to pay debts, is always held a +fault when applied to the bills of +tailors. And, what is a curious and +instructive fact in the natural history +of London fashionable tailors, and +altogether unnoticed by the Rev. +Leonard Jenyns, in his <i>Manual of +British Vertebrate Animals</i>, if you +go to one of these gentlemen, requesting +him to "execute," and professing +your readiness to pay his bill on demand +or delivery, he will be sure to +give your order to the most scurvy +botch in his establishment, put in the +worst materials, and treat you altogether +as a person utterly unacquainted +with the usages of polite society. But +if, on the contrary, you are recommended +to him by Lord Fly-by-night, +of Denman Priory—if you give a +thundering order, and, instead of offering +to pay for it, pull out a parcel of +bill-stamps, and <i>promise</i> fifty per cent +for a few hundreds down, you will be +surprised to observe what delight will +express itself in the radiant countenance +of your victim: visions of cent +per cent, ghosts of post-obits, dreams +of bonds with penalties, and all those +various shapes in which security delights +to involve the extravagant, rise +flatteringly before the inward eye of +the man of shreds and patches. By +these transactions with the great, he +becomes more and more a man, less +and less a tailor; instead of cutting +patterns and taking measures, he +flings the tailoring to his foreman, +becoming first Lord of the Treasury +and Chancellor of the Exchequer to +peers of the realm.</p> + +<p>With a few more of the less important +distinctive peculiarities of the +gentleman of fashion, we may dismiss +this portion of our subject. A gentleman +<a class="pagenum" name="page234" id="page234" title="234"></a>never affects military air or costume +if he is not a military man, and +even then avoids professional rigidity +and swagger as much as possible; he +never sports spurs or a riding-whip, +except when he is upon horseback, +contrary to the rule observed by his +antagonist the snob, who always sports +spurs and riding-whip, but who never +mounts higher than a threepenny stride +on a Hampstead donkey. Nor does a +gentleman ever wear a <i>moustache</i>, unless +he belongs to one of the regiments +of hussars, or the household cavalry, +who alone are ordered to display that +ornamental exuberance. Foreigners, +military or non-military, are recognized +as wearing hair on the upper +lip with propriety, as is the custom of +their country. But no gentleman +here thinks of such a thing, any more +than he would think of sporting the +uniform of the Tenth Hussars.</p> + +<p>There is an affectation among the +vulgar clever, of wearing the <i>moustache</i>, +which they clip and cut <i>à la +Vandyk</i>: this is useful, as affording a +ready means of distinguishing between +a man of talent and an ass—the former, +trusting to his head, goes clean shaved, +and looks like an Englishman: the +latter, whose strength lies altogether +in his hair, exhausts the power of Macassar +in endeavouring to make himself +as like an ourang-outang as possible.</p> + +<p>Another thing must be observed +by all who would successfully ape the +gentleman: never to smoke cigars in the +street in mid-day. No better sign can +you have than this of a fellow reckless +of decency and behaviour: a gentleman +smokes, if he smokes at all, where he +offends not the olfactories of the passers-by. +Nothing, he is aware, approaches +more nearly the most offensive +personal insult, than to compel +ladies and gentlemen to inhale, after +you, the ejected fragrance of your +penny Cuba or your three-halfpenny +mild Havannah.</p> + +<p>In the cities of Germany, where the +population almost to a man inhale the +fumes of tobacco, street smoking is +very properly prohibited; for however +agreeable may be the sedative influence +of the Virginian weed when inspired +from your own manufactory, +nothing assuredly is more disgusting +than inhalation of tobacco smoke at +second-hand.</p> + +<p>Your undoubted man of fashion, +like other animals, has his peculiar +<i>habitat</i>: you never see him promenading +in Regent Street between the hours +of three and five in the afternoon, nor +by any chance does he venture into +the Quadrant: east of Temple Bar +he is never seen except on business, +and then, never on foot: if he lounges +any where, it is in Bond Street, or +about the clubs of St James's.</p> + +<h3>OF PRETENDERS TO FASHION.</h3> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"Their conversation was altogether made up of Shakspeare, taste, high life and the musical +glasses."—<i>Vicar of Wakefield</i>.</p></div> + +<p>We will venture to assert, that in +the course of these essays on the aristocracies +of London life, we have +never attempted to induce any of our +readers to believe that there was any +cause for him to regret, whatever condition +of life it had pleased Providence +to place him in, or to suppose, for one +moment, that reputable men, though +in widely different circumstances, are +not equally reputable. We have studiously +avoided portraying fashionable +life according to the vulgar +notions, whether depreciatory or +panegyrical. We have shown that +that class is not to be taken and treated +of as an integral quantity, but to +be analyzed as a component body, +wherein is much sterling ore and no +little dross. We have shown by sufficient +examples, that whatever in our +eyes makes the world of fashion really +respectable, is solely owing to the real +worth of its respectable members; and +on the contrary, whatever contempt +we fling upon the fashionable world, +is the result of the misconduct of individuals +of that order, prominently +contemptible.</p> + +<p>Of the former, the example is of infinite +value to society, in refining its +tone, and giving to social life an unembarrassed +ease, which, if not true +politeness, is its true substitute; and, +of the latter, the mischief done to society +is enhanced by the multitude of +low people ready to imitate their +vices, inanities, and follies.</p> + +<p>Pretenders to fashion, who hang +upon the outskirts of fashionable society, +and whose lives are a perpetual +but unavailing struggle to jump above +their proper position, are horrid nuisances; +and they abound, unfortunately, +in London.</p> + +<p>In a republic, where practical equality +<a class="pagenum" name="page235" id="page235" title="235"></a>is understood and acted upon, +this pretension would be intolerable; +in an aristocratic state of society, with +social gradations pointedly defined +and universally recognized, it is merely +ridiculous to the lookers-on; to the +pretenders, it is a source of much and +deserved misery and isolation.</p> + +<p>There are ten thousand varying +shades and degrees of this pretension, +from the truly fashionable people who +hanker after the <i>exclusives</i>, or seventh +heaven of high life, down to the courier +out of place, who, in a pot-house, +retails Debrett by heart, and talks of +lords, and dukes, and earls, as of his +particular acquaintance, and how and +where he met them when on his travels.</p> + +<p>The <i>exclusives</i> are a queer set, some +of them not by any means people of +the best pretensions to lead the <i>ton</i>. +Lady L—— and Lady B—— may be +very well as patronesses of Almack's; +but what do you say to Lady J——, +a plebeian, and a licensed dealer in +money, keeping her shop by deputy +in a lane somewhere behind Cornhill? +Almack's, as every body knows who +has been there, or who has talked with +any observing <i>habitué</i> of the place, +contains a great many queer, spurious +people, smuggled in somehow by +indirect influence, when royal command +is not the least effectual: a +surprizing number of seedy, poverty-stricken +young men, and, in an inverse +ratio, women who have any thing more +than the clothes they wear: yet, by +mere dint of difficulty, by the simple +circumstance of making admission to +this assembly a matter of closeting, +canvassing, balloting, black-balling, +and so forth, people of much better +fashion than many of the exclusives +make it a matter of life and death to +have their admission secured. Admission +to Almack's is to a young <i>débutante</i> +of fashion as great an object as a +seat at the Privy Council Board to a +flourishing politician: your <i>ton</i> is +stamped by it, you are of the exclusive +<i>set</i>, and, by virtue of belonging to that +set, every other is open to you as a +matter of course, when you choose to +condescend to visit it. The room in +which Almack's balls are held we need +not describe, because it has been often +described before, and because the +doorkeeper, any day you choose to +go to Duke Street, St James's, will be +too happy to show it you for sixpence; +but we will give you in his own words, +all the information we could contrive +to get from a man of the highest +fashion, who is a subscriber.</p> + +<p>"Why, I really don't know," said +he, "that I have any thing to tell you +about Almack's, except that all that +the novel-writers say about it is ridiculous +nonsense: the lights are good, +the refreshments not so good, the +music excellent; the women dress +well, dance a good deal, and talk but +little. There is a good deal of envy, +jealousy, and criticism of faces, figures, +fortunes, and pretensions: one, or at +most two, of the balls in a season are +pleasant; the others <i>slow</i> and very +dull. The point of the thing seems to +be, that people of rank choose to like +it because it stamps a set, and low +people talk about it because they +cannot by any possibility know any +thing about it."</p> + +<p>Such is Almack's, of which volumes +have been spun, of most effete and +lamentable trash, to gratify the morbid +appetites of the pretenders to fashion.</p> + +<p>We must not omit to inform our +rural readers, that no conventional +rank gives any one in London a patent +of privilege in truly fashionable +society. An old baronet shall be exclusive, +when a young peer shall +have no fashionable society at all: a +lord is by no means necessarily a man +in what the fashionable sets call good +society: we have many lords who are +not men of fashion, and many men of +fashion who are not lords.</p> + +<p>Professional peers, whether legal, +naval, or military, bishops, judges, +and all that class of men who attain +by talents, interest, and good fortune, +or all, or any of these, a lofty social +position, have no more to do with the +exclusive or merely fashionable sets +than you or I. A man may be a barrister +in full practice to-day, an attorney-general +to-morrow, a chief-justice +the day after with a peerage: yet his +wife and daughter visit the same people, +and are visited by the same people, +that associated with them before. +If men of fashion know them, it is because +they have business to transact +or favours to seek for, or because it +is part of their system to keep up a +qualified intimacy with all whom they +think proper to lift to their own level: +but this intimacy is only extended by +the man of birth to the man of talent. +His family do not become people of +fashion until the third or fourth generation: +he remains the man of business, +<a class="pagenum" name="page236" id="page236" title="236"></a>the useful, working, practical, +brains-carrying man that he was; and +his family, if they are wise, seek not +to become the familiars of the old +aristocracy, and if they are foolish, +become the most unfortunate pretenders +to fashion. They are too near +to be pleasant; and the gulf which +people of hereditary fashion place between +is impassable, even though they +flounder up to their necks in servile +mud.</p> + +<p>It is the same with baronets, M.P.'s, +and all that sort of people. These +handles to men's names go down very +well in the country, where it is imagined +that a baronet or an M.P. is, +<i>ex officio</i>, a man of consequence, and +that, rank being equal, consequence is +also equal. In London, on the contrary, +people laugh at the idea of a +man pluming himself upon such distinctions +without a difference: in town +we have baronets of all sorts—the +"Heathcotes, and such large-acred +men," Sir Watkyn, and the territorial +baronetage: then we have the +Hanmers, and others of undoubted +fashion, to which their patent is the +weakest of their claims: then we +have the military, naval, and medical +baronet: descending, through infinite +gradations, we come down to the +tallow-chandling, the gin-spinning, +the banking, the pastry-cooking baronetage.</p> + +<p>What is there, what can there be, +in common with these widely severed +classes, save that they equally enjoy +<i>Sir</i> at the head and <i>Bart</i>. at the tail +of their sponsorial and patronymic +appellations? Do you think the +landed Bart. knows any more of the +medical Bart. than that, when he sends +for the other to attend his wife, he +calls him generally "doctor," and +seldom Sir James: or that the military +Bart. does not much like the +naval Bart.? and do not all these +incongruous Barts. shudder at the +bare idea of been seen on the same +side of the street with a gin-spinning, +Patent-British-Genuine-Foreign-Cognac +Brandy-making Bart.? and do +not each and every one of these Barts. +from head to tail, even including the +last-mentioned, look down with immeasurable +disdain upon the poor +Nova Scotia baronets, who move heaven +and earth to get permission to +wear a string round their necks, and +a badge like the learned fraternity of +cabmen?</p> + +<p>Then as to the magic capitals +M.P., which provincial people look +upon as embodying in the wearer +the concentrated essence of wisdom, +eloquence, personal distinction, and +social eminence. Who, in a country +town, on a market day, has not seen +tradesmen cocking their eye, apprentices +glowering through the shop +front, and ladies subdolously peeping +behind the window-shutter to catch +a glimpse of the "member for our +town," and, having seen him, think +they are rather happier then they were +before? The greatest fun in the +world is to go to a <i>cul-de-sac</i> off a +dirty lane near Palace Yard, called +Manchester Buildings, a sort of senatorial +pigeon-house, where the meaner +fry of houseless M.P.'s live, each in +his one pair, two pair, three pair, as +the case may be, and give a postman's +knock at every door in rapid succession. +In a twinkling, the "collective +wisdom" of Manchester Buildings and +the Midland Counties poke out their +heads. Cobden appears on the balcony; +Muntz glares out of a second +floor, like a live bear in a barber's +window; Wallace of Greenock comes +to the door in a red nightcap; and a +long "tail" of the other immortals of +a session. You may enjoy the scene +as much as you please; but when you +hear one or two of the young Irish +patriotic "mimbers" floundering from +the attics, the wisest course you can +take will be incontinently to "mizzle." +These men, however, have one redeeming +quality—that they live in Manchester +Buildings, and don't care who +knows it; they are out of fashion, +and don't care who are in; they are +minding their business, and not hanging +at the skirts of people ever ready +and willing to kick them off.</p> + +<p>Then there are the "dandy" +M.P.'s, who ride hack-horses, associate +with fashionable actresses, and +hang about the clubs. Then there is +the chance or accidental M.P., who +has been elected he hardly knows how +or when, and wonders to find himself +in Parliament. Then there is the +desperate, adventuring, ear-wigging +M.P., whose hope of political existence, +and whose very livelihood, depend +upon getting or continuing in +place. Then there is the legal M.P., +with one eye fixed on the Queen's, +the other squinting at the Treasury +Bench. Then there is the lounging +M.P., who is usually the scion of a +<a class="pagenum" name="page237" id="page237" title="237"></a>noble family, and who comes now and +then into the House, to stare vacantly +about, and go out again. Then there +is the military M.P., who finds the +House an agreeable lounge, and does +not care to join his regiment on foreign +service. Then there is the bustling +M.P. of business, the M.P. of business +without bustle, and the independent +country gentleman M.P., who +wants nothing for himself or any +body else, and who does not care a +turnip-top for the whole lot of them.</p> + +<p>The aggregate distinction, as a +member of Parliament, is totally sunk +in London. It is the man, and not +the two letters after his name, that +any body whose regard is worth the +having in the least regard. There are +M.P.s never seen beyond the exclusive +set, except on a committee of the +House, and then they know and speak +to nobody save one of themselves. +There are other M.P.s that you will +find in no society except Tom Spring's +or Owen Swift's, at the Horse-shoe in +Litchborne Street.</p> + +<p>These observations upon baronets +and M.P.s may be extended upwards +to the peerage, and downwards to the +professional, commercial, and all other +the better classes. Every man hangs, +like a herring, by his own tail; and +every class would be distinct and separate, +but that the pretenders to fashion, +like some equivocal animals in the +chain of animated nature, connect +these different classes by copying pertinaciously +the manners, and studying +to adopt the tastes and habits of the +class immediately above them.</p> + +<p>Of pretenders to fashion, perhaps +the most successful in their imitative +art are the</p> + +<p>SHEENIES.—By this term, as used +by men of undoubted <i>ton</i> with reference +to the class we are about to +consider, you are to understand runagate +Jews rolling in riches, who profess +to love roast pork above all things, +who always eat their turkey with +sausages, and who have <i>cut</i> their religion +for the sake of dangling at the +heels of fashionable Christians. These +people are "swelling" upon the profits +of the last generation in St Mary Axe +or Petticoat Lane. The founders of +their families have been loan-manufacturers, +crimps, receivers of stolen +goods, wholesale nigger-dealers, clippers +and sweaters, rag-merchants, and +the like, and conscientious Israelites; +but their children, not having fortitude +to abide by their condition, nor +right principle to adhere to their sect, +come to the west end of the town, and, +by right of their money, make unremitting +assaults upon the loose fish of +fashionable society, who laugh at, and +heartily despise them, while they are +as ashes in the mouths of the respectable +members of the persuasion to +which they originally belonged.</p> + +<p>HEAVY SWELLS are another very +important class of pretenders to fashion, +and are divided into civil and +military. Professional men, we say +it to their honour, seldom affect the +heavy swell, because the feeblest +glimmerings of that rationality of +thinking which results from among +the lowest education, preserves them +from the folly of the attempt, and, in +preserving from folly, saves them from +the self-reproaching misery that attends +it. Men of education or of +common sense, look upon pretension +to birth, rank, or any thing else to +which they have no legitimate claim, +as little more than moral forgery; it +it is with them an uttering base coin +upon false pretences. It is generally +the wives and families of professional +men who are afflicted with pretension +to fashion, of which we shall give +abundant examples when we come to +treat of gentility-mongers. But the +heavy swell, who is of all classes, +from the son and heir of an opulent +blacking-maker down to the lieutenant +of a marching regiment on half-pay, +is utterly destitute of brains, deplorably +illiterate, and therefore incapable, +by nature and bringing-up, of +respecting himself by a modest contented +demeanour. He is never so +unhappy as when he appears the thing +he is—never so completely in his +element as when acting the thing he +is not, nor can ever be. He spends his +life in jumping, like a cat, at shadows +on the wall. He has day and night +dreams of people, who have not the +least idea that such a man is in existence, +and he comes in time, by mere +dint of thinking of nobody else, to +think that he is one of them. He acquaints +himself with the titles of lords, +as other men do those of books, and +then boasts largely of the extent of +his acquaintance.</p> + +<p>Let us suppose that he is an officer +of a hard-fighting, foreign-service, +neglected infantry regiment. This, +which to a soldier would be an honest +pride, is the shame of the Heavy Military +<a class="pagenum" name="page238" id="page238" title="238"></a>Swell. His chief business in life, +next to knowing the names and faces +of lords, is concealing from you the +corps to which he has the dishonour, +he thinks, to belong. He talks mightily +of the service, of hussars and light +dragoons; but when he knows that +you know better, when you poke him +hard about the young or old buffs, or +the dirty half-hundred, he whispers in +your ear that "my fellows," as he +calls them, are very "fast," and that +they are "all known in town, very well +known indeed"—a piece of information +you will construe in the case of +the heavy swell to mean, better known +than trusted.</p> + +<p>When he is on full pay, the heavy +swell is known to the three old women +and five desperate daughters who +compose good society in country quarters. +He affects a patronizing air at +small tea-parties, and is wonderfully +run after by wretched un-idea'd girls, +that is, by ten girls in twelve; he is +eternally striving to get upon the +"staff," or anyhow to shirk his regimental +duty; he is a whelp towards +the men under his command, and has +a grand idea of spurs, steel scabbards, +and flogging; to his superiors he is a +spaniel, to his brother officers an intolerable +ass; he makes the mess-room +a perfect hell with his vanity, puppyism, +and senseless bibble-babble.</p> + +<p>On leave, or half-pay, he "mounts +mustaches," to help the hussar and +light-dragoon idea, or to delude the +ignorant into a belief that he may +possibly belong to the household cavalry. +He hangs about doors of military +clubs, with a whip in his hand; +talks very loud at the "Tiger" or the +"Rag and famish," and never has done +shouting to the waiter to bring him a +"Peerage;" carries the "Red Book" +and "Book of Heraldry" in his pocket; +sees whence people come, and +where they go, and makes them out +somehow; in short, he is regarded +with a thrill of horror by people of +fashion, fast or slow, civil or military.</p> + +<p>The Civil Heavy Swell affects fashionable +curricles, and enjoys all the +consideration a pair of good horses +can give. He rides a blood bay in +Rotten Row, but rides badly, and is +detected by galloping, or some other +solecism; his dress and liveries are +always overdone, the money shows on +every thing about him. He has familiar +abbreviations for the names of all +the fast men about town; calls this +Lord "Jimmy," 'tother Chess, a third +Dolly, and thinks he knows them; +keeps an expensive mistress, because +"Jimmy" and Chess are supposed to +do the same, and when he is out of +the way, his mistress has some of the +fast fellows to supper, at the heavy +swell's expense. He settles the point +whether claret is to be drank from a +jug or black bottle, and retails the +merits of a <i>plateau</i> or <i>epergne</i> he saw, +when last he dined with a "fellow" +in Belgrave Square.</p> + +<p>The <i>Foreigneering</i> Heavy Swell has +much more spirit, talent, and manner, +than the home-grown article; but he +is poor in a like ratio, and is therefore +obliged to feather his nest by +denuding the pigeon tribe of their +metallic plumage. He is familiarly +known to all the fast fellows, who +<i>cut</i> him, however, as soon as they +marry, but is not accounted good <i>ton</i> +by heads of families. He is liked at +the Hells and Clubs, where he has a +knack of distinguishing himself without +presumption or affectation. He +is a dresser by right divine, and +dresses ridiculously. The fashionable +fellows affect loudly to applaud his +taste, and laugh to see the vulgar imitate +the foreigneering swell. He is +the idol of equivocal women, and condescends +to patronize unpresentable +gentility-mongers. He is not unhappy +at heart, like the indigenous +heavy swell, but enjoys his intimacy +with the fast fellows, and uses it.</p> + +<p>There is an infallible test we should +advise you to apply, whenever you +are bored to desperation by any of +these heavy swells. When he talks +of "my friend, the Duke of Bayswater," +ask him, in a quiet tone, +where he last met the <i>Duchess</i>. If he +says Hyde-Park (meaning the Earl +of) is an honest good fellow, enquire +whether he prefers Lady Mary or +Lady Seraphina Serpentine. This +drops him like a shot—he can't get +over it.</p> + +<p>It is a rule in good society that you +know the set only when you know the +women of that set; however you may +work your way among the men, whatever +you may do at the Hells and +Clubs, goes for nothing—the <i>women</i> +stamp you counterfeit or current, +and—</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"Not to know <i>them</i>, argues yourself unknown."</p></div> + + + + +<hr style='width: 100%;' /> +<a class="pagenum" name="page239" id="page239" title="239"></a> +<a name="bw328s8" id="bw328s8"></a><h2>EYRE'S CABUL.</h2> + + +<div class='blkquot'><p>The Military Operations at Cabul, which ended in the Retreat and Destruction of +the British Army, January 1842; with a Journal of Imprisonment in Affghanistan. +By Lieutenant Vincent Eyre, Bengal Artillery, late Deputy-Commissary of Ordnance +at Cabul. London: John Murray.</p></div> + +<p>This is the first connected account +that has appeared of the military disasters +that befell the British army at +Cabul—by far the most signal reverse +our arms have ever sustained in Asia. +The narrative is full of a deep and +painful interest, which becomes more +and more intense as we approach the +closing catastrophe. The simple detail +of the daily occurrences stirs up +our strongest feelings of indignation, +pity; scorn, admiration, horror, and +grief. The tale is told without art, +or any attempt at artificial ornament, +and in a spirit of manly and gentlemanlike +forbearance from angry comment +or invective, that is highly creditable +to the author, and gives us a +very favourable opinion both of his +head and of his heart.</p> + +<p>That a British army of nearly six +thousand fighting men—occupying a +position chosen and fortified by our +own officers, and having possession, +within two miles of this fortified cantonment, +of a strong citadel commanding +the greater part of the town +of Cabul, a small portion only of +whose population rose against us at +the commencement of the revolt—should +not only have made no vigorous +effort to crush the insurrection; +but that it should ultimately have +been driven by an undisciplined Asiatic +mob, destitute of artillery, and +which never appears to have collected +in one place above 10,000 men, to +seek safety in a humiliating capitulation, +by which it surrendered the +greater part of its artillery, military +stores, and treasure, and undertook to +evacuate the whole country on condition +of receiving a safe conduct from +the rebel chiefs, on whose faith they +placed, and could place, no reliance; +and finally, that, of about 4500 armed +soldiers and twelve thousand camp-followers, +many of whom were also +armed, who set out from Cabul, only +one man, and he wounded, should +have arrived at Jellalabad; is an amount +of misfortune so far exceeding every +rational anticipation of evil, that we +should have been entitled to assume +that these unparalleled military disasters +arose from a series of unparalleled +errors, even if we had not had, +as we now have, the authority of Lord +Ellenborough for asserting the fact.</p> + +<p>But every nation, and more particularly +the British nation, is little inclined +to pardon the men under whose +command any portion of its army or +of its navy may have been beaten. +Great Britain, reposing entire confidence +in the courage of her men, and +little accustomed to see them overthrown, +is keenly jealous of the reputation +of her forces; and, as she is ever +prompt to reward military excellence +and success, she heaps unmeasured +obloquy on those who may have subjected +her to the degradation of defeat. +When our forces have encountered +a reverse, or even when the success +has not been commensurate with +the hopes that had been indulged; the +public mind has ever been prone to +condemn the commanders; and wherever +there has been reason to believe +that errors have been committed +which have led to disaster, there has +been little disposition to make any +allowances for the circumstances of +the case, or for the fallibility of man; +but, on the contrary, the nation has too +often evinced a fierce desire to punish +the leaders for the mortification the +country has been made to endure.</p> + +<p>This feeling may tend to elevate +the standard of military character, +but it must at the same time preclude +the probability of calm or impartial +examination, so far as the great body +of the nation is concerned; and it is +therefore the more obviously incumbent +on those who, from a more intimate +knowledge of the facts, or from +habits of more deliberate investigation, +are not carried away by the tide +of popular indignation and invective, +to weigh the circumstances with +conscientious caution, and to await +the result of judicial enquiry before +they venture to apportion the blame +or even to estimate its amount.</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"The following notes," says Lieutenant +Eyre in his preface, "were penned to relieve +<a class="pagenum" name="page240" id="page240" title="240"></a>the monotony of an Affghan prison, +while yet the events which they record +continued fresh in my memory. I now +give them publicity, in the belief that the +information which they contain on the +dreadful scenes lately enacted in Affghanistan, +though clothed in a homely garb, +will scarcely fail to be acceptable to many +of my countrymen, both in India and England, +who may be ignorant of the chief +particulars. The time, from the 2d November +1841, on which day the sudden +popular outbreak at Cabul took place, to +the 13th January 1842, which witnessed +the annihilation of the last small remnant +of our unhappy force at Gundamuk, was +one continued tragedy. The massacre of +Sir Alexander Burnes and his associates,—the +loss of our commissariat fort—the +defeat of our troops under Brigadier +Shelton at Beymaroo—the treacherous +assassination of Sir William Macnaghten, +our envoy and minister—and lastly, the +disastrous retreat and utter destruction of +a force consisting of 5000 fighting men +and upwards of 12,000 camp-followers,—are +events which will assuredly rouse +the British Lion from his repose, and excite +an indignant spirit of enquiry in every +breast. Men will not be satisfied, in this +case, with a bare statement of the facts, +but they will doubtless require to be made +acquainted with the causes which brought +about such awful effects. We have lost +six entire regiments of infantry, three +companies of sappers, a troop of European +horse-artillery, half the mountain-train +battery, nearly a whole regiment of +regular cavalry, and four squadrons of +irregular horse, besides a well-stocked +magazine, which <i>alone</i>, taking into consideration +the cost of transport up to Cabul, +may be estimated at nearly a million sterling. +From first to last, not less than 104 +British officers have fallen: their names +will be found in the Appendix. I glance +but slightly at the <i>political</i> events of this +period, not having been one of the initiated; +and I do not pretend to enter into +<i>minute</i> particulars with regard to even +our <i>military</i> transactions, more especially +those not immediately connected with the +sad catastrophe which it has been my ill +fortune to witness, and whereof I now +endeavour to portray the leading features. +In these notes I have been careful to state +only what I know to be undeniable facts. +I have set down nothing on mere hearsay +evidence, nor any thing which cannot be +attested by living witnesses or by existing +documentary evidence. In treating of +matters which occurred under my personal +observation, it has been difficult to avoid +<i>altogether</i> the occasional expression of my +own individual opinion: but I hope it will +be found that I have made no observations +bearing hard on men or measures, that +are either uncalled for, or will not stand +the test of future investigation."</p></div> + +<p>After the surrender of Dost Mahomed +Khan, there remained in Affghanistan +no chief who possessed a +dominant power or influence that +made him formidable to the government +of Shah Shoojah, or to his English +allies; and the kingdom of Cabul +seemed to be gradually, though slowly, +subsiding into comparative tranquillity. +In the summer of the year +1841, the authority of the sovereign +appears to have been acknowledged +in almost every part of his dominions. +A partial revolt of the Giljyes was +speedily suppressed by our troops. +The Kohistan, or more correctly, +Koohdaman of Cabul, a mountainous +tract, inhabited by a warlike people, +over whom the authority of the governments +of the country had long +been imperfect and precarious, had +submitted, or had ceased to resist. A +detachment from the British force at +Kandahar, after defeating Akter +Khan, who had been instigated by the +Vezeer of Herat to rebel, swept the +country of Zemindawer, drove Akter +Khan a fugitive to Herat, received +the submission of all the chiefs in that +part of the kingdom, and secured the +persons of such as it was not thought +prudent to leave at large in those districts.</p> + +<p>The Shah's authority was not believed +to be so firmly established, that +both Sir William Macnaghten, the +British envoy at Cabul, who had recently +been appointed governor of +Bombay, and Sir Alexander Burnes, +on whom the duties of the envoy would +have devolved on Sir W. Macnaghten's +departure, thought that the time +had arrived when the amount of the +British force in Affghanistan, which +was so heavy a charge upon the revenues +of India, might with safety be +reduced, and General Sale's brigade +was ordered to hold itself in readiness +to march to Jellalabad, on its route to +India.</p> + +<p>Even at this time, however, Major +Pottinger, the political agent in Kohistan, +including, we presume, the +Koohdaman, thought the force at his +disposal too small to maintain the +tranquillity of the district; and the +chiefs of the valley of Nijrow, or Nijrab, +a valley of Kohistan Proper, had +not only refused to submit, but had +<a class="pagenum" name="page241" id="page241" title="241"></a>harboured the restless and disaffected +who had made themselves obnoxious +to the Shah's government. But although +Major Pottinger had no confidence +in the good feelings of the +people of his own district to the government, +and even seems to have anticipated +insurrection, no movement +of that description had yet taken place.</p> + +<p>Early in September, however, Captain +Hay, who was with a small force +in the Zoormut valley, situated nearly +west from Ghuznee and south from +Cabul, having been induced by the +representations of Moollah Momin—the +collector of the revenues, who was +a Barikzye, and a near relation of one +of the leaders of the insurrection, in +which he afterwards himself took an +active part—to move against a fort in +which the murderers of Colonel Herring +were said to have taken shelter, +the inhabitants resisted his demands, +and fired upon the troops. His force +was found insufficient to reduce it, +and he was obliged to retire; a stronger +force was therefore sent, on the +approach of which the people fled to +the hills, and the forts they had evacuated +were blown up. This occurrence +was not calculated seriously to +disturb the confident hopes that were +entertained of the permanent tranquillity +of the country; but before +the force employed upon that expedition +had returned to Cabul, a formidable +insurrection had broken out in +another quarter.</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"Early in October," says Lieutenant +Eyre, "three Giljye chiefs of note suddenly +quitted Cabul, after plundering a +rich cafila at Tezeen, and took up a +strong position in the difficult defile of +Khoord-Cabul, about ten miles from the +capital, thus blocking up the pass, and +cutting off our communication with Hindostan. +Intelligence had not very long +previously been received that Mahomed +Akber Khan, second son of the ex-ruler +Dost Mahomed Khan, had arrived at +Bameean from Khooloom, for the supposed +purpose of carrying on intrigues against +the Government. It is remarkable that he +is nearly connected by marriage with Mahomed +Shah Khan and Dost Mahomed +Khan, also Giljyes, who almost immediately +joined the above-mentioned chiefs. +Mahomed Akber had, since the deposition +of his father, never ceased to foster feelings +of intense hatred towards the English +nation; and, though often urged by the +fallen ruler to deliver himself up, had resolutely +preferred the life of a houseless exile +to one of mean dependence on the bounty +of his enemies. It seems, therefore, in +the highest degree probable that this hostile +movement on the part of the Eastern +Giljyes was the result of his influence over +them, combined with other causes which +will be hereafter mentioned."</p></div> + +<p>The other causes here alluded to, +appear to be "the deep offence given +to the Giljyes by the ill-advised reduction +of their annual stipends, a +measure which had been forced upon +Sir William Macnaghten by Lord +Auckland. This they considered, and +with some show of justice, as a breach +of faith on the part of our Government."</p> + +<p>We presume that it is not Mr +Eyre's intention to assert that this +particular measure was ordered by +Lord Auckland, but merely that the +rigid economy enforced by his lordship, +led the Envoy to have recourse +to this measure as one of the means by +which the general expenditure might +be diminished.</p> + +<p>Formidable as this revolt of the +Giljyes was found to be, we are led +to suspect that both Sir W. Macnaghten +and Sir A. Burnes were misled, +probably by the Shah's government, +very greatly to underrate its +importance and its danger. The +force under Colonel Monteath,<a id="footnotetag16" name="footnotetag16" href="#footnote16"><sup>16</sup></a> which +in the first instance was sent to suppress +it, was so small that it was not +only unable to penetrate into the +country it was intended to overawe or +to subdue, but it was immediately attacked +in its camp, within ten miles of +Cabul, and lost thirty-five sepoys killed +and wounded.</p> + +<p>Two days afterwards, the 11th +October, General Sale marched from +Cabul with H.M.'s 13th light infantry, +to join Colonel Monteath's +camp at Bootkhak; and the following +morning the whole proceeded to force +the pass of Khoord-Cabul, which was +effected with some loss. The 13th +returned through the pass to Bootkhak, +suffering from the fire of parties +which still lurked among the rocks. +The remainder of the brigade encamped +at Khoord-Cabul, at the further +extremity of the defile. In this +divided position the brigade remained +for some days, and both camps had +<a class="pagenum" name="page242" id="page242" title="242"></a>to sustain night attacks from the +Affghans—"that on the 35th native +infantry being peculiarly disastrous, +from the treachery of the Affghan +horse, who admitted the enemy within +their lines, by which our troops were +exposed to a fire from the least suspected +quarter. Many of our gallant +sepoys, and Lieutenant Jenkins, thus +met their death."</p> + +<p>On the 20th October, General Sale, +having been reinforced, marched to +Khoord-Cabul; "and about the 22d, +the whole force there assembled, with +Captain Macgregor, political agent, +marched to Tezeen, encountering +much determined opposition on the +road."</p> + +<p>"By this time it was too evident +that the whole of the Eastern Giljyes +had risen in one common league +against us." The treacherous proceedings +of their chief or viceroy, Humza +Khan, which had for some time been +suspected, were now discovered, and +he was arrested by order of Shah +Shoojah.</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"It must be remarked," says Lieutenant +Eyre, "that for some time previous to +these overt acts of rebellion, the always +strong and ill-repressed personal dislike +of the Affghans towards Europeans, had +been manifested in a more than usually +open manner in and about Cabul. Officers +had been insulted and attempts made +to assassinate them. Two Europeans had +been murdered, as also several camp-followers; +but these and other signs of the +approaching storm had unfortunately been +passed over as mere ebullitions of private +angry feeling. This incredulity and apathy +is the more to be lamented, as it was pretty +well known that on the occasion of the +<i>shub-khoon</i>, or first night attack on the +35th native infantry at Bootkhak, a large +portion of our assailants consisted of the +armed retainers of the different men of +consequence in Cabul itself, large parties +of whom had been seen proceeding from +the city to the scene of action on the +evening of the attack, and afterwards returning. +Although these men had to pass +either through the heart or round the +skirts of our camp at Seeah Sung, it was +not deemed expedient even to question +them, far less to detain them.</p> + +<p>"On the 26th October, General Sale +started in the direction of Gundamuk, +Captain Macgregor having half-frightened, +half-cajoled the refractory Giljye chiefs +into what proved to have been a most +hollow truce."</p></div> + +<p>On the same day, the 37th native +infantry, three companies of the Shah's +sappers under Captain Walsh, and +three guns of the mountain train under +Lieutenant Green, retraced their steps +towards Cabul, where the sappers, +pushing on, arrived unopposed; but +the rest of the detachment was attacked +on the 2d November—on the +afternoon of which day, Major Griffiths, +who commanded it, received +orders to force his way to Cabul, +where the insurrection had that morning +broken out. His march through +the pass, and from Bootkhak to Cabul, +was one continued conflict; but the +gallantry of his troops, and the excellence +of his own dispositions, enabled +him to carry the whole of his wounded +and baggage safe to the cantonments +at Cabul, where he arrived about three +o'clock on the morning of the 3d +November, followed almost to the +gates by about 3000 Giljyes.</p> + +<p>The causes of the insurrection in +the capital are not yet fully ascertained, +or, if ascertained, they have +not been made public. Lieutenant +Eyre does not attempt to account for +it; but he gives us the following memorandum +of Sir W. Macnaghten's, found, +we presume, amongst his +papers after his death:—</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"The immediate cause of the outbreak +in the capital was a seditious letter addressed +by Abdoollah Khan to several +chiefs of influence at Cabul, stating that it +was the design of the Envoy to seize and +send them all to London! The principal +rebels met on the previous night, and, relying +on the inflammable feelings of the +people of Cabul, they pretended that the +King had issued an order to put all infidels +to death; having previously forged an +order from him for our destruction, by the +common process of washing out the contents +of a genuine paper, with the exception +of the seal, and substituting their own +wicked inventions."</p></div> + +<p>But this invention, though it was +probably one of the means employed +by the conspirators to increase the +number of their associates, can hardly +be admitted to account for the insurrection. +The arrival of Akber Khan +at Bameean, the revolt of the Giljyes, +the previous flight of their chiefs from +Cabul, and the almost simultaneous +attack of our posts in the Koohdaman, +(called by Lieutenant Eyre, Kohistan,) +on the 3d November—the attack of a +party conducting prisoners from Candahar +to Ghuznee—the immediate +<a class="pagenum" name="page243" id="page243" title="243"></a>interruption of every line of communication +with Cabul—and the selection +of the season of the year the +most favourable to the success of the +insurrection, with many other less +important circumstances, combine to +force upon us the opinion, that the +intention to attack the Cabul force, so +soon as it should have become isolated +by the approach of winter, had been +entertained, and the plan of operations +concerted, for some considerable time +before the insurrection broke out. +That many who wished for its success +may have been slow to commit +themselves, is to be presumed, and +that vigorous measures might, if resorted +to on the first day, have suppressed +the revolt, is probable; but +it can hardly be doubted that we must +look far deeper, and further back, for +the causes which united the Affghan +nation against us.</p> + +<p>The will of their chiefs and spiritual +leaders—fanatical zeal, and hatred of +the domination of a race whom they +regarded as infidels—may have been +sufficient to incite the lower orders to +any acts of violence, or even to the +persevering efforts they made to extirpate +the English. In their eyes +the contest would assume the character +of a religious war—of a crusade; +and every man who took up arms in +that cause, would go to battle with +the conviction that, if he should be +slain, his soul would go at once to +paradise, and that, if he slew an enemy +of the faith, he thereby also secured to +himself eternal happiness. But the +chiefs are not so full of faith; and +although we would not altogether exclude +religious antipathy as an incentive, +we may safely assume that something +more immediately affecting their +temporal and personal concerns must +with them, or at least with the large +majority, have been the true motives +of the conspiracy—of their desire to +expel the English from their country. +Nor is it difficult to conceive what +some of these motives may have been. +The former sovereigns of Affghanistan, +even the most firmly-established +and the most vigorous, had no other +means of enforcing their commands, +than by employing the forces of one +part of the nation to make their authority +respected in another; but men +who were jealous of their own independence +as chiefs, were not likely to +aid the sovereign in any attempt to +destroy the substantial power, the +importance, or the independence of +their class; and although a refractory +chief might occasionally, by the aid of +his feudal enemies, be taken or destroyed, +and his property plundered, +his place was filled by a relation, and +the order remained unbroken. The +Affghan chiefs had thus enjoyed, +under their native governments, an +amount of independence which was +incompatible with the system we introduced—supported +as that system +was by our military means. These +men must have seen that their own +power and importance, and even their +security against the caprices of their +sovereign, could not long be preserved—that +they were about to be +subjected as well as governed—to be +deprived of all power to resist the +oppressions of their own government, +because its will was enforced by an +army which had no sympathy with the +nation, and which was therefore ready +to use its formidable strength to compel +unqualified submission to the sovereign's +commands.</p> + +<p>The British army may not have +been employed to enforce any unjust +command—its movements may have +been less, far less, injurious to the +countries through which it passed than +those of an Affghan army would have +been, and its power in the moment of +success may have been far less abused; +but still it gave a strength to the arm +of the sovereign, which was incompatible +with the maintenance of the +pre-existing civil and social institutions +or condition of the country, and +especially of the relative positions of +the sovereign and the noble. In the +measures we adopted to establish the +authority of Shah Shoojah, we attempted +to carry out a system of government +which could only have been +made successful by a total revolution +in the social condition of the people, +and in the relative positions of classes; +and as these revolutions are not effected +in a few years, the attempt failed.<a id="footnotetag17" name="footnotetag17" href="#footnote17"><sup>17</sup></a></p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page244" id="page244" title="244"></a>But if the predominance of our influence +and of our military power, +and the effects of the system we introduced, +tended to depress the chiefs, it +must have still more injuriously affected +or threatened the power of the +priesthood.</p> + +<p>This we believe to have been one +of the primary and most essential +causes of the revolt—this it was that +made the insurrection spread with such +rapidity, and that finally united the +whole nation against us. With the aristocracy +and the hierarchy of the country, +it must have been but a question +of courage and of means—a calculation +of the probability of success; and +as that probability was greatly increased +by the results of the first +movement at Cabul, and by the inertness +of our army after the first outbreak, +all acquired courage enough to +aid in doing what all had previously +desired to see done.</p> + +<p>But if there be any justice in this +view of the state of feeling in Affghanistan, +even in the moments of its +greatest tranquillity, it is difficult to +account for the confidence with which +the political authorities charged with +the management of our affairs in that +country looked to the future, and the +indifference with which they appear +to have regarded what now must appear +to every one else to have been +very significant, and even alarming, +intimations of dissaffection in Cabul, +and hostility in the neighbouring +districts.</p> + +<p>But it is time we should return to +Lieutenant Eyre, whose narrative of +facts is infinitely more attractive than +any speculations we could offer.</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"At an early hour this morning, (2d +November 1841,) the startling intelligence +was brought from the city, that a +popular outbreak had taken place; that +the shops were all closed; and that a general +attack had been made on the houses +of all British officers residing in Cabul. +About 8 A.M., a hurried note was received +by the Envoy in cantonments from Sir Alexander +Burnes, stating that the minds of the +people had been strongly excited by some +mischievous reports, but expressing a hope +that he should succeed in quelling the +commotion. About 9 A.M., however, +a rumour was circulated, which afterwards +proved but too well founded, that Sir +Alexander had been murdered, and Captain +Johnson's treasury plundered. Flames +were now seen to issue from that part of +the city where they dwelt, and it was too +apparent that the endeavour to appease +the people by quiet means had failed, and +that it would be necessary to have recourse +to stronger measures. The report of firearms +was incessant, and seemed to extend +through the town from end to end.</p> + +<p>"Sir William Macnaghten now called +upon General Elphinstone to act. An +order was accordingly sent to Brigadier +Shelton, then encamped at Seeah Sung, +about a mile and a half distant from cantonments, +to march forthwith to the <i>Bala +Hissar</i>, or <i>royal citadel</i>, where his Majesty +Shah Shoojah resided, commanding a +large portion of the city, with the following +troops:—viz. one company of H.M. +44th foot; a wing of the 54th regiment +native infantry, under Major Ewart; the +6th regiment Shah's infantry, under Captain +Hopkins; and four horse-artillery +guns, under Captain Nicholl; and on arrival +there, to act according to his own +judgment, after consulting with the King.</p> + +<p>"The remainder of the troops encamped +at Seeah Sung were at the same +time ordered into cantonments: viz. H.M. +44th foot, under Lieutenant-Colonel Mackerell; +two horse-artillery guns, under +Lieutenant Waller; and Anderson's irregular +horse. A messenger was likewise +dispatched to recall the 37th native infantry +from Khoord-Cabul without delay. +The troops at this time in cantonments +were as follows: viz. 5th regiment native +infantry, under Lieutenant-Colonel Oliver; +a wing of 54th native infantry; five six-pounder +field guns, with a detachment of +the Shah's artillery, under Lieutenant +Warburton; the Envoy's body-guard; a +troop of Skinner's horse, and another of +local horse, under Lieutenant Walker; +three companies of the Shah's sappers, +under Captain Walsh; and about twenty +men of the Company's sappers, attached to +Captain Paton, assistant-quartermaster-general.</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page245" id="page245" title="245"></a>"Widely spread and formidable as this +insurrection proved to be afterwards, it +was at first a mere insignificant ebullition +of discontent on the part of a few desperate +and restless men, which military +energy and promptitude ought to have +crushed in the bud. Its commencement +was an attack by certainly not 300 men on +the dwellings of Sir Alexander Burnes and +Captain Johnson, paymaster to the Shah's +force; and so little did Sir Alexander +himself apprehend serious consequences, +that he not only refused, on its first breaking +out, to comply with the earnest entreaties +of the wuzeer to accompany him to +the Bala Hissar, but actually forbade his +guard to fire on the assailants, attempting +to check what he supposed to be a mere +riot, by haranguing the attacking party +from the gallery of his house. The result +was fatal to himself; for in spite of the +devoted gallantry of the sepoys, who composed +his guard, and that of the paymaster's +office and treasury on the opposite +side of the street, who yielded their trust +only with their latest breath, the latter +were plundered, and his two companions, +Lieutenant William Broadfoot of the Bengal +European regiment, and his brother, +Lieutenant Burnes of the Bombay army, +were massacred, in common with every +man, woman, and child found on the premises, +by these bloodthirsty miscreants. +Lieutenant Broadfoot killed five or six +men with his own hand, before he was +shot down.</p> + +<p>"The King, who was in the Bala Hissar, +being somewhat startled by the increasing +number of the rioters, although not at +the time aware, so far as we can judge, of +the assassination of Sir A. Burnes, dispatched +one of his sons with a number of +his immediate Affghan retainers, and that +corps of Hindoostanees commonly called +Campbell's regiment, with two guns, to +restore order: no support, however, was +rendered to these by our troops, whose +leaders appeared so thunderstruck by the +intelligence of the outbreak, as to be incapable +of adopting more than the most +puerile defensive measures. Even Sir +William Macnaghten seemed, from a note +received at this time from him by Captain +Trevor, to apprehend little danger, as he +therein expressed his perfect confidence +as to the speedy and complete success of +Campbell's Hindoostanees in putting an end +to the disturbance. Such, however, was +not the case; for the enemy, encouraged +by our inaction, increased rapidly in spirit +and numbers, and drove back the King's +guard with great slaughter, the guns being +with difficulty saved.</p> + +<p>"It must be understood that Captain +Trevor lived at this time with his family +in a strong <i>bourge</i> or tower, situated by +the river side, near the Kuzzilbash quarter, +which, on the west, is wholly distinct +from the remainder of the city. Within +musket-shot, on the opposite side of the +river, in the direction of the strong and +populous village of Deh Affghan, is a fort +of some size, then used as a godown, or +storehouse, by the Shah's commissariat, +part of it being occupied by Brigadier +Anquetil, commanding the Shah's force. +Close to this fort, divided by a narrow +watercourse, was the house of Captain +Troup, brigade-major of the Shah's force, +perfectly defensible against musketry. +Both Brigadier Anquetil and Captain +Troup had gone out on horseback early +in the morning towards cantonments, and +were unable to return; but the above fort +and house contained the usual guard of +sepoys; and in a garden close at hand, +called the <i>Yaboo-Khaneh</i>, or lines of the +baggage-cattle, was a small detachment of +the Shah's sappers and miners, and a party +of Captain Ferris's juzailchees. Captain +Trevor's tower was capable of being made +good against a much stronger force than +the rebels at this present time could have +collected, had it been properly garrisoned.</p> + +<p>"As it was, the Hazirbash,<a id="footnotetag18" name="footnotetag18" href="#footnote18"><sup>18</sup></a> or King's lifeguards, +were, under Captain Trevor, congregated +round their leader, to protect +him and his family; which duty, it will +be seen, they well performed under very +trying circumstances. For what took place +in this quarter I beg to refer to a communication +made to me at my request by +Captain Colin Mackenzie,<a id="footnotetag19" name="footnotetag19" href="#footnote19"><sup>19</sup></a> assistant political +agent at Peshawur, who then occupied +the godown portion of the fort above mentioned, +which will be found hereafter.<a id="footnotetag20" name="footnotetag20" href="#footnote20"><sup>20</sup></a></p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" name="page246" id="page246" title="246"></a>"I have already stated that Brigadier +Shelton was, early in the day, directed to +proceed with part of the Seeah Sung +force to occupy the Bala Hissar, and, if +requisite, to lead his troops against the +insurgents. Captain Lawrence, military +secretary to the Envoy, was at the same +time sent forward to prepare the King for +that officer's reception. Taking with him +four troopers of the body-guard, he was +galloping along the main road, when, +shortly after crossing the river, he was +suddenly attacked by an Affghan, who, +rushing from behind a wall, made a desperate +cut at him with a large two-handed +knife. He dexterously avoided the blow +by spurring his horse on one side; but, +passing onwards, he was fired upon by +about fifty men, who, having seen his approach, +ran out from the Lahore gate of +the city to intercept him. He reached +the Bala Hissar safe, where he found the +King apparently in a state of great agitation, +he having witnessed the assault from +the window of his palace. His Majesty +expressed an eager desire to conform to +the Envoy's wishes in all respects in this +emergency.</p> + +<p>"Captain Lawrence was still conferring +with the King, when Lieutenant Sturt, our +executive engineer, rushed into the palace, +stabbed in three places about the face and +neck. He had been sent by Brigadier +Shelton to make arrangements for the +accommodation of the troops, and had +reached the gate of the <i>Dewan Khaneh</i>, +or hall of audience, when the attempt at +his life was made by some one who had +concealed himself there for that purpose, +and who immediately effected his escape. +The wounds were fortunately not dangerous, +and Lieutenant Sturt was conveyed +back to cantonments in the King's own +palanquin, under a strong escort. Soon +after this Brigadier Shelton's force arrived; +but the day was suffered to pass +without any thing being done demonstrative +of British energy and power. The +murder of our countrymen, and the spoliation +of public and private property, was +perpetrated with impunity within a mile +of our cantonment, and under the very +walls of the Bala Hissar.</p> + +<p>"Such an exhibition on our part taught +the enemy their strength—confirmed +against us those who, however disposed +to join in the rebellion, had hitherto kept +aloof from prudential motives, and ultimately +encouraged the nation to unite as +one man for our destruction.</p> + +<p>"It was, in fact, the crisis of all others +calculated to test the qualities of a military +commander. Whilst, however, it is +impossible for an unprejudiced person to +approve the military dispositions of this +eventful period, it is equally our duty to +discriminate. The most <i>responsible</i> party +is not always the most culpable. It would +be the height of injustice to a most amiable +and gallant officer not to notice the +long course of painful and wearing illness, +which had materially affected the nerves, +and probably even the intellect, of General +Elphinstone; cruelly incapacitating him, +so far as he was personally concerned, +from acting in this sudden emergency with +the promptitude and vigour necessary for +our preservation.</p> + +<p>"Unhappily, Sir William Macnaghten +at first made light of the insurrection, +and, by his representations as to the general +feeling of the people towards us, +not only deluded himself, but misled the +General in council. The unwelcome truth +was soon forced upon us, that in the whole +Affghan nation we could not reckon on a +single friend.</p> + +<p>"But though no active measures of aggression +were taken, all necessary preparations +were made to secure the cantonment +against attack. It fell to my own +lot to place every available gun in position +round the works. Besides the guns already +mentioned, we had in the magazine +6 nine-pounder iron guns, 3 twenty-four +pounder howitzers, 1 twelve-pounder ditto, +and 3 5½-inch mortars; but the detail of +artillerymen fell very short of what was +required to man all these efficiently, consisting +of only 80 Punjabees belonging to +the Shah, under Lieutenant Warburton, +very insufficiently instructed, and of doubtful +fidelity."</p></div> + +<p>The fortified cantonment occupied +by the British troops was a quadrangle +of 1000 yards long by 600 broad, +with round flanking bastions at each +corner, every one of which was commanded +by some fort or hill. To one +end of this work was attached the +Mission compound and enclosure, +about half as large as the cantonment, +surrounded by a simple wall. This +space required to be defended in time +of war, and it rendered the whole of +one face of the cantonment nugatory +for purposes of defence. The profile +of the works themselves was weak, +being in fact an ordinary field-work. +But the most strange and unaccountable +circumstance recorded by Lieutenant +Eyre respecting these military arrangements, +is certainly the fact, that +the commissariat stores, containing +whatever the army possessed of food +or clothing, was not within the circuit +of these fortified cantonments, but in +a detached and weak fort, the gate of +<a class="pagenum" name="page247" id="page247" title="247"></a>which was commanded by another +building at a short distance. Our author +thus sums up his observations on +these cantonments:—</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"In fact, we were so hemmed in on all +sides, that, when the rebellion became +general, the troops could not move out a +dozen paces from either gate without being +exposed to the fire of some neighbouring +hostile fort, garrisoned, too, by marksmen +who seldom missed their aim. The +country around us was likewise full of impediments +to the movements of artillery +and cavalry, being in many places flooded, +and every where closely intersected by +deep water-cuts.</p> + +<p>"I cannot help adding, in conclusion, +that almost all the calamities that befell +our ill-starred force may be traced more +or less to the defects of our position; and +that our cantonment at Cabul, whether we +look to its situation or its construction, +must ever be spoken of as a disgrace to +our military skill and judgment."</p></div> + +<p><i>Nov</i>. 3.—The 37th native infantry +arrived in cantonments, as previously +stated.</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"Early in the afternoon, a detachment +under Major Swayne, consisting of two +companies 5th native infantry, one of +H.M. 44th, and two H.A. guns under +Lieutenant Waller, proceeded out of the +western gate towards the city, to effect, if +possible, a junction at the Lahore gate +with a part of Brigadier Shelton's force +from the Bala Hissar. They drove back +and defeated a party of the enemy who +occupied the road near the Shah Bagh, +but had to encounter a sharp fire from the +Kohistan gate of the city, and from the +walls of various enclosures, behind which +a number of marksmen had concealed +themselves, as also from the fort of Mahmood +Khan, commanding the road along +which they had to pass. Lieutenant Waller +and several sepoys were wounded. Major +Swayne, observing the whole line of road +towards the Lahore gate strongly occupied +by some Affghan horse and juzailchees, +and fearing that he would be unable to +effect the object in view with so small a +force unsupported by cavalry, retired into +cantonments. Shortly after this, a large +body of the rebels having issued from the +fort of Mahmood Khan, 900 yards southeast +of cantonments, extended themselves +in a line along the bank of the river, displaying +a flag; an iron nine-pounder was +brought to bear on them from our southeast +bastion, and a round or two of shrapnell +caused them to seek shelter behind +some neighbouring banks, whence, after +some desultory firing on both sides, they +retired.</p> + +<p>"Whatever hopes may have been entertained, +up to this period, of a speedy +termination to the insurrection, they began +now to wax fainter every hour, and an +order was dispatched to the officer +commanding at Candahar to lose no time in +sending to our assistance the 16th and +43d regiments native infantry, (which +were under orders for India,) together +with a troop of horse-artillery and half a +regiment of cavalry; an order was likewise +sent off to recall General Sale with +his brigade from Gundamuk. Captain +John Conolly, political assistant to the +Envoy, went into the Bala Hissar early +this morning, to remain with the King, +and to render every assistance in his power +to Brigadier Shelton."</p></div> + +<p>On this day Lieutenants Maule and +Wheeler were murdered at Kahdarrah +in Koohdaman; the Kohistan regiment +of Affghans which they commanded, +offering no resistance to the +rebels. The two officers defended +themselves resolutely for some time, +but fell under the fire of the enemy. +Lieutenant Maule had been warned of +his danger by a friendly native, but +refused to desert his post.</p> + +<p>On this day also Lieutenant Rattray, +Major Pottinger's assistant, was +treacherously murdered at Lughmanee, +during a conference to which +he had been invited, and within sight +of the small fort in which these two +gentlemen resided. This act was followed +by a general insurrection in +Kohistan and Koohdaman, which terminated +in the destruction of the Goorkha +regiment at Charikar, and the +slaughter of all the Europeans in that +district except Major Pottinger and +Lieutenant Haughton, both severely +wounded, who, with one sepoy and +one or two followers, succeeded in +eluding the vigilance of the Affghan +parties, who were patrolling the roads +for the purpose of intercepting them, +and at length arrived in cantonments, +having actually passed at night +through the town and bazars of Cabul. +For the details of this interesting +and afflicting episode in Mr Eyre's +narrative, we must refer our readers +to the work itself. Major Pottinger +appears on this occasion to have exhibited +the same high courage and +promptitude and vigour in action, +and the same resources in difficulty, +that made him conspicuous at Herat, +and Lieutenant Haughton was no unworthy +companion of such a man.</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p><a class="pagenum" name="page248" id="page248" title="248"></a>"<i>November</i> 4.—The enemy having taken +strong possession of the <i>Shah Bagh</i>, or +King's Garden, and thrown a garrison +into the fort of Mahomed Shereef, +nearly opposite the bazar, effectually prevented +any communication between the +cantonment and commissariat fort, the +gate of which latter was commanded by +the gate of the Shah Bagh on the other +side of the road.</p> + +<p>"Ensign Warren of the 5th native infantry +at this time occupied the commissariat +fort with 100 men, and having reported +that he was very hard pressed by the +enemy, and in danger of being completely +cut off, the General, either forgetful or +unaware at the moment of the important +fact, that upon the possession of this fort +we were entirely dependent for provisions, +and anxious only to save the lives of men +whom he believed to be in imminent peril, +hastily gave directions that a party under +the command of Captain Swayne, of +H.M.'s 44th regiment, should proceed +immediately to bring off Ensign Warren +and his garrison to cantonments, abandoning +the fort to the enemy. A few minutes +previously an attempt to relieve him +had been made by Ensign Gordon, with a +company of the 37th native infantry and eleven +camels laden with ammunition; but the +party were driven back, and Ensign Gordon +killed. Captain Swayne now accordingly +proceeded towards the spot with two +companies of H.M.'s 44th; scarcely had +they issued from cantonments ere a sharp +and destructive fire was poured upon +them from Mahomed Shereef's fort +which, as they proceeded, was taken up +by the marksmen in the Shah Bagh, under +whose deadly aim both officers and men +suffered severely; Captains Swayne and +Robinson of the 44th being killed, and +Lieutenants Hallahan, Evans, and Fortye +wounded in this disastrous business. It +now seemed to the officer, on whom the +command had devolved, impracticable to +bring off Ensign Warren's party without +risking the annihilation of his own, which +had already sustained so rapid and severe +a loss in officers; he therefore returned +forthwith to cantonments. In the course +of the evening another attempt was made +by a party of the 5th light cavalry; but +they encountered so severe a fire from the +neighbouring enclosures as obliged them +to return without effecting their desired +object, with the loss of eight troopers +killed and fourteen badly wounded. Captain +Boyd, the assistant commissary-general, +having meanwhile been made acquainted +with the General's intention to +give up the fort, hastened to lay before +him the disastrous consequences that +would ensue from so doing. He stated +that the place contained, besides large +supplies of wheat and attah, all his stores +of rum, medicine, clothing, &c., the value +of which might be estimated at four lacs +of rupees; that to abandon such valuable +property would not only expose the force +to the immediate want of the necessaries +of life, but would infallibly inspire the +enemy with tenfold courage. He added +that we had not above two days' supply +of provisions in cantonments, and that +neither himself nor Captain Johnson of +the Shah's commissariat had any prospect +of procuring them elsewhere under existing +circumstances. In consequence of +this strong representation on the part of +Captain Boyd, the General sent immediate +orders to Ensign Warren to hold out the +fort to the last extremity. (Ensign Warren, +it must be remarked, denied having +received this note.) Early in the night a +letter was received from him to the effect +that he believed the enemy were busily +engaged in mining one of the towers, and +that such was the alarm among the sepoys +that several of them had actually made +their escape over the wall to cantonments; +that the enemy were making preparations +to burn down the gate; and +that, considering the temper of his men, +he did not expect to be able to hold out +many hours longer, unless reinforced without +delay. In reply to this he was informed +that he would be reinforced by +two A.M.</p> + +<p>"At about nine o'clock P.M., there was +an assembly of staff and other officers at +the General's house, when the Envoy +came in and expressed his serious conviction, +that unless Mahomed Shereef's fort +were taken that very night, we should lose +the commissariat fort, or at all events be +unable to bring out of it provisions for the +troops. The disaster of the morning rendered +the General extremely unwilling to +expose his officers and men to any similar +peril; but, on the other hand, it was +urged that the darkness of the night +would nullify the enemy's fire, who would +also most likely be taken unawares, as it +was not the custom of the Affghans to +maintain a very strict watch at night. A +man in Captain Johnson's employ was +accordingly sent out to reconnoitre the +place. He returned in a few minutes +with the intelligence that about twenty +men were seated outside the fort near the +gate, smoking and talking; and, from what +he overheard of their conversation, he +judged the garrison to be very small, and +unable to resist a sudden onset. The debate +was now resumed, but another hour +passed and the General could not make up +his mind. A second spy was dispatched, +whose report tended to corroborate what +<a class="pagenum" name="page249" id="page249" title="249"></a>the first had said. I was then sent to +Lieutenant Sturt, the engineer, who was +nearly recovered from his wounds, for his +opinion. He at first expressed himself +in favour of an immediate attack, but, on +hearing that some of the enemy were on +the watch at the gate, he judged it prudent +to defer the assault till an early hour +in the morning: this decided the General, +though not before several hours had slipped +away in fruitless discussion.</p> + +<p>"Orders were at last given for a detachment +to be in readiness at four A.M. +at the Kohistan gate; and Captain Bellew, +deputy-assistant quartermaster-general, +volunteered to blow open the gate; +another party of H.M.'s 44th were at the +same time to issue by a cut in the south +face of the rampart, and march simultaneously +towards the commissariat fort, to +reinforce the garrison. Morning had, +however, well dawned ere the men could +be got under arms; and they were on the +point of marching off, when it was reported +that Ensign Warren had just arrived +in cantonments with his garrison, +having evacuated the fort. It seems that +the enemy had actually set fire to the gate; +and Ensign Warren, seeing no prospect +of a reinforcement, and expecting the +enemy every moment to rush in, led out +his men by a hole which he had prepared +in the wall. Being called upon in a public +letter from the assistant adjutant-general +to state his reasons for abandoning +his post, he replied that he was ready to +do so before a court of enquiry, which he +requested might be assembled to investigate +his conduct; it was not, however, +deemed expedient to comply with his +request.</p> + +<p>"It is beyond a doubt that our feeble +and ineffectual defence of this fort, and +the valuable booty it yielded, was the first +<i>fatal</i> blow to our supremacy at Cabul, +and at once determined those chiefs—and +more particularly the Kuzzilbashes—who +had hitherto remained neutral, to join in +the general combination to drive us from +the country."</p></div> + +<p>"<i>Nov</i>. 5.—It no sooner became +generally known that the commissariat +fort, upon which we were dependent +for supplies, had been abandoned, +than one universal feeling of indignation +pervaded the garrison. Nor +can I describe," says Lieutenant +Eyre, "the impatience of the troops, +but especially of the native portion, +to be led out for its recapture—a feeling +that was by no means diminished +by seeing the Affghans crossing and +re-crossing the road between the +commissariat fort and the gate of the +<i>Shah Bagh</i>, laden with the provisions +upon which had depended our ability +to make a protracted defence."</p> + +<p>That the whole commissariat should +have been deposited in a detached +fort is extraordinary and inexcusable, +but that the garrison of that fort +should not have been reinforced, is +even more unintelligible; and that +a sufficient force was not at once +sent to succour and protect it when +attacked, is altogether unaccountable. +General Elphinstone was disabled by +his infirmities from efficiently discharging +the duties that had devolved +upon him, but he appears to have +been ready to act upon the suggestion +of others. What then were his staff +about?—some of them are said to have +had little difficulty or delicacy in urging +their own views upon their commander. +Did they not suggest to him +in time the importance, the necessity, +of saving the commissariat at all hazards?</p> + +<p>At the suggestion of Lieutenant +Eyre, it was determined to attempt +the capture of Mahomed Shereef's fort +by blowing open the gate, Mr Eyre +volunteering to keep the road clear +for the storming party with the guns. +"The General agreed; a storming +party under Major Swayne, 6th native +infantry, was ordered; the powder +bags were got ready, and at noon we +issued from the western gate." "For +twenty minutes the guns were worked +under a very sharp fire from the fort;" +but "Major Swayne, instead of rushing +forward with his men as had been +agreed, had in the mean time remained +stationary, under cover of the wall +by the road-side." The General, seeing +that the attempt had failed, recalled +the troops into cantonments.</p> + +<p>"<i>Nov</i>. 6.—It was now determined +to take the fort of Mahomed Shereef by +regular breach and assault." A practicable +breach was effected, and a +storming party composed of one company +H.M. 44th, under Ensign Raban, +one ditto 5th native infantry, under +Lieutenant Deas, and one ditto +37th native infantry, under Lieutenant +Steer, the whole commanded by Major +Griffiths, speedily carried the place. +"Poor Raban was shot through the +heart when conspicuously waving a +flag on the summit of the breach."</p> + +<p>As this fort adjoined the Shah +Bagh, it was deemed advisable to dislodge +<a class="pagenum" name="page250" id="page250" title="250"></a>the enemy from the latter if +possible. This was partially effected, +and, had advantage been taken of the +opportunity to occupy the buildings +of the garden gateway, "immediate +re-possession could have been taken +of the commissariat fort opposite, +which had not yet been emptied of +half its contents."</p> + +<p>In the mean time, our cavalry were +engaged in an affair with the enemy's +horse, in which we appear to have +had the advantage. "The officers +gallantly headed their men, and encountered +about an equal number of +the enemy who advanced to meet +them. A hand-to-hand encounter +took place, which ended in the Affghan +horse retreating to the plain, +leaving the hill in our possession. In +this affair, Captain Anderson personally +engaged and slew the brother in-law +of Abdoolah Khan."</p> + +<p>But the Affghans collected from various +quarters; the juzailchees,<a id="footnotetag21" name="footnotetag21" href="#footnote21"><sup>21</sup></a> under +Captain Mackenzie, were driven +with great loss from the Shah Bagh +which they had entered; and a gun +which had been employed to clear +that enclosure was with difficulty +saved. Our troops having been drawn +up on the plain, remained prepared to +receive an attack from the enemy, +who gradually retired as the night +closed in.</p> + +<p><i>Nov</i>. 8.—An attempt was made by +the enemy to mine a tower of the fort +that had been taken, which they could +not have done had the gate of the +Shah Bagh been occupied. The +chief cause of anxiety now was the +empty state of the granary. Even +with high bribes and liberal payment, +the Envoy could not procure +sufficient for daily consumption. The +plan of the enemy now was to starve +us out, and the chiefs exerted all +their influence to prevent our being +supplied.</p> + +<p><i>Nov</i>. 9.—The General's weak +state of health rendered it necessary +to relieve him from the command of +the garrison, and at the earnest request +of the Envoy, Brigadier Shelton +was summoned from the Bala +Hissar, "in the hope that, by heartily +co-operating with the Envoy and +General, he would strengthen their +hands and rouse the sinking confidence +of the troops. He entered +cantonments this morning, bringing +with him one H.A. gun, one mountain-train +ditto, one company H.M.'s +44th, the Shah's 6th infantry, and a +small supply of attah (flour.)"</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"<i>November</i> 10.—Henceforward Brigadier +Shelton bore a conspicuous part in +the drama, upon the issue of which so much +depended. He had, however, from the +very first, seemed to despair of the force +being able to hold out the winter at Cabul, +and strenuously advocated an immediate +retreat to Jellalabad.</p> + +<p>"This sort of despondency proved, unhappily, +very infectious. It soon spread its +baneful influence among the officers, and +was by them communicated to the soldiery. +The number of <i>croakers</i> in garrison became +perfectly frightful, lugubrious looks +and dismal prophecies being encountered +every where. The severe losses sustained +by H.M.'s 44th under Captain Swayne, on +the 4th instant, had very much discouraged +the men of that regiment; and it is a lamentable +fact that some of those European +soldiers, who were naturally expected +to exhibit to their native brethren in arms +an example of endurance and fortitude, +were among the first to loose confidence, +and give vent to feelings of discontent at +the duties imposed on them. The evil +seed, once sprung up, became more and +more difficult to eradicate, showing daily +more and more how completely demoralizing +to the British soldier is the very idea +of a retreat.</p> + +<p>"Sir William Macnaghten and his suite +were altogether opposed to Brigadier +Shelton in this matter, it being in his (the +Envoy's) estimation a duty we owed the +Government to retain our post, at whatsoever +risk. This difference of opinion, +on a question of such vital importance, +was attended with unhappy results, inasmuch +as it deprived the General, in his +hour of need, of the strength which unanimity +imparts, and produced an uncommunicative +and disheartening reserve in +an emergency which demanded the freest +interchange of counsel and ideas."</p></div> + +<p>On the morning of this day, large +parties of the enemy's horse and foot +occupied the heights to the east and +to the west of the cantonments, which, +it was supposed, they intended to assault. +No attack was made; but "on +the eastern quarter, parties of the +enemy, moving down into the plain, +occupied all the forts in that direction. +<a class="pagenum" name="page251" id="page251" title="251"></a>... At this time, not above two +days' provisions remained in garrison; +and it was very clear, that unless the +enemy were quickly driven out from +their new possession, we should soon +be completely hemmed in on all sides." +At the Envoy's urgent desire, he taking +the entire responsibility on himself, +the General ordered a force, under Brigadier +Shelton, to storm the Rikabashee +fort, which was within musket-shot +of the cantonments, and from +which a galling fire had been poured +into the Mission compound by the +Affghans. About noon, the troops +assembled at the eastern gate; a +storming party of two companies +from each regiment taking the lead, +preceded by Captain Bellew, who +hurried forward to blow open the gate—but +missing the gate, he blew open +a small wicket, through which not +more than two or three men could +enter abreast, and these in a stooping +posture. A sharp fire was kept up +from the walls, and many of the bravest +fell in attempting to force their +entrance through the wicket; but +Colonel Mackerell of the 44th, and +Lieutenant Bird of the Shah's 6th +infantry, with a handful of Europeans +and a few sepoys, forced their way +in—the garrison fled through the gate +which was at the opposite side, and +Colonel Mackerell and his little party +closed it, securing the chain with a +bayonet; but, at this moment, some +Affghan horse charged round the +corner—the cry of cavalry was raised—"the +Europeans gave way simultaneously +with the sepoys—a bugler +of the 6th infantry, through mistake, +sounded the retreat—and it became +for a time, a scene of <i>sauve qui peut</i>." +In vain did the officers endeavour to +rally the men, and to lead them back +to the rescue of their commanding-officer +and their comrades; only one +man, private Stewart of the 44th, +listened to the appeal and returned.</p> + +<p>"Let me here (says Lieutenant +Eyre) do Brigadier Shelton justice: +his acknowledged courage redeemed +the day." After great efforts, at last +he rallied them—again advancing to +the attack, again they faltered. A +third time did the Brigadier bring on +his men to the assault, which now +proved successful; but while this disgraceful +scene was passing outside the +fort, the enemy had forced their way +into it, and had cut to pieces Colonel +Mackerell and all his little party, except +Lieutenant Bird, who, with one +sepoy, was found in a barricaded +apartment, where these two brave +men had defended themselves till the +return of the troops, killing above +thirty of the enemy by the fire of +their two muskets.</p> + +<p>Our loss on this occasion was not +less than 200 killed and wounded; +but the results of this success, though +dearly purchased, were important. +Four neighbouring forts were immediately +evacuated by the enemy, and +occupied by our troops: they were +found to contain 1400 maunds of +grain, of which about one-half was +removed into cantonments immediately; +but Brigadier Shelton not having +thought it prudent to place a guard +for the protection of the remainder, it +was carried off during the night by +the Affghans. "Permanent possession +was, however, taken of the Rikabashee +and Zoolfikar forts, and the +towers of the remainder were blown +up on the following day."</p> + +<p>It cannot fail to excite surprise, +that these forts, which do not seem to +have been occupied by the enemy till +the 10th, were not either occupied or +destroyed by the British troops before +that day.</p> + +<p><i>Nov</i>. 13.—The enemy appeared in +great force on the western heights, +where, having posted two guns, they +fired into cantonments with considerable +precision. At the entreaty of +the Envoy, it was determined to attack +them—a force, under Brigadier +Shelton, moved out for that purpose—the +advance, under Major Thain, +ascended the hill with great gallantry; +"but the enemy resolutely stood +their ground at the summit of the +ridge, and unflinchingly received the +discharge of our musketry, which, +strange to say, even at the short +range of ten or twelve yards, did little +or no execution."</p> + +<p>The fire of our guns, however, +threw the Affghans into confusion. +A charge of cavalry drove them up +the hill, and the infantry advancing, +carried the height, the enemy retreating +along the ridge, closely followed +by our troops, and abandoning their +guns to us; but, owing to the misconduct +of the troops, only one of them +was carried away, the men refusing +to advance to drag off the other, +which was therefore spiked by Lieutenant +<a class="pagenum" name="page252" id="page252" title="252"></a>Eyre, with the aid of one artilleryman.</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"This was the last success our arms +were destined to experience. Henceforward +it becomes my weary task to relate +a catalogue of errors, disasters, and difficulties, +which, following close upon each +other, disgusted our officers, disheartened +our soldiers, and finally sunk us all into +irretrievable ruin, as though Heaven itself, +by a combination of evil circumstances, for +its own inscrutable purposes, had planned +our downfall.</p> + +<p>"<i>November 16th</i>.—The impression +made by the enemy by the action of the +13th was so far salutary, that they did not +venture to annoy us again for several days. +Advantage was taken of this respite to +throw magazine supplies from time to time +into the Bala Hissar, a duty which was +ably performed by Lieutenant Walker, +with a resalah of irregular horse, under +cover of night. But even in this short +interval of comparative rest, such was the +wretched construction of the cantonment, +that the mere ordinary routine of garrison +duty, and the necessity of closely manning +our long line of rampart both by day and +night, was a severe trial to the health and +patience of the troops; especially now that +the winter began to show symptoms of +unusual severity. There seemed, indeed, +every probability of an early fall of snow, +to which all looked forward with dread, +as the harbinger of fresh difficulties and of +augmented suffering.</p> + +<p>"These considerations, and the manifest +superiority of the Bala Hissar as a +military position, led to the early discussion +of the expediency of abandoning the +cantonment, and consolidating our forces in +the above-mentioned stronghold. The +Envoy himself was, from the first, greatly +in favour of this move, until overruled by +the many objections urged against it by the +military authorities; to which, as will be +seen by a letter from him presently quoted, +he learned by degrees to attach some +weight himself; but to the very last it was +a measure that had many advocates, and I +venture to state my own firm belief that, +had we at this time moved into the Bala +Hissar, Cabul would have been still in our +possession.</p> + +<p>"But Brigadier Shelton having firmly +set his face against the movement from +the first moment of its proposition, all +serious idea of it was gradually abandoned, +though it continued to the very last a subject +of common discussion."</p></div> + +<p>"<i>Nov</i>. 18. Accounts were this day +received from Jellalabad, that General +Sale, having sallied from the town, +had repulsed the enemy with considerable +loss.... The hope +of his return has tended much to support +our spirits; our disappointment +was therefore great, to learn that all +expectation of aid from that quarter +was at an end. Our eyes were now +turned towards the Kandahar force +as our last resource though an advance +from that quarter seemed +scarcely practicable so late in the +year."</p> + +<p>The propriety of attacking Mahomed +Khan's fort, the possession of +which would have opened an easy +communication with the Bala Hissar, +was discussed; but, on some sudden +objection raised by Lieutenant Sturt +of the engineers, the project was +abandoned.</p> + +<p>On the 19th, a letter was addressed +by the Envoy to the General, the object +of which seems not to be very apparent. +He raises objections to a retreat +either to Jellalabad or to the +Bala Hissar, and expresses a decided +objection to abandon the cantonment +under any circumstances, if food can +be procured; but, nevertheless, it is +sufficiently evident that his hopes of +successful resistance had even now +become feeble, and he refers to the +possibility that succours may arrive +from Kandahar, or that "something +might turn up in our favour."</p> + +<p>The village of Beymaroo, (or Husbandless, +from a beautiful virgin who +was nursed there,) within half a mile +of the cantonments, had been our +chief source of supply, to which the +enemy had in some measure put a +stop by occupying it every morning. +It was therefore determined to endeavour +to anticipate them by taking +possession of it before their arrival. +For this purpose, a party moved out +under Major Swayne of the 5th native +infantry; but the Major, "it would +seem, by his own account, found the +village already occupied, and the entrance +blocked up in such a manner +that he considered it out of his power +to force a passage." It does not appear +that the attempt was made. +Later in the day there was some skirmishing +in the plain, in the course of +which Lieutenant Eyre was wounded.</p> + +<p>"It is worthy of note that Mahomed +Akber Khan, second son of the +late Ameer Dost Mahomed Khan, +arrived in Cabul this night (22d Nov.) +from Bameean. This man was destined +to exercise an evil influence +<a class="pagenum" name="page253" id="page253" title="253"></a>over our future fortunes. The crisis +of our struggle was already nigh at +hand."</p> + +<p>"<i>Nov</i>. 23.—This day decided the +fate of the Cabul force." It had been +determined by a council, at the special +recommendation of the Envoy, that a +force under Brigadier Shelton should +storm the village of Beymaroo, and +maintain the hill above it against any +numbers of the enemy that might appear. +At two A.M., the troops<a id="footnotetag22" name="footnotetag22" href="#footnote22"><sup>22</sup></a> moved +out of cantonments, ascended the hill +by the gorge, dragging up the gun, +and moved along the ridge to a +point overlooking the village. A +sharp fire of grape created great confusion, +and it was suggested by Captain +Bellew and others to General +Shelton, to storm the village, while +the evident panic of the enemy lasted. +To this the Brigadier did not +accede.</p> + +<p>When day broke, the enemy, whose +ammunition had failed, were seen +hurrying from the village—not 40 +men remained. A storming party, +under Majors Swayne and Kershaw, +was ordered to carry the village; but +Major Swayne missed the gate, which +was open, and arrived at a barricaded +wicket, which he had no means of +forcing. Major Swayne was wounded, +and lost some men, and was ultimately +recalled. Leaving a reserve +of three companies of the 37th native +infantry, under Major Kershaw, at +the point overhanging Beymaroo, the +Brigadier moved back with the rest +of the troops and the gun to the part +of the hill which overlooked the gorge. +It was suggested to raise a sungar or +breastwork to protect the troops, for +which purpose the sappers had been +taken out, but it was not done. Immense +numbers of the enemy, issuing +from the city, had now crowned the +opposite hill—in all, probably 10,000 +men. Our skirmishers were kept out +with great difficulty, and chiefly by +the exertions and example of Colonel +Oliver. The remainder of the troops +were formed into two squares, and +the cavalry drawn up <i>en masse</i> immediately +in their rear, and all suffered +severely—the vent of the only +gun became too hot to be served. A +party of cavalry under Lieutenant +Walker was recalled to prevent its +destruction, and a demonstration of +the Affghan cavalry on our right flank, +which had been exposed by the recall +of Lieutenant Walker, was repulsed +by a fire of shrapnell, which mortally +wounded a chief of consequence. The +enemy surrounded the troops on three +sides. The men were faint with fatigue +and thirst—the Affghan skirmishers +pressed on, and our's gave +way. The men could not be got to +charge bayonets. The enemy made +a rush at the guns, the cavalry were +ordered to charge, but would not follow +their officers. The first square +and the cavalry gave way, and were +with difficulty rallied behind the second +square, leaving the gun in the +hands of the enemy, who immediately +carried off the limber and horses. +News of Abdoolah Khan's wound +spread amongst the Affghans, who +now retired. Our men resumed courage, +and regained possession of the +gun; and fresh ammunition having +arrived from cantonments, it again +opened on the enemy: but our cavalry +would not act, and the infantry were +too much exhausted and disheartened +to make a forward movement, and too +few in number. The whole force of +the enemy came on with renewed +vigour—the front of the advanced +square had been literally mowed down, +and most of the gallant artillerymen +had fallen. The gun was scarcely +limbered up preparatory to retreat, +when a rush from the Ghazees broke +the first square. All order was at an +end, the entreaties and commands of +the officers were unheeded, and an +utter rout ensued down the hill towards +the cantonments, the enemy's +cavalry making a fearful slaughter +among the unresisting fugitives. The +retreat of Major Kershaw's party was +cut off, and his men were nearly all +destroyed. The mingled tide of flight +and pursuit seemed to be about to +enter the cantonments together; but +the pursuers were checked by the fire +of the Shah's 5th infantry and the juzailchees, +and by a charge of a fresh +troop of cavalry under Lieutenant +Hardyman, and fifteen or twenty of +his own men rallied by Lieutenant +Walker, who fell in that encounter. +<a class="pagenum" name="page254" id="page254" title="254"></a>Osman Khan, too, a chief whose men +were amongst the foremost, voluntarily +halted them and drew them off, +"which may be reckoned, indeed, +(says Lieutenant Eyre,) the chief reason +why <i>all</i> of our people who on +that day went forth to battle were not +destroyed." The gun and the second +limber which had arrived from the +cantonments, in attempting to gallop +down hill, was overturned and lost. +"Our loss was tremendous—the +greater part of the wounded, including +Colonel Oliver, having been left +in the field, where they were miserably +cut to pieces."<a id="footnotetag23" name="footnotetag23" href="#footnote23"><sup>23</sup></a></p> + +<p>Thus terminated in disaster the +military struggle at Cabul, and then +commenced that series of negotiations +not less disastrous, which led to the +murder of the Envoy, to the retreat +of the army, and to its ultimate +annihilation. In Lieutenant Eyre's account +of their military operations, we +look in vain for any evidence of +promptitude, vigour, or decision, skill +or judgment, in the commanders; and +we have abundant evidence of a lamentable +want of discipline and proper +spirit in the troops, especially +amongst the Europeans. Instances +of high personal courage and gallantry +amongst the officers are numerous, +and they always will be, when the occasion +requires them; but if the facts +of this narrative had been given without +the names, no man would have recognised +in it the operations of a +British army.</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"<i>Nov</i>. 24.—Our troops (says Eyre) had +now lost all confidence; and even such of the +officers as had hitherto indulged the hope +of a favourable turn in our affairs, began +at last reluctantly to entertain gloomy forebodings +as to our future fate. Our force +resembled a ship in danger of wrecking +among rocks and shoals, for want of an +able pilot to guide it safely through them. +Even now, at the eleventh hour, had the +helm of affairs been grasped by a hand +competent to the important task, we might +perhaps have steered clear of destruction; +but, in the absence of any such deliverer, +it was but too evident that Heaven alone +could save us by some unforeseen interposition. +The spirit of the men was gone; +the influence of the officers over them +declined daily; and that boasted discipline, +which alone renders a handful of our +troops superior to an irregular multitude, +began fast to disappear from among us. +The enemy, on the other hand, waxed +bolder every day and every hour; nor was +it long ere we got accustomed to be +bearded with impunity from under the +very ramparts of our garrison.</p> + +<p>"Never were troops exposed to greater +hardships and dangers; yet, sad to say, +never did soldiers shed their blood with +less beneficial result than during the investment +of the British lines at Cabul."</p></div> + +<p>Captain Conolly now wrote from +the Bala Hissar, urging an immediate +retreat thither; "but the old objections +were still urged against the measure +by Brigadier Shelton and others," +though several of the chief military, +and all the political officers, approved +<a class="pagenum" name="page255" id="page255" title="255"></a>of it. Shah Shoojah was impatient +to receive them.</p> + +<p>The door to negotiation was opened +by a letter to the Envoy from Osman +Khan Barukzye, a near relation of the +new king, Nuwab Mahomed Zuman +Khan, who had sheltered Captain +Drummond in his own house since the +first day of the outbreak. He took +credit to himself for having checked +the ardour of his followers on the +preceding day, and having thus saved +the British force from destruction; he +declared that the chiefs only desired +we should quietly evacuate the country, +leaving them to govern it according +to their own rules, and with a +king of their own choosing. The +General, on being referred to, was of +opinion that the cantonments could +not be defended throughout the winter, +and approved of opening a negotiation +on the basis of the evacuation +of the country. On the 27th, two +deputies were sent by the assembled +chiefs to confer with Sir W. Macnaghten; +but the terms they proposed +were such as he could not accept. +The deputies took leave of the Envoy, +with the exclamation, that "we should +meet again in battle." "We shall +at all events meet," replied Sir William, +"at the day of judgment."</p> + +<p>At night the Envoy received a letter, +proposing "that we should deliver up +Shah Shoojah and all his family—lay +down our arms, and make an unconditional +surrender—when they might, +perhaps, be induced to spare our lives, +and allow us to leave the country on +condition of never returning."</p> + +<p>The Envoy replied, "that these +terms were too dishonourable to be +entertained for a moment; and that, if +they were persisted in, he must again +appeal to arms, leaving the result to +the God of battles."</p> + +<p>Active hostilities were not renewed +till the 1st of December, when a desperate +effort was made by the enemy +to gain possession of the Bala Hissar; +but they were repulsed by Major +Ewart with considerable slaughter. +On the 4th, they cannonaded the cantonment +from the Beymaroo hills, but +did little mischief, and at night they +made an unsuccessful attempt on Mahomed +Shereef's fort. On the 5th, +they completed, without opposition, +the destruction of the bridge over the +Cabul river. On the 6th, the garrison +of Mahomed Shereef's fort disgracefully +abandoned it, the men of +the 44th apparently being the first to +fly; and a garrison of the same regiment, +in the bazar village, was with +difficulty restrained from following +their example. On the 7th, this post +of honour was occupied by the 37th +native infantry; the 44th, who had +hitherto been intrusted with it, being +no longer considered worthy to retain +it.</p> + +<p>It is but justice to Mr Eyre to give +in his own words some remarks which +he has thought it right to make, with +reference to what he has recorded of +the conduct of that unhappy +regiment:—</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"In the course of this narrative, I have +been compelled by stern truth to note down +facts nearly affecting the honour and interests +of a British regiment. It may, or +rather I fear it must, inevitably happen, +that my unreserved statements of the Cabul +occurrences will prove unacceptable to +many, whose private or public feelings are +interested in glossing over or suppressing +the numerous errors committed and censures +deservedly incurred. But my heart +tells me that no paltry motives of rivalry +or malice influence my pen; rather a sincere +and honest desire to benefit the public +service, by pointing out the rocks on +which our reputation was wrecked, the +means by which our honour was sullied, +and our Indian empire endangered, as a +warning to future actors in similar scenes. +In a word, I believe that more good is +likely to ensue from the publication of the +whole unmitigated truth, than from a mere +garbled statement of it. A kingdom has +been lost—an army slain;—and surely, if +I can show that, had we been but true to +ourselves, and had vigorous measures been +adopted, the result might have been widely +different, I shall have written an instructive +lesson to rulers and subjects, to generals +and armies, and shall not have incurred +in vain the disapprobation of the +self-interested or the proud."</p></div> + +<p>The Envoy having again appealed +to the General, again received an answer, +stating the impossibility of holding +out, and recommending that the +Envoy should lose no time in entering +into negotiations. This letter was +countersigned by Brigadiers Shelton +and Anquetil, and Colonel Chambers.</p> + +<p>On the 11th December, the Envoy, +accompanied by Captains Lawrence, +Trevor, and Mackenzie, and a few +troopers, went out by agreement to +meet the chiefs on the plain towards +the Seah Sung hills. A conciliatory +address from the Envoy was met by +professions of personal esteem and approbation +<a class="pagenum" name="page256" id="page256" title="256"></a>of the views he had laid before +them, and of gratitude for the +manner in which the Ameer Dost +Mahomed Khan had been treated. +The Envoy then read to them a sketch +of the proposed treaty, which was to +the following effect:—</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"That the British should evacuate +Affghanistan, including Candahar, Ghuznee, +Cabul, Jellalabad, and all the other +stations absolutely within the limits of the +country so called; that they should be +permitted to return not only unmolested +to India, but that supplies of every description +should be afforded them in their +road thither, certain men of consequence +accompanying them as hostages; that the +Ameer Dost Mahomed Khan, his family, +and every Affghan now in exile for political +offences, should be allowed to return +to their country; that Shah Shoojah and +his family should be allowed the option +of remaining at Cabul, or proceeding +with the British troops to Loodiana, +in either case receiving from the Affghan +Government a pension of one lac +of rupees per annum; that means of transport, +for the conveyance of our baggage, +stores, &c., including that required by the +royal family, in case of their adopting the +latter alternative, should be furnished by +the existing Affghan Government: that an +amnesty should be granted to all those +who had made themselves obnoxious on +account of their attachment to Shah Shoojah +and his allies, the British; that all +prisoners should be released; that no +British force should be ever again sent +into Affghanistan, unless called for by the +Affghan government, between whom and +the British nation perpetual friendship +should be established on the sure foundation +of mutual good offices."</p></div> + +<p>After some objections on the part +of Mahomed Akber Khan, the terms +were agreed to, and it was further arranged +that provisions should be +supplied to our troops, and that they +should evacuate the cantonment in +three days.</p> + +<p>Preparations were immediately +commenced for the retreat. Arms +were ordered to be distributed from +the stores, now about to be abandoned, +to some of the camp-followers, and +such of the soldiers as might require +them; and a disgraceful scene of confusion +and tumult followed, which +showed the fearful extent to which the +army was disorganized.</p> + +<p>The troops in the Bala Hissar were +moved into cantonments, not without +a foretaste of what they had to expect +on their march to Jellalabad, under +the safe conduct of Akber Khan.</p> + +<p>The demands of the chiefs now rose +from day to day. They refused to +supply provisions until we should further +assure them of our sincerity, by +giving up every fort in the immediate +vicinity of the cantonment. The troops +were accordingly withdrawn, the forts +were immediately occupied by the +Affghans, and the cantonment thus +placed at their mercy. On the 18th, +the promised cattle for carriage had +not yet been supplied, and a heavy +fall of snow rendered the situation of +the troops more desperate. On the +19th, the Envoy wrote an order for the +evacuation of Ghuznee. On the +20th, the Envoy had another interview +with the chiefs, who now demanded +that a portion of the guns and ammunition +should be given up. This also +was agreed to. At this stage of the +proceedings, Lieutenant Sturt of the +engineers proposed to the General to +break off the treaty, and march forthwith +to Jellalabad; but the proposal +was not approved. The arrangements +for giving effect to the treaty were +still carried on; and the Envoy again +met Akber Khan and Osman Khan +on the plain, when Captains Conolly +and Airey were given up as hostages, +and the Envoy sent his carriage and +horses, and a pair of pistols, as presents +to Akber Khan, who further demanded +an Arab horse, the property of +Captain Grant, assistant adjutant-general:—</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"Late in the evening of the 22d December," +(says Capt. Mackenzie, in a letter +to Lieut. Eyre,) "Capt. James Skinner, +who, after having been concealed in Cabul +during the greater part of the siege, had +latterly been the guest of Mahomed Akber, +arrived in cantonments, accompanied by +Mahomed Sudeeq Khan, a first cousin of +Mahomed Akber, and by Sirwar Khan, +the Arhanee merchant, who, in the beginning +of the campaign, had furnished the +army with camels, and who had been much +in the confidence of Sir A. Burnes, being, +in fact, one of our stanchest friends. +The two latter remained in a different +apartment, while Skinner dined with the +Envoy. During dinner, Skinner jestingly +remarked that he felt as if laden with +combustibles, being charged with a message +from Mahomed Akber to the Envoy +of a most portentous nature.</p> + +<p>"Even then I remarked that the Envoy's +eye glanced eagerly towards Skinner +<a class="pagenum" name="page257" id="page257" title="257"></a>with an expression of hope. In fact, he +was like a drowning man catching at straws. +Skinner, however, referred him to his Affghan +companions, and after dinner the four +retired into a room by themselves. My +knowledge of what there took place is +gained from poor Skinner's own relation, +as given during my subsequent captivity +with him in Akber's house. Mahomed +Sudeeq disclosed Mahomed Akber's proposition +to the Envoy, which was, that the +following day Sir William should meet +him (Mahomed Akber) and a few of his +immediate friends, viz. the chiefs of the +Eastern Giljyes, outside the cantonments, +when a final agreement should be made, +so as to be fully understood by both parties; +that Sir William should have a considerable +body of troops in readiness, +which, on a given signal, were to join with +those of Mahomed Akber and the Giljyes, +assault and take Mahmood Khan's fort, +and secure the person of Ameenoolah. +At this stage of the proposition Mahomed +Sudeeq signified that, for a certain sum of +money, the head of Ameenoolah should be +presented to the Envoy; but from this Sir +William shrunk with abhorrence, declaring +that it was neither his custom nor +that of his country to give a price for +blood. Mahomed Sudeeq then went on +to say, that, after having subdued the rest +of the khans, the English should be permitted +to remain in the country eight +months longer, so as to save their <i>purdah</i>, +(veil, or credit,) but that they were then +to evacuate Affghanistan, as if of their +own accord; that Shah Shoojah was to +continue king of the country, and that +Mahomed Akber was to be his wuzeer. +As a further reward for his (Mahomed +Akber's) assistance, the British Government +were to pay him thirty lacs of rupees, +and four lacs of rupees per annum +during his life! To this extraordinary +and wild proposal, Sir William gave ear +with an eagerness which nothing can account +for but the supposition, confirmed +by many other circumstances, that his +strong mind had been harassed until it +had in some degree lost its equipoise; +and he not only assented fully to these +terms, but actually gave a Persian paper +to that effect, written in his own hand, +declaring as his motives that it was not +only an excellent opportunity to carry into +effect the real wishes of Government—which +were to evacuate the country with +as much credit to ourselves as possible—but +that it would give England time to +enter into a treaty with Russia, defining +the bounds beyond which neither were to +pass in Central Asia. So ended this fatal +conference, the nature and result of which, +contrary to his usual custom, Sir William +communicated to none of those who, on +all former occasions, were fully in his confidence, +viz. Trevor, Lawrence, and myself. +It seemed as if he feared that we +might insist on the impracticability of the +plan, which he must have studiously concealed +from himself. All the following +morning his manner was distracted and +hurried, in a way that none of us had ever +before witnessed.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"After breakfast, Trevor, Lawrence, +and myself were summoned to attend the +Envoy during his conference with Mahomed +Akber Khan. I found him alone, when, +for the first time, he disclosed to me the +nature of the transaction he was engaged +in. I immediately warned him that it was +a plot against him. He replied hastily, +'A plot! let me alone for that—trust me +for that!' and I consequently offered no +further remonstrance. Sir William then +arranged with General Elphinstone that +the 54th regiment, under Major Ewart, +should be held in readiness for immediate +service. The Shah's 6th, and two guns, +were also warned."</p></div> + +<p>Sir W. Macnaghten, halting the +troopers of the escort, advanced about +500 or 600 yards from the eastern +rampart of the cantonment, and there +awaited Akber Khan and his party:—</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"Close by where some hillocks, on the +further side of which from the cantonment +a carpet was spread where the snow lay +least thick, and there the khans and Sir +William sat down to hold their conference. +Men talk of presentiment; I suppose +it was something of the kind which +came over me, for I could scarcely prevail +upon myself to quit my horse. I did so, +however, and was invited to sit down +among the Sirdars. After the usual salutations, +Mahomed Akber commenced business +by asking the Envoy if he was perfectly +ready to carry into effect the proposition +of the preceding night? The +Envoy replied, 'Why not?' My attention +was then called off by an old Affghan +acquaintance of mine, formerly chief of the +Cabul police, by name Gholam Moyun-ood-deen. +I rose from my recumbent +posture, and stood apart with him conversing. +I afterwards remembered that +my friend betrayed much anxiety as to +where my pistols were, and why I did not +carry them on my person. I answered, +that although I wore my sword for form, +it was not necessary to be armed <i>cap-à-pie</i>. +His discourse was also full of extravagant +compliments, I suppose for the purpose +of lulling me to sleep. At length my +attention was called off from what he +was saying, by observing that a number +<a class="pagenum" name="page258" id="page258" title="258"></a>of men, armed to the teeth, had gradually +approached to the scene of conference, +and were drawing round in a +sort of circle. This Lawrence and myself +pointed out to some of the chief men, who +affected at first to drive them off with +whips; but Mahomed Akber observed, +that it was of no consequence, as they +were in the secret. I again resumed my +conversation with Gholam Moyun-ood-deen, +when suddenly I heard Mahomed +Akber call out, 'Begeer, begeer,' (seize! +seize!) and, turning round, I saw him +grasp the Envoy's left hand, with an expression +in his face of the most diabolical +ferocity. I think it was Sultan Jan who +laid hold of the Envoy's right hand. They +dragged him in a stooping posture down +the hillock; the only words I heard poor +Sir William utter being, 'Az barae Khooda' +(for God's sake!) I saw his face, +however, and it was full of horror and +astonishment. I did not see what became +of Trevor, but Lawrence was dragged past +me by several Affghans, whom I saw wrest +his weapons from him. Up to this moment +I was so engrossed in observing what was +taking place, that I actually was not aware +that my own right arm was mastered, that +my urbane friend held a pistol to my +temple, and that I was surrounded by a +circle of Ghazees, with drawn swords and +cocked juzails. Resistance was in vain, +so, listening to the exhortations of Gholam +Moyun-ood-deen, which were enforced by +the whistling of divers bullets over my +head, I hurried through the snow with +him to the place where his horse was +standing, being despoiled <i>en route</i> of my +sabre, and narrowly escaping divers attempts +made on my life. As I mounted +behind my captor, now my energetic defender, +the crowd increased around us, the +cries of 'Kill the Kafir' became more +vehement, and, although we hurried on +at a fast canter, it was with the utmost +difficulty Gholam Moyun-ood-deen, although +assisted by one or two friends or +followers, could ward off and avoid the +sword-cuts aimed at me, the rascals being +afraid to fire lest they should kill my conductor. +Indeed he was obliged to wheel +his horse round once, and taking off his +turban, (the last appeal a Mussulman can +make,) to implore them for God's sake to +respect the life of his friend. At last, +ascending a slippery bank, the horse fell. +My cap had been snatched off, and I now +received a heavy blow on the head from a +bludgeon, which fortunately did not quite +deprive me of my senses. I had sufficient +sense left to shoot a-head of the fallen +horse, where my protector with another +man joined me, and clasping me in their +arms, hurried me towards the wall of +Mahomed Khan's fort. How I reached +the spot where Mahomed Akber was receiving +the gratulations of the multitude I +know not, but I remember a fanatic rushing +on me, and twisting his hand in my +collar until I became exhausted from suffocation. +I must do Mahomed Akber the +Justice to say, that, finding the Ghazees +bent on my slaughter, even after I had +reached his stirrup, he drew his sword +and laid about him right manfully, for my +conductor and Meerza Bàoodeen Khan +were obliged to press me up against the +wall, covering me with their own bodies, +and protesting that no blow should reach +me but through their persons.</p> + +<p>"Pride, however, overcame Mahomed +Akber's sense of courtesy, when he thought +I was safe, for he then turned round to +me, and repeatedly said, in a tone of triumphant +derision, 'Shuma moolk-i-ma me +geered!' (<i>You'll</i> seize my country, will +you!)—he then rode off, and I was hurried +towards the gate of the fort. Here new +dangers awaited me, for Moolah Momin, +fresh from the slaughter of poor Trevor, +who was killed riding close behind me—Sultan +Jan having the credit of having +given him the first sabre-cut—stood here +with his followers, whom he exhorted to +slay me, setting them the example by cutting +fiercely at me himself. Fortunately a +gun stood between us, but still he would +have effected his purpose, had not Mahomed +Shah Khan at that instant, with +some followers, come to my assistance. +These drew their swords in my defence, +the chief himself throwing his arm round +my neck, and receiving on his shoulder a +cut aimed by Moollah Momin at my head. +During the bustle I pushed forward into +the fort, and was immediately taken to a +sort of dungeon, where I found Lawrence +safe, but somewhat exhausted by his +hideous ride and the violence he had sustained, +although unwounded. Here the +Giljye chiefs, Mahomed Shah Khan, and +his brother Dost Mahomed Khan, presently +joined us, and endeavoured to +cheer up our flagging spirits, assuring us +that the Envoy and Trevor were not dead, +but on the contrary quite well. They +stayed with us during the afternoon, their +presence being absolutely necessary for our +protection. Many attempts were made +by the fanatics to force the door to accomplish +our destruction. Others spit at us +and abused us through a small window, +through which one fellow levelled a blunderbuss +at us, which was struck up by +our keepers and himself thrust back. At +last Ameenoollah made his appearance, +and threatened us with instant death. +Some of his people most officiously advanced +to make good his word, until pushed +<a class="pagenum" name="page259" id="page259" title="259"></a>back by the Giljye chiefs, who remonstrated +with this iniquitous old monster, +their master, whom they persuaded to relieve +us from his hateful presence. During +the afternoon, a human hand was held up +in mockery to us at the window. We said +that it had belonged to an European, but +were not aware at the time that it was actually +the hand of the poor Envoy. Of all +the Mahomedans assembled in the room +discussing the events of the day, one only, +an old moollah, openly and fearlessly condemned +the acts of his brethren, declaring +that the treachery was abominable, and a +disgrace to Islam. At night they brought +us food, and gave us each a postheen to +sleep on. At midnight we were awakened +to go to the house of Mahomed Akber in +the city. Mahomed Shah Khan then, with +the meanness common to all Affghans of +rank, robbed Lawrence of his watch, while +his brother did me a similar favour. I had +been plundered of my rings and every thing +else previously, by the understrappers.</p> + +<p>"Reaching Mahomed Akber's abode, we +were shown into the room where he lay in +bed. He received us with great outward +show of courtesy, assuring us of the welfare +of the Envoy and Trevor, but there +was a constraint in his manner for which I +could not account. We were shortly taken +to another apartment, where we found +Skinner, who had returned, being on parole, +early in the morning. Doubt and +gloom marked our meeting, and the latter +was fearfully deepened by the intelligence +which we now received from our fellow-captive +of the base murder of Sir William +and Trevor. He informed us that the head +of the former had been carried about the +city in triumph. We of course spent a +miserable night. The next day we were +taken under a strong guard to the house +of Zuman Khan, where a council of the +Khans were being held. Here we found +Captains Conolly and Airey, who had some +days previously been sent to the hurwah's +house as hostage for the performance of +certain parts of the treaty which was to +have been entered into. A violent discussion +took place, in which Mahomed Akber +bore the most prominent part. We were +vehemently accused of treachery, and every +thing that was bad, and told that the whole +of the transactions of the night previous +had been a trick of Mahomed Akber, and +Ameenoollah, to ascertain the Envoy's sincerity. +They declared that they would now +grant us no terms, save on the surrender +of the whole of the married families as +hostages, all the guns, ammunition, and +treasure. At this time Conolly told me +that on the preceding day the Envoy's head +had been paraded about in the court-yard; +that his and Trevor's bodies had been hung +up in the public bazar, or <i>chouk</i>; and that +it was with the greatest difficulty that the +old hurwah, Zuman Khan, had saved him +and Airey from being murdered by a body +of fanatics, who had attempted to rush into +the room where they were. Also, that previous +to the arrival of Lawrence, Skinner, +and myself, Mahomed Akber had been relating +the events of the preceding day to +the <i>Jeerga</i> or council, and that he had unguardedly +avowed having, while endeavouring +to force the Envoy either to mount on +horseback or to move more quickly, <i>struck</i> +him; and that, seeing Conolly's eyes fastened +upon him with an expression of intense +indignation, he had altered the phrase and +said, 'I mean I <i>pushed</i> him.' After an +immense deal of gabble, a proposal for a +renewal of the treaty, not, however, demanding +all the guns, was determined to be sent +to the cantonments, and Skinner, Lawrence, +and myself were marched back to +Akber's house, enduring <i>en route</i> all +manner of threats and insults. Here we +were closely confined in an inner apartment, +which was indeed necessary for +our safety. That evening we received +a visit from Mahomed Akber, Sultan +Jan, and several other Affghans. Mahomed +Akber exhibited his double-barrelled +pistols to us, which he had worn the +previous day, requesting us to put their +locks to rights, something being amiss. +<i>Two of the barrels had been recently discharged</i>, +which he endeavoured in a most +confused way to account for by saying, that +he had been charged by a havildar of the +escort, and had fired both barrels at him. +Now all the escort had run away without +even attempting to charge, the only man +who advanced to the rescue having been +a Hindoo Jemadar of Chuprassies, who +was instantly cut to pieces by the assembled +Ghazees. This defence he made +without any accusation on our part, betraying +the anxiety of a liar to be believed. +On the 26th, Captain Lawrence was taken +to the house of Ameenoollah, whence he +did not return to us. Captain Skinner +and myself remained in Akber's house until +the 30th. During this time we were +civilly treated, and conversed with numbers +of Affghan gentlemen who came to visit +us. Some of them asserted that the Envoy +had been murdered by the unruly soldiery. +Others could not deny that Akber himself +was the assassin. For two or three days +we had a fellow-prisoner in poor Sirwar +Khan, who had been deceived throughout +the whole matter, and out of whom they +were then endeavouring to screw money. +He, of course, was aware from his countrymen, +that not only had Akber committed +the murder, but that he protested to the +Ghazees that he gloried in the deed. On +<a class="pagenum" name="page260" id="page260" title="260"></a>one occasion a moonshee of Major Pottinger, +who had escaped from Charekhar, +named Mohun Beer, came direct from the +presence of Mahomed Akber to visit us. +He told us that Mahomed Akber had begun +to see the impolicy of having murdered +the Envoy, which fact he had just avowed +to him, shedding many tears, either of +pretended remorse or of real vexation +at having committed himself. On several +occasions Mahomed Akber personally, and +by deputy, besought Skinner and myself to +give him advice as to how he was to extricate +himself from the dilemma in which +he was placed, more than once endeavouring +to excuse himself for not having effectually +protected the Envoy, by saying that +Sir William had drawn a sword-stick upon +him. It seems that meanwhile the renewed +negotiations with Major Pottinger, who had +assumed the Envoy's place in cantonments, +had been brought to a head; for on the +night of the 30th, Akber furnished me +with an Affghan dress, (Skinner already +wore one,) and sent us both back to cantonments. +Several Affghans, with whom +I fell in afterwards, protested to me that +they had seen Mahomed Akber shoot the +Envoy with his own hand; amongst them +Meerza Báoodeen Khan, who, being an +old acquaintance, always retained a sneaking +kindness for the English.</p> + +<p>"I am, my dear Eyre, yours very truly,</p> + +<p>"C. MACKENZIE.</p> + +<p>"Cabul, 29th July, 1842."</p></div> + +<p>The negotiations were now renewed +by Major Pottinger, who had been +requested by General Elphinstone to +assume the unenviable office of political +agent and adviser.</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"The additional clauses in the treaty +now proposed for our renewed acceptance +were—1st. That we should leave behind +our guns, excepting six. 2nd. That we +should immediately give up all our treasures. +3d. That the hostages should be +all exchanged for married men, with their +wives and families. The difficulties of +Major Pottinger's position will be readily +perceived, when it is borne in mind that +he had before him the most conclusive +evidence of the late Envoy's ill-advised +intrigue with Mahomed Akber Khan, in +direct violation of that very treaty which +was now once more tendered for consideration."</p></div> + +<p>A sum of fourteen lacs of rupees, +about L.140,000, was also demanded, +which was said to be payable to the +several chiefs on the promise of the +late Envoy.</p> + +<p>Major Pottinger, at a council of +war convened by the General, "declared +his conviction that no confidence +could be placed in any treaty +formed with the Affghan chiefs; that, +under such circumstances, to bind the +hands of the Government by promising +to evacuate the country, and to restore +the deposed Ameer, and to +waste, moreover, so much public +money merely to save our own lives +and property, would be inconsistent +with the duty we owed to our country +and the Government we served; +and that the only honourable course +would be, either to hold out at Cabul, +or to force our immediate retreat to +Jellalabad."</p> + +<p>"This however, the officers composing +the council, one and all declared +to be impracticable, owing to the +want of provisions, the surrender of +the surrounding forts, and the insuperable +difficulties of the road at the +present season." The new treaty was +therefore, forthwith accepted. The +demand of the chiefs, that married +officers with their families should be +left as hostages, was successfully resisted. +Captains Drummond, Walsh, +Warburton, and Webb, were accepted +in their place, and on the 29th went +to join Captains Conolly and Airey at +the house of Nuwab Zuman Khan. +Lieutenant Haughton and a portion of +the sick and wounded, were sent into +the city, and placed under the protection +of the chiefs. "Three of the Shah's +guns, with the greater portion of our +treasure, were made over during the +day, much to the evident disgust of +the soldiery." On the following day, +"the remainder of the sick went into +the city, Lieutenant Evans, H.M. +44th foot, being placed in command, +and Dr Campbell, 54th native infantry, +with Dr Berwick of the mission, in +medical charge of the whole. Two +more of the Shah's guns were given +up. It snowed hard the whole day."</p> + +<p>"<i>January</i> 5.—Affairs continued in +the same unsettled state to this date. +The chiefs postponed our departure +from day to day on various pretexts.... +Numerous cautions were received +from various well-wishers, to +place no confidence in the professions +of the chiefs, who had sworn together +to accomplish our entire destruction."</p> + +<p>It is not our intention to offer any +lengthened comments on these details. +They require none. The facts, +if they be correctly stated, speak for +<a class="pagenum" name="page261" id="page261" title="261"></a>themselves; and, for reasons already +referred to, we are unwilling to anticipate +the result of the judicial investigation +now understood to be in progress. +This much, however, we may +be permitted to say, that the traces of +fatal disunion amongst ourselves will, +we fear, be made every where apparent. +It is notorious that Sir William +Macnaghten and Sir Alexander Burnes +were on terms the reverse of cordial. +The Envoy had no confidence in the +General. The General was disgusted +with the authority the Envoy had assumed, +even in matters exclusively +military—and, debilitated by disease, +was unable always to assert his authority +even in his own family. The arrival +of General Shelton in the cantonments +does not appear to have +tended to restore harmony, cordiality, +or confidence, or even to have revived +the drooping courage of the troops, or to +have renovated the feelings of obedience, +and given effect to the bonds of +discipline, which had been too much relaxed. +But, even after admitting all +these things, much more still remains to +be explained before we can account for +all that has happened—before we can +understand how the political authorities +came to reject every evidence of approaching +danger, and therefore to be +quite unprepared for it when it came. +Why no effort was made on the first +day to put down the insurrection: Why, +in the arrangements for the defence +of the cantonments, the commisariat +fort was neglected, and the other forts +neither occupied nor destroyed: Why +almost every detachment that was sent +out was too small to effect its object: +Why, with a force of nearly six thousand +men, we should never on any +one occasion have had two thousand +in the field, and, as in the action at +Beymaroo, only one gun: Why so +many orders appear to have been disregarded; +why so few were punctually +obeyed.</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"At last the fatal morning dawned +(the 6th January) which was to witness +the departure of the Cabul force from the +cantonments in which it had endured a +two months' siege.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"Dreary indeed was the scene over +which, with drooping spirits and dismal +forebodings, we had to bend our unwilling +steps. Deep snow covered every inch of +mountain and plain with one unspotted +sheet of dazzling whiteness; and so intensely +bitter was the cold, as to penetrate +and defy the defences of the warmest +clothing."</p></div> + +<p>Encumbered with baggage, crowded +with 12,000 camp-followers, and +accompanied by many helpless women +and children, of all ranks and of all +ages—with misery before, and death +behind, and treachery all around +them—with little hope of successful +resistance if attacked, without tents +enough to cover them, and without food +or fuel for the march, 4500 fighting +men, with nine guns, set out on this +march of death.</p> + +<p>At 9 A.M. the advance moved out, +but was delayed for upwards of an +hour at the river, having found the +temporary bridge incomplete; and it +was noon ere the road was clear for +the main column, which, with its long +train of loaded camels, continued to +pour out of the gate until the evening, +by which time thousands of Affghans +thronged the area of the cantonment +rending the air with exulting cries, +and committing every kind of atrocity. +Before the rearguard commenced +its march it was night; but by +the light of the burning buildings the +Affghan marksmen laid Lieut. Hardyman, +and fifty rank and file, lifeless +on the snow. The order of march +was soon lost; scores of sepoys and +camp-followers sat down in despair to +perish, and it was 2 A.M. before the +rearguard reached the camp at Bygram, +a distance of five miles. Here +all was confusion; different regiments, +with baggage, camp-followers, camels, +and horses, mixed up together. The +cold towards morning became more +intense, and thousands were lying on +the bare snow, without shelter, fire, +or food. Several died during the +night, amongst whom was an European +conductor; and the proportion +of those who escaped without frostbites +was small. Yet this was but the +<i>beginning</i> of sorrows.</p> + +<p><i>January 7th</i>.—At 8 A.M. the force +moved on in the same inextricable +confusion. Already nearly half the +sepoys, from sheer inability to keep +their ranks, had joined the crowd of +non-combatants. The rearguard was +attacked, and much baggage lost, and +one of the guns having been overturned, +was taken by the Affghans, +whose cavalry charged into the very +heart of the column.</p> + +<p>Akber Khan said, that the force +<a class="pagenum" name="page262" id="page262" title="262"></a>had been attacked because it had +marched contrary to the wish of the +chiefs. He insisted that it should +halt, and promised to supply food, +forage, and fuel for the troops, but +demanded six more hostages, which +were given. These terms having +been agreed to, the firing ceased for +the present, and the army encamped +at Bootkhak, where the confusion was +indescribable. "Night again," says +Lieutenant Eyre, "closed over us, +with its attendant horrors—starvation, +cold, exhaustion, death."</p> + +<p>At an early hour on the 8th the +Affghans commenced firing into the +camp; and as they collected in considerable +numbers, Major Thain led +the 44th to attack them. In this +business the regiment behaved with a +resolution and gallantry worthy of +British soldiers. Again Akber Khan +demanded hostages. Again they were +given, and again the firing ceased. +This seems to prove that Akber Khan +had the power, if he had chosen to +exert it, to restrain those tribes. Once +more the living mass of men and animals +was put in motion. The frost +had so crippled the hands and feet of +the strongest men, as to prostrate +their powers and to incapacitate them +for service.</p> + +<p>The Khoord-Cabul pass, which +they were about to enter, is about five +miles long, shut in by lofty hills, and +by precipices of 500 or 600 feet in +height, whose summits approach one +another in some parts to within about +fifty or sixty yards. Down the centre +dashed a torrent, bordered with ice, +which was crossed about eight-and-twenty +times.</p> + +<p>While in this dark and narrow +gorge, a hot fire was opened upon +the advance, with whom were several +ladies, who, seeing no other chance of +safety, galloped forwards, "running +the gauntlet of the enemy's bullets, +which whizzed in hundreds about their +ears, until they were fairly out of +the pass. Providentially the whole +escaped, except Lady Sale, who was +slightly wounded in the arm." Several +of Akber Khan's chief adherents +exerted themselves in vain to restrain +the Giljyes; and as the crowd moved +onward into the thickest of the fire, +the slaughter was fearful. Another +horse-artillery gun was abandoned, +and the whole of its artillerymen +slain, and some of the children of the +officers became prisoners. It is supposed +that 3000 souls perished in the +pass, amongst whom were many +officers.</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"On the force reaching Khoord-Cabul, +snow began to fall, and continued till +morning. Only four small tents were saved, +of which one belonged to the General: +two were devoted to the ladies and +children, and one was given up to the +sick; but an immense number of poor +wounded wretches wandered about the +camp destitute of shelter, and perished +during the night. Groans of misery and +distress assailed the ear from all quarters. +We had ascended to a still colder climate +than we had left behind, and we were without +tents, fuel, or food: the snow was the +only bed for all, and of many, ere morning, +it proved the <i>winding-sheet</i>. It is +only marvellous that any should have survived +that fearful night!</p> + +<p>"<i>January 9th</i>.—Another morning +dawned, awakening thousands to increased +misery; and many a wretched survivor +cast looks of envy at his comrades, who +lay stretched beside him in the quiet sleep +of death. Daylight was the signal for a +renewal of that confusion which attended +every movement of the force."</p></div> + +<p>Many of the troops and followers +moved without orders at 8 A.M., but +were recalled by the General, in consequence +of an arrangement with Akber +Khan. "This delay, and prolongation +of their sufferings in the +snow, of which one more march would +have carried them clear, made a very +unfavourable impression on the minds +of the native soldiery, who now, for +the first time, began very generally +to entertain the idea of deserting." +And it is not to be wondered at, that +the instinct of self-preservation should +have led them to falter in their fealty +when the condition of the whole army +had become utterly hopeless.</p> + +<p>Akber Khan now proposed that the +ladies and children should be made +over to his care; and, anxious to save +them further suffering, the General +gave his consent to the arrangement, +permitting their husbands and the +wounded officers to accompany them.</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"Up to this time scarcely one of the +ladies had tasted a meal since leaving Cabul. +Some had infants a few days old at +the breast, and were unable to stand without +assistance. Others were so far advanced +in pregnancy, that, under ordinary +circumstances, a walk across a drawing-room +would have been an exertion; yet +<a class="pagenum" name="page263" id="page263" title="263"></a>these helpless women, with their young families, +had already been obliged to rough it +on the backs of camels, and on the tops of +the baggage yaboos: those who had a horse +to ride, or were capable of sitting on one, +were considered fortunate indeed. Most +had been without shelter since quitting the +cantonment—their servants had nearly all +deserted or been killed—and, with the +exception of Lady Macnaghten and Mrs +Trevor, they had lost all their baggage, +having nothing in the world left but the +clothes on their backs; <i>those</i>, in the case +of some of the invalids, consisted of <i>night +dresses</i> in which they had started from +Cabul in their litters. Under such circumstances, +a few more hours would probably +have seen some of them stiffening corpses. +The offer of Mahomed Akber was consequently +their only chance of preservation. +The husbands, better clothed and hardy, +would have infinitely preferred taking their +chance with the troops; but where is the +man who would prefer his own safety, when +he thought he could by his presence assist +and console those near and dear to him?</p> + +<p>"It is not, therefore, wonderful, that +from persons so circumstanced the General's +proposal should have met with little +opposition, although it was a matter of +serious doubt whether the whole were +not rushing into the very jaws of death, +by placing themselves at the mercy of a +man who had so lately imbrued his hands +in the blood of a British envoy, whom he +had lured to destruction by similar professions +of peace and good-will."</p></div> + +<p>Anticipating an attack, the troops +paraded to repel it, and it was now +found that the 44th mustered only +100 files, and the native infantry regiments +about sixty each. "The promises +of Mahomed Akber to provide +food and fuel were unfulfilled, and +another night of starvation and cold +consigned more victims to a miserable +death."</p> + +<p><i>January</i> 10.—At break of day all +was again confusion, every one hurrying +to the front, and dreading above +all things to be left in the rear. The +Europeans were the only efficient men +left, the Hindostanees having suffered +so severely from the frost in their +hands and feet, that few could hold a +musket, much less pull a trigger. +The enemy had occupied the rocks +above the gorge, and thence poured a +destructive fire upon the column as it +slowly advanced. Fresh numbers fell +at every volley. The sepoys, unable to +use their arms, cast them away, and, +with the followers, fled for their lives.</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"The Affghans now rushed down upon +their helpless and unresisting victims +sword in hand, and a general massacre +took place. The last small remnant of +the native infantry regiments were here +scattered and destroyed; and the public +treasure, with all the remaining baggage, +fell into the hands of the enemy. Meanwhile, +the advance, after pushing through +the Tungee with great loss, had reached +Kubbur-i-Jubbar, about five miles a-head, +without more opposition. Here they +halted to enable the rear to join, but, from +the few stragglers who from time to time +came up, the astounding truth was brought +to light, that of all who had that morning +marched from Khoord-Cabul they +were almost the sole survivors, nearly the +whole of the main and rear columns having +been cut off and destroyed. About +50 horse-artillerymen, with one twelve-pounder +howitzer, 70 files H.M.'s 44th, +and 150 cavalry troopers, now composed +the whole Cabul force; but, notwithstanding +the slaughter and dispersion that had +taken place, the camp-followers still formed +a considerable body."</p></div> + +<p>Another remonstrance was now addressed +to Akber Khan. He declared, +in reply, his inability to restrain +the Giljyes. As the troops entered a +narrow defile at the foot of the Huft +Kotul, they found it strewn with the +dead bodies of their companions. A +destructive fire was maintained on the +troops from the heights on either side, +and fresh numbers of dead and wounded +lined the course of the stream. +"Brigadier Shelton commanded the +rear with a few Europeans, and but +for his persevering energy and unflinching +fortitude in repelling the +assailants, it is probable the whole +would have been there sacrificed." +They encamped in the Tezeen valley, +having lost 12,000 men since leaving +Cabul; fifteen officers had been killed +and wounded in this day's march.</p> + +<p>After resting three hours, they +marched, under cover of the darkness, +at seven P.M. Here the last +gun was abandoned, and with it Dr +Cardew, whose zeal and gallantry had +endeared him to the soldiers; and a +little further on Dr Duff was left on +the road in a state of utter exhaustion.</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"Bodies of the neighbouring tribes +were by this time on the alert, and fired +at random from the heights, it being fortunately +too dark for them to aim with +precision; but the panic-stricken camp-followers +now resembled a herd of startled +deer, and fluctuated backwards and forwards, +<i>en masse</i>, at every shot, blocking +up the entire road, and fatally retarding +<a class="pagenum" name="page264" id="page264" title="264"></a>the progress of the little body of soldiers +who, under Brigadier Shelton, brought up +the rear.</p> + +<p>"At Burik-àb a heavy fire was encountered +by the hindmost from some caves +near the road-side, occasioning fresh disorder, +which continued all the way to Kutter-Sung, +where the advance arrived at +dawn of day, and awaited the junction of +the rear, which did not take place till 8 +A.M."</p></div> + +<p><i>January</i> 11.— ...</p> + +<div class='blkquot'><p>"From Kutter-Sung to Jugdulluk it +was one continued conflict; Brigadier +Shelton, with his brave little band in the +rear, holding overwhelming numbers in +check, and literally performing wonders. +But no efforts could avail to ward off the +withering fire of juzails, which from all +sides assailed the crowded column, lining +the road with bleeding carcasses. About +three P.M. the advance reached Jugdulluk, +and took up its position behind some +ruined walls that crowned a height by the +road-side. To show an imposing front, +the officers extended themselves in line, +and Captain Grant, assistant adjutant-general, +at the same moment received a +wound in the face. From this eminence +they cheered their comrades under Brigadier +Shelton in the rear, as they still +struggled their way gallantly along every +foot of ground, perseveringly followed up +by their merciless enemy, until they arrived +at their ground. But even here +rest was denied them; for the Affghans, +immediately occupying two hills which +commanded the position, kept up a fire +from which the walls of the enclosure afforded +but a partial shelter.</p> + +<p>"The exhausted troops and followers +now began to suffer greatly from thirst, +which they were unable to satisfy. A +tempting stream trickled near the foot of +the hill, but to venture down to it was +certain death. Some snow that covered +the ground was eagerly devoured, but increased, +instead of alleviating, their sufferings. +The raw flesh of three bullocks, +which had fortunately been saved, was +served out to the soldiers, and ravenously +swallowed."</p></div> + +<p>About half-past three Akber Khan +sent for Capt. Skinner, who promptly +obeyed the call, hoping still to effect +some arrangement for the preservation +of those who survived. The men now +threw themselves down, hoping for a +brief repose, but the enemy poured +volleys from the heights into the enclosures +in rapid succession. Captain +Bygrave, with about fifteen brave +Europeans, sallied forth, determined +to drive the enemy from the heights +or perish in the attempt. They succeeded; +but the enemy, who had fled +before them, returned and resumed +their fatal fire. At five P.M. Captain +Skinner returned with a message from +Akber Khan, requesting the presence +of the General at a conference, and demanding +Brigadier Shelton and Capt. +Johnson as hostages for the surrender +of Jellalabad. The troops saw the departure +of these officers with despair, +feeling assured that these treacherous +negotiations "were preparatory to +fresh sacrifices of blood." The General +and his companions were received +with every outward token of +kindness, and they were supplied with +food, but they were not permitted to +return. The Sirdar put the General +off with promises; and at seven P.M. +on the 12th, firing being heard, it was +ascertained that the troops, impatient +of further delay, had actually moved +off. Before their departure Captain +Skinner had been treacherously shot. +They had been exposed during the +whole day to the fire of the enemy—"sally +after sally had been made by +the Europeans, bravely led by Major +Thain, Captain Bygrave, and Lieutenants +Wade and Macartney, but +again and again the enemy returned +to worry and destroy. Night came, +and all further delay in such a place +being useless, the whole sallied forth, +determined to pursue the route to Jellalabad +at all risks."</p> + +<p>The sick and the wounded were +necessarily abandoned to their fate. +For some time the Giljyes seemed not +to be on the alert; but in the defile, at +the top of the rise, further progress +was obstructed by barriers formed +of prickly trees. This caused great delay, +and "a terrible fire was poured +in from all quarters—a massacre even +worse than that of the Tunga Tarikee<a id="footnotetag24" name="footnotetag24" href="#footnote24"><sup>24</sup></a> +commenced, the Affghans rushing in +furiously upon the pent-up crowd of +troops and followers, and committing +wholesale slaughter. A miserable +remnant managed to clear the barriers. +Twelve officers, amongst whom +was Brigadier Anquetil, were killed. +Upwards of forty others succeeded in +pushing through, about twelve of +whom, being pretty well mounted, +rode on a-head of the rest with the +few remaining cavalry, intending to +<a class="pagenum" name="page265" id="page265" title="265"></a>make the best of their way to Jellalabad."</p> + +<p>The country now became more +open—the Europeans dispersed, in +small parties under different officers. +The Giljyes were too much occupied +in plundering the dead to pursue +them, but they were much delayed by +the amiable anxiety of the men to +carry on their wounded comrades. +The morning of the 13th dawned as +they approached Gundamuk, revealing +to the enemy the insignificance of +their numerical strength; and they +were compelled, by the vigorous assaults +of the Giljyes, to take up a +defensive position on a height to the +left of the road, "where they made a +resolute stand, determined to sell +their lives at the dearest possible price. +At this time they could only muster +about twenty muskets." An attempt +to effect an amicable arrangement +terminated in a renewal of hostilities, +and "the enemy marked off man after +man, and officer after officer, with unerring +aim. Parties of Affghans +rushed up at intervals to complete the +work of extermination, but were as +often driven back by the still dauntless +handful of invincibles. At length, +all being wounded more or less, a final +onset of the enemy, sword in hand, +terminated the unequal struggle and +completed the dismal tragedy." Captain +Souter, who was wounded, and +three or four privates, were spared and +led away captive. Major Griffiths +and Captain Blewitt, having descended +to confer with the enemy, +had been previously led off. Of the +twelve officers who had gone on in advance +eleven were destroyed, and Dr +Brydon alone of the whole Cabul +force reached Jellalabad.</p> + +<p>"Such was the memorable retreat +of the British army from Cabul, which, +viewed in all its circumstances—in +the military conduct which preceded +and brought about such a consummation, +the treachery, disaster, and +suffering which accompanied it—is, +perhaps, without a parallel in history."</p> + + + + +<hr style='width: 100%;' /> +<a class="pagenum" name="page266" id="page266" title="266"></a> +<a name="bw328s9" id="bw328s9"></a><h2>THE EVACUATION OF AFFGHANISTAN.</h2> + +<p>Since the day when Lord Auckland, +by his famous proclamation in +October 1838, "directed the assemblage +of a British force for service +across the Indus," we have never +ceased to denounce the invasion and +continued occupation of Affghanistan +as equally unjust and impolitic<a id="footnotetag25" name="footnotetag25" href="#footnote25"><sup>25</sup></a>—unjust, +as directed against a people +whose conduct had afforded us no +legitimate grounds of hostility, and +against a ruler whose only offence +was, that he had accepted<a id="footnotetag26" name="footnotetag26" href="#footnote26"><sup>26</sup></a> the proffer +from another quarter of that support +and alliance which we had denied to +his earnest entreaty—and impolitic, +as tending not only to plunge us into +an endless succession of ruinous and +unprofitable warfare, but to rouse +against us an implacable spirit of enmity, +in a nation which had hitherto +shown every disposition to cultivate +amicable relations with our Anglo-Indian +Government. In all points, +our anticipations have been fatally +verified. After more than two years +consumed in unavailing efforts to +complete the reduction of the country, +our army of occupation was at +last overwhelmed by the universal +and irresistible outbreak of an indignant +and fanatic population; and +the restored monarch, Shah-Shoojah, +("whose popularity throughout Affghanistan +had been proved to the +Governor-general by the strong and +unanimous testimony of the best authorities") +perished, as soon as he lost +the protection of foreign bayonets, by +the hands of his outraged countrymen.<a id="footnotetag27" name="footnotetag27" href="#footnote27"><sup>27</sup></a></p> + +<p>The tottering and unsubstantial +phantom of a <i>Doorauni kingdom</i> vanished +at once and for ever—and the +only remaining alternative was, (as +we stated the case in our number of +last July,) "either to perpetrate a +second act of violence and national +injustice, by reconquering Affghanistan +<i>for the vindication</i> (as the phrase +is) <i>of our military honour</i>, and holding +it without disguise as a province +of our empire—or to make the best +of a bad bargain, by contenting ourselves +with the occupation of a few +posts on the frontier, and leaving the +unhappy natives to recover, without +foreign interference, from the dreadful +state of anarchy into which our +irruption has thrown them." Fortunately +for British interests in the +East, the latter course has been +adopted. After a succession of brilliant +military triumphs, which, in the +words of Lord Ellenborough's recent +proclamation, "have, in one short +campaign, avenged our late disasters +upon every scene of past misfortune," +the evacuation of the country has +been directed—not, however, before a +<a class="pagenum" name="page267" id="page267" title="267"></a>fortunate chance had procured the +liberation of <i>all</i> the prisoners who +had fallen into the power of the Affghans +in January last; and ere this +time, we trust, not a single British +regiment remains on the bloodstained +soil of Affghanistan.</p> + +<p>The proclamation above referred +to,<a id="footnotetag28" name="footnotetag28" href="#footnote28"><sup>28</sup></a> (which we have given at length +at the conclusion of this article,) announcing +these events, and defining +the line of policy in future to be pursued +by the Anglo-Indian Government, +is in all respects a remarkable +document. As a specimen of frankness +and plain speaking, it stands +unique in the history of diplomacy; +and, accordingly, both its matter and +its manner have been made the subjects +of unqualified censure by those +scribes of the Opposition press who, +"content to dwell in forms for ever," +have accustomed themselves to regard +the mystified protocols of Lord Palmerston +as the models of official style. +The <i>Morning Chronicle</i>, with amusing +ignorance of the state of the public +mind in India, condemns the Governor-general +for allowing it to +become known to the natives that +the abandonment of Affghanistan was +in consequence of a change of policy! +conceiving (we suppose) that our Indian +subjects would otherwise have +believed the Cabul disasters to have +formed part of the original plan of +the war, and to have veiled some purpose +of inscrutable wisdom; while the +<i>Globe</i>, (Dec. 3,) after a reluctant +admission that "the policy itself of +evacuating the country <i>may be wise</i>," +would fain deprive Lord Ellenborough +of the credit of having originated this +decisive step, by an assertion that "we +have discovered no proof that a permanent +possession of the country beyond +the Indus was contemplated by +his predecessor." It would certainly +have been somewhat premature in +Lord Auckland to have announced his +ultimate intentions on this point while +the country in question was as yet but +imperfectly subjugated, or when our +troops were subsequently almost +driven out of it; but the views of +the then home Government, from +which it is to be presumed that Lord +Auckland received his instructions, +were pretty clearly revealed in the +House of Commons on the 10th of +August last, by one whose authority +the <i>Globe</i>, at least, will scarcely dispute—by +Lord Palmerston himself. +To prevent the possibility of misconstruction, +we quote the words attributed +to the late Foreign Secretary. +After drawing the somewhat unwarrantable +inference, from Sir Robert +Peel's statement, "that no immediate +withdrawal of our troops from Candahar +and Jellalabad was contemplated," +that an order had at one time been +given for the abandonment of Affghanistan, +he proceeds—"I do trust +that her Majesty's Government will +not carry into effect, either immediately +or at <i>any</i> future time, the arrangement +thus contemplated. It was all very +well when we were in power, and it +was suited to party purposes, to run +down any thing we had done, and to +represent as valueless any acquisition +on which we may have prided ourselves—it +was all very well to raise an +outcry against the Affghan expedition, +and to undervalue the great advantages +which the possession of the +country was calculated to afford us—but +I trust the Government will rise +above any consideration of that sort, +and that they will give the matter +their fair, dispassionate, and deliberate +consideration. I must say, I never +was more convinced of any thing in +the whole course of my life—and I +may be believed when I speak my +earnest conviction—that the most important +interests of this country, both +commercial and political, would be +sacrificed, if we were to sacrifice the +military possession of the country of +Eastern Affghanistan." Is it in the +power of words to convey a clearer +admission, that the pledge embodied +in Lord Auckland's manifesto—"to +withdraw the British army as soon as +the independence and integrity of Affghanistan +should be secured by the +establishment of the Shah"—was in +fact mere moonshine: and the real object +of the expedition was the conquest +of a country advantageously situated +<a class="pagenum" name="page268" id="page268" title="268"></a>for the defence of our Indian frontier +against (as it now appears) an imaginary +invader? Thus Napoleon, in +December 1810, alleged "the necessity, +in consequence of the new order +of things which has arisen, of new +guarantees for the security of my empire," +as a pretext for that wholesale +measure of territorial spoliation in +Northern Germany, which, from the +umbrage it gave Russia, proved ultimately +the cause of his downfall: but +it was reserved for us of the present +day, to hear a <i>British</i> minister avow +and justify a violent and perfidious +usurpation on the plea of political expediency. +It must indeed be admitted +that, in the early stages of the war, +the utter iniquity of the measure met +with but faint reprobation from any +party in the state: the nation, dazzled +by the long-disused splendours of military +glory, was willing, without any +very close enquiry, to take upon trust +all the assertions so confidently put +forth on the popularity of Shah-Shoojah, +the hostile machinations of Dost +Mohammed, and the philanthropic and +disinterested wishes of the Indian Government +for (to quote a notable +phrase to which we have more than +once previously referred) "<i>the reconstruction +of the social edifice</i>" in Affghanistan. +But now that all these +subterfuges, flimsy as they were at +best, have been utterly dissipated by +this undisguised declaration of Lord +Palmerston, that the real object of +the war was to seize and hold the +country on our own account, the attempt +of the <i>Globe</i> to claim for Lord +Auckland the credit of having from +the first contemplated a measure thus +vehemently protested against and disclaimed +by the late official leader of +his party, is rather too barefaced to +be passed over without comment.</p> + +<p>Without, however, occupying ourselves +further in combating the attacks +of the Whig press on this proclamation, +which may very well be left to +stand on its own merits, we now proceed +to recapitulate the course of the +events which have, in a few months, so +completely changed the aspect of affairs +beyond the Indus. When we +took leave, in July last, of the subject +of the Affghan campaign, we left +General Pollock, with the force which +had made its way through the Khyber +Pass, still stationary at Jellalabad, for +want (as it was said) of camels and +other means of transport: while General +Nott, at Candahar, not only held +his ground, but victoriously repulsed +in the open field the Affghan <i>insurgents</i>, +(as it is the fashion to call them,) +who were headed by the prince Seifdar-Jung, +son of Shah Shoojah! and +General England, after his repulse on +the 28th of March at the Kojuck Pass, +remained motionless at Quettah. The +latter officer (in consequence, as it +is said, of peremptory orders from General +Nott to meet him on a given +day at the further side of the Pass) +was the first to resume active operations; +and on the 28th of April, the +works at Hykulzie in the Kojuck, +which had been unaccountably represented +on the former occasion as most +formidable defences,<a id="footnotetag29" name="footnotetag29" href="#footnote29"><sup>29</sup></a> were carried +without loss or difficulty, and the force +continued its march uninterrupted to +Candahar. The fort of Khelat-i-Ghiljie, +lying about halfway between +Candahar and Ghazni, was at the +sane time gallantly and successfully +defended by handful of Europeans +and sepoys, till relieved by the advance +of a division from Candahar, +which brought off the garrison, and +razed the fortifications of the place. +Girishk, the hereditary stronghold of +the Barukzye chiefs, about eighty miles +west of Candahar, was also dismantled +and abandoned; and all the troops +in Western Affghanistan were thus +<a class="pagenum" name="page269" id="page269" title="269"></a>concentrated under the immediate +command of General Nott, whose success +in every encounter with the Affghans +continued to be so decisive, that +all armed opposition disappeared from +the neighbourhood of Candahar; and +the prince Seifdar-Jung, despairing of +the cause, of which he had perhaps +been from the first not a very willing +supporter, came in and made his submission +to the British commander.</p> + +<p>During the progress of these triumphant +operations in Western Affghanistan, +General Pollock still lay inactive +at Jellalabad; and some abortive +attempts were made to negotiate with +the dominant party at Cabul for the +release of the prisoners taken the +preceding winter. Since the death of +Shah-Shoojah, the throne had been +nominally filled by his third son, +Futteh-Jung, the only one of the +princes who was on the spot; but +all the real power was vested, with +the rank of vizier, in the hands of +Akhbar Khan, who had not only +possessed himself of the Bala-Hissar +and the treasure of the late +king, but had succeeded in recruiting +the forces of the Affghan league, by +a reconciliation with Ameen-ullah +Khan,<a id="footnotetag30" name="footnotetag30" href="#footnote30"><sup>30</sup></a> the original leader of the outbreak, +with whom he had formerly +been at variance. All efforts, however, +to procure the liberation of the +captives, on any other condition than +the liberation of Dost Mohammed, and +the evacuation of Affghanistan by the +English, (as hostages for which they +had originally been given,) proved +fruitless; and at length, after more +than four months' delay, during which +several sharp affairs had taken place +with advanced bodies of the Affghans, +General Pollock moved forward with +his whole force, on the 20th of August, +against Cabul. This city had +again in the mean time become a scene +of tumult and disorder—the Kizilbashes +or Persian inhabitants, as well +as many of the native chiefs, resisting +the exactions of Akhbar Khan; who, +at last, irritated by the opposition to +his measures, imprisoned the titular +shah, Futteh-Jung, in the Bala-Hissar; +whence he succeeded after a +time in escaping, and made his appearance, +in miserable plight, (Sept. +1,) at the British headquarters at Futtehabad, +between Jellalabad and Gundamuck. +The advance of the army was +constantly opposed by detached bodies +of the enemy, and several spirited +skirmishes took place:—till, on the +13th of September, the main Affghan +force, to the number of 16,000 men, +under Akhbar Khan and other leaders, +was descried on the heights near +Tazeen, (where the slaughter of our +troops had taken place in January,) +at the entrance of the formidable +defiles called the Huft-Kothul, or +Seven Passes. It is admitted on all +hands that in this last struggle, (as +they believed, for independence,) the +Affghans fought with most distinguished +gallantry, frequently charging +sword in hand upon the bayonets; +but their irregular valour eventually +gave way before the discipline of their +opponents, and a total rout took place. +The chiefs fled in various directions, +"abandoning Cabul to the <i>avengers of +British wrongs</i>," who entered the city +in triumph on the 15th, and hoisted +the British colours on the Bala-Hissar. +The principal point now remaining +to be effected was the rescue of +the prisoners whom Akhbar Khan had +carried off with him in his flight, with +the intention (as was rumoured) of +transporting them into Turkestan; +but from this peril they were fortunately +delivered by the venality of +the chief to whose care they had been +temporarily intrusted; and on the +21st they all reached the camp in safety, +with the exception of Captain Bygrave, +<a class="pagenum" name="page270" id="page270" title="270"></a>who was also liberated, a few days +later, by the voluntary act of Akhbar +himself.<a id="footnotetag31" name="footnotetag31" href="#footnote31"><sup>31</sup></a></p> + +<p>General Nott, meanwhile, in pursuance +of his secret orders from the +Supreme Government, had been making +preparations for abandoning Candahar; +and, on the 7th and 8th of +August, the city was accordingly evacuated, +both by his corps and by the +division of General England—the +Affghan prince, Seifdar-Jung, being +left in possession of the place. The +routes of the two commanders were +now separated. General England, +with an immense train of luggage, +stores, &c., directed his march through +the Kojuck Pass to Quettah, which +he reached with little opposition;—while +Nott, with a more lightly-equipped +column, about 7000 strong, +advanced by Khelat-i-Ghiljie against +Ghazni. This offensive movement +appears to have taken the Affghans at +first by surprise; and it was not till +he arrived within thirty-eight miles +of Ghazni that General Nott found +his progress opposed (August 30) by +12,000 men under the governor, +Shams-o-deen Khan, a cousin of Mohammed +Akhbar. The dispersion of +this tumultuary array was apparently +accomplished (as far as can be gathered +from the extremely laconic despatches +of the General) without much +difficulty; and, on the 6th of September, +after a sharp skirmish in the environs, +the British once more entered +Ghazni. In the city and neighbouring +villages were found not fewer +than 327 sepoys of the former garrison, +which had been massacred to a +man (according to report) immediately +after the surrender; but notwithstanding +this evidence of the moderation +with which the Affghans had +used their triumph, General Nott, (in +obedience, as is said, to the <i>positive +tenor of his instructions</i>,) "directed the +city of Ghazni, with the citadel and +the whole of its works, to be destroyed;" +and this order appears, from +the engineer's report, to have been rigorously +carried into effect. The +mace of Mamood Shah Ghaznevi, the +first Moslem conqueror of Hindostan, +and the famous sandal-wood portals of +his tomb, (once the gates of the great +Hindoo temple at Somnaut,<a id="footnotetag32" name="footnotetag32" href="#footnote32"><sup>32</sup></a>) were +carried off as trophies: the ruins of +Ghazni were left as a monument of +British vengeance; and General Nott, +resuming his march, and again routing +Shams-o-deen Khan at the defiles +of Myden, effected his junction with +General Pollock, on the 17th of September, +at Cabul; whence the united +corps, together mustering 18,000 effective +men, were to take the route for +Hindostan through the Punjab early +in October.</p> + +<p>Such have been the principal events +of the brief but brilliant campaign +which has concluded the Affghan war, +and which, if regarded solely in a military +point of view, must be admitted +to have amply vindicated the lustre of +the British arms from the transient +cloud cast on them by the failures and +disasters of last winter.</p> + +<p>The Affghan tragedy, however, +may now, we hope, be considered as +concluded, so far as related to our own +participation in its crimes and calamities; +but for the Affghans themselves, +"left to create a government in the +midst of anarchy," there can be at present +little chance of even comparative +tranquillity, after the total dislocation +of their institutions and internal relations +by the fearful torrent of war +which has swept over the country. +The last atonement now in our power +to make, both to the people and the +ruler whom we have so deeply injured, +as well as the best course for our own +interests, would be at once to release +Dost Mohammed from the unmerited +and ignominious confinement to which +he has been subjected in Hindostan, +<a class="pagenum" name="page271" id="page271" title="271"></a>and to send him back in honour to +Cabul; where his own ancient partisans, +as well as those of his son, +would quickly rally round him; and +where his presence and accustomed +authority might have some effect in +restraining the crowd of fierce chiefs, +who will be ready to tear each other +to pieces as soon as they are released +from the presence of the <i>Feringhis</i>. +There would thus be at least a possibility +of obtaining a nucleus for the +re-establishment of something like +good order; while in no other quarter +does there appear much prospect of a +government being formed, which +might be either "approved by the +Affghans themselves," or "capable of +maintaining friendly relations with +neighbouring states." If the accounts +received may be depended upon, our +troops had scarcely cleared the Kojuck +Pass, on their way from Candahar to +the Indus, when that city became the +scene of a contest between the Prince +Seifdar-Jung and the Barukzye chiefs +in the vicinity; and though the latter +are said to have been worsted in the +first instance, there can be little doubt +that our departure will be the signal +for the speedy return of the quondam +<i>Sirdars</i>, or rulers of Candahar, (brothers +of Dost Mohammed,) who have +found an asylum in Persia since their +expulsion in 1839, but who will scarcely +neglect so favourable an opportunity +for recovering their lost authority. +Yet another competitor may still, perhaps, +be found in the same quarter—one +whose name, though sufficiently +before the public a few years since, +has now been almost forgotten in the +strife of more mighty interests. This +is Shah Kamran of Herat, the rumours +of whose death or dethronement prove +to have been unfounded, and who certainly +would have at this moment a +better chance than he has ever yet +had, for regaining at least Candahar +and Western Affghanistan. He was +said to be on the point of making the +attempt after the repulse of the Persians +before Herat, just before our +adoption of Shah-Shoojah; and his +title to the crown is at least as good +as that of the late Shah, or any of his +sons. It will be strange if this prince, +whose danger from Persia was the +original pretext for crossing the Indus, +should be the only one of all the parties +concerned, whose condition underwent +no ultimate change, through +all the vicissitudes of the tempest +which has raged around him.</p> + +<p>Nor are the elements of discord less +abundant and complicated on the side +of Cabul. The defeat of Tazeen will +not, any more than the preceding ones, +have annihilated Akhbar Khan and his +confederate chiefs:—they are still +hovering in the Kohistan, and will +doubtless lose no time in returning to +Cabul as soon as the retreat of the +English is ascertained. It is true +that the civil wars of the Affghans, +though frequent, have never been protracted +or sanguinary:—like the +Highlanders, as described by Bailie +Nicol Jarvie, "though they may quarrel +among themselves, and gie ilk +ither ill names, and may be a slash +wi' a claymore, they are sure to join +in the long run against a' civilized +folk:"—but it is scarcely possible that +so many conflicting interests, now +that the bond of common danger is +removed, can be reconciled without +strife and bloodshed. It is possible, +indeed, that Futteh-Jung (whom the +last accounts state to have remained +at Cabul when our troops withdrew, +in the hope of maintaining himself on +the musnud, and who is said to be the +most acceptable to the Affghans of +the four sons<a id="footnotetag33" name="footnotetag33" href="#footnote33"><sup>33</sup></a> of Shah-Shoojah) may +be allowed to retain for a time the title +of king; but he had no treasure and +few partizans; and the rooted distaste +of the Affghans for the titles and prerogatives +of royalty is so well ascertained, +that Dost Mohammed, even in +the plenitude of his power, never ventured +to assume them. All speculations +on these points, however, can at +present amount to nothing more than +vague conjecture; the troubled waters +must have time to settle, before any +thing can be certainly prognosticated +<a class="pagenum" name="page272" id="page272" title="272"></a>as to the future destinies of Affghanistan.</p> + +<p>The kingdom of the Punjab will +now become the barrier between Affghanistan +and our north-western frontier +in India; and it is said that the +Sikhs, already in possession of Peshawer +and the rich plain extending to +the foot of the Khyber mountains, +have undertaken in future to occupy +the important defiles of this range, +and the fort of Ali-Musjid, so as to +keep the Affghans within bounds. It +seems to us doubtful, however, whether +they will be able to maintain +themselves long, unaided, in this perilous +advanced post: though the national +animosity which subsists between +them and the Affghans is a sufficient +pledge of their good-will for the +service—and their co-operation in the +late campaign against Cabul has been +rendered with a zeal and promptitude +affording a strong contrast to their lukewarmness +at the beginning of the war, +when they conceived its object to be +the re-establishment of the monarchy +and national unity of their inveterate +foes. But the vigour of the Sikh +kingdom, and the discipline and efficiency +of their troops, have greatly +declined in the hands of the present +sovereign, Shere Singh, who, though +a frank and gallant soldier, has little +genius for civil government, and is +thwarted and overborne in his measures +by the overweening power of the +minister, Rajah Dhian Singh, who +originally rose to eminence by the favour +of Runjeet. At present, our information +as to the state of politics in +the Punjab is not very explicit, the +intelligence from India during several +months, having been almost wholly engrossed +by the details of the campaign +in Affghanistan; but as far as can be +gathered from these statements, the +country has been brought, by the insubordination +of the troops, and the +disputes of the Maharajah and his Minister, +to a state not far removed from +anarchy. It is said that the fortress +of Govindghur, where the vast treasures +amassed by Runjeet are deposited, +has been taken possession of by +the malecontent faction, and that Shere +Singh has applied for the assistance +of our troops to recover it; and the +<i>Delhi Gazette</i> even goes so far as to +assert that this prince, "disgusted with +the perpetual turmoil in which he is +embroiled, and feeling his incapacity +of ruling his turbulent chieftains, is +willing to cede his country to us, and +become a pensioner of our Government." +But this announcement, +though confidently given, we believe +to be at least premature. That the +Punjab must inevitably, sooner or +later, become part of the Anglo-Indian +empire, either as a subsidiary +power, like the Nizam, or directly, as a +province, no one can doubt; but its +incorporation at this moment, in the +teeth of our late declaration against +any further extension of territory, and +at the time when the Sikhs are zealously +fulfilling their engagements as +our allies, would be both injudicious +and unpopular in the highest degree. +An interview, however, is reported to +have been arranged between Lord +Ellenborough and Shere Singh, which +is to take place in the course of the +ensuing summer, and at which some +definitive arrangements will probably +be entered into, on the future political +relations of the two Governments.<a id="footnotetag34" name="footnotetag34" href="#footnote34"><sup>34</sup></a></p> + +<p>The only permanent accession of +territory, then, which will result from +the Affghan war, will consist in the +extension of our frontier along the +whole course of the Sutlej and Lower +Indus—"the limits which nature appears +to have assigned to the Indian +empire"—and in the altered relations +with some of the native states consequent +on these arrangements. As far +as Loodeana, indeed, our frontier on +the Sutlej has long been well established, +and defined by our recognition +of the Sikh kingdom on the opposite +bank;—but the possessions of the +chief of Bhawulpoor, extending on the +left bank nearly from Loodeana to the +confluence of the Sutlej with the Indus, +have hitherto been almost exempt +from British interference;<a id="footnotetag35" name="footnotetag35" href="#footnote35"><sup>35</sup></a> as have +<a class="pagenum" name="page273" id="page273" title="273"></a>also the petty Rajpoot states of Bikaneer, +Jesulmeer, &c., which form oases +in the desert intervening between +Scinde and the provinces more immediately +under British control. These, +it is to be presumed, will now be summarily +taken under the <i>protection</i> of +the Anglo-Indian Government:—but +more difficulty will probably be experienced +with the fierce and imperfectly +subdued tribes of Scindians and Belooches, +inhabiting the lower valley of +the Indus;—and, in order to protect +the commerce of the river, and maintain +the undisputed command of its +course, it will be necessary to retain a +sufficient extent of vantage-ground +on the further bank, and to keep up +in the country an amount of force adequate +to the effectual coercion of these +predatory races. For this purpose, a +<i>place d'armes</i> has been judiciously established +at Sukkur, a town which, +communicating with the fort of Bukkur +on an island of the Indus, and +with Roree on the opposite bank, effectually +secures the passage of the +river; and the ports of Kurrachee +and Sonmeani on the coast, the future +marts of the commerce of the Indus, +have also been garrisoned by British +troops.</p> + +<br /> + +<p>It has long since been evident<a id="footnotetag36" name="footnotetag36" href="#footnote36"><sup>36</sup></a> that +Scinde, by that <i>principle of unavoidable +expansion</i> to which we had so +often had occasion to refer, must +eventually have been absorbed into +the dominions of the Company; but +the process by which it at last came +into our hands is so curious a specimen +of our Bonapartean method of +dealing with reluctant or refractory +neutrals, that we cannot pass it altogether +without notice. Scinde, as +well as Beloochistan, had formed part +of the extensive empire subdued by +Ahmed Shah, the founder of the +Doorani monarchy; but in the reign +of his indolent son Timour, the Affghan +yoke was shaken off by the +<i>Ameers</i>, or chiefs of the Belooch +family of Talpoor, who, fixing their +residences respectively at Hydrabad, +Meerpoor, and Khyrpoor, defied all +the efforts of the kings of Cabul to +reduce them to submission, though +they more than once averted an invasion +by the promise of tribute. It has +been rumoured that Shah-Shoojah, +during his long exile, made repeated +overtures to the Cabinet of Calcutta +for the cession of his dormant claims +to the <i>suzerainté</i> of Scinde, in exchange +for an equivalent, either pecuniary +or territorial; but the representations +of a fugitive prince, who +proposed to cede what was not in his +possession, were disregarded by the +rulers of India; and even in the +famous manifesto preceding the invasion +of Affghanistan, Lord Auckland +announced, that "a guaranteed independence, +on favourable conditions, +would be tendered to the Ameers of +Scinde." On the appearance of our +army on the border, however, the +Ameers demurred, not very unreasonably, +to the passage of this formidable +host; and considerable delay ensued, +from the imperfect information possessed +by the British commanders of +the amount of resistance to be expected; +but at last the country and +fortress were forcibly occupied; the +seaport of Kurrachee (where alone +any armed opposition was attempted) +was bombarded and captured by our +ships of war; and a treaty was imposed +at the point of the bayonet on +the Scindian rulers, by virtue of +which they paid a contribution of +twenty-seven laks of rupees (nearly +£300,000) to the expenses of the war, +under the name of arrears of tribute +to Shah-Shoojah, acknowledging, at +the same time, the supremacy, <i>not of +Shah-Shoojah</i>, but of the English +Government! The tolls on the Indus +were also abolished, and the navigation +of the river placed, by a special +stipulation, wholly under the control +of British functionaries. Since this +<a class="pagenum" name="page274" id="page274" title="274"></a>summary procedure, our predominance +in Scinde has been undisturbed, unless +by occasional local commotions; but +the last advices state that the whole +country is now "in an insurrectionary +state;" and it is fully expected that +an attempt will erelong be made to +follow the example of the Affghans, +and get rid of the intrusive <i>Feringhis</i>; +in which case, as the same accounts +inform us, "the Ameers will be sent +as state-prisoners to Benares, and the +territory placed wholly under British +administration."</p> + +<p>But whatever may be thought of +the strict legality of the conveyance, +in virtue of which Scinde has been converted +into an integral part of our +Eastern empire, its geographical position, +as well as its natural products, +will render it a most valuable acquisition, +both in a commercial and political +point of view. At the beginning +of the present century, the East-India +Company had a factory at +Tatta, (the Pattala of the ancients,) +the former capital of Scinde, immediately +above the Delta of the Indus; +but their agents were withdrawn during +the anarchy which preceded the +disruption of the Doorani monarchy. +From that period till the late occurrences, +all the commercial intercourse +with British India was maintained +either by land-carriage from Cutch, +by which mode of conveyance the +opium of Malwa and Marwar (vast +quantities of which are exported in +this direction) chiefly found its way +into Scinde and Beloochistan; or by +country vessels of a peculiar build, with +a disproportionately lofty poop, and an +elongated bow instead of a bowsprit, +which carried on an uncertain and +desultory traffic with Bombay and +some of the Malabar ports. To avoid +the dangerous sandbanks at the mouths +of the Indus, as well as the intricate navigation +through the winding streams +of the Delta, (the course of which, as +in the Mississippi, changes with every +inundation,) they usually discharged +their cargoes at Kurrachee, whence +they were transported sixty miles +overland to Tatta, and there embarked +in flat-bottomed boats on the main +stream. The port of Kurrachee, fourteen +miles N.W. from the Pittee, or +western mouth of the Indus, and +Sonmeani, lying in a deep bay in the +territory of Lus, between forty and +fifty miles further in the same direction, +are the only harbours of import +in the long sea-coast of Beloochistan; +and the possession of them gives the +British the undivided command of a +trade which, in spite of the late disasters, +already promises to become +considerable; while the interposition +of the now friendly state of Khelat<a id="footnotetag37" name="footnotetag37" href="#footnote37"><sup>37</sup></a> +between the coast and the perturbed +tribes of Affghanistan, will secure the +merchandise landed here a free passage +into the interior. The trade +with these ports deserves, indeed, all +the fostering care of the Indian Government; +since they must inevitably +be, at least for some years to come, +the only inlet for Indian produce into +Beloochistan, Cabul, and the wide +regions of Central Asia beyond them. +The overland carrying trade through +Scinde and the Punjab, in which (according +to M. Masson) not less than +6500 camels were annually employed, +has been almost annihilated—not only +by the confusion arising from the war, +but from the absolute want of means +of transport, from the unprecedented +destruction of the camels occasioned +<a class="pagenum" name="page275" id="page275" title="275"></a>by the exigencies of the commissariat, +&c. The rocky defiles of Affghanistan +were heaped with the carcasses of +these indispensable animals, 50,000 of +which (as is proved by the official returns) +perished in this manner in the +course of three years; and some years +must necessarily elapse before the +chasm thus made in the numbers of +the species throughout North-western +India can be supplied. The immense +expenditure of the Army of Occupation, +at the same time, brought such +an influx of specie into Affghanistan, +as had never been known since the +sack of Delhi by Ahmed Shah Doorani—while +the traffic with India being +at a stand-still for the reasons we have +just given, the superfluity of capital +thus produced was driven to find an +outlet in the northern markets of +Bokhara and Turkestan. The consequence +of this has been, that Russian +manufactures to an enormous +amount have been poured into these +regions, by way of Astrakhan and the +Caspian, to meet this increasing demand; +and the value of Russian commerce +with Central Asia, which (as +we pointed out in April 1840, p. 522) +had for many years been progressively +declining, was doubled during 1840 +and 1841, (<i>Bombay Times</i>, April 2, +1842,) and is believed to be still on +the increase! The opening of the +navigation of the Indus, with the exertions +of the Bombay Chamber of +Commerce to establish depots on its +course, and to facilitate the transmission +of goods into the surrounding +countries, has already done much for +the restoration of traffic in this direction, +in spite of the efforts of the Russian +agents in the north to keep possession +of the opening thus unexpectedly +afforded them; but it cannot be +denied that the "great enlargement of +our field of commerce," so confidently +prognosticated by Lord Palmerston, +from "the great operations undertaken +in the countries lying west of +the Indus," has run a heavy risk of +being permanently diverted into other +channels, by the operation of the +causes detailed above.</p> + +<p>Before we finally dismiss the subject +of the Affghan war and its consequences, +we cannot overlook one +feature in the termination of the contest, +which is of the highest importance, +as indicating a return to a better +system than that miserable course of +reduction and parsimony, which, for +some years past, has slowly but surely +been alienating the attachment, and +breaking down the military spirit, of +our native army. We refer to the +distribution, by order of Lord Ellenborough, +of badges of honorary distinction, +as well as of more substantial +rewards, in the form of augmented +allowances,<a id="footnotetag38" name="footnotetag38" href="#footnote38"><sup>38</sup></a> &c., to the sepoy corps +which have borne the brunt of the +late severe campaign. Right well +have these honours and gratuities +been merited; nor could any measure +have been better timed to strengthen +in the hearts of the sepoys the bonds +of the <i>Feringhi salt</i>, to which they +have so long proved faithful. The +policy, as well as the justice, of holding +out every inducement which may +rivet the attachment of the native +troops to our service, obvious as it +must appear, has in truth been of late +too much neglected;<a id="footnotetag39" name="footnotetag39" href="#footnote39"><sup>39</sup></a> and it has become +at this juncture doubly imperative, +both from the severe and +unpopular duty in which a considerable +portion of the troops have +recently been engaged, and from the +widely-spread disaffection which has +<a class="pagenum" name="page276" id="page276" title="276"></a>lately manifested itself in various quarters +among the native population. +We predicted in July, as the probable +consequence of our reverses in Affghanistan, +some open manifestation +of the spirit of revolt constantly +smouldering among the various races +of our subjects in India, but the prophecy +had already been anticipated +by the event. The first overt resistance +to authority appeared in Bhundelkund, +a wild and imperfectly subjugated +province in the centre of Hindostan, +inhabited by a fierce people +called Bhoondelahs. An insurrection, +in which nearly all the native chiefs +are believed to be implicated, broke +out here early in April; and a desultory +and harassing warfare has since +been carried on in the midst of the almost +impenetrable jungles and ravines +which overspread the district. The +Nawab of Banda and the Bhoondee +Rajah, a Moslem and a Hindoo prince, +respectively of some note in the neighbourhood +of the disturbed tracts, have +been placed under surveillance at +Allahabad as the secret instigators of +these movements, "which," (says the +<i>Agra Ukhbar</i>) "appear to have been +regularly organized all over India, the +first intimation of which was the Nawab +of Kurnool's affair"—whose deposition +we noticed in July. The +valley of Berar, also, in the vicinity +of the Nizam's frontier, has been the +scene of several encounters between +our troops and irregular bands of insurgents; +and the restless Arab mercenaries +in the Dekkan are still in +arms, ready to take service with any +native ruler who chooses to employ +them against the <i>Feringhis</i>. In the +northern provinces, the aspect of affairs +is equally unfavourable. The +Rohillas, the most warlike and nationally-united +race of Moslems in India, +have shown alarming symptoms of a +refractory temper, fomented (as it has +been reported) by the disbanded +troopers of the 2d Bengal cavalry,<a id="footnotetag40" name="footnotetag40" href="#footnote40"><sup>40</sup></a> +(a great proportion of whom were +Rohillas,) and by Moslem deserters +from the other regiments in Affghanistan, +who have industriously magnified +the amount of our losses—a pleasing +duty, in which the native press, as +usual, has zealously co-operated. One +of the newspapers printed in the Persian +language at Delhi, recently assured +its readers that, at the forcing of +the Khyber Pass, "six thousand Europeans +fell under the sharp swords of +the Faithful"—with other veracious +intelligence, calculated to produce the +belief that the campaign must inevitably +end, like the preceding, in the defeat +and extermination of the whole invading +force. The fruits of these inflammatory +appeals to the pride and bigotry +of the Moslems, is thus painted in a letter +from Rohilcund, which we quote from +that excellent periodical the <i>Asiatic +Journal</i> for September:—"The Mahomedans +throughout Rohilcund hate +us to a degree only second to what +the Affghans do, their interest in +whose welfare they can scarcely conceal.... +There are hundreds of +heads of tribes, all of whom would +rise to a man on what they considered +a fitting opportunity, which they are +actually thirsting after. A hint from +their moolahs, and the display of the +green flag, would rally around it every +Mussulman. In March last, the population +<a class="pagenum" name="page277" id="page277" title="277"></a>made no scruple of declaring +that the <i>Feringhi raj</i> (English rule) +was at an end; and some even disputed +payment of the revenue, saying +it was probable they should have to +pay it again to another Government! +They have given out a report that +Akhbar Khan has disbanded his army +for the present, in order that his men +may visit their families; but in the +cold weather, when our troops will be +weakened and unfit for action, he will +return with an overwhelming force, +aided by every Mussulman as far as +Ispahan, when they will annihilate +our whole force and march straight to +Delhi, and ultimately send us to our +ships. The whole Mussulman population, +in fact, are filled with rejoicing +and <i>hope</i> at our late reverses."</p> + +<p>It may be said that we are unnecessarily +multiplying instances, and that +these symptoms of local fermentation +are of little individual importance; but +nothing can be misplaced which has a +tendency to dispel the universal and +unaccountable error which prevails in +England, as to the <i>popularity of our +sway in India</i>. The signs of the times +are tolerably significant—and the apprehensions +of a coming commotion +which we expressed in July, as well +as of the quarter in which it will probably +break out, are amply borne out +by the language of the best-informed +publications of India. "That the +seeds of discontent" says the <i>Delhi +Gazette</i>—"have been sown by the +Moslems, and have partially found +root among the Hindoos, is more than +conjecture"—and the warnings of the +<i>Agra Ukhbar</i> are still more unequivocal. +"Reports have reached Agra +that a general rise will erelong take +place in the Dekkan. There have +already been several allusions made +to a very extensive organization among +the native states<a id="footnotetag41" name="footnotetag41" href="#footnote41"><sup>41</sup></a> against the British +power, the resources of which will, +no doubt, be stretched to the utmost +during the ensuing cold season. Disaffection +is wide and prevalent, and +when our withdrawal from Affghanistan +becomes known, it will ripen +into open insurrection. With rebellion +in Central India, and famine in +Northern, Government have little time +to lose in collecting their energies to +meet the crisis." The increase of +means which the return of the army +from Affghanistan will place at the +disposal of the Governor-General, +will doubtless do much in either overawing +or suppressing these insurrectionary +demonstrations; but even in +this case the snake will have been +only "scotched, not killed;" and the +most practical and effectual method of +rendering such attempts hopeless for +the future, will be the replacing the +Indian army on the same efficient +footing, as to numbers and composition, +on which it stood before the ill-judged +measures of Lord William Bentinck. +The energies of the native +troops have been heavily tasked, and +their fidelity severely tried, during +the Affghan war; and though they +have throughout nobly sustained the +high character which they had earned +by their past achievements, the experiment +on their endurance should +not be carried too far. Many of the +errors of past Indian administrations +have already been remedied by Lord +Ellenborough; and we cannot refrain +from the hope, that the period of his +Government will not be suffered to +elapse without a return to the old system +on this point also—the vital point +on which the stability of our empire +depends.</p> + +<p>Such have been the consequences, as +far as they have hitherto been developed, +to the foreign and domestic +relations of our Eastern empire, of +the late memorable Affghan war. In +many points, an obvious parallel may +be drawn between its commencement +and progress, and that of the invasion +of Spain by Napoleon. In both cases, +the territory of an unoffending people +was invaded and overrun, in the plenitude +of (as was deemed by the aggressors) +irresistible power, on the pretext, +in each case, that it was necessary +<a class="pagenum" name="page278" id="page278" title="278"></a>to anticipate an ambitious rival in +the possession of a country which +might be used as a vantage ground +against us. In both cases, the usurpation +was thinly veiled by the elevation +of a pageant-monarch to the +throne; till the invaded people, goaded +by the repeated indignities offered +to their religious and national pride, +rose <i>en masse</i> against their oppressors +at the same moment in the capital and +the provinces, and either cut them off, +or drove them to the frontier. In +each case the intruders, by the arrival +of reinforcements, regained for a time +their lost ground; and if our Whig +rulers had continued longer at the +helm of affairs, the parallel might +have become complete throughout. +The strength and resources of our +Indian empire might have been drained +in the vain attempt to complete +the subjugation of a rugged and impracticable +country, inhabited by a +fierce and bigoted population; and +an "Affghan <i>ulcer</i>." (to use the ordinary +phrase of Napoleon himself in +speaking of the Spanish war) might +have corroded the vitals, and undermined +the fabric, of British domination +in the East. Fortunately, however, +for our national welfare and our +national character, better counsels are +at length in the ascendant. The triumphs +which have again crowned our +arms, have not tempted our rulers to +resume the perfidious policy which +their predecessors, in the teeth of +their own original declarations, have +now openly avowed, by "retaining +military possession of the countries +west of the Indus;" and the candid +acknowledgement of the error committed +in the first instance, affords security +against the repetition of such +acts of wanton aggression, and for adherence +to the pacific policy now laid +down. The ample resources of India +have yet in a great measure to be explored +and developed, and it is impossible +to foresee what results may be attained, +when (in the language of the +<i>Bombay Times</i>) "wisdom guides for +good and worthy ends, that resistless +energy which madness has wasted on +the opposite. We now see that, even +with Affghanistan as a broken barrier, +Russia dares not move her finger +against us—that with seventeen millions +sterling thrown away, we are +able to recover all our mischances, if +relieved from the rulers and the system +which imposed them upon us!"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The late proclamation of Lord +Ellenborough has been so frequently +referred to in the foregoing pages, +that for the sake of perspicuity we +subjoin it in full.</p> + +<p>"Secret Department, Simla,</p> + +<p>"Oct. 1, 1842.</p> + +<p>"The Government of India directed +its army to pass the Indus, in order +to expel from Affghanistan a chief +believed to be hostile to British interests, +and to replace upon his throne a +sovereign represented to be friendly +to those interests, and popular with +his former subjects.</p> + +<p>"The chief believed to be hostile +became a prisoner, and the sovereign +represented to be popular was replaced +upon his throne; but after +events which brought into question +his fidelity to the Government by +which he was restored, he lost, by the +hands of an assassin, the throne he +had only held amidst insurrections, +and his death was preceded and followed +by still existing anarchy.</p> + +<p>"Disasters, unparalleled in their +extent, unless by the errors in which +they originated, and by the treachery +by which they were completed, have +in one short campaign been avenged +upon every scene of past misfortune; +and repeated victories in the field, and +the capture of the cities and citadels +of Ghazni and Cabul, have again attached +the opinion of invincibility to +the British arms.</p> + +<p>"The British army in possession of +Affghanistan will now be withdrawn +to the Sutlej.</p> + +<p>"The Governor-General will leave +it to the Affghans themselves to create +a government amidst the anarchy +which is the consequence of their +crimes.</p> + +<p>"To force a sovereign upon a reluctant +people, would be as inconsistent +with the policy, as it is with the +principles, of the British Government, +tending to place the arms and resources +of that people at the disposal +of the first invader, and to impose the +burden of supporting a sovereign +without the prospect of benefit from +his alliance.</p> + +<p>"The Governor-General will willingly +recognize any government approved +by the Affghans themselves, +<a class="pagenum" name="page279" id="page279" title="279"></a>which shall appear desirous and capable +of maintaining friendly relations +with neighbouring states.</p> + +<p>"Content with the limits nature +appears to have assigned to its empire, +the Government of India will devote +all its efforts to the establishment and +maintenance of general peace, to the +protection of the sovereigns and chiefs +its allies, and to the prosperity and +happiness of its own faithful subjects.</p> + +<p>"The rivers of the Punjab and the +Indus, and the mountainous passes +and the barbarous tribes of Affghanistan, +will be placed between the British +army and an enemy from the +west, if indeed such an enemy there +can be, and no longer between the +army and its supplies.</p> + +<p>"The enormous expenditure required +for the support of a large force +in a false military position, at a distance +from its own frontier and its resources, +will no longer arrest every +measure for the improvement of the +country and of the people.</p> + +<p>"The combined army of England +and of India, superior in equipment, +in discipline, in valour, and in the +officers by whom it is commanded, to +any force which can be opposed to it +in Asia, will stand in unassailable +strength upon its own soil, and for ever, +under the blessing of Providence, preserve +the glorious empire it has won, +in security and in honour.</p> + +<p>"The Governor-General cannot +fear the misconstruction of his motives +in thus frankly announcing to +surrounding states the pacific and conservative +policy of his Government.</p> + +<p>"Affghanistan and China have seen +at once the forces at his disposal, and +the effect with which they can be applied.</p> + +<p>"Sincerely attached to peace for +the sake of the benefits it confers upon +the people, the Governor-General is +resolved that peace shall be observed, +and will put forth the whole power of +the British Government to coerce the +state by which it shall be infringed."</p> + + + + +<hr style='width: 100%;' /> +<a class="pagenum" name="page280" id="page280" title="280"></a> +<a name="bw328s10" id="bw328s10"></a><h2>DEATH OF THOMAS HAMILTON, ESQ.</h2> + +<p>There are few things more painful connected with the increase of years +in an established periodical like our own, than to observe how "friend after +friend departs," to witness the gradual thinning of the ranks of its contributors +by death, and the departure, from the scene, of those whose talents or +genius had contributed to its early influence and popularity. Many years +have not elapsed since we were called on to record the death of the upright +and intelligent publisher, to whose energy and just appreciation of the public +taste, its origin and success are in a great degree to be ascribed. On the +present occasion another of these melancholy memorials is required of us; the +accomplished author of "Cyril Thornton," whose name and talents had been +associated with the Magazine from its commencement, is no more. He died +at Pisa on the 7th December last.</p> + +<p>Mr Hamilton exhibited a remarkable union of scholarship, high breeding, +and amiability of disposition. To the habitual refinement of taste which +an early mastery of the classics had produced, his military profession and intercourse +with society had added the ease of the man of the world, while they +had left unimpaired his warmth of feeling and kindliness of heart. Amidst +the active services of the Peninsular and American campaigns, he preserved +his literary tastes; and, when the close of the war restored him to his country, +he seemed to feel that the peaceful leisure of a soldier's life could not be +more appropriately filled up than by the cultivation of literature. The characteristic +of his mind was rather a happy union and balance of qualities than +the possession of any one in excess; and the result was a peculiar composure +and gracefulness, pervading equally his outward deportment and his habits +of thought. The only work of fiction which he has given to the public certainly +indicates high powers both of pathetic and graphic delineation; but the +qualities which first and most naturally attracted attention, were rather his +excellent judgment of character, at once just and generous, his fine perception +and command of wit and quiet humour, rarely, if ever, allowed to deviate into +satire or sarcasm, and the refinement, taste, and precision with which he +clothed his ideas, whether in writing or in conversation. From the boisterous +or extravagant he seemed instinctively to recoil, both in society and +in taste.</p> + +<p>Of his contributions to this Magazine it would be out of place here to speak, +further than to say that they indicated a wide range and versatility of talent, +embraced both prose and verse, and were universally popular. "Cyril Thornton," +which appeared in 1827, instantly arrested public attention and curiosity, +even in an age eminently fertile in great works of fiction. With +little of plot—for it pursued the desultory ramblings of military life through +various climes—it possessed a wonderful truth and reality, great skill in the +observation and portraiture of original character, and a peculiar charm of +style, blending freshness and vivacity of movement with classic delicacy and +grace. The work soon became naturally and justly popular, having reached +a second edition shortly after publication: a third edition has recently appeared. +The "Annals of the Peninsular Campaign" had the merit of clear narration, +united with much of the same felicity of style; but the size of the work excluded +that full development and picturesque detail which were requisite to +give individuality to its pictures. His last work was "Men and Manners in +America," of which two German and one French translations have already +appeared; a work eminently characterized by a tone of gentlemanly feeling, +sagacious observation, just views of national character and institutions, and +their reciprocal influence, and by tolerant criticism; and which, so far from +having been superseded by recent works of the same class and on the same +subject, has only risen in public estimation by the comparison.</p> + +<hr style='width: 100%;' /> + +<a name="bw328-footnotes" id="bw328-footnotes"></a><h2>FOOTNOTES.</h2> + + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote1" name="footnote1"></a><b>Footnote 1</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag1">return</a>) +<p> "<i>Taille and the Gabelle</i>." Sully thus describes these fertile sources of crime +and misery:—"Taille, source principale d'abus et de vexations de toute espèce, sans +sa repartition et sa perception. Il est bien à souhaiter, mais pas à espérer, qu'on change +un jour en entier le fond de cette partie des revenus. Je mets la Gabelle de niveau +avec la Taille. Je n'ai jamais rien trouvé de si <i>bizarrement tyrannique</i> que de faire +acheter à un particulier, plus de sel qu'il n'en veut et n'en peut consommer, et de +lui défendre encore de revendre ce qu'il a de trop."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote2" name="footnote2"></a><b>Footnote 2</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag2">return</a>) +<p> Ulysses.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote3" name="footnote3"></a><b>Footnote 3</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag3">return</a>) +<p> Need we say to the general reader, that Oileus here alludes to the strife between +Ajax and Ulysses, which has furnished a subject to the Greek tragic poet, who has +depicted, more strikingly than any historian, that intense emulation for glory, and that +mortal agony in defeat, which made the main secret of the prodigious energy of the +Greek character? The poet, in taking his hero from the Homeric age, endowed him +with the feelings of the Athenian republicans he addressed.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote4" name="footnote4"></a><b>Footnote 4</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag4">return</a>) +<p> Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote5" name="footnote5"></a><b>Footnote 5</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag5">return</a>) +<p> Cassandra.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote6" name="footnote6"></a><b>Footnote 6</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag6">return</a>) +<p> Literally, "<i>A judge (ein richter)</i> was again upon the earth." The word substituted +in the translation, is introduced in order to recall to the reader the sublime +name given, not without justice, to Rudolf of Hapsburg, viz., "THE LIVING LAW."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote7" name="footnote7"></a><b>Footnote 7</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag7">return</a>) +<p> This simile is nobly conceived, but expressed somewhat obscurely. As Hercules +contended in vain against Antæus, the Son of Earth,—so long as the Earth gave her +giant offspring new strength in every fall,—so the soul contends in vain with evil—the +natural earth-born enemy, while the very contact of the earth invigorates the +enemy for the struggle. And as Antæus was slain at last, when Hercules lifted him +from the earth and strangled him while raised aloft, so can the soul slay the enemy, +(the desire, the passion, the evil, the earth's offspring,) when bearing it from earth +itself, and stifling it in the higher air.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote8" name="footnote8"></a><b>Footnote 8</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag8">return</a>) +<p> Hermes.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote9" name="footnote9"></a><b>Footnote 9</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag9">return</a>) +<p> War-horse.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote10" name="footnote10"></a><b>Footnote 10</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag10">return</a>) +<p> Could Sir Joshua now be permitted to visit his own Academy, and our exhibitions +in general, he would be startled at the excess of ornament, in defiance of his rule of +repose, succeeding the slovenliness of his own day. Whatever be the subject, history, +landscape, or familiar life, it superabounds both in objects and colour. In established +academies, the faults of genius are more readily adopted than their excellences; they +are more vulgarly perceptible, and more easy of imitation. We have, therefore, less +hesitation in referring the more ambitious of our artists to this prohibition in Sir +Joshua's Discourse. The greater the authority the more injurious the delinquency. We +therefore adduce as examples, works of our most inventive and able artist, his "Macbeth" +and his "Hamlet"—they are greatly overloaded with the faults of superabundance +of ornament, and want unity; yet are they works of great power, and such as none but +a painter of high genius could conceive or execute. In a more fanciful subject, and +where ornament was more admissible, he has been more fortunate, and even in the +multiplicity of his figures and ornaments, by their grouping and management, he has +preserved a seeming moderation, and has so ordered his composition that the wholeness, +the simplicity, of his subject is not destroyed. The story is told, and admirably—as +Sir Joshua says, "at one blow." We speak of his "Sleeping Beauty." We see at +once that the prince and princess are the principal, and they are united by that light +and fainter fairy chain intimating, yet not too prominently, the magic under whose +working and whose light the whole scene is; nothing can be better conceived than the +prince—there is a largeness in the manner, a breadth in the execution of the figure that +considerably dignifies the story, and makes him, the principal, a proper index of it. +The many groups are all episodes, beautiful in themselves, and in no way injure the +simplicity. There is novelty, variety, and contrast in not undue proportion, because +that simplicity is preserved. Even the colouring, (though there is too much white,) +and chiaro-scuro, with its gorgeousness, is in the stillness of repose, and a sunny repose, +too, befitting the "Sleeping Beauty." Mr Maclise has succeeded best where his difficulty +and danger were greatest, and so it ever is with genius. It is not in such subjects +alone that our artists transgress Sir Joshua's rule; we too often see portraits where +the dress and accessaries obtrude—there is too much lace and too little expression—and +our painters of views follow the fashion most unaccountably—ornament is every +where; we have not a town where the houses are not "turned out of windows," and +all the furniture of every kind piled up in the streets; and as if to show a pretty general +bankruptcy, together with the artist's own poverty, you would imagine an auction going +on in every other house, by the Turkey carpets and odds and ends hanging from the +windows. We have even seen a "Rag Fair" in a turnpike road.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote11" name="footnote11"></a><b>Footnote 11</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag11">return</a>) +<p> The reader will remember the supposed epitaph,</p> +<div class='poem'><div class='stanza'> +<span>"Lie heavy on him, earth, for he<br /></span> +<span>Laid many a heavy load on thee."<br /></span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote12" name="footnote12"></a><b>Footnote 12</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag12">return</a>) +<p> A fresh-water spring rushing into the sea called Chewton Bunny.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote13" name="footnote13"></a><b>Footnote 13</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag13">return</a>) +<p> See Forster's Life of Cromwell.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote14" name="footnote14"></a><b>Footnote 14</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag14">return</a>) +<p> Sir Oliver, who died in 1655, aged ninety-three, might, by possibility, have seen +all the men of great genius, excepting Chaucer and Roger Bacon, whom England has +produced from its first discovery down to our own times. Francis Bacon, Shakspeare, +Milton, Newton, and the prodigious shoal that attended these leviathans through the +intellectual deep. Newton was but in his thirteenth year at Sir Oliver's death. Raleigh, +Spenser, Hooker, Elliot, Selden, Taylor, Hobbes, Sidney, Shaftesbury, and Locke, +were existing in his lifetime; and several more, who may be compared with the smaller +of these.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote15" name="footnote15"></a><b>Footnote 15</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag15">return</a>) +<p> Chapman's <i>Homer</i>, first book.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote16" name="footnote16"></a><b>Footnote 16</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag16">return</a>) +<p> 35th Reg. N.I.; 100 sappers; 1 squadron 5th Cav.; 2 guns.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote17" name="footnote17"></a><b>Footnote 17</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag17">return</a>) +<p> The system, unpalatable as it was to the nation, might, no doubt, have been carried +through by an overwhelming military force, if the country had been worth the cost; +but if it was not intended to retain permanent possession of Affghanistan, it appears to +us that the native government was far too much interfered with—that the British +envoy, the British officers employed in the districts and provinces, and the British army, +stood too much between the Shah and his subjects—that we were forming a government +which it would be impossible to work in our absence, and creating a state of things +which, the longer it might endure, would have made more remote the time at which our +interference could be dispensed with.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote18" name="footnote18"></a><b>Footnote 18</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag18">return</a>) +<p> Affghan horse.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote19" name="footnote19"></a><b>Footnote 19</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag19">return</a>) +<p> The detachment under Captain Mackenzie consisted of about seventy juzailchees +or Affghan riflemen, and thirty sappers, who had been left in the town in charge of the +wives and children of the corps, all of whom were brought safe into the cantonments by +that gallant party, who fought their way from the heart of the town.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote20" name="footnote20"></a><b>Footnote 20</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag20">return</a>) +<p> "I am sorry to say that this document has not reached me with the rest of the +manuscript. I have not struck out the reference, because there is hope that it still +exists, and may yet be appended to this narrative. The loss of any thing else from +Captain Mackenzie's pen will be regretted by all who read his other communication, +the account of the Envoy's murder.—EDITOR."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote21" name="footnote21"></a><b>Footnote 21</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag21">return</a>) +<p> Affghan riflemen.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote22" name="footnote22"></a><b>Footnote 22</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag22">return</a>) +<p> Five companies 44th; six companies 5th native infantry; six companies 37th native +infantry; 100 sappers; 2½ squadrons cavalry; one gun.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote23" name="footnote23"></a><b>Footnote 23</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag23">return</a>) +<p> In Mr Eyre's observations on this disastrous affair, he enumerates six errors, +which he says must present themselves to the most unpractised military eye. "The +first, and perhaps the most fatal mistake of all, was the taking only one gun;" but he +admits that there was only one gun ready, and that, if the Brigadier had waited for the +second, he must have postponed the enterprise for a day. This would probably have +been the more prudent course. +</p><p> +The second error was, that advantage was not taken of the panic in the village, to +storm it at once in the dark; but it appears from his own account, that there were not +more than forty men remaining in the village when it was attacked, after daylight, +and that the chief cause of the failure of that attack, was Major Swayne's having missed +the gate, a misfortune which was, certainly, at least as likely to have occurred in +the dark. +</p><p> +The third was, that the sappers were not employed to raise a breastwork for the +protection of the troops. This objection appears to be well founded. +</p><p> +The fourth was, that the infantry were formed into squares, to resist the distant fire +of infantry, on ground over which no cavalry could have charged with effect. It appears +to be so utterly unintelligible that any officer should have been guilty of so +manifest an absurdity, that the circumstances seem to require further elucidation; but +that the formation was unfortunate, is sufficiently obvious. +</p><p> +Fifthly, that the position chosen for the cavalry was erroneous; and sixthly, that the +retreat was too long deferred. Both these objections appear to be just.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote24" name="footnote24"></a><b>Footnote 24</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag24">return</a>) +<p> Strait of Darkness.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote25" name="footnote25"></a><b>Footnote 25</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag25">return</a>) +<p> See the articles "Persia, Affghanistan, and India," in Jan. 1839—"Khiva, +Central Asia, and Cabul," in April 1840—"Results of our Affghan Conquests," +in Aug. 1841—"Affghanistan and India," in July 1842.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote26" name="footnote26"></a><b>Footnote 26</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag26">return</a>) +<p> It now seems even doubtful whether the famous letter of Dost Mohammed +to the Emperor of Russia, which constituted the <i>gravamen</i> of the charge against +him, was ever really written, or at least with his concurrence.—<i>Vide</i> "Report of +the Colonial Society on the Affghan War," p. 35.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote27" name="footnote27"></a><b>Footnote 27</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag27">return</a>) +<p> The particulars of Shah-Shoojah's fate, which were unknown when we last +referred to the subject, have been since ascertained. After the retreat of the +English from Cabul, he remained for some time secluded in the Bala-Hissar, observing +great caution in his intercourse with the insurgent leaders; but he was +at length prevailed upon, by assurances of loyalty and fidelity, (about the middle +of April,) to quit the fortress, in order to head an army against Jellalabad. He +had only proceeded, however, a short distance from the city, when his litter was +fired upon by a party of musketeers placed in ambush by a Doorauni chief named +Soojah-ed-Dowlah; and the king was shot dead on the spot. Such was the ultimate +fate of a prince, the vicissitudes of whose life almost exceed the fictions of +romance, and who possessed talents sufficient, in more tranquil times, to have +given <i>éclat</i> to his reign. During his exile at Loodiana, he composed in Persian a +curious narrative of his past adventures, a version of part of which appears in the +30th volume of the <i>Asiatic Journal</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote28" name="footnote28"></a><b>Footnote 28</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag28">return</a>) +<p> It is singular that this proclamation was issued on the fourth anniversary +of Lord Auckland's "Declaration" of Oct. 1, 1838; and from the same place, +Simla.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote29" name="footnote29"></a><b>Footnote 29</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag29">return</a>) +<p> "The fieldworks <i>believed to be described</i> in the despatch as 'consisting of a +succession of breastworks, improved by a ditch and abattis—the latter being filled +with thorns,' turned out to be a paltry stone wall, with a cut two feet deep, and +of corresponding width, to which the designation of ditch was most grossly misapplied.... +A score or two of active men might have completed the work +in a few days."—(Letter quoted in the <i>Asiatic Journal</i>, Sept., p. 107.) On whom +the blame of these misrepresentations should be laid—whether on the officer who +reconnoitred the ground, or on the general who wrote the despatch—does not very +clearly appear: yet the political agent at Quettah was removed from his charge, +for not having given notice of the construction in his vicinity of works which +are now proved to have had no existence!</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote30" name="footnote30"></a><b>Footnote 30</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag30">return</a>) +<p> It was this chief whose betrayal or destruction Sir William McNaghten is +accused, on the authority of General Elphinstone's correspondence, of having +meditated, on the occasion when he met with his own fate. We hope, for the +honour of the English name, that the memory of the late Resident at Cabul may +be cleared from this heavy imputation; but he certainly cannot be acquitted of +having, by his wilful blindness and self-sufficiency, contributed to precipitate the +catastrophe to which he himself fell a victim. In proof of this assertion, it is +sufficient to refer to the tenor of his remarks on the letter addressed to him by +Sir A. Burnes on the affairs of Cabul, August 7, 1840, which appeared some +time since in the <i>Bombay Times</i>, and afterwards in the <i>Asiatic Journal</i> for October +and November last.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote31" name="footnote31"></a><b>Footnote 31</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag31">return</a>) +<p> The kindness and humanity which these unfortunate <i>detenus</i> experienced +from first to last at the hands of Akhbar, reflect the highest honour on the character +of this chief, whom it has been the fashion to hold up to execration as a +monster of perfidy and cruelty. As a contrast to this conduct of the Affghan +<i>barbarians</i>, it is worth while to refer to Colonel Lindsay's narrative of his captivity +in the dungeons of Hyder and Tippoo, which has recently appeared in the +<i>Asiatic Journal</i>, September, December, 1842.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote32" name="footnote32"></a><b>Footnote 32</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag32">return</a>) +<p> The value still attached by the Hindoos to these relics was shown on the conclusion +of the treaty, in 1832, between Shah-Shoojah and Runjeet Singh, previous +to the Shah's last unaided attempt to recover his throne; in which their restoration, +in case of his success, was an express stipulation.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote33" name="footnote33"></a><b>Footnote 33</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag33">return</a>) +<p> The elder of these princes, Timour, who was governor of Candahar during +the reign of his father, has accompanied General England to Hindostan, preferring, +as he says, the life of a private gentleman under British protection to the +perils of civil discord in Affghanistan. Of the second, Mohammed-Akhbar, (whose +mother is said to be sister of Dost Mohammed,) we know nothing;—Futteh-Jung +is the third, and was intended by Shah-Shoojah for his successor;—Seifdar-Jung, +now at Candahar, is the youngest.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote34" name="footnote34"></a><b>Footnote 34</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag34">return</a>) +<p> The war in Tibet, to which we alluded in July last, between the followers of +the Sikh chief Zorawur Singh and the Chinese, is still in progress—and the latter +are said to be on the point of following up their successes by an invasion of +Cashmeer. As we are now at peace with the Celestial Empire, our mediation may +be made available to terminate the contest.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote35" name="footnote35"></a><b>Footnote 35</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag35">return</a>) +<p> Bhawulpoor is so far under British protection, that it was saved from the +arms of the Sikhs by the treaty with Runjeet Singh, which confined him to the +other bank of the Sutlej; but it has never paid allegiance to the British Government. +Its territory is of considerable extent, stretching nearly 300 miles along +the river, by 100 miles average breadth; but great part of the surface consists +of sandy desert.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote36" name="footnote36"></a><b>Footnote 36</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag36">return</a>) +<p> So well were the Scindians aware of this, that Burnes, when ascending the +Indus, on his way to Lahore in 1831, frequently heard it remarked, "Scinde is +now gone, since the English have seen the river, which is the road to its conquest."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote37" name="footnote37"></a><b>Footnote 37</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag37">return</a>) +<p> Khelat (more properly Khelat-i-Nussear Khan, "the citadel of Nussear +Khan," by whom it was strongly fortified in 1750,) is the principal city and fortress +of the Brahooes or Eastern Baloochee, and the residence of their chief. It +had never been taken by any of the Affghan kings, and had even opposed a successful +resistance to the arms of Ahmed Shah;—but on November 13, 1839, it +was stormed by an Anglo-Indian force under General Wiltshire, and the Khan +Mihrab was slain sword in hand, gallantly fighting to the last at the entrance of +his zenana. The place, however, was soon after surprised and recaptured by the +son of the fallen chief, Nussear Khan, who, though again expelled, continued to +maintain himself with a few followers in the mountains, and at last effected an +accommodation with the British, and was replaced on the musnud. He has +since fulfilled his engagements to us with exemplary fidelity; and as his fears of +compulsory vassalage to the nominally restored Affghan monarchy are now at +an end, he appears likely to afford a solitary instance of a trans-Indian chief converted +into a firm friend and ally.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote38" name="footnote38"></a><b>Footnote 38</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag38">return</a>) +<p> By a general order, issued from Simla October 4, all officers and soldiers, of +whatever grade, who took part in the operations about Candahar, the defence of +Khelat-i-Ghiljie, the recapture of Ghazni or Cabul, or the forcing of the Khyber +Pass, are to receive a silver medal with appropriate inscriptions—a similar distinction +having been previously conferred on the defenders of Jellalabad. <i>What +is at present the value of the Order of the Doorani Empire</i>, with its showy decorations +of the first, second, and third classes, the last of which was so rightfully +spurned by poor Dennie?</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote39" name="footnote39"></a><b>Footnote 39</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag39">return</a>) +<p> The following remarks of the <i>Madras United Service Gazette</i>, though intended +to apply only to the Secunderabad disturbances, deserve general attention at +present:—"We attribute the lately-diminished attachment of the sepoys for their +European officers to <i>a diminished inclination for the service</i>, the duties whereof +have of late years increased in about the same proportion that its advantages have +been reduced. The cavalry soldier of the present day has more than double the +work to do that a trooper had forty years ago;... and the infantry sepoy's +garrison guard-work has been for years most fatiguing at every station, from the +numerical strength of the troops being quite inadequate to the duties.... +These several unfavourable changes have gradually given the sepoy a distaste for +the service, which has been augmented by the stagnant state of promotion, caused +by the reductions in 1829, when one-fifth of the infantry, and one-fourth of the +cavalry, native commissioned and non-commissioned officers, became supernumerary, +thus effectually closing the door of promotion to the inferior grades for years to +come. Hopeless of advancement, the sepoy from that time became gradually less +attentive to his duties, less respectful to his superiors, as careless of a service which +no longer held out any prospect of promotion. Still, however, the bonds of discipline +were not altogether loosened, till Lord W. Bentinck's abolition of corporal +punishment; and from the promulgation of that ill-judged order may be dated the +decided change for the worse which has taken place in the character of the native +soldiery."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote40" name="footnote40"></a><b>Footnote 40</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag40">return</a>) +<p> This corps, it will be remembered, was broken for its misconduct in the battle +of Purwan-Durrah, against Dost Mohammed, November 2, 1840.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a id="footnote41" name="footnote41"></a><b>Footnote 41</b>: (<a href="#footnotetag41">return</a>) +<p> The Nawab of Arcot, one of the native princes, whose fidelity is now strongly +suspected, assured the Resident, in his reply to the official communication of +the capture of Ghazni in 1839, that from his excessive joy at the triumph of his +good friend the Company, his bulk of body had so greatly increased that he was +under the necessity of providing himself with a new wardrobe—his garments having +become too strait for his unbounded stomach! A choice specimen of oriental +bombast.</p></div> + + +<hr style='width: 100%;' /> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. +CCCXXVIII. February, 1843. Vol. LIII., by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH *** + +***** This file should be named 13062-h.htm or 13062-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/0/6/13062/ + +Produced by Jon Ingram, Brendan O'Connor and PG Distributed +Proofreaders. Produced from page scans provided by The Internet +Library of Early Journals. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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