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diff --git a/old/13062.txt b/old/13062.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..112953f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13062.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10483 @@ +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: ASCII + +*** 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. + + + + + + +BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. + +NO. CCCXXVIII. FEBRUARY, 1843. VOL. LIII. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + ARNOLD'S LECTURES ON HISTORY + POEMS AND BALLADS OF SCHILLER.--NO. V. + REYNOLDS'S DISCOURSES. PART II. + THE YOUNG GREY HEAD + IMAGINARY CONVERSATION. BY WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR. + OLIVER CROMWELL AND SIR OLIVER CROMWELL + CALEB STUKELY. PART XI. + THE WORLD OF LONDON. SECOND SERIES. PART II. + EYRE'S CABUL + THE EVACUATION OF AFFGHANISTAN + DEATH OF THOMAS HAMILTON, ESQ. + + * * * * * + + EDINBURGH: WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS. + + * * * * * + + + + +ARNOLD'S LECTURES ON HISTORY. + + +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 Schloesser and Thierry and Sismondi, by the labours of a +writer peculiarly, and, as this volume proves, most affectionately her +own. + +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 +Caesar, 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 _filosofastri_ 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. 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. + +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, + + "Thought, to the man that never thinks, may seem + As natural as when asleep to dream." + +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. + +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." + +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 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. + +With the Britons whom Caesar 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 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. + +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-- + + "Ipse diem noctemque negat discernere coelo, + Nec meminisse viae, media Palinurus in unda." + +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 Besancon, 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 _boulimia_ 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-- + + "And find no end, in boundless mazes lost." + +But it is time to hear Dr Arnold:-- + + "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 _Foedera_. 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 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. + + "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. + _That the Statute Book has not been more habitually referred to + by writers on English history_, 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, + _because it is the expression of the deliberate mind of the + supreme government of society_; 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." + +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:-- + + "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 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." + +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:-- + + "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." + +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." + +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 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. + +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. + +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:-- + + "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. + +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 +exemplified one of the peculiar distinctions of attaching to modern +history the importance of attending to genealogies. + + "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 Comte, thus yielding him a footing + within the Jura, on the very banks of the Saone. 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. + +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:-- + + "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-- + + 'The torrent's smoothness ere it dash below,'-- + + 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 Croesus, 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 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." + +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." + +He proceeds, however, to the performance of the task immediately before +him. After stating that the great object, the [Greek: teleiotaton +telos], 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:-- + + "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? 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 praeruptis + oppida saxis' of Virgil's description, which he even then + called 'antique walls,' because they had been the strongholds + of the primaeval 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. + + "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." + +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:-- + + "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 + 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 + Vendee, 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 Caesar. 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." + +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'Etrees 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 Vendeans 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 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 Thermopylae. + +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! + +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:-- + + [Greek: andras men kteinoysi, polin de te pyr amathynei + tekna de t' alloi agoysi, bathyzonoys te gynaikas.] + +The unhappy fate of Genoa is thus beautifully related-- + + "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 Epipalae, 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; 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. + + "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. + + "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. + + "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." + +We rejoice to find that the great authority of Colonel W. Napier--an +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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." + +Again, the attentive reader can hardly fail to see that, in the struggle +between Pompey and Caesar, Caesar 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 Caesar, 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. + +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. + +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. + + "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 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." + +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." + +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." + +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 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:-- + + "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." + +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. + +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:-- + + "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 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. + + "We might think, _a priori_, 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." + +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:-- + + "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 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! + + "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." + +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. + +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. 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-- + + "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. + + "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." + +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,[1] the fruits of +whose soil had been wasted because he was 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. + + [1] "_Taille and the Gabelle_." Sully thus describes these + fertile sources of crime and misery:--"Taille, source + principale d'abus et de vexations de toute espece, sans sa + repartition et sa perception. Il est bien a souhaiter, mais pas + a esperer, 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 trouve de si _bizarrement + tyrannique_ que de faire acheter a un particulier, plus de sel + qu'il n'en veut et n'en peut consommer, et de lui defendre + encore de revendre ce qu'il a de trop." + +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. + +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 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 insidiae." 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 memoriae, magistra vitae, nuntia vetustatis." + +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 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 Bouille 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 _poco di piu_ and _poco di meno_ 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? + +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. + +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 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." + + "Un d'eux, voyant la brique au feu endurcie + Vaincre l'effort des ans, il eut la meme envie; + Et nouvel Empedocle, aux flammes condamne + Par sa pure et propre folie, + Il se lanca dedans--ce fut mal raisonne, + Le Cierge ne savait grain de philosophie." + +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. + +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. + +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-- + + ----"A tale + Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, + Signifying nothing." + +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. + + "Come quei che va di notte, + Che porta il lume dietro, _e a se non giova, + Ma dopo se fa le persone dotte_." + +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 which physical nature owes its existence and perpetuity, does +not stop at the threshold of national life--that the moral world is not +_fatherless_, and that man, formed to look before and after, is not +abandoned to confusion and insecurity? + +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." + + * * * * * + + + + +POEMS AND BALLADS OF SCHILLER. + +No. V. + +THE VICTORY FEAST. + + +[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, _there is +an under current of sentiment_ which betrays the thoughtful _Northern_ +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.] + + The stately walls of Troy had sunken, + Her towers and temples strew'd the soil; + The sons of Hellas, victory-drunken, + Richly laden with the spoil, + Are on their lofty barks reclin'd + Along the Hellespontine strand; + A gleesome freight the favouring wind + Shall bear to Greece's glorious land; + And gleesome sounds the chaunted strain, + As towards the household altars, now, + Each bark inclines the painted prow-- + For Home shall smile again! + + And there the Trojan women, weeping, + Sit ranged in many a length'ning row; + Their heedless locks, dishevell'd, sweeping + Adown the wan cheeks worn with woe. + No festive sounds that peal along, + _Their_ mournful dirge can overwhelm; + Through hymns of joy one sorrowing song + Commingled, wails the ruin'd realm. + "Farewell, beloved shores!" it said, + "From home afar behold us torn, + By foreign lords as captives borne-- + Ah, happy are the Dead!" + + And Calchas, while the altars blaze, + Invokes the high gods to their feast! + On Pallas, mighty or to raise + Or shatter cities, call'd the Priest-- + And Him, who wreathes around the land + The girdle of his watery world, + And Zeus, from whose almighty hand + The terror and the bolt are hurl'd. + Success at last awards the crown-- + The long and weary war is past; + Time's destined circle ends at last-- + And fall'n the Mighty Town! + + The Son of Atreus, king of men, + The muster of the hosts survey'd, + How dwindled from the thousands, when + Along Scamander first array'd! + With sorrow and the cloudy thought, + The Great King's stately look grew dim-- + Of all the hosts to Ilion brought, + How few to Greece return with him! + Still let the song to gladness call, + For those who yet their home shall greet!-- + For them the blooming life is sweet: + Return is not for all! + + Nor all who reach their native land + May long the joy of welcome feel-- + Beside the household gods may stand + Grim Murther with awaiting steel; + And they who 'scape the foe, may die + Beneath the foul familiar glaive. + Thus He[2] to whose prophetic eye + Her light the wise Minerva gave:-- + "Ah! blest whose hearth, to memory true, + The goddess keeps unstain'd and pure-- + For woman's guile is deep and sure, + And Falsehood loves the New!" + + The Spartan eyes his Helen's charms, + By the best blood of Greece recaptured; + Round that fair form his glowing arms-- + (A second bridal)--wreathe enraptured. + "Woe waits the work of evil birth-- + Revenge to deeds unblest is given! + For watchful o'er the things of earth, + The eternal Council-Halls of Heaven. + Yes, ill shall ever ill repay-- + Jove to the impious hands that stain + The Altar of Man's Hearth, again + The doomer's doom shall weigh!" + + "Well they, reserved for joy to day," + Cried out Oileus' valiant son, + "May laud the favouring gods who sway + Our earth, their easy thrones upon; + Without a choice they mete our doom, + Our woe or welfare Hazard gives-- + Patroclus slumbers in the tomb, + And all unharm'd Thersites lives. + While luck and life to every one + Blind Fate dispenses, well may they + Enjoy the life and luck to day + By whom the prize is won! + + "Yes, war will still devour the best!-- + Brother, remember'd in this hour! + His shade should be in feasts a guest, + Whose form was in the strife a tower! + What time our ships the Trojan fired, + Thine arm to Greece the safety gave-- + The prize to which thy soul aspired, + The crafty wrested from the brave.[3] + Peace to thine ever-holy rest-- + Not thine to fall before the foe! + Ajax alone laid Ajax low: + Ah--wrath destroys the best!" + + To his dead sire--(the Dorian king)-- + The bright-hair'd Pyrrhus[4] pours the wine:-- + "Of every lot that life can bring, + My soul, great Father, prizes thine. + Whate'er the goods of earth, of all, + The highest and the holiest--FAME! + For when the Form in dust shall fall, + O'er dust triumphant lives the Name! + Brave Man, thy light of glory never + Shall fade, while song to man shall last; + The Living, soon from earth are pass'd, + 'THE DEAD--ENDURE FOR EVER!'" + + "While silent in their grief and shame, + The conquer'd hear the conqueror's praise," + Quoth Tydeus' son, "let Hector's fame, + In me, his foe, its witness raise! + Who, battling for the altar-hearth, + A brave defender, bravely fell-- + It takes not from the victor's worth, + If honour with the vanquish'd dwell. + Who falleth for the altar-hearth, + A rock and a defence laid low, + Shall leave behind him, in the foe, + The lips that speak his worth!" + + Lo, Nestor now, whose stately age + Through threefold lives of mortals lives!-- + The laurel'd bowl, the kingly sage + To Hector's tearful mother gives. + "Drink--in the draught new strength is glowing, + The grief it bathes forgets the smart! + O Bacchus! wond'rous boons bestowing, + Oh how thy balsam heals the heart! + Drink--in the draught new vigour gloweth, + The grief it bathes forgets the smart-- + And balsam to the breaking heart, + The healing god bestoweth. + + "As Niobe, when weeping mute, + To angry gods the scorn and prey, + But tasted of the charmed fruit, + And cast despair itself away; + So, while unto thy lips, its shore, + This stream of life enchanted flows, + Remember'd grief, that stung before, + Sinks down to Lethe's calm repose. + So, while unto thy lips, its shore, + The stream of life enchanted flows-- + Drown'd deep in Lethe's calm repose, + The grief that stung before!" + + Seized by the god--behold the dark + And dreaming Prophetess[5] arise! + She gazes from the lofty bark, + Where Home's dim vapour wraps the skies-- + "A vapour, all of human birth! + As mists ascending, seen and gone, + So fade earth's great ones from the earth, + And leave the changeless gods alone! + Behind the steed that skirs away, + Or on the galley's deck--sits Care! + To-morrow comes--and Life is where? + At least--we'll live to-day!" + + [2] Ulysses. + + [3] 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. + + [4] Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles. + + [5] Cassandra. + + * * * * * + + + +RUDOLPH OF HAPSBURG.--A BALLAD. + + +[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 +AEgidius 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.] + + At Aachen, in imperial state, + In that time-hallow'd hall renown'd, + At solemn feast King Rudolf sate, + The day that saw the hero crown'd! + Bohemia and thy Palgrave, Rhine, + Give this the feast, and that the wine; + The Arch Electoral Seven, + Like choral stars around the sun, + Gird him whose hand a world has won, + The anointed choice of Heaven. + + In galleries raised above the pomp, + Press'd crowd on crowd, their panting way; + And with the joy-resounding tromp, + Rang out the million's loud hurra! + For closed at last the age of slaughter, + When human blood was pour'd as water-- + LAW dawns upon the world![6] + Sharp Force no more shall right the wrong, + And grind the weak to crown the strong-- + War's carnage-flag is furl'd! + + In Rudolf's hand the goblet shines-- + And gaily round the board look'd he; + "And proud the feast, and bright the wines, + My kingly heart feels glad to me! + Yet where the lord of sweet desire, + Who moves the heart beneath the lyre, + And dulcet Sound Divine? + Dear from my youth the craft of song, + And what as knight I loved so long, + As Kaisar, still be mine." + + Lo, from the circle bending there, + With sweeping robe the Bard appears, + As silver, white his gleaming hair, + Bleach'd by the many winds of years: + "And music sleeps in golden strings-- + The minstrel's hire, the LOVE he sings; + Well known to him the ALL + High thoughts and ardent souls desire!-- + What would the Kaisar from the lyre + Amidst the banquet-hall?" + + The Great One smiled--"Not mine the sway-- + The minstrel owns a loftier power-- + A mightier king inspires the lay-- + Its hest--THE IMPULSE OF THE HOUR! + As through wide air the tempests sweep, + As gush the springs from mystic deep, + Or lone untrodden glen; + So from dark hidden fount within, + Comes SONG, its own wild world to win + Amidst the souls of men!" + + Swift with the fire the minstrel glow'd, + And loud the music swept the ear:-- + "Forth to the chase a Hero rode, + To hunt the bounding chamois-deer: + With shaft and horn the squire behind:-- + Through greensward meads the riders wind-- + A small sweet bell they hear. + Lo, with the HOST, a holy man,-- + Before him strides the sacristan, + And the bell sounds near and near. + + The noble hunter down-inclined + His reverent head and soften'd eye, + And honour'd with a Christian's mind + The Christ who loves humility! + Loud through the pasture, brawls and raves + A brook--the rains had fed the waves, + And torrents from the hill. + His sandal shoon the priest unbound, + And laid the Host upon the ground, + And near'd the swollen rill! + + "What wouldst thou, priest?" the Count began, + As, marvelling much, he halted there. + "Sir Count, I seek a dying man, + Sore hungering for the heavenly fare. + The bridge that once its safety gave, + Rent by the anger of the wave, + Drifts down the tide below. + Yet barefoot now, I will not fear + (The soul that seeks its God, to cheer) + Through the wild wave to go!" + + He gave that priest the knightly steed, + He reach'd that priest the lordly reins, + That he might serve the sick man's need, + Nor slight the task that heaven ordains. + He took the horse the squire bestrode; + On to the chase the hunter rode, + On to the sick the priest! + And when the morrow's sun was red, + The servant of the Saviour led + Back to its lord the beast. + + "Now Heaven forefend," the hero cried, + "That e'er to chase or battle more + These limbs the sacred steed bestride, + That once my Maker's image bore! + But not for sale or barter given; + Henceforth its Master is the Heaven-- + My tribute to that King, + From whom I hold as fiefs, since birth, + Honour, renown, the goods of earth, + Life, and each living thing." + + "So may the God who faileth never + To hear the weak and guide the dim, + To thee give honour here and ever, + As thou hast duly honour'd Him! + Far-famed ev'n now through Switzerland + Thy generous heart and dauntless hand; + And fair from thine embrace + Six daughters bloom--six crowns to bring-- + Blest as the Daughters of a KING-- + The Mothers of a RACE!" + + The mighty Kaisar heard amazed; + His heart was in the days of old: + Into the minstrel's eyes he gazed-- + That tale the Kaisar's own had told. + Yes, in the bard, the priest he knew, + And in the purple veil'd from view + The gush of holy tears. + A thrill through that vast audience ran, + And every heart the godlike man, + Revering God, reveres! + + [6] Literally, "_A judge (ein richter)_ 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." + + * * * * * + + + +THE WORDS OF ERROR. + + + Three errors there are, that for ever are found + On the lips of the good, on the lips of the best; + But empty their meaning and hollow their sound-- + And slight is the comfort they bring to the breast. + The fruits of existence escape from the clasp + Of the seeker who strives but these shadows to grasp-- + + So long as Man dreams of some Age in _this_ life + When the Right and the Good will all evil subdue; + For the Right and the Good lead us ever to strife, + And wherever they lead us, the Fiend will pursue. + And (till from the earth borne, and stifled at length) + The earth that he touches still gifts him with strength![7] + + So long as Man fancies that Fortune will live, + Like a bride with her lover, united with Worth; + For her favours, alas! to the mean she will give-- + And Virtue possesses no title to earth! + That Foreigner wanders to regions afar, + Where the lands of her birthright immortally are! + + So long as Man dreams that, to mortals a gift, + The Truth in her fulness of splendour will shine; + The veil of the goddess no earth-born may lift, + And all we can learn is--to guess and divine! + Dost thou seek, in a dogma, to prison her form? + The spirit flies forth on the wings of the storm! + + O, Noble Soul! fly from delusions like these, + More heavenly belief be it thine to adore; + Where the Ear never hearkens, the Eye never sees, + Meet the rivers of Beauty and Truth evermore! + Not _without_ thee the streams--there the Dull seek them;--No! + Look _within_ thee--behold both the fount and the flow! + + [7] This simile is nobly conceived, but expressed somewhat + obscurely. As Hercules contended in vain against Antaeus, 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 Antaeus + 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. + + * * * * * + + + +THE WORDS OF BELIEF. + + + Three Words will I name thee--around and about, + From the lip to the lip, full of meaning, they flee; + But they had not their birth in the being without, + And the heart, not the lip, must their oracle be! + And all worth in the man shall for ever be o'er + When in those Three Words he believes no more. + + Man is made FREE!--Man, by birthright, is free, + Though the tyrant may deem him but born for his tool. + Whatever the shout of the rabble may be-- + Whatever the ranting misuse of the fool-- + Still fear not the Slave, when he breaks from his chain, + For the Man made a Freeman grows safe in his gain. + + And VIRTUE is more than a shade or a sound, + And Man may her voice, in this being, obey; + And though ever he slip on the stony ground, + Yet ever again to the godlike way. + Though _her_ wisdom _our_ wisdom may not perceive, + Yet the childlike spirit can still believe. + + And a GOD there is!--over Space, over Time, + While the Human Will rocks, like a reed, to and fro, + Lives the Will of the Holy--A Purpose Sublime, + A Thought woven over creation below; + Changing and shifting the All we inherit, + But changeless through all One Immutable Spirit! + + Hold fast the Three Words of Belief--though about + From the lip to the lip, full of meaning they flee; + Yet they take not their birth from the being without-- + But a voice from within must their oracle be; + And never all worth in the Man can be o'er, + Till in those Three Words he believes no more. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE MIGHT OF SONG. + + + A rain-flood from the mountain-riven, + It leaps, in thunder, forth to Day, + Before its rush the crags are driven-- + The oaks uprooted, whirl'd away-- + Aw'd, yet in awe all wildly glad'ning, + The startled wanderer halts below; + He hears the rock-born waters mad'ning, + Nor wits the source from whence they go,-- + So, from their high, mysterious Founts along, + Stream on the silenc'd world the Waves of Song! + + Knit with the threads of life, for ever, + By those dread Powers that weave the woof,-- + Whose art the singer's spell can sever? + Whose breast has mail to music proof? + Lo, to the Bard, a wand of wonder + The Herald[8] of the Gods has given: + He sinks the soul the death-realm under, + Or lifts it breathless up to heaven-- + Half sport, half earnest, rocking its devotion + Upon the tremulous ladder of emotion. + + As, when the halls of Mirth are crowded, + Portentous, on the wanton scene-- + Some Fate, before from wisdom shrouded, + Awakes and awes the souls of Men-- + Before that Stranger from ANOTHER, + Behold how THIS world's great ones bow-- + Mean joys their idle clamour smother, + The mask is vanish'd from the brow-- + And from Truth's sudden, solemn flag unfurl'd, + Fly all the craven Falsehoods of the World! + + So, rapt from every care and folly, + When spreads abroad the lofty lay, + The Human kindles to the Holy, + And into Spirit soars the Clay! + One with the Gods the Bard: before him + All things unclean and earthly fly-- + Hush'd are all meaner powers, and o'er him + The dark fate swoops unharming by; + And while the Soother's magic measures flow, + Smooth'd every wrinkle on the brows of Woe! + + Even as a child that, after pining + For the sweet absent mother--hears + Her voice--and, round her neck entwining + Young arms, vents all his soul in tears;-- + So, by harsh custom far estranged, + Along the glad and guileless track, + To childhood's happy home, unchanged, + The swift song wafts the wanderer back-- + Snatch'd from the coldness of unloving Art + To Nature's mother arms--to Nature's glowing heart! + + [8] Hermes. + + * * * * * + + + + +HONOUR TO WOMAN. + + + Honour to Woman! To her it is given + To garden the earth with the roses of Heaven! + All blessed, she linketh the Loves in their choir-- + In the veil of the Graces her beauty concealing, + She tends on each altar that's hallow'd to Feeling, + And keeps ever-living the fire! + + From the bounds of Truth careering, + Man's strong spirit wildly sweeps, + With each hasty impulse veering, + Down to Passion's troubled deeps. + And his heart, contented never, + Greeds to grapple with the Far, + Chasing his own dream for ever, + On through many a distant Star! + + But Woman with looks that can charm and enchain, + Lureth back at her beck the wild truant again, + By the spell of her presence beguil'd-- + In the home of the Mother her modest abode, + And modest the manners by Nature bestow'd + On Nature's most exquisite child! + + Bruised and worn, but fiercely breasting, + Foe to foe, the angry strife; + Man the Wild One, never resting, + Roams along the troubled life; + What he planneth, still pursuing; + Vainly as the Hydra bleeds, + Crest the sever'd crest renewing-- + Wish to wither'd wish succeeds. + + But Woman at peace with all being, reposes, + And seeks from the Moment to gather the roses-- + Whose sweets to her culture belong. + Ah! richer than he, though his soul reigneth o'er + The mighty dominion of Genius and Lore, + And the infinite Circle of Song. + + Strong, and proud, and self-depending, + Man's cold bosom beats alone; + Heart with heart divinely blending, + In the love that Gods have known, + Souls' sweet interchange of feeling, + Melting tears--he never knows, + Each hard sense the hard one steeling, + Arms against a world of foes. + + Alive, as the wind-harp, how lightly soever + If woo'd by the Zephyr, to music will quiver, + Is Woman to Hope and to Fear; + Ah, tender one! still at the shadow of grieving, + How quiver the chords--how thy bosom is heaving-- + How trembles thy glance through the tear! + + Man's dominion, war and labour; + Might to right the Statute gave; + Laws are in the Scythian's sabre; + Where the Mede reign'd--see the Slave! + Peace and Meekness grimly routing, + Prowls the War-lust, rude and wild; + Eris rages, hoarsely shouting, + Where the vanish'd Graces smil'd. + + But Woman, the Soft One, persuasively prayeth-- + Of the Senses she charmeth, the sceptre she swayeth; + She lulls, as she looks from above, + The Discord whose Hell for its victims is gaping, + And blending awhile the for-ever escaping, + Whispers Hate to the Image of Love! + + * * * * * + + + +THE FIGHT WITH THE DRAGON. + + + Who comes?--why rushes fast and loud, + Through lane and street the hurtling crowd, + Is Rhodes on fire?--Hurrah!--along + Faster and fast storms the throng! + High towers a shape in knightly garb-- + Behold the Rider and the Barb! + Behind is dragg'd a wondrous load; + Beneath what monster groans the road? + The horrid jaws--the Crocodile, + The shape the mightier Dragon, shows-- + From Man to Monster all the while-- + The alternate wonder glancing goes. + + Shout thousands, with a single voice, + "Behold the Dragon, and rejoice, + Safe roves the herd, and safe the swain! + Lo!--there the Slayer--here the Slain! + Full many a breast, a gallant life, + Has waged against the ghastly strife, + And ne'er return'd to mortal sight-- + Hurrah, then, for the Hero Knight!" + So to the Cloister, where the vow'd + And peerless Brethren of St John + In conclave sit--that sea-like crowd, + Wave upon wave, goes thundering on. + + High o'er the rest, the chief is seen-- + There wends the Knight with modest mien; + Pours through the galleries raised for all + Above that Hero-council Hall, + The crowd--And thus the Victor One:-- + "Prince--the knight's duty I have done. + The Dragon that devour'd the land + Lies slain beneath thy servant's hand; + Free, o'er the pasture, rove the flocks-- + And free the idler's steps may stray-- + And freely o'er the lonely rocks, + The holier pilgrim wends his way!" + + A lofty look the Master gave, + "Certes," he said; "thy deed is brave; + Dread was the danger, dread the fight-- + Bold deeds bring fame to vulgar knight; + But say, what sways with holier laws + The knight who sees in Christ his cause, + And wears the cross?"--Then every cheek + Grew pale to hear the Master speak; + But nobler was the blush that spread + His face--the Victor's of the day-- + As bending lowly--"Prince," he said; + "His noblest duty--TO OBEY!" + + "And yet that duty, son," replied + The chief, "methinks thou hast denied; + And dared thy sacred sword to wield + For fame in a forbidden field." + "Master, thy judgment, howsoe'er + It lean, till all is told, forbear-- + Thy law in spirit and in will, + I had no thought but to fulfil. + Not rash, as some, did I depart + A Christian's blood in vain to shed; + But hoped by skill, and strove by art, + To make my life avenge the dead. + + "Five of our Order, in renown + The war-gems of our saintly crown, + The martyr's glory bought with life; + 'Twas then thy law forbade the strife. + Yet in my heart there gnaw'd, like fire, + Proud sorrow, fed with stern desire: + In the still visions of the night, + Panting, I fought the fancied fight; + And when the morrow glimmering came, + With tales of ravage freshly done, + The dream remember'd, turn'd to shame, + That night should dare what day should shun. + + "And thus my fiery musings ran-- + 'What youth has learn'd should nerve the man; + How lived the great in days of old, + Whose Fame to time by bards is told-- + Who, heathens though they were, became + As gods--upborne to heaven by fame? + How proved they best the hero's worth? + They chased the monster from the earth-- + They sought the lion in his den-- + They pierced the Cretan's deadly maze-- + Their noble blood gave humble men + Their happy birthright--peaceful days. + + "'What! sacred, but against the horde + Of Mahound, is the Christian's sword? + All strife, save one, should he forbear? + No! earth itself the Christian's care-- + From every ill and every harm, + Man's shield should be the Christian's arm. + Yet art o'er strength will oft prevail, + And mind must aid where heart may fail!' + Thus musing, oft I roam'd alone, + Where wont the Hell-born Beast to lie; + Till sudden light upon me shone, + And on my hope broke victory! + + "Then, Prince, I sought thee with the prayer + To breathe once more my native air; + The license given--the ocean past-- + I reach'd the shores of home at last. + Scarce hail'd the old beloved land, + Than huge, beneath the artist's hand, + To every hideous feature true, + The Dragon's monster-model grew. + The dwarf'd, deformed limbs upbore + The lengthen'd body's ponderous load; + The scales the impervious surface wore, + Like links of burnish'd harness, glow'd. + + "Life-like, the huge neck seem'd to swell, + And widely, as some porch to hell + You might the horrent jaws survey, + Griesly, and greeding for their prey. + Grim fangs an added terror gave, + Like crags that whiten through a cave. + The very tongue a sword in seeming-- + The deep-sunk eyes in sparkles gleaming. + Where the vast body ends, succeed + The serpent spires around it roll'd-- + Woe--woe to rider, woe to steed, + Whom coils as fearful e'er enfold! + + "All to the awful life was done-- + The very hue, so ghastly, won-- + The grey, dull tint:--the labour ceased, + It stood--half reptile and half beast! + And now began the mimic chase; + Two dogs I sought, of noblest race, + Fierce, nimble, fleet, and wont to scorn + The wild bull's wrath and levell'd horn; + These, docile to my cheering cry, + I train'd to bound, and rend, and spring, + Now round the Monster-shape to fly, + Now to the Monster-shape to cling! + + "And where their gripe the best assails, + The belly left unsheath'd in scales, + I taught the dexterous hounds to hang + And find the spot to fix the fang; + Whilst I, with lance and mailed garb, + Launch'd on the beast mine Arab barb. + From purest race that Arab came, + And steeds, like men, are fired by fame. + Beneath the spur he chafes to rage; + Onwards we ride in full career-- + I seem, in truth, the war to wage-- + The monster reels beneath my spear! + + "Albeit, when first the _destrier_[9] eyed + The laidly thing, it swerved aside, + Snorted and rear'd--and even they, + The fierce hounds, shrank with startled bay; + I ceased not, till, by custom bold, + After three tedious moons were told, + Both barb and hounds were train'd--nay, more, + Fierce for the fight--then left the shore! + Three days have fleeted since I prest + (Return'd at length) this welcome soil, + Nor once would lay my limbs to rest, + Till wrought the glorious crowning toil. + + "For much it moved my soul to know + The unslack'ning curse of that grim foe. + Fresh rent, mens' bones lay bleach'd and bare + Around the hell-worm's swampy lair; + And pity nerved me into steel:-- + Advice?--I had a heart to feel, + And strength to dare! So, to the deed.-- + I call'd my squires--bestrode my steed, + And with my stalwart hounds, and by + Lone secret paths, we gaily go + Unseen--at least by human eye-- + Against a worse than human foe! + + "Thou know'st the sharp rock--steep and hoar?-- + The abyss?--the chapel glimmering o'er? + Built by the Fearless Master's hand, + The fane looks down on all the land. + Humble and mean that house of prayer-- + Yet God hath shrined a wonder there:-- + Mother and Child, to whom of old + The Three Kings knelt with gifts, behold! + By three times thirty steps, the shrine + The pilgrim gains--and faint, and dim, + And dizzy with the height, divine + Strength on the sudden springs to him! + + "Yawns wide within that holy steep + A mighty cavern dark and deep-- + By blessed sunbeam never lit-- + Rank foetid swamps engirdle it; + And there by night, and there by day, + Ever at watch, the fiend-worm lay, + Holding the Hell of its abode + Fast by the hallow'd House of God. + And when the pilgrim gladly ween'd + His feet had found the healing way, + Forth from its ambush rush'd the fiend, + And down to darkness dragg'd the prey. + + "With solemn soul, that solemn height + I clomb, ere yet I sought the fight-- + Kneeling before the cross within, + My heart, confessing, clear'd its sin. + Then, as befits the Christian knight, + I donn'd the spotless surplice white, + And, by the altar, grasp'd the spear:-- + So down I strode with conscience clear-- + Bade my leal squires afar the deed, + By death or conquest crown'd, await-- + Leapt lightly on my lithesome steed, + And gave to God his soldier's fate! + + "Before me wide the marshes lay-- + Started the hounds with sudden bay-- + Aghast the swerving charger slanting + Snorted--then stood abrupt and panting-- + For curling there, in coiled fold, + The Unutterable Beast behold! + Lazily basking in the sun. + Forth sprang the dogs. The fight's begun! + But lo! the hounds in cowering fly + Before the mighty poison-breath-- + A yell, most like the jackall's cry, + Howl'd, mingling with that wind of death! + + "No halt--I gave one cheering sound; + Lustily springs each dauntless hound-- + Swift as the dauntless hounds advance, + Whirringly skirrs my stalwart lance-- + Whirringly skirrs; and from the scale + Bounds, as a reed aslant the mail. + Onward--but no!--the craven steed + Shrinks from his lord in that dread need-- + Smitten and scared before that eye + Of basilisk horror, and that blast + Of death, it only seeks to fly-- + And half the mighty hope is past! + + "A moment, and to earth I leapt; + Swift from its sheath the falchion swept; + Swift on that rock-like mail it plied-- + The rock-like mail the sword defied: + The monster lash'd its mighty coil-- + Down hurl'd--behold me on the soil! + Behold the hell-jaws gaping wide-- + When lo! they bound--the flesh is found; + Upon the scaleless parts they spring! + Springs either hound;--the flesh is found-- + It roars; the blood-dogs cleave and cling! + + "No time to foil its fast'ning foes-- + Light, as it writhed, I sprang, and rose; + The all-unguarded place explored, + Up to the hilt I plunged the sword-- + Buried one instant in the blood-- + The next, upsprang the bubbling flood! + The next, one Vastness spread the plain-- + Crush'd down--the victor with the slain; + And all was dark--and on the ground + My life, suspended, lost the sun, + Till waking--lo my squires around-- + And the dead foe!--my tale is done." + + Then burst, as from a common breast, + The eager laud so long supprest-- + A thousand voices, choral-blending, + Up to the vaulted dome ascending-- + From groined roof and banner'd wall, + Invisible echoes answering all-- + The very Brethren, grave and high, + Forget their state, and join the cry. + "With laurel wreaths his brows be crown'd, + Let throng to throng his triumph tell; + Hail him all Rhodes!"--the Master frown'd, + And raised his hand--and silence fell. + + "Well," said that solemn voice, "thy hand + From the wild-beast hath freed the land. + An idol to the People be! + A foe our Order frowns on thee! + For in thy heart, superb and vain, + A hell-worm laidlier than the slain, + To discord which engenders death, + Poisons each thought with baleful breath! + That hell-worm is the stubborn Will-- + Oh! What were man and nations worth + If each his own desire fulfil, + And law be banish'd from the earth? + + "_Valour_ the Heathen gives to story-- + _Obedience_ is the Christian's glory; + And on that soil our Saviour-God + As the meek low-born mortal trod. + We the Apostle-knights were sworn + To laws thy daring laughs to scorn-- + Not _fame_, but _duty_ to fulfil-- + Our noblest offering--man's wild will. + Vain-glory doth thy soul betray-- + Begone--thy conquest is thy loss: + No breast too haughty to obey, + Is worthy of the Christian's cross!" + + From their cold awe the crowds awaken, + As with some storm the halls are shaken; + The noble brethren plead for grace-- + Mute stands the doom'd, with downward face; + And mutely loosen'd from its band + The badge, and kiss'd the Master's hand, + And meekly turn'd him to depart: + A moist eye follow'd, "To my heart + Come back, my son!"--the Master cries: + "Thy grace a harder fight obtains; + When Valour risks the Christian's prize, + Lo, how Humility regains!" + +[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-Donne 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.] + + [9] War-horse. + + * * * * * + + + + +REYNOLDS'S DISCOURSES. PART II. + + +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 _that_ +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, _but its effects upon the_ +personages introduced after the catastrophe." + +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." + +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 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."[10] + + [10] 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. + +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 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, + + "Non satis est pulchra esse poemata, _dulcia_ sunto." + +To which maxim the Latin poet has unconsciously given the grace of +rhyme-- + + "Et quocunque volent animum auditoris agunto." + +He again shows the danger of particular practical rules.--"It is given +as a rule by Fresnoy, that '_the principal figure of a subject must +appear in the midst of the picture, under the principal light, to +distinguish it from the rest._' 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 +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 _the spirit of the rule be preserved_." 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 _the whole together_, 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 _the rule_, 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." + +"Though it is not my _business_ 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 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 _practice_ 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 _particularly_ 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. _The_ richness of nature is not the exact richness of the +palette. The painter's success is in the means of compensation. + +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 _colour_ of blue is scarcely given, and is too dark to be allowed 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. + + * * * * * + +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 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. + + * * * * * + +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; _patuit in corpore +vultus_." 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 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." + +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 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. + + * * * * * + +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 "_nothing_" in every +picture, to satisfy with regard to detail, that neither its absence nor +its presence shall be noticeable. + +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 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 _a whole_ as belonging to composition, +but _a whole_ with respect to the general style of colouring; _a whole_ +with regard to light and shade; and _a whole_ 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." + +The power of _a whole_ 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." + +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, 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 + + 'That voluntary style, + Which careless plays, and seems to mock at toil,' + +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 _careless_ 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. + + * * * * * + +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 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 +_perplexed in the extreme_ 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. 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 _very_ 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 _all_ 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 _no +minds_--intellects must be _trained_ 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 _prejudiced_ +the world. + + * * * * * + +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 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 "_real_ principles of _sound +reason_, 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, _beyond the ignorant present_, 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," 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 _ignorant_ 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.[11] Sir Joshua points to the facade +of the Louvre, Blenheim, and Castle Howard, as "the fairest ornaments." +He finishes this admirable 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. + + [11] The reader will remember the supposed epitaph, + "Lie heavy on him, earth, for he + Laid many a heavy load on thee." + +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. + + * * * * * + +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 "_perhaps_" 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 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 +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. + + "Nec Deus intersit nisi dignus vindice nodus;" + +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 _heavy_ 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 _heavy_ 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 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. + + * * * * * + +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. + +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. + + "Justum et tenacem propositi + Impavidum ferient ruinae." + +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; 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--"Nocturna versate +manu, versate diurna."--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 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 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. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE YOUNG GREY HEAD. + + Grief hath been known to turn the young head grey-- + To silver over in a single day + The bright locks of the beautiful, their prime + Scarcely o'erpast: as in the fearful time + Of Gallia's madness, that discrowned head + Serene, that on the accursed altar bled + Miscall'd of Liberty. Oh! martyr'd Queen! + What must the sufferings of that night have been-- + _That one_--that sprinkled thy fair tresses o'er + With time's untimely snow! But now no more + Lovely, august, unhappy one! of thee-- + I have to tell an humbler history; + A village tale, whose only charm, in sooth, + (If any) will be sad and simple truth. + + "Mother," quoth Ambrose to his thrifty dame-- + So oft our peasant's use his wife to name, + "Father" and "Master" to himself applied, + As life's grave duties matronize the bride-- + "Mother," quoth Ambrose, as he faced the north, + With hard-set teeth, before he issued forth + To his day labour, from the cottage door-- + "I'm thinking that, to-night, if not before, + There'll be wild work. Dost hear old Chewton[12] roar? + It's brewing up down westward; and look there, + One of those sea-gulls! ay, there goes a pair; + And such a sudden thaw! If rain comes on, + As threats, the waters will be out anon. + That path by th' ford's a nasty bit of way-- + Best let the young ones bide from school to-day." + + "Do, mother, do!" the quick-ear'd urchins cried; + Two little lasses to the father's side + Close clinging, as they look'd from him, to spy + The answering language of the mother's eye. + _There_ was denial, and she shook her head: + "Nay, nay--no harm will come to them," she said, + "The mistress lets them off these short dark days + An hour the earlier; and our Liz, she says, + May quite be trusted--and I know 'tis true-- + To take care of herself and Jenny too. + And so she ought--she's seven come first of May-- + Two years the oldest: and they give away + The Christmas bounty at the school to-day." + + The mother's will was law, (alas for her + That hapless day, poor soul!) _She_ could not err, + Thought Ambrose; and his little fair-hair'd Jane + (Her namesake) to his heart he hugg'd again, + When each had had her turn; she clinging so + As if that day she could not let him go. + But Labour's sons must snatch a hasty bliss + In nature's tend'rest mood. One last fond kiss, + "God bless my little maids!" the father said, + And cheerly went his way to win their bread. + Then might be seen, the playmate parent gone, + What looks demure the sister pair put on-- + Not of the mother as afraid, or shy, + Or questioning the love that could deny; + But simply, as their simple training taught, + In quiet, plain straightforwardness of thought, + (Submissively resign'd the hope of play,) + Towards the serious business of the day. + + To me there's something touching, I confess, + In the grave look of early thoughtfulness, + Seen often in some little childish face + Among the poor. Not that wherein we trace + (Shame to our land, our rulers, and our race!) + The unnatural sufferings of the factory child, + But a staid quietness, reflective, mild, + Betokening, in the depths of those young eyes, + Sense of life's cares, without its miseries. + + So to the mother's charge, with thoughtful brow, + The docile Lizzy stood attentive now; + Proud of her years and of imputed sense, + And prudence justifying confidence-- + And little Jenny, more _demurely_ still, + Beside her waited the maternal will. + So standing hand in hand, a lovelier twain + Gainsb'rough ne'er painted: no--nor he of Spain, + Glorious Murillo!--and by contrast shown + More beautiful. The younger little one, + With large blue eyes, and silken ringlets fair, + By nut-brown Lizzy, with smooth parted hair, + Sable and glossy as the raven's wing, + And lustrous eyes as dark. + + "Now, mind and bring + Jenny safe home," the mother said--"don't stay + To pull a bough or berry by the way: + And when you come to cross the ford, hold fast + Your little sister's hand, till you're quite past-- + That plank's so crazy, and so slippery + (If not o'erflowed) the stepping-stones will be. + But you're good children--steady as old folk, + I'd trust ye any where." Then Lizzy's cloak, + A good grey duffle, lovingly she tied, + And amply little Jenny's lack supplied + With her own warmest shawl. "Be sure," said she, + "To wrap it round and knot it carefully + (Like this) when you come home; just leaving free + One hand to hold by. Now, make haste away-- + Good will to school, and then good right to play." + + Was there no sinking at the mother's heart, + When all equipt, they turn'd them to depart? + When down the lane, she watch'd them as they went + Till out of sight, was no forefeeling sent + Of coming ill? In truth I cannot tell: + Such warnings _have been sent_, we know full well, + And must believe--believing that they are-- + In mercy then--to rouse--restrain--prepare. + + And, now I mind me, something of the kind + Did surely haunt that day the mother's mind, + Making it irksome to bide all alone + By her own quiet hearth. Tho' never known + For idle gossipry was Jenny Gray, + Yet so it was, that morn she could not stay + At home with her own thoughts, but took her way + To her next neighbour's, half a loaf to borrow-- + Yet might her store have lasted out the morrow. + --And with the loan obtain'd, she linger'd still-- + Said she--"My master, if he'd had his will, + Would have kept back our little ones from school + This dreadful morning; and I'm such a fool, + Since they've been gone, I've wish'd them back. But then + It won't do in such things to humour men-- + Our Ambrose specially. If let alone + He'd spoil those wenches. But it's coming on, + That storm he said was brewing, sure enough-- + Well! what of that?--To think what idle stuff + Will come into one's head! and here with you + I stop, as if I'd nothing else to do-- + And they'll come home drown'd rats. I must be gone + To get dry things, and set the kettle on." + + His day's work done, three mortal miles and more + Lay between Ambrose and his cottage door. + A weary way, God wot! for weary wight! + But yet far off, the curling smoke in sight + From his own chimney, and his heart felt light. + How pleasantly the humble homestead stood, + Down the green lane by sheltering Shirley Wood! + How sweet the wafting of the evening breeze + In spring-time, from his two old cherry-trees + Sheeted with blossom! And in hot July + From the brown moor-track, shadowless and dry, + How grateful the cool covert to regain + Of his own _avenue_--that shady lane, + With the white cottage, in a slanting glow + Of sunset glory, gleaming bright below, + And jasmine porch, his rustic portico! + + With what a thankful gladness in his face, + (Silent heart-homage--plant of special grace!) + At the lane's entrance, slackening oft his pace, + Would Ambrose send a loving look before; + Conceiting the caged blackbird at the door, + The very blackbird, strain'd its little throat + In welcome, with a more rejoicing note; + And honest Tinker! dog of doubtful breed, + All bristle, back, and tail, but "good at need," + Pleasant his greeting to the accustomed ear; + But of all welcomes pleasantest, most dear, + The ringing voices, like sweet silver bells, + Of his two little ones. How fondly swells + The father's heart, as, dancing up the lane, + Each clasps a hand in her small hand again; + And each must tell her tale, and "say her say," + Impeding as she leads, with sweet delay, + (Childhood's blest thoughtlessness!) his onward way. + + And when the winter day closed in so fast, + Scarce for his task would dreary daylight last; + And in all weathers--driving sleet and snow-- + Home by that bare, bleak moor-track must he go, + Darkling and lonely. Oh! the blessed sight + (His pole-star) of that little twinkling light + From one small window, thro' the leafless trees, + Glimmering so fitfully; no eye but his + Had spied it so far off. And sure was he, + Entering the lane, a steadier beam to see, + Ruddy and broad as peat-fed hearth could pour, + Streaming to meet him from the open door. + Then, tho' the blackbird's welcome was unheard-- + Silenced by winter--note of summer bird + Still hail'd him from no mortal fowl alive, + But from the cuckoo-clock just striking five-- + And Tinker's ear and Tinker's nose were keen-- + Off started he, and then a form was seen + Dark'ning the doorway; and a smaller sprite, + And then another, peer'd into the night, + Ready to follow free on Tinker's track, + But for the mother's hand that held her back; + And yet a moment--a few steps--and there, + Pull'd o'er the threshold by that eager pair, + He sits by his own hearth, in his own chair; + Tinker takes post beside, with eyes that say, + "Master! we've done our business for the day." + The kettle sings, the cat in chorus purs, + The busy housewife with her tea-things stirs; + The door's made fast, the old stuff curtain drawn; + How the hail clatters! Let it clatter on. + How the wind raves and rattles! What cares he? + Safe housed, and warm beneath his own roof-tree, + With a wee lassie prattling on each knee. + + Such was the hour--hour sacred and apart-- + Warm'd in expectancy the poor man's heart. + Summer and winter, as his toil he plied, + To him and his the literal doom applied, + Pronounced on Adam. But the bread was sweet + So earn'd, for such dear mouths. The weary feet + Hope-shod, stept lightly on the homeward way; + So specially it fared with Ambrose Gray + That time I tell of. He had work'd all day + At a great clearing: vig'rous stroke on stroke + Striking, till, when he stopt, his back seem'd broke, + And the strong arm dropt nerveless. What of that? + There was a treasure hidden in his hat-- + A plaything for the young ones. He had found + A dormouse nest; the living ball coil'd round + For its long winter sleep; and all his thought + As he trudged stoutly homeward, was of nought + But the glad wonderment in Jenny's eyes, + And graver Lizzy's quieter surprize, + When he should yield, by guess, and kiss, and prayer, + Hard won, the frozen captive to their care. + + 'Twas a wild evening--wild and rough. "I knew," + Thought Ambrose, "those unlucky gulls spoke true-- + And Gaffer Chewton never growls for nought-- + I should be mortal 'mazed now, if I thought + My little maids were not safe housed before + That blinding hail-storm--ay, this hour and more-- + Unless, by that old crazy bit of board, + They've not passed dry-foot over Shallow-ford, + That I'll be bound for--swollen as it must be ... + Well! if my mistress had been ruled by me ..." + But, checking the half-thought as heresy, + He look'd out for the Home-Star. There it shone, + And with a gladden'd heart he hasten'd on. + + He's in the lane again--and there below, + Streams from the open doorway that red glow, + Which warms him but to look at. For his prize + Cautious he feels--all safe and snug it lies-- + "Down Tinker!--down, old boy!--not quite so free-- + The thing thou sniffest is no game for thee.-- + But what's the meaning?--no look-out to-night! + No living soul a-stir!--Pray God, all's right! + Who's flittering round the peat-stack in such weather? + Mother!" you might have fell'd him with a feather + When the short answer to his loud--"Hillo!" + And hurried question--"Are they come?"--was--"No." + + To throw his tools down--hastily unhook + The old crack'd lantern from its dusty nook, + And while he lit it, speak a cheering word, + That almost choked him, and was scarcely heard, + Was but a moment's act, and he was gone + To where a fearful foresight led him on. + Passing a neighbour's cottage in his way-- + Mark Fenton's--him he took with short delay + To bear him company--for who could say + What need might be? They struck into the track + The children should have taken coming back + From school that day; and many a call and shout + Into the pitchy darkness they sent out, + And, by the lantern light, peer'd all about, + In every road-side thicket, hole, and nook, + Till suddenly--as nearing now the brook-- + Something brush'd past them. That was Tinker's bark-- + Unheeded, he had follow'd in the dark, + Close at his master's heels, but, swift as light, + Darted before them now. "Be sure he's right-- + He's on the track," cried Ambrose. "Hold the light + Low down--he's making for the water. Hark! + I know that whine--the old dog's found them, Mark." + So speaking, breathlessly he hurried on + Toward the old crazy foot-bridge. It was gone! + And all his dull contracted light could show + Was the black void and dark swollen stream below. + "Yet there's life somewhere--more than Tinker's whine-- + That's sure," said Mark. "So, let the lantern shine + Down yonder. There's the dog--and, hark!" + + "Oh dear!" + And a low sob came faintly on the ear, + Mock'd by the sobbing gust. Down, quick as thought, + Into the stream leapt Ambrose, where he caught + Fast hold of something--a dark huddled heap-- + Half in the water, where 'twas scarce knee-deep, + For a tall man; and half above it, propp'd + By some old ragged side-piles, that had stopt + Endways the broken plank, when it gave way + With the two little ones that luckless day! + "My babes!--my lambkins!" was the father's cry. + _One little voice_ made answer--"Here am I!" + 'Twas Lizzy's. There she crouch'd, with face as white, + More ghastly, by the flickering lantern-light, + Than sheeted corpse. The pale blue lips, drawn tight, + Wide parted, showing all the pearly teeth, + And eyes on some dark object underneath, + Wash'd by the turbid water, fix'd like stone-- + One arm and hand stretch'd out, and rigid grown, + Grasping, as in the death-gripe--Jenny's frock. + There she lay drown'd. Could he sustain that shock, + The doating father? Where's the unriven rock + Can bide such blasting in its flintiest part + As that soft sentient thing--the human heart? + + They lifted her from out her wat'ry bed-- + Its covering gone, the lonely little head + Hung like a broken snowdrop all aside-- + And one small hand. The mother's shawl was tied, + Leaving _that_ free, about the child's small form, + As was her last injunction--"_fast_ and warm"-- + Too well obeyed--too fast! A fatal hold + Affording to the scrag by a thick fold + That caught and pinn'd her in the river's bed, + While through the reckless water overhead + Her life-breath bubbled up. + + "She might have lived + Struggling like Lizzy," was the thought that rived + The wretched mother's heart when she knew all. + "But for my foolishness about that shawl-- + And Master would have kept them back the day; + But I was wilful--driving them away + In such wild weather!" + + Thus the tortured heart, + Unnaturally against itself takes part, + Driving the sharp edge deeper of a woe + Too deep already. They had raised her now, + And parting the wet ringlets from her brow, + To that, and the cold cheek, and lips as cold, + The father glued his warm ones, ere they roll'd + Once more the fatal shawl--her winding-sheet-- + About the precious clay. One heart still beat, + Warm'd by _his heart's_ blood. To his _only child_ + He turn'd him, but her piteous moaning mild + Pierced him afresh--and now she knew him not.-- + "Mother!"--she murmur'd--"who says I forgot? + Mother! indeed, indeed, I kept fast hold, + And tied the shawl quite close--she can't be cold-- + But she won't move--we slipt--I don't know how-- + But I held on--and I'm so weary now-- + And it's so dark and cold! oh dear! oh dear!-- + And she won't move--if daddy was but here!" + + * * * * * + + Poor lamb--she wander'd in her mind, 'twas clear-- + But soon the piteous murmur died away, + And quiet in her father's arms she lay-- + They their dead burthen had resign'd, to take + The living so near lost. For her dear sake, + And one at home, he arm'd himself to bear + His misery like a man--with tender care, + Doffing his coat her shivering form to fold-- + (His neighbour bearing _that_ which felt no cold,) + He clasp'd her close--and so, with little said, + Homeward they bore the living and the dead. + + From Ambrose Gray's poor cottage, all that night, + Shone fitfully a little shifting light, + Above--below:--for all were watchers there, + Save one sound sleeper.--_Her_, parental care, + Parental watchfulness, avail'd not now. + But in the young survivor's throbbing brow, + And wandering eyes, delirious fever burn'd; + And all night long from side to side she turn'd, + Piteously plaining like a wounded dove, + With now and then the murmur--"She won't move"-- + And lo! when morning, as in mockery, bright + Shone on that pillow, passing strange the sight-- + That young head's raven hair was streak'd with white! + No idle fiction this. Such things have been + We know. And _now I tell what I have seen_. + + Life struggled long with death in that small frame, + But it was strong, and conquer'd. All became + As it had been with the poor family-- + All--saving that which never more might be-- + There was an empty place--they were but three. + +C. + + [12] A fresh-water spring rushing into the sea called Chewton + Bunny. + + * * * * * + + + + +IMAGINARY CONVERSATION. BY WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR. + +OLIVER CROMWELL AND SIR OLIVER CROMWELL. + + +_Sir Oliver_.--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? + +_Oliver_.--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. + +_Sir Oliver_.--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. + +_Oliver_.--It repenteth me, O mine uncle! that in my boyhood and youth +the Lord had not touched me. + +_Sir Oliver_.--Touch thee! thou wast too dirty a dog by half. + +_Oliver_.--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. + +_Sir Oliver_.--Ha! polecat! it was not thy name, although bad enough, +that stank first; in my house, at least.[13] But perhaps there are worse +maggots in stauncher mummeries. + +_Oliver_.--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. + +_Sir Oliver_.--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. + +_Oliver_.--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. + +_Sir Oliver_.--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. + +_Oliver_.--These are hard times for them that seek peace. We are clay in +the hand of the potter. + +_Sir Oliver_.--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. + +_Oliver_.--The Lord hath chosen his own vessels. + +_Sir Oliver_.--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. + +_Oliver_.--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. + +_Sir Oliver_.--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? + +_Oliver_.--That I, that I, of all men living, should be put upon this +work! + +_Sir Oliver_.--What work, prythee? + +_Oliver_.--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, _by the +aforesaid as aforesaid_ (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. + +_Sir Oliver_.--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. + +_Oliver_.--O mine uncle and godfather! be witness for me. + +_Sir Oliver_.--Witness for thee! not I indeed. But I would rather be +witness than surety, lad, where thou art docketed. + +_Oliver_.--From the most despised doth the Lord ever choose his +servants. + +_Sir Oliver_.--Then, faith! thou art his first butler. + +_Oliver_.--Serving Him with humility, I may peradventure be found worthy +of advancement. + +_Sir Oliver_.--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. + +_Oliver_.--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. + +_Sir Oliver_.--Let them enter also, or eat their victuals where they +are. + +_Oliver_.--They have proud stomachs: they are recusants. + +_Sir Oliver_.--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. + +_Oliver_.--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. + +_Sir Oliver_.--But who are they? + +_Oliver_.--The Lord knows. May-be priests, deacons, and such like. + +_Sir Oliver_.--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. + +_Oliver_.--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. + +_Sir Oliver_.--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 +of standing. If thou ever reachest my age,[14] 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. + +_Oliver_.--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 +_men-at-belly_ under the custody of the _men-at-arms_? This pestilence, +like unto one I remember to have read about in some poetry of Master +Chapman's,[15] began with the dogs and the mules, and afterwards crope +up into the breasts of men. + +_Sir Oliver_.--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. + +_Oliver_.--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. + +_Sir Oliver_.--Art mad? What stirrups and girths are hung up in college +halls and libraries? For what are these gentlemen brought hither? + +_Oliver_.--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. + +_Sir Oliver_.--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 "_the Lord_" in +their mouths. + +_Oliver_.--According to their own notions, they might have had at an +outlay of a farthing. + +_Sir Oliver_.--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. + +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. + +_Oliver_.--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, 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. + +_Sir Oliver_.--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. + +_Oliver_.--We did feel them; some at least: perhaps we missed too many. + +_Sir Oliver_.--How can these learned societies raise the money you exact +from them, beside plate? dost think they can create and coin it? + +_Oliver_.--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. + +_Sir Oliver_.--Well--at last thou hast some mercy. + +_Oliver_ (_aloud_.)--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. + +_Sir Oliver_ (_aloud_.)--Ho, there! (_To a servant_.)--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. (_Servant +goes_.) + +Sir! you are now master. Grant me dispensation, I entreat you, from a +further attendance on you. + + [13] See Forster's Life of Cromwell. + + [14] 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. + + [15] Chapman's _Homer_, first book. + + * * * * * + + + + +CALEB STUKELY. + +PART XI. + +SAINTS AND SINNERS. + + +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! + +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 _realize_ 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. + +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 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 _he_ fell under +the ban of _his_ 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 _connexion_, 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 _Whiningtonians_! + +It was just a fortnight after my expulsion from the _Church_, 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: + +"Young man," said he, "this won't do at all." + +"What, sir?" I asked. + +"Come, don't be impudent. You are done for, I can tell you." + +"How, sir?" I enquired. "What have I done?" + +"Where are the subscriptions that were due last Saturday?" + +"Not yet collected, sir." + +"What money have you belonging to the society?" + +"Not a sixpence, sir." + +"Young man," continued the lusty president in a solemn voice, "you are +in a woeful state; you are living in the world without _a security_." + +"What is the matter, sir." + +"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." + +"I have nothing, sir. Pray, tell me what I have done?" + +"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." + +"May I not be informed, sir, why I am so summarily dismissed?" + +"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." + +"Without having committed a fault?" I added, mournfully. + +"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 +_fault_ is just to call brandy--_water_. Sir," continued Mr Bombasty, +adjusting his India cravat, "that man has perpetrated a crime--a crime +_primy facey--exy fishio_." + +I saw that my time was come, and I said nothing. + +"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." + +"Thank you, sir," said I. + +"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 +treasurer will pay your salary immediately, and we dispense with your +services." + +"What am I to do?" I asked, half aloud. + +"Just the best you can," answered the gentleman. "The audience is at an +end." + +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. + +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, _Paradise_ 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 _dissenter_. This was Thompson's statement of +the case, and severer punishment, he insisted, had never been inflicted +on a man for Sabbath-breaking. + +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, 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 _virtu_ 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 _them_, 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. _They_ were indeed a +picture worth the looking at. You grew a better man in gazing on their +innocence and industry. 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. + +"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?" + +"The Birman empire," said Alec, with unhesitating confidence. + +"The Baltic sea," cried Bob, emulous and ardent. + +"Wait--not so fast; let me see, my dears, which of you is right." + +Mrs Thompson appealed immediately to her book, after a long and private +communication with which, she emphatically pronounced both wrong. + +"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." + +"Oh, I know now!" cried Alec. "It's something with a G in it." + +"Think of the apostles, dears. What are the names of the apostles?" + +"Why, there's Moses," began Bob, counting on his fingers, "and there's +Sammywell, and there's Aaron, and Noah's ark"---- + +"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?" + +"Oh, I know now!" cried Alec again, (Alec was the sharp boy of the +family.) "It's Peter. Peter's the capital of Russia." + +"No, not quite my dear. You are very warm--very warm indeed, but not +quite hot. Try again." + +"Paul," half murmured Robert, with a reckless hope of proving right. + +"No, Peter's right; but there's something else. What has your father +been taking down the beds for?" + +There was a solemn silence, and the three industrious sisters blushed +the faintest blush that could be raised upon a maiden's cheek. + +"To rub that stuff upon the walls," said the ready Alec. + +"Yes, but what was it to kill?" continued the instructress. + +"The fleas," said Bob. + +"Worse than that, my dear." + +"Oh, I know now," shrieked Alec, for the third time. "_Petersbug's_ the +capital of Russia." + +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 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 _chances_, and had become so +very _hot_, 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 _so_ 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 _l_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 _last_ 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! + +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. + +"And so they have turned you off," said Thompson, when I had 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." + +Mrs Thompson looked plaintively towards the painting, and heaved a sigh. + +"Ah, dear good man! He has got his enemies," said she. + +"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." + +"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." + +"There, that's the way you talk, missus." + +"Why, you know, Thompson, every thing in the church is cold." + +"No, not now, my dear--they've put up a large stove. You'll recollect +you haven't been lately." + +"Besides, do you think I can sit in a place of worship, and hear a man +say, '_Let us pray_,' 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." + +"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, _let us pray_, 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, _let us pray_. Oh, yes! +Why--stay. Where is it he does say, _let us pray_? There, I say, +Stukely, you know it all much better than I do. Just make it right to +the missus." + +"It is not difficult," said I. + +"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 +_imposition_ when the bishops ordain the ministers? What a word to make +use of. It's truly frightful!" + +"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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"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 _read_ a sermon! What would the apostles say to that?" + +"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?" + +"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." + +"You are the gal of my heart," exclaimed the uxorious Thompson; "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?" + +"Yes; and what's your opinion, Mr Stukely," added the lady immediately, +"about calling a minister of the gospel--a _priest_? Is that +Paperistical or not?" + +"That isn't the pint, Polly," proceeded John. "We are talking about the +silk dress now. Let's have that out first." + +"And then the absolution"---- + +"No, Poll. Stick to the silk dress." + +"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." + +"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?" + +"What's the meaning of Paperist, father?" asked the boy, who had been +long waiting to propose the question. + +"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?" + +"Yes, father." + +"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." + +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." + +Thompson and I were left together. + +"And what do you mean to do, sir, now?" was his first question. + +"I hardly know." I answered. + +"Of course, you'll cut the gang entirely--that's a nat'ral consequence." + +"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." + +"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." + +"What is it?" + +"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 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 _paid_ 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." + +"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." + +"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." + +"I shall be proud to serve you, Thompson, and on any terms you please." + +"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." + +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; _now_, 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. + +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 _thrown out_ 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, 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 _the Church_, 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." + +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 _actors_, 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 sha'n't_' and '_I won't_' to every thing, and swearing +'_they'd tell their father this_,' '_and put him up to that, and then +wouldn't he make a jolly row about it_,' 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 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 _this_ was +quite in confidence, and really must _not_ 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 _money_, 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 _till_. 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 _improve_ 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-- + + "----How _long_ it is thou see'st, + And he would gaze 'till it became _much longer_;" + +"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 _nine_? 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 _mistake_! 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 _Bot. of Jehu +Tomkins_ 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 _arch_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, _premiere_; 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 +_decided_, 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 _not_ 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! + + * * * * * + + + + +THE WORLD OF LONDON. SECOND SERIES. + +PART II. + + +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 +_raw_ we have already established, will shame the fast fellows into a +sense of the proprieties of conduct due to themselves and their station. + +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. + +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! + +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. + + + +CONCERNING SLOW FELLOWS. + + +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. + +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 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: + + "At heros, et decus, et quae non fecimus ipsi, + Vix ea nostra voco." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Without giving a catalogue _raisonne_ 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. + + +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 _Penny Magazine_ 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 _screws_, 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 _can_ eat +those hot lunches. They take constitutional walks and Cockle's pills; +and, by virtue of meeting them at the Royal 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. + +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 _his line_; 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 _Bell's Life_, +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 "_gagging_," and +genteel people "_quizzing_," but with a seriousness and gravity that +heightens all the joke, and makes the slow fellow inexpressibly +ridiculous. + +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. + + + +OF THE ARISTOCRACY OF POWER. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 _quondam_ 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. + +With regard to the aristocracy in their public capacity, this is the way +we always look at them. + +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. + +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. + +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 _strata_ of society, clarify and +purify in their course, leaving the very dregs the cleaner for their +passage. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE PHILOSOPHY OF DRESS. + + +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 _in cuerpo_, 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 _outre_, or likely to attract +attention; of late years their style has been plain, almost to +scrupulosity. + +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. + +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! + +Vain, very vain is it for the pretender to fashion to go swelling into +the _atelier_ of a first-rate coat architect, with his ready money in +his hand, to order such a coat! _Order_ 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! + +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, _vested_ the office of trouser-cutter and coat +architect in the same functionary, coats were without _soul_, 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. + +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 _artistes_ 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 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 _us_ not talk of pounds--pounds for tradesmen, if you please; but +artists, sir, _artists_ are always remunerated with guineas!" + +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 _toggery_, such as hats, boots, +_choker_, 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." + +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 _choker_. 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 _choker, fine_ if +you please, but without pretension as to pattern, and in colour +harmonizing with his residual _toggery_: 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 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. + +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, "_if you only knew what a watch I have +inside_!" 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. + +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. + +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 _chemise_, 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. + +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 +_propre_, 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. + +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, +_degage_, 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." + +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 _artistes_, +seconded by that beautiful division of labour of 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 _never +paying, nor intending to pay, his tailor_! + +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. + +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, _in secula seculorum_. +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 _Manual of British Vertebrate Animals_, 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 _promise_ 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. + +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 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 _moustache_, 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. + +There is an affectation among the vulgar clever, of wearing the +_moustache_, which they clip and cut _a la Vandyk_: 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. + +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. + +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. + +Your undoubted man of fashion, like other animals, has his peculiar +_habitat_: 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. + + +OF PRETENDERS TO FASHION. + + "Their conversation was altogether made up of Shakspeare, + taste, high life and the musical glasses."--_Vicar of + Wakefield_. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +In a republic, where practical equality 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. + +There are ten thousand varying shades and degrees of this pretension, +from the truly fashionable people who hanker after the _exclusives_, 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. + +The _exclusives_ are a queer set, some of them not by any means people +of the best pretensions to lead the _ton_. 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 _habitue_ +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 _debutante_ +of fashion as great an object as a seat at the Privy Council Board to a +flourishing politician: your _ton_ is stamped by it, you are of the +exclusive _set_, 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. + +"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 _slow_ 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." + +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. + +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. + +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, 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. + +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, _ex officio_, 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. + +What is there, what can there be, in common with these widely severed +classes, save that they equally enjoy _Sir_ at the head and _Bart_. 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? + +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 _cul-de-sac_ 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +Of pretenders to fashion, perhaps the most successful in their imitative +art are the + +SHEENIES.--By this term, as used by men of undoubted _ton_ 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 +_cut_ 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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 _plateau_ +or _epergne_ he saw, when last he dined with a "fellow" in Belgrave +Square. + +The _Foreigneering_ 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 _cut_ him, however, as soon as they marry, but is not accounted good +_ton_ 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. + +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 _Duchess_. 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. + +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 +_women_ stamp you counterfeit or current, and-- + + "Not to know _them_, argues yourself unknown." + + * * * * * + + + + +EYRE'S CABUL. + + + 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + "The following notes," says Lieutenant Eyre in his preface, + "were penned to relieve 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 _alone_, 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 _political_ events of this period, not having + been one of the initiated; and I do not pretend to enter into + _minute_ particulars with regard to even our _military_ + 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 _altogether_ 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." + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + + "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." + +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." + +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. + +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,[16] 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. + + [16] 35th Reg. N.I.; 100 sappers; 1 squadron 5th Cav.; 2 guns. + +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 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." + +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." + +"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. + + "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 _shub-khoon_, 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. + + "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." + +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. + +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:-- + + "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." + +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 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. + +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. + +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.[17] + + [17] 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +But it is time we should return to Lieutenant Eyre, whose narrative of +facts is infinitely more attractive than any speculations we could +offer. + + "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. + + "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 _Bala Hissar_, or _royal + citadel_, 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. + + "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. + + "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. + + "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. + + "It must be understood that Captain Trevor lived at this time + with his family in a strong _bourge_ 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 _Yaboo-Khaneh_, 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. + + "As it was, the Hazirbash,[18] 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,[19] assistant + political agent at Peshawur, who then occupied the godown + portion of the fort above mentioned, which will be found + hereafter.[20] + + "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. + + "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 + _Dewan Khaneh_, 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. + + "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. + + "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 _responsible_ 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. + + "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. + + "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 + 5-1/2-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." + + [18] Affghan horse. + + [19] 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. + + [20] "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." + +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 which was commanded by +another building at a short distance. Our author thus sums up his +observations on these cantonments:-- + + "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. + + "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." + +_Nov_. 3.--The 37th native infantry arrived in cantonments, as +previously stated. + + "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. + + "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." + +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. + +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. + + "_November_ 4.--The enemy having taken strong possession of the + _Shah Bagh_, 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. + + "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. + + "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 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. + + "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. + + "It is beyond a doubt that our feeble and ineffectual defence + of this fort, and the valuable booty it yielded, was the first + _fatal_ 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." + +"_Nov_. 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 _Shah Bagh_, laden with the provisions upon which had depended our +ability to make a protracted defence." + +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? + +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. + +"_Nov_. 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." + +As this fort adjoined the Shah Bagh, it was deemed advisable to dislodge +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." + +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." + +But the Affghans collected from various quarters; the juzailchees,[21] +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. + + [21] Affghan riflemen. + +_Nov_. 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. + +_Nov_. 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.)" + + "_November_ 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. + + "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 + _croakers_ 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. + + "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." + +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. ... 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 _sauve qui peut_." 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. + +"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. + +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." + +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. + +_Nov_. 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." + +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 Eyre, with the aid of one artilleryman. + + "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. + + "_November 16th_.--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. + + "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. + + "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." + +"_Nov_. 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." + +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. + +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." + +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. + +"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 over our +future fortunes. The crisis of our struggle was already nigh at hand." + +"_Nov_. 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[22] 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. + + [22] Five companies 44th; six companies 5th native infantry; + six companies 37th native infantry; 100 sappers; 2-1/2 + squadrons cavalry; one gun. + +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 _en masse_ 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. 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 _all_ 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."[23] + + [23] 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. + + 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. + + 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. + + 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. + + 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. + +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. + + "_Nov_. 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. + + "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." + +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 of it. Shah Shoojah +was impatient to receive them. + +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." + +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." + +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." + +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. + +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:-- + + "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." + +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. + +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 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:-- + + "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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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:-- + + "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. + + "Even then I remarked that the Envoy's eye glanced eagerly + towards Skinner 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 + _purdah_, (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. + + * * * * * + + "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." + +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:-- + + "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 _cap-a-pie_. 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 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 _en route_ 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 Baoodeen 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. + + "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!' (_You'll_ 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 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. + + "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 _chouk_; 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 _Jeerga_ + 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, _struck_ 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 + _pushed_ 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 _en route_ 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. _Two of the barrels had been + recently discharged_, 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 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 Baoodeen + Khan, who, being an old acquaintance, always retained a + sneaking kindness for the English. + + "I am, my dear Eyre, yours very truly, + + "C. MACKENZIE. + + "Cabul, 29th July, 1842." + +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. + + "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." + +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. + +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." + +"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." + +"_January_ 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." + +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 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. + + "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. + + * * * * * + + "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." + +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. + +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 _beginning_ of sorrows. + +_January 7th_.--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. + +Akber Khan said, that the force 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." + +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. + +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. + +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. + + "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 + _winding-sheet_. It is only marvellous that any should have + survived that fearful night! + + "_January 9th_.--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." + +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. + +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. + + "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 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; _those_, in the case + of some of the invalids, consisted of _night dresses_ 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? + + "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." + +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." + +_January_ 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. + + "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." + +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. + +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. + + "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, _en masse_, at + every shot, blocking up the entire road, and fatally retarding + the progress of the little body of soldiers who, under + Brigadier Shelton, brought up the rear. + + "At Burik-ab 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." + +_January_ 11.-- ... + + "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. + + "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." + +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." + +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[24] 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 make the best of their way to Jellalabad." + + [24] Strait of Darkness. + +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. + +"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." + + * * * * * + + + + +THE EVACUATION OF AFFGHANISTAN. + + +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[25]--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[26] 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.[27] + + [25] 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. + + [26] It now seems even doubtful whether the famous letter of + Dost Mohammed to the Emperor of Russia, which constituted the + _gravamen_ of the charge against him, was ever really written, + or at least with his concurrence.--_Vide_ "Report of the + Colonial Society on the Affghan War," p. 35. + + [27] 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 _eclat_ 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 _Asiatic Journal_. + +The tottering and unsubstantial phantom of a _Doorauni kingdom_ 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 _for the vindication_ (as the phrase is) _of our military +honour_, 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 fortunate chance had procured the liberation of _all_ +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. + +The proclamation above referred to,[28] (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 _Morning Chronicle_, +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 _Globe_, (Dec. 3,) after a reluctant admission that +"the policy itself of evacuating the country _may be wise_," 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 +_Globe_, 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 _any_ +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 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 _British_ 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) "_the reconstruction of the social edifice_" +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 _Globe_ 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. + + [28] 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. + +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 _insurgents_, +(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,[29] 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 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. + + [29] "The fieldworks _believed to be described_ 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 + _Asiatic Journal_, 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! + +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,[30] 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 _avengers of +British wrongs_," 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, who was also +liberated, a few days later, by the voluntary act of Akhbar himself.[31] + + [30] 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 _Bombay Times_, and afterwards in the _Asiatic + Journal_ for October and November last. + + [31] The kindness and humanity which these unfortunate + _detenus_ 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 _barbarians_, 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 _Asiatic + Journal_, September, December, 1842. + +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 _positive tenor of his +instructions_,) "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,[32]) 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. + + [32] 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. + +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. + +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, 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 _Feringhis_. 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 _Sirdars_, 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. + +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[33] 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 as to the future destinies of Affghanistan. + + [33] 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. + +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 _Delhi Gazette_ 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.[34] + + [34] 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. + +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;[35] as have 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 _protection_ 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 _place d'armes_ +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. + + [35] 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. + + +It has long since been evident[36] that Scinde, by that _principle of +unavoidable expansion_ 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 +_Ameers_, 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 _suzerainte_ 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 L300,000) to the expenses of the +war, under the name of arrears of tribute to Shah-Shoojah, +acknowledging, at the same time, the supremacy, _not of Shah-Shoojah_, +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 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 _Feringhis_; 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." + + [36] 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." + +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[37] 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 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, (_Bombay Times_, 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. + + [37] 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. + +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,[38] &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 +_Feringhi salt_, 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;[39] 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 +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 _Agra Ukhbar_) "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 _Feringhis_. 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,[40] (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 _Asiatic Journal_ 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 made no scruple of declaring that the _Feringhi raj_ +(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 _hope_ at our late reverses." + + [38] 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. _What is at present + the value of the Order of the Doorani Empire_, with its showy + decorations of the first, second, and third classes, the last + of which was so rightfully spurned by poor Dennie? + + [39] The following remarks of the _Madras United Service + Gazette_, 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 _a diminished inclination for the + service_, 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." + + [40] This corps, it will be remembered, was broken for its + misconduct in the battle of Purwan-Durrah, against Dost + Mohammed, November 2, 1840. + +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 _popularity of our sway in India_. 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 _Delhi Gazette_--"have been sown by the Moslems, and have partially +found root among the Hindoos, is more than conjecture"--and the +warnings of the _Agra Ukhbar_ 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[41] 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. + + [41] 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. + +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 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 +_en masse_ 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 _ulcer_." (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 _Bombay Times_) "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!" + + * * * * * + +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. + +"Secret Department, Simla, + +"Oct. 1, 1842. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"The British army in possession of Affghanistan will now be withdrawn to +the Sutlej. + +"The Governor-General will leave it to the Affghans themselves to create +a government amidst the anarchy which is the consequence of their +crimes. + +"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. + +"The Governor-General will willingly recognize any government approved +by the Affghans themselves, which shall appear desirous and capable of +maintaining friendly relations with neighbouring states. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"Affghanistan and China have seen at once the forces at his disposal, +and the effect with which they can be applied. + +"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." + + * * * * * + + + + +DEATH OF THOMAS HAMILTON, ESQ. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + + * * * * * + +_Edinburgh: Printed by Ballantyne and Hughes, Paul's Work_. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. +CCCXXVIII. February, 1843. 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