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diff --git a/18278.txt b/18278.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d149caf --- /dev/null +++ b/18278.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9213 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. +CCCLXXVI. February, 1847. Vol. LXI., 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. CCCLXXVI. February, 1847. Vol. LXI. + +Author: Various + +Release Date: April 28, 2006 [EBook #18278] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH *** + + + + +Produced by Brendan O'Connor, Jonathan Ingram, Taavi Kalju +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Library of Early +Journals.) + + + + + + + +BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE + +No. CCCLXXVI. FEBRUARY, 1847. VOL. LXI. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + MEMOIR OF THE LATE JOHN WILLIAM SMITH, OF THE INNER TEMPLE, + BARRISTER-AT-LAW. + MODERN ITALIAN HISTORY. + FRENCH PLAYERS AND PLAYHOUSES. + THE REIGN OF GEORGE THE SECOND. + MILDRED: A TALE. + THE EARLY TAKEN. + A RIDE TO MAGNESIA. + DIRECT TAXATION. + + * * * * * + + + + +MEMOIR OF THE LATE JOHN WILLIAM SMITH, OF THE INNER TEMPLE, +BARRISTER-AT-LAW. + +BY SAMUEL WARREN, OF THE INNER TEMPLE, BARRISTER-AT-LAW. + + + But the fair guerdon when we hope to find, + And think to burst out into sudden blaze, + Comes the blind Fury with the abhorred shears, + And slits the thin-spun life. + +MILTON.--_Lycidas_. + +The name of John William Smith, barrister-at-law, of the Inner Temple, +now appears, possibly for the first time, before nineteen-twentieths of +the readers of _Blackwood's Magazine_. It is that, however, of a +remarkable and eminent man, just cut off in his prime, before he had +completed his thirty-seventh year: having as yet lain little more than a +twelvemonth in his grave, to which he had been borne by a few of his +sorrowful and admiring friends, on the 24th of December, 1845. Another +eminent member of the English bar, Sir William Follett, belonging to the +same Inn of Court, and also cut off in the prime of life, while +glittering in the zenith of his celebrity and success, had been buried +only five months previously. I[1] endeavoured to give the readers of +this Magazine, in January 1846, some account of the character of that +distinguished person; and Mr. Smith, learning that I was engaged upon +the task, with morbid anxiety repeatedly begged me to show him what I +was writing, up to within a few weeks of his own decease: a request with +which, for reasons which will become obvious to the reader of this +sketch, I declined to comply. With Sir William Follett's name all the +world is acquainted: yet I venture to think that the name of John +William Smith has greater claims upon the attention of readers of +biography. His character and career will, it is believed, be found +permanently and intrinsically interesting,--at once affecting, +inspiriting, and admonitory. He fell a martyr to intense study, just as +that competent and severe body of judges, the English bench and bar, had +recognised his eminent talents and acquirements, and the shining and +substantial rewards of unremitting exertion were beginning to be +showered upon him. He came to the bar almost totally unknown, and was +destitute of any advantages of person, voice, or manner. His soul, +however, was noble, his feelings were refined and exalted; and, when he +departed from the scene of intense excitement and rivalry into which his +lot had been cast, those who had enjoyed the best opportunities for +forming a true judgment of him, knew not whether more to admire his +moral excellence or his intellectual eminence, which shone the more +brightly for the sensitive modesty which enshrouded them. Many have +expressed surprise and regret that so interesting a character should +fade from the public eye, without any attempt having been made by his +friends to give a full account of his character and career. I was one of +his very earliest friends; witnessed the whole of his professional +career, shared his hopes and fears, and, with two or three others, +attended upon him affectionately to the very last. During the year which +has since elapsed, I have reflected much upon his character, and had +many opportunities for ascertaining the respect with which his memory is +cherished in the highest quarters. I shall endeavour, therefore, though +with great misgivings as to my competency for the task, to present to +the reader an impartial account of my gifted friend: no one else, with +one exception,[2] having, up to this time, undertaken the task. + + [1] This narrative was originally composed in the third person; but + so much of it consists of my own personal intercourse with Mr. + Smith, that the use of that circuitous form of expression became as + irksome to the writer, as he thinks it would have proved tedious and + irritating to the reader. + + [2] See an eloquent but brief sketch, of W. Smith, in the _Law + Magazine_ for February 1846, by Mr. Phillimore, of the Oxford + Circuit, one of his most accomplished friends. + +John William Smith, the eldest of eight children, was of a highly +respectable family: his father having died in 1835, Vice-treasurer and +Paymaster-general of the Forces in Ireland. Both his parents were +Irish--his mother having been a Miss Connor, the sister of a late Master +in Chancery, in Ireland. They lived, however, in London, where the +subject of this memoir was born, in Chapel Street, Belgrave Square, on +the 23d January, 1809. From the earliest period at which note could be +taken of their manifestation, he evinced the possession of superior +mental endowments. No one is less disposed than the writer of this +memoir, to set a high value upon precocious intellectual development. +_Observatum fere est_, says Quinctilian, in his passionate lamentation +for the death of his gifted son, _celerius occidere festinatam +maturitatem_.[3] The maturity, however, of John William Smith, far more +than realised his early promise, and renders doubly interesting any +well-authenticated account, and such I have succeeded in obtaining, of +his early childhood. When advanced not far from infancy, he appears to +have been characterised by a kind of quaint thoughtfulness, quick +observation, and a predilection for intellectual amusements. He was +always eager to have poetry read to him, and soon exhibited proofs of +that prodigious memory, by which he was all his life pre-eminently +distinguished, and which has often made the ablest of his friends +imagine that with him, _forgetting_ was a thing impossible. Before he +knew a single letter of the alphabet, which he learnt far earlier, +moreover, than most children, he would take into his hand his little +pictured story-book, which had been perhaps only once, or possibly +twice, read over to him, and pretend to read aloud out of it: those +overlooking him scarcely crediting the fact of his really being unable +to tell one letter from the other; for he repeated the letterpress +_verbatim_, from beginning to end. This feat has been repeatedly +witnessed before he had reached his third year. To all the friends of +Mr. Smith in after-life, this circumstance is easily credible: for the +quickness of his memory was equalled by its tenacity, and both appeared +to us almost unequalled. When three years old, he read with the greatest +facility all such books as are usually put into the hands of children; +and his delight was to _act_, in the evening, the fable which he had +read in the morning--and a reader insatiate he even then appeared to be. +Between his third and sixth year, he had read, _effectually_, many books +of history, especially those of Greece, Rome, England, and France; +acquiring with facility what he retained with the utmost fidelity. He +seems to have been, at this time, conscious of possessing a strong +memory, and pleased at testing it. When not five years old, he one day +put the parts of a dissected map, consisting of a hundred pieces, into +his father's pocket, and then called for them again one by one, without +having made a single mistake, till he had finished putting them together +on the carpet. At this early period, also, he displayed another +first-rate mental quality, namely, the power of abstraction--one by +which he was eminently distinguished throughout his subsequent life. +When a very young child, he was frequently observed exercising this rare +power--lost to all around him, and evidently intent upon some one +object, to the exclusion of all others. Thus, for instance, he would +often be occupied with a play of Shakspeare, while sitting in the corner +of the drawing-room, in which were many persons engaged in conversation, +or otherwise doing what would have effectually interrupted one who was +not similarly endowed with himself. One of his brothers often played at +chess with him, with closed folding doors between them, the former +moving the chess-men for both, and the latter calling out the moves, +without ever making an erroneous one, and frequently winning the game. +His partiality to poetry, from almost his infancy, has been already +noticed: and it is to be added, that he was equally fond of reading and +_writing_ verses. One of his relatives has at this moment in her +possession a "Poem" from his pen, in pencilled _printed_ characters, +before he had learned, though he learned very early, to write, entitled, +"The Mariner's Return." Till very recently, also, the same lady +possessed another curious relic of this precocious child,--namely, a +prose story; the hero of which was a peasant boy, whom he took through +almost all the countries of Europe, and through many vicissitudes, +finally exalting him to the post of Prime Minister to Henry VIII. The +knowledge of geography and history displayed in this performance, is +declared by those who have read it, to be truly wonderful. Shortly after +he had reached his eighth year, he was sent to a school at Isleworth, +kept by a Dr. Greenlaw, and remained there four years. I have heard him +frequently describe his first arrival at the school, and several +incidents attending it, in such a manner as showed him then to have had +great shrewdness and keenness of observation. One, in particular, struck +me at the time as illustrative of his stern sense of right, and habits +of reflection, at that very early period. "I remember," said he, "that +soon after I had got to school, a big boy called me aside, and told me +very seriously that I must prepare for a terrible flogging on Saturday +morning, and that however well I behaved, it would signify nothing, for +it was an old custom at the school to flog a little boy on his first +Saturday, before the whole school, by way of example, and to make him +behave well. I was horribly frightened at this; but the first thing that +struck me, and kept me awake a good while thinking of it, was, how very +_unjust_ a thing it was to do this; and I thought so much of _this_, +that I do believe I was at length far more angry than frightened. Of +course, when Saturday came, I found it had been all a joke only; but I +always thought it a very disagreeable and improper joke." I have several +times heard Mr. Smith mention this little circumstance, and I have above +given many of his own expressions. He used to proceed to describe the +reasonings which he had held in his own mind upon this subject, all +which, he said, he vividly recollected; and it was certainly both +curious and interesting to hear how he puzzled himself in trying to find +out "reasons why it might be right to flog him under these +circumstances." Dr. Greenlaw was not slow in discovering the +extraordinary abilities of the little new-comer, and used to describe +them in glowing terms to his father; but would add that, much as he +admired the child's talent and diligence, he entertained a still higher +opinion of the little fellow's perfect modesty, his seeming +unconsciousness of his mental superiority over his companions, his +honesty and simplicity of character, and, above all, his unwavering and +inflexible adherence to truth on even the most trifling occasions. Every +living friend of his will testify that he was thus distinguished +throughout life, exhibiting that + + Compositum jus, fasque animi, sanctosque recessus + Mentis, et incoctum generoso pectus honesto, + +which the stern moralist[4] declared to afford the noblest qualification +for approaching the presence of the gods. + + [3] Lib. vi. _proem._ + + [4] Pers. Sat. ii. 73, 74. + + Haec cedo ut admoveam templis, et farre litabo. + +During this period, namely, from his eighth to his twelfth year, he +became passionately fond of writing verses: and I have now before me, +kindly forwarded by one of his relatives in Ireland, two small quarto +MS. volumes, containing exclusively what he wrote during this period, +extending to upwards of seventy or eighty pieces, some of considerable +length, and in every kind of English verse. Their genuineness is +unquestionable; and I shall quote from them in the state in which they +were originally collected at the time, without the alteration of a +single letter. Having completely satisfied myself on this point, and I +hope the reader also, what will he think of the following evidence of +the creative perception of humour professed by a child scarce thirteen +years of age? I have transcribed it _verbatim_. It is prefixed to a +satirical poem of some length, entitled "Practical Morality." + +Preface _loquitur_-- + + "Though it may appear to thee, courteous reader, that I have in all + ages been considered as a vehicle of fumbling apologies and trivial + excuses, a sort of go-between employed by the writer to deprecate + the anger of the peruser, in short, the literary servant of + all-work, whether my duty be to expatiate on the merits, or + apologise for the defects of my master, or (as it often is) to + claim the pity and forbearance of the mobile, and set forth in + humble terms the degradations he has submitted, and is still ready + to submit to,--I say, reader, though a part so servile has been + assigned to me, yet, should my natural claims and intrinsic merits + be duly considered, different, far different would be my station. + What! am I thus exalted in situation above my [_sic_] situated, (as + I may say,) in the very van, exposed to the sneer of every + satirical reader and sententious critic? Am I placed in a post so + dangerous, and are contempt and humiliation my only reward? O, + mankind, where is your gratitude? Think, generous reader, on the + services I have so often rendered you: think how often, when you + were about to enter upon the stupendous folio, or the dull and + massy quarto, four inches at least in thickness, think, O think, + how often my timely, though unpromising appearance, has warned you + not to encumber your brain with the incalculable load of lumber! + With me, then, let the glorious work of reformation commence, + restore me to the honour and esteem I so justly deserve. I, for my + part, shall still continue to be a spy upon stupidity, and oft + shall you receive the reward of your benevolence from my friendly + and seasonable admonitions." + + "Hezekiah Shortcut, + O tempora! O mores!" + +The poem is in two cantos: the first of which thus opens,-- + + Long have I viewed the folly and the sin + That fill this wicked globe of ours, call'd earth, + And once a secret impulse felt within + My bosom, to convert it into mirth; + But then the voice of pity, softly sighing, + Hinted the subject was more fit for crying. + + Democritus was once a Grecian sage-- + A famous man, as every one must know-- + But rather fond of sneering at the age, + And turning into laughter human wo; + Another sage, Heraclitus to wit, + Considered it more wise to weep for it. + I can't determine which of them was right, + Nor can I their respective merits see; + The subject, disputation may invite, + But that belongs to wiser men than me. + It has already been discuss'd by one, + A better judge by far (see Fenelon.) + +Verse the twelfth touches upon a topic with which its writer was +destined afterwards, for a short time, to be practically familiar. + + How sweet a fee unto the youthful lawyer + Never before presented with a brief, + To whose distressing case some kind employer + Steps in, and brings his generous relief; + Thus giving him a chance to show _that_ merit + So long kept down by the world's envious spirit. + +Here is the little practical moralist's advice to the ladies!-- + + Ye ladies, list! and to my words attend, + They're for your good, as you shall quickly see. + Sit down by the fireside, your stockings mend, + And never mingle spirits with your tea. + When you retire at night, put out the candle, + Discard your lap-dogs, leave off talking scandal. + + When card-tables are set, you must not play + For ought beyond the value of one shilling: + This is my firm decree, although you may, + As ladies mostly are, be very willing. + I bid you cease, for into debt 't will run ye, + Do you no good, but spend your husband's money. + + Husbands are fools who let their wives do so,-- + I scarce can pity when I see them ruin'd. + For when they squander all, they ought to know, + Destruction is a consequence pursuant. + When each has turn'd his home into a sad-house, + He then finds out that he deserves a mad-house. + + I do denounce, in all the songs you sing, + The words, _sweet_, _lovely_, dear angelic charmer, + _Flames_, _darts_, _sighs_, _wishes_, _hopes_,--they only bring + Thoughts to a lady which perchance may harm her. + You therefore must consider as ironic + Every expression which is not Platonic. + +The whole poem is written in a droll, satirical strain, and shows a +great familiarity with the topics of ancient and modern literature. The +rest of the volume consists of translations from Anacreon, Horace, and +other Greek and Latin poets, and many original pieces; one of which +latter, entitled "The Prodigal Son," thus gravely and impressively +opens,-- + + Far from his kindred, from his country's soil, + By want enfeebled, and oppress'd by toil, + Compelled with slow reluctance to demand + The niggard pity of a stranger's hand, + And forced, in silent anguish, to abide + The sneer of malice, the rebuke of pride: + A wretch opprest by sorrow's galling weight, + Deplored his ruined peace, his hapless fate. + His was such anguish as the guilty know, + For self-reproach was mingled with his wo. + He dared not fortune's cruelty bemoan-- + The error, the offence, was all his own. + +There are also scattered over the volume several epigrams, one of which +is headed thus: "On a Lady who married her Brother-in-law." + + After so many tedious winters past, + The lovely S---- has caught a swain at last-- + A swain who twice has tried the marriage life, + And now resolves again to take a wife. + Behold! behold _the new-made_ mother runs, + With ardour to embrace--_her nephew-sons_! + +The second volume commences with a poem of considerable length, +entitled, "Salamis," with a notice that "The foregoing poem was +presented to his father, by John William Smith, January 23d, 1821, the +day on which he completed his twelfth year." The following is "The +Argument of Canto I:-- + + "Themistocles lying awake in the night, is surprised by the + entrance of Aristides, who informs him that the Persian fleet had + completely surrounded them. Themistocles tells him that this was + effected by a device of his own, to prevent the Greeks from + deserting the Straits, and sends him to Eurybiades, calls a council + in the morning, in which it is resolved to attack the enemy, and + the whole fleet move forward in order of battle.--Scene, the + Grecian camp on the sea-shore of Salamis." + +The first Canto thus opens-- + + Now darkness over all her veil had spread, + Save where the moon her feeble lustre shed, + When from the clouds emerging, her dim ray + Mock'd the effulgence of the lucid day. + Stretch'd on their beds, the Greeks in soft repose + Awhile forgot their harass'd country's woes. + Themistocles alone awake remain'd, + By his anxiety from sleep restrain'd; + Although the chief with labour was opprest, + His care for Greece withheld his wonted rest. + For three long hours, all had been still around, + At length he hears (or thinks he hears) a sound; + He starts, and sees a stately form advance, + Clad in bright arms, and with a shining lance, + And by the moon's faint beams, the chief descried + A Persian sabre glittering at his side. + +Here follows the "Argument of Canto II-- + + "Mardonius is surprised by the noise of the Greeks advancing, and + the hostile fleet appearing, the ships move forward to meet + them.--Lycomedes takes the first galley, and consecrates the spoils + to Apollo.--The acts of Eurybiades, Mardonius, and + Themistocles.--Aristides and Lycomedes landing in the Isle of + Psyttalia, destroy a number of Persians stationed there, at sight + of which, part of the Persian fleet gives way.--Ariamenes + endeavouring to rally them, is slain.--At his death the rest of the + Persians fly. The Greeks pursue them to the Attic shore, and obtain + a complete victory, which concludes the Poem." + +The whole poem shows a mind thoroughly imbued with Grecian history, and +the action is conceived and described with considerable spirit. There +are a few lame verses, here and there, but scarcely a single puerile +conceit; while a perusal of the entire contents of these records of a +gifted child, is calculated to surprise, by the great extent of reading +displayed by its writer, and the ease and precision with which he brings +it to bear upon his subject. + +In the spring of 1821 he entered Westminster School, taking his place on +the fourth form, which secured him all exemption from fagging. Here, +again, his progress was that of a boy of first-rate abilities, great +diligence, and unvarying good conduct. Two years afterwards, viz. in the +spring of 1823, he gained a king's scholarship, without the assistance +of a "_help_," a thing which it is believed was unprecedented. In the +College, however, he could not escape _fagging_; but such was his +independent spirit, that he refused to submit to it, and immediately +resigned his hard-won scholarship, with all its prospects. His father +was somewhat nonplussed by this occurrence; and presently sent him to a +school at Blackheath, kept by the present rector of Woolwich, the Rev. +Willain Greenlaw, a son of his former master, Dr. Greenlaw. The +Blackheath school contained no fewer than seventy-two boys, many of them +on the eve of quitting for the universities; but as soon as John William +Smith made his appearance, he was not only recognised as being far +superior to them all, but equally well read with the ushers; and he +consequently read with Mr. Greenlaw himself, alone! being then, it will +be recollected, little move than fourteen years of age! He wrote every +species of Latin verse with the utmost facility--of which he gave, on +one occasion, a proof not yet forgotten by his schoolfellows: for, one +evening, shortly after going there, he wrote all the Latin verses for +the entire school, from the highest to the lowest--in all metres, and on +every variety of subject. This feat was lately communicated to me by one +of his then schoolfellows; and I also recollect him once mentioning the +subject to me himself; adding, if I recollect correctly, that there was +not a blunder found in any of the verses which he had written. During +his vacations he visited France, and mastered the French and Italian +languages, with both of which, up to the period of his death, he +continued perfectly familiar, and very partial to the writers of both. +About this time he began to cast about for a profession; and entertained +the notion of either going out to India, in a military capacity, or +entering Woolwich academy as a cadet. His father persuaded him to +relinquish the former step, but assented to his adopting the latter; and +he paid close attention to engineering. He has often expressed to me the +delight he took in studying _fortification_; adding, that he had +sometimes regretted having abandoned that line of life, for that he +fancied he should have been successful in it. His father would have +procured him an appointment in conformity with his wishes, had not his +views concerning him been changed by his friend, the Right Honourable +Sir George Fitzgerald Hill, then Vice-treasurer of Ireland, who gave his +son an appointment in the Vice-treasurer's office at Dublin Castle. Sir +George quickly detected the superior talents and acquirements of young +Smith, and became much attached to him; evincing peculiar satisfaction +in conversing with him, and listening to his quaint, exact, pithy +answers to questions proposed to him. About this time he was smitten +with the love of Lord Byron's poetry, which he devoured with avidity, +and his own love of verse-writing revived. He became, indeed, very +anxious to excel in poetry. He was soon tired of his official duties, +and resigned his situation in favour of his brother, who at this moment +fills a responsible office in the same department in Dublin Castle. + +In the year 1826, being then in his seventeenth year, Mr. Smith entered +Trinity College, Dublin, where his whole career was, as might have been +expected, one of easy triumph. He constantly carried off the highest +classical premiums, and occasionally those in science, as well +as--whenever he tried--for composition. In 1829, he gained a +scholarship, and in the ensuing year obtained the highest honours in the +power of Trinity College to bestow, namely, the gold medal for classics. +He thought so little, however, of distinctions gained so easily, that he +either forgot, or at all events neglected, even to apply for his gold +medal till several years afterwards; when, happening to be in Dublin, +and conversation turning upon the prize which he had obtained, he said, +in a modest, casual kind of way, to a friend, "By the way, I never went +after the medal; but I think, as I'm here, I'll go and see about it." +This he did, and the medal was of course immediately delivered to its +phlegmatic oblivious winner! He was a great favourite at college, for he +bore his honours with perfect meekness and modesty, was very kind and +obliging to all desiring his assistance, and displayed, on all +occasions, that truthful simplicity and straightforwardness of +character, which, as we have already seen, he had borne from his birth. +He was much beloved, in short, by all his friends and relations; and one +of the latter, his uncle, Mr. Connor, an Irish Master in Chancery, +confidently predicted that "John William would live to be an honour to +his profession and friends." In 1829, he joined his family, who were +settled in Versailles, and spent some time there. In the ensuing year, +his father, who possessed a first-rate capacity for business, was +appointed Vice-treasurer and Paymaster-general of the forces in Ireland, +and was obliged to reside in Dublin, whither he accordingly soon +afterwards repaired with his family. His son, John William, however, +remained in London, having determined upon forthwith commencing his +studies for the English bar: a step which his father and he had for some +time before contemplated; as it appears, from the records of the Inner +Temple, that he was entered as student for the bar on the 20th June, +1827, which was during his second year at Trinity College. The facility +with which he not only got through the requisite studies, but obtained +every honour for which he thought proper to compete, allowed of his +devoting much of his attention at that time to the acquisition of legal +knowledge. He procured a copy, therefore, of Blackstone; that, I +believe, which had appeared a year or two before, edited by the present +(then Sergeant,) Mr. Justice Coleridge,--the only edition of the +Commentaries of which he approved, and which he used to the last,--and +read it through several times with profound attention, as he has often +told me; expressing himself as having been charmed by the purity and +beauty of Blackstone's style, his remarkable power of explaining +abstruse subjects, and his perspicuous arrangement. The next book which +he read was, I believe, "Cruise's Digest of the Laws of England, +respecting Real Property," in seven volumes octavo, a standard work of +great merit; which, while at college, he read, I think, twice over, and +continued perfectly familiar with it for the rest of his life. He also +read carefully through nearly the whole of Coke upon Littleton, which he +told me he found very "troublesome," and that he had expended much +valuable time and attention on some of the most difficult portions, +which he very soon afterwards found to be utterly obsolete, particularly +mentioning those concerning "homage," "fealty," "knight-service," +"wardship," &c. The above may seem a great undertaking for vacant hours +at college, but will not appear to any of Mr. Smith's friends to have +been such to him, who read as rapidly, as he attended closely to, and +tenaciously retained what he had read. It may here be mentioned, that in +this particular, viz. reading law at college, Mr. Smith resembled Sir +William Follett, who also devoted himself with ardour to the study of +the law when at Cambridge, but did _not_, like Mr. Smith, also gain the +highest college honours; for Sir William never competed, or at all +events never obtained college honours of any kind. Mr. Smith commenced +keeping terms at the beginning, I believe, of 1830; and it was at the +mess-table of the Inner Temple Hall that I, who had also shortly before +come up from Edinburgh University for the same purpose, first had the +happiness and the honour of becoming acquainted with my late +distinguished friend. He was then in about his twenty-first year. I +distinctly recollect the first time of our meeting, which was at the +aforesaid mess-table; and that his appearance struck me as that of a +bashful and awkward person dull and taciturn, with a formal precise way +of speaking, and a slight abruptness of manner. If Lord Bacon's saying +be correct, that a good face is a _letter of recommendation_--poor John +William Smith may be said to have come without a character! How little +did I dream of the bright jewel hid in so plain and frail a casket: how +often have I felt ashamed of my own want of discernment: what a lesson +has it been never again to contract any sort of prejudice against a man +from personal appearance! It was not till I had known him for nearly a +year, owing partly to our unfrequent meetings, and his absence, that I +began to be sensible of his superior talents and acquirements. His +personal appearance was, it must be candidly owned, certainly +insignificant and unprepossessing. He was of slight make, a trifle under +the middle height, his hair was rather light, and his complexion pale. +He wore spectacles, being excessively near-sighted, and had a very +slight cast in his eyes, which were somewhat full and prominent. The +expression of his features, at all events when in repose, was neither +intellectual nor engaging, but they improved when he was animated or +excited in conversation. His forehead, however, was, though retreating, +lofty, and I have heard it characterised as intellectual. At the time of +which I am speaking, he used to wear a white hat, placed so far back on +his head, that it gave him, to a stranger, almost a ludicrous aspect. +His utterance was slow, his demeanour very solemn; and he would sit at +dinner for a long time silent, till you would be surprised by his +bursting into a short, sudden, but very hearty laugh, when any thing had +been said which tickled his fancy; for I found out before long that he +had a great taste for the ludicrous, an exquisite perception of humour. +When he shook hands with you, he placed his cold hand into yours, like a +dead man's hand--even with his most intimate friends--instead of +greeting you with a hearty cordial grasp or pressure. How long again +this little circumstance misled me as to his supposed insensibility to +the claims of friendship or affection! whereas the very reverse was the +case; for he was a most firm and devoted friend, and of an exquisite +delicacy and sensitiveness of feeling. He did not, at first, as the +phrase is, _make way_ with his companions, nor appear desirous of doing +so. I recollect, on one occasion, that he and I remained the last at the +dinner-table; and, though he sate opposite to me for some minutes, +thoughtfully balancing his wine-glass in his hand, an empty decanter +being between us, he spoke not a syllable; and I was watching him (his +eyes being directed towards the floor) with an amused curiosity, on +account of his apparent eccentricity, when he suddenly said, "Mr. +Warren, will you take a walk with me up Regent Street, or any where +else, as it is such a fine evening?" What passed through my mind, on +being thus unexpectedly encountered, was, "Well--he's a curiosity, and +seems to know no one--so I _will_;" and, having said as much, we rose. +He walked down the hall, and we took off our gowns in the ante-room, and +quitted the building, without his having uttered a syllable! I recollect +feeling almost inclined to be offended. We then walked about the town +till nearly nine o'clock, and I think he talked a little about France, +and we compared notes together concerning Dublin and Edinburgh +Universities. I quitted him, musing upon his quaint manner, and his +solemn precision of language: but nothing that had passed between us +gave me the idea of his being a person of superior ability or +acquirements. He was, indeed, a very shy and modest man. It was not, for +instance, till after a seven years' intimacy, that I knew of the +distinction which he had obtained at college; and on my asking him, one +day, whether it was true that he had obtained the gold medal, he +blushed, slightly moved his head aside, and, after a pause, said, in a +tone rather even of displeasure than gratification, "Possibly I did!" +and we dropped the subject. In the year 1830, he entered the chambers of +Richard Grainger Blick, Esquire, one of the most eminent special +pleaders in the Temple, and who has assured me, that he always +considered Mr. John William Smith to be a remarkable man. Probably there +never before entered the chambers of pleader or barrister, in the +character of novice, a man of more formidable legal aptitude and +acquirements. We have already seen the substantial and extensive +character of his law-reading at college; but, between leaving it, and +entering Mr. Blick's chambers, Mr. Smith read carefully over "from cover +to cover"--such were his words to me--"Tidd's Practice," a standard +book, in two closely printed, large octavo volumes, and also "Selwyn's +Nisi Prius," in two similar volumes. He had not been long in chambers +before he found that "he had not a sufficient knowledge of pleading, to +get any benefit from the business, which he saw;" wherefore he absented +himself from chambers for some time, to enable him to read through the +first volume of "Mr. Chitty's Treatise on Pleading;" and some time +afterwards he again withdrew, for similar reasons, to read "Phillips on +Evidence." Having obtained such an acquaintance with these two works, as +to a person of inferior intellect or discipline might seem a complete +mastery, he returned to chambers, able better to avail himself of the +advantages afforded by Mr. Blick's extensive practice; very frequently +surprising that gentleman by his mental vigour, and accurate and +extensive legal knowledge. "I was very cunning," he has more than once +said to me, "at chambers; for I soon saw how to go to work, better than +the other pupils. They would be all for the 'heavy papers,' the great +cases that came in, not caring for the shoal of small things that were +continually appearing and disappearing. Now it seemed to me, that +_these_ constituted three-fourths of a lawyer's business, and that to be +able to do _them_, was three-fourths of the battle: so I very quietly +let my fine gentlemen take all the great papers, while I did nothing but +these same despised common things, till at length I really began to feel +that I was improving, and learning a good deal of law. But, as to the +other sort of cases and papers, as soon as my fellow-pupils had done, +puzzling their brains over them, and written the opinions, or drawn the +pleadings, and Mr. Blick had revised them, and given them his +_imprimatur_, I _then_ read them over very diligently, and with great +profit: but you must remember that this was before the late revolution +in pleading." All this he repeated to me one day, only a few months +before his death.--He never studied under any other practitioner than +Mr. Blick, with whom, moreover, he spent only one year: yet such was his +close application, his wonderful memory, his clear, vigorous, and +disciplined understanding, and the soundness and extent of his +previously acquired law, that on quitting Mr. Blick, Mr. Smith was +really an able pleader, and had laid the basis of an extended, profound, +and scientific knowledge of the law. Even at that early period, I +frequently heard his opinion deferentially asked by men far his seniors, +and of considerable standing in business. On quitting Mr. Blick, Mr. +Smith read a number of other law books, in his usual attentive and +thorough manner, completely mastering both them and the "cases" +contained in them, and of which, generally speaking, they were little +else than digests or epitomes. He was a very keen and acute logician, +and felt great satisfaction in balancing the _pros_ and _cons_ of the +reported cases, and testing the soundness of the judges' decisions, and +the relevancy and force of the arguments of council which had led to +them. Among the books which he read about this time, he enumerated to me +"Sanders on Uses and Trusts," (which, he said, he found to be a +difficult book to master practically;) "Fearne on Contingent +Remainders," which he represented as likely to prove interesting to +_any_ educated man of intellect, fond of exercising it, who would take +the trouble to read it; Sir Edward Sugden's Treatises on "Vendors and +Purchasers of Real Estates," and on "Powers," and Williams' "Saunders;" +while "Comyn's Digest" was ever lying before him, the subject of +continual reference, and with which he soon acquired an invaluable +familiarity. He also read several books on Equity with great attention, +and often said, that no one, who really knew law, could fail to feel a +deep interest in Equity, and the mode of its operating upon law. The +"Code Napoleon," too, he read very carefully, and for many years. He had +a copy of Justinian's Code, and Institutes, always lying on his +mantel-piece, and which he was very fond of reading. We have frequently +conversed together on the subject of the extensive obligations of our +Common Law to the Roman Law; to which he used to refer, in the absence +of the books, with great facility and accuracy. He was very fond of +Plautus, and would quote almost an entire scene, as accurately, and with +as natural a fluency and zest, as another would have shown in reading +off any of the scenes in a popular English play; often accompanying his +quotations with shrewd and ingenious critical comments. He was also very +fond of the French Dramatists, particularly Moliere, from whom I have +heard him quote entire scenes with wonderful accuracy. You might have +imagined him reading from the book, as I have several times myself +observed, and heard others remark: and all this he did in a perfectly +natural and unobtrusive way, as if merely to relieve an over-charged +mind, and give pleasure to those whom he credited with inclination and +ability to appreciate the excellencies which he pointed out. His memory +seemed, indeed, equally tenacious of things important and unimportant; +incapable, in short, of _forgetting_ any thing. I have heard him quote +long-forgotten but once popular and laughable trash, ballads, squibs, +epigrams, &c., till at length he revived in the listener such a sort of +recollection of them, as made him imagine that Mr. Smith must have +recently committed them to memory for some special purpose, but for +their appearing so really fresh and racy to him, and plainly suggested +by the casual current of conversation. He was, about this time, and for +years afterwards, a very frequent visiter at my house; and never was any +one, independently of my personal regard for him, more welcome; for his +conversation was always that of a ripe and varied scholar and fastidious +_gentleman_. He was ever gay and animated as soon as he had recovered, +which he quickly did, from the exhaustion of a long and severe day's +work, and his fund of anecdote appeared inexhaustible. Never was any man +farther removed from being that insufferable social nuisance, a +professed talker. Display of any kind was quite foreign to his nature; +and whenever he chanced to encounter a person cursed with that +propensity, he would sit in silence for a whole evening: not in the +silence of vexation or pique, but of a man left at leisure to pursue his +own thoughts, or calmly amuse himself with the characteristics of the +chatterer. If, while thus occupied, unexpectedly interrupted, or +appealed to by the aforesaid chatterer, or any one else, he readily +answered, though certainly with a somewhat frigid courtesy. It was +impossible for any one, of the least powers of observation, to fail of +detecting in Mr. Smith, though beneath a reserve and formality not very +easy to penetrate, a kind of scrupulous antique courtliness, suggesting +to you a resuscitated gentleman of the school of Addison, particularly +in his intercourse with ladies. He was caution personified,--never +saying any thing that required retraction or modification: and though +you might guess the contemptuous estimate which he had formed of some +particular person's character or doings, he rarely permitted himself to +express it. He would sometimes smile significantly at the recital, or +witnessing, of some particular absurdity or weakness; but I think that +no one ever heard him utter a hasty, harsh, or uncharitable judgment of +any body. He seemed, in fact, equally chary of giving praise or blame. +No man would laugh louder, or longer, on hearing, or being told, of some +signal and ludicrous miscarriage of another; but he would _say_ nothing, +except on very rare occasions, and among his intimate friends--and even +then, never any thing severe or violent. Tell him, however, of any thing +really mean and unworthy, or let him have witnessed it, and no one could +fail to see, calm and measured though Mr. Smith's _language_ might be, +the profound contempt, or the lively indignation with which he regarded +the delinquent and his delinquency. I fear, however, that I am +digressing.--He and I commenced our careers as special pleaders about +the same time, viz. in 1831; and not many days passed without our being +at each other's chambers, borrowing one another's books, or going out to +walk together, or conversing on law or other matters. I always listened +to what he said on legal subjects, as to a master: he was so ready, so +correct, so concise, so judicious, that his suggestions, upon any case +which I mentioned to him, were very valuable; and they were given with a +heartiness of good-nature that made them doubly welcome. He was +delighted to assist me, or any other of his friends. We were a small +circle, about that time, of some half a dozen; and I may take upon +myself to say, that we all cheerfully recognised in him our +superior--our _facile princeps_, from the first. Some of us set agoing a +little weekly periodical, called "The Legal Examiner," to which he was a +constant contributor--his papers being always characterised by point and +precision, though the style was dry and stiff. It grieves me to say, +that he met with no encouragement as a special pleader, consummately +qualified as he was for success in that department, and scarcely ever to +be found absent from his chambers; where he was at all hours to be +found, modest, patient, though sometimes a little dejected,--yet + + True as the dial to the sun, + Although it be not shone upon. + +I question whether, during this two or three years' bitter and +disheartening probation, he made more than thirty, or at least forty +guineas; his annual certificate for leave thus to do--nothing, cost him, +nevertheless, L12. Yet I never once heard him, nor I undertake to say, +did any of his friends, express fretfulness or impatience at his +disheartening lack of employment. He manifested, on the contrary, a +quiet fortitude that was touching to witness. I recollect him once, +however, when we were conversing on the subject, saying rather +pensively, "If one has not connexions, and cannot make them, it is next +to impossible to get any business." The professional public possess +conclusive and permanent evidence of the admirable use which he made of +his time, during the first year or two of his essaying to practise as a +pleader; for in July 1834, two months after having been called to the +bar, he gave to the world a work which, as soon as it had become known, +raised him to the very highest rank of legal writers. The more it was +read or referred to the higher was the estimate formed of its writer's +intellect and learning, alike by the bench and the bar; for he had most +discreetly, yet boldly, chosen a subject of great difficulty and +importance, properly treated by no work extant, and which gave him +opportunity of supplying a long-acknowledged deficiency in professional +literature. He undertook, in fact, to produce a comprehensive practical +treatise, within an exceedingly moderate compass, on "Mercantile Law:" +and he succeeded to admiration--did this neglected young man of scarce +twenty-five years old--in producing, entirely unassisted, a work +signally calculated to attain the proposed object; condensing into a +very small space, and with almost unerring accuracy, a great amount of +exceedingly difficult law, beautifully and perspicuously arranged, so as +that even laymen might read as they ran, and receive guidance in the +most perplexing exigencies of business, while the ablest lawyers, might +safely refer to the pages of the "Compendium" for a terse and true +statement of the result of many conflicting decisions, and a luminous +exposition of the _principles_ which ought to govern the administration +of commercial law. The calm, practised skill with which this young +unknown jurist moved about in these regions of subtle intricacy--_inter +apices juris_--excited the cordial admiration and respect of all +competent judges. He was manifestly a master of his subject; and having +quietly detected important but unoccupied ground, had possessed himself +of it with skill and resolution:--and this he did within little more +than two years after he had quitted the scene of his solitary year's +pupilage. Within six years this book has passed through three large +editions; and a fourth is, it is believed, in preparation, which will +comprise a great number of its departed author's own additions and +emendations, continued up to within two or three months of his decease. +Not only in this country, but in the United States of America, is this +valuable work deservedly held, at this moment, in the highest +estimation, as practically the only book of its kind. A glance at the +brief Preface will suffice to show to a competent judge, whether lay or +professional, at once the real and peculiar difficulty of the +undertaking, the author's exact and happy illustration of the sources of +that difficulty, and the simplicity and accuracy of his style. + + "The Mercantile Law is in one respect better adapted to compression + than the Law of Real Property; inasmuch as the reasons upon which + the former is based, can be explained more shortly than those which + support the latter. The reasons upon which our Law of Real Property + is founded, are, generally speaking, historical; and part of + history must therefore be recounted, in order to explain them + clearly and philosophically; while the Mercantile Law is deduced + from considerations of utility, the force of which the mind + perceives as soon as they are pointed out to it. For instance, if a + writer were desirous of explaining why a rent-service cannot be + reserved in a conveyance, by a subject, of lands in fee-simple, he + would be obliged to show the feudal relations that existed between + lord and tenant, the nature of sub-infeudations, and how the lord + was injured by them, in such his relation to his tenant, how the + statute _quia emptores_ was enacted to prevent this injury; in + consequence of which statute a tenure, without which no + rent-service exists, cannot be raised by a conveyance from one + subject to another, in fee-simple. In like manner, the explanation + of a recovery, of a fine, of a copyhold, of an estate in ancient + demesne, of an use, of a trust, would require a process of + historical deduction. But when the reader is told, that the drawer + of a bill of exchange is discharged, if timely notice be not given + him of its dishonour; because, without such notice, he might lose + the assets he had placed to meet it in the drawee's hands; or, that + if A hold himself out as B's partner, he will be liable as such, + because he might else enable B to defraud persons who had trusted + him upon the faith of the apparent partnership and joint + responsibility: when these reasons, and such as these, are given, + every man at once perceives their cogency, and needs not to be told + _how_, that he may know _why_, the law was settled on its present + footing. The fitness of this subject for compression is, therefore, + hardly questionable. The difficulty of compressing it is, however, + extreme. The author who attempts to do so, must continually keep in + view a triple object, must aspire at once to clearness, brevity, + and accuracy; a combination so difficult, that its difficulty may, + it is hoped, be fairly pleaded in excuse for some of the + deficiencies and imperfections which the reader may discover in the + following pages." + +After a luminous and elegant introductory account of the rapid growth +and development of mercantile law, the author thus announces the +convenient and comprehensive plan of his work:-- + + "This treatise will be divided into four books. The first, + concerning Mercantile _Persons_; the second, Mercantile _Property_; + the third, Mercantile _Contracts_; the fourth and last, Mercantile + _Remedies_; a method which appears the simplest and most + comprehensive; since it includes, under a few heads, the + description of those by whose intervention trade is carried on; of + that which they seek to acquire by so employing themselves; of the + arrangements which they are in the habit of adopting, in order to + do so effectually; and of the mode in which the proper execution of + those arrangements is enforced." + +A striking evidence of the value of this work, the soundness of his +opinions, and the importance attached to them in the highest judicial +quarters, was afforded by the very first number of the Reports of the +Court of Exchequer, published after his death, where (in _Tanner_ v. +_Scovell_, 14 _Meeson and Welshy_, 37,) the Lord Chief Baron, after time +taken to consider an important question of mercantile law, delivered the +judgment of the Court in expressed conformity with the doctrine which +Mr. Smith has laid down in his "Mercantile Law," and in opposition to +the opinion of the late very learned Mr. Justice Taunton! + +To retrace our steps, however, for a moment: Mr. Smith at length +despaired of getting business under the bar, and tired of sitting a +prisoner at chambers, in vain expectation of it. His rooms and mine were +directly opposite to each other, on the same floor; and rarely or never +was a knock heard at his door, except that of some friend coming either +to ask his able and willing assistance, or chat away a weary half hour. +Towards the close of 1833, he announced to his friends that he +contemplated trying his fortune at the bar, and was easily persuaded, +with that view, to commence attendance at a professional debating +society, called "The Forensic," which, confined to barristers and +students for the bar, and established so long ago as 1815, has numbered +among its members almost every lawyer of eminence who has appeared since +that year, including Sir William Follett and Mr. J.W. Smith. He entered +this society on the 29th January, 1834; and I well recollect his first +essay at addressing it. It was upon the discussion of a legal question. +He was evidently very nervous when he rose, for the colour quite +deserted his cheek. His manner was cold, dry, and formal, and +sufficiently uninteresting, and uninviting. We were all, however, soon +struck by the book-like precision of his language, the clearness and +closeness of his reasoning, and the extent of his legal knowledge. He +spoke for about ten minutes; and, having risen amidst a half-suppressed +titter, sate down amidst earnest cries of "Hear, hear, hear!" He +afterwards spoke pretty regularly, especially upon legal questions; and +those who, in due course, were appointed beforehand to argue against +him, felt it expedient to come particularly well prepared! Shortly +before he was called to the bar, he said to me, with a timid, dejected +air, "It is a bold step; but I really don't see what else is to be done. +Why should I sit any longer perishing in chambers? Besides, my +'Mercantile Law' will be out in a month or two, and if it succeed, it +may _possibly_ give me a lift--so I shall try it." He was accordingly +called to the bar on the 2d May, 1834, selecting the Oxford Circuit and +the Hereford and Gloucester Sessions. "There are only two ways," I heard +him say, (quoting the well-known dictum of a late able judge,) "of +getting on at the bar, Pleading or Sessions. I have failed in the +former, I shall now try the latter. _Flectere si nequeo superos, +Acheronta movebo!_" I was, I confess, amongst those of his friends who +were not sanguine as to his prospects of success at the bar, regarding +him as unlikely to attract favourable notice in court practice. Shortly +after he had attended at the Sessions, however, he began to obtain a +little employment in petty cases there; and, contrary to expectation, +became very successful in defending prisoners: his acuteness, vigilance, +ingenuity, and legal knowledge--particularly of the law of +evidence--became more apparent in every succeeding case intrusted to +him. In spite of the dry formality of his manner, he soon attracted the +_understanding_ of his hearers, exhibiting great caution and judgment in +dealing with the evidence, his tenacious memory here standing him in +great stead. His start at sessions, however, seemed likely to lead to +nothing, on the civil side at the assizes--where his reception was +sufficiently disheartening. He attended regularly, nevertheless, both +assizes and sessions; during his stay in town labouring with +indefatigable energy in the acquisition of law. In 1835, he composed a +lucid little treatise on the Law of Practice, entitled, "An Elementary +View of the Proceedings in an Action at Law," distinguished by +simplicity, correctness, and condensation, and calculated to give +students a perspicuous view of an extremely dry and troublesome subject. +This also has become a standard book. In 1836, he wrote another little +work--one upon Patent Law, explanatory, in a practical way, of a statute +which had just before been passed, and had effected important +alterations in that department of law. He told me that "he did not like +to throw a chance away," and this "might possibly get him some briefs in +Patent cases;" but I suspect that in this he was disappointed. In the +same year he and I occupied our long vacation in preparing together a +work entitled "Select Extracts from Blackstone's Commentaries, carefully +adapted to the use of schools and young persons." We both took great +pains with this book, and it has had a large sale: but for some +whimsical reason or other, he would not allow his name to appear, though +particular in retaining a share in the copyright. + +Neglected and discouraged though he was, he continued to prosecute his +studies with patient energy, appearing to me scarcely ever to spend an +idle moment. He attended very frequently the Courts at Westminster, and +on returning to chambers would spend the rest of the day in reading the +constantly-accumulating Reports, and noting their more important +contents in his favourite text-books. He constantly sat up till a very +late, or rather early hour in the morning, and would frequently, on +awaking, lie reading in bed till noon, when he would rise and take a +sparing breakfast. I recollect calling upon him one gloomy day in +December, about the time of which I am writing, to ask him to accompany +me home to dinner, as he generally did once or twice a-week. He suffered +a martyrdom from tooth-ache; and on this occasion had passed a miserable +night from that cause, not having slept at all, and his swollen face +betokened the violence of the fit. He had, nevertheless, got up much +earlier than usual, to oblige one of his friends, for whom he had +promised to draw some very pressing and difficult pleadings, which he +was finishing as I entered. When he had despatched his clerk with them, +he requested me to sit down and take a cup of tea with him, as he was +suffering, both from pain, and fatigue, and _ennui_. I never saw him in +so desponding an humour. He promised to dine with me on the morrow, +provided I would sit with him for an hour "gossiping," for he said that +he could not sleep, he could not sit still, he could not read or write. +I complied with his request, and stayed with him a long time. In the +course of conversation, I recollect him saying, that "He supposed he was +not to get on in the law; that he could not fight against the want of a +connexion." I reminded him that it was surely premature to hold such +language, and that he must bide his time,--when he interrupted me by +saying, shaking his head, "Ah, but while the grass grows the steed +starves." Presently he said, rather suddenly, "Should you be surprised +to hear of my entering the church?" "The church!" I echoed with +surprise.--"What do you see so wonderful in the notion of my going into +the church?" said he gravely. "Do you think me unfit for it?"--"Not at +all; but what I wonder at is, that you should dream of quitting the +bar."--"Why not, if I find that it will not afford me a living? Let me +tell you, that I am very partial to the study of Divinity, and have read +a good deal of it, much more than you would suppose. I think I should +like composing sermons, though it is very possible that they might not +be popular; and I suppose you will not deny that Divinity is a nobler +study than law?" He said much more in the same strain, which led me to +believe that the subject had for some time occupied his thoughts, and +that he had begun seriously to contemplate quitting the bar--at all +events, if another year should leave him as little likely to succeed in +obtaining practice, as that which was on the eve of closing. Many of +even his intimate friends were unaware of his partiality for Divinity, +and the extent to which he had studied it; for he was very reserved on +such matters. + +I once told him that I had read the whole, of "Pearson on the Creed;" at +which, in his usual cold dry way, he replied, "So have I, and very +carefully. I liked it much. And I'll tell you another book that I have +read still more carefully, both in Latin and English--Mosheim's +'Ecclesiastical History.'" I have heard him say the same of Hooker's +"Ecclesiastical Polity." We have often discussed the merits of Jeremy +Taylor, Barrow, and South; the last of whom was a favourite of his. He +had a surprising knowledge of the Old and New Testaments. One of his +oldest and ablest friends, and whom he appointed one of his executors, +recently alluded, in conversation with me, to this circumstance, adding, +"Smith _read_ the Bible as few but he could read it; and _remembered_ +it, as very few but he could remember it." I have occasionally myself +had evidence of his exact knowledge of very recondite portions of the +Old Testament; but, as already intimated, he was always cautious and +sparing in scriptural allusions or quotations. Since writing the +foregoing sentences, a learned friend has informed me, that Mr. Smith, +about two years before his death, had entered into a prolonged and +ardent discussion with him on the subject of the _Apostolical +Succession_, insisting that no one who did not assent to that doctrine, +was in reality, or could be conscientiously, a minister of the Church of +England. Again and again, during a considerable interval of time, +whenever they met, Mr. Smith pertinaciously renewed the discussion,--his +friend for some time doubting whether Mr. Smith had any other motive +than to amuse himself with the matter as one of mere logical exercise, +but being at length satisfied that he was sincerely expressing his own +opinions. To a brother of this gentleman, Mr. Smith became closely +attached, on discovering the extent and depth of his knowledge of +divinity, a subject on which they conversed whenever they could, Mr. +Smith exhibiting, on all such occasions, the utmost zest and energy. I +have already intimated the extent of his acquaintance with general +literature; to which it may be here added that he possessed a correct +and very extensive knowledge of history, ancient and modern. He knew it, +_and its true uses_; and was equally conversant with its minute details, +and its general scope and bearing, as illustrative of the practical +operation of political principles and doctrines. He always, in short, +appeared to me to be a man, whose first anxiety in all matters was to +obtain a thorough knowledge of details, of facts; and then experienced +delight in contemplating and reflecting upon them with a view to the +discovery or detection of some leading principle of action or conduct +involved in them. Such grave matters, however, did not alone occupy him; +for I never saw a more eager and indiscriminate reader of even the +ephemeral trash loading the shelves of circulating libraries. Scarcely a +novel, play, or magazine appeared, which he did not take up, and, +whenever they happened to be mentioned, show as complete a knowledge of +them as if they had been worthy of it. I have often laughed at him on +these accounts; he generally receiving my sallies with a sort of piqued +silence, or simply saying, "It amuses me." I think that this +circumstance is well accounted for by Mr. Phillimore--that Mr. Smith's +over-tasked mind found light and easy narrative, of any kind, a +relaxation. + +Early in the year 1835 appeared a work on legal education, in which was +enforced the advantage to the student and practitioner, of early +mastering, as so many _nuclei_ of future legal acquisitions, a few of +the "_leading cases_" in the Law Reports, which suggested to Mr. Smith +the idea of writing a book under the name of "Leading Cases." He was +engaged upon it from about the middle of 1835 till the early part of +1837. There was no book of the kind extant. The idea was felicitous; but +much learning and judgment were requisite to work it out practically. +Mr. Smith proved himself, however, fully equal to the undertaking. +Though in 1835 and 1836 he composed and published, as we have seen, two +other minor professional works, he was all the while quietly elaborating +this more important performance, the first volume of which (in large +8vo) he published in March 1837. His plan was, to select from the +recognised Law Reports some of the chief Cases which had been decided in +the Common Law Courts, and which were of such superior importance as to +have become "Leading Cases," _i.e._ in his own words, "involving, and +being usually cited to establish some point or principle of real +practical importance." Each of these he made the basis of an elaborate +disquisition, in which, to continue his own explanation, "in order that +the consequences of each 'Case' might be understood, and its authority +estimated as easily as possible, NOTES" were "subjoined, in which were +collected subsequent decisions bearing on the points reported in the +text, and in which doctrines having some obvious connexion with them," +were "occasionally discussed," ... "without allowing them to digress so +far from the subject matter of the text, as to distract the reader's +mind from that to which they ought to be subsidiary." It is difficult to +speak in terms too highly commendatory of this masterly performance--one +quite of a judicial tone of investigation--and which, immediately upon +its appearance, arrested the attention of all persons competent to form +an opinion on the subject, as a sterling and permanent addition to the +highest class of legal literature, and entitled its author to be +regarded as really a first rate lawyer. Almost all the judges, and the +most eminent members of the bar, wrote to him in terms of warm respect +and approbation; and to this moment evince the same appreciation of the +excellence of the work by quoting it, not more frequently in the +arguments of counsel than in the most elaborate judgments delivered by +the bench. It is indeed difficult to know which most to admire--the +great extent and unerring accuracy of his law, or the clearness and +precision of his reasoning, rendering simple and easy of apprehension +the most obscure and perplexing subjects. The "Cases" were selected with +great judgment out of the many thousands contained in the Reports; and +whether he confirms, or questions, or illustrates the doctrine +established by the case upon which he is annotating, he exhibits the +same modest freedom, masterly ease, accuracy, and subtlety of +discrimination, distinctness of thought, and complete familiarity with +the progress of legal decision. Every note, in short, is a model of +legal analysis; and the style, also, is pure, simple, terse, and +perspicuous. He dedicated this work to his former tutor Mr. Blick: and I +recollect our having a long discussion upon the original terms of the +dedication; which were these, "To Richard Granger Blick, Esq., this work +is inscribed by his obliged friend and pupil." I suggested the insertion +of the word "_former_," before "pupil:" without which, I said, it might +appear that the work had been written by one still in _statu pupillari_. +He was a man always difficult to convince of the impropriety of any +thing on which he had once determined. He quitted my chamber unconvinced +by what I had said: but the dedication afterwards appeared in accordance +with my suggestion. I recollect being highly amused by the pertinacious +ingenuity with which he defended his own view of the case. The fame of +this work was not, however, confined to this country, but soon reached +the United States of America, where it immediately met with the most +flattering reception, and is at this moment accounted an established +text-book, and quoted as an authority by their best writers and judges. +I recollect Mr. Smith one day coming to me, and asking me, with a quaint +mixture of mystery, pleasure, and embarrassment, if I would "be sure not +to mention to any one what he was going to tell me:" and on my promising +him that I would not, he showed me a letter which he had just received +from that eminent American jurist, Mr. Justice Story, himself one of the +most elaborate and successful, legal writers of his age, and whose works +are continually cited by both Bench and Bar in their country, with the +utmost respect in this country, in which are contained the following. + +"I consider your work among the most valuable additions to judicial +literature which have appeared for many years. The 'Notes' are +excellent, and set forth the leading principles of the various cases in +the most satisfactory form, with an accuracy and nicety of +discrimination equally honourable to yourself and to our common +profession. I know not, indeed, if any work can be found which more +perfectly accomplishes the purpose of the author.... I hope that your +life may long be spared, so that you may be able to devote yourself to +similar labours for the advancement of the learning and honour of the +profession." Alas! both Mr. Justice Story and Mr. Smith, each a great +ornament to his country, died within a few months of each other. When I +congratulated my friend on this encomium, from so competent and eminent +a judge, he replied modestly--"_Laudari a laudato viro_ is certainly +pleasing." + +So great was the demand for this work, that Mr. Smith's publisher urged +him to proceed as quickly as possible with the second volume, which he +had, in his preface to the former one, announced his intention of doing, +in the event of the first portion of his labours meeting with the +approbation of the profession. He accordingly at once set to work upon +the second volume; and although he was beginning to have serious calls +upon his time, owing principally to his having accepted the appointment, +in November 1837, of Common Law Lecturer to the Law Institution, such +were his energy and industry, that by the 12th of May, 1838, he had +succeeded in bringing out the first part of the second volume, which was +fully equal in execution to the first. While, however, he was receiving +with his usual modesty the congratulations of his friends on this solid +addition to his reputation, he received a sort of _checkmate_, which +embarrassed and utterly confounded him; occasioning him infinitely +greater annoyance and mortification than he ever experienced in his +life. A highly respectable firm of law booksellers, the publishers of +his "Compendium of Mercantile Law," and to whom he had also offered the +publication of his "Leading Cases," which they had declined, without the +slightest intimation of any objection to the principle of selecting the +"Cases," which he had explained fully to them, suddenly took it into +their heads, that in thus selecting some few cases from "Reports" +published by them, as mere texts for his masterly legal discussions, he +had been guilty of PIRACY! and actually filed a bill in Equity against +him and his publisher, to restrain them "from printing, selling, or +publishing any copies of the first part of the second volume." I never +saw Mr. Smith exhibit such intense vexation as that occasioned him by +this proceeding: he felt at once his own honour impugned, and that he +might have seriously compromised the character and interests of his +publisher. Such, however, was the confidence in the justice of his case +felt by the latter, that he resolved to resist this attack upon his own +rights and those of Mr. Smith to the very last; and he did so, at his +own expense, and with triumphant success. The Vice-Chancellor of +England, (Sir Launcelot Shadwell,) after an elaborate argument, refused +to grant the desired injunction--expressing his very decided opinion +"that on the substance of the case, and on the conduct of the +plaintiffs, (the publishers in question,) they were not entitled to the +injunction which they had asked." Against this decision the plaintiffs +immediately appealed to the present Lord Chancellor, Lord Cottenham, +who, after another very elaborate argument, and taking time to consider, +delivered a luminous judgment confirming the decision of the +Vice-Chancellor, triumphantly vindicating the propriety of both author +and publisher's conduct, and supporting the right which Mr. Smith had +thought proper to exercise; and his lordship dismissed the appeal with +costs.[5] Thus ended, what has always appeared to me a very absurd, and +as the event proved, expensive experiment, on the part of the +plaintiffs. Only one of them now carries on the business, and is a +gentleman of such high respectability, and also liberality in his +dealings with the profession, that I feel satisfied he had really very +little part in this most unsatisfactory proceeding. Mr. Smith's right +to continue his selections from the Reports, for the purpose of +annotation, having been thus established, and the excellence and +importance of his labours conspicuously made known (had that, indeed, +been necessary) to the entire profession, he at once proceeded with, and +in due time completed the remaining portion of the second volume; and +for the sake of legal science, it is to be lamented that there this +admirable work ended. Mr. Smith felt no exultation at the defeat of this +most thoughtless and unjustifiable attack upon him, nor evinced any +pleasure in the friendly congratulations showered upon him. His +sensitive mind had, indeed, been thoroughly shocked by the imputation +which had been sought to be fixed upon him; and the only feeling on the +subject which he ever expressed to me, or appeared to entertain, was one +of calm indignation. I must say that in this I think he was abundantly +justified. He repeatedly told me that he should never write another +book, for "that he had had quite enough of it." As it happened, he never +did; nor do I think that he would ever have done so, even had his career +not been cut short by death. Whenever works of solid interest and +importance in general literature appeared, Mr. Smith was very eager to +peruse them, and seldom failed in doing so. I recollect him one day +borrowing from me the first volume of Mr. Hallam's, "Introduction to the +Literature of Europe in the 15th, 16th, and 17th Centuries," which was +published alone early in 1837. He read it with great interest, and +reviewed it very ably in this Magazine--his only contribution to its +pages, in the No. for May, 1837. + + [5] The leading Counsel for the plaintiffs was the present + Vice-Chancellor Knight Bruce; for the defendants the present + Vice-Chancellor Wigram. + +He was about the same time reading largely in the State Trials, and +frequently conversed with me upon their interesting character, wondering +that they had so seldom been made really available for the purposes of +amusing literature. He himself selected one of the trials as one +possessed of peculiar capabilities, and intended to have completed it +for this Magazine, but was prevented by his other labours. These lighter +occupations, however, were soon interfered with by his appointment, as +already intimated, to be Common Law Lecturer to the Law Institution in +Chancery Lane, in November, 1837. This he owed entirely to his own +merit, and the reputation which his writings had already gained him in +the profession. I knew that fears were entertained by the directors of +that important institution, lest his unpopular _manner_ should stand in +the way of his usefulness as a lecturer; but aware of his rare +intellectual and legal qualifications, they wisely resolved to try an +experiment, which completely succeeded. I recollect accompanying him, at +his own request, to deliver his first lecture, at the close of 1837. He +was somewhat fluttered when he made his appearance before his audience, +but at once commenced reading with apparent calmness, a very able +introductory lecture, which soon arrested attention, and caused the +committee who sat before him to congratulate themselves on their +selection. He held this appointment till March, 1843, during which time +he delivered a great number of lectures to increasingly attentive +auditories; and as he read over several portions of them to me, I am +able to say that, in my humble judgment, they were of the highest value, +for their clear, close, and correct exposition of some of the most +difficult branches of the law. He had a great talent for communicating +elementary information; and even the most ignorant and stolid of his +listeners could scarce avoid understanding his simple and lucid +explanations of legal principles. One series of his lectures on "The Law +of Contracts," has just (1846,) been published[6] _verbatim_ from his +MSS. as they were delivered, and fully justifies the opinion here +expressed. He never designed them for publication, but solely for +delivery to the attorneys' and solicitors' clerks, for whom the +lectureship was founded; yet it is doubtful whether there be any book +extant in which the difficult and extensive subject of contracts is, +and that within the space of ten short lectures, comparably treated. The +most youthful student, with only moderate attention, can acquire from +it, in a short time, correct general notions calculated to be of +infinite service to him, while able practitioners will regard it as at +once concise, accurate, and practical, and evincing a thorough mastery +of the subject in all its branches. In the words of his editor, "The +lectures embody the chief _principles_ of that branch of the law, and +will be found equal to any of the former productions of the author for +that clear, concise, and comprehensive exposition of his subject, which +has characterised his works, and ensured the vitality of his reputation; +popularising a branch of law which peculiarly affects the ordinary +business of life; divesting it of the superfluities with which it is +often encumbered; educing the great maxims, and broad rules by which it +is moulded, and unravelling the perplexity in which an occasional +conflict of judgments had from time to time involved it." I am not aware +that Mr. Symonds had any personal knowledge of Mr. Smith, so that the +more valuable is his concluding eulogium,--"That the profession already +ranks him as among the most gifted of its writers, and most learned of +modern lawyers." As an example of the ease and precision with which he +elucidated the most difficult subjects, and brought them to the level of +youthful capacities, I select the following brief passage on a most +practically important subject, that of the "consideration" essential to +support a valid simple contract, according to the civil law and that of +England.[7] After explaining the doctrine of "_Nudum pactum_," he thus +proceeds:-- + + [6] In one vol. 8vo, pp. 386, Benning & Co. Fleet Street, + accompanied by Notes by Jelinger C. Symons, Esq. Barrister-at-Law. + + [7] But not that of Scotland. Bell's Princip. Law of Scotland, p. 4, + (4th Edition.) + +"Now, with regard to the question,--_What does the law of England +recognise as a consideration capable of supporting a simple contract?_ +the short practical rule" [after adverting to a well-known passage in +Blackstone, for which he substitutes his own definition] "is, that _any +benefit accruing to him who makes the promise, or any loss, trouble, or +disadvantage undergone by, or charge imposed upon, him to who it is +made_, is a sufficient consideration in the eye of the law to sustain an +assumpsit. Thus, let us suppose that I promise to pay B L50 at +Christmas. Now there must be a _consideration_ to sustain this promise. +It may be that B has lent me L50; here is a consideration by way of +_benefit_ or _advantage_ to me. It may be that he has performed, or has +agreed to perform, some laborious service for me; if so, here is a +consideration by way of _inconvenience_ to _him_, and of advantage to me +at the same time. It may be that he is to labour for a third person at +my request; here will be _inconvenience_ to him, without advantage to +_me_: or it may be that he has become surety for some one at my request; +here is a _charge_ imposed upon him: any of these will be a good +consideration to sustain the promise on my part.... + +"Provided there be _some_ benefit to the contractor, or _some_ loss, +trouble, inconvenience, or charge imposed upon the contractor, so as to +constitute a _consideration_, the courts are not willing to enter into +the question whether that consideration be ADEQUATE in value to the +thing which is promised in exchange for it. Very gross inadequacy, +indeed, would be an index of fraud, and might afford evidence of the +existence of fraud; and fraud, as I have already stated to you, is a +ground on which the performance of any contract may be resisted. But if +there be no suggestion that the party promising has been defrauded, or +deceived, the court will not hold the promise invalid upon the ground of +mere _inadequacy_; for it is obvious, that to do so would be to exercise +a sort of tyranny over the transactions of parties who have a right to +fix their own value upon their own labour and exertions, but would be +prevented from doing so were they subject to a legal scrutiny on each +occasion, on the question whether the bargain had been such as a prudent +man would have entered into. Suppose, for instance, I think fit to give +L1000, for a picture not worth L50: it is foolish on my part; but, if +the owner do not take me in, as the phrase is, no _injury_ is done. I +_may_ have my reasons. Possibly I may think that I am a better judge of +painting than my neighbours, and that I have detected in the picture the +touch of Raphael or Correggio. It would be hard to prevent me from +buying it, and hard to prevent my neighbour from making the best of his +property, provided he do not take me in by telling me a false story +about it. Accordingly, in the absence of fraud, mere _inadequacy_ of +consideration is no ground for avoiding a contract."[8] + + [8] Pp. 88-96. + +Those who are acquainted with the practical difficulties of this +subject, will best appreciate the cautious accuracy, and yet elementary +simplicity and clearness, which characterised his teaching: he being +then, be it remembered, little more than twenty-eight years of age. + +His writings having thus led to his being placed in a situation where he +had ample opportunities for exhibiting legitimately to the profession +his great legal acquirements and abilities, it was not long before he +became sensible of making his way, but gradually, nevertheless, into +business. He had given up practising at sessions some time before, and +resolved thenceforth to address himself entirely to civil business in +London, and at the Assizes. The late Mr. Robert Vaughan Richards, +Q.C.,[9] then one of the leaders of the Oxford Circuit, and himself an +eminent lawyer and accomplished scholar, was one of the earliest to +detect the superior qualifications of Mr. Smith, and lost no fair and +legitimate opportunity of enabling him to exhibit his abilities, by +naming him as an arbitrator, when the most important causes at the +Assizes had been agreed to be so disposed of; and he invariably gave the +highest satisfaction to both parties--the counsel before him, in +arbitrations both in town and country, finding it necessary to conduct +their cases as carefully as if they were before one of the astutest +judges on the bench. Though many important causes were thus referred to +him, and were attended by some of the most experienced members of the +bar, I am not aware of any instance in which his decisions were +afterwards reversed by, or even questioned before, the courts. When once +he had obtained a fair "start" on his circuit, he quickly overcame the +disadvantages of a person and manner which one _might_ characterise more +strongly than as unprepossessing. Few cases of great importance were +tried, in which Mr. Smith was not early engaged; and the entire conduct +of the cause, up to the hour of trial, confidently intrusted to his +masterly management. Amongst many others may be mentioned the great will +case of _Panton v. Williams_, and that of James Wood of Gloucester, and +other well-known cases. He was, without exception, one of the ablest +_pleaders_ with whom I ever came into contact: equally quick, sure, and +long-headed in selecting his point of attack or defence with reference +to the ultimate decision, skilfully escaping from difficulties, and +throwing his opponent in the way of them, and of such, too, as not many +would have had the sagacity to have foreseen, or thought of speculating +upon. A recent volume of the Law Reports contains a case which, though +his name does not appear in it, attests his appreciated superiority. It +involved a legal point of much difficulty, and so troublesome in its +facts as to have presented insuperable obstacles to two gentlemen +successively, one under the bar, the other at the bar, and both eminent +for their knowledge and experience. Their pleadings were, however, +successfully demurred to; and then their client was induced to lay the +case before Mr. Smith, who took quite a new view of the matter, in +accordance with which he framed the pleadings, and when the case came on +to be argued by the gentleman, (an eminent Queen's Counsel,) who has +recently mentioned it to me, he succeeded, and without difficulty. "I +never," said he, "saw a terribly bepuzzled case so completely +disentangled--I never saw the real point so beautifully put forward: we +won by doing little else than stating the course of the pleadings; the +court holding that the point was almost too clear for argument." I could +easily multiply such instances. Mr. Smith had a truly astonishing +facility in mastering the most intricate state of facts; as rapidly +acquiring a knowledge of them, as he accurately and tenaciously retained +even the slightest circumstances. He seldom used precedents, (often +observing that "no man who understood his business needed them, except +in very special occasions;") and, though a rapid draughtsman, it was +rarely, indeed, that he laid himself open to attack in matters of even +mere formal inaccuracy, while he was lynx-eyed enough to those of his +opponents. When _he_ was known to be the party who had demurred, his +adversaries began seriously to think of _amending_! When his cases were +ripe for argument _in banc_, he took extreme pains to provide himself +with authorities on every point which he thought it in the least +probable might be started against him by either the bench or the bar. I +told him, on one of these occasions, that I thought "he need not give +his enemy credit for such far-sighted astuteness."--"Oh," said he +quickly, "never undervalue an opponent: besides, I like turning up +law--I don't forget it, and, as Lord Coke says, it is sure to be useful +at some time or another." In court, he was absorbed in his case, +appearing to be sensible of the existence of nothing else but his +opponent and the bench. He was very calm, quiet, and silent, rarely, if +ever interrupting, and then always on a point proving to be of adequate +importance. He did not take copious or minute notes on his brief, but +never missed any thing of the least real significance or moment. When he +rose to speak, his manner was formal and solemn, even to a degree of +eccentricity calculated to provoke a smile from the hearers. His voice +was rather loud and hard, his features were inflexible, his utterance +was exceedingly deliberate, and his language precise and elaborate. His +motions were very slight, and, such as he had, ungraceful: for he would +stand with his right arm a little raised, and the hand hanging down +passively by his side for a long time together, except when a slight +vertical motion appeared--he, the while, unconscious of the +indication--to show that he was uttering what he considered very +material. When a question was put to him by the judges, he always paused +for a moment or two to consider how best he should answer it; and if it +_could_ be answered, an answer precise and pointed indeed he would give +it. He afforded, in this instance, a contrast to the case of a gentleman +then at the bar, about whom he has often laughed heartily with me. +"Whenever," said he, "the judges put a question to ----, however subtle +and dangerous it may be, and though he evidently cannot in the least +degree perceive the drift of it, before the words are out of their +mouths, he, as it were, thrusts them down again with a confident +good-humoured volubility, a kind of jocular recklessness of law and +logic, which often makes one wonder whether the judges are more inclined +to be angry or amused; nay, I have once or twice seen one of them lean +back and laugh outright, poor ---- looking upon that as an evidence of +his own success!" How different was the case with Mr. Smith, is known to +every one who has heard him argue with the judges. Nothing consequently +could be more flattering than the evident attention with which they +listened to him, and most properly; for he never threw away a word, +never wandered from the point, and showed on all occasions such a +complete mastery of his facts, and such an exact and extensive knowledge +of the law applicable to them, as not only warranted but required the +best attention of those whose duty it was to decide the case. His manner +was very respectful to the bench, without a trace of servility; and to +those associated with him, or opposed to him, he was uniformly courteous +and considerate. When he had to follow his leader, or even two of them, +he would frequently give quite another tone to the case, a new direction +to the argument, and draw his opponents and the judges after him, +unexpectedly, into the deeper waters of law. He was also distinguished +by a most scrupulous and religions fidelity and accuracy of statement, +whether of cases or facts, and documents, especially affidavits. The +judges felt that they might rely upon every syllable that fell from him; +that he was too accurate and cautious to be mistaken, too conscientious +to suppress, garble, mislead, or deceive, with whatever safety or +apparent advantage he might have done so. I have heard him say, that he +who made rash and ill-considered statements in arguing in a court of +justice, was not worthy of being there, and ought to be pitied or +despised, according as the fault arose from timidity and inexperience, +or confirmed carelessness or indifference, or fraudulent intention to +deceive. It was in arguing before the court _in banc_, that Mr. Smith so +much excelled; being equally lucid in stating and arranging his facts, +logical in reasoning upon them, and ready in bringing to bear on them +the most recondite doctrines of law. He was certainly not calculated to +have ever made a figure at Nisi Prius; yet I recollect one day that one +of the present judges, then a Queen's Counsel, was talking to me in +court as Mr. Smith entered, and said, "What think you? your friend Smith +has been opposing me to-day in a writ of inquiry to assess damages in a +crim. con. case." I laughed. "Ay, indeed,--I thought myself that if +there was a man at the bar more unfit than another for such a case, it +was Smith; but I do assure you that he conducted the defendant's case +with so much tact and judgment, that he reduced my verdict by at least +L500! He really spoke with a good deal of feeling and spirit, and when +the Jury had got accustomed to him, they listened most attentively; and +the result is what I tell you." + + [9] To this gentleman he dedicated, in 1843, the third edition of + his "Mercantile Law." Within a very few months of each other, both + of them died--Mr. Richards himself having, as he once told me, + ruined his health by his intense and laborious prosecution of his + profession. He had found it necessary to retire a year or two before + his death. His brother, also, Mr. Griffith Richards, Q.C., one of + the ablest members of the Chancery Bar, recently died under similar + circumstances. + +Following the course of his professional progress, in 1840 Mr. Smith was +appointed a revising barrister for one of the counties on his circuit, +by Mr. Baron Alderson, who was personally a stranger to him, and named +him for the office solely on account of his eminent fitness for the +post. He held it for several years, giving unmixed satisfaction to all +parties, until precluded from further retaining it, in reference, I +believe, to a rule of etiquette respecting seniority, prevailing at the +bar of the Oxford circuit. + +I recollect that, on one occasion, while he was waiting, apparently in +vain, for the chance of professional employment, and not long before the +occurrence of that moment of despondency already mentioned, when he +contemplated quitting the profession, he and I were walking in the +Temple Gardens, and he said, "Now, if I were to choose my future life at +the bar, I should, of all things, like to have, and should be delighted +with, a first-rate pleading business; not made up of many petty things, +but of a few very important cases,--of 'heavy business,' in short. I +feel that I could get on very well with it, and that it is just the +thing suited to me. It would exercise my mind, and also secure me a +handsome income, and, before long, an independence. What I should do +_then_ I don't know." His wishes were amply gratified a few years +afterwards, as the reader must have already seen. So rapidly, indeed, +did the calls of private practice increase upon him, that he was forced, +early in 1843, to resign his lectureship at the Law Institution, having, +in fact, got fairly into the stream of his desired "first-rate pleading +business" to an extent which heavily taxed both his physical and mental +energies. Whatever was brought to him, he attended to thoroughly, never +resting till he had completely exhausted the subject, and contemplated +it from every point of view. Even at this time, however, it would be +incredible to what an extent he obliged his friends at the bar, +principally by preparing for them arguments, and sketching for them +"opinions" on their cases, and these, too, generally of special +difficulty and importance. Some of the most admirable arguments +delivered by others of late, at the bar of the House of Lords, had been +really prepared by Mr. Smith. In one instance, indeed, I recollect +hearing the ablest living lawyer and advocate mention, that in a +particular cause of great magnitude, not having found it possible even +to open his ponderous brief before he was called upon to argue, he had +time, before he rose, barely to glance over a very brief "epitome" of +the facts, and of the _real_, though unsuspected point in which the case +ought to be decided, which had been prepared for his assistance by Mr. +Smith. In confident reliance upon his accuracy in matters both of fact +and law, the counsel in question boldly opened the case, implicitly +adopting, and ably enforcing Mr. Smith's view of it, and succeeded in +obtaining the judgment of the House. Mr. Smith never spoke, however, of +these his subsidiary labours to others, nor liked ever to have any +allusion made, to the subject. It was impossible that he could get +through all this business without sitting up during most of the night; +and I know that, for the last three or four years of his life, he was +rarely in bed before two, and sometimes three, and even four o'clock, +having to be, nevertheless, at Westminster or Guildhall as early as ten +o'clock, or half-past nine, on the ensuing morning. While thus arduously +engaged, he kept a constant eye upon the progress of the decisions of +the various courts, as bearing upon his "Mercantile Law," and "Leading +Cases," interleaved copies of which always lay on his table before him, +and received almost daily MS. additions. Thus it was that he was able, +in 1841 and 1843, to present new editions of his "Leading Cases," and +"Mercantile Law," greatly enlarged and improved, and in many instances, +especially in the "Leading Case," entirely remodelled. Nor was he, with +all this, so absorbed as to forget literature; for, amidst his piles of +opened law-books, you might often see a well-used copy of some classic +English, French, Spanish, or Italian author, either prose or poetry, +which he would read with equal zest and attention, as his pencil-marks +in such volumes even now attest. As for "Don Quixote", and "Gil Blas," I +really think he knew them almost by heart, in the originals. He was also +very fond of Tacitus, Cicero, and Demosthenes, from all of whom, as well +as the other leading classics, but especially the two latter, he could +quote to a surprising extent, and with signal accuracy--a fact well +known to all his friends. Of this, indeed, Mr. Phillimore[10] has given +a striking instance, in his sketch of Mr. Smith in the "Law Magazine." +After observing that "his memory was, indeed, astonishing, and the feats +which he performed with it were incredible; that the writer had heard +him repeat, successively, scene after scene from a French +vaudeville,--the Record in an Action filling up the "&c.'s," and a +passage from a Greek orator, without the least apparent difficulty or +hesitation," Mr. Phillimore proceeds to say, that the passage in +question "was one of the finest in the Greek language, being in the +speech of AEschines, which the most celebrated effort of the genius of +Demosthenes was required to answer; when, after adjuring the Athenians +not to raise a trophy to their own loss and shame, nor awaken in the +minds of their confederates the recollection of their misfortunes, he +proceeds--'[Greek: all' epeide tois somasin ou paregenesthe, alla tais +ge dianoiais apoblepsat' auton eis tas symphoras],' &c., down to the +words, '[Greek: episkeptontas medeni tropoi ton tes helladus aleiterion +stephanoun],' the writer well remembering that Mr. Smith insisted +particularly on the extraordinary force and beauty of the word, '[Greek: +episkeptontas].'" I, also, have often heard him quote long passages from +the Greek dramatists, particularly from "Aristophanes," really +_impromptu_, and with as much facility and vivacity as if he had been +reading English. I have already intimated that he read many of the new +publications of the day. One of these was Mr. Macaulay's "Lays of +Ancient Rome," with which he was much amused, saying that "some of them +were very clever and spirited;" and, after reading them, he sate down +one evening and wrote a humorous parody on them, which he showed me, +entitled, "Lay of Gascoigne Justice," prefaced by an "Extract from a +Manuscript of a Late Reporter," who says, "I had observed numerous +traces, in the old reports and entries, of the use of _Rhythm_ in the +enunciation of legal doctrines; and, pursuing the investigation, I at +length persuaded myself that, in the infancy of English law, the +business of the court was transacted _in verse_, or, at least, rhythm, +sometimes without, but on grand and solemn occasions with, the aid of +music; a practice which seems to have been introduced by the +ecclesiastical advocates." After a humorous argument in support of this +notion, he concludes: "The following attempt to restore certain of these +_Lays of Ancient Law_ is conceived, as the original lays themselves +probably were, partly in bad English, partly in Dog-Latin." Then follows +the "Lay of Gascoigne Justice, Chanted by Cooke and Coke, Serjeants, and +Plowden, Apprentice in the Hall of Serjeants' Inn, A.D., 15--." The +subject of the Lay was a certain highway exploit of Prince Harry, Poins, +and Peto. Poins gets into trouble, being brought incontinently before +Gascoigne Justice, "presiding at the Bailey." The concluding verses +contain a just satire on certain gross defects in the administration of +criminal justice, which have been only very recently remedied. + + [10] "Law Magazine," N.S. Vol. lxx. p. 183. + + "When Poins he spied, ho, ho! he cried, + The caitiff hither bring! + We'll have a quick deliverance, + Betwixt him and the King: + + And sooth he said, for justice sped + In those days at a rate + Which _now_ 'twere vain to seek to gain, + In matters small or great. + + * * * * + + For sundry wise precautions, + The sages of the law + Discreetly framed, whereby they aimed + To keep the rogues in awe. + + For lest some sturdy criminal + False witnesses should bring-- + _His witnesses were not allowed + To swear to any thing_. + + And lest his oily advocate + The court should overreach, + _His advocate was not allowed + The privilege of speech_. + + Yet such was the humanity + And wisdom of the law! + That if in his indictment there + Appeared to be a flaw-- + + The court assigned him counsellors, + To argue on the doubt, + _Provided he himself had first + Contrived to point it out_. + + Yet lest their mildness should perchance + Be craftily abused, + _To show him the indictment they + Most sturdily refused_. + + But still that he might understand + The nature of the charge, + _The same was in the Latin tongue + Read out to him at large_. + + 'Twas thus the law kept rogues at awe, + Gave honest men protection, + And justly famed, by all was named, + Of '_wisdom the perfection_!' + + But _now_ the case is different, + The rogues are getting bold-- + It was not so, some time ago, + In those good days of old!" + +It may be gathered from what has gone before, that Mr. Smith's mind was +one of equal _activity_ and strength. His physical energies might flag, +but never those of his mind. He was always ready to pass from protracted +and intense professional study and exertion, to other kinds of mental +exercise--"from gay to grave, from lively to severe"--either reading +general literature, or amusing himself with slight affairs such as the +foregoing; or, as soon as a little leisure had recruited his spirits, +entering with infinite zest into superior conversation on almost any +topic that could be started. He was for a long time shy and distant to +strangers; but was quite a different person at the tables, and in the +company, of his old friends and companions. There certainly never sate +at _my_ table a man who, when in the humour, could supply for hours +together such genuine fun and amusement as Mr. Smith. Our little +children were always very glad to see him, for he was patient and gentle +with them, and contrived really to entertain them. Towards ladies, his +manner was always most fastidiously delicate and courteous. There was, +if I may so speak, a smack of days gone by--a kind of antique and rather +quaint gracefulness of demeanour and address, which I used frequently to +contemplate with lively interest and curiosity. When he returned from +dining out, to his chambers, he would light his candles, and, instead of +going to bed, sit up till a very late hour; for not only had he much to +get through, but was a bad sleeper. A few years before his death, he had +become a member of the Garrick Club, which was ever after his favourite +resort, and was also frequented by several other members of the bar. He +was delighted to take a friend or two to dinner with him, and would +entertain them most hospitably, and with increasing frequency, as his +means became rapidly more ample. He was also fond of the theatres, +taking special delight in comedies and farces, however broad, and even +pantomimes. With what solemn drollery he would afterwards dwell on the +feats of Clown and Pantaloon! I am here, however, speaking of several +years ago; for latterly he said, "It was a very hard thing to find any +thing to laugh at in a pantomime, however much one tried!" + +During the years 1842, 1843, and 1844, his practice continued steadily +increasing, and that, too, in the highest and most lucrative class of +business--not only before special juries at Nisi Prius, and the Courts +in Banc and in Error in the Exchequer Chamber, but in the Privy Council +and the House of Lords. Before the last tribunal, in particular, he +appeared as one of the counsel in the O'Connell case, on behalf of Mr. +O'Connell and his companions. His time was now incessantly occupied, by +day and night; his slight intervals of relaxation necessarily becoming +fewer and fewer. His evenings, indeed, were almost always occupied with +arbitrations, consultations, or preparing those pleadings and writing +those opinions which his constant attendance in the Courts prevented his +_then_ disposing of. His friends saw with pain how grievously he was +over-tasking his strength, and earnestly importuned him to give himself +more intervals of relaxation--but in vain. For nearly two years before +his death, his haggard countenance evidenced the direful havoc which he +was making of a constitution never of the strongest. Sir William Follett +and he were both sitting at the bar of the House of Lords, on one of the +latest days of the hearing of Mr. O'Connell's case, each within a yard +or two of me. Two death-doomed beings they looked, each, alas! having +similarly provoked and accelerated his fate. On the same afternoon that +Sir William Follett leaned heavily and feebly on a friend's arm as he +with difficulty retired from the bar, I went home in a cab with Mr. +Smith, who sate by me silent and exhausted, and coughing convulsively. I +repeatedly conjured him to pause, and give his shattered health a chance +of recovery, by retiring for a few months, or even for a year or two, +from the excitement and wasting anxieties and exertions of business; but +he never would listen to me, nor to any of his friends. "It is all very +well," he said to me several times, "to talk of retiring _for a while_; +but what is to become of one's business and connexion in the mean time? +You know it will have melted away for ever." He had, however, been +persuaded to consult a physician of experienced skill in cases of +consumption; who, after having once or twice seen him, sent a private +message to the friend who had prevailed on Mr. Smith to call upon him; +and on that friend's attending the physician, he pronounced the case to +be utterly hopeless; that it might be a matter of months, even; but he +ought to be prepared for the worst, and apprised of his situation. His +friend requested the physician to undertake that duty, assuring him of +his patient's great strength of mind and character: but he declined. Mr. +Smith spent the long vacation of 1844 with his brothers and sisters in +Ireland. They were shocked at his appearance, and affectionately +implored him not to return to England, or attempt to resume his +professional duties; but in vain. While staying in Ireland, he regretted +the fast flight of time, evidently clinging to the society of his +brothers and sisters, to the latter of whom he was most devotedly +attached; but bleak, bitter, blighting November saw him again +established at the Temple, and fairly over head and ears in the business +of the commencing term. He attended the courts as usual; went out in the +evenings to arbitrations and consultations as of old; dined also at the +Garrick as before, and sat up as late at nights as ever. We all sighed +at this deplorable infatuation; but what could we do? He was a man of +inflexible will, and a peculiar idiosyncracy. Remonstrance and entreaty, +from the first useless, at length evidently became only irritating. Not +a judge on the bench, nor a member of the bar, but regretted to see him +persist in attending the courts; where he sat and stood, indeed, a +piteous spectacle. He resolved on going the Spring Circuit in 1845, +being retained in some of the heaviest cases tried there. Shortly before +this, the friend already referred to resolved to perform the painful +duty of telling him, that in his physician's opinion there was not a ray +of hope for his recovery; a communication which he received with perfect +calmness and fortitude. To his brother's entreaties, about the month of +June, that he would either go abroad, accompanied by one of his brothers +or sisters, or allow the latter to come and live with him, in a house a +little removed from town, he steadily turned a deaf ear. He evidently +knew that it was useless; and spoke of his desperate state as calmly as +he would have done in referring to the case of a mere stranger. It is +believed that his sole reason for refusing to permit his sister to come +over, was his fond and tender regard for her--a reluctance to permit her +to witness him waste away, injuring in vain her own health and spirits. +About this time, he said to his brother very quietly, but sadly, that +"he feared his sisters would soon have to bear a severe shock!" He sat +in his chambers, which were within only a few yards' distance from the +Temple Church, on the day of Sir William Follett's funeral. He heard the +tolling of the bell, and from his window[11] he could have seen much of +that solemn ceremonial. What must have been his feelings? This was on +the 4th July; and five days afterwards, (viz. on the 9th,) poor Mr. +Smith appeared, I believe for the last time in the Court of Exchequer, +during the post-terminal sittings in Trinity vacation, to argue a +demurrer! I was present during part of the time. What a dismal object he +looked, while addressing the Court! I think we drove up to the Temple +together. He had argued the case of Bradburne _v._ Botfield, (reported +in 14 Meeson and Welsby, 558,) the last time, I believe, that his name +appears in the Reports. It was a very nice question, as to whether +certain covenants in a lease were joint or several: his argument was +successful, and the Court gave judgment in his favour. The next day he +said to me, speaking of this occasion, "The judges must have thought me +talking great nonsense: I was so weak, that it was with very great +difficulty I could keep from dropping down, for my legs trembled under +me all the time violently, and now and then I seemed to lose sight of +the judges." Yet his argument was distinguished by his usual accuracy, +clearness, and force of reasoning. Nobody could prevail upon him to +abstain from going the summer circuit. He went accordingly, and unless I +am mistaken, held several heavy briefs. When the northern circuit had +closed, I joined my family at Hastings; and found that poor Mr. Smith +was staying alone at the Victoria Hotel, St. Leonards. I called upon him +immediately after my arrival. His appearance was truly afflicting to +behold. Consumption had fixed her talons still deeper in his vitals. He +sat in an easy chair, from which he could not rise without great effort; +and he expressed himself as delighted that I, and another of his oldest +friends, happened to have established ourselves so near him. He was +quite alone--no friend or relative with him; several briefs, &c. lay on +his table, together with the most recent numbers of the Reports, several +law-books, and works on general literature. A Bible also lay in the +room, with several papers placed within the leaves. Nothing could exceed +the attention paid him by the landlady and her daughter, and the +servants; but he gave them very little trouble. His cough was much +aggravated, as were the wasting night-sweats; and he could walk only a +few steps without assistance. Soon after having got to Hastings, I was +summoned away to attend a court-martial at Leeds, which kept me there +for upwards of a fortnight. On my return, Mr. Smith expressed a lively +anxiety to hear from me a detailed account of "how the military managed +law." He seemed never tired of hearing of those "curious proceedings," +as he styled them. I spent nearly two hours a day with him during the +remainder of my stay, accompanying him in long drives whenever the +weather permitted. Weak though his body was, his mind was as active and +strong as ever. I saw several as heavy "sets" of papers, from time to +time, forwarded by his clerk from London, according to Mr. Smith's +orders, as I had ever seen even in his chambers. When I implored him to +send them back, and take a real holiday, he answered simply, "No; they +_must_ be attended to,"--and he did so: though I saw him once unable +from weakness to lift a brief from his knees to the table. I never +beheld so calm and patient a sufferer. He never repined at the fate +which had befallen him, nor uttered a word showing impatience or +irritability. When we drove out together, he generally said little or +nothing the whole time, lest his cough should be aggravated, but was +very anxious to be talked to. Once he suddenly asked me, when we were +driving out, "Whether I really ever intended to permit him to see the +sketch of Follett, which I was preparing." I parried the question, by +asking him, "Whether he thought Sir William Follett a great +lawyer."--"Certainly," said he, "if there _be_ such a character as a +great lawyer. What thing of importance that only a great lawyer could +do, did not Follett do? He _necessarily_ knew an immensity of law; and +his tact was a thing quite wonderful. I was a great admirer of +Follett.... I once heard him say, by the way, that either he had applied +for the place of a police magistrate, or would have accepted it, if it +had been offered, soon after he had come to the bar; so that it is quite +a mistake to suppose that he was all at once so successful.... And I can +tell you another little fact about Follett: though perhaps no man took +so few notes on his brief, during a cause: this was not always so; for, +when he first came to the bar, he took most full and elaborate notes of +every case, and prepared his arguments with extreme care. I have seen +proofs of this." Shortly before his leaving town, he purchased a copy of +Thirlwall's (the Bishop of St. David's) History of Greece, in eight +volumes, "to read over at the sea-side;" and he did so: telling me that +"he liked it much,--that it had told him many things which he had not +known before." This copy his brother presented to me after Mr. Smith's +death, and I value it greatly. One morning I found him much exhausted; +but soon after I had taken my seat, he said, "You can oblige me by +something, if you will do it for me. I recollect that there is generally +lying on your table, at chambers, 'Bell's Principles of the Law of +Scotland.' Now I am very anxious to read the book, as I expect to be in +one, if not two, Scotch appeal cases, in the House of Lords, next +session!--Will you do me this favour?" Of course I immediately procured +the book to be forwarded to him, and it afforded him uncommon pleasure +for many days. He read it entirely through with deep attention, as his +numerous pencil marks on the margin attest, as well as several notes on +the fly-leaf, of leading points of difference between our law and that +of Scotland. At page 35, Sec.76, the text runs thus:--"Tacit acceptance may +be inferred from silence, when the refusal is so put as to require +rejection, if the party do not mean to assent; as when a merchant writes +to another, that he is against a certain day, to send him a certain +commodity, at a certain price, unless he shall previously forbid." +Opposite to this, Mr. Smith has written in pencil, "_Surely one man +cannot throw the duty of refusal on another, [in] that way?_" In the +course of a little discussion which we had on this subject, I said, +"Suppose the parties have had previously similar transactions?"--"Ah," +he answered, "that might make a difference, and evidence a _contract_ to +the effect stated; but as nakedly enunciated in the text, I think It +cannot be the law of Scotland, or law any where." He made many +interesting and valuable remarks from time to time on Scotch law, and +expressed a high opinion of the work in question, referring to every +portion of it as readily as though it had been his familiar text-book +for years. I often found him reading the numbers of the Queen's Bench, +Common Pleas, and Exchequer Reports; and he once said, "I have a good +many arrears to get through, in this way, before the beginning of +term!" One day I saw a prodigious pile of law papers lying on his table, +which had just arrived from London. "Why, what are these, my dear +Smith?" said I earnestly--for he lay on the sofa in a state of miserable +exhaustion. After some minutes' pause, he replied, "It is a very +troublesome case. I have to reply or demur to some very harassing pleas +of ----."--"But why not postpone them till near the end of October?" +"When I am not fatigued, papers amuse me, and occupy my attention." I +offered to him my services. "No, thank you--it would fatigue me more to +explain the previous state of matters, with which I am familiar, than to +draw the pleadings"--and he did it himself. On another occasion, I saw +him sitting in his easy chair, deadly pale. When I had placed myself +beside him, he said in a faint tone, but calmly and deliberately, "This +morning a very serious thing has happened to me," and he mentioned a new +and very alarming feature in his complaint, which, alas! fully justified +his observation; and during the day he allowed me to request Dr. Duke, +who was attending a patient in the hotel, to see him. He did--and on +quitting him, told me that of course the case was hopeless; that his +friends should be sent for, and he would not answer for his life for a +few weeks, or even days. Two or three days afterwards, Dr. Duke saw him +again, and had left him only half-an-hour when I called. He was writing +a letter to an old friend (one of his executors,) and his face wore an +expression of peculiar solemnity. Laying down his pen, and leaning back +in his chair, he gently shook my hand, and, in an affectionate manner, +said, "Warren, I have just had a startling communication made me by Dr. +Duke; he has told me plainly that I cannot live much longer,--that +recovery is utterly out of the question,--and that I am nearer death +than I suppose." After a pause, I said, "He has been faithful, then, my +dear Smith. It was his duty; and I trust he did it in a prudent +manner."--"Perfectly," he replied. Profound gloom was in his features, +but he was perfectly calm. Presently he said, covering his face with his +attenuated hand, "I have none to thank but myself; I have killed myself +by going the last circuit, but I could not resist some tempting briefs +which awaited me! I now regret that I did not allow my sister to come +over, months ago, and go with her to the South of France; but of course +wishing _now_ is useless." Again I entreated him to allow her to be sent +for. "My dear Warren," said he very decisively, "you and B. have often +asked me to do so. I beg you to do so no more. I have private reasons +for declining to follow your advice." His voice slightly faltered. His +"private reasons" have already been adverted to--they were, his tender +love for one whom he would not shock by showing himself to her in the +rapid progress of decay! From that day I never saw the semblance of a +smile upon his face, nor any appearance of emotion, but only of solemn +thoughtfulness. A few days afterwards I said to him, "Well, if it be the +will of God that you should never return to your profession, it is +certainly consolatory for you to reflect how great a reputation you +justly enjoy at the bar, and in how short a time you have gained it. +Your name will live." He made no answer for some minutes, but shook his +head, and then said, "I have done nothing worthy of being remembered +for; but you are very kind for saying so." Even after this, the mail +every now and then brought him fresh "papers" from town; and Miss ----, +the daughter of the landlady, and who attended him with the utmost +solicitude, one evening burst into tears, as she showed me a fresh +packet; adding, "It is really heart-breaking to have to take them in to +him: he is so weak that he feels a difficulty in even opening them!" It +was so, indeed! The two old friends whom he had named as executors, came +down to St. Leonards two or three times, and spent several days with +him. As the time for our family's return to town approached, he +evidently regarded it with uneasiness, and almost daily said, "Must you +_really_ go by the 15th?... And ---- is also going before that: then I +shall be left quite alone, and shall certainly feel dull." A friend of +mine, a lady, who resides near St. Leonards, having requested me to +introduce her to him, in order that when we were gone she might come +and see him, I asked him if he would allow me to do so? "Indeed," said +he, faintly, and with a slight flush, "I should not only feel it a +compliment, but extremely kind." The lady in question accordingly drove +down very kindly almost daily, bringing him grapes and flowers, which he +said he felt to be a very delicate attention: and so anxious was he to +evince his sense of her courtesy, that he insisted on driving, when very +feeble, on a bleak day, to leave a card at the lady's residence, nearly +three miles off, with his own hand. When I took my leave of him, he +seemed, I thought, a little moved; but said calmly, "If the weather +breaks up, I shall return to the Temple: and it is possible that I may +take lodgings in another part of the town; but to court I _must_ go, at +whatever inconvenience--for I have cases there which I must personally +attend to!" + + [11] His chambers were No. 2, Mitre Court Buildings, to which he had + removed from No. 12, King's Bench Walk, about two years before. + +Towards the close of October he followed us to London, alone, and was +sadly fatigued and exhausted by his journey. He went at once to his +chambers; which he never, with one exception, quitted till his death; +lying stretched in his dressing-gown upon the sofa, a large table near +him being covered with briefs, cases, and pleadings, which he attended +to almost as regularly as if he had been in perfect health. Yet he found +it difficult to sit up, his hand trembled when holding even a small +book, and his cough was fearfully increased in frequency and violence, +and he could get little or no sleep at nights. The reader may imagine +the concern and astonishment with which I heard, that about a fortnight +after his return, he had actually gone to dine at the Garrick Club! +Sitting at his table there, as a friend who saw him told me, "more like +a corpse than a living being; in short, I almost thought it must be his +ghost!" He left his rooms, however, no more; having his dinner sent in, +till within the last few days of his life, from a neighbouring tavern. +He had several consultations held at his chambers, in cases where new +trials were to be moved for; his leaders, (one of whom was Mr. Sergeant +Talfourd,) considerately waving etiquette, and coming to their dying +junior's chambers. They were, as may be supposed, most reluctant to +transact business with one in his state, but he insisted upon it. He +earnestly requested me not to mention at Westminster, or elsewhere, how +ill I thought him; "for if you do, my clients will send me no business, +and then I shall have nothing to amuse my mind with." Towards the end of +the term, he observed to me one morning,--"See how very kind my clients +are to me! I suspect they have heard that I cannot go to court, so they +send me a great number of pleas, demurrers, and motion papers, which I +have merely to sign, and get half a guinea: I think it so considerate!" +About the last day of the term, I happened myself to be his opponent, in +one of those minor matters of form, a motion for judgment as in case of +a nonsuit, on account of my client's not having gone to trial at the +preceding assizes. Mr. Smith was lying in a state of great exhaustion on +the sofa; but mentioned the "rule." I told him that I had brought my +brief with me,--"A peremptory undertaking, I suppose," said he, +languidly, "to try at the next assizes?"--"Yes, and I will sign my own +papers, and yours too, to save you the trouble,--or your clerk +shall?"--"No, thank you," said he, and with difficulty raised himself. +"Will you oblige me by giving me a pen?" I did so, and with a trembling +hand he wrote his name on the briefs, saying, in a melancholy tone as he +wrote, "It is the last time I shall sign my name with yours. Even if you +_perform_ your undertaking, _I_ shall not be at the trial." About a week +afterwards I found him finishing the last sheet of a huge mass of +short-hand writer's notes of an important case in which he was +concerned, and he was grievously exhausted. It was in vain to +remonstrate with him! An early and devoted friend of his, and I, called +upon him daily two or three times, and sat with him as long as our +engagements would permit us. We found his mind always vigorous; and +though he could converse little, from weakness, and its irritating his +cough, his language was as exact and significant as ever, and he liked +to hear others talk, especially about what was going on at Westminster. +I was sitting silently beside him one afternoon, only a fortnight +before his death, when a friend came in, and, after we had sat some time +together, asked me a question which had just arisen in his practice. +"Don't you think," said he, "that, under these circumstances, we may +read the word '_forthwith_,' in this act of parliament, to mean, 'as +soon as reasonably may be?'" Our poor friend, who had not spoken before, +and lay apparently asleep, instantly raised his head, and with some +quickness observed, "Ah! if you could only read an act of parliament _in +any way you liked_, what fine things you could do!" The reader is not, +however, to suppose that Mr. Smith's mind was exclusively occupied with +business, and legal topics. On the contrary, I am certain that he both +read and thought much, and anxiously, on religious subjects. I saw the +Bible constantly open, and also one or two religious books; in +particular, Mr. Wilberforce's "Practical Christianity" lay on his table +and on his sofa. He seemed, however, to feel no disposition to +_converse_ on such topics, with any one. If any one attempted to lead +conversation in that direction, he would either be silent, or in a +significant manner change the subject. He had a favourite copy of Dante +lying often near him, and it may be interesting to state, that he has +left, underscored in pencil, the two following verses in the third +canto, (_Del Purgatorio_,) expressive of faith in the great mysteries of +Christianity,-- + + "Matto e chi spera che nostra ragione, + Possa trascorrer la 'nfinita via, + Che tiene una sustanzia in tre persone. + + State contente, umana gente, al quia: + Che si potuto aveste veder tutto, + Mestier non era partorir Maria." + +It may not be necessary to say it, but I am persuaded that he was a firm +believer in the truths of Christianity, and a conscientious member of +the Church of England. One day, within about a fortnight of his death, +he said, "There is a work which I have often heard you speak of, and +which, it does so happen, I never read, though I have often wished to do +so; I mean Paley's _Horae Paulinae_. I may say almost that I know his +_Evidences_ off by heart. Now, will you do me the favour of procuring me +a copy of the other book, in as large type as you can, and as soon as +you can, for," he added with a slight sigh, after a pause, "I have not +much time to lose?" I immediately procured him the book in question; and +about three days afterwards he said to me, "I have read the Horae +Paulinae; it is a book of extraordinary merit; I very much wonder that I +never read it before." I asked him if he had read "Butler's Analogy." +"Oh yes, of course, several times, and know it well," he replied, rather +quickly. Life was visibly ebbing fast away during the first week in +December. He grew weaker and weaker almost hourly, and scarcely ever +rose from his sofa, where he always lay in his dressing-gown, except to +go to his bed-room, which adjoined and opened into his sitting-room. He +would even then allow no one to be in his chamber with him during the +might! not even his attentive and attached laundress, or his clerk! I +once very strongly urged upon him to allow the former to sleep in the +chambers. "Either she leaves my chambers at her usual hour," said he, +peremptorily, "or I do." We felt it, however, impossible to allow this; +and, without his being aware of it, his clerk and laundress by turns +continued to spend the night in one of the adjoining rooms. It was well +that such was the case, for he began to get delirious during the nights. +About ten days before his death, a great and marked change came very +suddenly over him: his eyes assumed a strange glazed appearance, and his +voice was altogether altered. His mind, however, continued calm and +collected as ever. He moaned continually, though gently, assuring us, +however, repeatedly that he felt no pain, "but an exhaustion that is +quite inconceivable by _you_." Not many days before his end, he gave us +a signal proof of the integrity of his reasoning faculties. Two of his +friends, I and another, were sitting with him, and he told us, as he +often latterly had, that he heard strange voices in the room. He asked +the one who sat next him if there were not strangers at that moment in +the room speaking? When assured that there were not, he said very +earnestly, "Will you, however, oblige me by looking immediately under +the sofa, and tell me whether there is really no one there?" His friend +looked, and solemnly assured him that there was no one there. "Now," +said he, with some difficulty, after a pause, and suddenly looking at +us, "how extraordinary this is! Of course, after what you say, I am +bound to believe you, and the voices I hear are consequently imaginary: +yet I hear them uttering _articulate sounds_; they are human voices; +they speak to me intelligibly. What can make that impression upon the +organ of hearing--upon the tympanum? How is it done? There must be some +strange disorder in the organs. I can't understand it, nor the state of +my own faculties!" Then he relapsed into the state of drowsy, moaning, +half-unconsciousness, in which he spent the last fortnight of his life. +For a few days previously, no more briefs or papers were taken in by the +clerk: but one, a case for an opinion, which had been brought about a +week before, Mr. Smith immediately read over with a view of answering +it. In consequence of a communication from the physician, we at once +summoned Mr. Smith's two brothers, the one from Dublin Castle, and the +other (an officer on board the Devastation Steam Frigate) from +Portsmouth. Both of them came as quickly as possible, and remained to +the last in affectionate attendance upon their afflicted brother. About +three days before his death, he was asked if he wished to receive the +sacrament. "Yes," he immediately replied, "I was about to ask for it, +but feared I was too ill to go through with it. I request it may now be +administered to me as soon as can be, for I am sensible that I have no +time to lose; _and I beg that the rubric may be strictly complied with +in all respects_." This he said specially with reference to the +prescribed number ("three, or two at the least") of communicants beside +himself. The Rev. Mr. Harding, father of one of his intimate friends, +being near at hand, immediately attended, and administered that sacred +and awful rite: Lieutenant Smith, I, and another, partaking of the +sacrament with our dying friend. He was in full possession of his +faculties. He could not rise from the sofa, but made a great effort to +incline towards the clergyman, lying with his hands clasped upon his +breast. When the name of our Saviour was mentioned, he inclined his head +with profound reverence of manner. It was, indeed, a very solemn and +affecting scene, such as will never be effaced from my memory. When it +was over, Mr. Smith gently grasped the hand of Mr. Harding, and faintly +thanked him for his kindness in so promptly attending. He was unable, at +night, to walk to his bed; to which he was assisted by his brother and a +friend. The dark curtain was now rapidly descending between him and this +life. He never rose again from bed; but lay therein the same moaning yet +comparatively tranquil state in which he had been during the week. On +the morning of the day of his death, I went early to sit beside him, +alone; gazing at his poor emaciated countenance, with inexpressible +feelings. Shortly after I left, his oldest friend took my place; and, +after a while, to his great surprise, Mr. Smith, on recognising him, +asked if a particular "case,"--"Exparte ----" was not still in chambers? +On being answered in the affirmative, he requested his friend to get +pen, ink, and paper, and he would dictate the opinion! His friend, +though conceiving him to be wandering and delirious, complied with his +request; on which Mr. Smith slightly elevated himself in bed, and, to +the amazement of his friend, in a perfectly calm and collected manner, +but with great difficulty of utterance, dictated not only an +appropriate, but a correct and able opinion on a case of considerable +difficulty! When he had concluded, with the words, "the case is +practically remediless," he requested that what had been written might +be read over. It was done, and he said, on its being concluded, "There +is only one alteration necessary--strike out the words '_on the case_,' +leaving it '_action_,' simpliciter;" thereby showing an exact +appreciation of a point in the case, with reference to the suggested +form of action, of much difficulty! After this effort he rallied no +more, but lay in a dozing state all day; his friend, his brother, and +myself, by turns, sitting at his bedside. He appeared to suffer no pain. +I sate with him till about six o'clock, gazing at him with mournful +intensity, perceiving that the struggle was rapidly drawing to a close. +Being compelled to leave, I intended to have returned at eight o'clock; +but, alas! a little before that hour, tidings were brought me that at +shortly after seven o'clock our poor friend had been released from his +sufferings. A few minutes before he expired, none being present but his +brother and the laundress, he gently placed his left hand under his left +cheek, and, after a few soft breathings, each longer than the preceding +one, without apparent pain, ceased to exist upon earth. I immediately +repaired to his chambers, and joined his brother and his oldest friend. +They were sitting in mournful silence in his sitting room. Around us +were all the evidences of our departed friend's very recent +occupancy--his spectacles lay on the table;--many briefs, some of which +I had seen his own feeble hands open only a few days before, so +remained, as well as various books; among which were two large +interleaved copies of his "Mercantile Law" and "Leading Cases," with +considerable MS. additions and corrections in his own handwriting. When +I looked at all these, and reflected that the prematurely wasted remains +of one of my earliest and most faithful friends lay, scarce yet cold, in +the adjoining room, I own that I felt it difficult to suppress my +emotions. + + Quis desiderio sit pudor, aut modus + Tam cari capitis? + +He died on the 17th December, 1845. On looking among his papers, there +was found a will which he had executed so long before as the year 1837, +for a reason assigned in that document, viz., that on the 3d of July in +that year, was passed the important Act of 7 Will. IV., and 1 Vict. c. +26, which rendered it necessary for all wills to be signed by the +testator in the presence of two or more attesting witnesses, none having +till then been necessary in the case of wills of personal estate, which +alone Mr. Smith left behind him. This document contains some +characteristic touches. It begins in this old fashioned and formal +style:-- + +"In the name of God, Amen! + +"I, John William Smith, of the Inner Temple, barrister-at-law, being +minded to make my last will and testament before the act passed in the +first year of the reign of Her present Majesty, (whom God long +preserve,) entitled 'An Act for the Amendment of the Law with respect to +Wills,' shall have come into operation, do make this my last will and +testament; that is to say," &c. &c.: and he proceeded, after giving some +trifling mementoes to his friends, to bequeath all his property to his +two executors, in trust for his sisters. He directed that his coffin +should not be closed till after decay should have visibly commenced in +his body; a precaution against the possibility of premature interment: +which he always regarded with peculiar apprehension. He proceeded to +direct that he should be buried in the burying-ground around the Temple +church, a right which he always contended was possessed by every member +of the Inn. With this request, however, it was impossible for the +Benchers to comply, though anxious, by every means in their power, to do +honour to his memory. He was, therefore, buried, on the 24th December, +1845, at Kensal Green. Had it been deemed desirable by his brothers and +executors, a great number of the members of the bar would have attended +his funeral. As it was, however, sixteen only of those most intimate +with him followed his remains to their last resting-place. A small +stone, placed at the head of his grave, merely mentions his name, age, +and profession, and the day of his death; and adds, that a tablet to his +memory is erected in the Temple church. On the ensuing Sunday, the +Benchers of the Inner Temple caused the staff, or pole, surmounted with +the arms of the Inn, carved in silver, and which is always borne before +the Benchers into church, and placed at the corner of their pew, to be +covered with crape, and the vergers to wear scarves; a tribute of +respect which had never before then, I believe, been paid to any but +deceased Benchers. They expressed anxiety to pay every honour to the +memory of so distinguished a member of the Inn, and cordially assented +to the request that a tablet should be placed in the Triforium, where +one of white marble now stands, bearing the following fitting +inscription, written by his friend, Mr. Phillimore, of the Oxford +circuit:-- + + JOH: GVL: SMITH + +IN. STVDIIS. HVMANITATIS. AC. LITTERARVM. + A. PVERITIA. SUMMA. LAVDE. VERSATO. + LEGVM. ET. CONSVETVDINIS. ANGLIAE. + TVM. JVRIS. NEGOTIANTIBVS PROPRII. + PERITISSIMO. VT. SCRIPTA. QVAE. MAGNAM. + ETIAM. TRANSMARINAS. APVD. GENTES. +AUCTORITATEM. CONSECVTA. SUNT. TESTANTVR. + MEMORIA. DILIGENTIA. ACVMINE. DOCTRINA. +NECNON. FIDE. ET. BENEVOLENTIA. SINGVLARI. +A. FORO. VBI. QVOAD. VIXIT. INGENII. LAVDE. + CREVIT. + IMMATVRA. MORTE. ABREPTO. + H: L: S: E +NATVS. A.D. MDCCCIX. OBIT. IDIBVS. DEC. A.D. + MDCCCXLV. + +Thus died, and thus was honoured in his, alas! premature death, John +William Smith: leaving behind him a name of unsullied purity, and a +permanent reputation, among a body of men noted for their severe +discrimination in estimating character. He practised his profession in +the spirit of a GENTLEMAN, disdaining all those vulgar and degrading +expedients now too often resorted to, for the purpose of securing +success at the bar. He waited, and prepared for, _his opportunity_ with +modest patience, and fortitude, and indomitable industry and energy. He +possessed an intellect of uncommon power, consummately disciplined, and +capable of easily mastering any thing to which its energies were +directed. Having devoted himself to jurisprudence, he obtained a +marvellously rapid mastery, both theoretically and practically, over its +greatest difficulties, leaving behind him writings which have +contributed equally to facilitate the study and the practice of the law, +in an enlightened spirit. Had Providence been pleased to prolong his +life, the voice of the profession would, within a very few years, have +called for his elevation to the judicial bench, and he would have proved +one of its brightest ornaments. Nor did he sink the scholar in the +lawyer, but cherished to the last those varied, elegant, refined, and +refining tastes and pursuits, which, having acquired him early +academical distinction, rendered in after life his intercourse always +delightful to the most accomplished and gifted of his friends and +acquaintance, and supplied him with a never-failing source of +intellectual recreation. Above all, his conduct was uniformly +characterised by truth and honour, by generosity and munificence, hid +from nearly all but the objects of it; and by a profound reverence for +religion, and a sincere faith in that Christianity whose consolations he +experienced in the trying time of sickness and death, and which could +alone afford him a well-founded hope of eternal peace and happiness. + +_Inner Temple, 8th January, 1847._ + + * * * * * + + + + +MODERN ITALIAN HISTORY.[12] + + [12] Memoirs of General Pepe. Written by himself. London, 1846. + + +Upon the fifth day of February, 1783, the province of Calabria was +visited with a terrific earthquake. "The sway of earth _shook_ like a +thing unfirm," thousands of houses crumbled to their base, tens of +thousands of human beings were buried beneath ruins, or engulfed by the +gaping ground. In the small and ancient town of Squillace, the +devastation was frightful; amongst others, the spacious mansion of the +noble family of PEPE was overthrown and utterly destroyed. At the time +of this calamity, Irene Assanti, the wife of Gregorio Pepe, was in daily +expectation of being brought to bed. In vain was it attempted to find a +fitting refuge for the suffering and feeble woman. The ruin that had +overtaken her dwelling extended for leagues around; not a roof-tree +stood in the doomed district; misery and desolation reigned throughout +the land. A tent was hastily erected; and, under its scanty shelter, in +a season of extreme rigour, the lady gave birth to a son, who was +baptised by the name of William. + +Soothsayers would have augured a stormy existence to the child who thus +first saw light when "the frame and huge foundation of the earth shak'd +like a coward." Such omens might have attended the birth of an +Alexander, a Caesar, or a Napoleon, marking the advent of one of those +human meteors sent at long intervals to astonish and dazzle the world. +In this instance, if the man born during Nature's most terrible +convulsion, was not destined to exercise a material or lasting influence +on the fate of nations, at least his lot was cast in troublous and +agitated times; he took share in great events, came in contact with +extraordinary men, passed through perils and adventures such as few +encounter, and fewer still survive. The last sixty years, comprising the +most interesting and important chapter in the history of Europe, perhaps +of the world, have been prolific in sudden transformations and startling +reverses of fortune. During that period of revolution and restless +activity, we have seen peasants become princes, private soldiers +occupying the thrones of great and civilized countries, obscure +individuals in every walk of life raised by opportunity, genius, and the +caprice of fate, to the most exalted positions. Some of these have +maintained themselves on the giddy pinnacle on which fortune placed +them. They are the few. Reverses, even more sudden and extraordinary +than their upward progress, have cast down the majority from their high +estate. The transitions have been rapid, from the palace to the prison, +from the sway of kingdoms to the sufferings of emigration, from the +command of mighty armies to the weariness and obscurity of a forced +inactivity. Fortunes built up in a year, have been knocked down in a +month; again reconstructed, they have been yet more rapidly destroyed. +Such changes have been as numerous, often as strikingly contrasted, as +the shifting visions of a magic lantern, or the fitful corruscations of +a firework. Within a short half century, how often has the regal purple +been bartered for the fugitive's disguise, the dictator's robe for a +prison garb, the fortunate soldier's baton of command for the pilgrim's +staff and the bitter bread of exile. Notable instances of such +disastrous fluctuations are to be found in the memoirs of the Neapolitan +general Guglielmo Pepe. + +One of the youngest of a family of two-and-twenty children, born of +wealthy and highly descended parents, young Pepe was placed, before he +was seven years old, in the royal college of Catanzaro. There, his +father, anxious that his education should be complete and excellent, +intended him to remain until the age of eighteen. The peculiar +disposition of the boy proved a grave obstacle to the accomplishment of +the paternal wish. Nature had destined him for a military career, and +his tendency to a soldier's life was early manifest. To the studies that +would have qualified him for a learned profession, he showed an +insurmountable aversion; Latin he detested; on the other hand, +geography, history, and mathematics, were cultivated by him with a zeal +and eagerness that astonished his professors. He had just attained his +fourteenth year, when two of his brothers, but a little older than +himself, left the military college at Naples, and received commissions +in the army. This redoubled the military ardour of their junior, who had +already caught the warlike feeling with which the Neapolitan government +strove at that time to inspire the nation. He urged his father to +purchase him a commission; his father refused, and the wilful boy +absconded from college. Brought back again, he a second time escaped, +and enlisted in a regiment of riflemen. Again he was captured, and the +poor Sergeant who had accepted the juvenile recruit, was thrown into +prison for enticing away a pupil of the royal college. But this time +Gregorio Pepe thought it advisable to yield to the wishes of his +headstrong son, and allowed him to enter the military school. He +remained there two years, and left it to join, as drill sergeant, a +company of the newly raised national guard. This was in 1799. Towards +the close of the previous year, the ill-disciplined and inefficient +Neapolitan army, composed for the most part of raw and uninstructed +levies, had marched into the Papal States; and, the French having +evacuated it, had entered Rome without opposition. The triumph was very +brief. Neither the Neapolitan troops, nor their leader, General Mack, +were capable of contending successfully against the skilful officers and +well-trained soldiers opposed to them. On the first alarm, the +pusillanimous Ferdinand of Naples fled from Rome in disguise, and soon +afterwards embarked for Sicily with his wife and court, carrying away +"the wealth and jewels of the crown, the most valuable antiquities, the +most precious works of art, and what remained from the pillage of the +banks and churches, which had been lying in the mint either in bullion +or specie." The amount of the rich treasure was estimated at twenty +millions of ducats. The French still advanced, feebly opposed by the +disheartened Neapolitans and their inefficient foreign leaders. Gaeta, +the Gibraltar of Italy, was surrendered after a few hours' siege, by an +old general so ignorant of his profession that we are told he was +accustomed to seek counsel from the bishop of the town. Capua, the +bulwark of the capital, was given up by Ferdinand's vicar-general, +Prince Pignatelli, in consideration of a two months' truce, which +lasted, however, but as many days. A condition of this disgraceful +armistice was a payment of two and a half millions of ducats. The money +was not forthcoming; and the French commander, General Championnet, +marched upon Naples. After three days' obstinate combat, maintained +around and in the city by the lazzaroni, victory remained with the +assailants. They were aided by the republican or patriot party, who +delivered up to them the fort of St. Elmo. By this party, then a very +small minority in Naples--much the greater part of whose population, +ignorant, fanatical, and worked upon by wily priests, were frantic in +their hatred of the French, and of the Jacobins, as they called the +liberal section of their own countrymen--the triumph of the invaders was +looked upon as a temporary evil, trifling when compared with the +advantages that would result from it. Amongst the most enthusiastic +liberals was young Pepe, who had already conceived that ardent love of +liberty, which, throughout life, has been his mainspring of action. He +hailed with delight the publication of the edict by which Naples was +erected into the Parthenopean Republic. He was eager to enter the new +army, whose organisation had been decreed, but his tender age made his +brothers oppose his wish, and he was fain to content himself with a post +in the national guard. + +The new republic was destined to a very short existence. The provisional +government, consisting, in imitation of the French system, of six +committees, displayed little activity and still less judgment. It +neglected to conciliate and win over the popular party, which remained +stanch to the Bourbons and absolutism; it took little pains to convince +the bigoted multitude of the advantages and blessings of a free +constitution. The treasury was bare, the harvest had been bad, the coast +was blockaded, and their difficulties were aggravated by the heavy +taxes imposed, and rigorously levied by Championnet for the support of +his army. These impositions, and a decree for the disarming of the +people, produced discontent even amongst the friends of the new +institutions. Nevertheless, Championnet, by showing an interest in the +rising Republic, had gained a certain degree of popularity, when he was +recalled to Paris to be tried by a court-martial, for his opposition to +the exactions of a French civil commissary, "one of those voracious +blood-suckers, whom the French government was wont to fasten upon the +newly formed republics which it created, and upon which it bestowed the +derisive title of independent." General Macdonald succeeded Championnet; +the commissary, maintained in his functions, had full scope for +extortion, and the Republican government, unable, for want of money, to +organise an army that might have given permanence to its existence, +became daily more unpopular, and visibly tottered to its downfal. +Meanwhile, on the opposite coast of Sicily, Ferdinand, his adherents and +allies, were any thing but idle. They issued proclamations, lavished +money, spared no means to excite the people to revolt against the French +and their favourers. Every support and encouragement was given to the +disaffected, and at last Cardinal Ruffo landed in Calabria, and by +proclamations issued in his name, and in that of Ferdinand, promised the +property and estates of the patriots to those who should take up arms +for the holy cause of the king. Apulia was overrun by four Corsican +adventurers; the other provinces were infested by bands of ruffians, +mostly the outpourings of the prisons and galleys, which had been thrown +open by the furious populace when preparing to defend the city against +the French. A miller, by name Mammone, was one of the most ferocious and +dreaded leaders of these banditti. His cruelties, as related by General +Pepe, almost exceed belief. "He butchered in the most dreadful manner +all who fell into his power, and with his own hands murdered nearly four +hundred of them, chiefly Frenchmen and Neapolitans. Blood-thirsty by +nature, he seemed to revel in shedding blood, and carried his cruelty to +such a pitch, that when seated at his meals, he delighted in having +constantly before him a human head newly divided from the trunk and +streaming with blood. This monster, the perpetrator of so many horrors, +was, nevertheless, greeted by King Ferdinand and his Queen Caroline, in +the most affectionate manner by the title of 'dear general,' and of +'faithful supporter of the throne.'" + +After long and unaccountable delay, two columns were formed for the +pursuit of the Bourbonites, and a regular civil war began. At first the +Republicans, supported by the French, had the best of the fight, and the +strong towns of Andria and Trani were taken, after a vigorous defence, +with great loss to the royalists, and no inconsiderable one to the +assailants. But the Austrians and Russians now prepared to drive the +French from northern Italy, and Macdonald, compelled to keep his army +together, was unable to follow up these successes. Cardinal Ruffo's +forces increased; he besieged and took several towns, and overran entire +provinces, his ferocious followers committing, as they proceeded, the +most terrible excesses and acts of cruelty. At last, in the month of +May, Macdonald evacuated the Neapolitan territory, placing French +garrisons in the castle of St. Elmo and in the fortresses of Capua and +Gaeta, and leaving the handful of republicans to defend themselves as +best they might against the vast majority of the nation that supported +the cause of the king. Against such odds, the enthusiasm of the +liberals, ill assisted by a feeble and vacillating government, was +unable successfully to contend. Nevertheless, they still struggled on; +fresh troops were raised, and in a sort of sacred battalion, composed of +officers, young Pepe, who had just completed his sixteenth year, was +appointed serjeant-major. In this capacity he first saw fire, in a +skirmish with a band of armed peasants. But the enemy gained ground, the +limits of the Republic grew each day narrower, until at last they were +restricted to the capital and its immediate environs. Cardinal Ruffo's +army, now amounting to forty thousand men, backed by detachments of +foreign troops, and by regiments landed from Sicily, had improved in +discipline and organisation, and, flushed with their successes, ventured +to attack Naples. They encountered an obstinate resistance. General +Schipani, an officer of distinguished bravery but little skill, +commanded the body of troops of which Pepe's battalion formed a part, +and occupied the most advanced of the Republican positions, between +Torre dell' Annunziata and Castella-mare. The Cardinal's troops cut him +off from Naples, and whilst gallantly endeavouring to force a passage +through them and assist the city, his little band, fifteen hundred in +number, was assailed by a body of Russians, and by a thousand Calabrians +under the command of Pano di Grano, a returned galley slave, and Ruffo's +favourite officer. In a narrow road a desperate contest ensued, and +terminated in the defeat of the Republicans. Pepe received a bayonet +thrust and a sabre cut, and although he escaped at the time, was soon +afterwards captured with some of his comrades, by a party of peasants +armed with scythes. This was the commencement of the young soldier's +misfortunes. Suffering from hunger, thirst, and wounds, he was +imprisoned in a damp and unwholesome warehouse, and subjected to the +brutality of his peasant guards, who called in their women to gaze at +the ill-fated patriots, as if they had been strange and savage animals +caught in a snare, and to be viewed as objects of mingled curiosity and +loathing. On the following day, when a detachment of the Cardinal's +troops came to take charge of the prisoners and escort them to the +capital, they were so exhausted with fatigue, loss of blood, and want of +food, that before they could move, it was necessary to supply them with +bread and water. This meagre refreshment taken, they were stripped to +their shirts, manacled in couples, and marched off to Naples. Although +informed of it by their captors, many of them had refused to credit the +downfal of the city. "This illusion was soon dispelled by the mournful +spectacle which presented itself to our gaze, and which I believe has +very rarely been equalled. Men and women of every condition were being +barbarously dragged along the road, most of them streaming with blood, +many half dead, and stripped of every article of apparel, presenting +altogether the most deplorable sight the mind can conceive. The shrieks +and howlings of that ferocious mob were such, that it seemed composed, +not of human beings, but of a horde of wild beasts. They cast stones and +every species of filth at us, threatening to tear us to pieces." The +Iazzaroni, instigated by the priests,--at Naples, as every where, the +steadfast partisans of absolutism,--were the chief perpetrators of these +atrocious misdeeds. Scarcely a party of patriot prisoners passed through +the streets without some of its number being torn from the hands of the +escort and sacrificed to the blind fury of the benighted populace. And +it was a question if death were not preferable to the barbarous +treatment reserved for the survivors. Twenty thousand men, half-naked, +many of them wounded, were crowded into the halls of the public granary, +now converted into a temporary prison. Heat, filth, and vermin, were the +least of the evils endured by these unfortunates, amongst whom were +noblemen, priests, officers of high rank, many literary men, several +Celestin monks, and, to crown all, a number of lunatics. The Hospital of +Incurables had been held out by the medical students against the +royalists, and when the latter took it, they sent both sane and insane +to prison, where some of the madmen were detained on suspicion of +feigning lunacy. "One of these poor wretches was the cause of a most +disastrous scene, which we witnessed. Having struck one of the royal +officers on the face, the latter called out, 'to arms!' and as soon as +he was surrounded by his followers, he rushed furiously upon the +lunatic, whom he clove in two by a sabre stroke. During this time the +sentinels placed in the street to guard the royal granary, fired +musket-shots at the windows, and the bullets, rebounding from the +ceiling of the building, wounded and killed several amongst us." The +horrors of their situation, and the pangs of hunger and thirst were so +great, that some of the sane amongst the prisoners nearly went mad. It +was not till the third day that a scanty ration of bread and water was +distributed. This spare diet and the absence of covering had one good +effect, in preserving them from fever, and causing their wounds to heal +rapidly. Their republican enthusiasm continued unabated, at least as +regarded the younger men. "We had four poets amongst us, who sang by +turns extemporary hymns to freedom." After twenty-two days passed in the +granary, Pepe and a number of his companions were placed on board a +Neapolitan corvette. Here they were, if any thing, worse off than in +their previous prison. In a short time they were taken on shore again +and lodged in the Vicaria prison, whence, each day, one or other of them +was conveyed to the scaffold. Pepe was summoned before the Junta of +State, where the bold sharpness of his replies irritated his judge, who +consigned him to the _Criminali_, dark and horrible dungeons, +appropriated to the worst of criminals. Three men loaded with fetters, +and entirely naked, were his companions in this gloomy cavern. Two of +them were notorious malefactors, "the third recalled vividly to my mind +Voltaire's Lusignan in the tragedy of Zaire, which I had been perusing a +few days before. His body was covered with hair, his head bald, a long +and thick black beard contrasted forcibly with his ruddy lips and pearly +teeth." His name was Lemaitre, Marquis of Guarda Alfieri, and he had +been several years imprisoned for participation in a republican +conspiracy. + +At last, after six months of the most painful captivity, Pepe, and seven +hundred others sentenced to exile, were put on board three small +vessels, and after a voyage of twenty-two days, during which their +numbers were thinned by a destructive epidemic, were landed at +Marseilles. There the first thing they learned was the arrival of +Buonaparte from Egypt, and his enthusiastic reception in France. During +his absence nothing had gone well, and the French nation looked to him +to redeem their disasters. Italy was again in the hands of the +Austrians. To aid in their expulsion, the formation of an Italian legion +was decreed, and this Pepe hastened to join. Upon reaching Dijon, where +it was organising, he found that every corps had its full compliment of +officers. As a supernumerary he was ordered to a depot, where he would +receive lieutenant's half-pay until his services were required. Like +many others of the exiles, he preferred serving as a volunteer to +remaining idle, and accordingly joined a company of riflemen intended to +be mounted, but who, from the scarcity of horses, were for the most part +on foot. At the beginning of May, 1800, the legion, consisting of six +thousand men, marched into Switzerland, and crossed the St. Bernard. +They were detached from Napoleon's army during the battle of Marengo, +but distinguished themselves at the fight of the Jesia, and in the +Valteline, until, by the truce which followed that memorable campaign, +Pepe again found himself without employment, and in depot at Pavia. His +restless spirit would not tolerate repose, and he entered the service of +the Tuscan republic, where he continued until the truce of Luneville. An +amnesty for Neapolitan political refugees being a condition of the +treaty between France and Naples, he might now have returned home; but +his hatred of the Bourbons indisposed him to such a step, and he +resolved to enter the French army serving in Egypt. Murat was then +commander-in-chief of the French troops in central Italy, and to him the +young officer applied for a commission. He received that of a captain, +and was about to start for Alexandria when his purse was emptied at a +faro table. This compelled him to visit Naples for fresh supplies, and +owing to the delay, before he could embark, the French had received +orders to evacuate Egypt. + +Notwithstanding the presence of the French troops, who by the treaty +concluded at Florence, on terms ignominious for Naples, occupied several +Neapolitan provinces, the patriot party again began to conspire against +Ferdinand, and in their machinations Pepe, in spite of his youth, soon +took a prominent share. His aversion to the Neapolitan Bourbons was only +equalled by the indignation with which he saw his native land garrisoned +by foreigners, feeding upon its fatness. Murat, who at first had viewed +him with favour, soon looked upon him as a dangerous political agitator. +At Rome he was imprisoned, but obtained his release through the interest +of a friend. All warnings were unavailing; he was foremost in every +plot, until at last he was arrested at Naples and sent to the Fossa del +Maritimo. He gives a striking description of this horrible place of +confinement. Opposite to the city of Trapano in Sicily, at a distance of +thirty miles, is the small island or rather the barren rock of the +Maritimo, "a Sicilian anagram of Morte-mia, a name quite characteristic +of the horror of the place. Upon a point of this island stands a castle +where, in former days, watch was kept for the approach of the African +pirates who infested the Sicilian coasts. Upon a platform of the castle, +situated at the north, a deep cistern had been made in the rock. Towards +the middle of the seventeenth century, the water had been emptied from +this cistern in order to transform it into a prison for a wretched youth +who had murdered his own father in the most barbarous manner, but who +was too young to be condemned to death." In this den, which since 1799 +had been used as a state prison, Pepe and five other political offenders +were confined. It was six feet wide and twenty-two long; only in the +centre could they stand upright: it was so dark that a lamp was kept +constantly burning; the rain entered through the only opening that gave +air; and two prisoners, who had already been there some time, declared +that they had counted twenty-two species of insects. Fortunately for +him, Pepe was not kept long in this dismal cell, although his next +prison, a dungeon cut in the rock, in the very deepest vault of the +castle of St. Catherine, on the island of Favignana, was but little +preferable. Here, however, he obtained books, and was able to complete +his education, which had been interrupted by the revolution. "My passion +for study," he says, "was carried to such an extent, that I felt pain +and regret whenever I did not devote to it, either in reading or +writing, fourteen hours a-day. During the three years of my +imprisonment, my application was unremitting, and I owe to it that I did +not fall into the habits, so common to prisoners, of smoking and +drinking." + +Most graphically told, the chapters relating to General Pepe's +imprisonment, are as amusing as any romance. More than once did he and +his fellow-captive muse over an escape, and ponder its possibilities. +These were very remote. At last they devised a plan, which they thought +would ensure their transfer to a less rigorous confinement, whence they +might find means of flight. Twenty galley slaves were imprisoned in the +castle. At night they occupied the same apartment with Pepe; in the +day-time they were set to work in different parts of the fortress. These +men were easily persuaded to adopt an ingenious plan of escape devised +by Pepe, who, with his friend, was to remain behind, "upon the plea +that, as the government attached far more importance to the custody of +state prisoners, than to that of common criminals, our company would +prove more dangerous than useful to them." The fact was, that the +chances were a hundred to one against the escape. Nevertheless it was +accomplished, although the fugitives, with one exception, were promptly +retaken. Pepe and his companion now made a merit of not having +participated in it, and wrote to their friends at Naples, entreating +them to urge their release. This would hardly have been obtained but for +the outbreak of hostilities. Ferdinand, without waiting to see the +result of the struggle between Austria, Russia, and France, declared +against the latter power. He soon had reason to repent his +precipitation. The crushing campaign of Austerlitz, followed by the +march of Massena upon Naples, sent him and his court flying into Sicily. +In the confusion that ensued, Pepe was set at liberty. Embarking at +Messina, he once more landed in his native province of Calabria, and +reached Naples, a wiser and better man than he had left it. Three +years' study and reflection had cooled the rash fervour of his youthful +aspirations. His desire for his country's freedom was unabated, but his +Utopian visions of a republic had lost much of the brilliant colouring +that had dazzled his boyish imagination. Prudence told him that it was +unwise, by aiming at too much, to risk obtaining nothing. He was not +singular in this modification of his views. The great majority of the +liberal party had also moderated their pretensions; and in Naples, as in +France, the word republic was now seldom spoken but in derision. Pepe +was content that the desired changes should come more gradually than +would have suited him before three years of thought and dungeon-life had +sobered and matured his judgment. And henceforward we find his +endeavours directed, steadily and unceasingly, to the establishment of +free institutions under a constitutional monarchy. + +By the grace of his brother the king-maker, Joseph Buonaparte was now +upon the throne of Naples. On arriving in that capital, Pepe was +presented to the minister of war, General Dumas. "From my extreme +anxiety to produce the well or ill digested theories I had imbibed in +prison, I was very loquacious, and urged so strongly the danger +threatened to Calabria by the impending landing, not only of the +British, but of all Cardinal Ruffo's banditti levies, who had acquired +consequence in 1799, that he ordered a militia to be raised throughout +the country." By Dumas, the young theorist, whose predictions, however, +were not ill-founded, was presented to King Joseph, of whom he speaks in +no very favourable terms. He admits him to have been courteous and +affable, not deficient in information, and to have established many of +those institutions which pave the way to liberty; but he blames him for +neglecting his ample opportunities of establishing his power on a solid +basis, and acquiring the affections of his subjects. The higher +classes--of which, in Naples, contrary to what is the case in many +countries, the liberal party consists--were devoted to Joseph, until he +disgusted them by various parts of his conduct, and especially by the +introduction of a horde of Frenchmen, who monopolised the most lucrative +posts, both civil and military. He also gave offence by his luxurious +and expensive manner of living. The sumptuousness of his table was +proverbial throughout the kingdom, and, having left Madame Joseph in +France, he permitted himself considerable license in other respects, +living a very free life amongst the young beauties of his court, whom he +used to take with him on his hunting excursions under the name of +_cacciatrici_. It is probable that Neapolitan morality might have found +little ground for censure in these Sardanapalian indulgences, but for +the heavy expenses they entailed upon Neapolitan pockets, and, indeed, +they were most unjustifiable in a country impoverished by wars and +revolutions. + +Personally, Pepe had no reason to complain of the king, who gave him a +lieutenant-colonelcy and charged him with the organisation of the +militia in Upper Calabria. Eager to serve his country, the newly made +field officer hurried to his post. The English had not yet landed, but +some of Ruffo's former followers had been put on shore, and laboured, +not unsuccessfully, to induce the peasantry to revolt. Pepe soon found +himself in action. Surprised in the town of Scigliano, he shut himself +up in a house with two-and-twenty French soldiers, and there made a +desperate defence against an overpowering force of the insurgents. +Compelled to surrender, he received from his captors intelligence of the +battle of Maida. So persuaded was he of the invincibility of the French, +that at first he could not credit their defeat. He gives a brief account +of the action, founded upon the report of French officers of rank +present at it, and upon details collected from the inhabitants of Maida +and Nicastro. It smells of its French origin. At the battle of Maida +there were barely thirteen thousand men in the field, of which the +larger portion, by some twenty-five hundred, were French. But the +victory was as complete and as creditable to the handful of victors, as +it could have been had those numbers been multiplied by ten. And the +action was especially interesting as the first, during the late war, in +which the superiority of British bayonets over those of any other +nation, was proved and established beyond the possibility of +dispute,--the first of a long succession of triumphs, the Alpha of the +series of which Waterloo was the Omega. Destitute of cavalry, and +fiercely attacked by a superior force of horse and foot, the British +grenadiers stemmed the tide of the foeman's pride, and showed the men +who had overrun half Europe, that they had at last met their masters. By +General Pepe, Regnier's army is represented as worn out by fatigue, and +as attacking their opponents at the termination of a succession of +forced marches, without any interval for repose and refreshment. It is +well authenticated that this was the case with but a small portion of +the French force, which joined the main body during the night preceding +the action. The bulk of Regnier's division, numerically superior to the +British, had been encamped upon the heights of Maida at least +twenty-four hours previously to the battle. General Pepe says nothing of +the brilliant charge with the bayonet that first broke the French ranks, +and by which the victory was half won. "The English," he says, "who had +constantly practised firing at a target in Sicily, and who were become +skilful marksmen, directed their shot so ably that they caused great +havoc in the French ranks, killing and wounding many. General Regnier +now ordered the second line to advance and defile through the first, and +as the movement is extremely difficult of execution under an enemy's +fire, the French army fell into confusion, and Regnier was obliged to +retreat." A retreat which history calls a precipitate flight. General +Pepe's version of the affair reads like the bulletin of a vanquished +commander trying to make the best of his disaster. The General, although +he inveighs against the French when they interfere with the independence +of his _cara patria_, betrays a leaning to them on mere campaigning +questions. This is not unnatural. Both in Italy and Spain he fought by +their side and witnessed their gallantry. With regard to the English, +however his subsequent residence in this country and intimacy with +various Englishmen may have modified his opinion of them, they were +certainly in no good odour with him forty years ago, at least as a +nation. They supported the cause he detested, that of an absolute King; +and to their greatest naval hero, he attributes the death, not only of +Carraciolo, but of a long list of Italian patriots. His book is written +in something of a partisan spirit, nor could it well be otherwise, with +so fervent a politician. His account of many events and circumstances +differs widely from that given by his former companion in arms, +Colletta, whom he speaks of with contempt and dislike, and frequently +accuses of misstatement and wilful falsehood. "Men," he says, "of loose +morals, and so corrupt that they reflected contempt and abhorrence upon +those who associated with them. Such were Catalani d'Azzia and the +historian Pietro Colletta." That party feeling influenced Colletta, to +the prejudice of the impartiality of his writings, is pretty generally +admitted. But does General Pepe feel that his own withers are unwrung? +Can he, hand on conscience, declare himself guiltless of exaggeration? +Probably he believes himself so; there is evidence in his memoirs of +honesty of purpose, and of a wish to do justice to all; but the best of +us are led astray by our predilections, and it is right to be on one's +guard against the colouring given to men's actions, and to great events, +by the political prejudices of an ardent partisan. + +Delivered into the hands of Pano di Grano, the ex-galley slave, now a +royalist chief, Pepe was kindly treated, and, being carelessly guarded, +effected his escape. Recaptured, he was about to be shot, when an order +for his release was obtained from Sir John Stewart, who offered him, he +informs us, the command of an English regiment, if he would change sides +and serve King Ferdinand. He blames that general for having been in such +haste to re-embark his troops, thus abandoning the insurgents to their +fate; and is of opinion, that if he had continued to advance, flanked by +the Calabrian bands, his forces would have increased, and he would have +reached Naples. On the departure of the British, Massena commenced +vigorous operations for the suppression of the insurrection, and Pepe +was actively employed in the organisation of the Calabrian patriots. +Massena promised him the colonelcy of a light infantry regiment about to +be raised; but upon the Marshal being summoned to Germany by Napoleon, +the project was given up, and Pepe could not even get employment in his +rank of lieutenant-colonel. Disgusted at this injustice, and preferring +foreign service to residence in his own country, where he had the +mortification of seeing the French paramount, he embarked for Corfu as +major on the staff. + +After a year's absence, during which he narrowly escaped death by +shipwreck and met with various other adventures, Pepe returned to +Naples. It was in 1808: Napoleon had created his brother King of Spain, +and given the Neapolitan crown to the Grand Duke of Berg. _Soldat avant +tout_, Murat's first care was the amelioration of the army, then in a +deplorable state. To this end he sent for all the Neapolitan officers +employed in the Ionian islands. Pepe was amongst the number. Presenting +himself before King Joachim, he exhibited his testimonials of service, +and claimed the rank of colonel. The king replied, by appointing him one +of his orderly officers, as a proof of the good opinion he had of him. +"I recollect that I was so engrossed by admiration of the elegance of +his appearance, and the affability of his address, that I omitted +expressing my thanks. He talked to me a great deal about the Neapolitan +army, and manifested a confidence in us that even exceeded my own; and, +God knows, that was not small. His conversation filled me with such +delight, that, had it not been for fear lest he should mistake my ardour +of patriotism for courtier-like flattery, I could have fallen at his +feet and worshipped him. It seemed to me that I beheld in him the +Charles XII. of the Neapolitans." + +Murat was the very man to become at once popular with an excitable and +imaginative people. His handsome person, his dash and brilliancy, his +reputation for romantic and chivalrous courage, his winning smile, and +affable manner, prepossessed the Neapolitans in his favour, and they +joyfully received him in exchange for Joseph. But the dashing commander +was not of the stuff of which kings should be made; still less was he +the man to found and consolidate a new dynasty, and reduce to order a +fickle and divided nation. Strong-handed, but weak-headed,--a capital +man of action, but valueless at the council-board,--Murat's place was at +the head of charging squadrons. There he was a host in himself; in the +cabinet he was a cipher. He was not equal even to the organisation of +the troops whom, in the field, he so effectively handled. His good +nature rendered him unwilling to refuse a favour, and, as there were no +fixed and stringent regulations for the appointment and promotion of +officers, the higher posts of his army were often most inefficiently +occupied. "He could never resist the supplications of the courtiers, +still less the entreaties of the ladies about the court."--(_Pepe's +Memoirs_, page 262.) And again, "Murat was a Charles XII. in the field, +but a Francis I. in his court. He would have regarded the refusal of a +favour to any lady of the court, even though she were not his mistress, +as an indignity." His _debonnaire_ facility was so well known, that +people used to way-lay him in the street with a petition and an +ink-stand, and he often signed, without inquiry, things that should +never have been granted. "One day he was returning from the Campo di +Marte, when a woman, in tears, and holding a petition in her hand, stood +forward to present it to him. His horse, frightened at the sight of the +paper, kicked and reared, and ended by throwing his majesty some +distance from the spot. After swearing roundly, in the French fashion, +Joachim took the paper and granted its request--the life of the woman's +husband, who was to have been executed the following day." As his +orderly officer, and subsequently, when promoted to a higher military +grade, as his aide-de-camp, General Pepe saw a great deal of Murat, and +we are disposed to place great faith in his evidence concerning that +splendid soldier but poor king. His feelings towards Joachim were of a +nature to ensure the impartiality of his testimony: as his military +chief, and as a private friend, he adored him; as a sovereign he blamed +his acts, and was strenuously opposed to his system of government. He +seems never to have satisfactorily ascertained the king's real feelings +towards himself: at times he thought that he was really a favourite, at +others, he imagined himself disliked for his obstinate political +opposition, and for the pertinacity with which he urged Murat to grant +the nation a constitution. It is probable that Joachim's sentiments +towards his wrong-headed follower, whom he used to call the _tribune_, +and the _savage_, were of a mixed nature; but, whether he liked him or +not, he evidently esteemed and valued him. No other officer was so +constantly employed on confidential, important, and hazardous missions, +both previously to the battle of Wagram, when the Anglo-Sicilians +menaced Naples with an invasion, and at a later period, when Murat +entertained a design of landing in Sicily. In this project the king was +thwarted by the chief of his staff, the French general, Grenier, a +nominee of Napoleon's, who, with three French generals of division, +strongly opposed the invasion of Sicily, acting, as General Pepe +believes, on private instructions from the emperor. "The great aim of +Napoleon was, so to divert the attention of the English, as to cause +them to withdraw part of their forces from Spain and the Ionian islands, +whilst that of Joachim was, simply to get possession of Sicily." In +pursuance of this design, the king established himself, with 22,000 men, +in and around the town of Scylla. His own head-quarters were upon the +summit of a hill, in a magnificent tent, containing one large saloon and +six small chambers. "The tricolor banners, streaming on its summit, +seemed to defy the English batteries on the opposite shore, which +discharged bombs and shot that not only could reach the king's tent, but +even fell beyond it. One day, three balls descended into the tent, where +I was dining with the other officers of the king's household, although +it was situated farther back than that of Joachim." From this exposed +position Murat gazed at Sicily through a telescope, and tried to +persuade himself that it was his. But English ships and men continued to +arrive at Messina, rendering his enjoyment of his nominal possession +each day less probable. So sharp a look-out was kept by the British +fleet, that it was impossible to obtain intelligence from Sicily. The +vessels could be counted; but the amount of land forces was unknown, and +this Murat was most anxious to ascertain. He ordered Pepe to take two of +the boats called _scorridore_, to land in Sicily during the night, and +bring off a peasant, a soldier, or even a woman; any thing, in short, +that could speak. The expedition was so dangerous, that Pepe expected +never to return, and made all arrangements respecting the disposal of +his property, as if condemned to certain death. The two naval officers +whom he warned for the duty, looked at him with horror and astonishment, +and asked what he had done, that the king wanted to get rid of him. To +add to the peril, it was a bright moonlight night. Instead of perishing, +however, he was fortunate enough to capture an English boat, having on +board eight smugglers, spies of General Stewart. Murat's impatience was +so great, that he came into the saloon of his tent, with only his shirt +on, to receive his successful emissary; and General Pepe confesses, that +if the king was delighted at receiving news, he himself was no less so, +at having escaped with life and liberty. At last the invasion was +attempted by a division of Neapolitan troops, and totally failed. Part +of the invaders were taken prisoners: the remainder only escaped by +favour of the strong current, which prevented the English from coming up +with them. Murat returned to Naples, having spent a vast deal of money +on these very expensive and fruitless operations. To Napoleon alone had +they been of any use. He had "succeeded in conveying the necessary +provisions to the Ionian islands whilst the seas were free from the +enemy. At the same time, he had not to contend in Spain with that +portion of the British forces which had been sent to protect Sicily." + +In the stir and excitement of campaigning, Pepe managed to endure the +presence of the French, whom he disliked, not because they were +_Frenchmen_, but in their quality of foreigners, and of intruders in his +country. He felt them to be a necessary evil, in the absence of an +efficient native army, which Murat, impatient of his dependence on +Napoleon,--who, according to his custom, treated him rather as a subject +than as a sovereign,--perseveringly endeavoured to organise. Had the +king's talents been equal to his decision and industry, he could not +have failed of success. As it was, his efforts had little result. Pepe +observed this with pain, and his exaggerated feelings of nationality +again obtaining the ascendency, he determined once more to expatriate +himself. He reminded Murat of an old promise to give him the command of +one of the Italian regiments then serving in Spain. The king reproached +him slightly with wishing to leave him; but, on his urging his request, +and pleading a desire to improve himself in his profession, he appointed +him colonel of the 8th of the line, formed out of the remnants of three +regiments, food for powder, furnished to Napoleon by Naples. At the end +of 1810, Pepe took his departure, passed through France, and reached +Saragossa. There he met his brother Florestano, on his way back to +Naples, where he received, on the recommendation of Marshal Suchet, and +by the express desire of Buonaparte, the rank of major-general for his +good services in the Peninsula. The career of this distinguished officer +is highly interesting. At the siege of Andria, in 1799, he was shot +through the breast whilst scaling the walls at the head of his company +of grenadiers. Without being mortal, the wound was extremely severe, and +the surgeon who attended him, and who was esteemed the most skilful in +Naples, cut his chest completely open, in order the better to treat it. +An India-rubber tube was inserted in the centre of the gash to receive +the oozing blood. So terrible was the operation, that the surgeon wished +him to be held down by four strong men. To this Florestano refused to +submit, and bore the anguish without a movement or a murmur. He was then +told that the greatest care and regularity of living were essential to +his existence. His answer was, "that he preferred a month's life of +freedom to an age of solicitude about living;" and with this ghastly +gaping wound he lived, in spite of the predictions of his leech, through +fifteen campaigns. In command of a brigade of cavalry, he took share in +the Russian expedition, and, on the night of the 6th December 1812, it +fell to him to escort Napoleon from Osmiana to Wilna. Out of two +regiments, not more than thirty or forty men arrived. The emperor's +postilion was frozen to death, and had to be replaced by an Italian +officer, who volunteered his services. The two colonels of the brigade +had their extremities frozen, and Florestano Pepe shared the same fate, +losing half his right foot, and only reaching Dantzic through the +assistance of a devoted aide-de-camp. But, even thus mutilated, the +heroic soldier would not abandon his beloved profession, and, during the +final struggle against the Austrians in 1815, he was made +lieutenant-general, by Murat, upon the field of battle. + +On assuming command of his regiment, Colonel Pepe was as much struck by +its martial aspect, as he was vexed at its clumsy manoeuvres, and low +moral condition. Both men and officers lacked instruction. The former +were most incorrigible thieves. Plundering was a pretty common practice +with the French armies in Spain, even in Suchet's corps, which was one +of the best disciplined: and the Italians, anxious not to be outdone in +any respect by their allies, were the most accomplished of depredators. +They had come in fact to hold theft meritorious, and designated it by +the elegant name of _poetry_. This slang term had become so general, +that it was used even by the officers; and the adjutant of Pepe's +regiment, in reporting a marauder to him, calls the man a _poet_. The +prosaic application of a couple of hundred lashes to the shoulders of +this culprit, served as a warning to his fellows, and soon the crime +became of rare occurrence. The officers, although deficient in the +theory of their profession, "were brave and honourable men, and had +shown their valour, not only against the enemy, but in numerous duels, +fought with the French, justifying fully, a saying of Machiavel, that +the courage of the Italians, when opposed man to man, is far superior to +that of other nations." The example of their new commander was not +likely to break the officers of the eighth infantry of their duelling +propensities. In the course of General Pepe's memoirs, he refers to at +least half a score encounters of the kind, in which he was a principal. +With the exception of two, which occurred when he was only seventeen, +and of his final one--as far as we are informed--with General Carascosa, +fought in England, in 1823, these single combats were invariably with +foreigners, with whom the general seems to have been very unenduring. +Not that provocation was wanting on the part of the French, more than +sufficient to rouse the ire of the meekest. The insolence of Napoleon's +victorious legions exceeded all bounds; nor was it the less irritating +for being often unintentional,--the result of a habit of gasconading, +and of a settled conviction that they were superior in valour and +military qualities to all the world besides. A certain General F. could +find no higher praise for Pepe's battalions, when they had gallantly +attacked and beaten a Spanish corps, than was conveyed in the +declaration that they ought, in future, to be regarded, not as +Neapolitans but as Frenchmen! A compliment which to patriotic Italian +ears, sounded vastly like an insult. Attributing it to stupidity, Pepe +did not resent the clumsy eulogium. But it was very rare that he allowed +slights of that kind to pass unnoticed, nor could he always restrain his +disgust and impatience at the fulsome praise he heard lavished upon +Napoleon. The officers who had gained rank and wealth under the French +emperor, exalted him above all the heroes of antiquity, and breathed +fire and flames when their Italian comrades supported the superior +claims to immortality, of an Alexander, a Hannibal, or a Caesar. "I +believe Colonel Pepe loves neither Napoleon nor the French!" angrily +exclaimed a French general during one of these discussions. "I replied +instantly, that I was serving in the army of Arragon, but that I made no +parade of my affections." Words like these were, of course, neither +unheeded nor forgotten, and were little likely to push their utterer +upwards on the ladder of promotion. But at no period of his life did +General Pepe trust to courtier-like qualities for the advancement which +he well knew how to conquer at point of sword. + +After two years passed in Spain, and with the reputation of one of the +best colonels in Suchet's army, Pepe returned to Naples. Murat, who had +just come back from Russia, received him kindly, and made him a +major-general. Notwithstanding this, he entertained serious thoughts of +quitting the service. He had left Spain full of political hopes; and now +the independence which Napoleon's disasters had given to Murat rendered +their realization more than ever improbable. His discontent was +participated in by many of his countrymen, especially by the Carbonari, +which sect was greatly on the increase, fostered by the Bourbonites, +who, for their own purposes, sought to sow dissensions in Naples. "I +looked upon this sect," says General Pepe, "as a useful agent for the +civilisation of the popular classes; but, at the same time, I was of +opinion that, as it was necessary to force the king to grant liberal +institutions, it was needful to make use of the army to avoid, as much +as possible, all disorders of the state." The Abruzzi were the focus of +the Carbonaro doctrines, and thither the general had been despatched +with his brigade. When there, he learned Murat's departure for Dresden, +to command Napoleon's cavalry. "Such was the eccentricity of Joachim, +that a few days before quitting Naples, he had been in treaty with +England to proclaim the independence of Italy, that nation engaging to +furnish twenty thousand men and a considerable sum of money for this +purpose. The ratification of the treaty only reached Naples after the +departure of the king." Caroline Buonaparte, regent of Naples during her +husband's absence, hated Pepe for his liberal principles and declared +opposition to the French party, and showed him marked distrust. October +came; Leipsic was fought, Napoleon retreated towards the Rhine,--Murat +returned to Naples. Deprived of the support of his brother-in-law, whose +star was visibly on the decline, it was time he should think and act +for himself. In this critical conjuncture, he displayed, as usual, a +grievous want of judgment. With a strong Bourbonite party against him, +he could not make up his mind to conciliate, by concession, the liberal +section of his subjects. On the other hand, Ferdinand, under the +guidance of England, had given a constitution to Sicily, and promised to +extend a similar boon to the Neapolitans if they would restore him to +his continental dominions. In this promise, it is true, the patriot +party, with the horrors of 1799 fresh in their memory, placed little +confidence. General Pepe attributes much of Murat's undecided and +injudicious conduct to Napoleon's treatment of him. "The emperor," he +says, "one day exalted him to the skies, and the next would humble him +to the very dust, condemning every thing he did, not only through the +public papers, but in his private correspondence." On this head, the +general gives very curious particulars, derived from the Duke of Campo +Chiaro, chief of the police, and minister under Murat. The dilemma in +which King Joachim found himself might have perplexed a wiser man. It +was an option between turning his arms against his country and his +benefactor, and losing his crown, which he could not hope to retain if +he declared against the allies. After negotiating at one and the same +time with all parties, he finally, at the commencement of 1814, +concluded a treaty of alliance with Austria. But his mind was in an +unsettled and wavering state; and he made no secret to those French +officers who still followed his fortunes, of the good will with which he +would once more fight beside, instead of against, his old companions in +arms. "The Austrians so firmly expected this _volta-facia_, that they +attempted, with one of Nugent's regiments of hussars, to take him +prisoner at Bologna." At times, Pepe fancied that the king was about to +comply with the wishes of the patriot party, grant a liberal +constitution, and proclaim the independence of Italy. His hopes of this +were particularly strong, when he found himself appointed to organise +and command a legion, to consist of men from all the provinces of Italy, +and of whose officers he was to have the nomination. That so important a +trust as this should be confided to a man noted for his democratic +principles, of whom the king never spoke but as the tribune and the +_tete de fer_, and who had been more than once suspected of an intention +to revolt, was indeed a symptom of a change in Murat's views. But it all +ended in smoke. Pepe drew up the plan of the legion, and submitted it to +the king, who took no further notice of it. He was engrossed in watching +the final struggle between Napoleon and the allies. + +On the 19th April, when about to besiege Piacenza, news reached Murat of +the fall of Paris, and of the treaty of peace concluded with the viceroy +of the kingdom of Italy. The war was suspended, and the Neapolitan army +retired southwards. At Rimini, General Pepe, who commanded the rear +guard, fell in with the Pope, then proceeding to Rome, and was admitted +to an interview. Never oblivious of his political principles, he took an +opportunity of saying, "that it would be worthy of an Italian pontiff to +collect about him the sons of Italy, and to drive the foreigners out of +his native land." His holiness listened attentively, but made no reply. +When Murat was informed of this bold suggestion of Pepe's, he exclaimed, +"He will not leave even the Pope quiet," and this saying became a +standing joke against the tenacious patriot. A few days afterwards, +General Ambrosio, another of the liberal party, had been advocating to +the Pope the advantages of a constitution for Italy, "when a crippled +gentleman was brought to the carriage door, who requested the pontiff to +bestow his blessing upon him, that he might recover the use of his +limbs. The Pope, turning towards Ambrosio, said, 'You see, General, +where we are; Italy is still far from the period you so ardently +desire.'" Ambrosio and his friends, especially Pepe, were of the +contrary opinion, and conspired to compel Murat to grant them a +constitution. Seventeen general officers were implicated in the plot, +but when the moment for action came, the majority faltered, Pepe was +left in the lurch, and became the scapegoat. Urged to fly to Milan, he +refused to lower himself in the opinion of his countrymen by seeking +refuge amidst the oppressors of Italy. He was ordered to the castle of +St. Elmo, there to appear before a court-martial, but on reaching +Naples, the placable Murat had forgotten his anger, and received him +kindly. "I treat all my subjects, and you in particular, like my +children," were his first words. In the interesting conversation that +followed, Pepe urged the king to grant a constitution, as the surest +means of securing the affections of his subjects and consolidating his +throne. Murat replied, that he should long since have done so, but that +such a proceeding would draw upon him the implacable animosity of +Austria. And he declined relying, as his unceremonious counsellor urged +him to do, upon the courage of six millions of Neapolitans and the +natural strongholds of the country. He was never offended at Pepe's +frankness, for he had faith in his personal attachment. "It is certain," +says the General, "that, after my country, I was most truly attached to +Joachim, and I would have given my life for him." Subsequent events +proved this, and showed Murat that the man who, boldly and to his face, +had blamed the conduct of the king, was the firm friend of the depressed +and unhappy fugitive. In the closing scene of Joachim's reign, when the +disbanded Neapolitans, badly led, and in some instances deserted by +generals who should never have held the rank, fled before the hosts of +Austria, the sympathy and friendship of his plain-spoken follower were +amongst the last and best consolations of the falling monarch. Very +bitter must have been Murat's reflections at that moment; the conviction +was forced upon him that his misfortunes resulted chiefly from his own +want of judgment and too great facility; captivity or exile stared him +in the face; the sunny smile which, even in moments of the greatest +peril, rarely left his countenance, was chased by shame and +self-reproach, and tears stood upon his cheeks. "I could not restrain my +own, and, instead of speaking, I advanced, took his hand, and kissed it. +Oh! how touched he was by this act of respectful affection on my part! +Who knows but at that moment he recollected the words I had addressed to +him in his palace, 'Whenever you shall find yourself in a situation of +danger, you will learn to distinguish your real friends from the friends +of your fortune.'" A very few days after this affecting scene, on the +night of the 20th May, Murat crossed over in disguise to Ischia, and +embarked for France. On the 23d, took place the triumphal entry of the +Austrians into the city of Naples. + +The particulars of Murat's last mad act, his landing in Italy at the +head of thirty men, and of his consequent capture and tragical death, +have been related by many writers, and General Pepe could add little in +the way of facts to what was already known. He makes some interesting +reflections on the subject, and traces the supreme ill-luck by which +Joachim was pursued in his last desperate venture. On the return of the +Bourbons to France, two of his followers, who had accompanied him from +Naples, hired a vessel to convey him to England or America. But, as fate +would have it, the place of rendezvous was misunderstood. Murat missed +his friends, and, being in hourly peril of his life, put to sea in a +boat. Landed in Corsica, the affectionate welcome he met from thousands +of the inhabitants, many of whom had formerly served under him, cheered +his drooping spirits, and inspired him with the idea of a descent in +Italy. He had two hundred and seventy followers, hardy Corsican +mountaineers, and had they landed with him, General Pepe is of opinion +that he would soon have raised a force sufficiently strong to maintain +the campaign, and extort favourable conditions from Austria, as far, at +least, as regarded his life and liberty. But the six small vessels in +which he left Ajaccio were scattered by a tempest, and he was driven, +with but a tithe of his followers, to the very last port he ought to +have made. The inhabitants of Pizzo, whose coasting trade had been +ruined during the war, were glad of peace on any terms, and looked upon +Murat as a firebrand, come to renew their calamities. They assailed the +adventurers and drove them to the shore. But when Joachim would fain +have re-embarked, he saw his ship standing out to sea. The treacherous +commander had betrayed him for the sake of the valuables he had left on +board. And Murat, the chivalrous, the brave, remained a prisoner in the +hands of his former subjects, scoffed at and reviled by the lowest of +the people. Five days afterwards, twelve bullets in the breast +terminated his misfortunes. It was a soldier's death, but had been +better met on the battle-field. There, amidst the boom of artillery, and +the din of charging squadrons, should have terminated the career of the +most dashing cavalry officer of modern times, of one who might well have +disputed with Ney the proud title of the "_brave des braves_." + +We have purposely dwelt upon the earlier portion of General Pepe's work, +to the exclusion of its latter chapters. We can take but little interest +in Neapolitan history since 1815, in the abortive revolutionary +struggles and manoeuvres of the Carbonari and other would-be +liberators. Nor do the ample details given by the general greatly +increase our respect for Italian patriotism; whilst we trace more than +one discrepancy between the conclusions he draws and the results he +exhibits. He holds his countrymen to have been long since ripe for a +constitutional government and free institutions, and yet he himself +shows us that, when a revolution was achieved, and those great objects +attained, the leading men of his party, those who had been foremost in +effecting the change, proved traitors or dupes, and that the people, +organised in militia and national guards, displayed so little +self-devotion, such small zeal in defence of their newly acquired +liberties, as to be utterly disheartened by the very first conflict with +their treacherous king's supporters, and to disperse, never again to +reassemble. Such was, the case in 1821, and in vain does General Pepe +try to justify his countrymen by attributing their weakness and +defection to the machinations of the evil-disposed. The truth, we +believe, is to be found in the final words of his own proclamation, +addressed to the national guards after the disastrous encounter, in the +vain hope of once more rousing them to resistance. "Your women," he +said, "will make you blush for your weakness, and will bid you hasten +again to surround that general whose confidence in your patriotism you +should have justified better than you did on the 7th of March, when you +fought at Rieti." + +His darling Constitution overthrown, Pepe wandered forth an exile. But +hope never deserted him. Baffled, he was not discouraged. He sought on +all sides for means to renew the struggle. And truly some of his +projects, however creditable to his intrepidity and zeal, say little for +his prudence and coolness of judgment. What can be thought of his +application in 1823 to Mavrocordato for a thousand chosen Greeks, with +whom he proposed to land in Calabria! Of course the chief of the new +Greek government civilly declined leading a thousand of his countrymen +for any such desperate venture. In 1830 the general's hopes were raised +high by the success of the French revolution. His active brain teemed +with projects, and in his mind's eye he again saw the tri-colored banner +floating from St. Elmo's towers. Vain delusions, not destined to +realization. The feeble attempts of the Italian patriots were easily +suppressed, and Pepe retired to Paris, to mourn the fate of his beloved +and beautiful country, doomed to languish in Austrian servitude and +under Bourbon despotism. + + * * * * * + + + + +FRENCH PLAYERS AND PLAYHOUSES.[13] + + [13] "_The Theatres of Paris_. By Charles Hervey." London and Paris, + 1846. + + +In these dull days of latter winter few of our readers will quarrel with +us for transporting them to the gayest capital in Europe, the city of +pleasure, the Capua of the age. In London, at least, there is just now +little to regret; it wears its dreariest, dirtiest, and most +disconsolate garb. The streets are slippery with black mud and blacker +ice, a yellow halo surrounds the gas lamps, even the Bude lights look +quenched and uncomfortable; cabmen, peevish at the paucity of fares, +curse with triple intensity the wood pavement and the luckless garrons +that slide and stumble over it; the blue and benumbed fingers of Italian +grinders can scarcely turn the organ handles; tattered children and +half-starved women, pale, shivering, and tearful, pester the pedestrian +with offers of knitted wares, and of winter nosegays, meagre and +miserable as themselves. The popular cheerfulness and merry-making of +Christmas time are over, and have not yet been succeeded by the bustle +and gaiety of the fashionable world. London is abandoned to its million +of nobodies; the few thousands whose presence gives it life are still on +the list of absentees. + +Mark the contrast. But a minute ago we were in London--dull, empty +London--and behold! we are in Paris--gay, crowded, lively Paris--now +at the height of its season, and in full swing of carnival dissipation. +By a process of which, since the days of Scheherazade, we alone possess +the secret, we have flown over Kent, skimmed the Channel, sped across +the uninteresting plains of Picardy, and are seated at dinner--where? In +the spacious saloon of the _Hotel des Princes_, at the succulent table +of the _Cafe de Paris_, or in the gaudy and dazzling apartments of the +_Maison Doree_? No matter. Or let us choose the last, the _Maison +Dedoree_ as it has been called, its external gilding having ill resisted +the assaults of winter's snows and summer's parching heat. But although, +as Mr. Moore of Ireland has informed us, all that's bright must fade, it +follows not that the substantial deteriorates with the superficial. And +the cookery of the _Maison Doree_ has improved as its gilding has rubbed +off, until even the _Cafe de Paris_ and the far-famed _Trois Freres_ +must veil their inferior charms before the manifold perfections of this +Apician sanctuary. Here, then, we establish ourselves, in this snug +embrasure, whence we have a full view of the throng of diners, whilst +plate glass and a muslin curtain alone intervene between us and the +broad asphalt of the Boulevard. A morocco book, a sheet of vellum, and a +pencil, are before us. We write a dozen lines, and hand them to our +companion; he reads, nods approval, and transfers the precious document +to the smug and expectant waiter. The sharp eye of that Ganymede of the +Gilt House had at once detected our Britannic origin, conspicuous in our +sober garb and shaven chins; and doubtless he anticipated one of those +uncouth bills of fare, infamous by their gastronomical solecisms, which +Englishmen are apt to perpetrate, for he smiles with an air of agreeable +disappointment as he glances at our judicious _menu_. No cause for +wonder, most dapper of _garcons_! 'Tis not the first time, by many, that +we have tabled our Napoleons on your damask napery. Schooled by +indigestion, like Dido by misfortune, we have learned to order our +dinner, even at Paris; and are no more to be led astray in the labyrinth +of your interminable _carte_, than you, versed in the currency of +Albion, are to be deluded by a Brummagem sovereign, or a note of the +Bank of Elegance. So, _presto_, to work! our blessing and a double +_pourboire_ your promised reward. And, verily, he earns them well. The +_potage a la bisque_ is irreproachable; the truffles, those black +diamonds of the epicure, are the pick of Perigueux; the chambertin is of +the old green seal, the sparkling _ai frappe_ to a turn, and, whilst we +tranquilly degustate and deliberately imbibe, the influence of that +greatest achievement of human genius, a good dinner, percolates through +our system, telling upon our moral as upon our physical man. We feel +ineffably benevolent: doubtless we look so; for yonder old gentleman +with the white hair, red ribbon, and ditto face, dining, _tete-a-tete_ +with himself, and who is now at his eleventh dish--a tempting but +inexplicable compound, which Ortila himself would be puzzled to +analyse--contemplates us, in the intervals of his forkings-in, with a +benign and admiring look. Our trusty friend and _vis-a-vis_ turns his +head, and we behold ourselves reflected in the opposite mirror. 'Tis as +we thought: our physiognomy is philanthropical in the extreme. Quite the +"mild, angelic air," that Byron talks of, when describing a gentleman in +very different circumstances. + +But we have no time to dwell upon our personal fascinations, or to +speculate upon the cause of their increase within the last half hour; no +eyes have we save for that Lucullian _salmi_ steaming before us; and, +like ourselves, all around us are absorbed in absorbing. Though every +table is full, there is little noise in the crowded apartment. Men go to +the _Maison Doree_ to eat, not to chatter. Without, too, there is a +lull, after the bustle and racket of the afternoon. The day has been +splendid--crisp, bright, and invigorating, and all the dandies and +beauties of Paris have been abroad, driving in the Champs Elysees, +galloping through the leafless avenues of the Bois de Boulogne, basking +in the winter sun upon the cheerful Boulevards. The morning's amusements +are over; those of the night have not yet begun. It is the moment of the +interlude, the hour of dine, and Paris is busied in the most important +of its diurnal acts. But, alas for the briefness of earthly joys, and +the limited capacity of mortal stomachs! Sad is it that not even in this +Golden Mansion can a feeble child of clay dine twice. We long for the +appetite of a Dando, for the digestion of the bird of the desert, to +recommence our meal, from the soup to the _fondu_. Vain are our +aspirations. The soft languor of repletion steals over us, as we dally +with our final olive, and _buzz_ the Lafitte. Waiter! the coffee. At the +word, the essence of Mocha, black as Erebus, and fragrant as a breeze, +from the Spice Islands, smokes beneath our nostrils, the sparkling +glasses receive the golden _liqueur_, and--WE HAVE DINED. + +Good dinners and amusing theatricals enter largely into the pleasurable +anticipations of English visiters to Paris. The fame of French cooks and +actors is universal; all are eager to taste their productions, and +witness their performances. Let a tyrannical royal ordinance or +sumptuary law close the playhouses and cut down the bills of fare from a +volume to a page, and a sensible diminution will ensue in the influx of +foreigners into France. However great the desire to visit Versailles, +stare at the Vendome column, and ramble round the Palais Royal, those +attractions, if put into the scale, will frequently be found less +weighty than a vaudeville, a dinner at Very's, and a breakfast at the +renowned Rocher. In their expectations, both gastronomical and +theatrical, strangers in Paris are often disappointed. We refer, of +course, to tyros; not to the regular birds of passage who consider a +month or two in the French metropolis as essential a part of their +annual recreations as Ascot or the moors. These, of course, are well +versed in Parisian mysteries, both of the drama and the dining room. But +to the novice, a guide is necessary, whether through the crowded columns +of a _restaurateur's_ complicated _carte_, or amidst the fair promises +held out by the two dozen playbills posted each morning at eleven +o'clock upon the walls and pillars of Paris. For want of it, many a +Johnny Newcome finds himself, after much bewilderment and painful +deliberation, masticating an unsatisfactory dinner or witnessing a +stupid play. We have often wondered that, amongst the multitude of Paris +guide books, not one was to be found containing minute instructions to +the stranger as to the dinners he should order, and the plays and actors +he should see; giving, in short, a series of bills of fare, culinary and +histrionic. This deficit has at last been supplied, at least as regards +things theatrical. A book has been published which should find a place +in the portmanteau of every Englishman starting for the French capital. +Partly a compilation from French works, and partly the result of the +author's own experience, it contains the general history of each of the +Paris theatres, biographical and critical sketches of the actors, lists +and anecdotes of the principal musicians and authors who compose and +write for the stage, and, finally, an enumeration of the best performers +at each theatre, and of the pieces in which they are seen to the +greatest advantage. We need say no more to demonstrate the utility of +the work to those going abroad. And by those remaining at home, its +lively pages will be found a mine of amusing anecdote and curious +information. Abounding in racy and pungent details, sometimes valuable +from their connexion with historical characters, and as illustrations of +the manners and morals of the times, the history of the French stage +might almost be indefinitely prolonged; and, amidst the multitude of +materials, it required some ingenuity to select, as Mr. Hervey has done, +those most suitable to the taste of the day, and to pack them into a +single volume. + +Less than a century ago Paris contained but four theatres. These were, +the French Comedy, the Royal Academy of Music or Grand Opera, the +Italian Comedy, where vaudevilles and comic operas were performed, and +the Theatre de la Foire. The two last named were the ancestors of the +present Opera Comique. "Up to 1593," says Mr. Hervey, "the actors of the +Theatres de la Foire St. Germain and St. Laurent consisted of dogs, +cats, monkeys, and even rats, some of the latter animals being so +admirably trained as to dance a grand ballet on a table, whilst one in +particular, a white rat from Lapland, executed a saraband with +surpassing grace." In 1716 the manager of one of these theatres obtained +leave to give musical performances. This was the origin of the Opera +Comique, which, forty years later, was amalgamated with the Italian +comedy at the Hotel de Bourgogne, whence, in 1783, the united companies +transferred themselves to the Salle Favart. To the four theatres above +enumerated, a few others were added during the reigns of Louis XV. and +his successor, but they were of little note, and the increase in the +number of theatrical establishments was unimportant until the +revolution. Then license was universal, and no special one was required +to open theatres. In 1791 a prodigious number were established, and, for +some years afterwards, nearly fifty, large and small, existed in Paris. +In the time of the empire twenty-eight of these remained, until Napoleon +issued an edict reducing them to ten. At the present day the French +capital contains twenty-two theatres, including the new Theatre +Montpensier, the privilege for which was conceded to Alexandre Dumas at +the request of the prince whose name it bears. Besides these there are a +number of petty playhouses outside the barriers, at Batignolles, +Belleville, and similar places, and Mr. Hervey informs us that a license +has just been granted for a third French opera-house. Play-loving as the +population of Paris undoubtedly is, it must be admitted that ample +provision is made for its gratification. + +The natural classification of the more important of the Parisian +theatres, about fifteen in number, is under four heads: opera--tragedy, +comedy, and drama--vaudeville--melodrama. The first division includes +the French opera, the Italians, the Opera Comique; the second, the +Francais and the Odeon; at the Porte St. Martin and Ambigu Comique, +melodrama is the staple commodity, varied, however, with performances of +a lighter kind; whilst vaudevilles, broad farces, and short comedies +constitute the chief stock in trade of the remainder. At many of the +theatres an entire change in the style of the performances is of no +unfrequent occurrence. We have known the Gaite in the dolefuls, and the +Porte St. Martin abandoning its scaffolds, trap-doors, and other +melodramatic horrors, for fun, farce, and ballet. As a regular thing, +dancing is only to be seen at the Grand Opera. The license of each +theatre specifies the nature of the performances allowed it, but this +is a matter difficult exactly to define, and the rule is easy of +evasion. A better check, perhaps, is the jealousy with which one theatre +beholds another infringing on its attributes. Thus, some years ago, at +the Francais, where the performances should be confined to tragedy, high +comedy, and drama, a play interspersed with songs was brought out. The +Vaudeville viewed this as a usurpation of its privileges, and forthwith +produced a piece called "La Tragedie au Vaudeville," saying that if the +Francais sang vaudevilles, the Vaudeville was justified in singing +tragedy. + +There are in Paris four Theatres Royal, subsidised by the French +government to the extent of about twelve hundred thousand francs, or +nearly L50,000. Rather more than the half of this sum goes to the Grand +Opera, nor is it too much, if we consider the enormous salaries paid to +the singers and dancers at that theatre, and the low prices of +admission; the best place in the house costing less than a pit-ticket at +the Italian opera in London. The Opera Comique receives nearly ten +thousand pounds a-year, the Francais eight, the Odeon four. The other +theatres do as well as they can without subsidies, and, as in this +country, are losing or profitable concerns according to the skill of the +manager, to the merits of the actors and plays produced; and, oftener +still, according to the caprice and good pleasure of the public. Their +prices of admission are generally higher in proportion than those of the +larger theatres. It must be admitted that their performances are often +more amusing. + +Although one or two attempts were made at earlier periods, the permanent +establishment of the opera in France cannot be traced further back than +the reign of Louis XIV., when Cardinal Mazarine had the happy idea of +introducing it, in hopes of amusing that most unamuseable of monarchs. +The novelty found great favour, both with sovereign and courtiers. +Performances took place in the king's private apartments; the Marquis of +Sourdeac, a man of immense wealth and considerable mechanical skill, +constructed a theatre in his Norman castle, and brought out the "Toison +d'Or," with words by Corneille. At last an opera company was regularly +installed in a building in the Rue Vaugirard, and here, upon one +occasion, when the King was present, the Prince of Conde, and other +great nobles, danced upon the stage amongst the actors. "The first opera +in which female dancers were introduced was the Triumph of Love, played +at St. Germains before Louis XIV. On the occasion of this brilliant +_fete_, several ladies of the court were amongst the performers, and it +was resolved that they should in future be replaced by professional +_danseuses_, the female characters in the ballet having previously been +sustained by men." Lully, the celebrated composer, was manager of the +opera house, where he amassed a very large fortune. He made himself +greatly dreaded by his orchestra, whom he used to belabour over the head +with his fiddle. In this manner he is said to have broken scores of +violins, and one unlucky clarionet-player, in particular, who was never +either in time or tune, cost him a vast number of instruments. They +shivered like glass upon the obdurate noddle of the faulty Orpheus, and +Lully swore he had never met with so vile a musician, or so hard a head. +After a time it was discovered that the offender wore a leaden lining to +his periwig. Louis XIV. never ceased to take a most paternal interest in +his opera company. He went so far as to regulate and write out with his +own hand, the salaries allowed to the performers. Those were not days +when a singer was better paid than the general of an army, or a minister +of state; when each note of a tenor's voice was worth a corresponding +one, and of no small figure, issued from the Bank of France. The salary +of a first rate tenor or barytone, was then less than is now given to a +chorister or walking gentleman. Sixty pounds were the highest yearly sum +granted by Louis XIV. to the best opera singer. The first female dancer +received thirty-six pounds! We are quite sure, that the waiting maid of +an Elssler or a Taglioni, would turn up her nose at such a pittance. +Louis XIV. was gathered to his fathers, and soon after his death +matters improved a little. Still the pay was poor enough. But what of +that? Those were the palmy days of the heroes and heroines of the foot +lamps. For the disciples of Thespis, Paris was a paradise. True, when +dead they were refused Christian burial, but they cared little about +that, sinners that they were, for, whilst living, courted, flattered, +and cherished, they amassed, or more often spent, princely fortunes. +During the dissolute half century preceding the revolution, they were at +the summit of their prosperity. High born dames, even princesses of +blood royal, culled their favourites from amongst the knights of the +buskin; actresses, dancers, mere figurantes, saw the wealthiest and +proudest languishing at their feet, and contending for their smiles. +That was the time when Vestris, the God of Dance, as he called himself, +said publicly, and with the most perfect conviction, that there were +only three great men in Europe, the King of Prussia, M. de Voltaire, and +himself! "There are roses as well as thorns in my profession," said he +to a friend who expatiated on the happiness of being a public favourite. +"I assure you, sometimes I think I would rather be a mere captain of +cavalry than what I am." "Old chronicles," says Albert Cler, in a +spirited sketch of the French opera, "tell us of the extraordinary +luxury, in carriages, liveries, furniture, and jewels, displayed by the +goddesses of the opera. The Prince d'Henin passed a contract with Sophie +Arnould, by a clause of which he engaged to supply her with a new +equipage every month. A nymph who flourished in the time of the +Directory, the celebrated Clotilde, enjoyed, thanks to the munificence +of an Italian prince and of a Spanish admiral, an income of two +millions, and managed, notwithstanding this royal revenue, to get into +debt to the tune of some five hundred thousand francs yearly." Earlier +than this, by fifty years, the Camargo and the Salle were all the rage. +The latter, Mr. Hervey tells us, paid a visit to London, and there, at +one of her performances, gold and bank-notes were showered upon the +stage, to the amount of L800. Her annual salary at the French opera was +less than L150. The suppers of Mademoiselle Guimard, another of the +fairy-footed sisterhood, whose bust, bequeathed by her to the opera, is +still the principal ornament of the dancers' green-room, were renowned +throughout Europe. They occurred thrice in the week; the first was +attended by the most distinguished courtiers and nobles, the second by +artists and by men of letters and learning, the third, which deserved +the name of an orgie, by the prettiest women she could collect. + +Few of the amateurs, who, armed with double-barrelled telescopes, +contemplate from box or stall the agile bounds and graceful evolutions +of the houris of the ballet, have any conception of the amount of labour +and torture gone through, before even an approach to perfection in the +Terpsichorean art is accomplished. Alberic Second, the very witty author +of a very amusing book (albeit in thorough French taste) "Les Petits +Mysteres de l'Opera," to whose pages Mr. Hervey confesses himself +largely indebted, gives many curious details on this subject. An immense +amount of courage, patience, resignation, and toil, is necessary, to +become even a middling dancer. The poor children--for dancing, above all +things, must be learnt young--commence with the stocks, heel to heel and +knees outwards. Half an hour of this, and another species of martyrdom +begins. One foot is placed upon a bar which is grasped by the contrary +hand. This is called _se casser_, to break one's self. After this +agreeable process come the thousand and one steps, essential to an opera +dancer. "Such," says an imaginary _danseuse_ from whom M. Second +professes to receive his information, "are the agreeable elements of the +art of dancing. And do not suppose that these rude fatigues are of short +duration. They are perpetual, and on that condition only does a dancer +retain her activity and suppleness. A week's idleness must be atoned for +by two months' double labour. The opera-dancer realises the fable of +Sisyphus and his rock. She resembles the horse, who pays with his +repose, his flesh and his liberty, the rapid victories of the +racecourse. I have seen Mademoiselle Taglioni, after receiving a two +hours' lesson from her father, fall helpless upon the floor, and allow +herself to be undressed, spunged, and again attired, without the least +consciousness of what passed. The agility and wonderful bounds with +which she, that same evening, delighted the public, were at this price." +Besides these terrible fatigues, dancers often run serious personal +risks. So, at least, says the author of the "Petits Mysteres" who, as a +journalist and frequenter of the _coulisses_, is excellent authority. He +cannot resist a joke, but it is easy to sift the facts from their +admixture of burlesque exaggerations. "By dint of incurring simulated +dangers, the dancer accustoms herself to real peril, as a soldier in war +time becomes habituated to murder and pillage. She suspends herself from +wires, sits upon pasteboard clouds, disappears through trap doors, comes +in by the chimney and goes out by the window. In the first act of the +Peri there is so dangerous a leap, that I consider Carlotta Grisi risks +her life every time she takes it. Let M. Petipa be once awkward, or even +absent, and Carlotta will break her head upon the boards. I know an +Englishman who attends every performance of this ballet. He is persuaded +it will be fatal to Carlotta, and would not for the world miss the +catastrophe. It is the same man who, for three years, followed Carter +and Van Amburgh, always hoping that a day would come when the animals +would sup with their masters, and upon their masters." Considering the +preparatory ordeal and frequent perils of their profession, dancers +fairly earn the money and honours paid to them. Crowned heads have +condescended to treat them as equals. At Stuttgart, we are told, +Taglioni, towards the commencement of her career, won the affections of +the Queen of Wurtemberg, who shed tears at her departure. At Munich, the +King of Bavaria introduced her to his Queen, with the words, +"_Mademoiselle, je vous presente ma femme_." "At Vienna she was once +called before the curtain twenty-two times in one evening, and was drawn +to her hotel, in her own carriage, by forty young men of the first +Austrian families." Every one remembers the enthusiasm excited by Fanny +Elssler amongst the matter-of-fact Yankees. During her last engagement +at the French opera her salary was eighty thousand francs a-year. +Taglioni and Elssler personify the two styles into which the present +school of dancing is divided, the _ballonne_ and the _tacquete_. The +former is lightness combined with grace, when the dancer seems to float +upon air. The _tacquete_ is vivacity and rapidity; little quick steps on +the points of the feet. + +The principal singers now engaged at the French opera are Duprez and +Gardoni, tenors; Baroilhet, the barytone; Bremond and Serda, who have +succeeded, if they could not replace, the celebrated bass, Levasseur; +and Madame Stoltz. Duprez is well known in England as a singer of great +energy and admirable method, but whose powers have grievously suffered +from over-exertion. Halevy and Meyerbeer should be indicted as the +assassins of his once beautiful voice. The five tremendous acts of +Robert le Diable, and the stunning accompaniments of the author of the +Juive, are destructive to any tenor. In Paris, Duprez is still a +favourite, especially in Guillaume Tell, considered his crack part. +Gardoni, who has now been two years on the opera boards, has replaced +him in some of his characters. This young singer has a very fresh and +melodious voice, great taste and feeling, but lacks power, and, it is to +be feared, will share the fate of most of his predecessors, and soon +succumb to the thundering orchestra of the Academie Royale.[14] As Mr. +Hervey very justly observes, there is no medium for a tenor at the +French opera. He must either scream, in order to be heard above the +music, or be wholly inaudible. Baroilhet is unquestionably the best of +the present opera company. His acting and singing are alike good, and +his voice, of a less delicate texture than a tenor, has preserved its +vigour and freshness. It would be unfair to estimate his abilities by +his performance, some two years ago, at the London Opera-house. He was +then in ill health, and was heard to great disadvantage. He has been +fifteen years on the stage, but only the last five of them have been +passed at Paris. He previously sang at various Italian theatres, chiefly +at the San Carlo. Donizetti's Roberto Devereux and Belisario were +composed expressly for him. Madame Rosine Stoltz, whose portrait, a very +fair resemblance, is prefixed to Mr. Hervey's sketch of her operatic +career, is a highly dramatic singer and an excellent actress, but her +voice, of unusually extensive range, has a metallic sharpness which to +our ear is not pleasant. She possesses a good stage face and figure, and +her performance is most effective both in tragic and comic parts, +although she is usually preferred in the former. We believe she has +never sung in England, perhaps on account of the short respite allowed +her by the French opera--but one month in the year. She is said to be a +god-daughter of the Duchess of Berri. Various notices of her life have +been published, but there is little agreement between them. It is +generally understood that her early years were unprosperous, and that +she endured much suffering and misfortune. If so, she learned mercy from +persecution, for she is now noted for her benevolence, and for the +generous assistance she affords to the needy amongst her comrades. + + [14] Doubtless Gardoni was apprehensive of some such deterioration + of his voice, for he has just left the _Academie_, after much + opposition on the part of the manager, and has made a highly + successful appearance at the Italian opera. + +Notwithstanding the efforts and merits of these three or four singers, +the French opera is in a declining state. A numerous company is not +always synonymous with a strong one. The present manager, M. Leon +Pillet, has been accused of disgusting, dismissing, or omitting to +engage, some of the best singers of the day. Poultier, the Rouen cooper, +a tenor of the Duprez school, is cited as an instance. He was engaged by +a former management at a thousand francs a-month for eight months in the +year, but, although much liked by the public, he was kept in the +background, owing partly, it was reported, to his own unassuming +character, and partly to certain green-room intrigues and jealousies. +During his vacation he starred in the provinces, earning four or five +times the amount of his Paris salary. In his native town he was carried +in triumph, and treated to an interminable serenade, whose performers, +according to the deposition of our friend, M. Second, relieved each +other every two hours, and kept up their harmony for a whole day and +night. Roger, of the Opera Comique, is another singer whose proper place +is at the Grand Opera, he is young, handsome, a good actor, and since +Duprez' decline, the best French tenor extant. + +At Paris theatres, and especially at the opera, the next best thing to +having a good company is to have a good _claque_. Such, at least, is the +theory of the actors and managers of the present day. The more rusty the +tenor, the more wrinkled the prima donna, the greater the need of an +army of iron-fisted, brazen-visaged hirelings to get artificial +applause, and inoculate the public with their factitious enthusiasm. In +this latter respect they now rarely succeed. The device is stale, the +trick detected, and yet the practice is maintained. It takes in no one. +Even raw provincials and newly imported foreigners are up to the +stratagem before they have been a week in Paris. The press inveighs +against it; audiences, far from being duped, often remain silent when +most pleased, lest they should be confounded with the _claqueurs_. But +no manager dares to strike the first blow at this troublesome abuse. +There is a regular contractor for the opera _claque_, receiving so much +a month from each actor. Duprez has always refused to submit to this +extortion, but he is, or was, the only exception to the rule. The +contractor has an organised regiment under his orders, mustering sixty +strong. Every opera night, before the opening of the doors, they +assemble at a low coffee-house in the Rue Favart, to receive his orders +for the evening, and thence follow him to the theatre, into which they +are admitted through a private entrance. Some of them are paid for +applauding--these are the chiefs, the veteran clappers; others applaud +for a free admission, whilst a third class are content to do their best +for the good of the house, and to pay half-price for their tickets. The +distribution of these _bravo_-battalions, these knights of the +chandelier, as they are called, from the post of their main body being +in the centre of the pit, requires much skill and judgment. The captain +of the _claque_ is an important personage, respected by his +subordinates, courted by the actors, and skilled in the strategy of his +profession, which yields him a handsome income. A tap of his cane on the +ground is the signal for applause. The _chatouilleur_, or tickler, a +variety of the genus _claqueur_, is in vogue chiefly at the smaller +theatres. His duty is to laugh, and, if possible, infect his neighbours +with his mirth. He stands upon a lower grade of the social step-ladder +than the _claqueur_; very unjustly, as it appears to us, his scope for +the display of original genius being decidedly larger. How delicately +may he modulate his merriment, and control his cachinnations, +establishing a regular gamut, rising from the titter to the guffaw, +abating from the irrepressible horse-laugh to the gratified snigger. He +may himself be a better actor than those for whose benefit his mirth is +feigned. And when, with aching ribs and a moist pocket-handkerchief--for +an accomplished _chatouilleur_ must be able to laugh till he cries--he +retires from the scene enlivened by his efforts, it is with the proud +consciousness that his contagious chuckle, as much as author's _jokes_ +or _buffo's_ comicalities, has contributed to set the theatre in a roar. + +Boileau said that + + Le Francais, ne malin, crea le vaudeville, + +and Boileau was right, although, when he wrote the line, he referred to +a particular style of satirical song, and not to the farces and +comedies, intermixed with couplets and snatches of music, that have +since borne the name. The Frenchman not only created the vaudeville, but +he reserved to himself its monopoly. Essentially French, it is +inimitable on any other stage. Of the many attempts made, none have +succeeded in catching its peculiar spirit. The Englishman has his farce, +the German his _possenspiel_, the Spaniard his _saynete_, but the +vaudeville will only flourish on French soil, or, at least, in the hands +of French authors and actors. Piron and Lesage were its fathers; their +mantle has been handed down through succeeding generations, worn +alternately by a Piis and a Barre, by a Panard, whom Marmontel called +the La Fontaine of the vaudeville, and a Desaugiers, until, in the +present day, it rests upon the shoulders of Scribe, and his legion of +rivals and imitators. With the exception of the four theatres royal and +the Italian opera, there is not a playhouse in Paris where it is not +performed, although in each it takes a different tone, to which the +actors, as they change from one stage to another, insensibly adapt +themselves. Thus the four principal vaudeville theatres have each their +own style. There is an immeasurable distance between the vaudeville +_grivois_, the laxity, not to say the positive indecency, of the Palais +Royal--supported by the _double-entendres_ of Ravel and Madame Lemenil, +and the buffoonery of Alcide Tousez--and the neat and correct little +comedies of the Gymnase, so admirably enacted by a Ferville, a Numa, and +a Rose Cheri. To the latter theatre, the Parisian matrons conduct their +daughters; the former they themselves hesitate to visit. The substance +is not invariably more praiseworthy at the one than at the other, but +the form is always more decorous. + +In discussing the vaudeville, the theatre bearing that name naturally +claims the precedence, to which the excellence of its present company +also gives it some title. Until the year 1792, there existed at Paris no +theatre specially appropriated to this style of performance, which was +given at the Comedie Italienne. It attracted crowds; and Sedaine, the +composer, vexed to see it preferred to his comic operas, wrote a couplet +against it, exhibiting more spleen than poetical merit. The attack, +however, together with the refusal of a small pension which he had +claimed from the Italian Comedy, to whose treasury he had brought +millions of francs, irritated Piis, the vaudevilliste then in vogue, the +Scribe of his day. In conjunction with Barre and a few actors, he opened +a theatre in the Rue de Chartres. The enterprise was crowned with +complete success, and an able company was soon assembled. Mr. Hervey has +collected some droll anecdotes of the actors who flourished under this +management, although they lose part of their point by translation. +Chapelle, a short stout man, "with eyes that were continually opening +and shutting, thick black eyebrows, a mouth always half open, and a pair +of legs resembling in shape the feet of an elephant," was remarkable for +his credulity, and his comrades took particular delight in mystifying +him. "Seveste, who had just returned from fulfilling an engagement at +Rouen, told the unfortunate dupe that, during his stay in that town, he +had succeeded in taming a carp so perfectly, that it followed him about +like a dog; adding, that he was much grieved at having lost it. 'How did +that happen?' said Chapelle, greatly interested. 'Why,' replied Seveste, +'one evening I took it to my dressing-room at the theatre; as I was +going home after the performance, a terrible storm came on, and my poor +carp, in trying to leap a gutter, fell in and was drowned.'--'How very +unlucky!' cried Chapelle; 'I always thought a carp could swim like a +fish!' As he grew older, however, Chapelle, weary of being continually +hoaxed, made up his mind to believe nothing, and carried his scepticism +so far as to reply to a friend's anxious inquiries after his health, +'Ask somebody else that question, my fine fellow; you can't take _me_ in +now.'" Another of the company, Carpentier, drank away his memory, forgot +his old parts, and could learn no new ones. For a long time he did not +act, but at last ventured to appear in a procession, as a barber who had +nothing to say. The audience immediately recognised their old favourite, +and applauded him for several minutes after he left the stage. Once more +behind the scenes, he exclaimed, "Ils m'ont reconnu! Ils m'ont reconnu!" +and burst into tears. "In one of his parts, Carpentier had some couplets +to sing, of which the first ran as follows:-- + + Un acteur, + Qui veut de l'auteur + Suivre en tout + L'esprit et le gout, + Doit d'abord, + De savoir son role, + Faire au moins le petit effort. + +Here he stopped short, and repeated the verse thrice, but could get no +further; from that day a settled gloom came over him, and he soon +committed suicide, by throwing himself out of a window." + +The great guns of the present Vaudeville company are, Arnal, Bardou, and +Felix; Madame Albert, lately become Madame Bignon, by a second marriage; +and Madame Doche, sister of Miss Plunkett the dancer. It would be +difficult to find five better actors in their respective styles. All of +them, with the exception, we believe, of Bardou, have performed in +London, and been received with enthusiasm as great as the chilly +audience of the St. James's theatre ever thinks fit to manifest. Arnal, +although he has formidable rivals at his own and other theatres, is +unquestionably the first French comic actor of the day. Farce is his +_forte_--we ask his pardon, and would say, comedy, vaudeville, _charge_, +extravaganza, or any other names by which it may be fitting to designate +the very farcical pieces in which he usually performs. There are no +farces now upon the French stage; the term is voted low. Moliere, it is +true, wrote and acted farces, until he glided into a higher style; but +the more genteel authors and actors of the present time, will not so far +condescend. They willingly produce and perform the most pitiful +buffooneries, but then it is under a better sounding title. They look to +the letter and not the spirit; admit the thing, but repudiate the name. +_Les farceurs!_ Arnal, of course, follows the fashion of the times, +although too sensible a fellow, we suspect, to care a rush about the +matter. For the last twenty years he has been the chief prop of the +Vaudeville, where he performs for ten months out of the twelve, at a +salary of fourteen hundred pounds, with _feux_ or allowances of twenty +francs for every act he plays in. His first appearance was in the +tragic character of Mithridates, in which he convulsed his audience with +laughter. Convinced by this experiment that tragedy was not his line, he +turned his attention to low comedy, and enacted Jocrisse. "In this +part," he says, in a very clever poetical epistle to his friend Bouffe, +"I was allowed to be tolerably amusing, but all declared that I was much +more comic in Mithridates." Off the stage there is nothing particularly +funny in Arnal's appearance. The expression of his face, which is much +marked with the small pox, is quiet and serious, and it is by this same +seriousness that he makes his hearers laugh. When acting, nothing will +extort a smile from him. Gifted with extreme self-possession and a ready +wit, he now and then embroiders his parts, always with the happiest +effect. The excessive dryness with which he gives out his jokes often +constitutes their chief merit. To enumerate his crack characters, those +which he may be said to have created, would be too long a task. The +_Poltron_ is one of his best, and the story goes that his valet, who had +been a soldier, having seen him perform it, gave him warning the next +morning, declaring that he could not possibly remain in the service of +so inveterate a coward. Some of his happiest efforts have been made in +little one-act drolleries for two performers; such as _Passe Minuit_, +where he is ably seconded by Bardou. "In private life, Arnal is grave, +taciturn, and fond of study; he is said to be a regular frequenter of +the _Bibliotheque Royale_, and has published, besides his epistle to +Bouffe, a collection of prettily versified tales and fables." The letter +to Bouffe is an amusing, and witty sketch of his own career. + +Happening, some seven years ago, to enter the ill-lighted, low-roofed +theatre of a third-rate French town, full five hundred miles from Paris, +we were struck and fascinated by the exquisite grace and feeling with +which an actress of the name of Albert enacted the part of a blind girl +in Frederick Soulie's painful drama of _Diane de Chivry_. The place of +so accomplished a performer was evidently on the Parisian boards, and we +learned with surprise, that she was on no mere starring expedition, but +had quitted the capital, where she was idolised, with a view to a long +stay in the provinces. It is rare that French actors who can obtain a +decent engagement at Paris, consent to waste their sweetness upon +provincials for more than a few nights in the year; and at the time, the +motives of Madame Albert's self-banishment, which has only recently +terminated, was to us a mystery. The explanation we subsequently heard +of it, agrees with that given by Mr. Hervey, and is most creditable to +the delicacy and good feeling of the actress who thus abandoned the +scene of her early triumphs to submit herself to the caprices and clumsy +criticisms of country audiences. She wished "to spare her husband--then +engaged in a subordinate capacity at the Theatre Francais, and who was +seldom spoken of otherwise than as 'the husband of Madame Albert of the +Vaudeville'--the mortification of seeing his own efforts completely cast +into the shade by those of his wife; and it was with the view of +associating him in future with her own successes that she determined on +refusing every proposal made to her by the different managers of the +capital, a task she persevered in until his death enabled her to return +without compunction to Paris, where her place had long been empty." +Eclipsed and unnoticed in the metropolis, M. Albert, whose real name was +Rodrigues, passed muster very well in country towns. Of his widow, who +has been seen and appreciated in London, we need say nothing. All who +have witnessed her delightful performances, will admit her to be one of +the most charming actresses of the day. Voice, face, figure, every thing +is in her favour; her popularity is as well established as her talent is +versatile and perfect. "She is cited," says Mr. Hervey, "as one of those +who, not more by their brilliant natural gifts than by their private +worth, have become ornaments of the profession to which they belong, and +who, whilst they can fairly claim universal admiration, are not less +entitled to universal respect." There are few actresses upon any stage +deserving of so high an encomium; there is perhaps not one of whom, as +of Madame Albert, it may with truth be said, that in the several styles +of comedy, vaudeville, and domestic drama, she is unsurpassed, if not +unequalled. + +Another pretty woman and excellent actress is the Belgian beauty, Madame +Doche, to whose personal attractions the lithograph prefixed to her +memoir does less than justice. She made her first appearance at the +early age of fourteen, at the Versailles theatre, under the assumed name +of Fleury. She is now only three-and-twenty, but her reputation as a +first-rate actress has been established for the last half-dozen years. +Of her it was said, when she acted at Brussels, her native city, that +she was pretty enough to succeed without talent, and had enough talent +to dispense with beauty. She was one of the first who, with Felix for +her partner, danced the Polka upon the Paris stage, in the piece called +_La Polka en Province_. The dance was then new, and her graceful +performance of it excited enthusiastic applause. + +From the _Vaudeville_ to its neighbour and rival, the _Varietes_, the +distance is short; to choose between them, in respect of excellence of +acting, and amount of amusement, is very difficult. The founder of the +_Varietes_ was the witty Mlle. Montansier, who, previously to the first +French Revolution, had the management of the Versailles theatre, as well +as of several of the principal provincial ones. In 1790, she opened the +house now known as the _Palais Royal_, for mixed performances, tragedy, +comedy, and opera. There Mlle. Mars commenced her career. The prosperity +of the company dates from 1798, when the celebrated Brunet joined it. +Brunet was the theatrical joker of his time; and all stray puns and +witticisms, good, bad, and indifferent, were attributed to him as +regularly as, at a later day, and in another country, they have, been +fathered upon a Jekyll and a Rogers. Many of his jests had a political +character, and got him into serious scrapes. This, Mr. Hervey appears to +doubt, but without reason. In various memoirs and reminiscences of the +early years of the present century, we find recorded Brunet's stinging +sarcasms, and the consequent reprimands and even imprisonments be +incurred. "_L'Empereur n'aime que Josephine et la chasse!_" was his +exclamation when Napoleon's project of divorce was first bruited about; +and for days Paris rang with the sharp jest. "_Le char l'attend!_" he +cried, pausing before the triumphal arch on which stood the horses and +empty chariot, the spoils of Venice. But the license of Monsieur +Brunet's tongue was little relished by the imperial _charlatan,--le +claqueur de la Grand Armee_, as he has been called. Corsican though he +was, he had a thorough French susceptibility of ridicule, and well knew +that, with his laughter-loving subjects, wit carried weight. The actor +was summoned before the prefect of police, severely lectured, and +admonished to abjure puns, if he would escape punishment. "_Mais que +voulez vous que je fasse_," replied poor Brunet, in piteous accents, +"_c'est mon metier de faire des calembourgs, j'y gagne ma vie. Voulez +vous donc que je scie du bois?_"[15] And, in spite of menaces and +imprisonment, he continued each evening to delight the audience of the +Varietes with his highly spiced allusions to the men and events of the +day. His reputation was European. "Brazier, in his _Histoire des Petits +Theatres de Paris_, relates that, being one day, (March 31st, 1814) on +guard at the Barriere St. Martin, a young Calmuck officer, who could +hardly speak a word of French, asked him the way to Brunet's theatre." +Aided by Tiercelin, the popular actor of the time, who took his types +from the lowest classes of the people, Brunet ensured the prosperity of +the theatre, until at last the actors at the Francais, who had long +complained of the preference accorded by the public to Brunet's +performances, addressed repeated remonstrances to government, and +declared that the taste of the nation was becoming corrupted, and the +classic drama of Corneille and Racine despised. They were supported by +Fouche and a section of the press, until at last Napoleon, who meddled +greatly in theatrical matters, and one of whose sayings was, that if +Corneille had lived in his time, he would have made him a prince, +thought proper to interfere. Brunet's company was ejected from the +Palais Royal, and took refuge, whilst the present theatre on the +Boulevard Montmartre was building, in the Theatre de la Cite, on the +left bank of the Seine. On the last night at the Palais Royal, (31st +December, 1806,) the actors and actresses took their leave of the public +on that side the river, in a series of appropriate couplets. One of +these ran as follows:-- + + Vous que l'tambour et tambourin + A la gloir', au plaisir entraine; + Quand vous avez passe le Rhin, + Craindrez vous de passer la Seine? + + [15] Innumerable jests and lampoons circulated at the time of + Napoleon's separation from Josephine, and second marriage. Conscious + of the unworthy part he acted, the Emperor was greatly galled by + them. "The keenest and most remarkable of these," says a German + author who was in Paris at the time, "is unquestionably a _Chanson + Poissarde_, of which hundreds of copies have been distributed, and + which thousands have got by heart. Its author, in spite of + Napoleon's fury, and of the zealous exertions of the police, has not + been discovered. Several hundred persons have been arrested for + copying or repeating it; but its original source remains unknown." + It consists of nine verses, in the vulgar and mutilated French of + the Paris _halles_. A couple of them will give a notion of the sly + wit of the whole. They refer, of course, to the Emperor and to his + future bride, Maria Louisa of Austria:-- + + Pour ell' il s'est fait l'aut' jour + Pemd'en bel habit d'dimanche, + Et des diamants tout autour, + Pres d' sa figur comm' ca tranche! + La p'tite luronne, j'en somm' sur, + Aim' mieux l'present que l'futur. + + Ah! comm' ell' va s'amuser, + C' te princess' qui nous arrive! + Nous, j'allons boir' et danser, + N's enrouer a crier: Vive! + Ell, s' ra l'idol' d' la nation, + J' l'ons lu dans l'proclamation. + +This reference to the martial prowess of the "_grande nation_," of +course nearly brought down the house, but it did not carry the audience +over the water, at least for some time. At last a new and successful +play proved a magnet of irresistible attraction, and produced a receipt +of twelve thousand pounds in three months. + +In June, 1807, the new Theatre des Varietes opened. Its situation, on a +crowded central boulevard, is excellent, and its vogue, with a few brief +intervals, has been constant. A large proportion of the best French +comic actors of the present century have acted there during the +thirty-nine years that have elapsed since its inauguration. Amongst +these are reckoned Bosquier Gavaudan, the best couplet singer of his +day,--remarkable for his distinct articulation, and who, "from +constantly personating officers of rank, grew so accustomed to wear a +red ribbon in his coat, that, even when sitting in his dressing-gown at +home, he did not feel comfortable without one in his button-hole;" Mme. +Barroyer, a flame of Charles X. before the Revolution, the protectress +and one of the teachers of Mlle. Mars; Potier, pronounced by Talma to be +the most consummate actor he ever knew; Vernet, the admirable comedian; +and Odry, who has been called the French Liston, but who is preferred, +by most of those whom a thorough knowledge of both languages renders +capable of equally appreciating French and English farce, even to the +great Paul Pry himself. Then came Frederick Lemaitre, the hero of the +melodrama, and sometimes of the more elevated class of drama. He was ill +supported at the Varietes, and consequently proved less attractive than +he has since been at the Porte St. Martin. He is remarkable for the care +with which he studies every detail of his characters, even to the most +trifling points of dress and accessories. His love of consistency +betrays him, at times, into what may be termed the pedantry of costume. +"When playing Buridan, in the Tour de Nesle, he appeared as prime +minister in the fourth act, clad in velvet, but with a plain woollen +shirt, whereas the courtiers around him wore fine linen garnished with +lace. On his being asked the reason of this apparent inconsistency, he +replied, that he did not wear a linen shirt because at the epoch +referred to in the piece, they were not in common use; 'Nay, more,' +added he, 'a century afterward, Isabel of Bavaria was reproached with +extravagance for having too much of linen in her _trousseau_." He was +once hissed at Orleans, when performing the part of a starving and +destitute man, for taking snuff out of a bit of paper. He had thought it +improbable that the needy wretch he represented would carry a +snuff-box. Guessing the cause of the public disapprobation, he produced +a gold one, which was vehemently applauded. + +Jenny Vertpre the miniature Mars, as she has been called, in compliment +to her talent, and with reference to her diminutive stature, held more +than one engagement at the Varietes. She has been a great rambler, +having acted in Germany, Holland, and Belgium, and visited England as +manager of a French company. She married Carmouche, a writer of +vaudevilles, has left the stage, and teaches young actresses. + +The present company at this pleasant theatre is rich in talent. It +includes seven or eight actors and actresses, who may be justly termed +excellent in their respective styles. At the top of the list stand +Bouffe and Dejazet. Respecting the latter, we have but little to add to +the opinion we expressed in a recent number of this Magazine. After a +long and fatiguing career, and at an age when most actresses have either +left the stage, or dwindled into duennas and other subordinate parts, +she still affords more pleasure by her performances than nine-tenths of +her youthful contemporaries. Her _making-up_, is admirable, and she and +Madame Doche divide between the honour of being the best dressed women +on the French stage. In the ball-room or the street she still looks +young; for although her face depends upon paint, her figure is erect and +juvenile, and one would hardly suspect her of being the mother of +"Monsieur Eugene Dejazet, who has attained some celebrity as a musical +composer, and of a daughter who appeared at the St. James's theatre, in +1844, under the name of Mademoiselle Herminie." Her generosity and +excellent heart have endeared her to her comrades. Her wit and ready +repartee are proverbial. Mr. Hervey quotes a few of her _bon mots_, but +he might have made a better selection. It is true that, besides the +difficulty of translation, he may have been hampered by the latitude the +lady allows herself. He regrets that a collection of her smart sayings +is not made, to be called Dejazetiana; and opines that it would rival in +merit, and far surpass in bulk, the volume containing the sallies of the +famous Sophie Arnould. Something of the sort has been published, under +the title of the "Perroquet de Mademoiselle Dejazet," but to its +authenticity or value we are unable to speak. + +In the year 1821, a young man in his twenty-first year, by trade a +carver and gilder, was engaged to act at the new theatre of the Panorama +Dramatique, at the enormous salary of twelve pounds per annum. To +augment this pittance, and to please his father, who was averse to his +new profession, he employed himself between the acts in gilding frames +in a small workshop behind the scenes. This ill-paid aspirant to +histrionic fame was MARIE BOUFFE, "the most perfect comedian of his +day," says Mr. Hervey, and we fully coincide in the verdict. Bouffe, is +one of the most intelligent, accomplished, and agreeable actors we ever +saw; subtle and delicate in his conceptions of character, energetic +without rant, ever true to Nature, and of a rare versatility of talent. +We have known several persons who fancied, partly perhaps on account of +his name, that he only acted comic parts: they should see him obtain a +_succes de larmes_, throw a whole theatre into tears, by his exquisite +feeling and pathos in serious ones. No actor more thoroughly makes his +audience forget that he is one. His identification with his part is +complete. The two lines of characters he usually takes are old men and +lads, even very young boys. And in both he perfectly succeeds. We are +doubtful in which to prefer him. As the noisy, lively, mischievous +urchen in the _Gamin de Paris_, and as the griping old miser in the +_Fille de l'Avare_, he is equally excellent. His countenance is +remarkable. A clever critic has said of him, that he has the physiognomy +of a Mephistopheles and the eye of an angel. The observation is +singularly happy. There _is_ something Mephistophelian in the curve of +his nose, and in the lines around his mouth. His command of expression +is extraordinary; his eyes, especially, alternately flash fire and grow +dim with melancholy or tenderness. His figure is short, thin, and frail; +his general appearance sickly, and not without cause, for poor Bouffe +is consumptive, and, to judge from his looks, not long for this world. +The only actor upon the French or English stage with whom we can compare +him is the veteran Farren. But the comparison is to the advantage of the +Frenchman, whose chief characteristic is his entire freedom from +mannerism and stage trick. Mr. Farren is of the old and sterling school +of actors, of which, unfortunately, so few remain. He stands first in +his line upon the English boards, and deserves to be spoken of with all +respect. Would that we had a dozen as good. But he has his faults, and +the chief one is mannerism, certain peculiar ways that prevent the +spectator from forgetting the actor in the person he represents, +trifles, which it may be hypercritical to cavil at, but which +nevertheless spoil the illusion, and compel the exclamation, "There is +Farren." Take for example his favourite trick of scratching his upper +lip with his forefinger. We have seen Bouffe many times--less +frequently, certainly, than we have Farren--but we never perceived in +him any of these peculiarities. His creations are original and new +throughout; the mime disappears, and we have before as the gossiping old +man, the rough shipboy, the simple-hearted recruit. We are really at a +loss to point out a fault or suggest an improvement in Bouffe's acting. +"If the public," says M. Eugene Briffault, "finds that he makes but +little progress in the course of each year, it is because he is as near +perfection as an actor can be." Many of Mr. Hervey's criticisms are +excellent; none more so than the following:--"Bouffe's gaiety is frank +and communicative, his pathos simple, yet inexpressibly touching; the +foundation of his character is sensibility; he _feels_ all he says. He +never employs any superfluity of action for the purpose of producing +effect, nor does he seek, by first raising his voice almost to a shriek, +and then lowering it to a whisper, to _startle_ his audience into a fit +of enthusiasm; on the contrary, a studied sobriety, both of speech and +gesture, is one of the peculiar features of his acting." When Bouffe +visits England, we recommend some of our actors, who at present "imitate +humanity so abominably," to attend his performances, and strive to +profit by his example. + +We have lingered at the Varietes, and must move onwards, rather against +our will, and although much remains to be said concerning that amusing +theatre and its actors. Hyacinthe's nose, alone, would furnish materials +for a chapter, and of alarming longitude, if in proportion with the +feature. The two Lepeintres would fill an article. They are brothers and +rival punsters. The jokes of Lepeintre, Jenue have been printed and sold +at the theatre door. His senior, who is no way inferior to him, either +as a wit or an actor, said, with reference to himself, that he carried +abundance, wherever he went, "_puisqu'on y voyoit le pain trainer_ +(Lepeintre aine.)" + +On the site of an old cemetery stands the theatre known as the Gymnase +Dramatique. A suggestive fact for the moralist. Death replaced by Momus; +the mourner's tears succeeded by the quips and cranks of an Achard, by +the wreathed smiles of a Rose Cheri. Where the funeral once took its +slow and solemn way, rouged processions pass, tinsel heroes strut, and +vapour. Thousand-tinted garlands supplant the pale _immortelles_ that +decked the graves; the sable cloak is doffed, and motley's the only +wear. Surely actors must be bold men to tread a stage covering so many +mouldering relics of mortality. Not for Potosi, and the Real del Monte +to boot, would we do it, lest, at the witching hour, some ghastly +skeleton array should rise and drive us from the Golgotha, or drag us to +the charnel-house beneath. But we forget that the good old days are gone +when such things were, or were believed in, and that superstition is now +as much out of date as a heavy coach upon the Great North Road. Spectres +may occasionally be seen at the Gymnase, but they are very material, +flesh-and-blood sort of goblins, well known as impostors, even to the +scene-shifters. This need not prevent any aspiring young novelist, +desirous of coming out in the ghastly and ghostly line, from profiting +by our hint, and producing, after a little preparatory cramming with +Mrs. Radcliffe and the Five Nights of St. Albans, what the newspapers +call "a romance of thrilling interest" on the subject of the gay Gymnase +and its grave foundation. + +Built in 1819, the Gymnase "was originally intended, as its name +denotes, to be a kind of preparatory school for dramatic aspirants, +whence the most promising actors and actresses were to be occasionally +transferred to the different royal theatres." For some years--from 1824 +till the July Revolution--it was known as the _Theatre de Madame_, and +was under the special patronage of the Duchess of Berri, whom the +manager had propitiated by sending a part of his company to amuse her +when bathing at Dieppe. At that time it ranked immediately after the +theatres royal, taking the precedence of the Vaudeville and other +minors. Shorn by the Revolution of its honours and privileges, its +favour with the public suffered little diminution. For many years Bouffe +performed there, and there achieved his greatest triumphs. At the +Varietes he has not been so well catered for by the dramatists. The +present company at the Gymnase is very good. Bressant, Ferville, Numa, +Klein, and Achard, are excellent actors. In actresses, also, the theatre +is well provided, and the whole tone of its company and performances is +such as to render it one of the most correct and agreeable in Paris. But +the gem of the Gymnase, its grand attraction, to our thinking, is that +delightful little actress, Rose Cheri. Never, assuredly, was a pretty +name more appropriately bestowed. Her plump, fresh, pleasant little +face, reminds one of the _Rose_, and _cherie_ she assuredly is by the +hundreds of thousands whom her graceful and tasteful performance has +enchanted. Mademoiselle Cheri, who is only one-and-twenty, made her +"first appearance upon any stage" at the somewhat early age of five +years. "She acted the part of _Lisette_, in the _Roman d'une Heure_, for +the amusement of her parents, (the other two characters being sustained +by two of her playmates;) and the talent displayed by her was so +remarkable, that she was encouraged to repeat the essay in public at the +theatre of Bourges, on which occasion her infant exertions were rewarded +by the enthusiastic applause of the audience, and--which was probably +still more to her taste--by a shower of _bonbons_." Either the applause +or the _bonbons_, or both, decided her vocation, and she continued to +act from time to time, until at length she became a regular member of a +provincial company, whose manager was her father. In 1842, she went to +Paris, where she soon took rank with the best _jeunes premieres_ of the +capital. She has been justly called the most loveable actress upon the +French stage; so graceful, so soft and womanly, displaying alternately +such genuine feeling and nature, and such arch coquetry of manner; +always such great freshness of style. We were pleased to see her +properly appreciated during her last visit to London, both by press and +public. Trained to the stage from so early an age--although not, as +Mademoiselle Dejazet is said to have been, born in a theatre--it is not +surprising that Rose Cheri is in the highest degree self-possessed and +at her ease. But if she is _sans peur_ on the boards, she is also--most +rare commendation for a French actress--_sans reproche_ in private life. +Such a Rose as this is indeed the pride of the garden. + +Two words about the Palais Royal, and we have done; leaving the dramatic +aristocracy of the theatres royal, and the smaller fry of the +Boulevards, for some future opportunity of comment. The Francais, +although it reckons in its company several excellent comic actors, +relies chiefly on tragedy, and will doubtless continue to do so, as long +as it possesses Rachel, or until a comedian of very extraordinary talent +starts up. And in French tragedies, even, heretical as it may sound, in +the classic masterpieces of Corneille and Racine, we take far less +pleasure than in the witty and sparkling comedies of many less renowned +authors, to which the genius of the language so much better adapts +itself. Nay, we confess to have more than once passed the Francais +without the least compunction, with _les Horaces_ or _Andromaque_ on the +bills, and a crowd at the door, to commit ourselves, a few paces +farther, to the friendly arms of a stall at the Palais Royal, and the +mirth-inspiring influence of Tousez and Levassor, the most comical +buffoon and admirable mimic on the French stage. + +When the _Varietes'_ company was expelled from the little theatre of the +Palais Royal, it became the scene of all manner of bastard performances. +Rope dancers, wooden puppets, even dogs were the actors. The most +intelligent of these were the quadrupeds. Mr. Hervey gives the following +analysis of a melodrama enacted by them:-- + +"A young Russian princess, held captive in a castle by a tyrant, has a +lover, who has sworn to effect her rescue. On the rising of the curtain, +the fair prisoner, a pretty spaniel, is discovered walking on the +parapet of a tower; the lover, a very handsome dog, presently appears at +the foot of the wall, barking most amorously. As for the tyrant, he is +represented by a ferocious-looking bull-dog, with a smashed nose. On a +given signal, the lover's army make their entree, and scale the walls of +the castle, which, after a gallant defence on the part of the garrison, +is finally taken, and the princess delivered." + +When the public had had enough of these canine comedies, the theatre was +converted into a coffee-house. But the old dramatic prestige still hung +about the place, and, after a time, the frequenters of the establishment +were diverted, whilst sipping their punch and lemonade, with detached +scenes and short vaudevilles, performed by two or three persons. +Finally, in 1830, the house was rebuilt, and a regular license obtained; +and from that date to the present day it has been a favourite resort of +all lovers of a hearty laugh. Dejazet and Achard were long its chief +support. They have left it; but others, little, if at all, inferior, +have replaced them. Foremost amongst these stands Pierre Levassor, the +best comic ballad-singer in France. Innumerable were the difficulties he +had to overcome before he could fully gratify his passion for acting, +and display his innate talent at a Paris theatre. His father, an old +soldier of Napoleon's armies, opposed his propensity, which early +manifested itself, in every possible way, and apprenticed him to a +trade. During the revolution of 1830, young Levassor was on business at +Marseilles, where a dinner was given to celebrate the event. "At the +general request, he sang the song of the _Trois Couleurs_, with such +immense success, that on the party adjourning after dinner to the +theatre, a note was thrown on the stage, in which he volunteered to sing +it in public, if agreeable to the audience. The offer was accepted; and +both song and vocalist were loudly applauded." This incident was +decisive of his future career. On his return to Paris he became an +actor, and soon conquered great popularity. He is particularly clever in +disguising himself, so as to be quite unrecognisable. With his dress he +changes his voice, gait, and even his face; and will look the part of a +decrepid old woman every bit as well as the more easily assumed one of a +scapegrace student. His vivacity, good-humour, and fun, are +inexhaustible. In the ludicrous extravaganzas, reviews of the past year, +which nearly every carnival sees produced at the Palais Royal, he is +perfectly irresistible. Powerfully aided by Grassot, Lemenil, Sainville, +and Alcide Tousez, he keeps the house in an unceasing roar, even at +pieces which, like the _Pommes-de-terre Malades_ and the _Enfant du +Carnaval_, are in themselves of very feeble merit. An excellent singer +and clever actor, he is also a capital dancer and first-rate mimic, +imitating with extraordinary facility every possible sound, whether the +cries of animals or any thing else. And, off the stage, Levassor is as +unassuming and gentlemanly as he is amusing and accomplished upon it. + +Ravel is another droll dog, but quite in a different style from +Levassor. The latter is all quickness, impetuosity, and _entrain_; Ravel +is of a more passive style of comicality. At times he reminds us of two +English actors, Buckstone of the Haymarket, and Wright, the Adelphi low +comedian. He has something of Buckstone's odd monotony of manner, and, +like him, often excites the laughter of an audience by his mere look or +attitude. When Wright is not compelled to make a buffoon of himself in +some stupid travestie, but is allowed fair scope for the display of his +comic talents, which are really considerable, we prefer him to Ravel. He +is a steady and improving performer. In _Paul Pry_, and some other stock +pieces, his acting is quiet and excellent. Many of Ravel's characters +have been taken by him in the English version. Ravel is seldom seen to +greater advantage than as a soldier. He exactly renders the mingled +simplicity and cunning of the conscript; the tricks of the barrack-room +grafted upon clownish dulness. The piece called the _Tourlourou_--the +French nickname for a recruit--founded on a novel of Paul de Kock's, was +one of his triumphs, and another was _Le Caporal et la Payse_, Englished +as "Seeing Wright." In short, he occupies a high position amongst the +half-dozen drolls who, night after night, send home the audience of the +Palais Royal brimful of mirthful reminiscences. + +In this imperfect sketch of some of the leading French theatres and +actors, we have taken little opportunity of censure. We could notice but +a few, and have selected from the most worthy. In Paris, as elsewhere, +_pumps_, to use a green-room term, are plentiful. But in the higher +class of theatres they are in the minority; and moreover there is a +neatness and _tact_ in the performance of French actors, which, in the +less prominent characters, at least, goes some way to atone for the +absence of decided talent. A French comedian may be tame, he may be +incorrect in the conception of his part; he is rarely vulgar or +ridiculous. We refer, of course, to the actors allowed to figure on the +boards of the half-score good theatres in Paris. There is no lack of +inferior ones, where the laugh is more often at the performer than at +the performance. But most even of these will repay a visit, if not for +the sake of the actors, for that of the audience. Despised by the +fashionable and pleasure-seeking, they afford a rich field to the +observant man. He must not, it is true, be squeamish, and fear to let +the unsavoury reek of _tabac-de-caporal_, or the odours of potato brandy +and logwood wine come betwixt the wind and his nobility. Neither must he +dread contact with the mechanic's blouse, with the cotton gown of the +grisette, or the velveteen vest of the _titi_ of the Boulevards; he must +even make up his mind to see his neighbour, dispensing with his upper +garment, exhibit his brawny arms in shirt sleeves of questionable +purity. If he dare encounter these little imaginary contaminations, he +will find entertainment in the humours of the Boulevard du Temple; in +the pantomimes of the Funambules--once the scene of poor Debureau's +triumphs--and in the ten-franc vaudevilles of the Petit Lazari. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE REIGN OF GEORGE THE SECOND.[16] + + [16] "Memoirs of the Reign of George the Second; by Horace Walpole." + Edited by the late Lord Holland. 3 vols. Colburn: London. + + +Walpole, in giving his history to the world, renounces the title of an +historian. He proclaims himself simply a compiler; his volumes, +_Memoires Pour Servir_; and his chief purpose, simply, to give his own +recollections, day by day, of the men and things passing before his +eyes. Yet what historian has ever told his story with more spirit, ever +sketched his characters with more living truth, or led our curiosity +onward through the labyrinth of political intrigue, parliamentary +struggle, and national vicissitude, with so light, and yet so leading a +hand? A part of this charm arises from the interest which he himself +took in his performance. He evidently delighted in the revival of those +scenes in which he had once figured, and the powerful portraiture which, +in his study, realized the characters of the eminent men whom he had +seen successively depart from the political world. In this lies the +spell which makes Walpole the favourite of all the higher order of +readers in our age, and will make him popular to the last hour of the +English language. + +We read Gibbon like a task. We are astonished at his learned opulence, +his indefatigable labour, and his flood of rich and high-wrought +conception; but we grow as weary of him, as if we walked through an +Indian treasury, and rested the eye only on heaps of gold. With all our +great historical writers, the mind feels a sense of their toil, and, +however it may be endured for the sake of its knowledge, _our_ toil, +too, is inevitable, and the crop must be raised only by the sweat of our +own brow. + +But the pages of Walpole give us the knowledge without the toil, and, +instead of bending to the tillage, we pluck the fruit from the tree as +we pass along. When he, too, is heavy, his failure arises simply from +his attempting to assume the style of his contemporaries. He is not made +for their harness, however it may be plated and embroidered. He cannot +move in their stately and measured pace. His genius is volatile and +vivid; he moves by bounds: and his display is always the most effective +when, abandoning the beaten tracks of authorship, he speeds his light +way across the field, and exhibits at once the agility of his powers and +the caprice of his will. + +What infinite gratification have we lost, by the want of such a writer +in the days of classical antiquity! With what interest would the living +world follow a Greek or a Roman Walpole! With what delight should we +contemplate a Greek Council, with Pericles for its president, sketched +by the hand of a spectator, and shown in the brilliant contests, +intellectual intrigue, and ardent ambition of these sons of soul! What a +scene would such a writer make of Cicero confronting Catiline, with the +supremacy of Rome trembling in the scale, and the crowded senate-house +preparing to hear the sentence of life or death! We might have wanted +the strong historic phraseology of Sallust; or, in a subsequent age, the +gloomy grandeur of Tacitus, that Caravaggio of ancient Rome; we might +have lost some of the classic beauty, and all the theatric drapery, but +we should have had a clearer, more emphatic, and more faithful picture, +than in the severe energy of the one, or the picturesque mysticism of +the other. We should have _known_ the characters as they were known to +the patrician and the populace of two thousand years ago; we should have +seen them as they threw out all their stately and muscular strength; we +should have been able to recover them from the tomb, make them move +before us "in their armour, as they lived," and gather from their lips +the language of times and things, now past away from man. + +Still, we must acknowledge that Walpole's chief excellence is in his +letters. His sportive spleen, his polished sarcasm, and his keen +insight into the ways of men, place him at the head of all epistolary +authorship. He has had but two competitors for this fame,--it is +remarkable that they were both women,--De Sevigne in France, and Lady +Wortley Montague in England; yet, how utterly inferior are De Sevigne's +feeble sketches of court life, and vapid panegyrics on the "adorable +Grignan;" or the Englishwoman's rambling details of travels and +tribulations, to the pungent pleasantry and substantial vigour of +Walpole! The Frenchwoman's sketches are like her artificial flowers, to +the freshness of the true. Lady Mary's slipshod sentences and coarse +voluptuousness are equally inferior to the accurate finish and +fashionable animation of the man who combined the critic with the +courtier, and was the philosopher even more than he was the man of +fashion. + +Walpole is now an English classic. It is striking, to see a man of +talent thus vindicating his genius in the grave, making a posthumous +defence of his character, and compelling posterity to acknowledge the +distinctions of which he was defrauded by the petulance of his time. His +example and his success administer a moral which ought not to be thrown +away. There are many individuals in our own time, who might thus nobly +avenge themselves on the injustice of their age. The Frenchman's maxim, +_Il n'y a que bonheur, et malheur_, is unanswerably true; and not only +men of the finest faculties are often ill used by fortune, but they are +often the worst used. Their conscious superiority renders them +fastidious of the lower arts of success; their sense of honour +disqualifies them for all those services which require flexibility of +conscience; and their sensibility to injustice makes them retort public +injury, by disdainfully abandoning the struggle, and retiring from the +vulgar bustle of the world. + +Let such men, then, glance over the pages of Walpole, and see how +productive may be made the hours of obscurity; how vigorously the +oblivion of one generation may be redeemed by the honours of another; +and how effectively the humble man of genius may survive the glaring +favourites of an ephemeral good fortune. + +Walpole, in his lifetime, was either pitied as a disappointed official, +or laughed at as a collector of cracked china; but who either pities or +laughs at him now? Posterity delights in the products of his study, +while the prosperous tribe of his parliamentary day are forgotten, or +remembered only through those products of his study. The Pulteneys, +Granvilles, Lyttletons, and Wyndhams, are extinguished, and their chief +interest now arises from Walpole's fixing their names in his works; as +an architect uses the busts and masks of antiquity to decorate the +gates, or crowns the buttresses of his temple. + +Lord Holland's preface contains the following brief statement relative +to the present publication. + +Among the papers found at Strawberry Hill, after the death of Lord +Orford, was the following memorandum, wrapped in an envelope, on which +was written, "Not to be opened till after my will." + +"In my library, at Strawberry Hill, are two wainscot chests or boxes, +the larger marked with an A, the lesser with a B. I desire that, as soon +as I am dead, my executor and executrix will cord up strongly and seal +the larger box marked A, and deliver it to the Honourable Hugh Conway +Seymour; to be kept by him unopened and sealed, till the eldest son of +Lady Waldegrave, or whichever of her sons, being Earl of Waldegrave, +shall attain the age of twenty-five years, when the said chest, with +whatever it contains, shall be delivered to him for his own." + +The rest of the order refers simply to the keeping of the key in the +interim. The date is August 19, 1796. + +Lord Holland then argues, with a rather unnecessary waste of argument, +that the history contained within this chest was intended for +publication, which, of course, it must have been. + +In his private correspondence, Walpole frequently alludes to his +preparation of the present work. In a letter to Mr. Montague, in 1752, +he tells him, that "his memoirs of last year are quite finished," but +that he means to add some pages of notes, "that will not want +anecdotes;" and in answer to Montague, who had ludicrously menaced him +with a messenger from the Secretary's office, to seize his papers, he +says, "I have buried the memoirs under the oak in my garden, where they +are to be found a thousand years hence, and taken perhaps for a Runic +history in rhyme." + +In another part of his memoirs of 1758, he says, with reference to the +different stages of his work, "During the former part, I lived in the +centre of business, was intimately acquainted with many of the chief +actors, was eager in politics, and indefatigable in heaping up materials +for my work. Now, detached from those busy scenes, with many political +connexions dropped or dissolved; indifferent to events, and indolent; I +shall have fewer opportunities of informing myself or others." And in +this supposed indolence and ignorance, he sits down to his work without +delay, and fills his volumes with information, inaccessible to +nine-tenths of the ablest and most active in his generation. + +But it is not our purpose to give a consecutive view of the contents of +those volumes. Their nature is the reverse of consecutive. They are as +odd, irregular, and often as novel, as the changes of a kaleidoscope. +Nothing can be less like a picture, with its background, and foreground, +its middle tints and its _chiaroscuro_. Their best emblem perhaps would +be the "Dissolving views," where a palace has scarcely met the eye, +before it melts into an Italian lake; or the procession to a Romish +shrine is metamorphosed into a charge of cavalry. The volumes are a +_melange_ of characters, anecdotes, and reflections. We shall open the +pages at hazard, and take, as it comes first, in those "Sortes +Walpolianae," a Westminster election. + +There is "nothing new under the sun." What the Irish cry for "Repeal" is +now, the cry for the "Stuarts" was a hundred years ago. Faction equally +throve on both; and the tribe who live by faction in all ages uttered +both cries with equal perseverance--the only distinction between them +being, that as the Jacobite cry was an affair of the scaffold, it was +uttered with a more _judicious_ reserve. + +Yet, it is only justice to the men of the older day, to acknowledge that +their motives were of a much higher order than the stimulants of the +modern clamour. With many of the Scottish Jacobites, the impulse was a +sense of honour to their chieftains, and a gallant devotion to their +king; with many of the English, it was a conscientious belief that they +were only doing their duty to the lawful throne in resisting the claims +of the Prince of Orange. It is remarkable, that of the "seven bishops" +sent to trial by James, but one, Trelawny, could be prevailed on to take +the oath of allegiance to William; yet, unfounded and extravagant as +were these conceptions, they showed manliness and conscience. Later +times have had motives, unredeemed by the chivalry of the Scotch, or the +integrity of the English; but the cause of both has been marked with a +similarity of operation, which makes Solomon still "an oracle." + +The elections became the chief scenes of display. The efforts to return +Jacobite members were of the most pertinacious kind, and sometimes +proceeded to actual violence. In one of the Westminster elections, the +court candidate had been furiously attacked by a hired mob; and one +Murray, a man of family, and marked, by his name, for an adherent of the +Stuarts, had exhibited himself as a leader, had been captured, and +consigned to the custody of the Serjeant-at-arms. + +After a period of confinement, pardon was tendered to him, if he would +ask it. He refused contemptuously, and obtained popularity by playing +the hero. + +Murray was brought to the bar of the House of Commons to be heard in his +own defence. He asserted his innocence, smiled when he was taxed with +having called Lord Trentham and the High Bailiff rascals, desired +counsel, and was remanded. Another character then comes on the tapis by +way of episode. This was Sir William Yonge. It has been said of the +celebrated Erskine, that in the House he was a natural, out of the House +he was a supernatural; and certainly nothing could be less like, than +the orator of the bar, and the prattler of the House of Commons. Yonge's +characteristics were just the reverse. He was always trifling, out of +the House, and sometimes singularly effective in it. Walpole says of +him, that his Parliamentary eloquence was the more extraordinary, as it +seemed to come upon him by inspiration. Sir Robert Walpole frequently, +when he did not choose to enter early into the debate himself, gave +Yonge his notes as the latter came into the House; from which he could +speak admirably, though he had missed all the preceding discussion. + +Sir Robert Walpole said of him, with a pungency worthy of his son, that +"nothing but Yonge's character could keep down his parts, and nothing +but his parts support his character;" but, whatever might be his +character, it is certain that his parts served him well, for though but +four-and-twenty years in Parliament, he was twice a Lord of the +Treasury, a Lord of the Admiralty and Secretary at War, finishing with +the then very lucrative situation of Vice-Treasurer of Ireland. For the +more honorary part of his distinctions, he had the Ribbon of the Bath, +was a Privy Councillor, and was appointed Lord Lieutenant of +Carnarvonshire. + +We now return to Murray. It was moved that he should appear before the +House on his knees. Walpole's description is very graphic. "He entered +with an air of confidence, composed of something between a martyr and a +coxcomb. + +"The Speaker called out, Your obeisances, sir, your obeisances, and +then, sir, you must kneel. He replied, Sir, I beg to be excused, I never +kneel but to God. The Speaker repeated the command with great warmth. +Murray answered, Sir, I am sorry I cannot comply with your request: I +should in any thing else. Speaker cried, Sir, I call upon you again to +consider of it. Murray answered, Sir, when I have committed a crime, I +kneel to God for pardon, but I know my own innocence, and I cannot kneel +to any one else. The Speaker ordered the Serjeant to take him away and +secure him. He was going to reply, but the Speaker would not suffer him. +The Speaker then made a representation to the House of his contemptuous +behaviour, and said, However you may have differed in the debate, I hope +you will be unanimous in the punishment. + +"Then ensued a long, tedious, and trifling succession of speakers, +finishing by an adjournment at two in the morning." + +Then comes another character passing through the magic lantern. The +Mutiny Bill is the back-ground for this caricature. The front figure is +Lord Egmont. John Percival, second Earl of Egmont, seems to have been an +extraordinary compound of the fanatic and the philosopher. He was +scarcely of age, before he had a scheme of assembling the Jews, and +making himself their king. His great talent was, indefatigable +application. He was never known to laugh. He was once, indeed, seen to +smile; but _that was at chess_. His father had trained him to history +and antiquities; and he early settled his own political genius by +scribbling pamphlets. Towards the decline of Sir Robert Walpole's power, +he had created himself a leader of the Independents, a knot of desperate +tradesmen, many of them converted to Jacobinism, by being fined at the +custom-house for contraband practices. One of their chiefs was +Blackistone, a grocer in the Strand, detected in smuggling, and forgiven +by Sir Robert Walpole; detected again, and fined largely, on which he +turned patriot and became an alderman of London. + +At the beginning of this parliament, rejected by Westminster, and +countenanced nowhere, he bought what Walpole pleasantly calls, the loss +of an election at Weobly, for which place, however, on a petition, Fox +procured his return to parliament, and immediately had the satisfaction +to find him declare against the court. At the Westminster election, his +indefatigability against the ministerial favourite came amply into play. +All the morning he passed at the hustings, then came to the House, where +he was a principal actor, and the rest of the day he spent at hazard, +not to mention the hours spent in collecting materials for his speeches, +or in furnishing them to his weekly mercenaries. + +We then have a touch of the pencil at Lord Nugent. + +"This Irishman's style was florid bombast; his impudence as great as if +he had been honest. He affected unbounded good-humour, and it was +unbounded, but by much secret malice, which sometimes broke out into +boisterous railing, but oftener vented itself in still-born satires. +Nugent's attachments were to Lord Granville; but all his flattery was +addressed to Mr. Pelham, whom he mimicked in candour, as he often +resembled Granville in ranting. Nugent had lost the reputation of a +great poet, by writing works of his own, after he had acquired fame by +an ode that was the joint production of several others." + +Walpole certainly had an aversion to the wits of his day, with the +exception of George Selwyn; on whom he lavished a double portion of the +panegyric that he deserved, as a sort of compensation for his petulance +to others. His next portrait was Lord Chesterfield, the observed of all +observers, "the glass of fashion, and the mould of form," a man of +talent unquestionably, and a master of the knowledge of mankind, but +degrading his talent by the affectation of coxcombry, and turning his +knowledge into a system of polished profligacy. + +Chesterfield, though not the first who had made a study of the art of +_nothings_, was the first who publicly prided himself on its study; and +while France owed her fashionable vice to a hundred sources, all England +looked up to Chesterfield as the high priest of that shrine, in which +time and reputation were equally sacrificed, and in which fame was to be +acquired alone by folly. + +Walpole's sketch was struck off when Chesterfield was sinking into the +vale of years, and he exhibits that celebrated peer under the character, +at once melancholy and ridiculous, of a superannuated politician and an +old beau. Chesterfield, since he had given up the seals in 1748, had +retired from politics; in that spirit of resignation, which, in +extinguished politicians, is only a decent disguise for despair. + +He had published what he called an apology for his resignation, which, +as Walpole says, excited no more notice than the resignation itself. +"From that time he had lived at White's, gaming, and pronouncing +witticisms among the boys of quality." He then proceeds to examine the +noble lord's construction, pretty much in the style of an anatomist with +the subject on the table, and cuts him up with all the zeal of angry +science. + +"Chesterfield, early in life, announced his claim to wit, and the women +believed in it. He had besides given himself out for a man of great +intrigue, and the world believed in that too. It was not his fault if he +had not wit, for nothing exceeded his efforts in that point. His +speeches were fine, but as much laboured as his extempore sayings. His +writings were every body's; that is, whatever came out good was given to +him, and he was too humble ever to refuse the gift. But besides the +passive enjoyment of all good productions in the present age, he had +another art of reputation, which was, either to disapprove of the +greatest authors of other times, or to patronize whatever was too bad to +be ascribed to himself." + +We then have a slight glance at his public life. His debut in diplomacy +was as ambassador to Holland, where, as Walpole says, "he courted the +good opinion of that economical people," by losing immense sums at play. +On his return, he attached himself to Lord Townshend, an unlucky +connexion; but what did him more harm still, was the queen's seeing him +one Twelfth Night after winning a large sum of money at hazard, cross +St. James's Court, "to deposit it with my Lady Suffolk until next +morning." The queen never pardoned an intimacy there, and well she might +not, Lady Suffolk's royal intimacies being perfectly notorious. + +His next employment of note was the vice-royalty of Ireland; in which +Walpole acknowledges that he was the most popular governor which that +luckless country ever had. "Nothing was cried up but his integrity. He +would have laughed at any man who had any confidence in his morality." + +But Chesterfield's vice-royalty deserves better treatment than this. In +Ireland he _was_ an able governor. The man had something to do, and he +did it. The lounger of the London clubs could not dawdle through the +day in the midst of a fiery people full of faction, bleeding with the +wounds of civil war, and indignant at the supremacy of the "Saxon." + +Jacobitism, in England a fashion, was in Ireland a fury. In England a +phantom of party, it was in Ireland a fierce superstition. In England a +fading recollection of power lost, and a still feebler hope of favours +to come, it was in Ireland a hereditary frenzy embittered by personal +sufferings, exalted by fantastic notions of pedigree, and sanctioned by +the secret but powerful stimulants of Rome. This was no place for a man +to take his rest, unless he could contrive to sleep on thorns. + +Chesterfield was thus forced to be vigorous and vigilant; to watch every +symptom of disaffection, to suppress every incipient turbulence, to +guide without the appearance of control, and to make his popularity the +strength of a government almost wholly destitute of civil reputation or +military force. But the highest panegyric is to be found in the period +of his thus preserving the peace of Ireland. It was in 1745, when the +Pretender was proclaimed in Edinburgh, when the Highland army was on its +march to London, and when all the hopes of hollow courtiership and +inveterate Jacobitism were turned to the triumph of the ancient dynasty. +Yet, Ireland was kept in a state of quietude, and the empire was thus +saved from the greatest peril since the Norman invasion. + +An Irish insurrection would have largely multiplied the hazards of the +Brunswick throne; and though we have firm faith in the power of England +to extinguish a foreign invader, yet, when the question came to be +simply one of the right to the crown, and the decision was to be made by +civil conflict, the alienation, or the insurrection, of Ireland might +have thrown an irresistible weight into the scale. + +It is not our purpose, nor would it be becoming, to more than allude to +the private life of this showy personage. His was not the era of either +public or private morality. His marriage was contemptible, a connexion +equally marked by love of money and neglect of honour; for his choice +was the niece of the Duchess of Kendal, the duchess being notoriously +the king's mistress, and Chesterfield obviously marrying the niece as +being a probable heiress of her aunt, and also of bringing to her +husband some share of the royal favour. He was disappointed, as he +deserved, in the legacy; and seems to have been not much happier in the +wife, who brought him no heir, and was apparently a compound of pride +and dulness. He was more fortunate, however, in earning the political +favour of the old Duchess of Marlborough, who left him L20,000 in her +will. + +Still, with all the political chicanery, and all the official squabbles +of parliament, those were sportive times; and Walpole records the delay +of the debate on the bill for naturalizing the Jews, as arising from the +adjournment of the house, to attend private theatricals at Drury Lane, +where Delaval had hired the theatre to exhibit himself in Othello! +Walpole, in his pleasant exaggeration, says, that "the crowd of people +of fashion was so great, that the footman's gallery was hung with blue +ribands." + +For some reason, which must now sleep with the author, he had an +inveterate aversion to Seeker, then Bishop of Oxford, and afterwards +translated to Canterbury. "The King," said he, "would not go to chapel +because the Bishop of Oxford was to preach before him. The ministers did +not insist upon his hearing the sermon, as they had lately upon his +making him Dean of St. Paul's." + +Character and popularity do not always depend upon the circumstances +which alone ought to fix either. He then proceeds to hew the right +reverend lord in pieces. "This bishop," says he, "who had been bred a +Presbyterian and man-midwife, which sect and profession he had dropt for +a season, while he was President of a Free-thinking Club, had been +converted by Bishop Talbot, whose relation he married, and his faith +_settled_ in a prebend of Durham, whence he was transplanted by the +queen, and advanced by her (who had no aversion to a medley of +religions, which she always compounded into a scheme of heresy of her +own) to the living of St. James's, vacant by the death of her favourite +_Arian_, Dr. Clarke, and afterwards to the bishoprics of Bristol and +Oxford." + +Then, probably for the purpose of relieving the dark hues of this +desperate portrait, he throws in a touch of praise, and tells us that +Secker grew surprisingly popular in his parish of St. James's, and was +especially approved of in the pulpit. + +Secker's discourses, with his charges and lectures, still remain; and it +is impossible to conceive any thing more commonplace in style, weaker in +conception, or more thoroughly marked with mediocrity of mind. And yet +it is perfectly possible to conceive such a man popular. What the +multitude call eloquence, in the pulpit, is palpably different from +eloquence any where else. At the bar, or in the legislature, it +evidently consists in a mixture of strong sense and powerful feeling. It +must exhibit _some_ knowledge of the subject, and more knowledge of +human nature. But the "sermons" which then achieved a passing popularity +were characterised by nothing but by the most shallow notions in the +most impotent language. The age of reasoners had passed away with +Barrow, South, and Sherlock; and a studied mingling of affected +simplicity and deliberate nonsense constituted the sole merits of the +pulpit in the middle of the eighteenth century. Then, according to the +proverb, that "when things come to the worst, they must mend," came the +gentle enthusiasm of Wesley and the fierce declamation of Whitefield, +both differing utterly in doctrine, practice, and principle, yet both +regarding themselves as missionaries to restore Christianity, and both +evidently believed by the multitude to be all but inspired. Their +example, however, infused some slight ardour into the established +pulpit, and its sermons were no longer dull _rechauffes_ of Epictetus, +and substitutes for the Gospel, taken from the schoolboy recollections +of Plato. Secker reigned in this middle-age of the pulpit, and his +performances are matchless as models of words without thought, doctrines +without learning, and language that trickled through the ear without the +possibility of reaching the understanding. + +But Secker's faults were those of nature, which alone is to be blamed; +unless we are to join in the blame the ministers who placed such a +twinkling taper as a "shining light" in the church. + +We do not believe in the story of his freethinking, though Walpole +strongly repeats it, and gives his authority. Secker's was obviously a +commonplace mind, wholly destitute of all pretension to ability, yet as +obviously not disinclined to make use of those means which often +constitute court favour, but which high minds disdain. He had been made +Dean of St. Paul's by the Chancellor's interest, though he had been for +some time in the shade at court, from being strongly suspected of +cultivating the Prince's connexions at the same time; however, he +achieved Canterbury at last, and, once sheltered in Lambeth, he might +laugh at the jealousies of courtiers. + +Walpole now bursts out into indignant virtue; exclaims that even the +church has its renegades in politics, and almost compassionates the +king, "who was obliged to fling open his _asylum_ to all kinds of +deserters; revenging himself, however, by not speaking to them at his +levee, or listening to them in the pulpit." + +In the meantime, the great source of all opposition, the dread of the +successful, the hope of the defeated, the thorn in the royal side, or, +to take a higher emblem, the tree of promise to all that contemptible +race who trade in conscience, and live on faction,--disappeared in a +moment. The heir-apparent died! The Prince of Wales had suffered from a +pleurisy, but was so much recovered as to attend the king to the House +of Lords. After being much heated in the atmosphere of the house, he +returned to Carlton House to unrobe, put on only a light frock, went to +Kew, where he walked some time, returned to Carlton House, and lay down +upon a couch for three hours on a ground floor next the garden. The +consequence of this rashness or obstinacy was, that he caught a fresh +cold, and relapsed that night. + +After struggling with this illness for a week, he was suddenly seized +with an increase of his distemper. Three years before, he had received +a blow on the breast from a tennis ball, from which, or from a +subsequent fall, he often felt great pain. Exhausted by the cough, he +cried, "Je sens la mort," and died in the arms of his valet. + +The character of this prince, who was chiefly memorable as the father of +George III., had in it nothing to eclipse the past age, conciliate the +present, or attract honour from the future. Walpole, in his keen way, +says, "that he resembled the Black Prince in nothing, but in dying +before his father." "Indeed," he contemptuously adds, "it was not his +fault if he had not distinguished himself by warlike achievements." He +had solicited the command of the army in Scotland in the rebellion of +1745, which was of course given to his brother; "a hard judgment," says +Walpole, "for what he could do, he did." When the royal army lay before +Carlisle, the prince, at a great supper which he gave his court and +favourites, had ordered for the dessert a model of the citadel of +Carlisle, in paste, which he in person, and the maids of honour, +_bombarded with sugar plumbs_! + +The Prince had disagreed with the king and queen early after his coming +to England, "not entirely," says Walpole, "by his own fault." The king +had refused to pay his debts in Hanover, and "it ran a little in the +blood of the family to hate the eldest son!" The queen exerted more +authority than he liked, and "the Princess Emily, who had been admitted +into his greatest confidence, had not," the historian bitterly observes, +"forfeited her duty to the queen, by concealing any of his secrets that +_might do him prejudice_." + +Gaming was one of his passions; "but his style of play did him less +honour than even the amusement." He carried this _dexterity_ into +practice in more essential points, and was vain of it. "One day at +Kensington that he had just borrowed L5000 of Doddington, seeing him +pass under his window, he said to Hedges, his secretary, 'that man is +reckoned one of the most sensible men in England; yet, with all his +parts, I have just tricked him out of L5000!'" A line from Earl Stanhope +summed up his character,--"He has his father's head and his mother's +heart." + +A smart hit is mentioned of Pelham, who, however, was not remarkable for +humour. One Ayscough, who had been preceptor to Prince George, and who +had "not taught him to read English, though eleven years old," was about +to be removed from the preceptorship. Lyttleton, whose sister he had +married, applied to Pelham to save him. Pelham answered, "I know nothing +of Dr. Ayscough--Oh, yes, I recollect, a very worthy man told me in this +room, two years ago, that he was a _great rogue_." This very worthy man +happened to be _Lyttleton himself_, who had then quarrelled with +Ayscough about election affairs. Walpole abounds in sketches of +character, and they are generally capital. Here is a kit-cat of Lord +Albemarle, then ambassador in Paris. "It was convenient to him to be any +where but in England. His debts were excessive, though he was +ambassador, groom of the stole, governor of Virginia, and colonel of a +regiment of guards. His figure was genteel, his manner noble and +agreeable. The rest of his merit was the interest Lady Albemarle had +with the king through Lady Yarmouth. He had all his life imitated the +French manners since he came to Paris, where he never conversed with a +Frenchman. If good breeding is not different from good sense, Lord +Albemarle at least knew how to distinguish it from good nature. He would +bow to his postilion, while he was ruining his tailor." + +The prince's death had all the effect of the last act of a melo-drama. +It had blown up more castles in the air, than any explosion in the +history of paint and pasteboard. All the rejected of the court had +naturally flocked round the heir-apparent, and never was worship of the +rising sun more mortified by its sudden eclipse. Peerages in embryo +never came to the birth, and all sorts of ministerial appointments, from +the premier downwards, which had been looked upon as solid and sure, +were scattered by this one event into thin air. Drax, the prince's +secretary, who "could not write his own name;" Lord Baltimore, who, +"with a great deal of mistaken knowledge, could not spell;" and Sir +William Irby, the princesses' Polonius, were to be barons; Doddington, +it was said, had actually kissed hands for the reversion of a dukedom! + +The whole work is a picture gallery. Doddington, whose "Diary" has +placed him among those authors whose happiest fate would have been to +have been prohibited the use of pen, ink, and paper, is sketched to the +life in a few keen and graphic lines. + +"This man, with great knowledge of business and much wit, had, by mere +absurdity of judgment and a disposition to finesse, thrown himself out +of all estimation, and out of all the views which his large fortune and +abilities could not have failed to promote, if he had preserved but the +least shadow of steadiness. He had two or three times gone all lengths +of flattery, alternately with Sir Robert Walpole and the prince. The +latter keenly said, 'that they had met again, at last, in a necessary +connexion, for no party would have any thing to do with either.'" + +Why has not some biographer, curious in the dissection of human vanity, +written the real life of Doddington? There could be no richer subject +for a pen contemptuous of the follies of high life and capable of +dissecting that compound of worldly passion and infirm principle which, +in nine instances out of ten, figures in the front ranks of mankind. + +Doddington had begun public life with higher advantages than most men of +his time. He had figure, fortune, and fashion; he was employed early in +Spain, with Sir Paul Methuen, our ambassador; where he signed the treaty +of Madrid. He then clung to Walpole, whom he panegyrised in verse and +adulated in prose. But Walpole thwarted his longing for a peerage, and +the refusal produced his revolt. He then went over to the Opposition, +and flattered the prince. But the prince had a favourite already; and +Doddington failed again. He then returned to Walpole, who made him a +lord of the treasury. But Walpole himself was soon to feel the chances +of power; and Doddington, who was never inclined to prop a sinking +cause, crossed the House again. There he was left for a while, to suffer +the penalties of a placeman's purgatory, but without being purified; +and, after some continuance in opposition, a state for which he was as +unfitted as a shark upon the sea-shore, he crossed over again to the +court, and was made treasurer of the navy. But he was now rapidly +falling into ridicule; and, determining to obtain power at all risks, he +bowed down before the prince. At this mimic court he obtained a mimic +office, was endured without respect, and consulted without confidence. +Even there he had not secured a final refuge. + +The prince suddenly died; and Doddington's hopes, though not his +follies, were extinguished in his grave. Such was the fate of a man of +ability, of indefatigable labour, of affluent means, and confessedly +accomplished in all the habits and knowledge of public life. He wanted, +as Walpole observes, "nothing for power but constancy." Under a foreign +government he might have been minister for life. But in the free spirit +and restless parties of an English legislature, though such a man might +float, he must be at the mercy of every wave. + +We then have the most extraordinary man in England in his day, under +review, the well-known Duke of Newcastle, minister, or possessing +ministerial influence, for nearly a quarter of a century! Of all the +public characters of his time, or perhaps of any other, the Duke of +Newcastle was the most ridiculed. Every act of his life, every speech +which he uttered, nay, almost every look and gesture, became instantly +food for burlesque. All the scribblers of the empire, with some of the +higher class, as Smollett, were pecking at him day by day; yet, in a +Parliament where Chatham, with his powerful eloquence, Bedford with his +subtle argument, Townshend with his wit, and the elder Fox with his +indefatigable intrigue, were all contending for the mastery; this man, +who seemed sometimes half-frenzied, and at other times half-idiotic, +retained power, as if it belonged to him by right, and resigned it, as +if he had given it away. + +Walpole thus describes his appearance. "A constant hurry in his walk, a +restlessness of place, a borrowed importance, gave him the perpetual air +of a solicitor. His habit of never finishing, which proceeded from his +beginning every thing twenty times over, gave rise to the famous bon-mot +of Lord Wilmington: 'The Duke of Newcastle always loses half an hour in +the morning, which he is running after for the rest of the day.' But he +began the world with advantages:--an estate of L30,000 a-year, great +borough and county interest, the heirship of his uncle, the old Duke of +Newcastle, and a new creation of the title in his person." Walpole +curiously describes the temperament of this singular man. "The Duke of +Newcastle had no pride, though infinite self-love. He always caressed +his enemies, to enlist them against his friends. There was no service +that he would not do for either, till either was above being served by +him. + +"There was no expense to which he was not addicted, but generosity. His +houses, gardens, table, and equipage, swallowed immense treasures. The +sums which he owed were exceeded only by those which he wasted. He loved +business immoderately, yet was always only doing it, never did it. His +speeches in council and parliament were copious of words, but unmeaning. +He aimed at every thing, yet endeavoured nothing. A ridiculous fear was +predominant in him; he would venture the overthrow of the government, +rather than dare to open a letter that might discover a plot. He was a +secretary of state without intelligence, a man of infinite intrigue +without secrecy or policy, and a minister despised and hated by his +master, by all parties and ministers, without being turned out by any." +This faculty of retaining office is evidently the chief problem in +Walpole's eyes, and was as evidently the chief source of wrath, in the +eyes of his crowd of clever opponents. + +But the duke must have had some qualities, for which his caricaturists +will not give him credit. He must have been shrewd, with all his oddity, +and well acquainted with the science of the world, with all his +trifling. He must have known the art of pulling the strings of +parliament, before he could have managed the puppet show of power with +such unfailing success. He must also have been dexterous in dealing with +wayward tempers, while he had to manage the suspicious spirit, stubborn +prejudices, and arrogant obstinacy of George II. It may be admitted that +he had great assistance in the skill and subtlety of his brother Pelham; +but there were so many occasions on which he must have trusted to +himself alone, that it may well be doubted, whether to be, constantly +successful, he must not have been singularly skilful, and that the +personal dexterity of the minister was the true secret of his prolonged +power. + +We now come to Walpole's summary of the career of the two most +celebrated men of his early life--his father and Bolingbroke. + +Sir Robert Walpole and Lord Bolingbroke had begun, as rivals at school, +lived a life of competition, and died much in the same manner, "provoked +at being killed by empirics, but with the same difference in their +manner of dying as had appeared in the temper of their lives,--the first +with a calmness which was habitual philosophy, the other with a rage +which his affected philosophy could not disguise. The one had seen his +early ambition dashed with imprisonment, from which he had shot into the +sphere of his rival. The other was exiled, recalled, and ruined. Walpole +rose gradually to the height of power, maintained it by his single +talents against Bolingbroke, assisted by all the considerable men of +England; and when driven from it at last, resigned it without a stain or +a censure; retiring to private life without an attempt to re-establish +himself, and almost without a regret for what he had lost." + +Though this was the tribute of a son to a father, it is, in all its +essentials, the tribute of truth; for Walpole was, beyond all doubt, a +man of great administrative abilities, remarkably temperate in the use +of power, and, though violently assailed both within and without the +house, neither insolent in the one instance, nor vindictive in the +other. It was equally beyond a doubt, that to him was in a great degree +owing the establishment of the Hanover succession. The peaceful +extinction of Jacobitism, whose success would have been the renewal of +despotism and popery; and that system of finance and nurture of the +national resources, which prepared the country for the signal triumphs +of the reign, were the work of Walpole. + +Bolingbroke, with talents of the highest brilliancy, wanted that +strength of judgment without which the most brilliant talents are only +dangerous to their possessor. After tasting of power, only to feel the +bitterness of disappointment--after rising to the height of ambition, +only to be cast into the lowest depths of disgrace, after being driven +into exile, and returning from it only in the humiliation of a pardon +under the hand of his rival,--Bolingbroke died in retirement, without +respect, and in the obscurity, without the peace of a private station. +It must be acknowledged that, in his instance, ill-fortune was only +another name for justice; that the philosopher, whose pen was employed +in defaming religion, was punished in the politician, who felt the +uncertainty of human power; and that a life expended in treachery to the +religion in which he was born, was well punished by his being forced in +public life to drink the bitterest dregs of political shame, live with +an extinguished reputation, and be buried in national scorn, long before +his body was consigned to the tomb. + +At this period, the king, far advanced in years, was destined to feel +the heaviest pressure of domestic calamity. His queen, a woman of sense +and virtue, to whom, notwithstanding the grossness of his vices, he +could not help paying public respect, died from the effects of an +accident, which had grown into a confirmed disease. Her death was +followed by that of his youngest daughter, the Queen of Denmark, a woman +"of great spirit and sense," who died of an accident resembling her +mother's. She, too, like the Queen of England, had led an unhappy +life,--for like her, she had the vice and scandal of royal mistresses to +contend with. + +The king, on the news of this death, broke into unusual expressions of +sorrow and fondness. "This," said he, "has been a fatal year to my +family; I lost my eldest son, but I was _glad of it_. Then the Prince of +Orange died, and left every thing in confusion. Poor little Edward has +been cut open, (for an imposthume in his side,) and now the Queen of +Denmark is gone. I know I did not love my children when they were young, +I hated to have them running about my room; but now I love them as well +as most fathers." + +The contrast between the Walpole and the Pelham administrations, is +sketched with great force and fidelity. In our days the character of a +cabinet depends upon the party. In those days the character of the +cabinet depended upon the premier. Walpole was bold, open, steady, and +never dejected: Pelham was timorous, reserved, fickle, and apt to +despair. Presumption made Walpole many enemies: want of confidence in +himself estranged from Pelham many friends. Walpole was content to have +one great view, and would overlook or trample on the intermediate +degrees: Pelham could never reach a great view, through stumbling at +little ones. Walpole loved power so much, that he would not endure a +rival: Pelham loved it so much that he would endure any thing. Walpole +would risk his administration by driving every considerable man from +court, rather than venture their rivalry: Pelham would employ any means +to take able men out of the opposition, though he ventured their +engrossing his authority and outshining his capacity; but he dreaded +abuse more than competition, and always bought off his enemies, to avoid +their satire, rather than to acquire their support. + +The historian, on the whole, regards Pelham's conduct on this point, +though the less bold, as the more prudential. He acknowledges that the +result of Sir Robert's driving away all able men from him was, to gain +for himself but weak and uncertain assistance, while he always kept up a +formidable opposition. But he might have grounded Sir Robert's failure, +on insulted justice, as well as on mistaken policy; for, by depriving +able men of their natural right to official distinction, he did more +than enfeeble himself,--he deprived the country of their services. +Walpole's was the more daring plan, and Pelham's was palpably and +abjectly pusillanimous; but the result of the one was, to reduce the +government to a solitary minister, while the result of the other was +always to form an effective cabinet. The former plan _may_ subsist, +during a period of national peril; but the return of public +tranquillity, which, in England, is always the severest trial of +governments, invariably shows the superior stability of the other. + +Both were valued in private life. "Walpole was fond of magnificence, and +was generous to a fault: the other had neither ostentation nor avarice, +and yet had but little generosity. The one was profuse to his family and +friends, liberal indiscriminately, and unbounded to his tools and spies: +the other loved his family and his friends, and enriched them as often +as he could _steal an opportunity_ from his extravagant bounty to his +enemies and antagonists." Walpole was "forgiving to a fault, if +forgiveness be a fault. Pelham _never_ forgave, but when he durst not +resent! The one was most appreciated while he was minister; the other +most, when he ceased to be minister. All men thought Pelham honest, +_until_ he was in power. Walpole was never thought so, until he was +out." Such is the lecture which this dexterous operator gives, knife in +hand, over the corpses of the two most powerful men of their age. + +Is it to be supposed that Ireland was doing nothing during this bustling +period of English faction? Quite the contrary. It was in a flame, yet +the subject was as insignificant as the indignation was profuse. One +Jones, the court architect, was charged by the opposition with +irregularities in his conduct, and was defended by the ministry. On the +first division ministers had a majority, but it was almost a defeat, the +majority amounting to but three. All Ireland resounded with acclamation. +The "national cause" was to live, only with the expulsion of Jones from +his office; and to perish irrecoverably, if he should draw another +quarter's salary. His protectors were anathematised, his assailants were +the models of patriotism. The populace made "bonfires of reproach" +before the primate's house, a tolerably significant sign of what might +happen to himself; and stopped the coaches in the streets, demanding of +their passengers a pledge "whether they were for Ireland, or England." +Even the hackney coachmen exhibited their patriotic self-denial by the +heroism of refusing to carry any fare to the Castle, the residence of +the viceroy. The passion became even more powerful than duelling. A Dr. +Andrews, of the Castle party, challenging Lambert, a member, at the door +of the Commons, on some election squabble, Lambert said, "I shall go +_first_ into the house, and vote against that rascal Neville Jones." +Andrews repeating the insult, and, as it seems, not allowing time for +this patriotic vote, Lambert went in and complained; in consequence of +which Andrews was ordered into custody; Carter, the Master of the +Rolls,--for even the lawyers had caught fire on the +occasion,--exclaiming of Andrews, "What! would that man force himself +into a seat here, and for what? only to prostitute his vote to a man, +the sworn enemy of his country," (Lord George Sackville, then Secretary +for Ireland.) The Speaker, too, was equally hostile. The government were +finally defeated by 124 to 116. Never was ridiculous triumph more +ridiculously triumphant. The strangers in the gallery huzzaed, the mob +in the streets huzzaed. When Lord Kildare returned to his house (he had +been the leader of the debate,) there was a procession of some hours. +All the world was rejoicing, Neville Jones was prostrated, Ireland had +cast aside her sackcloth, and was thenceforth to be rich, loyal, and +happy. The triumph lasted during the night, and was forgotten in the +morning. Jones covered his retreat with a pleasantry, saying--"So, after +all, I am not to be In--igo, but Out--igo Jones," a piece of wit, which +disposed many in that wit-loving land to believe, that he was not so +very much a demon after all. But the revenge of government was longer +lived than the popular rejoicing. Their first intention was a general +casting out of all who had foiled them in the debate: a two-handed +slaughter of officials--a massacre of the innocents. But the wrath +cooled, and was satisfied with turning off Carter, master of the rolls; +Malone, prime serjeant; Dilks, the quarter-master general; and +abolishing the pension of Boyle, a near relative of the obnoxious +speaker. + +But a powerful man was now to be snatched away from the scene: Pelham +died. He had been for some time suffering under the great disease of +high life, high living. His health had given way to many feasts, many +physicians, and the Scarborough waters. He died on the 8th of March, +1754. + +France next supplies the historian with another display. The two +countries differ, even in the nineteenth century, by characteristics +wholly irreconcilable; and they are both of a sterner order as time +advances with both. But, in the eighteenth century, each country in its +public transactions approached nearer to the propensities and passions +of the drama. The rapid changes of the English cabinet--the clever +circumventions of courtiers--the bold developments of political talent, +and the dexterous intrigues of office--bore some resemblance to the +graver comedy. On the other hand, the Court life of France was all a +ballet, of which Versailles was the patent theatre. There all was show +and scene-shifting the tinsel of high life, and the frolic, of brilliant +frivolity.--The minister was eclipsed by the mistress; the king was a +buffoon in the hands of the courtier; and the government of a powerful +nation was disposed of in the style of a flirtation behind the scenes. + +Louis XV. had at this period grown weary of the faded graces of Madame +de Pompadour, and selected for his favourite a woman of Irish +extraction, of the name of Murphy. The monarch had stooped low enough, +for his new sultana was the daughter of a shoe-maker. The royal history +was scarcely more profligate, than it was ridiculous. His Majesty, +though the husband of a respectable queen, had seemed to regard every +abomination of life as a royal privilege. He had first adopted the +society of a Madame de Mailly, a clever coquette, but with the +disqualification of being the utter reverse of handsome. Madame, to +obviate the known truantry of the King, introduced her sister, Madame de +Vintinsille, as clever, but as ordinary as herself. The latter died in +child-birth, supposed to have been poisoned! The same family, however, +supplied a third sultana, a very pretty personage, on whom the royal +favour was lavished in the shape of a title, and she was created Duchess +de Chateauroux. + +But this course of rivalry was interrupted. The king was suddenly seized +with illness. Fitzjames, Bishop of Soissons, came to the royal bedside, +and remonstrated. The mistress was dismissed, with a kind of public +disgrace, and the queen went in a sort of public pomp, to thank the +saints for the royal repentance. + +"But," says Walpole, "as soon as the king's health was re-established, +the queen was sent to her prayers, the bishop to his diocese, and the +Duchess was recalled--but died suddenly." He ends the narrative with a +reflection as pointed and as bitter as that of any French chamberlain in +existence:--"Though a jealous sister may be disposed to despatch a +rival, can we believe that _bishops_ and _confessors_ poison?" + +Madame de Pompadour had reigned paramount for a longer period than any +of those Medeas or Circes. Walpole describes her as all that was +charming in person and manner. But nearer observers have denied her the +praise of more than common good looks, and more than vulgar animation. +She, however, evidently understood the art of managing her old fool, and +of keeping influence by the aid of his ministers. Madame mingled eagerly +in politics, purchased dependents, paid her instruments well, gave the +gayest of all possible entertainments--a resistless source of +superiority in France--had a purse for many, and a smile for more; by +her liveliness kept up the spirits of the old king, who was now +vibrating between vice and superstition; fed, feted, and flattered the +noblesse, by whom she was libelled, and _worshipped_; and with all the +remaining decencies of France exclaiming against her, but with all its +factions, its private licentiousness, and its political corruption, +rejoicing in her reign; she flourished before the eyes of Europe, the +acknowledged ruler of the throne. + +Can we wonder that this throne fell--that this career of glaring guilt +was followed by terrible retribution--that this bacchanalian revel was +inflamed into national frenzy--that this riot of naked vice was to be +punished and extinguished by the dungeon and the scaffold? + +Walpole, though formed in courts, fashioned in politics, and a haunter +of high life to the last, now and then exhibits a feeling worthy of a +manlier vocation, and an honester time. "If I do not forbid myself +censure," says he, "at least I shall shun that poison of histories, +flattery. How has it predominated in writers. My Lord Bacon was almost +as profuse of his incense to the memory of dead kings, as he was +infamous for clouding the memory of the living with it. Commines, an +honester writer, though I fear, by the masters whom he pleased, not a +much less servile courtier, says that the virtues of Louis XI. +preponderated over his vices. Even Voltaire has in a manner purified the +dross of adulation which contemporary authors had squandered on Louis +XIV. by adopting and refining it after the tyrant was dead." + +He then becomes courageous, and writes in his castle of Strawberry Hill, +what he never would have dared to breathe in the circle of St. James's. +"If any thing can shock one of those mortal divinities, and they must be +shocked before they can be corrected, it would be to find, that the +truth would be related of them at last. Nay, is it not cruel to them to +hallow their memories. One is sure that they will never hear truth; +shall they not even have a chance of reading it?" + +In all great political movements, where the authority of a nation has +been shaken, we are strongly inclined to think that the shock has +originated in mal-administration at home. Some of the most remarkable +passages in these volumes relate to our early neglect of the American +Colonies. In the perpetual struggles of public men for power, the remote +world of the West seemed to be wholly forgotten, or to be remembered +only when an old governor was recalled, or a new creature of office sent +out. Those great provinces had been in the especial department of the +Secretary of State, assisted by the Board of Trade. That secretary had +been the Duke of Newcastle, a man whose optics seem never to have +reached beyond Whitehall. It would scarcely be credited, what reams of +papers, representations, memorials, and petitions from that quarter of +the world lay mouldering and unopened in his office. He even knew as +little of the geography of his province, as of the state of it. During +the war, while the French were encroaching on the frontier; when General +Ligonier hinted some defence for Annapolis, he replied in his evasive, +lisping hurry, "Annapolis. Oh, yes, Annapolis must be defended--Where is +Annapolis?" + +But a more serious impolicy was exhibited in the neglect of American +claims to distinctions and offices. No cabinet seems ever to have +thought of attaching the rising men of the colonies, by a fair and +natural distribution of honours. Excepting a few trifling offices, +scarcely more than menial, under the staff of the British governors, or +commissions in the provincial militia, the promotion of an American was +scarcely ever heard of. The result was natural,--the English blood was +soaked in the American veins; the original spirit of the colonist became +first sullen, and then hostile. It was natural, as the population grew +more numerous; while individual ability found itself thwarted in its +progress, and insulted by the preference of strangers to all the offices +of the country, that the feelings of the people should ponder upon +change. Nothing could be more impolitic than this careless insult, and +nothing more calamitous in its consequences. The intelligent lawyer, the +enterprising merchant, the hardy soldier, and America had them all, grew +bitter against the country of their ancestors. It would scarcely be +believed, that the Episcopal Church was almost wholly abandoned to +weakness, poverty, and unpopularity, and even that no bishop was sent to +superintend the exertions, or sustain the efficacy, or cement the +connexion of the Church in America with the Church in England. The whole +of the united provinces were, by the absurd fiction of a sinecure law, +"in the diocese of London!" Of course, in the first collision, the +Church was swept away like chaff before the wind. An Episcopal Church +has since risen in its room; but it has now no farther connexion with +its predecessor than some occasional civilities offered to its tourist +bishops on presenting their cards at Lambeth, or the rare appearance of +a volume of sermons transmitted to our public libraries. + +Another capital fault was committed in the administration of those great +colonies: they had been peopled chiefly by emigrants of the humbler +order. Leaving England chiefly in times of national disturbance, they +had carried with them the seeds of republicanism; but all men love +public honours, and Englishmen love them as much as any others. +Hereditary honours, too, are the most valuable of all, from their giving +a certain rank to those objects of our regard, which every honest and +high-minded man values most, his children. To be the founder of a family +is the most honourable, the most gratifying, and the most permanent +reward of public talents. The Americans of our day affect to abhor a +peerage; though no people on earth are more tenacious of the trifling +and temporary titles of office. Nothing could have been easier at this +period, than the creation of an aristocracy in America; and nothing +could have been wiser. The landed proprietors, and there were some of +vast possessions; the leading men of commerce, and there were some of +great wealth; and the principal lawyers, and there were men of eloquence +and ability among them--would have formed the _nucleus_ of an +aristocracy purely English, closely connected with the English throne as +the fountain of honour, and not less strongly bound to English +allegiance. An Episcopacy, of all ties the most powerful, required only +a word for its creation. And in this manly, generous, and free-spirited +connexion, the colonies would have grown with the growth of England; +have shunned all the bitter collisions of rival interests; have escaped +the actual wars which inflicted disaster on both; and, by the first of +all benefits to America, she would have obtained the means of resisting +that supremacy of faction, which is now hurrying her into all the +excesses of democracy. + +In Canada we are still pursuing the same system, inevitably to be +followed by the same fruits. We are suffering it to be filled with men +of the lowest order of society; with the peasant, the small dealer, the +fugitive, and the pauper. Those men no sooner acquire personal +independence, than they aim at political. But who ever hears of a title +of honour among even the ablest, the most gallant, or the most attached +of the Canadian colonists? The French acted more rationally. Their +Canadians have a noblesse, and that noblesse to this moment keep their +station, and keep up the interest of France in Canada. Our obvious +policy would be, to conciliate the leading men by titles of honour, to +conciliate the rising generation by giving them the offices of their own +country, and make it a principle of colonial government, that while the +command of the forces, or the governor-generalship should be supplied +from home, every office below those ranks should be given to those brave +and intelligent individuals of the colony who had best earned them. We +should then hear of no factions, no revolts, and no republicanism in +Canada. + +It is a curious contrast to the present state of things, that during the +long reign of George II. government was simply a game. Half a dozen +powerful men were the players. The king was merely the looker on, the +people knew no more of the matter than the passers by through Pall-Mall +know of the performances going on within the walls of its club-houses. +It must shock our present men of the mob to hear of national interests +tossed about like so many billiard balls by those powdered and ruffled +handlers of the cue. Yet every thing is to be judged of by the result. +Public life was never exhibited on a more showy scale. Parliament never +abounded with more accomplished ability. England never commanded higher +influence with Europe. If her commerce has since become more extensive, +it was then more secure, and if the victories of our own time have been +on a scale of magnitude, which throws the past into the shade, our +fleets and armies then gave proofs of a gallantry which no subsequent +triumphs could transcend. + +It cannot be doubted, that the habits of that rank to which the +statesmen of that day were born, naturally influenced their views of +political transactions. Though party unquestionably existed in all its +force among them, there was no faction. If there was a strong +competition for power, there was little of the meanness of modern +intrigue; and a minister of the days of George II. would no more have +stooped to the rabble popularity, than he would have availed himself of +its assistance or dreaded its alienation. + +We now come to one of those negociations which, like a gust of wind +against a tree, while they seemed to shake, only strengthened the +cabinet. A violent attack had been made in the house upon Sir Thomas +Robinson, a great favourite with the king. Walpole strikes off his +character with his usual spirit. Sir Thomas had been bred in German +courts, and was rather restored, than naturalised to the genius of +Germany. He had German honour, loved German politics, and "could explain +himself as little" as if he spoke "only German." Walpole attributes Sir +Thomas's political distinctions simply to Newcastle's necessity for +finding out men of talents inferior to his own, "notwithstanding the +difficulty of the discovery." Yet if the duke had intended to please his +master, he could not have done it more happily than by presenting him +with so congenial a servant. The king, "with such a secretary in his +closet, felt himself in the very Elysium of Heren-hausen." + +Then follows a singular conversation between the king and Fox. The Duke +of Newcastle saw his power tottering, and had begun to look out for new +allies. His first thought was to dismiss Pitt, the next and more +natural, was to "try to sweeten Fox." Accordingly, on the morning of the +29th, the king sent for Fox, reproached him for concurring to wrong Sir +Thomas Robinson, and asked him if he had united with Pitt to oppose his +measures. Fox assured him he had not, and that he had given his honour +that he would resign first. Then, said the king, will you stand up and +carry on my measures in the House of Commons, as you can do with spirit. +Fox replied, I must know, sir, what means I shall have. "It would be +better for you," said the king, "you shall have favour, advantage, and +confidence," but would not explain particulars, only asking if he would +go to the Duke of Newcastle. + +"I must, if you command me," said Fox, "go and say I have forgot every +thing." + +"No," replied the king, "I have a good opinion of you. You have +abilities and honesty, but you are too warm. I will send a common +friend, Lord Waldegrave. I have obligations to you that I never +mentioned. The prince tried you, and you would not join him, and yet you +made no merit of it to me." + +Mingled with these memoirs are appendices of anecdote, and those +anecdotes generally of remarkable characters. Among the rest is a sketch +of the famous Count Bruhl, one of those men who figured in Europe as the +grand burlesque of ministerial life, or rather of that life, which in +the East raises a slave into the highest appointments of the state, and +after showing him as a slipper-bearer, places him beside the throne. The +extravagances of the court of Saxony at that period were proverbial, the +elector being King of Poland, and lavishing the revenues of his +electorate alike on his kingdom and person. While the court was +borrowing at an interest of ten per cent. the elector was lavishing +money as if it rained from the skies. He had just wasted L200,000 +sterling on two royal marriages, given L100,000 sterling for the Duke of +Modena's gallery of pictures, given pensions in Poland amounting to +L50,000 sterling above what he received, and enabled Count Bruhl +personally to spend L60,000 a-year. + +This favourite of fortune, originally of a good family, was only a page +to the late king, and had the education of a page. By his assiduity, and +being never absent from the king's side, he became necessary to this +marvellously idle monarch; he himself, next to the monarch, being, +probably, the idlest man in his dominions. The day of a German prime +minister seems to have been a succession of formal idlenesses. Bruhl +rose at six in the morning, the only instance of activity in his +career. But he was obliged to attend the king before nine, after having +read the letters of the morning. With the king he staid until the hour +of mass, which was at eleven. From mass he went to the Countess +Moyensha, where he remained till twelve. From her house he adjourned to +dinner with the king, or to his own house, where he was surrounded by a +circle of profligates, of his own choosing. After dinner he undressed, +and went to sleep till five. He then dressed, for the second time in the +day, each time occupying him an hour. At six he went to the king, with +whom he staid till seven. At seven he always went to some assembly, +where he played deep, the Countess Moyensha being always of the party. +At ten he supped, and at twelve he went to bed. Thus did the German +contrive to mingle statesmanship with folly, and the rigid regularities +of a life not to be envied by a horse in a mill, with the feeble +frivolities of a child in the nursery. His expenses were immense; he +kept three hundred servants, and as many horses. Yet he lived without +elegance, and even without comfort. His house was a model of +extravagance and bad taste. He had contracted a mania for building, and +had at least a dozen country seats, which he scarcely ever visited. This +enormous expenditure naturally implied extraordinary resources, and he +was said to sell all the great appointments in Poland without mercy. + +Frederick of Prussia described him exactly, when he said, that "of all +men of his age he had the most watches, dresses, lace, boots, shoes, and +slippers. Caesar would have put him among those well dressed and perfumed +heads of which he was not afraid." But this mixture of prodigality and +profligacy was not to go unpunished, even on its own soil. Bruhl +involved Saxony in a war with Frederick. Nothing could be more foolish +than the beginning of the war, except its conduct. The Prussian king, +the first soldier in Europe, instantly out-manoeuvred the Saxons, shut +up their whole army at Pirna; made them lay down their arms, and took +possession of Dresden. The king and his minister took to flight. This +was the extinction of Bruhl's power. On his return to Dresden, after +peace had been procured, he lost his protector, the king. The new +elector dismissed him from his offices. He died in 1764. + +Some scattered anecdotes of Doddington are characteristic of the man and +of the time. Soon after the arrival of Frederick Prince of Wales in +England, Doddington set up for a favourite, and carried the distinction +to the pitifulness of submitting to all the caprices of his royal +highness; among other instances, submitting to the practical joke of +being rolled up in a blanket, and trundled down stairs. + +Doddington has been already spoken of as a wit; and even Walpole, +fastidious as he was, gives some instances of that readiness which +delights the loungers of high life. Lord Sunderland, a fellow +commissioner of the treasury, was a very dull man. One day as they left +the board, Sunderland laughed heartily about something which Doddington +had said, and, when gone, Winnington observed, "Doddington, you are very +ungrateful. You call Sunderland stupid and slow, and yet you see how +quickly he took what you said." "Oh no," was the reply, "he was only now +laughing at what I said last treasury day." + +Trenchard, a neighbour, telling him, that though his pinery was +extensive, he contrived, by applying the fire and the tan to other +purposes, to make it so advantageous that he believed he got a shilling +by every pine-apple he ate. "Sir," said Doddington, "I would eat them +for half the money." Those are but the easy pleasantries of a man of +conversation. The following is better: Doddington had a habit of falling +asleep after dinner. One day, dining with Sir Richard Temple, Lord +Cobham, &c., he was reproached with his drowsiness. He denied having +been asleep, and to prove his assertion, offered to repeat all that +Cobham had been saying. He was challenged to do so. In reply, he +repeated a story; and Cobham acknowledged that he had been telling it. +"Well," said Doddington, "and yet I did not hear a word of it. But I +went to sleep because I knew that, about this time of day, you would +tell that story." + +There are few things more singular than the want of taste, amounting to +the ludicrous, which is sometimes visible in the mansions of public men, +who have great opulence at their disposal. Walpole himself, when he +became rich, was an instance of this bad taste in the laborious +frivolity of his decorations at Strawberry hill. But in Doddington we +have a man of fashion, living, during his whole career, in the highest +circles, familiar with every thing that was graceful and classical in +the arts, and yet exhibiting at home the most ponderous and tawdry pomp. +At his mansion at Eastbury, in the great bed-chamber, hung with the +richest red velvet, was pasted on "every panel of the velvet his crest, +a hunting horn, supported by an eagle, cut out in gilt leather, while +the footcloth round his bed was a mosaic of the pocket flaps and cuffs +of all his embroidered clothes." + +He was evidently very fond of this crest, for in his villa at +Hammersmith, (afterwards the well known Brandenburg House,) his crest in +pebbles was stuck in the centre of the turf before his door. The +chimney-piece was hung with spars representing icicles round the fire, +and a bed of purple lined with orange, was crowned by a dome of +peacock's feathers. The great gallery, to which was a beautiful door of +white marble, supported by two columns of lapis lazuli, was not only +filled with busts and statues, but had an inlaid floor of marble, and +all this weight was above stairs. One day showing it to Edward, Duke of +York, (brother of George III.) Doddington said, Sir, some persons tell +me, that this room ought to be on the ground. "Be easy, Mr. Doddington," +said the prince, "it will soon be there." + +At length this reign, which began in doubt of the succession, and was +carried on in difficulties both political and commercial, came to a +close in the most memorable prosperity. The British arms were triumphant +in every quarter, and the king had arrived at the height of popularity +and fortune, when the sudden bursting of a ventricle of the heart, put +an end to his life in October, 1760, in his seventy-seventh year, and +the thirty-third of his possession of the throne. + +A general glance at the reigns of the first three Georges, might form a +general view of the operations of party. In other kingdoms, the will of +the monarch or the talents of the minister, alone stand before the eye +of the historian. In England, a third power exists, more efficient than +either, and moulding the character of both, and this is party, the +combination of able members of the legislature, united by similarity of +views, and continuing a systematic struggle for the supremacy. This +influence makes the minister, and directs even the sitter on the throne. +And this influence, belonging solely to a free government, is essential +to its existence. It is the legitimate medium between the people and the +crown. It is the peaceful organ of that public voice which, without it, +would speak only in thunder. It is that great preservative principle, +which, like the tides of the ocean, purifies, invigorates, and animates +the whole mass, without rousing it into storm. + +The reign of George the First, was a continual effort of the +constitutional spirit against the remnants of papistry and tyranny, +which still adhered to the government of England. The reign of the +second George was a more decided advance of constitutional rights, +powers, and feelings. The pacific administration of Walpole made the +nation commercial; and when the young Pretender landed in Scotland, in +1745, he found adherents only in the wild gallantry, and feudal faith of +the clans. In England Jacobitism had already perished. It had undergone +that death from which there is no restoration. It had been swept away +from the recollections of the country, by the influx of active and +opulent prosperity. The brave mountaineer might exult at the sight of +the Jacobite banner, and follow it boldly over hill and dale. But the +Englishman was no longer the man of feudalism. The wars of the Roses +could be renewed no more. He was no longer the fierce retainer of the +baron, or the armed vassal of the king. He had rights and possessions of +his own, and he valued both too much to cast them away in civil +conflict, for claims which had become emaciated by the lapse of years, +and sacrifice freedom for the superstitious romance of a vanished +royalty. + +Thus the last enterprise of Jacobitism was closed in the field, and the +bravery of the Highlander was thenceforth, with better fortune, to be +distinguished in the service of the empire. + +The reign of the third George began with the rise of a new influence. +Jacobitism had been trampled. Hanover and St. Germains were no longer +rallying cries. Even Whig and Tory were scarcely more than imaginary +names. The influence now was that of family. The two great divisions of +the aristocracy, the old and the new, were in the field. The people were +simply spectators. The fight was in the Homeric style. Great champions +challenged each other. Achilles Chatham brandished his spear, and +flashed his divine armour, against the defenders of the throne, until he +became himself the defender. The Ajax, the Diomede, and the whole tribe +of the classic leaders, might have found their counterparts in the +eminent men who successively appeared in the front of the struggle; and +the nation looked on with justified pride, and Europe with natural +wonder, at the intellectual resources which could supply so noble and so +prolonged a display of ability. The oratorical and legislative names of +the first thirty years of the reign of George the Third have not been +surpassed in any legislature of the world. + +But a still more important period, a still more strenuous struggle, and +a still more illustrious triumph, was to come. The British parliament +was to be the scene of labours exerted not for Britain alone, but for +the globe. The names of Pitt, Fox, Burke, and a crowd of men of genius, +trained by their example, and following their career, are cosmopolite. +They belong to all countries and to all generations. Their successes not +only swept the most dangerous of all despotisms from the field, but +opened that field for an advance of human kind to intellectual +victories, which may yet throw all the trophies of the past into the +shade. + + * * * * * + + + + +MILDRED: + +A TALE. + + +CHAPTER VII. + +"To-morrow we quit Rome," said Mildred; "let us spend the day in quest +of nothing new, but in a farewell visit to some of our first and oldest +friends. How soon does that which we very much admire, come to be an old +friend!" + +Winston felt the same inclination as herself; but Mr. and Miss +Bloomfield, since nothing new was to be seen, preferred to stay at home +and rest themselves, in anticipation of the morrow's journey. Winston +and Mildred therefore started together. + +They entered a carriage and drove to St. Peter's; alighting, however, at +the entrance of the magnificent colonnade which extends before it. The +last visit we pay to any remarkable place bears a strong resemblance to +the first; for the prospect of quitting it revives the freshness of the +scene, and invests it for a second time with something like the charm of +novelty. As it broke on us before from a past spent in ignorance of it, +so now we seem to look out on it from the long anticipated absence of +the future. + +"Standing at the extremity of the colonnade," said Winston, "how +diminutive seem the men who are ascending the broad flight of steps that +lead to the church itself; and the carriages and horses drawn up at the +bottom of those steps look like children's toys. Men have dwarfed +themselves by their own creations." + +"Who is it," said Mildred, "that in his oracular criticism pronounced +this colonnade, beautiful as it is, to be disproportioned to the +building, and out of place. Whoever it was, he must have excogitated the +idea at a distance, and in some splenetic humour; it never could have +entered through his eyesight standing here. Had there been a portico to +the church, such as we are told Michael Angelo intended, resembling that +of the Pantheon, then this colonnade might have been unnecessary--it +would always have been a beautiful addition--but with so flat a facade, +(the only part of the building, I think, which disappoints expectation,) +I pronounce the colonnade to be absolutely essential. Without it the +temple would never seem to invite, as it does and ought to do, the whole +Christian world to enter it. Oh, if it were only to girdle in those two +beautiful fountains, it were invaluable." + +"Beautiful indeed! Such should fountains be," said Winston. "The water, +in its graceful and noble play, should constitute the sole ornament. If +you introduce statuary, the water should be an accessary to the statue, +and no longer the principal ornament." + +"How I abominate," said Mildred, "all those devices for spirting water +out of the mouths of animals! It is a constant surprise to me that a +taste so evidently revolting to all our natural associations, should be +still persevered in. To leave unmentioned more odious devices, I can +never pass without a sense of the disagreeable and the offensive, even +those lions or leopards, whichever they may be, in the _Piazza del +Popolo_, who are abundantly supplying the inhabitants with water through +their mouths. And where the fountain is made to play over the statue, +what a discoloured and lamentable appearance it necessarily gives to the +marble! Let the river god, if you will, lean safe and tranquil over his +reversed and symbolic pitcher: or at the feet of some statue, half +surrounded by foliage, let the little fountain be seen playing from the +ground; but keep the statue out of the water, and oh, keep the water out +of the statue!"[17] + + [17] "The good Abderites," writes Wieland in his _Abderiten_, "once + got the notion that such a town as Abdera ought no longer to be + without its fountain. They would have one in their market place. + Accordingly, they procured a celebrated sculptor from Athens to + design and execute for them a group of figures representing the god + of the ocean, in a car drawn by four sea-horses, surrounded by + nymphs, and tritons, and dolphins. The sea-horses and the dolphins + were to spout a quantity of water out of their nostrils. But when + all was completed, it was found that there was hardly water enough + to supply the nose of a single dolphin. So that when the fountain + began to play it looked for all the world as if the sea-horses and + the dolphins had all taken a miserable cold, and were put to great + shame there in the public place by reason of this dropping rheum. As + this was too ridiculous for even the Abderites to endure, they + removed the whole group into the temple of Neptune; and now, as + often as it is shown to a foreigner, the custodian, in the name of + the worthy town of Abdera, bitterly laments that so glorious a work + of art should have been rendered useless _by the parsimony of + Nature_." + + In like manner, our good _Brightonians_ lately got possessed of the + notion that their sea-beaten town ought no longer to be without its + fountain. They accordingly procured, not an artist from Athens, but + a tall iron machine from Birmingham, tall as their houses, and much + resembling in form one candlestick put upon another. This they + placed in the choicest site their town afforded. Its ugliness was of + no importance, as it was to be hidden underneath the graceful and + ample flow of water. But when this water-spouting instrument was + erected, it was found here too that no water was to be had--no + natural and gratuitous supply. And now when the stranger wonders at + this tall disfigurement, and inquires into its meaning, he is told + how the spirited efforts of the Brightonians to adorn their town + have been rendered fruitless _by the parsimony of water-companies_. + Once a week, however, his cicerone will advertise him--once every + week and for two hours together--the fountain is _let off_ to the + sound of music, and the people are gathered together to see it + play--or rather, he might add, to _weep_--for even at these moments + it feels the effect of the same cruel spirit of parsimony. + + Our countrymen had better leave fountains alone. The introduction of + them into London is nothing but a thoughtless imitation of what can + only be a pleasing and natural ornament in a quite different + climate. Who cares to see water spirting in the fog of London, in an + atmosphere cold and damp, where there is rain enough to drown the + fountain, and wind enough to scatter it in the air? Out of the whole + twelve months there are scarce twelve days where this bubbling up of + water in our city does not look a very discomfortable object. + +They ascended the broad flight of steps, and seemed now to feel +themselves dwarfs as they mounted--and entered the portico. Here are +several groups of allegorical figures, and to the right and left the +equestrian statues of Charlemagne and Constantine. + +"I am not surprised," said Mildred, "at the mistake of a countryman of +ours, who took Charlemagne for St. Paul. One would more naturally look +for the apostle here." + +"What! than the great benefactor of the Papacy! I rather suspect," +replied Winston, "that St. Paul would find himself less at home in this +temple than Charlemagne. What think you of these colossal allegories? +Here we have Truth, with her invariable mirror." + +"Which mirror, it has always appeared to me," said Mildred, "has a very +poor significance. It reflects faithfully the surface of all things. But +this is not the sort of truth we care much about." + +"But it reflects _faithfully_." + +"That would rather illustrate the good moral lesson to _speak_ the +truth, than the exalted effort to attain it." + +"Here the lady--and a very sweet face she has--is looking at herself in +the mirror. This must represent, I suppose, metaphysic truth." + +"If so, that must be the reason," rejoined Mildred, "that she is placed +here outside the temple. I am afraid she will never enter it. But we +will." And they proceeded into the church. + +"What an admirable effect has this high altar!" said Winston, in a +subdued exclamation. "Standing as it does in the centre, just beneath +the dome, and so justly proportioned, it at once occupies the whole +building, and explains its purpose to the eye. I cannot agree with the +criticism which has objected to the twisted column in a position like +this. These four bronze and gilded pillars--how lofty they are!--sustain +nothing of greater weight than the canopy above them, and are here as +much in the character of ornament as support. The dove, in its golden +atmosphere of glory, the representation of the Holy Spirit, which is +indeed at the extremity of the church, seems brought within them, and to +be floating between the columns. In every picture or engraving I have +seen, the contrary effect is produced, and the high altar, losing its +central position, seems transferred, with the dove in it, to the +extremity of the church." + +"And this semicircle of small burning lamps, arranged in their mystical +trinities on the marble balustrade before it; and this double flight of +stairs," continued Winston, as they approached the altar, and looked +over the balustrade, "leading down to those brazen doors below, before +which other burning lamps are suspended; and that marble figure of the +Pope kneeling before them, kneeling and praying incessantly for the +people--it is altogether admirable!" + +"The light of lamps and tapers," said Mildred, "burning in midday, had +upon me at first an incongruous effect; they seemed so superfluous and +out of place. But after a little reflection, or a little habit, they +ceased to make this impression. The lamp and the taper are not here to +_give_ light, but to _be_ light. The light is a mystical and brilliant +ornament--it is here for its own sake--and surely no jewellery and no +burnished gold could surpass it in effect. These brazen lamps round the +altar, each tipped with its steady, unwavering, little globe of light, +are sufficiently justified by their beauty and their brightness. In the +light of the taper, as in the water of the fountain, the ordinary +purposes of utility are forgotten--enough that it is beautiful." + +"How admirable the arrangement," said Winston, "of the tombs of the +pontiffs! The sculpture on them seems as much a part of the church as of +the monument. That kneeling figure of Clement XIII., kneeling upon its +exalted tomb--I shall see it whenever I think of St. Peter's. It is +here, and not in the Vatican, that Canova triumphs. That genius of +Death, reclining underneath the pontiff, with his torch reversed--what +could be more expressive, more tender, more melancholy! And Faith, or +Religion, whichever she may be, standing upright on the opposite side, +and leaning her outstretched hand _with force_ upon the marble--is a +noble figure too. But I could willingly have dispensed with those spikes +around her head, signifying rays of light." + +"It is a fortunate subject for the artist, that of the Pope," said +Mildred. "Being a temporal prince, a high-priest, and it is to be +supposed, a saint, he can be represented in all attitudes; in the +humility of prayer, or the dignity of empire. Yonder he rises, blessing +the people, and here he sits enthroned, giving out the law, and Religion +is looking up to him! Have you observed this monument to our James +II.?--who certainly deserved a tomb in St. Peter's, since he paid the +price of a kingdom for it. It is one of the least conspicuous, but not +one of the least beautiful of Canova's. Those two youthful figures +leaning their brows each on his inverted torch--standing sentinels by +that closed door--are they not inexpressibly graceful? And that closed +door!--so firmly closed!--and the dead have gone in!" + +"Mildred Willoughby," said Winston, "you are a poet." + +It was the first time he had ever called his companion by her Christian +name. It was done suddenly, in the moment of admiration, and her other +name was also coupled with it; but he had no sooner uttered the word +"Mildred" than he felt singularly embarrassed. She, however, by not +perceiving, or not seeming to perceive his embarrassment, immediately +dissipated it. + +"If I were," said she, "to tell me of it would for ever check the +inspiration. To banish all suspicion of poetry, let me make a carping +criticism, the only one, I think, which the whole interior of this +edifice would suggest to me. I do wish that its marble pillars could be +swept clean of the multitudes of little boys that are clinging to +them--cherubs I suppose they are to be called. By breaking the pillar +into compartments, they destroy the effect of its height. _Little_, +indeed, they are not; they are big enough. A colossal infant--what can +be made of it? And an infant, too, that must not smile, or he might be +taken for a representative of some other love than the celestial?" + +"Ay, and do what the artist will," said Winston, "the two Loves often +bear a very striking resemblance. In the church of St. Giovanni, amongst +their wreaths of flowers, the cherubs have a very Anacreontic +appearance." + +"But away with criticism. One farewell look," cried Mildred, "at this +magnificent dome. How well all its accessaries, all its decorations, are +proportioned and harmonised--growing lighter as they rise higher. Here +at the base of each of the four vast columns which support it, we have +gigantic statuary--seen and felt to be gigantic, yet disturbing nothing +by its great magnitude--just above the columns those exquisite +bas-reliefs--next the circular mosaics--then the ribbed roof, so +chastely gilded and divided into compartments, distinct yet never +separated from the whole--it is perfection!" + +They bade farewell to St. Peter's; and, in pursuance of their design, +re-entered their carriage and drove to its great dilapidated rival--the +Coliseum. + +"No dome here but the wide heavens," said Winston, as they approached +the vast circular ruin rising arch above arch into the air. "How it +scales, and would embrace the sky! Verily these old Romans seemed to +have no idea that any thing was to come after them; they lived and built +upon the earth as if they were the last types of the human species." + +"Mutability and progress are modern ideas; they had not attained to +them," said Mildred. + +They walked partly round the interior, looking through the deep arches, +overhung with verdure, and regretting the patches here and there too +perceptible of modern masonry, and still more the ridiculous attempt, by +the introduction of some contemptible pictures, or altar pieces, in the +arena, to _christianise_ the old heathen structure. They then ascended +to the summit to enjoy the prospect it commands, both of the distant +country, the beautiful hills of Italy, and of the neighbouring ruins of +ancient Rome. + +"How plainly it is the change of religion," said Winston, "which gives +its true antiquity to the past! All that we see of ancient Rome bears +the impress of Paganism; every thing in the modern city, of Catholicism. +It is this which puts the great gulf between the two, and makes the old +Roman to have lived, as it seems to us, in a world so different from our +own. Strange! that what in each age is looked upon as pre-eminently +unchangeable and eternal, should by its transformations mark out the +several eras of mankind. Ay, and this religion which now fills the city +with its temples--which I do not honour with the name of +Christianity--will one day, by its departure from the scene, have made +St Peter's as complete an antiquity as the ruins we are now sitting on." + +"I notice," said Mildred, "you are somewhat bitter against Catholicism." + +"I was tolerant when at a distance from it, and when again at a distance +I shall perhaps grow tolerant again. But a priesthood, not teaching but +ruling, governing men in their civil relations, seizing all education +into its own hand, training the thinking part of the community to +hypocrisy, and the unthinking to gross credulity--it is a spectacle that +exasperates. I used in England to be a staunch advocate for educating +and endowing the Roman Catholic priesthood of Ireland. I shall never, I +think, advocate that cause again. To educate this priesthood,--what is +it but to perfect an instrument for the restraining and corrupting the +education of all the rest of the people? To endow this priesthood,--what +else would it be but to give them an additional influence and power, to +be used always for their own aggrandisement, and the strengthening of +their own usurpations? The donative of a Protestant government would not +make them dependent upon that government; they have sources of wealth in +their own superstitions; they draw their vitality, and strike their +roots, in a far other soil than the crafty munificence of an opponent. +They would use the gift as best it pleased them, and defy a +government--anxious only for peace--to withdraw it. No! even if the +tranquillity of the empire should require the two churches to be placed +on an equal footing, I still would not endow the Roman Catholic.--But +pardon me,--what have we to do with the politics of England here?" + +"I cannot tell you," said Mildred, quite acquiescing in this dismissal +of the subject. "I cannot tell you what a singular pleasure it gave me +when I first saw the _classic_ ruin--the few upright Corinthian pillars +with their entablature across them, and the broken column lying at their +feet--which the pictures of Claude make us so familiar with. It must be +confessed, that the back-ground of my picture--such as the _Campo +Vaccino_ afforded me--was not exactly what a Claude would have selected. +How different in character and significance are the two ruins--the +classic and the romantic! The one square, well-defined, +well-proportioned, speaks of an age of _order_,--when Time stood still a +little, and looked with complacency on what he was about; the other, +with its round towers of unequal height, its arches of all shapes and +dimensions, full of grandeur, but never exhibiting either completeness +or congruity, tells us clearly of a period of turmoil and disorder, and +great designs withal,--when Time had struck his tent, and was hurrying +on in confused march, with bag and baggage, knight, standard, and the +sutler's wagon all jumbled together.--Let us, on our return, pass +through that group of desolate Corinthians; and, looking in at the +Capitol, bid farewell to the _Dying Gladiator_." + +In retracing their steps, they therefore passed through the old forum, +and then ascending the Capitol, entered the museum there, and renewed +their impression of that admirable statue. What pain!--but pain +overmastered--on that brow, as he sinks in death! Nor was the charming +little group of _Cupid and Psyche_ forgotten. That kiss! it merits to be +eternised. In _his_ love, what delight! In _hers_, what devotion! + +"But above all," said Mildred, "let us do reverence, before we part, to +_Aristides the Just_. How self-contained! Austere--the lover more of +virtue than of man. Full of his grand abstractions, he asks for nothing +even of the gods. Let them do justice! Nay, let them submit to justice +too! Great leveller! Is not virtue so uncompromising as this, very near +to rebellion against the gods and destiny?" + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +The next morning the whole party were packed in their travelling +carriage to start from Rome. Winston had no longer refused that fourth +seat which had been destined for him at Genoa. To say nothing of some +diminution of expense (a very worthy subject of consideration with all +travellers,) it was a great relief to Mr. Bloomfield to have a second +gentleman in their party. It decreased materially his own share of +personal trouble. Besides which, the travelling experience of Winston, +and his more familiar acquaintance with the Italian, rendered him very +acceptable. Mildred had generally acted as interpreter; and so long as +the speaker would answer in the same pure Tuscan in which she addressed +him, she could perform the office admirably well. But unfortunately, the +traveller in Italy has most need for his Italian exactly where any thing +but pure Tuscan is spoken. She could always succeed in making herself +understood; but was often sadly at a loss to understand that answer +which, with all due dexterity, she had elicited. + +On they now rattled through the streets of Rome. What rags upon those +beggars! Patches of all colours, red, blue, brown; but worn with such an +air of calm assurance, as if the garment of many colours had been +bestowed on the most favoured son of humanity. They passed the peasant +dame, or damsel, in her gaudy attire, with gold comb and ear-rings +glittering in her jet black hair, and that square folded handkerchief on +her head, which we always associate with the bandit's wife; and amidst +the squalid populace there appeared now and then, quite distinct from +the rest, a form or face of some youth, or maiden, or old man, that +might have issued from the canvass of Raphael. The apostles of the old +masters, at least, are walking still about Rome; and sometimes a Virgin +Mary is seen sitting at the door, and still more often a young John the +Baptist looks up to you from the pavement. Their own postilion reminded +the whole party of the _Suonatore di Violino_ of Raphael--whose +fiddlestick, by the way, being that of a bass viol, might at first sight +be mistaken for a folded riding-whip. + +On they pass by the beautiful church of St. Giovanni, the statues on the +roof and over the portico of which have at least one point of +resemblance with their saintly prototypes--they are standing out there +in the clear blue heavens, to which, and not to the earth, they seem to +belong. At the Port Sebastian they are detained by a string of +wine-carts, each drawn by one horse, with his plume of black feathers on +his head, and each cart furnished with its goatskin umbrella, under the +shade of which the driver lies fast asleep. Then follow a long cavalcade +of peasants, mounted on mules or asses--_mounted_ of a truth, for they +sit on a high wooden saddle, their arms folded under their long brown +cloaks, and a black pointed hat upon their heads. Strange figures! + +"A flower in _that_ hat!" exclaimed Mildred, as one passed her with a +beautiful carnation stuck into a beaver, which, except that it retained +its pyramidal form, and was there upon a human head, could not have been +recognised as _hat_ at all. "And he wears it seriously," she continued, +"serenely--without the least feeling of incongruity. Oh, I like that!" + +Getting clear of this train, they advanced through the gate into the +open country. To their left the old aqueduct extended on the horizon its +long line of ruined arches; to the right the plain was dotted with mere +massive fragments of undistinguishable ruin, looking like what the +geologists call boulders. The trace of man's labour was lost in them; +the work of the artificer had come to resemble the rudest accident of +Nature. + +And so Rome was left behind. + + * * * * * + +"Is that smoke or a cloud," asked Miss Bloomfield, "that rests so +constantly upon that mountain?" + +"It is Vesuvius! Vesuvius!" exclaimed the rest of the party. + +But they found themselves in a position, at that moment, the least of +all favourable to enthusiastic emotions. Their carriage was delayed at +the entrance into Naples, in the middle of a wide road, the hottest and +the dustiest that can be imagined. There they were arrested to undergo +the examination and the extortions of the custom-house gentry. Poor Mr. +Bloomfield was in a fever. His passport had been asked for six several +times between Rome and Naples, and each time solely, as it seemed, to +extract a gratuity. Even the military guard stationed at the gates of +the towns had begged. No one in Italy seemed to speak to him but to beg, +or to _lay the foundation_, as a lawyer would say, for a begging +question. And now these fellows were examining, or pretending to examine +his baggage, and were evidently resolved to keep them there, in the sun +and the dust, till they had paid a sufficient ransom. In this position +it was that Winston and Mildred were, by stolen glances, taking their +first survey of the burning mountain. By stolen glances, because they +were compelled from a certain feeling of politeness to share in the +anxieties and chagrin of Mr. Bloomfield. For themselves, they both +agreed it was much better to submit quietly, and at once, to all these +impositions; even if there were a fair chance, after much controversy, +of a successful resistance. There is surely no money so well laid out as +that which purchases equanimity. + +They were extricated at length, and the carriage rattled on into Naples. +Mr. Bloomfield had written to procure apartments in the quarter of the +_Chiaja_, opposite the Villa Reale, (or royal gardens.) To these +therefore they drove. Winston of course found his way to an hotel. + +That evening he walked out to look at the burning mountain. It was now, +and during the whole period of their stay, in a state of great activity, +which some dignified with the name of an eruption. As Winston watched +its burning summit across an angle of the bay, he thought he had never +seen any thing which so completely _fascinated_ the eye. The flame +alternately rising and falling leads the spectator every moment to +expect something more than he has hitherto seen, and that _now_ it is +about to burst forth. And even at this distance it is so evidently not a +fire _upon_ but _within_ the mountain, from the manner in which the +flame sinks down, and that red metallic glare which shoots along the +rocky summits and cavities, here the fire is not visible. Yet +fascinating as the object was, it did not entirely rivet the thoughts of +Winston. To his own surprise and confusion, he found that he, a +professed admirer of nature, was standing, for the first time, by the +bay of Naples, under the beautiful star-light of Italy, watching one of +the most magnificent of nature's wonders with a divided and distracted +mind. All this scene, and all its novelty, could not keep Mildred from +his thoughts. Evidently he was a lost man. + +And who or what, after all, was Alfred Winston? The, question, it may be +supposed, had often occurred to the Bloomfields. That he was an artist, +was a conjecture long ago given up; he travelled with no portfolio, and +was never known to use the pencil. That he was a literary man was also +contradicted by his own straightforward unaffected denials; if he had +cultivated his mind, it was solely for the pleasure or profit accruing +to himself. The manner in which his time was at his own disposal, seemed +to contradict the idea that he belonged to any of the learned +professions. What could he be therefore but simply a gentleman? And such +they had satisfied themselves, from many reasons, that he was. But there +are gentlemen and gentlemen--rich, and poor. To which of these two +classes did he belong? Question of questions. The moment it is asked how +all vain enchantments are dispersed! how the bare earth shows itself +directly beneath our feet! Where is now the bay of Naples, and +star-light, and Vesuvius? Is he rich or poor? + +One word on the father of Alfred Winston will best explain his own +present position in the world. That father was one of a class of men +altogether inexplicable, quite unintelligible to sober-minded and +methodical persons; and yet the class is not so very rare. He was of +good birth and fortune, of agreeable manners, and witty conversation, +but utterly destitute of all prudential, all providential care, whether +for himself or others. He was born to an ample estate; and, fond of +pleasure as he was, he might have found it sufficient, with very little +effort of prudence, to gratify all his tastes. But from the very +commencement of his career, he entered upon the ruinous practice of +"eating the land with the revenue," and continued, in this manner, +consuming every year more of land and less of revenue. He early lost his +wife. He had been an amiable husband, and manifested a decorous sorrow +on the occasion; but could not disguise from his intimate friends the +pleasure he felt at the recovery of his bachelor freedom. He hated the +necessity of having to yield his own inclinations to another; though he +hated still more the alternative of having to dispute with that other +for liberty to follow his own inclinations. + +After the decease of his wife, the elder Winston lived, for the most +part, a roaming life upon the Continent. A little intrigue, a little +gaming, the dinner, and the opera, sufficiently filled up the time of +one who, while he courted pleasure, was not difficult in his amusements. +And for _this_ he could continue, with the utmost calmness and freedom +from anxiety, a scale of expenditure which was rapidly dissipating his +hereditary estates. His son he treated with indulgence and liberality, +and when he saw him, which was seldom, with great kindness of manner. He +encouraged him in all the idle and expensive habits of a gentleman of +fortune, while he was utterly destroying the property which could alone +support them. + +He died suddenly; a fever carried him off at the age of fifty. Had he +lived three years longer, he would have spent every shilling he +possessed. What had he intended to do _then_? It is impossible to say. +To all appearance he had never entertained the question. When young +Winston had paid off his father's debts and his own, he who had +expected to enter into an ample revenue found himself in the possession +only of a few thousand pounds. This was all his patrimony. What to do he +had not yet resolved; but this reverse had not prevented him from +accomplishing a long cherished wish of visiting Italy. Some idea also +was floating in his mind that perhaps he should select some place upon +the Continent where to reside permanently upon the small pittance that +was left to him. + +It will be now seen at a glance, why it was that Winston fled from the +attractions of Mildred at Genoa: he knew himself to be poor, and had +become acquainted with the peculiar, and perhaps dependent, position in +which Miss Willoughby stood. No one will blame him for running away from +Genoa; but ought he to have lingered at Rome? We fear our friend was not +remarkable for resolution of character. He had ardent feelings, and to +counteract them he had just perceptions of what life demands from us; +but he lacked, evidently, in steadiness of purpose. + +And what now _could_ he do? Flight, as at Genoa, was out of the +question. He could not, by any rude or abrupt behaviour, forfeit that +share of Mildred's esteem which he possessed. On his way back to his +hotel he resolved--it was the utmost that his prudence suggested--that +he would take occasion quietly and unostentatiously to intimate that, +like Bassanio, + + "All the wealth he had + Ran in his veins, he was a gentleman." + +It would then be seen by Miss Willoughby, as clearly as by himself, that +his _attentions_, to use the appropriate phrase, _meant nothing_. What +might follow would be a torture merely to himself--the torture of a +hopeless passion. She would know how to regulate her own feelings +towards him. He alone should be the sufferer. + +Very fallacious reasoning! If he with his eyes open loved and suffered, +how could he tell but that Mildred might do the same? and this quiet +intimation of certain barriers and impediments to his passion was likely +to prove--as indeed it did prove--little better than a declaration of +love, and not the less ardent because coupled with avowals of +despondency. + +Meanwhile, having made this concession to the cause of prudence and his +honour, he resigned himself to the charms of Mildred's society. Every +day brought some new excursion to scenes of surpassing beauty, in +companionship with one of the most lovely and gifted of women. Winston's +theory, that what is most beautiful in nature ought to be enjoyed in +solitude, was entirely overthrown. He cared to visit nothing unless in +her society; nor was there any scene whatever in which her presence was +not felt to be the higher gratification. + +Mr. Bloomfield and his sister, after their first visit to some of the +environs of Naples, felt little disposed to make any unusual exertion. +They had both discovered that the bay was much the same whether viewed +from the right side or the left, and that in this warm weather--it was +now the month of May--the shady walks in the _Villa Reale_, or a +promenade in the town, was to be preferred to a ride in an open +carriage. To Mildred, on the contrary, almost every excursion, whatever +its professed object, derived its chief attraction from the different +points of view it presented her of that bay, which every hour seemed to +make more lovely. It followed, therefore, that Winston and Mildred were +sometimes left to proceed on their expedition alone. How the heart of +Winston beat as he, handed her into the carriage, and took his seat +beside her! It was something very like a curse which fell at that moment +upon the memory of his selfish parent. Had he been fairly dealt with, it +might have been his lot to hand her into a carriage of his own--and +hers. + +Winston was almost in danger of forgetting the existence of Mr. +Bloomfield; but habitual politeness so far prevailed, that he +occasionally brought himself to listen to the account that gentleman +gave of his own impressions or afflictions. + +"I was never more disappointed," said Mr. Bloomfield on one of these +occasions, "or rather, I was never more mistaken in any place in my life +than in this town of Naples. I had heard much of lazzaroni lying about +in the sun, eating maccaroni, and of the love of the people for gaudy +colours and tinsel, even to the sticking gold-leaf and little flags of +red paper upon the meat in the butcher's shop; and I had seen depicted +the more curious costumes of man and horse, and especially this +_curiculo_, as I believe they call it, which seems originally to have +been like our old-fashioned one-horse chaise, but by the extension of +the shafts into a sort of platform before and behind, and by means of a +network suspended underneath between the wheels, has been made to hold a +quite indefinite number of persons, and still remains a one-horse +chaise, inasmuch as the whole cluster of mortals is generally carried on +at a gallop by one little black horse, who, as some sort of compensation +for the work they give him, is tricked out as fine as leather and brass +nails, ribands and feathers, can make him. Well, out of all these +materials I had contrived for myself a picture of utter and contented +idleness on the one hand, and the extreme of hilarious activity on the +other. I need not tell you how little such a picture answers to the +reality, how little prepared I was to encounter the din, and more than +Cheapside confusion of this main thoroughfare, the _Toledo_ street. The +impression which Naples actually makes, is of a city where noise and +turmoil and confusion are at their very height. Carried one step +further, "chaos would come again." There is the same incessant toil for +gain as in London itself--as little of repose, as little of hilarity. +Here is the spirit of trade without the order and method which trade +should introduce. It is commerce bewildered, and passionate after pence. +There are some parts of London more thickly stocked perhaps with carts +and wagons, and carriages of all descriptions, but they are order itself +compared to this _Toledo_ street. Every thing one can desire to +purchase, every thing one can desire to escape from, comes walking +abroad upon its even, uniform pavement, where men and carriages are +circulating together. Glass, and tea-trays, and crokery-ware, and +haberdashery, all meet you in the street. You are running for dear life +from some devil of a driver, who thinks that if he does but shout loud +enough, he is at perfect liberty to break your bones, and you are stopt +in your flight by an industrious chapman, who spreads his stock of +pocket-handkerchiefs before your eyes. Men are walking about with live +fowls, cocks, hens, turkeys, which they hold, head downwards, in a +bunch, tied together by the legs. They are the quietest animals in the +street. They seem to have been touched by the utter inutility of their +loudest exclamations, and therefore to have resigned themselves in +silence; only when some cart-wheel grazes that head of theirs, which +they naturally hold up as high as possible, lest they should die of +apoplexy, do they make any ineffectual attempt to call attention to +their sufferings. Even money-changers, who, in all capitals of Europe, +carry on their business with a certain dignity and decorum, are here to +be seen, like our apple-women, ambulatory: they keep a stall with a sort +of bird-cage upon it, between the wires of which are glistening a store +of coins, gold, and silver, and much copper. I saw an old woman at one +of these stalls laying down the rate of exchange. No doubt she knew her +arithmetic that old crone, and made no mistake, at least on one side of +the account. A couple of lads with a large trayful of spectacles and +opera-glasses, were the great opticians of the day. I saw all sorts of +men, priests among them, trying on spectacles in the jostle of this +thoroughfare. The tailor and the hatter sit outside the door-way +stitching. I look into a baker's shop, if that can be called a shop +which is merely a square cavity laid open at the side near the +street--it is verily a baker's, and bread is made there, for you may see +the whole process carried on. Against the wall, on one side, a great +wheel is turning--grinding the corn; at the opposite side stands a man +up to his elbows in flour, kneading away with all his might; and in +front of you, if you will wait a moment, you will see the fiery oven +open, and the baked bread make its appearance--a sample of which is +deposited in the wire safe that hangs up at the entrance, and serves +for shop-window. Would that all handicrafts were but as peaceful! A few +doors further on there is _Rafaelle Papa_, the copper-smith, hammering +remorselessly at his copper pans. And, O heavens! the blacksmith himself +has come out in the open air with his fire and his forge; he has +established his smoking furnace in the only recess, the only place of +refuge, the whole street afforded." + +"And in the midst of all this, and at every corner, what heaps of +beautiful flowers!" said Mildred. "It is curious, too," she added, "to +see, moving through this Cheapside throng, the mendicant friar, cowled +and sandaled, with his wallet, or double sack that hangs across his +shoulder before and behind, actually then and there collecting alms for +his convent." + +"But you must not forget the sugar saints and saviours," said Miss +Bloomfield, "that one sees amongst the sweetmeats; and how in every shop +there hangs up the picture of some patron saint, before which on +holydays candles are burning; nor above all, those lemonade stalls, +which are certainly the gayest things in the town. But tell me," she +continued, "I do not quite understand them. First, there is a sort of +dresser heaped up with lemons and oranges. At each end of this rise two +little pillars, painted with red and white stripes, and supporting a +sort of canopy, on which figures, of course, the Virgin Mary--so that +the whole looks like a little altar. Well, but on each side, between +these pillars, there swings, suspended by the middle, a sort of wooden +barrel, and when the damsel, who makes the lemonade, has nothing else to +do, she gives it a touch, and sets it swinging. Now, what are those +for?" + +"They hold the snow," said her brother, "which serves instead of ice, +and which the damsel, by this swinging process, helps to dissolve. Some +day we will have a glass of lemonade at one of these altars, as you call +them. We shall get it fresh enough, and cheap enough. But you must take +your sugar with you, for sugar they do not give; their customers are in +the habit of taking it without. I was amused to-day," he continued, "by +watching the progress down the street of a very simple style of +water-cart. A butt of water, with a leathern pipe issuing from it, is +drawn on a low cart by a donkey. A bare-legged fellow ties a string to +the end of the leathern pipe, and follows jerking it to and fro, this +side and that side--of course with many loud vociferations--and so +continues to distribute the contents of his butt over a pretty large +area." + +"Very surprising!" said Winston, who for some time past had not heard +one syllable of what was uttered. + + +CHAPTER IX. + +We will not indulge ourselves, at the risk of wearying our readers, by +traversing in the society of Mildred and Winston the environs of Naples; +we will not wander with them through the disinterred streets and temples +of Pompeii; nor attempt to partake of their delight at those exquisite +views which their excursions, on both sides of the bay presented to +them. Often did Winston sit by the side of Mildred, looking at those +scenes, and his happy spirit for a while reflected them as calmly as the +blue waters those beautiful islands within them. Alas! the pebble soon +fell in _one_ of those mirrors--the tranquil mood was ever and anon +cruelly disturbed. + +We will not even trust ourselves in the museum of Naples, so rich in the +curiosities of the antiquarian, and in works of art; nor stand with +Mildred before those statues of the goddess Isis, from which it was +difficult to persuade her to move, so much was there of thought as well +as beauty in the countenances. One especially (for there are several) of +these statues of Isis--it was the smallest in the group--she confessed, +after all she had seen of sculpture, had affected her more intensely +than any work of art, by its thrilling union of deep mystery with +perfect loveliness. Of Isis herself, or of the religion taught under her +name, she confessed, she said, to have very obscure ideas; but if ever +a temple should be erected to human philosophy, that statue, she +thought, was worthy to occupy the chief place in it. + +One of their excursions, however, it is necessary, for the sake of our +narrative, to give some account of--it is that to Vesuvius. Perhaps +there are few travellers who have not recorded the day they visited the +burning mountain as amongst the most remarkable of their lives. The +extreme beauty of the views as you ascend, the strange desolation +immediately around, and the grand spectacle that awaits you on the +summit, so vary and sustain the interest, that every emotion which +nature is capable of producing, seems to have been crowded into one +spot, and one hour. + +The whole party started together on this expedition, but Mr. and Miss +Bloomfield had no intention of proceeding further than the hermitage--a +small house erected, as every one knows, half way up the mountain, +before the ascent becomes steep or severe, and, for the rest, very +little like a hermitage. Here they designed to stay, enjoying the +magnificent view it commands, while the younger half of the party +proceeded to scale the mountain. It would have been easy for them to +ascend thus far by a circuitous route in a carriage, but, beside that +horses could convey Mildred and her companion somewhat further than the +carriage road extends, the uncle and aunt were not unwilling to partake +to a certain extent the spirit of the enterprise. They all, therefore, +mounted their horses, and, accompanied by their guide, advanced by the +steeper and more direct path. + +The ascent begins amongst gardens and vineyards--the vine flowing from +tree to tree, and making of a whole field one continuous harbour. The +path next winds along a vast barren hill-side, utterly without verdure, +whose brown furrows present the appearance of a ploughed field; but the +clods here do not give way to the tread of your animal; you stoop and +touch them, they are of stone, they are the old lava. As you ascend, +these clods grow larger, grow darker, till the narrow road winds between +great blocks of black lava, pitched here and there in the wildest +confusion. You then reach a level piece of road, on which stands the +hermitage. + +Here Mr. and Miss Bloomfield paused. The rest proceeded somewhat further +on horseback, till the mountain, taking the shape of a cone, presents a +steep ascent, to be mastered only on foot. + +"Let us pause a moment here," said Mildred, when they had dismounted, +"and look at the bay. I have longed several times upon the road to make +a halt, but if I had, it would have been a signal for the general hubbub +of conversation. You," she continued with a smile, "are a sensible +companion, you know how to be silent, or can talk in those snatches or +broken utterances which rather relieve silence than dissipate it, which +do not scare the gentle goddess altogether from our company. Had I asked +my uncle to stop, he would immediately have commenced talking, and +talked till we went on again." + +The scene lay outstretched before them in all its beauty, and under an +almost cloudless sky. One peculiar charm of this celebrated bay depends +on the islands scattered on both sides of its entrance, as Capri, +Ischia, and others. These, as you shift your position on the bay, +produce an endless variety--interlacing the azure water with stripes of +blue mountainous land, in the same manner as well-defined clouds are +sometimes set, ridge after ridge, in the clear sky. From their present +point of view, the centre of their picture was open sea, and the sides +filled up and diversified by these islands. Seen under the mid-day sun, +they appear invested in _a mist of light_. + +"They rise from the deep blue sea like sapphires that love has breathed +upon," said Winston. "What fantastic tricks," he continued, "but always +beautiful--Nature plays under her own high heaven. The hills on yonder +coast, huge as they are, have a way of hiding themselves in the very +air--vanishing in the very light. And, look, yonder, in the extreme +distance, the light seems to have _cut away_ the solid basis of the +hills, and left nothing but the ridge, the wavy outline, which one might +expect to rise into the air, it is so cloud-like." + +"The earth and heaven do so mingle here, there is no separating them," +said Mildred. "I wonder not that the inhabitants of such a region as +this threw a certain dimness, as of twilight, over their future Elysium. +Some difference it was necessary to imagine between it and their +familiar earth, and could they fancy any thing more bright and beautiful +than this?" + +"Look behind you," said Winston. She turned, and started at the sudden +and complete contrast which the utter desolation of the scathed mountain +presented to her. + +They then addressed themselves to their somewhat arduous undertaking. +Mildred had refused to be carried up in a chair--had determined to walk. +She had received a very accurate description of this part of her task, +and found things exactly as she expected. The side of the mountain +seems, at first, composed of large loose stones, of a brown colour; but +the lava, which assumes this shape, is not loose, and you step from +projection to projection with perfect safety,--with the same +fatigue,--neither more nor less, as one walks up a flight of stairs. It +is rather a long flight, however, and there is no bannister. This last +deficiency the guide is in the habit of supplying--to such as condescend +to accept his assistance--by fastening a leathern strap round his waist, +and giving the end of it into the hand of the traveller. Winston +insisted upon putting this strap round his own waist, and that Mildred +should allow him to take what seemed to him the most enviable position, +of the guide. It was a dangerous experiment. Not the weight of +Mildred--for she leant very lightly--it was not the weight of Mildred +which he felt at every step was exhausting his strength, till his heart +beat and his knees trembled. After a little time he was compelled to sit +down, faint as a child. Mildred was far from guessing the cause of this +sudden weakness, but requested that the belt might be again transferred +to the guide. Nor did he hesitate a moment. Had he attempted to proceed +much farther they might both have been precipitated to the bottom. + +Their march was toilsome; and Mildred, taking advantage of a commodious +place, sat down to rest upon the lava. At the altitude which they had +reached the temperature changes,--a cold wintry wind was blowing--and +she had not quite prepared herself for so sudden a change. Winston, +anxious only that the breath of heaven should not visit her too rudely, +and forgetting to ask himself whether there might not be a too familiar +kindness in the act, pulled off a light over-coat which he wore, and, +making the best shawl he could of it, put it over her shoulders. She was +not a little confused at the unaffected anxiety which had evidently +given rise to this prompt attention; and blushed as she refused to rob +him of his own attire. She attempted, by some playful remark, to remove +the feeling of embarrassment which had seized upon both parties. + +"But from a poor gentleman," replied Winston, alluding to something that +had passed between them at an earlier part of the day, "any gift may be +safely accepted. Like the priest, he wears a tonsure, which at once +gives him unusual privileges, and reduces him to a subject of +indifference." + +Mildred made no answer; but she thought that, in one of these cases, the +tonsure was so little visible, was kept so much out of sight, that it +might fail of its due precautionary influence. She rose, and they +proceeded on their walk, or, rather, their climbing. And now the volume +of smoke which had, for some time, been concealed from view by the +mountain itself, burst upon them, and a few minutes placed them on the +summit. They stood within the crater, or what has been such, for, at +present, the mountain discharges itself through a lofty cone which rises +on one side of this strange, black, sulphurous amphitheatre. All around +them, however, the volcanic vapours were steaming up from innumerable +crevices, and the hot lava pouring out, moving slowly, with a dull red +heat. No need here of further clothing. Their feet were burning where +they stood. They had again exchanged the cold of winter, not for the +heat of summer, but of a furnace. + +There is a terrific grandeur in the scene. The black masses of lava, +whose surface, here, is of the hue and texture of cinders, are piled and +jostled together with the utmost irregularity, with deep fissures +between them, in the same manner, though the material is so different, +as the blocks of ice in the glaciers of Mont Blanc. Sometimes these +cindery surfaces undulate and take the appearance of black coils, as of +a huge cable laid in parallel folds. These coils, as you advance, are +explained; for you will see the dull red lava sweltering out from +underneath one of those great blocks, in a long and narrow wave, which +does not subside, but stiffens as it cools, and, in this form, is pushed +forward by the succeeding wave. In another part, the lava is flowing in +a small stream, about a foot in breadth, just as the metal in a +foundery, but more slowly, and the surface dimmed with a black scaly +film; on raising which, with your stick, the flame bursts out. It flows +so slowly that, sometimes, you must watch it narrowly before you detect +the motion; you may be looking at such a stream and not suspect it to be +this stealthy Phlegethon, till suddenly it is seen to stir, like a vast +serpent moving in its sleep. + +To the left of them, as they stood in this crater, the wall of the +mountain enclosed them in, utterly without vestige of any kind of +verdure, bare brown ore, with fissures exhaling their sulphurous vapour; +before them, extending to and meeting the horizon, lay the tumbled +masses of black lava, with the glowing at intervals of their dull red +furnaces, and every where the same vapour steaming up; and at their +right rose the conical summit from which Vesuvius was discharging its +artillery, the sides of which are covered with a green and yellow +sulphur that, elsewhere, might be mistaken at a distance for some sort +of moss or other vegetation, but the eye has learnt to expect here +nothing of so peaceful a nature. From this cone volleys of huge stones +were perpetually issuing, with thunder-like explosions; and, above all, +that majestic column of smoke! Smoke seems a very ordinary word, +expressive of a very ordinary thing, but it forms here no ordinary +spectacle. At each explosion it bursts up impetuously, struggling like +frenzy from its imprisonment, revolving with amazing rapidity, thick, +turbid, ruddy, mixed with flame; as it rises, it revolves less rapidly, +and becomes more pure, more calm; ever rising higher, and expanding in +greater and purer volumes, it at length fills the heavens, towering +majestically, whiter than the whitest cloud, and floating off in light +etherial vapours, which the blue sky gladly receives. "The spirit of +Beauty," said Mildred, as she gazed upwards, "has triumphed." + +As she looked with increasing interest on this spectacle, the spirit of +enterprise grew strong within her, and she wished to ascend this cone +itself. But besides that the huge stones which at that time were being +constantly projected, rendered the expedition dangerous, the guide +assured her that the fatigue would be to her excessive. In fact, he +resolutely declined to lend his aid to such a scheme. + +"If you had been alone," she said to Winston, "you would have gone +farther. I am a sore hinderance to you, I fear." + +"On the contrary," he replied, "if you had not come, I should not have +ascended so far as this." + +And he spoke the simple truth; for Vesuvius itself would have been +forgotten in the society of Mildred. To ascend the mountain at +night-time had been one of the most conspicuous objects he had proposed +to himself in his visit to Italy; but as it was out of the question (the +uncle and aunt would not have listened to it for a moment) that she +should accompany him in such an expedition, he had at once foregone it, +or rather it had slipped from his thoughts. + +After some time longer spent in this remarkable scene, they began their +descent, which they found to be quite an easy and amusing piece of +business. The descent is made on a side of the mountain covered with +loose ashes that yield to the foot. _Up_ this it would be impossible to +get, but you go down it with the same facility as if you were skating +along the side of the mountain. Mildred, with the help of a staff, +accomplished this part of her task with much ease, and not without +hilarity. + +Mr. and Miss Bloomfield were happy to see them return--had begun to +wonder what could keep them so long--had for some time grown quite +tired of their own position. The carriage had been ordered to come +slowly round by the other road, and meet them at the hermitage. It was +waiting for them. They were all willing to enter it, and return by the +carriage road to Naples. + +On the ride home Mildred was very silent. Many little incidents had +occurred, many words had dropped, during the course of the day, which +became subjects of reflection, not quite so calm as the works of art or +nature had hitherto supplied. Winston--she could not refuse to see +it--loved! But loved, as he desired to intimate, without the least hope, +the least prospect of alliance. Well, she was warned. What remained for +her but to keep her own heart quite sure? Keep! was she quite sure that +she still retained it in undisputed custody? + +But we have lost sight, all this while, of Mrs. Jackson and her +daughter, which it was not our intention to do. They had not lost sight +of Winston. As they had inquired of him, when at Rome, what hotel he +would recommend them at Naples, and as he had very naturally mentioned +the one he had selected for himself, it was not at all surprising that +he should find himself, one afternoon, seated very snugly by Mrs. and +Miss Jackson, at the comfortable quiet _table-d'hote_ of the _Hotel des +Etrangers_. Happily there existed no secrets, and no division of opinion +between the mother and daughter on what now chiefly preoccupied the +thoughts of both. Mrs. Jackson had herself conceived a great partiality +for Winston--sympathised entirely with her daughter's romantic +attachment--and was willing to promote her views by all means in her +power. She was at heart a generous woman, though certain petty and +rooted habits would, at first acquaintance, lead to an opposite +impression. There was nothing she was not ready to do for Winston. It +was only the good sense, or the somewhat better sense, of the daughter, +that prevented her at Rome from secretly calling for his bill and paying +it for him behind his back. At Naples, Winston almost always met them at +the dinner table; and it was impossible for him to be churlish towards +persons who seemed so very pleased with whatever he said, and so kindly +disposed towards him. Mrs. Jackson was confidential in the extreme as to +the several items which formed her worldly prosperity, and very clearly +intimated the extremely benevolent designs she had upon himself. To +Louisa, indeed, it was a sad blow and heavy discouragement when she met +him in the company of one so beautiful as Mildred; but she had tact +enough, even from Winston himself, to extract certain particulars +respecting the fortune of the lady, which went far to set her fears at +rest. + +And now began in Winston's mind one of the saddest conflicts and +confusions that could visit a poor mortal. On the one hand was hopeless +passion--poverty forbidding; on the other, a fortune offered to a needy +gentleman--ay, and affection too, if he could resign himself to accept +it. Strange as it may seem, it was his very love for Mildred that gave +its greatest influence to the fortune of Miss Jackson. By a marriage +with this latter lady he should escape from the tortures of his hopeless +passion; it would be a refuge from this, and all like disquietudes. Most +people will be doubtless of opinion that the attractions of wealth need +no auxiliary. Those, however, who are well read in the human heart, will +have no difficulty in believing us when we say of Winston, that if he +had never encountered Mildred, he would have merely smiled at the idea +of a marriage with Louisa Jackson. It now came recommended to him as an +escape from an intolerable torture: he would rush into matrimony as a +shelter from love. + +When passing the morning in the society of Mildred, not a single +fragment of a thought fell to the share of Louisa. But when, having left +her, he proceeded to his hotel with a heavy and perplexed heart, and +asked himself where all this was tending--when he afterwards found +himself seated by the side of two persons, somewhat silly and ridiculous +it is true, but kind-hearted and most amiably disposed, able and anxious +to offer him that only safe harbour of life which property builds up for +us--a harbour, too, which would secure him from that wild tempest so +evidently preparing for him--it seemed that a very little more would +turn the balance in favour of Louisa. + +That _very little more_, an incident which we have to record, supplied. + +Whilst walking and sitting with Mildred in the Villa Reale, he had +noticed that a tall, military-looking gentleman had appeared singularly +struck with the beauty Of his fair companion. In this there was nothing +unusual. Few people passed her without paying a certain silent homage to +those blue eyes and their singular sweetness of expression. Even the +common people, even the beggars, when they had received their alms and +stayed no longer to beg, would still stay, lingering about, to catch +another look at that face, when it should be turned towards them. But in +the stranger's manner there was something more than admiration +expressed; and, what was more remarkable and more alarming to the +feelings of Winston, Mildred herself manifested towards this +stranger--if he were a stranger--an almost equal degree of interest. On +the last occasion, when they encountered him, this gentleman was +observed to turn and follow them, and watch them to the door of Mr. +Bloomfield's residence. Winston, after parting with his companion, +re-entered the gardens opposite, and from this position he saw the same +stranger return to Mr. Bloomfield's door, ring at the bell, ask, as it +seemed, several questions of the porter, and then--enter the house! + +As he stood staring at this inexplicable vision, he was accosted by a +young Englishman, with whom he had some slight travelling acquaintance; +and, by a singular coincidence, the very first question his companion +put, was--whether he knew that gentleman who had just entered the house +opposite? + +"No! do you?" was the prompt reply of Winston. + +"I do not," said the other; "but I confess I am rather curious to learn. +He must be _somebody_--travels in grand style--has taken the best rooms +in the _Victoria_. I took him for a Russian prince, but he speaks +English like a native." + +"The Russians are said to be such good linguists, this may be no +criterion," said Winston, hiding, as best he could, under the +commonplace remark, the agitation that he felt. He very soon made some +excuse to escape from his companion, and returned to his hotel. That day +he was at dinner more absent than usual; yet there was something in his +manner which Louisa liked, which gave her more hope than she had lately +entertained. + +The next morning Winston called as usual at the Bloomfields. They had +ridden out; and he learned, on inquiry, that his seat in the carriage +had been occupied by this mysterious stranger. Where should he go? what +should he do? He now felt how complete a slave he had become--how +utterly dependent for all his happiness upon another. His happiness! +what but misery could he reap from this passion? And now to love was to +be added all the pangs of jealousy. + +He entered the gardens opposite the Villa Reale. That "prince of +promenades," as some one has called it, extending as it does along a +quay unparalleled for the beauty of its position, with its thick dark +shelter of olives on the one side of you, and its light and graceful +avenue of acacias on the other, with its statues surrounded each by its +parterre of flowers or niched in its green recess, with the fountain +bubbling from the ground at its feet--all had ceased to please. At one +part the promenade projects into a small semicircle, fitted up with +marble seats, which commands an uninterrupted view of the bay and of +Vesuvius. It is difficult to recognise our old boisterous friend, the +sea, such as we know him in our northern latitudes, in the dancing blue +waters which, stirred by the lightest breeze, are here flinging the +whitest foam over the polished black rocks or stones that line these +coasts, and still more, in the glassy azure which extends, like a lake, +in the distance: it is a scene to induce the most perfect repose. But +Winston found no repose in it, and its beauty awoke not a single emotion +of enthusiasm. He turned towards Vesuvius. Its column of smoke, rising +always there, neither subsiding nor increasing, now irritated him by +its sameness and its constancy. "Always thus!" he mentally exclaimed. +"Why does it not explode at once? Why not at once give out all its +rage?" + +He passed through the gardens. They lead, at the further extremity, into +an open space, where much rabble assemble, where a sort of market is +held, and where, on the neighbouring beach, the fishermen draw up their +boats: fishermen bare-legged, bare-thighed, but legs and thighs not of +flesh but mahogany. At other times he had been amused with the sudden +contrast this scene affords with the well-dressed crowd within the +gardens. It now disgusted him. There was nothing but noise and dirt, +nothing but dust and heat, and glare. The various beggars who had often +vexed him by their clamours, but had generally ended by extorting from +him some pence and some good-humour, were quite intolerable. The little +children, with their naked feet, tanned and dusted to the colour of the +road, girt with their scanty complement of rags, with nothing on earth +but their little shrill voices--their Signor! Signor!--to get their +daily morsel with, and who had so often, when Mildred was at his side, +received a whole handful of copper coins amongst them, now excited not +the least commiseration, called forth nothing but some passing +execration upon the slovenly government that could permit human life to +sink down into all the wildness, and more than the destitution of the +brute animal. + +After the lapse of some hours, spent in this horrible restlessness, he +again called on the Bloomfields. They had returned from their drive. He +ran up the stairs: but, when he reached the landing-place, he paused. +Perhaps that stranger might have returned with them. The door of the +drawing-room was half-open: he looked, and saw that formidable intruder +seated there. He was not formidable, evidently, to Mildred. She stood +gracefully before him, and, putting back his dark hair from his fine +manly brow, she stooped, and laid a kiss upon his forehead. Winston drew +back instantly, and hurried from the house. + +He had not retreated, however, so quickly, but that he had been seen by +Mildred--thanks to the tall mirror before which she stood, and which had +faithfully reflected his image. Had he been less distracted, he would +have heard a soft voice call him by his name, from the head of the +stairs; but he heard nothing, and he seemed to see nothing, as he strode +along the street, and, rushing into his hotel, shut himself up in his +room. "This intolerable anguish!" he cried; "it must have an end. To a +passion which itself is the merest despair, must I add the maddest of +jealousies?" + +That day, after the dinner was concluded, Winston accepted an invitation +which Mrs. Jackson had often pressed upon him in vain, to adjourn to her +sitting-room, and partake of a dessert there. He accepted the +invitation. It sealed his fate; and he intended that it should. He left +that room--he, the lover of Mildred--the affianced of Louisa Jackson! + +The next morning--it was a sleepless night that intervened--he paid his +respects, with the due appearance of felicity upon his countenance, to +Mrs. Jackson and her daughter. It was into their carriage he was now to +enter, to take one of those drives in the environs which he had so often +enjoyed with Mildred. It was to _their_ admiration he was now to listen +and respond. + +The party was preparing to start, when a message was brought to them +that two ladies were below who wished to speak to Mr. Winston. Mrs. +Jackson, all anxiety to be polite, told the servant to show the ladies +into her room. Immediately after Miss Bloomfield and Mildred Willoughby +were ushered up stairs. + +Never was Mildred looking more beautiful, for never was she so happy in +her life. The name even of Mrs. Jackson she had never heard pronounced; +and, not aware of being in the apartment of that lady, but considering +she was in some room destined for the reception of visiters, she merely +made to the ladies that slight curtsey by which the presence of a +stranger is recognised, and immediately turned and addressed herself to +Winston. + +"Congratulate me!" she said. "Congratulate me!--But first I must repeat +my message from Mr. Bloomfield, who insists upon it that you break +through your unsocial rule, and dine with him to-day. And now again +congratulate me! My father has returned from India. It was he whom we +called the mysterious stranger. As to the conflicting reports which had +been spread of him in England, you shall hear all at leisure. But he has +returned!--and he has returned wealthy and amiable." + +There was a slight tremor in her voice as she uttered these last words. +That slight tremor, it was the response now given to certain passionate +but desponding declarations, which he had so often half uttered in her +ear. + +The answer came one day too late. Winston stood as if struck dumb. His +rage, his shame, his agony of vexation, he knew not how to express. And +indeed there was that convulsion in his throat which, if he had +attempted to speak, would have choked his utterance. But there was one +amongst the party who found words fit for the occasion, and quite +explanatory. In what she conceived the prettiest manner in the world, +Louisa Jackson laid her hand upon Winston's shoulder. She had heard +something of an invitation--"But, Alfred dear," she said, "you will not +surely dine out to-day!" + +Mildred started at the tone of that address, telling as it did so +strange a history, so utterly unexpected. Then collecting herself, and +taking the arm of Miss Bloomfield, she expressed her regret, in some +words of course, that they could not have the pleasure of Mr. Winston's +company to dinner, and, curtseying slightly to the rest of the society, +withdrew. + +What a drama had passed between them, and in silence! What feelings had +been hidden under those few words of formal and ceremonious speech! + +No sooner had she left than Winston rushed into his own apartment. +Amongst the curiosities which he had collected in Italy was a genuine +stiletto. This had sometimes accompanied him in his solitary rambles; +and of late he had sometimes, in his moods of despondency, contemplated +that instrument, thinking the while of some other purpose than that of +striking a foe to which it might be applicable. They are dangerous +moments which we spend in reflecting on the mere possibility of some +fatal act. The imagination becomes familiarised with the deed. When the +fiery and ungovernable passion falls upon us, it finds the train ready +laid. Winston locked his door--ran to the stiletto--buried it in his +heart! + +The horror and distraction of Louisa and her mother may be easily +imagined. It might be a subject of more deep and curious interest to +trace the influence of such a catastrophe on the mind of Mildred; but +this also we must leave to the reflection and perspicacity of the +reader. Mr. Bloomfield and his sister soon after left Italy, embarking +in the steam-boat direct for Marseilles: they had grown weary of travel. +Colonel Willoughby and his daughter Mildred took the route by land, and +quitted Naples for the north of Italy and the Alps. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE EARLY TAKEN. + + +The idea embodied in the following verses is the subject of an old +German legend, intended, perhaps somewhat painfully, to represent a +repining and diseased spirit awed by a fearful vision of eventual +futurity into a becoming resignation for the early loss of those who +might have proved unequal to the temptations of a longer life. + + A mother mourned her children dead, + Two blooming boys, whose opening prime + Along her path a light had shed, + Now quenched, alas! before its time. + + She mourned as one who dreamed that here + Our home and dwelling place should be; + She mourned as if she felt no fear + Of earthly sin and misery. + + Once, in the watches of the night, + Before her dim and tearful eye, + Beyond the clouds an opening bright + Revealed a vision of the sky. + + There, amid amaranthine bowers, + Where God's own glory seemed to shine, + She saw, on beds of golden flowers, + Her dear departed ones recline. + + Thence bending down, a pitying smile + Their fair illumined features wore: + "For us now freed from guilt and guile, + O, dearest mother, weep no more!" + + But still her tears rebellious flow, + And still she raves of angry fate, + As if, with blind and selfish wo, + She grudged her children's blissful state. + + Again in visions of the night, + Sent to impart a sad relief, + The matron saw another sight + That stayed the torrent of her grief. + + A youth, by wine to madness stirred, + Stood brawling on the midnight street, + And as a clash of swords was heard, + Sunk lifeless at a rival's feet. + + New horrors o'er her senses steal; + She sees, appearing through the gloom, + A hardened outlaw on the wheel, + While crowds around applaud his doom. + + She gazed upon the hapless youth, + She gazed upon the hardened man, + And dawnings of the dreadful truth + To rise upon her soul began. + + Then thus a voice was heard to say, + "What now they are thine eye hath seen: + Here, had they not been snatch'd away, + See also what they would have been." + + * * * * * + + + + +A RIDE TO MAGNESIA. + +STAGE FIRST. + + +Smyrna is a capital starting point for eastern expeditions, though it is +too full of _gaoors_, of every description, to be, in itself, a fair +specimen of orientalism. The man would carry home a queer account of +Turkey who should begin his notes at Smyrna, and, passing up the +Dardanelles, make up his book as he travelled overland from +Constantinople to Jannina, _en route_ to Tower Stairs. This is the +approved track, or, perhaps, it may be up the Danube in the Austrian +steamer. Such an expedition is capital fun, no doubt, and to be +recommended to any of our friends with a little loose cash, and some six +weeks' holiday. It introduces to many notabilities, first-rate in their +way, but not to that singular notability, the genuine old Osmanli. He is +a branch of the ethnographical tree that will not flourish in European +atmosphere: though the same exuberance of vigour that first sent forth +the mighty shoot from central Asia, has prevailed to pass through the +feeble defences of the West. It is as an overgrown weakling that he +exists in our quarter of the world. His eyes are without fire, his +manners without the stamp of originality. He succumbs beneath the +presence of the Frank,--the hated and despised, and yet the feared and +the envied. The better feelings of his nature suffer from the constant +presence of those whose superiority he is forced to admire, but whose +personal character he naturally detests. Such conflict of feeling cannot +but be with detriment to the spirit, which, so fettered, refuses the +generous offices of brotherhood, and yields the debt of civility only +from policy or by constraint. How different is this man in his proper +country! where the usages and language, and ideas are unmixedly those +which have been his father's before him; where the leading idea of +_gaoors_ is, that they are infidel dogs, who eat pork and are +unenlightened of Islam; and where every one firmly believes that the +whole set of Franks are allowed to occupy and rule only by the clemency +of their high and mighty lord the Padishah! Here the Turk may +condescend, and here he can be truly generous and hospitable. The Frank +comes as a wanderer from his own remote, settlement (somewhere or other +at the world's end,) to see the lords of the earth, the true believers. +He is a poor ignorant stranger who cannot speak a word of intelligible +language. It is kind, and gratifying to self-esteem, to receive such an +one, and show him those good things that shall make him sigh to return +to his own forlorn fatherland. Besides all this, the outward +modifications affecting the European Turk spoil his nationality. The +reforms of Mahmoud, and of the present sultan, have wofully cut up the +appearance of their subjects; and, of course, sumptuary changes such as +these affect especially those who mix with the world, and are near +court. Who can believe in the ill-looking fellow with smooth face, +regular built boots, and tight frock coat, buttoned up to the chin,--to +say nothing of the wretched red cap he wears instead of a turban! That a +Turk! pshaw! + +When I landed at that nest of pirates, Valona,--what time we bore a +message to the respectable inhabitants, that unless they took a little +more pains to grow honest, we should be under certain painful +necessities with respect to them,--was I to look upon that wretched +rabble as Turks? Men dressed in every variety of shabby frock coat and +trousers; and, above all, men who were undisguised in the exhibition of +vulgar curiosity. What amount of excitement would it take to make a +genuine Turk open the eyes of astonishment? or, should he even be +betrayed into an unguarded Mashhallah! has the power of morbid +attraction been discovered which may draw him from his seat and lead him +to any effort of inquiry? When, then, I saw these people flocking +together on their jetty to meet us, I at once recognised them as mongrel +and degenerated. They were queer fellows in their way, too, quite worthy +of observation. The whole community are piratical: the youth +practically, the seniors by counsel. They manage their evil deeds with a +singleness of purpose that neglects no feasible opportunity; and with a +caution that restrains from doubtful attempts, and almost secures them +from capture. They are not like the pirates of the nautical novels, who +embark in a sea-going ship, and stand by to fight it out with any +cruisers they may meet. Like cautious sportsmen, they mark down their +prey first, and do not waste powder and shot. In a breeze there is no +danger on their coast. But wo betideth the trabaccalo or short-handed +merchantman that may happen to be becalmed in their sight. Incontinent +they launch their boats,--terrible vessels that hold twenty or thirty +armed men besides the rowers, and cleave their irresistible course +towards the motionless and defenceless victim. On such occasions it is +only by rare hap that any individual survives to tell the tale and cry +for vengeance. And how shall this cry be satisfied? The bloody work is +no sooner over than its traces are obliterated and the community +restored to the appearance of inoffensiveness: the boats are pulled up +on shore, the crews dispersed. Should an avenger arrive on the spot, he +finds the miserable huts either deserted or tenanted by women and old +men. How can these be made to suffer for other men's offences, or forced +to give information which they declare themselves not to possess? + +The same dissatisfaction must be confessed with Previsa Salonica, that +place of steady disrespectability, which has maintained its bad +character since the apostolic days, and even with Constantinople. This +last is a gem of the earth, but, its beauties are to a great extent +those of civilised elaboration. Courtiers form but one species, and +breathe pretty much the same atmosphere throughout the world. He who has +studied them throughout the world has marked only the circumstantial +differences of locality producing their effect on a spring of action, +itself one and constant. To search out and know this principle it may be +useful to visit foreign courts; but Man, beyond the exhibition of this +one phase of character, does not flourish in such places. If the best +place of observation be not actually the wilderness, because that too is +as extensive, calling forth necessarily particular energies, and +exhibiting to a great extent one effect, we may take favourable ground +somewhere midway between the extremes. It is to the heart and centre of +a country that we should go for the vigorous current of its life. Here +the colour is vivid, the speciality preserved, the family features of +our brethren distinguishable. + +I suppose it was some such profound rumination as this that suggested to +my two friends and myself the idea of the cruise hereinafter to be +recorded. All three were right travel-smitten, a state of mind which +marvellously thrives on slight nourishment. We had had substantial food +in this way, and were proportionately vigorous in enterprise. We had +seen at odd times a good deal of our friends the Turks, but it had been +chiefly of the vagabonds near the coast. Into all sorts of queer creeks +and corners had we found our way in boat expeditions, that most capital +mode of adventure; though rather ticklish for those who are not pretty +strong in numbers. So had we dug into the sinuosities of Greece, of +which both eastern and western borders were familiar to us; and it is +not a little that I would take for my Horace, which I bore with me up +the Ambracian Gulf, and which bears over the "_nunc est bibendum_" the +note of my personal presence off Actium. Pleasant, too, are the +recollections of our visit to Nicopolis, the mighty monument of this +victory, now serving, as all things earthly must one day serve, to +display the victory of time. We were forced to walk on this occasion, as +to have touched a saddle or animal would have exposed us to the +penalties of quarantine. Our good friend Achmet walked before with a +long stick, booming the people off, who shrank from our contact right +and left, as if we had been the lords of the soil, or as if it had been +_they_, instead of us, who had to fear the plague-compromising touch. +And then when we returned hungry as hunters from our march, full of +ready forgiveness for any faults of cookery, what a banquet was that +which consular hospitality had prepared! Oh, the jocosity of that +breakfast, which was in the open air, because we could not go into the +house, where we could take nothing from, and could give nothing to, the +ladies, but had to keep them at most respectful distance, and be civil +under the control of a vigilant _guardiano_. + +There is no mode of travelling which can possibly be compared to this +boat-work. The scope of such proceeding is certainly, by comparison, +confined; but, so far as it goes, nothing is to be mentioned in the same +day with it--that is, so far as comfort is concerned. Places even inland +may be visited in this way, for almost any where a horse or two can be +mustered, and the craft left in charge of her crew. What a difference +between turning into your own berth at night, and affording the +amusement one does on shore to the Hellenic vermin. One good joke in +this way happened to me once upon a time, showing what quarters +travellers may stumble upon even with the best recommendations. A large +party of us had started, particularly recommended by letter from the +consular agent of a place that shall be nameless, to no less a person +than the Demarch of a high-sounding Greek town, who was to do every +thing for us in the way of billeting. By great exertion, and with aching +bones, we managed to reach this place after night-fall, prolonging, for +its hope's sake, our course through a most break-neck road, and through +unseen but clamorous numbers of their wolf-like dogs. At last we came up +with a miserable shed, which proved to be the mansion of the great man. +Of course we should have looked for no other floor but the mudden one we +found, had it not been for our magnificent recommendation, which +warranted the expectation of a suite of apartments. But the floor was so +packed with goods and chattels, affording the most comfortable roosting +for the fleas, and with children who brought in ever-fresh collections +to the stock, that among the many undelectable nights we passed, none +equalled in horrors that one of official introduction and high classical +association. And such is pretty generally the hap of him who ventures to +pass the night in one of those habitations where sweeping and washing +remain exotics, and where the [Greek: autochthones] acquire impenetrable +skins. Now, all this sort of thing you avoid in a boat, besides +converting the mere locomotion from a frequent punishment into a +delight: always supposing, be it remembered, that you have not to beat +your way home up the Sinus Saronicus against a tempest. But the old +story of the rose and the thorn comes in here too. By land you are +exposed to the miseries of your nightly quarterings: by sea you may +rejoice your heart with the beauties with which Nature rejoices to +adorn, many of which she reserves for, the coast, and plunge each +morning into the brine with an unsmarting skin; and if you be a genuine +lover of the picturesque, you will be no less eager to seek it among the +fantasies of human society than among the rocks and crags of a +landscape. + +So thought I and my two friends as we sat smoking the chibouque of +reflection, at that best of Smyrna's cafes, on the French quay. We were +unanimous on the conclusion that Smyrna had no earthly right to the +title of a Turkish city, except the accident of its happening to be in +Turkey. You may go half over the place and meet not a single Turk, +except those wonderful fellows, the porters, whose Herculean powers have +been so often noticed; or perhaps friend Hassan, the chief of the +police, making a progress, with some couple of grim attendants. In fact, +in the motley of its society, if any one colour prevail, it is that of +France: for among all decent people her language is spoken, and in all +reunions of pretension, her colonists are the more numerous body. The +Greeks, to be sure, are in great plenty, but they occupy chiefly the +lower grades. And as it so happens that the Sisters of Charity have here +an establishment, and maintain, with much ability and diligence, a +female school, the only one in the place--and that the Lazarists are +equally sedulous in their province, it seems not unlikely that Smyrna +will become entirely French in spirit, so far as the upper classes are +concerned. At present the mixture only savours strongly of the Gallic +ingredient. And a most agreeable mixture it makes, affording the blended +essences of many nations. Few who have seen much of that society can +entertain its reflection without pleasure; and all are wise to make the +most of its image, as the wide world affords no twin establishment. +Coming from many parts of Europe, the colonists have, by the influences +of climate and association, been blended into a general assimilation of +character, yet retaining the one or two salient points of nationality. +Their physiognomies express the wild influences of Ionia; and it would +be vain to seek in their native countries such beautiful specimens of +French or Italian women (I except Englishwomen) as are to be found in +this birth-place of poetry. It is a city of wonderful linguists, for the +necessities of intercourse demand at least three, and in many cases +four, languages: Greek with the servants, Italian with the shop-keepers, +and French among the polished. Many of them possess more than this +number, and truly wonderful it is to see them turn from one guest to +another in their pleasant assemblies, and to each address the tongue of +his proper country. The same causes that loosened the vowels and +softened the utterance of the old Greek in Ionia, have dipped in honey +the tongues of the modern Levantines; and whatever they be speaking it +is always mellifluously. It is no less true that the old grace of these +shores revives in the persons of the ladies, and gives a Lydian softness +to all that they do. Whether you mark the Armenian matron, languid from +her siesta, seeking the breeze at her lattice; or the more active Frank +maiden at the hour of her evening promenade, you are ever struck with +the idea of grace and poetry. But chiefly is it pleasant to mark them +when the unruffled sea, and cloudless moon, invite them to wander on the +marina, and embark on the waters--when the hot sun has persecuted the +day, and evening first allowed to breathe freely. There is the bay alive +with boats, and resonant of music and laughter, and the shore alive with +gay promenaders. There are certain seasons when it might be presumed +that the Smyrnists divorce night from sleep; for often have I listened +to the cheerful sound till long past midnight, and still has some +passing boat brought music to contribute to my dreams. Or, take your +hat, and wander forth at evening to the banks of Meles, where Homer +sang--whose waters have washed the feet of the epic father, and say +whether Homer's self would not acknowledge these groups as worthy of the +soil. + +Now this is all pleasant exceedingly, but to enjoy this sort of thing +sustainedly one should not have an English constitution. We are a +phlegmatic set, to whom such zests should be dealt out +homoeopathically: else do we soon begin to criticise and take +exceptions. Now it so happens that we had entered upon the experience of +this delectability with every good disposition towards it, but a still +better disposition towards the getting beyond it if we could, that we +might see something of the real state of the people. We soon voted +Smyrna a bore, as was likely with those who in coming thither had been +bent on using it only as a stepping-stone to get farther. But this was +more easily said than done with us, who were travellers not for our own +fancy's sake, but in the service of her most gracious Majesty. Had we +been simply unfettered, our will was good to have started directly +coastward, and to have explored those vast tracts of Asia Minor, of so +much of which nothing is known. The country between the coast and the +western border of Persia, explored in a direct line, not going towards +Eszeroun, and a divergence southward towards and about Caramania, would +be a fine field for travel. We could well afford to receive some +addition to our knowledge of the central parts of Asia Minor, and I +should like right well to be one of two bound to the borders of lake +Van, to pay a visit to the Armenian patriarch. But such an expedition +would take a deal of time and of money. Now we had but the short +interval of time at our disposal, during which it was judged that +Britannic interests might suffer our absence without detriment. Happily +for us, we knew that foreign infection was but skin deep in this +country; so that, although the curious recesses were beyond our reach, +we might, by a comparatively short expedition, arrive at the texture and +substance of the mass. Two cities invited us, Aidin, and Magnesia, both +of which are, as nearly as possible, free from foreigners: for the +rajahs, though they be Christians, are not, of course, to be considered +foreign to that soil, in which they have been implanted since before its +occupation by the Turks. In Magnesia, so far as we could discover, there +dwelt but a single Frank, who was consular agent for England, as he was, +probably, for half-a-dozen other European powers, an office little +likely to be useful or needful in the case of personal protection to +distressed wanderers, but no doubt not without value as a commercial +relationship. Magnesia also is interesting, because it is the seat of +the great Carasman, Oglu Pascha, a name to which are attached little +less than royal honours. He is one of the great hereditary dignitaries +of the kingdom, who, from olden time, and till but a few years ago, used +to be almost kings within their territory. At the command of the Sultan, +these men used to bring into the field enormous bodies of cavalry, +raised by themselves, forming the staple of the Ottoman armies; and Mr. +Slade, in his book on Turkey, places the alterations of Mahmoud with +respect to these Beys among the prominent causes of the decay of the +Ottoman empire. + +The vote passed in favour of Magnesia; partly because we expected in +that place to find, through the good offices of the consular agent, +decent quarters in some Greek house. The question of ways and means +remained. The ordinary mode of conducting these proceedings is through +the ministry of a _Kawash_ or guide; a person whose assistance is +generally considered indispensable, in a country where one neither knows +the roads, nor can exchange a word of inquiry with the people. But this +plan was little suited to our taste, as we knew by experience that these +men are apt to assume the absolute control of their parties. In this +respect they are no worse than the other whole tribe of ciceroni, who +assuredly are among the greatest bores that necessity imposes. If they +would confine themselves to leading the way, and interpreting, and rest +contented with solicitude for the horses, they would be useful and +endurable. S---- forewent for a moment his amber mouthpiece to give us +his experience and opinion. + +"These _kawashes_ are greater plagues on a journey than a pebble in the +shoe. When I was a youngster on board the Blanche, we started, a party +of us, for Aidin, under convoy of one of them with a first-rate +character. We had hardly got clear of the town when he began to take +command of us, coolly wanting to regulate our pace. We stood no +nonsense, but set off full cry, with him at our heels shouting like mad. +He was presently up with me, and caught my horse's bridle, uttering all +sorts of unintelligible exclamations. The fellow drew his yataghan, and +I really thought was going to cut my head off. However, he vented his +rage on the brute, striking him with the flat of his weapon; and it was +with difficulty I pacified him at last, by saying, 'Pasha!' several +times, and pointing forward; giving him to understand that if he did not +behave himself, I should complain to the Pasha as soon as we arrived." + +"And then," said K----, "you must always battle with them for your +halting-place, if they do not happen to fancy it. If you want to go +ahead, the horses are tired; and if you want to stop, there's sure to be +some better place farther on." + +I joined in the vote against subjecting ourselves to tutelage. + +"But these fellows do something else besides showing the way--they +interpret. Isn't that rather a floorer for us?" + +"Not a bit of it," said S----. "I'll be the [Greek: hegemon], for I've +been the road once before; and K---- there talks a little Turkish." + +"Yes, I know the numbers, and can say '_Kateh saket_,' which means, 'how +many hours,' or 'how far to?'" + +"That will do capitally; for if you say, '_Kateh saket_ Magnesia?' any +blockhead will know that you mean 'How far to Magnesia?' Besides, we all +can say, '_Salam Aleikum_,' so can do the polite as well as the +interrogative." + +Reader, this was a mistake. A Mussulman loves not to hear this +salutation at the mouth of a Christian; it is the expression of a +religious wish; and when uttered by one who receives not the Koran, it +falls on the ear of a Turk as a profanation. The correct thing to say +by way of being civil is, "_A-oorahah_!" + +Thus slender was the stock of language with which we started; but +perhaps we were not much worse off than we should have been had we known +a good deal more. It is all very well with our European dialects to have +a certain smattering of grammar and principle; but the hopeless +languages of the East come under a different category. Any knowledge of +their theory short of actual accuracy is nearly useless; perhaps worse +than useless, because, by beguiling the unhappy smatterer into ambitious +attempts, it cheats him of the little power he may have of rendering +himself intelligible. A man who is content with the attainment of a +certain vocabulary of substantives, in whose pronunciation he is +perfect, has much the best chance, because he can eke out the other +parts of speech by gesture. But the _attache_ of legation, who has been +poring over their orthography, and hammering at principle, often proves +the uselessness of his acquisitions for colloquial purposes. However, we +might have done very well with a little more knowledge than we possessed +on this particular occasion. + +We did not know at this time what Magnesia could do for us in the way of +an inn, though we were quite aware of the fact, that throughout the +kingdom khans are provided for the accommodation of travellers. What we +had seen in this way was very undesirable, being little more than what +might serve to minister to the comfort of the horses. In some places, +the subsiding stream of travellers has left them bare and ruined; in +others, Smyrna to wit, there is so ready entertainment elsewhere, that +the khan has become little more than a public stable yard. And here, any +time of the day, you may see tethered a collection of donkeys that would +set up all the costermongers in London, and drivers who would surely +make fortunes by their lessons, if their brethren of Hampstead possessed +ambition and gratitude. The vulgar argument of the stick may be +occasionally exhibited, but it is by the magic of a single word that the +energies of the donkey are usually aroused. And the mystery of the +training is this, that neither words nor blows are effective, except +from the initiated. Often it will happen, that after long trial of +coaxing, the meekest rider will be betrayed into the experiment of +cudgelling. It will then certainly happen, that after having cudgelled +his full, he will yield the victory to the impassible brute, and be +reduced to hope, that when he has had thistles enough, he may be induced +to move on. Suddenly there sounds behind him the exclamation of _Deah! +Deah!_ and the donkey starts into a dislocating trot. This is your true +driver's policy, to make his presence and aid indispensable. By dint of +great practice, I acquired a pretty accurate imitation of this sound, +and have practised it successfully. But the animals were quick to +discover the imposture, and to punish it by extra impassibility. + +Many of the best khans or caravansaries are of royal foundation; others, +like the fountains, the monuments of departed piety. But much as we +might admire the institution, we could not feel very ambitious of +occupying a billet of so very gregarious and inexclusive character. +Besides, in these khans you must provide for yourself all that you +require in the shape of provisions; and it was too much of a good thing +to carry with us tea, and bread and butter. We clung to the hope of +finding lodging in the shade of domestic hospitality, the rather because +of our recommendation to the consular agent. A second string was added +to our bow by a worthy Armenian of Smyrna. He kindly assisted our +intention by a letter to a compatriot of his at Magnesia, of whom the +least that we could expect was, that he would receive us to the +fellowship of trencher and hearth; that is, should we present our +introduction, for, in the first instance, our purpose was to seek the +man of office. + +We had some debate concerning the propriety of our going ostensibly +armed--no doubt, however, concerning the advisability of our actually +being armed. In those desolate tracts, where you may ride pretty well +all day and meet no wayfarer, except some lone camel-driver, riding at +the head of his long string of animals, it is impossible to say what +contingencies may be your hap. It is, to say the least, a locality where +thieves might have things pretty much their own way; for the +guard-houses, scattered throughout the routes, are far from being within +hail of each other, and far from possessing the control of the road +mid-way. Nay, they are themselves tenanted by men so fierce by nature, +and so imperfectly disciplined, that some people might fear the guards +more than the robbers. They are not detachments of the regular forces, +but men taken chiefly from the Xebeques, whose manners and dress are +sufficiently distinct from those of the ordinary Turks. Each of these +detachments is placed under the control of an Agah; and on the personal +character of this officer depends the security of the district. The +prescribed discipline is necessarily strict, for any admitted relaxation +would soon lead to confusion. Especially is it enjoined that all +spirituous liquors be absolutely excluded from the guard-houses--and a +neglect of this law by the Agah is never forgiven. When intoxicated, +they are said to rage like demons, respecting no person or +thing--utterly rejecting all semblance of discipline. It will be long +before I forget the apprehensions connected with even faint symptoms in +them of approach to such a state. A party of us, with ladies among our +numbers, had halted for night at a guard-house. The spot was of the +rarest beauty--the evening such as breathes only in Ionia; cities and +men were removed out of sight and thought; and, full of poetry and +peace--the pleasing sadness we had caught on the hallowed ground of +the mighty Ephesus,--we resigned ourselves to the influence of the +moment. What was that sound of revelry that broke upon the stillness? +The mandolin tinkled--voices were heard in chorus. We got up to explore, +and found, to our consternation, that the guards of our station, having +received a visit from their brethren of the next detachment, were +holding festival on the occasion. We had previously been informed that +the Agah was absent on duty, and had left the command to his +ancient--and this we were ready to suppose was not calculated to tighten +the reins of discipline. Drinking and jollity were such natural +associates, that we feared terribly these men would be getting at +spirits--and then what did we not fear for the fair companions of our +adventure? However, to make a long story short, the men did not get +drunk, and separated peacefully after the performance of many +Terpsichorean novelties. But they taught the careless to feel that +travellers in such a country should not be without the means of defence. +It is quite true that arms may do you a bad turn, either by tempting you +to a hasty display, or by being of so costly a character as to excite +the cupidity of some ruffian. But it is just as true that any other +thing you possess may do you the like ill turn among men who would shoot +you for the value of your skin. The golden mean is to be armed usefully, +but not showily; and, above all things, to be very discreet in the +production of weapons. + +The first of these laws on this particular occasion I egregiously +transgressed. My two friends were supplied with unimpeachable pistols of +their own; but I, being of peaceable disposition, had made no such +provision. A worthy friend on shore supplied the deficiency, by lending +me a pair of the most formidable weapons one would wish to see. They +were of the old style of theatrical horse-pistols, as long nearly as a +small carbine, and beyond any ordinary man's power of holding steady. +The stocks were deeply incrusted with silver, or something that looked +very like it. The only objection to them was, that nothing could +persuade the flint to give out a spark, or induce the pan to take the +hint at the proper time. Yet though I knew them to be in fact thoroughly +useless, they contributed sensibly to my comfort, for they were most +excellent make-believes. Our steeds were supplied by our good friend +George, the Greek stable keeper, as no Turk would have let out his +animals on such an occasion without sending along with them a kawash to +look after the mad Franks. It betokened no little confidence in George, +that he allowed his horses to be taken away, whither and for how long he +know not. + +It is a noble climate where you can start of a fine morning, with a +certainty that the weather will continue and fulfil its promise. One +starts light without any wrappings, or any thing more than he has on. +One _teschare_, or passport, was our luggage for three. Our first little +adventure was about this same _teschare_. It is to be got, as are all +things in this land, only through the medium of interpreters and +kawashs. A first-rate bore it is to be in all matters of business +subjected to the ministration of these gentry: and what a pity it is +that some steady Englishmen will not qualify themselves to fulfil their +functions. But, from the most important diplomatic negotiations down to +the most trivial matter of convenience, procedure can only be had +through such agency: at least almost without exception at present, +whatever revolutions may lurk in the recent studies of the _attaches_ at +Constantinople. + +Mahmoud, the Janissary--by the way it is odd that they should call this +consular body-guard of one by such a name--brought us the document, and +then, of course, stood by to pocket his _backshish_. We were then making +our final preparations for the start, laying in a little personal +provender at the _restaurant_ in Frank Street, at the door of which +stood our animals, saddled and impatient. + +"Give him his tip," we said to S----, who had been installed pay-master +for the nonce. + +A smile and a coin were forthwith presented to the functionary. "Bow, +wow, wow," or something like it, uttered by our Mahometan friend, made +us look up, and we saw him unaccepting and unsmiling. "Why, thou greedy +varlet," (friend, the words were innocuous, because unintelligible,) +"'tis by so much exactly too much for thee." + +It is an amusing thing to have a dispute where words will not second +energy. Such a scene have I noted more than once, as a fine +psychological demonstration. You abuse a guide or a donkey driver in a +language he does not understand, for disobeying directions that he did +not understand, word or particle. The whole thing is absurd, and as a +man of sense you ought to be philosophical. But when I have noted you in +such case, and seen that you do not lose your temper, nor abuse the +offender in round English, I will set you down as of placid temperament. +Mahmoud growled, and looked as if he would fain have resumed the paper, +or abducted the horses; and thus it was with the interchange of such +pleasantries, and followed by his good wishes, that we started. + +"Bravo," said K----; "we start with a row, we shall be all right +presently." + +And now stoop well your head and keep your eyes open as you turn the +corner into the Armenian quarter. These houses that make such beautiful +streets, are ticklish things to ride by. They all project forward, +having the upper story supported by a kind of flying buttress. These are +at no great height from the ground, so that an unbending horseman +passing under, would infallibly knock his head against the corner of one +of their first floors. But chiefly on donkeys is this risk +noticeable--the stubborn brutes which it is much the fashion to ride, +and whom none but the drivers can guide. On entering Smyrna by +night--those dull streets where gas is not--your only plan is to keep +well in the middle of the street, right in the hollow. It is a beautiful +quarter of the town; in itself picturesque and variegated in colour, and +beset with the fairest embellishments. Look up at that lattice for a +moment only, and then prick your way again. Did you see those lustrous +eyes and graceful head-dress? The sun is now high, and these stars +twinkle but from lattices. Pass this way at even, and you shall see them +congregated in brilliancy. They are not of the retiring nature that +shuns observation. They sit congregated round every door wooing the +breeze. Supper is spread in the spacious halls, beyond which the open +doors give to view a perspective of garden. Nay, you may stop and +stare--the men are occupied with their pipes, and the women are not +offended at admiration. + +Right interesting are these Armenians, of whom the men have all the +riches, and the women all the beauty (at least unveiled and cognisable) +of Turkey. They have lost all trace of the active spirit that in an age +of iron kept them busy in the _melee_ of nations. Their gravest senior +would stare unintelligent were you to speak to him of Tiridates, or the +Romans: and with their thoughts of Persia no ideas of tyranny are mixed; +no stirring of the ancient spirit that kept them faithful in an ocean of +foes, and rendered their land a continued battle-field. They give no +signs of intelligence if you challenge them on the subject of Eutychus, +by whose arch heresy they suffered severance from Catholicity, and in +whose dogmas they live. They are a quiet, matter-of-fact, business-like +people--the bankers and capitalists of the kingdom. Their mode of +existence under the shadow of the Sultan's mercy, but without national +representation or protection, has subdued them to a condition of patient +endurance, and killed the energy of their nature. They are quiet, fat, +and lethargic, reserving their anxieties for money-getting. + +There might be to fiery spirits something humiliating in the dress to +which they are so anxious to acquire the right: the huge and ugly cap +which bespeaks them to be under some particular foreign protection, as +the case may be, which is their only safeguard against all sorts of +oppression. But where nationality is a mere idea without embodiment, it +soon becomes as a dream. The Armenian is content to be endured and +protected. Meanwhile he is not without a sort of national ambition; but +it is of a new kind for him. They believe themselves to be the most +ancient of people, retaining the original language that was spoken +before the dispersion of Babel, and by consequence the identical +language that was spoken by Adam. An interesting excursion might be made +on this subject, seemingly so far at variance with the conclusions of +learned ethnographers. Their deductions are from undoubted facts, and +tend to their conclusion with a force that some philologists at least +have considered irresistible. + +Through the Armenian quarter our road lay onward for a short distance by +the banks of Miles. It is but an insignificant stream, of scarcely +sufficient tide to turn a mill; but in no better case are Ilissus and +Cephissus found to be in the present day. The shade of Socrates still +seems to linger over the Attic streamlet, swelling its puny tide to the +capacity of the loftiest musings of the humanized; and the memory of +Homer is wedded to these waters of Meles. The critics who would disprove +the existence of the bard, and assign the different members of his +compositions to numerous anonymous authors, or to indefinite traditions, +would find this no vantage ground. The influences of the place would +abash their contumacy. There is something poetical even now about the +locality. The stream flows through the Armenian quarter, passing by a +short course to the well-known Caravan-bridge, and thence into the open +country. At pretty well all hours of the day, groups of nymphs may be +seen washing clothes in the waters, exhibiting _tableaux vivans_ of +Nausicaa and her maidens. No vulgar washerwomen are these with +corrugated hands at reeking tubs, but such as painters and poets might +celebrate. Washing is with them a pastime, and an elegance: their +laundry a studio of art. They go right into the water, and splash about +their things like naiads sporting; and anon returning to the bank, put +forth their little strength in beating out the clothes. It would be rash +to say that the process is so effectual as our more homely method; but +it is at least pretty to look at. At evening the banks of the stream +assume another appearance. Gay crowds promenade, and cavalcades linger; +people of many nations congregate to unbend the brow laden with the +cares of the day. Fathers muse, maidens gambol, and matrons chide. + +A little farther on, and we come to Caravan-bridge,--of all Smyrna's +objects, perhaps the one best known by reputation. It has its name from +the number of caravans that, entering Smyrna from the interior, have to +pass over it. And see, there is at this moment a string of camels in the +way, so that we may as well halt in this convenient shade till they be +gone by. That little Ethiopian will look after our horses, and Ali will +bring us coffee and chibouques in a twinkling. See how pleasantly these +trees overshadow our resting-place, and how the gliding of the water, +here a broader and more rapid stream, seems to cool our very thoughts. +This is the great picnic place for the citizens--a sort of Turkish +Vauxhall. Yet what a difference between the orderly composure of these +holiday makers, and the noisy mirth of our own compatriots. These folks +take their _kef_, as they do every thing else, quietly. Here you may see +hundreds of revellers, and not a drunkard among them. Perhaps the repose +of the scene draws some of its influence from those sombre burying +grounds, of which two are just opposite. No where is such truth of +funereal effect preserved as in this country. Pere la Chaise, and all +European cemeteries are puerile in comparison. The stately evergreen +which they have consecrated to the overshadowing of the dead fulfils the +idea of solemnity and awe. There is effect in the manner in which the +simple head-stones are planted together, with no separation of rails, no +interspersion of pretending sarcophagi. All have returned to their dust, +and have put off the ephemeral distinctions of life; they have returned +to the bosom of their mother, where there is no aristocracy, and slumber +as brethren till they shall be awakened to new distinctions. + +This is a place where at odd times many a pleasant hour may be passed. +It is such a thoroughfare, (at least the bridge, though you are in the +shade by its side, well out of the bustle,) that there is always +something passing worthy of notice. It is also a capital place to +practise the language, if you have any of it to expend. You see the +strangest figures entering from the interior with their merchandise, +which is all diligently examined by the officer of the customs here +posted. It is a singular thing that the long trains of camels are +invariably headed by a donkey; who takes the lead as coolly as if it +were quite in order that such an insignificant brute should drag after +him some five hundred animals, each big enough to eat him. The +Caravandgis might be supposed to come all from one locality, so strong +is the family likeness subsisting between them. Perhaps they actually +do, for this hereditary disposition of employments is quite according to +the genius of the nation. They are short, stout, little men, with round +smooth faces, especially stolid in expression. They dress in the old +style, never wearing the fez; and sure we ought to take the portrait of +one of them, were it only for the sake of their boots. Such buckets are +not often worn, and to pedestrians would be impracticable. But these men +do not walk: seated on their donkeys, they jog on at the head of the +caravan, bearing the merchandise of Asia through wildernesses where the +foot of man is strange. With man they have little communion, and with +nature they have little sympathy, or their soulless visages belie them. +Life to them must be a blended experience of tobacco and camel's bells. +I have marked them at night, when arrived at their journey's end, and +bivouacking in the midst of their animals. The brutes formed a circular +rampart, in the centre of which reclined the men. It was a desolate +spot, such as generally disposes men to sociability with the stray +fellow-creature or two who may happen to have been led to the same +point; and here were two or three fellow-countrymen of the drivers. But +they took no notice of their neighbours; they performed their +prostrations, they disposed of their supper, and coiled themselves up to +rest. If they rose for a moment, it was to look after some restless +camel; and early in the morning, long before the sun, when I turned out, +they were departed to a more remote solitude. But now the road is clear, +and we make a start of it, leaving the town fairly behind. + +"Stop, my men," said J----; "look at your horses' feet." + +"What's that for?" + +"We shall pass never another smithy this livelong day; and should a +screw be loose in any of their shoes, it would be rather a bring up for +us." Sage and sound advice for those who have a long ride before them; +which yet at this time of our need we rejected; and for which I +afterwards suffered. Awakening to a sense of my error, I did afterwards +make a divergence to a village by the way; but there found no artist, +and in the course of the day I learned fully to appreciate the +importance of a nail in time. By the way, the shoes hereabout are of a +peculiar kind, composed of a plate that entirely covers the hoof. They +are at least effective in preventing the infraction of pebbles. + +Our road was in the line that leads to the pretty village of Bonabat, +leaving the no less pretty village of Boujah on the right, but far away, +and hidden among the hills. These are two pleasant suburban retreats +that the merchants of Smyrna, have established as a _ricovero_ from the +toils of the city. Bonabat is more especially inhabited by the French, +and Boujah by the English. There is a third village somewhat farther off +in the direction of Ephesus called Sittagui. A few years ago, when the +Turkey trade was in its palmy days, the merchants used to do their +business in most agreeable style. It was during certain months only that +they went every day to their offices, the rest of the year being +permitted to enjoyment. At present, though perhaps somewhat less +magnificent in their style, they are eminently comfortable in their +ways. During the summer months, their families are removed to these +pretty country places; and at sundown each evening the ways are covered +with the returning fathers and brothers. For us Englishmen, Boujah was +naturally the accustomed haunt. Here is to be found the charming mixture +of nationalities, which is the feature of Smyrneot society. Their ways +are manly, without constraint, and in many respects patriarchal. The +young ladies never wear bonnets, and are generally to be seen of a fine +evening sitting in the open air before their own gates. The whole +community having been pretty well all brought up together from childhood +are on the happiest terms of intimacy: surnames are almost obsolete. +Ungrateful must the heart be that can remember without pleasure days +past in their society; where every house is open, and every face has a +smile for the guest. There is one particular spot here, called the Three +Wells, where my evening's walk has ever brought before me images fraught +with recollection of Rebecca's introduction to Isaac, or of Jacob wooing +Rachel. We now passed into the open country, where the road, leading +over a low ridge of hills, becomes of less definite track. And the last +village was passed, and thenceforward we were to meet stations only as +rare landmarks. Hereabouts sugar, as a general luxury, disappears; the +caffedgis supplying the mere coffee, unless some more luxurious stranger +demand the drug. It is then dealt out from a small private store, and +notified by a separate charge in the bill. The homely old Turks are +ignorant of the uses of sugar; and it would seem that their language +does not supply a descriptive term, as their "_shuk-kar_" is evidently a +mispronunciation of our word. One could not, without romancing, say much +of the beauty of the country through which we were passing at this early +stage of our journey. It is even flat, and tame; and appears to be so +more decidedly by contrast with most that lies in this region. Almost +every where else the prospect is bounded by beautiful hills, here and +there aspiring to the character of mountains, whose sides vary +constantly in tint as they rangingly receive the rays of the rising or +the setting sun. Or sometimes one has to pass through vast plains, where +neglect and desolation have, in the exuberance of nature, assumed the +appearance of luxuriant cultivation. Few artificial pastures could equal +the natural beds of oleander that are sometimes found here stretching +far away till lost behind the crags of a ravine; and which, in their +unconstrained vegetation, show colours that the hothouse might envy. And +particularly are the wildernesses of myrtle remarkable, which for miles +grow in thick jungle, through which it is difficult to preserve the +narrow track kept for passage. It is curious to pass through these +odorous thickets, where you can never see around you, and seldom many +feet before you, on account of the windings of the way. Long are heard +the tinklings of the camel's bells, and the heavy plod of their feet, +before the train comes into sight, and many are the manoeuvrings to +effect a passage in peace. The camels, however many, are all linked +together, and to the preceding donkey; and as they cannot be always +persuaded to observe due distance, so as to keep the line _taught_, nor +to follow each other on the same side of the road, it may be conceived +that to pass them is sometimes a work of difficulty. It is a comfort +that they never bite--at least never in ordinary cases; but still, till +one is used to their near contact, it does seem formidable to be +involved and hampered among these as one constantly must be. But this +particular road of ours was, for some way, diversified by neither beauty +nor incident; and, as things go, perhaps it is well that so it was; for +therefore have I the less scruple at passing over observations +topographical, and making haste to tell of what things befel us in the +city of the unbelievers. One single party of travellers we did meet, +whose journeying exercised considerable influence on our fortunes. It +was about mid-day that we saw approaching, from the opposite direction +to ourselves, a Frank gentleman, attended by a respectable looking +squire. We knew him to be coming from Magnesia, because there was no +other place from which he could be coming; and, by the same token, we +shrewdly guessed him to be the one Frank inhabitant, the pro-consul, on +whose good offices we had reckoned. The only alternative was, that he +might be some casual visiter like ourselves, whom business or curiosity +had led on a journey, whence he was returning. But, as he drew nearer, +we read in the incurious expression of his face, that he was certainly +at home; and the air of accustomed importance that beset him argued him +to be one in authority. No men, surely, can be so alive to the sense of +borrowed dignity as consular agents in out-of-the-way corners; at least +no men carry so pompous an exposition on their brow. By these tokens we +identified our stranger friend. + +"Hail him," said K----. + +"Bon giorno, signori!" + +"Servo, signori. Andate in Magnesia?" + +"I told you so," said K----. + +And so it was. He, her Britannic Majesty's, and half-a-dozen other +majesty's agent, stood convicted by his speech. The man had not been out +of Magnesia, perhaps, any day for the last twelvemonths, and he had +chosen, for the prosecution of his foreign interests, that precise day, +when these three desolate Englishmen had come to throw themselves on his +cares. + +However, our blood was up, and our souls superior to trifles. + +"Here's a poser! shall we reveal?" + +"Not a bit of it. We don't want him, nor any one else. Any mixture of +aid would have marred the spirit of our expedition: besides, remember +our friend the Seraph." + +This Seraph was of no higher than terrestrial order, being no other than +the Armenian to whom we had the letter commendatory. What the word in +their application means, I cannot say exactly, but believe it to be +descriptive of the sordid occupation of a basqua; at any rate, it is a +common style and title [Greek: Armenikos]. + +In the confidence of this our possession, we allowed the European to +pass on without giving him any hint of our forlorn condition, and +without craving any direction for our conduct. He evidently thought that +we had some bosom friend ready to receive us, or at any rate that we +were fully up to all the ways and means of the country--as well he +might, seeing us roam about in such _degage_ style. We were far too +jealous of our dignity to betray any symptoms of indecision, or having +been taken aback; and our adieux were waved to him with a perfect air of +being at home and comfortable. + +"Now then for an Armenian at home! How fortunate that fellow should be +out of the way, for now our friend the Seraph will be sure to insist on +our honouring his roof." + +"Capital spreads, too, they give--judging by the samples one sees laid +out of an evening in their halls." + +"Hospitable people; are they not, K----?" + +"Oh, very. Not that ever I have been in one of their houses." + +"Nor I--any farther than having a pipe with old John the Dragoman at his +porch." + +"Nor I." + +Here was a crown to our adventure! An untrodden city, an unvisited +people, a welcome to the mysterious bosom of Armenian hospitality! + + * * * * * + + + + +DIRECT TAXATION. + + +"Free Trade," say the Americans "is another word for direct taxation, +and direct taxation is another word for repudiation of states' debts." +The Americans are right; it is so: and the strongest proof of these +propositions is to be found in the conduct of the Americans themselves. +The subject, however, is one not less interesting on this than the other +side of the Atlantic. It involves the fortune and the temporal +prosperity of every man in the united kingdom; and we do not hesitate to +say that, on the embracing of just and reasonable views on this +all-important subject by the constituencies of the united kingdom, the +maintenance of the public credit,--the upholding of the public +prosperity,--the ultimate existence of England as an independent nation, +must come to depend. + +We hear much, in the popular phrase of the day, of "great facts." We +will assume "free trade" as a "great fact." We will not stop to inquire +how it was brought about, or whether, by any means, it could have been +avoided. These are the topics of history, and history, no one need fear, +will do them justice. As little shall we stop to ask, whether direct or +indirect taxation is the best, or whether a mixture of both is to be +recommended. We shall not ask whether it is better to pay taxes on the +price of the articles we purchase, when the amount is not perceived, or, +if perceived, seldom objected to, at least against government, and when +the disagreeable operation of paying money is compensated, at least in +some degree, by the pleasure derived from the article purchased,--or to +pay them at once to the tax-gatherer, when we get nothing for our ample +disbursements but a bit of paper from the collector to remind us of the +extent of our losses. As little shall we inquire, from history, how many +nations have been ruined by direct taxation, and whether there is one, +the decline of which can be traced to indirect; or from reason, whether +it is _possible_ that a _nation_ can be ruined by indirect taxes, when +the only effect of their becoming too high is, that they check the +consumption of the articles on which they are laid, and therefore cease +to be paid. We shall not remind our readers that, in the latter years of +the war L72,000,000, under the protective system, was levied in the +shape of taxes amidst general prosperity, on eighteen millions of people +in the British empire; and that now, under the free trade system, +fifty-two millions net revenue is felt as extremely oppressive by +twenty-eight millions. These topics, vast and important as they are, and +deeply as they bear on the past history and future prospects of the +British empire, have become the province of history, because the great +change on which they hinge has been made and cannot be unmade. We have +chosen to have free trade,--in other words, to abandon indirect +taxation; and free trade we must have, and indirect taxation will in +consequence be abandoned. + +But it is particularly to be observed, in the outset of this system, +that free trade, once adopted and applied to certain great branches of +national industry, must necessarily be _progressive_, and embrace _all_, +if we would avoid the total ruin of many of the staple branches of our +production and main source of our _direct_ revenue. In a short time, +grain of all sorts will be left with the nominal protection of a +shilling a quarter; and many branches of manufactures already find +themselves with a protecting duty so small that, keeping in view the +difference of the value of money in England and the continental states, +it amounts to nothing. If the classes thus left without any protection, +or a merely nominal one, exposed to the effects of foreign competition, +are not indemnified for their losses by the diminished price of the +articles which they themselves purchase, they must grow poorer every +day. Amidst the general cheapening of the articles _sold_, which +constitute the income of the productive classes, if there is not a +proportional cheapening of the articles _bought_ which compose their +_expenditure_, they must inevitably be destroyed. + +This truth is so obvious that it is adapted to the level of every +capacity, and accordingly we already see it producing agitation for the +farther repeal of indirect taxes, which it does not require the gift of +prophecy to foresee will, in the end, though perhaps after a severe +struggle, prove successful. It may not do so in this session of +Parliament or the next; but, in process of time, the effect is certain. + +A squeezable ministry, a yielding premier, will ere long be found, who, +in a moment of difficulty, will be glad to buy off one set of +assailants, as we did the Danes of old, by giving up what they desire. +The separate agitations which must, in the end, produce this result, are +already manifesting themselves. The West India planters allege, with +reason, that, exposed as they are, when burdened with costly and +irregular free labourers, to the competition of slave labour in Cuba and +Brazil, without, in a few years, any protection, it is indispensable +that the market of the mother country should be thrown open to them for +all parts of their produce, especially in distilleries and breweries. +The farmers, exposed to this attack in flank, while the corn laws have +been repealed in their front, have no resource left but to clamour +incessantly for the repeal of the malt-tax. In this attempt it is +probable they will, in the end, prove successful, not because their +demands are either just or reasonable, for as power is now constituted +in this country that affords no guarantee whatever for being listened +to, but because their claims are likely to be supported by the +_beer-drinkers in towns_, a numerous and influential class of the +community. The tea-dealers, encouraged by the success of agitation in +other quarters, are already making a loud clamour for a reduction of the +duty on tea, and prepared to prove, to the entire satisfaction of the +Chancellor of the Exchequer, that nothing is so likely to increase a +branch of revenue now producing L4,800,000 a-year, as to lower the duty +from half-a-crown to a shilling on the pound. The tobacco dealers will +not be behind their brethren in agitation; and we may soon expect to see +all the venal talent of the nation enlisted in the great cause of free +trade in smoking and chewing. The spirit-dealers will, most assuredly, +not be the last to insist upon a reduction of the duties affecting them; +and they are sure to be supported by the whole publicans in the urban +constituencies; a class of men so numerous that it is certain their +united voice is not long likely to be treated without attention. Every +class, in short, will insist for a remission of the taxes affecting +themselves, without the slightest regard to the effect it is likely to +have on the revenue, the public credit, or the general security of the +empire; and when we reflect on the stupendous array of indirect taxes, +which, under the influence of similar partial but fierce agitations, +have been abandoned by successive conceding administrations to purchase +temporary popularity, we feel convinced that the time is not far distant +when the remaining customs and excise, producing, at present, about +thirty millions of revenue, will share the same fate. + +It is useless to lament this tendency, because lamentations will not +stop it, and the reform bill has vested power in classes who, for good +or for evil, will work it out. Nearly _two-thirds_ of the Imperial +Parliament are, under its enactments, the representatives of burghs.[18] +In these burghs the great majority of the voters are shop-keepers, that +is, persons whose interest it is to buy cheap and sell dear. In making +the first use of their newly acquired power to force on free trade, and +a repeal of all duties affecting themselves, our burghs have exactly +followed in the footsteps of their predecessors, when parliamentary +writs were first addressed to them by the Earl of Leicester, in 1264. +"The burghers," says Guizot, "as much astonished as charmed at the +importance which Leicester gave them, took advantage of their influence +to procure _freedom to trade, and to get quit of all custom-house +duties_, instead of establishing, in conjunction with him, the +government on a durable foundation."[19] The influence of these urban +constituencies is not likely to decrease under the increasing +embarrassments of the landed producers, and the augmented stimulus to +certain branches of trade from foreign importations. And, in +consequence, as the revenue melts away under the effect of successive +repeals of the indirect taxes, the question will, ere long, force itself +on the government and the country, How is the interest of the debt to be +paid? How are the charges of the national establishments to be defrayed? +The extraordinary prosperity of the last two years, the result of the +three fine harvests which had preceded them, cannot be expected to +continue. A railway mania is not immortal;--like every other violent +passion it must soon wear itself out. Peace cannot much longer be relied +on;--the clouds are already gathering in more than one quarter. A +recurrence to general indirect taxes is not to be thought of in these +days of restricted currency and unrestricted importation. The only +alternative is, either a reduction of the interest of the national debt, +or a great increase of direct taxation. + + [18] + + County Members. Borough Members. + England, 162 336 + Scotland, 30 23 + Ireland, 66 39 + ---- ---- + 258 398 + + Or as 2 to 3 nearly. + + [19] Guizot's Essais Sur l'Hist. de France, 475, 476. + +It is not probable that a forcible reduction of the national debt will +be attempted, at least till the other alternative has been tried and +failed. The public funds are the great saving bank of the nation. Out of +192,970 persons who received the half-yearly dividend at the Bank of +England in the year 1841, no less than 158,735 drew dividends under L50 +half-yearly, of whom 58,000 were under L5; while those above L50 and not +exceeding L200 were only 10,094, and those exceeding L2000 only 125![20] +This is the great security for the public funds in England--the extent +to which shares in them are held by persons composing that middle +commercial class, in whom, under the present constitution, supreme power +is practically vested. + + [20] Porter's Parliamentary Tables, xii. 6. + +Nor is it only the actual holders of the public funds who would be +immediately struck at by an invasion of the national debt. Stock of +every kind would at once fall _pari passu_ with the three per +cents.--credit of every kind would be violently shaken--the rate of +discount at the Bank of England would instantly rise--money would become +scarce over the country--every debtor would find his whole creditors on +his back at once, while his means of recovering payment from those +indebted to him would be proportionately abated. It is not going too far +to say that, within a year after a blow had been struck at the public +funds, one-half of the whole trading classes would find themselves +insolvent. None would be able to stand the shock but those possessed of +considerable capital. The majority who carried the measure would, for +the most part, be ruined by its effects. This consequence is not a +remote or secondary one, which large bodies of men can never be brought +to see; it is immediate and direct, and is practically known, by the +intercourse with banks, and the necessity of getting bills discounted, +to the whole commercial community in the country. It is not probable +that the burgher class, to whom the Reform Bill has given power, will +voluntarily advocate a measure so evidently and palpably destructive to +themselves. The public funds of Great Britain rest on the securest of +all bases in a popular community, the self-interest of the holders of +power. They would soon be swept away under universal suffrage, as they +have been in so many states of America, because the majority under such +a system have no funds to hold. + +Two things, then, may be considered as certain as any thing depending on +the varying chances of human affairs can be. 1. That the indirect taxes +which at present constitute three-fifths of the net revenue of Great +Britain will, in great part, in process of time, be swept away. 2. That +to uphold the public credit and save from ruin the commercial classes, +a great addition must be made to direct taxation. + +It has become, therefore, a matter of the very highest importance to +consider how an additional revenue can be raised without wide-spread +ruin in that way; and what are the _principles_ on which direct taxation +should be founded, in order to be at once equal, just, and productive. +It will be found, on consideration, that they are simple and of +universal application--so plain as to be obvious, when stated, to every +capacity, although a protracted struggle may doubtless be anticipated +from the various classes whose immunities or exemptions such a just and +equal system may abolish or abridge. + +The first principles on the subject will naturally suggest themselves on +the principle of "_lucus a non lucendo_," upon considering the gross +inequalities, the enormous injustice of our present system of direct +taxation. Upon reviewing it, one can hardly discover under what +prevailing interest in the Legislature the regulations have been framed, +so strangely is occasional and unjust favour to the landed interest, in +some particulars, blended with frequent and equally unjust oppression of +them in others--so unequally is undue favour to the middle classes, in +some respects, combined with unjust and partial burdens upon them in +others. + +To begin with one particular, in which the landed interest are greatly +and unjustly exempted, while the other classes are severely and unjustly +burdened. There is no duty on bequests or inheritance in land, while +there is such a duty, and a very heavy one, in movable succession. The +legacy duty on succession, from one unconnected with the legatee by +blood, is ten _per cent._; from relations six, and from parents one _per +cent._ By the aid of the probate duty, which must be paid by the +executors, and the expense of suing out letters of administration in +England, or an edict and confirmation as executor in Scotland, these +duties are practically nearly doubled. Succession in land, on the other +hand, costs nothing, at least nothing requires to be paid to government; +and though the expense of making up titles to landed estates is often +very heavy, that is a burden for the benefit of lawyers, not the good of +the state. A poor man who gets a legacy of L100, pays L10 direct to the +Exchequer, and the executor, in addition, pays the heavy stamp on +probate of the succession; but the great landholder succeeds to L100,000 +a-year without paying a shilling to the state. + +A creditor in Scotland, who succeeds to a bond for L100,000, heritably +secured, pays nothing; if it is on personal security, he pays the full +legacy duty of L10,000. + +This glaring inequality, the remnant of the days of feudal oppression, +or the relic of a time when the landholders had no money, and taxes +could be extracted from movable property only, should forthwith be +abolished. Succession of all kinds, whether in land, bonds heritably +secured, or movable funds, should be taxed at the same rate. And by the +addition of the vast amount of the landed property to the produce of the +succession duty, it would be in the power of Government _to reduce the +general tax at least a half_ without any diminution, probably a large +increase, in the general result. This must be at once apparent, when it +is recollected that out of L5,303,000, which the income tax produced in +1845, from Britain, no less than L2,666,000, or nearly a half, came from +the land. When it is recollected that the remainder embraced, besides +income from realized money, no less than L1,541,000 for professional +income, which of course corresponds to a comparatively small amount of +realized capital, it is evident how great an increase to the taxable +amount of succession this most equitable change would produce. It need +hardly be said that the land should pay on so many years' purchase, say +thirty in Great Britain, and twenty in Ireland of the _clear rent_, +after deducting the interest of mortgages or heritable bonds or +jointures. _They_ would pay the tax on the succession of their holders +respectively. And the distinction as to the lesser amount of the tax to +be paid by children and relations, than strangers, now observed in the +succession to personal property, should be applied also to landed +succession. + +This is one obvious burden, which should be applied equally to landed as +to any other class of proprietors. But there are several particulars in +which they are most unjustly subjected to burdens from which other +classes are relieved; and if they get justice done them in this respect, +they could well afford to pay the succession duty. + +In the first place, the levying of the POOR'S RATE as a burden +exclusively laid on _real_ property in England, that is, lands and +houses, to the entire liberation of personal property or professional +incomes, is a most monstrous inequality--indefensible on every principle +of justice or expedience, and the long continuance of which can only be +explained by the well known and proverbial supineness of that class of +men, and their inability to rouse themselves to any combined or general +effort, even for matters in which their own vital interests are +concerned. The Poor's Rate, it is well known, is, especially in England, +a very heavy burden. It amounted, prior to the late change in the law in +England, to above L8,000,000 a-year: and although it was at first +considerably reduced in the years immediately succeeding the first +introduction of that Act in 1834, yet it has been steadily rising since, +and has now nearly attained its former level.[21] Under the most +favourable circumstances it cannot be estimated in round numbers at less +than L6,000,000 a-year; in seasons of distress it never fails to reach +L7,000,000. Scotland hitherto has paid less, because under the +administration of the old law, the support afforded to the poor was +miserably stinted, and quite inadequate to meet their necessities. This +was fully exposed by the efforts of Dr. Alison and other distinguished +philanthropists, and a parliamentary inquiry having demonstrated the +truth of their statements, the Act of 1846 introduced a more humane and +careful provision for the poor. Under the operation of this Act, the +Poor Rate in Scotland has in most places considerably, and in some +alarmingly, increased. The dreadful state of Ireland, suffering less +under the failure, total as it has been, of the potato crop, than the +general indigent condition of the poor, has at length forcibly aroused +the attention of all classes in the empire, and it may confidently be +predicted that the mockery of supposing the Irish paupers, 2,300,000 in +number, to be provided for because L240,000 a-year, or about _two +shillings_ a head a-year, is levied for their relief on a rental of +above L12,000,000 annually, cannot much longer be maintained. The Poor's +Rate, therefore, is a subject which already interests deeply, and is +likely to interest still more deeply, every part of the empire, and it +is of the highest importance to consider what are the principles on +which, in conformity with justice and expedience, it should be levied. + + [21] + + Poor's Rate and County Rate. + 1832 L8,662,000 + 1833 8,279,217 + 1834 8,338,079 + 1842 6,552,800 + 1843 7,085,595 + 1844 6,848,717 + + Parl. Paper. Porter, xii. 247. + +The monstrous injustice of the present system will be rendered apparent +by a single example. Manufactories, collieries, iron-works, and +commercial towns, are, it is well known, the great _producers_ of the +poor, because they bring together the labouring classes in vast numbers +from all quarters while trade is prosperous, and leave them in a state +of suffering or destitution a burden on the landholders the moment it +becomes depressed. The commercial classes, too, are immediately and +directly benefited by the labour of these manufacturing poor while they +retain their health; while the landholders in their vicinity are only so +indirectly and in a lesser degree. This is decisively demonstrated by +the colossal fortunes so frequently made in the commercial classes, +contrasted with the declining circumstances or actual insolvency of the +landholders by whom they are surrounded. Do these, the merchants and +manufacturers, pay the larger proportion of the poor tax, thus rendered +inevitable by the nature of their operations, which are in so high a +degree beneficial to themselves? Quite the reverse: they do not, in +proportion to their profits, pay a _tenth part_ of its amount. The +poor's rate, as at present levied, is on the rural proprietors an +_Income_, on burgh inhabitants a _House_ tax. The difference is +prodigious, and leads to results in practice of the grossest injustice. + +A landowner has an estate of L2000 a-year in a parish of which the +poor's-rate is 1s. in the pound, or L100 a-year on his property. A +manufactory is established, or an iron-work set agoing, or a coal mine +opened upon it, from which the fortunate owner derives L50,000 a-year of +profit. The buildings on it, however, are only valued at L2000 a-year. +He pays for his _pauper creating_ work, yielding him L50,000 a-year, +L100 annually, the same as what the landowner in the same parish pays +for his _pauper-feeding_ estate of L2000 a-year. In other words, in +proportion to the respective incomes, the landholder, who had no hand in +bringing in the poor, and derives little or nothing from their labour, +pays just _five-and-twenty times_ as much as the manufacturer who +introduced them, and is daily making a colossal fortune by their +exertions! And this becomes the more unjust when it is recollected, that +under the present system of free trade in corn and easy communication +with distant quarters which railways and steam-boats afford, the little +benefit the neighbouring landholders formerly derived from the presence +of such manufacturing crowds, is fast disappearing. But further, the +manufacturer or mine-owner having got off thus easily during the time of +prosperous trade, when he was realising his fortune, stops his works, +and discharges his workmen when the adverse season arrives. The rateable +value of the manufactory or the mine has, for the present, almost or +wholly disappeared, and the poor starving workmen are handed over to be +supported by the land-owner. + +Persons not practically acquainted with these matters may think this +statement is overcharged: on the contrary, it is _within_ the truth in +some instances. We know an instance of a great iron master, whose +profits average above L100,000 a-year, who pays less poor's rates for +the poor he has mainly created, than a landholder in the same parish, of +L2000 a-year, who never brought a pauper on its funds in his life. Such +is the consequences of the present barbarous system of levying the +poor's rate as an income tax on the landlords who are burdened with +paupers, and only a house tax on the manufacturers who create and profit +by them. The first thing to be done towards the introduction of a just +system of direct taxation is to lay the maintenance of the poor equally +on all classes; and above all to abolish the present most unjust system +of making it only a house tax on the producers of poor in towns, and an +income tax on their feeders in the country. + +The LAND TAX is another burden, exclusively affecting real property, +which should either be abolished, altogether or levied equally on all +classes. Its amount is not so great as the poor's rate, nevertheless it +is considerable, as it produces about L1,172,000 a-year.[22] + + [22] Porter's Parl. Tables, xii. 36. + +The whole ASSESSED TAXES, though not avowedly and exclusively a tax on +the landed interest, are, practically speaking, and in reality, a burden +on them almost entirely; at least they are so much heavier on the +landowners than the inhabitants of towns, that the burden is nothing in +comparison on urban indwellers. Had they been practically felt as a +grievance by the urban population they would long since have shared the +fate of the house tax and been abolished. They have so long been kept up +only because, with a few exceptions, they press almost exclusively upon +that passive and supine class of landlords, the natural prey of +Chancellors of the Exchequer, whom it seems generally impossible by any +exertions, or the advent of any danger how urgent soever, to rouse to +any common measure of defence. It no doubt sounds well to say that the +assessed taxes are laid generally on luxuries, and therefore they are +paid equally by all classes which indulge in them. But a closer +examination will show that this view is entirely fallacious, and that +the subjects actually taxed, though really luxuries to urban, are +necessary aids to rural life. For example, a carriage, a riding horse, a +coachman, a groom, are really luxuries in town, and their use may be +considered as a fair test of affluent, or at least easy circumstances. +But in the country they are absolutely necessaries. They are +indispensable to business, to health, to mutual communication, to +society, to existence. What similarity is there between the situation of +a merchant with L1000 a-year, living in a comfortable town house, with +an omnibus driving past his door every five minutes, a stand of cabs +within call, and dining three days in the week at a club where he needs +no servants of his own; and a landholder enjoying the same income, +living in a country situation, with no neighbour within five miles, and +having six miles to ride or drive to the nearest town or railway station +where his business is to be transacted, or where a public conveyance can +be reached? + +Gardeners, park-keepers, foresters and the like, are generally not +luxuries in the country, they are a necessary part of an establishment +which is to turn the land to a profitable use. You might as well tax +operatives in mills, or miners in collieries, or mechanics in +manufactories, as such servants. Yet they are all swept into the +assessed taxes, upon the rude and unfounded presumption that they are, +equally with a large establishment of men-servants in towns, an +indication of affluent circumstances. The window tax is incomparably, +more oppressive in country houses than in town ones, from their greater +size in general, and being for the most part constructed at a period +when no attention was paid to the number of windows, and they were +generally made very small from being formed before the window tax was +laid on. Taking all these circumstances into view, it is not going too +far to assert, that on equal fortunes the assessed taxes are _twice as +heavy_ in the country as in towns; and that of L3,312,000 which they +produce annually, after deducting the land tax, about L2,500,000, is +paid by _landowners either in town or country_. It is inconceivable--no +one _a priori_ could credit it--how few householders in town, and not +being landowners, pay any assessed taxes at all--or any of such amount +as to be really a burden. The total number of houses charged to the +window tax, in Great Britain, is 447,000, and the duty levied on them +is, L1,613,774, or, at an average, about L3, 10s. a-house, while the +number of inhabited houses was, in 1841, 3,164,000, or above seven times +the number. The total number charged with one man-servant, is only +49,320, and, _persons keeping men-servants at all_, 110,849,[23] facts +indicating how extremely partial is the operation of these taxes, and +how severely they fall on the class most heavily burdened in other +respects, and therefore least able to bear them. + + [23] Porter's Parl. Tables, xii. 37, 42; and xi. 275. + +The HIGHWAY RATES are another burden exclusively affecting land, +although the whole community derive benefit from their use. This burden, +exclusive of the sum levied at turnpike gates, in England amounted to +L1,169,891, a-year.[24] This charge, heavy as it is, is felt as the more +vexatious, that the rate-payers are not at liberty either to limit the +use of the road, for which they pay, to themselves, or to allow it to +fall into disrepair. An indictment of the road lies at common law, if it +becomes unfit for traffic, even at the instance of any party using the +road, though he does not pay any part of the rate. In other words, the +neighbouring landholders are compelled to keep up the roads for the +benefit of the public generally, who contribute nothing towards their +maintenance. This matter becomes the more serious that in consequence of +the general adoption and immense spread of railways, the traffic on the +principal lines of road in England, has either almost entirely +disappeared, or become inadequate to contributing any thing material to +the support even of the turnpikes hitherto entirely maintained by them. +It is not difficult to foresee, that the time is not far distant when +nearly the _whole roads of England will fall as a burden on the rate +payers_; for these roads cannot be abandoned, or the country off the +railway lines would have no communication at all. And the sums paid by +railway companies, how large soever, to landholders, afford no general +compensation; for they benefit a few in the close vicinity of the +railways only, while the highway rate affects all. + + [24] Lords' Report on Burdens on Real Property, 1846, p. vi. + +The CHURCH RATE is another burden exclusively affecting land, though all +classes obtain the benefit of it in the comfort and convenience of +churches. It amounted, in 1839, the last year for which a return was +made, to L506,512.[25] Nothing can be clearer than that this is a burden +truly affecting real estates. It is entirely different from tithes, +which are not, correctly speaking, a burden on land, but a separate +estate apart from that of the landlord, which never was his, for which +he has given no valuable consideration. But on what principle of justice +is the burden of upholding churches exclusively laid on the land, when +all classes sit in churches, and enjoy the benefit of their +accommodation. The thing is evidently and palpably unjust, and won't +bear an argument. + + [25] Lords' Report on Burdens on Real Property, 1846, p. 6. + +The POLICE, LUNATIC ASYLUM, and BRIDGE RATES, constitute another burden +on real property to which no other property is subject, which, though +not universally introduced, are very oppressive in those counties where +their establishment has been found necessary. Mr. Blamire, a very +competent witness, estimates these incidental and partial charges at 2s. +1d. an acre.[26] The land is still liable also to a heavy disbursement +on account of the Militia, if that national force should be again called +out. There has been no return yet laid before parliament of these +partial burdens on land, but they cannot be estimated at less than the +church rate, or L500,000 a-year. + + [26] Ibid. p. 7. + +The STAMP DUTIES, from deeds and instruments which produce annually +L1,646,000 a-year, fall for the most part as a burden on real property. +This must be evident to every person who considers that real estates in +land or houses are the great security on which money is advanced in +every part of the country, and the extremely heavy burdens, in the shape +of a direct payment in the requisite stamps for deeds to government, is +imposed on the transmission and burdening of such property. It is +particularly severe, in proportion to the value of the subjects +burdened, in the mortgaging or alienating of small freeholds or +heritable subjects. It is stated in the Lords' Report, on the burdens +affecting real property, "The stamp on a conveyance of a certain length, +on a sale of real subjects of the value of L50, would cost 12-1/2 per +cent, or L6, 10s.; on a L100 sale, to 5 per cent; on a L200 sale, to +2-1/2 per cent; on a L500 sale, to L1, 14s. 3d. per L100; and above that +sum, to one per cent." The weight on the establishment of mortgages, +especially on small sums, is not less remarkable. The same report adds, +"A mortgage for L50 costs, in stamps, and law expenses, thirty per +cent.; a mortgage for L100, twenty per cent.; one for L450 seven per +cent.; for L1500 three per cent.; for L12,500 one per cent.; for L25,000 +fifteen shillings per cent, and for L100,000 twelve shillings per +cent."[27] These burdens on the sale or mortgaging of real property are +felt as the more oppressive, when it is recollected that movable +property to the greatest amount, as in the public funds, or the like, +may be alienated, or burdened in the most valid and effectual manner for +the cost of a power of attorney, which is a guinea and half-a-crown per +cent. to the broker who executes the transaction. Materials do not exist +for separating exactly the deed-stamps falling as a burden on land +transmissions and mortgages, from those affecting personal estates; but +it is certainly within the mark to say, that they are three-fourths of +the whole stamp-duties on deeds and instruments, or L1,200,000 a-year. + + [27] Ibid. 1847, p. 8. + +Thus, it appears that, setting aside the tithe, as not the land-owner's +property, and, therefore, a separate estate, and not, properly speaking, +a burden on land; and saying nothing of the malt-tax, which produces +annually L4,500,000 a-year, on the supposition that, at present at +least, that falls as a burden on the consumer; and saying nothing of the +income-tax, which, as will immediately appear, falls as a much severer +burden on land-rents than commercial incomes,--these distinct, clear, +and indisputable burdens laid on land, from which property of other +sorts in England are exempt, stand thus:-- + + I. Poor's Rate in 1845, a very prosperous year, L6,847,205 + II. Land-tax, 1,164,042 +III. Highway Rates, 1,169,891 + IV. Church Rates, 506,812 + V. Police, Lunatic, and Bridge-rates, estimated, 500,000 + VI. Excess of assessed taxes falling on land above + personal estates, estimated, 1,500,000 +VII. Stamp-duties peculiar to land, 1,200,000 + ---------- + L12,887,950 + +The rental of real property in England, rated to the Poor's Rates, is +L62,540,030;[28] but the real rental, as ascertained by the more rigid +and accurate returns for the Income-tax, is L85,802,735. On the first of +these sums, the taxes exclusively falling on land amount to a tax of +_twenty-five_, on the last of EIGHTEEN per cent. annually. This is in +_addition_ to the Income-tax, and all the indirect taxes which the +owners of land and houses pay in common with all the rest of the +community, and which by it are complained of as so oppressive. + + [28] Lords' Report, 1847, p. 7. + +Enough, it is thought, has now been said to prove the extreme inequality +and injustice with which direct public burdens are levied in this +country, and the necessity for a thorough and searching revision of our +system of taxation, in this respect, especially since, from the way in +which the tide sets, it has become so evident that direct will +progressively be more extensively substituted for indirect taxation. +But, in addition to these, there are several other circumstances which +aggravate fourfold the burdens thus exclusively laid on real property. + +I. In the first place, the alterations in the monetary system of the +country, by the resumption of cash payments in 1819, followed up in +Scotland and Ireland, as well as England, by the stringent Bankers' Act +of 1844, has added fully forty per cent. to the weight of all taxes and +other burdens, public or private, affecting landed property, because it +has altered, to that extent, the value of money, and diminished the +price of the articles of rural produce from which the laud-holders' +means of paying them are derived. If the prices of wheat and of all +other kinds of agricultural produce, for ten years before 1819, and ten +years before 1845, be compared, it will at once appear that the +difference is even greater than has been here stated.[29] But that +consideration is of vital importance in this question, for if the price +of all kinds of rural produce has declined nearly as nine to six by the +operation of these monetary changes, the weight of debts and taxes, of +course, must have been increased in the same proportion. We are not now +to enter into any argument as to the expedience or necessity of that +great change in our monetary system: we assume it as _a fact_, and refer +to it only as rendering imperative a revision of the direct taxes +bearing so heavily on the great interests whose means of paying them +have been thus so seriously abridged. + + [29] Prices of wheat average, per Winchester quarter, in the years + after mentioned, viz.:-- + + _s._ _d._ _s._ _d._ + 1809 78 11 1834 46 2 + 1810 103 3 1835 39 4 + 1811 92 5 1836 28 6 + 1812 122 8 1837 56 10 + 1813 106 6 1838 64 7 + 1814 72 1 1839 70 8 + 1815 63 8 1840 66 4 + 1816 76 2 1841 64 4 + 1817 94 0 1842 64 6 + 1818 83 8 1843 54 4 + 1819 72 3 1844 51 3 + ------ ------ + Average 87 3 Average 56 5 + + Tooke on Prices, ii. 389, and Lords' Report on Burdens on Real + Property, App. No. 26. + +II. In the second place, and this is a most important circumstance, the +burdens which have been mentioned all fall as a burden on the landowner, +how much soever his property may be charged with mortgages, jointures, +or other real burdens. These must all be paid in full by himself alone, +how small soever be the fraction of the nominal income of his estate +which remains to him after discharging the annual amount of its real +burdens. There is no right to deduct poor's rates, land tax, or other +burdens affecting land, from mortgages, or even jointure holders, unless +they are expressly declared liable to such, which is very seldom the +case. These annual charges must all be paid _clear_ to the creditor, +without any deduction, except that of the income tax, which the debtor +is allowed to retain by the Act imposing it. But this consideration is +of vital importance to the landholders when the amount of their +mortgages and other real burdens is taken into consideration. Their +annual amount has been estimated by very competent judges at +_two-thirds_ of the income derived from land, although, as there is no +general record in England for real burdens, their amount cannot at +present be accurately ascertained. But take it, in order to be within +the mark, at _three-fifths_ of the real rental, as ascertained by the +income tax returns, these show, as already stated, an income of +L85,000,000 annually derived from land. Take three-fifths, or +L51,000,000 of this sum as absorbed annually by mortgagers and +annuitants holding real and preferable securities over land, and there +will remain L34,000,000 annually to the holders of land and houses. Now +on this L34,000,000 the real burdens above mentioned, amounting to +L12,900,000 a-year, are fastened. If to these be added the income tax +paid by the land, amounting, by the income tax returns, to L2,112,000, +the clear income derived by landholders from the real property of +England, with the _direct_ taxes paid by them, will stand thus-- + +Clear Income as above L34,000,000 +Deduct direct taxes levied + exclusively on land, L12,900,000 +Income tax paid + by land, 2,100,000 + --------- 15,000,000 + ----------- + Remains, L19,000,000 + +Thus it appears that out of thirty-four millions of clear rental left to +the owners of real property in England, no less than fifteen millions, +or nearly _a half_, is taken from them annually in the shape of direct +taxes which they cannot by any possibility avoid! How long would the +commercial or city industry of England stand direct taxes to the amount +of 46 per cent on their clear income? If that had been the state of +their finances, we should have had no clamour in 1831 for enlarged +representation, or in 1846 for the destruction, to their advantage, of +all the protection to other branches of industry. We should have had no +Anti-Corn Law League subscriptions of L100,000 to buy up all the venal +talent in the form of itinerant orators and pamphleteers in the country. +We should have had no conversions of conceding premiers by the weight of +external agitation. In social, not less than military warfare, the +longest purse carries the day; and the party which is the heaviest +burdened is sure to be in the end overthrown. + +III. The abolition of the Corn Laws, partially at present, entirely at +the end of two years and a half, by the bill of 1846, not only has made +this enormous burden of 46 _per cent._ on their clear income _deductis +debitis_ a permanent load on the landowners, but it has rendered it a +hopeless one, because it has destroyed every means which they previously +might have possessed of indemnifying themselves for its weight, by +sharing its oppression with other classes. This is a matter of the very +highest importance, which will soon make itself felt, though, in +consequence of the nearly total failure of the potato crop in the west +of Great Britain and Ireland, it has not yet been so. The usual resource +of persons, who are burdened with heavy payments to government, is to +lay as much as they can of it on others, by enhancing as much as +possible the price of their produce. It is in this way that indirect +taxes fall in general on the consumer; and it is on this principle that, +in estimating the burdens exclusively affecting land, we have not +included the malt duty, because it is in great part at least paid by the +consumers of beer or porter. But, of course, if it becomes from any +cause impossible for the party burdened, in the first instance, to raise +the price of his produce, or if, on the contrary, he is compelled to +lower it, _the whole tax will fall direct on himself_, because he will +be without the means of laying it on the purchaser from him. + +Now, the abolition of the Corn Laws has done this. In two years and a +half, the whole grain of Poland and America will be admitted into the +English market at the nominal duty of a shilling a quarter. It will be +impossible for the farmers and landowners after that to keep up the +price of grain of any sort in the British market beyond the prices in +Prussia, and with the addition of 5s. a quarter for the cost of transit, +and perhaps half as much for the profit of the importer. Wheat, beyond +all question, will fall on an average of years to forty shillings a +quarter, barley and oats to twenty. This is just as certain as the +parallel reduction of average prices of wheat from 87s. a quarter to +56s. has been by the money law of 1819. Accordingly, now that the stress +is over, they have no longer an interest to conceal or pervert the +truth; the anti-corn law journals are the first to proclaim this result +_as certain_, and they coolly recommend the English farmers to abandon +altogether the cultivation of wheat, which can no longer be expected to +pay, and to lay out their lands in pasture grass and the producing of +_garden stuffs_. But amidst this general and now admitted decline in the +price of grain, the 46 per cent. of direct burdens on land will continue +unchanged; happy if it does not receive a large augmentation. The effect +of this will be to augment the weight of the burdens to which they are +already subjected on the landholders by at least twenty per cent., and, +in addition, to _throw upon them the whole malt tax_, now amounting to +L4,500,000 a-year. The moment the British farmer is obliged to lower the +price of his barley to the level of the continental nations, where +labour is so much cheaper, and rents comparatively light, the whole malt +tax falls, without deduction or limitation, on British agriculture. + +IV. The income tax, though apparently a burden equally affecting all +classes, in reality attaches with much more severity to the landed than +to any other class. There is, indeed, an advantage unduly enjoyed by +capitalists of all sorts, landed or moneyed, in comparison with +annuitants or professional men, which, as will immediately appear, +loudly calls for a remedy. But, as compared with the merchant or moneyed +man, who derives his income from trade or realised capital in a movable +form, the landholder is, in every direct taxation, exposed to a most +serious disadvantage. His income cannot be concealed, and it is returned +by others than himself. The farmer or tenant, who has no interest in the +matter, returns his landlord's rent. The trader, shopkeeper, or merchant +estimates and returns his own income. The possessions of the first, and +their annual rental, are universally known, and concealment as to them +is impossible or sure of detection; the gains of the last are entirely +secret, and wrapped up, even to the owner, in books or accounts, +generally unintelligible in all cases but those of considerable +merchants--to all but the persons who prepared them. Whoever is +practically acquainted with human nature will at once perceive the +immense effect which this difference must have on the amount of the +burden, in appearance the same, as it affects the different classes of +society. + +And the result of this difference appears in the most decisive manner, +in the amount of the sums paid by the different classes of society, as +shown by the income tax returns. From them, it appears that the +contributions from commerce, trades, and professions of _all sorts_, is +not _quite half_ of that obtained from landed property. The first is, +in round numbers, L2,700,000; the second, L1,500,000.[30] But let it be +recollected that the L1,541,000 a-year, which, in 1845, was paid by +professional men of all descriptions, in Great Britain, included, +besides merchants and traders, the whole class of professional men not +traders, as lawyers, attorneys, physicians, &c. At the very lowest +computation their share of this must amount to L341,000 a-year. There +remains then L1,200,000 as the contribution of trade and commerce, of +all kinds, from Great Britain, while that from land is L2,670,000 +a-year, or _considerably more than double_. Can it be believed that this +is founded on a fair return of incomes by the commercial classes? Are +they prepared to admit that their property and income, and consequent +interest and title to sway in the state, is not half of that which is +derived from land? Or do they shelter themselves under the comfortable +assurance that their real income is incomparably greater, and that they +quietly escape with a half or a third of the income tax which they ought +to pay? We leave it to the trading class, and their abettors in the +press, to settle this question with the commissioners of income tax +throughout the country. We mention the fact, that trade and commerce do +not pay half the income tax that land does, as a reason, among the many +others which exist, for a thorough and radical reform of our financial +system, so far as direct taxation is concerned. + + [30] Net amount of income tax for year ending 5th April, 1845:-- + + England. Scotland. Total. + Schedule A, Land rents, L2,112,072 L253,976 L2,366,048. + -------- B, Tenants 292,646 22,961 315,607. + -------- C, Annuities, funds, &c. 766,066 ------ 766,066. + -------- D, Trades and professions, 1,424,017 117,953 1,541,970. + -------- E, Offices, Pensions, &c., 305,401 8,500 313,901. + ---------- -------- ----------- + L4,900,202 L403,390 L5,303,502. + +Whoever considers seriously, and in an impartial spirit, the various +particulars which have now been stated, will not only cease to wonder at +the frequent, it may almost be said universal, embarrassment of the +landed proprietors, but he will arrive at the conclusion, that if they +continue much longer unchanged, they must terminate in their general +ruin. We say _general_ ruin, because it will not be universal. The +_great_ landowners, the magnates, whether moneyed or territorial, of the +land will alone survive the general wreck. They will, by degrees, +swallow up all the smaller estates in their neighbourhood; and it will +come to be literally true in Britain what was said, by a Roman emperor, +of Gaul, in the decline of the empire, "That the estates of the rich go +on continually increasing and absorbing all lesser estates around them, +till they come to the estate of _another as rich as themselves_." With +direct taxes, amounting to 50 or 60 per cent. on the disposable income, +which, under the change of prices, induced by the change in the corn +laws, they will very soon be, even without any addition from farther +taxes, it is wholly impossible that any landowner who does not possess +enormous tracts of country, or vast funded or moneyed property in +addition to his territorial possessions, can avoid insolvency. What the +effect of the total destruction of the middle class of British +landholders must be on the balance of the constitution, and the state of +society in these islands, it is not our present purpose to inquire. +Suffice it to say, that it is precisely the state of things which +signalised the later stages of the Roman empire, and coincides with so +many other circumstances in marking the striking analogy between our +present condition and that which proved fatal to the ancient masters of +the world. + +Well may the Lords' Committee on the burdens affecting landed property +have said, "Neither the law nor the spirit of the constitution +originally contemplated so partial a system of taxation."[31] In truth, +originally some of the heaviest present exclusive burdens on real +property were born equally by personal estates. "The poor law of +Elizabeth," says the report, "and the land tax of William and Mary, +_embraced every species of income_; but in consequence of the +comparative facility of rating visible property, and the small amount of +income derived from other sources in the early period of their +assessment, personalty seems to have escaped its legal share of +contribution to the public service. The liability of stock in trade, +however, was continued by law to a late period, and is, up to the +present day, only suspended by an annual act of exemption." The +Committee here point out, or rather hint at the real cause of the +extraordinary exemption from their due share of the public burdens which +has grown up insensibly in favour of movable property. Land has two +admirable qualities in the estimation of Chancellors of the Exchequer. +It can _neither be concealed nor removed_. Movable estates, stock in +trade, are susceptible of both. The landholder has no secret invisible +funds which he can bring forth when desired in the form of convenient +loans to government to meet the state necessities. He has only a visible +fixed estate, which can neither be concealed nor withdrawn from its +annual burdens. Hence the influence and exemptions of the one, and the +injustice experienced by and burdens of the other. + + [31] Report, p. 9. + +But in addition to this, there is another circumstance which has +powerfully contributed to establish this extraordinary and iniquitous +exemption of personal property from direct taxation. This is the +difficulty which in practice amounts to an impossibility of getting by +any means at the real amount of rateable personal property. The +Commissioners of the Income Tax through the country will have no +difficulty in understanding what is here meant. All the efforts of +government and their official organs to ascertain the real amount of +assessable movable property, have been insufficient to accomplish that +end. Doubtless there are in the commercial and professional class many +just and honourable men who give a true account to the last farthing of +their gains. These are men, the honour and support of the country, whose +word is their bond, and who may confidently be relied on to speak the +truth under any circumstances. But, unhappily, experience has too +clearly proved that the facility of concealing gains derived from stock +in trade, and thus withdrawing it from its just liability for +assessment, is too strong a temptation to be resisted. The proof of this +is decisive. The returns of the income tax show L175,000,000 of annual +income rated to that assessment, while only L1,541,000 was in 1845 paid +by the whole professional persons in Great Britain. Of this L1,541,000, +only L1200,000, at the very utmost can be estimated as coming from +commercial or trade incomes, which, at sevenpence in the pound, +corresponds to about L40,000,000 of annual income. Is it possible to +believe that the whole commercial and trading classes in Great Britain, +whose wealth is in every direction purchasing up the estates of the +landed proprietors in the island, only enjoy forty out of one hundred +and seventy-five millions of the rateable national income? Have they +less than a fourth of the whole income rated to the income tax? If they +have no more, they certainly make a good use of what they have, and must +deem themselves singularly fortunate in that happy exemption from +taxation which has enabled them, with less than a fourth of the general +income, to get the command of the state, and buy up the properties of +all the other classes. + +There is one peculiarity in the income tax as at present established, +which is productive of the greatest injustice, and loudly calls for +immediate remedy. This consists in the taxing _all incomes at the same +rate_, whether derived from professional income, annuity, land, or +realized funds. This is just another instance of the careless and +reckless way in which our system of direct taxation has at different +times been framed, without any regard to principle, and alternately +unjustly favouring or grossly oppressing every class in society, _except +the great capitalists_. They have been always and unduly considered. +What can be more unjust than to tax every man of the same income at the +same rate, whether it is derived from land or funded property, worth +thirty years' purchase, or railway or bank stock worth twenty, or an +annuity worth five, or a precarious professional income, which would not +bring, from the uncertainty of life and the public favour, or the winds +or monetary changes, above _two or three_? Under the present most unjust +system, they all pay alike on their income, that is, some pay about +FIFTEEN TIMES as much on what they are worth in the world in comparison +with others! A man who derives L300 a-year from the three per cents. on +land has a capital stock worth about L10,000. He pays as much, and no +more, as a poor widow, just dropping into the grave, who has a jointure +of L300 a-year, for which no insurance company in the kingdom would give +her above L500, or a hard-working lawyer or country surgeon with the +same income, whose chances of life and business are not worth three +years' purchase. The gross injustice of this inequality requires no +illustration. + +Nor is it any answer to this to say, that if the professional and +commercial classes are unduly oppressed by the income tax, they, are +proportionally benefited by their general exemption from the heavy, +direct taxation which in other respects weighs down the land; and that +the one injustice may be set off against the other. We protest against +the system of setting off one injustice against another: there is no +compensation of evils in an equitable administration. In the present +instance there can be no compensation, for the acts of injustice are +committed against different classes. It is the trading classes which +enjoy the means, from the occult nature of their gains, of evading by +fallacious returns the income tax. The honest and honourable pay it to +the last farthing: it is the _dishonest_ who escape. The persons upon +whom the levying the income tax in its present form operates with the +most cruel severity are the professional men and annuitants. They cannot +evade it, as the trading classes can. Their gains are generally known: +if they are at all eminent or prosperous, the kindness or envy of the +public generally helps them to at least a half more than they really +enjoy. Merchants or shopkeepers are less in the public eye; and even +when most prominent, their transactions are so various and wide-spread, +that no one but themselves can estimate their profits. Every one knows, +or can easily guess, what Dr. Chambers or the Attorney-General make +a-year; but it would puzzle the most experienced heads on 'Change to say +what were the yearly profits of the great bankers, merchants and +manufacturers. + +There is another enormous injustice connected with the income tax, and +indeed all the direct taxes to Government, which loudly calls for +remedy--_Ireland pays none of them_. It is high time that England and +Scotland should rouse themselves to a sense of this most unreasonable +and unjust exemption, and unite their strength by the proper +constitutional means to remove it. We are always told Ireland cannot +afford to pay any direct taxes. What, then, comes of its L12,000,000 of +rental? Scotland, with little more than _a third_ of that land rent, +pays it and the assessed taxes besides, without either complaint or +difficulty. But it is said the landlords are so eat up with mortgages, +that they have not a fourth part of their nominal incomes left to live +upon. That is a good reason for only making them pay, as under the +income tax they would, on the free balance, _deductis debitis_. But, in +the name of Heaven, why should the bondholders pay nothing? If they sit +at home at ease in Dublin, Cork, or Belfast, and quietly enjoy +L9,000,000 out of the L12,000,000 of Irish rental, why cannot _they_ as +well pay the income tax as their brethren in London, Liverpool, or +Glasgow? The bondholders of Ireland _alone_, would, if they paid an +income tax, contribute more to the common necessities of the State than +_the whole land and industry of Scotland put together_. So vast are the +natural resources which Providence has bestowed on that fickle and +misguided people, and so few those enjoyed by the hardy and industrious +Scotch mountaineers. + +On what conceivable ground of justice or reason can this most monstrous +and invidious exemption in favour of Ireland from income and assessed +taxes be defended? Is it that Ireland with its 12,000,000 arable acres, +and 5,000,000 of mountain and waste, has fewer natural resources than +Scotland with its 4,500,000 of arable acres, and 12,000,000 of mountain +and waste? Is it that 8,500,000 persons now in Ireland, cannot pay even +what 2,900,000 now pay in Scotland? Is it that Ireland is so singularly +peaceable and loyal, and gives so little anxiety or disquiet to the rest +of the empire, that it must be rewarded for its admirable and dutiful +conduct by an absolute exemption from all direct taxation to government? +Is it that the troops required to be kept in it are so few, and in +Scotland so numerous, that the former country may be liberated from +taxation, while the latter is subjected to it in full extent? Is it that +industry in towns in Ireland is so great, and manufacturing skill so +transcendant, that it is entitled to be liberated from direct taxation +in consideration of the vast amount of its indirect custom-house duties, +in comparison of which those of London, yielding L12,000,000; of +Liverpool, yielding L4,500,000 a-year; or Glasgow and the Clyde +harbours, yielding L1,200,000; and Leith, yielding L589,000, are as +nothing? Or is it that this extraordinary exemption is the reward of +tumult, disaffection, and treason; of turbulent demagogues and factious +priests, and an indolent people; of active and incessant combination for +the purposes of evil, and total inability to combine for the purposes of +good? And is it the first fruits of the regeneration of government by +the Reform Bill, that it can raise a revenue only from the loyal and +pacific and industrious part of the empire, and must proclaim relief +from all taxation as the reward of tumult, disorder, murder, monster +meetings, and treason? We leave it to the advocates of the present +system of government, or those who established it, to answer these +questions. We did neither the one nor the other, but have constantly +opposed both; and Great Britain, in the system of direct taxation we +have now exposed, is reaping the fruits of the changes she has thought +proper to introduce. + +Lastly, there is another peculiarity of the income tax which requires +revision, and that is this;--at present it descends only to L150 a-year +income; and every one practically acquainted with these matters, knows +that this, with the trading classes at least, whose gains can be +concealed, amounts to a practical exemption, generally speaking, of all +under at least L200 a-year. Nothing can be plainer than that, as matters +stand at least, this exemption of all below such line is invidious, +unjust, and, if persisted in, will lead to ruinous consequences. No +reason can be assigned for it which will bear examination; for it is to +be supposed the practical necessity of conciliating the ten pounders, +the great majority of whom escape the tax altogether in this way, will +not, in public at least, be assigned as a reason, how cogent soever it +may be felt and candidly acknowledged in private. Why should a man, +whose income, perhaps derived from land or funded property below L150, +pay nothing, while a hard working clerk, attorney, or country surgeon, +who makes L155, and is not worth a tenth part of the other's realised +capital, pays _income-tax_? It is in vain to say you must draw a line +somewhere. So you must, but you must not draw it in a way to do gross +and palpable injustice,--to exempt the comparatively affluent, and +oppress the industrious poor. There is a vital distinction, which it +would be well if the income tax recognised, between income, of any +amount, derived from realised property and from professional exertions. +By all means give the humble professional classes the benefit of this +distinction. But to draw the line, not according to the _quality_ of the +income as derived from capital or labour, but from its _absolute +amount_, is arbitrary, invidious, and unjust. + +The great advantage to be derived from making the income tax, modified +as now suggested, descend lower in society is, that it would _interest a +larger number in guarding against its abuse_. At present, it is said, +there are three hundred and twenty thousand persons rated to the income +tax in Great Britain, but not half of them really pay on _their own +account_. Many pay the income tax of _one_; as a landlord's whole +tenants for his rent, though not more than one or two, perhaps none, +certainly not half the number, are separate persons whose incomes are +really made liable. But can any thing be more unjust than to select in +this way a particular class, not more than a _two-hundredth_ part of the +community, and subject them and _them alone_ to the heaviest of the +direct taxes? It is just the privileged class of old France over again, +with this difference, that the privileged class in England is +distinguished by being obliged _to bear_ not to _avoid_ the hated +taille. Nevertheless, nothing is more certain than that, as long as this +invidious and unjust accumulation of the whole direct tax is on one +class of 150,000 persons, it will be highly popular with the remaining +29,000,000, and that the popular journals will never cease to resound +with the propriety of extending still farther the _partial_ burden of +direct, and the _general exemption_ under the name of Free Trade from +the indirect taxes. + +The increase of direct taxation, till it proved fatal to industry, +population, national strength, and every thing save great capital, was +the cause of the ruin of the Roman empire. Many circumstances, alas! +concur in showing, and will ere long demonstrate to the most +inconsiderate, that we are fast following in the same direction; and if +so, we shall beyond all question share the same fate. The extension of +the income tax, on a graduated scale, to persons as low even as L50 +a-year, is the only way to arrest this great and growing evil. What is +wanted is not the money to be drawn from these poorer but more numerous +classes, but the _interesting them in resisting_ its undue extension. If +150,000 persons only pay the income tax, it is very likely ere long to +be raised to 10 or 15 per cent. _If a million pay it, no such extension +need be dreaded._ No matter though the additional 850,000 pay only 10s. +a piece, or L425,000 in all: their doing so would probably save the +state from ruin. What is wanted is not their money, but their breath; +not their contributions, but their clamour. They have a majority of +votes in the constituencies. In a serious conflict their voice would be +decisive in favour of any side they espoused. Interested to prevent the +confiscation of property, they will effectually do so. Exempted from +direct taxation, they will promote its increase till it has swallowed up +the state, and themselves in its ruin, as it did the Roman empire. + +So much has been said on the inequalities and injustice of the present +system of direct taxation established in Great Britain, that little room +remains for the true principles on the subject; but fortunately, like a +beacon, it shows what rock should be avoided in the course. A system of +direct taxation would not be far from just, which in every respect was +precisely the reverse of that which at present exists amongst us. + +I. The first thing to be done is to equalise the succession tax, lay it +equally on land and personal estate, and lower it to the whole +_one-half_. Five per cent. in succession to strangers; two-and-a-half to +relations; and a half per cent. to parents or brothers, alike in land +and money, would probably augment the produce of the tax, and certainly +greatly relieve a most meritorious class of society, the representatives +of small capitals. + +II. All direct taxes should be levied equally on landed and personal +estates, and, subject to the distinction after-mentioned, equally on +professional income, as the fruit of realised capital. This rule should +apply to all local or parochial, as well as public burdens. The effect +of it would be to let in, as taxable income, in addition to the +L2,666,000 now derived from land, a sum at least as large derived from +personal estates or incomes. It would therefore lower this most +oppressive tax, supposing its absolute amount undiminished _one-half_. +The same would be the case with land tax, highway rates, church rates, +police rates, &c. They would all be lowered a-half to the persons at +present burdened with them, and that simply by the adoption of the just +principle, that all fortunes in the same situation should be taxed alike +for the general service of the state, and that the commercial classes +who create the poor, and are enriched by their labour, should contribute +equally with the landed to their support. + +III. In levying the income tax, a different rate should be imposed on +income, according as it is derived or not derived from realised capital. +If it is so it should be taxed alike for all direct taxes. But if it is +derived from annuity or professions, a lower rate should be adopted. If +the _property_ tax is 5 per cent. the _income_ tax should not exceed +2-1/2 _per cent._; whatever the one is the other should be _a-half_ of +it only. This modification of an impost now felt as so oppressive by all +subjected to it, would go far towards reconciling the numerous class of +small traders, the great majority in all urban constituencies, to the +change--to its continuance, and also justify its extension to all +incomes above L50 or L100 a-year. Without that extension it will +inevitably degenerate into a confiscation of property above a certain +level. + +IV. Stamps or conveyances, or burdening of property, should be the same, +and _not higher_, on personalty or landed estates. For the additional +security of the latter, the borrower pays amply in the greater expense +of the law deeds requisite to constitute effectual securities over real +estates than over stock or movable funds. Stamps on bills, &c., which +are advances for a short period only, should be rated at a widely +different scale from that adopted in permanent loans. But there is no +reason why securities over real estates should require to be written on +paper bearing a higher stamp than those over personal effects. + +V. The present system of the _assessed taxes_ should be altered, so as +to make it include all classes alike, and not, as at present, fall twice +as heavily on the inhabitants of the country as those of towns. This may +be done best by making these taxes a certain proportion of the _value of +the house_ inhabited by the party, as rated for the property +tax--perhaps a fourth or fifth part, abolishing all other assessed +taxes. This would reach all classes alike in town and country: for +whatever may be said as to doing without an establishment in town, no +one can do even there without a house. And the rich misers who live in a +poor lodging and spend nothing, would be effectually reached in the +heavy property tax, on their funds, wherever invested. + +VI. To obviate the innumerable frauds daily practised in the concealment +of professional incomes, especially by small traders, a power should be +given to the Commissioners in all cases where they were dissatisfied +with the return of professional income, to assess the party for income +_at five times the value at which his house is rated_. On this principle +if a lawyer or physician lives in a house rated at L100 a-year, he would +pay on L500 a-year as income: if he occupied one rated at L2000, he +would be taxed on L10,000. If the tax on realised property was 5 per +cent. which it will soon be, that would just subject the professional +one to two and a half. Perhaps it would be better to adopt some such +general principle for all cases of professional income, and avoid the +_requiring returns at all_. + +In some cases the above plan might be adopted as a substitute for the +income tax, or rather as a mode of levying it on _professional_ persons. +Those whose income is derived from land, the funds, or other realised +property, would be entitled to exemption or deduction, upon production +of the proper evidence that they were rated for the property tax at the +higher rate. + +VII. _Ireland_ should pay the income and all direct taxes, at least on +land, bonds, and other _realised property_, as well as the assessed and +other direct taxes, just as Great Britain. Nothing can be advanced, +founded either in reason or justice, in favour of the further +continuance of their present most invidious and unjust exemption. + +We have thus laid before our readers a just and reasonable system of +direct taxation, from which the landed interest, now so unjustly +oppressed, would derive great relief, simply by doing equal justice to +them and the other classes in the state. The amount of injustice which +such a system would remove, may be accurately measured by the amount of +resistance which the system we have now advocated would doubtless +experience, just as the injustice of the exemption from direct taxation +enjoyed by the nobles and clergy of old France was measured by the +obstinate resistance they made to an equalisation of the public burdens. +Men cling to nothing with such a tenacity as unjust privileges and +exemptions. But the changes we recommend have one lasting +recommendation: they are founded on obvious justice. They go only to +levy all taxes alike on all classes, in proportion, as nearly as may be, +to their ability to pay them. And we implore the Conservative body, with +whom we have so long acted, to consider whether it would not be far +wiser to unite their strength to convince the country of the justice and +expedience of some, at least, of these changes, than to follow the +example of the Free Traders in urging the repeal of the malt tax, which +could only be followed, as no addition to the indirect taxes is to be +thought of, by a vast increase of the _income tax_, two-thirds of which +would fall on the land itself. + +And now a single word in conclusion on ourselves. We need not say how +long and steadily we ranged ourselves on the side of the late Premier, +or how widely the principles now contended for differ from those which +he has carried into effect. We are actuated by no spirit of hostility +either to the late or the present Government. Our course is that of +freedom and independence. During Sir R. Peel's long and able contest +with the movement party from 1838 to 1841, we stood faithfully by him, +and that when many who have been most courtly during the subsequent days +of his power, were not the least intemperate leaders on the other side. +From respect for his talents and gratitude for his public services when +in opposition, and a natural reluctance to believe that we had been +mistaken in one whom we so long acknowledged as the leader of the +Conservative party, we tempered our political discussion during the last +twelvemonths with more forbearance than we should have done under other +circumstances. But the die is now cast: it has been cast by himself. We +can feel no dependence in a minister who introduces measures directly at +variance with the whole principles of his public life: and we earnestly +trust that by far the greater portion of the true-hearted and loyal men +who, from over-confidence in their chief, have allowed themselves to be +compromised in the late political transactions, will not again commit +themselves to any leader in whose candour and integrity they cannot +thoroughly rely. + + * * * * * + +_Printed by William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh._ + + * * * * * + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. +CCCLXXVI. February, 1847. 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