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diff --git a/35739-8.txt b/35739-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2700de1 --- /dev/null +++ b/35739-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14226 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The American Quarterly Review, 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: The American Quarterly Review + No. XVIII, June 1831 (Vol 9) + +Author: Various + +Release Date: April 1, 2011 [EBook #35739] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMERICAN QUARTERLY REVIEW *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Carol Ann Brown, +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE + + AMERICAN + + QUARTERLY REVIEW. + + No. XVIII. + + JUNE, 1831. + + PHILADELPHIA: + CAREY & LEA. + + SOLD IN PHILADELPHIA BY E. L. CAREY & A. HART. + NEW-YORK, BY G. & C. & H. CARVILL. + + _LONDON_:--R. J. KENNETT, 59 GREAT QUEEN STREET. + _PARIS_:--A. & W. GALIGNANI, RUE VIVIENNE. + + + + + AMERICAN QUARTERLY REVIEW. + + No. XVIII. + + JUNE, 1831. + + + + + ART. I.--COLLEGE INSTRUCTION AND DISCIPLINE. + + 1.--_Journal of the Proceedings of a Convention of Literary + and Scientific Gentlemen, held in the Common Council Chamber + of the City of New-York_. October, 1830. New-York: pp. 286. + 8vo. + + 2.--_Catechism of Education, Part 1st, &c_. By WILLIAM LYON + MACKENZIE. _Member of the Parliament of Upper Canada_. York: + 1830. pp. 46. 8vo. + + 3.--_Address of the State Convention of Teachers and Friends + of Education, held at Utica_. January 12th, 13th, and 14th, + 1831. _With an Abstract of the Proceedings of said + Convention_. Utica: 1831. pp. 16. 8vo. + + 4.--_Oration on the advantages to be derived from the + Introduction of the Bible and of Sacred Literature as + essential parts of all Education, in a literary point of + view merely, from the Primary Schools to the University: + delivered before the Connecticut Alpha of the Phi Beta Kappa + Society_. On Tuesday, September 7th, 1830. By THOMAS SMITH + GRIMKE, of Charleston, S. C. New-Haven: 1830. pp. 76. 8vo. + + 5.--_Lecture on Scientific Education, delivered Saturday, + December 18th, 1830, before the Members of the Franklin + Institute_. By JAMES R. LEIB, A. M. Philadelphia: 1831. pp. + 16. 8vo. + + +The subject of practical education has always been one of intense +interest with every reflecting individual in this Union. It is a +universally received axiom, that the foundation of a republic must be in +the information of its people; and that whilst the monarchical +governments of other countries may be successfully administered by an +oligarchy of intelligence, a government like our own cannot be carried +on without an extensive diffusion of knowledge amongst those who have to +select its very machinery. The political circumstances of a country will +also modify, most importantly, the course of instruction; and that +system which is adopted in the old Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, +and Dublin, in a nation in which the law of primogeniture exists, where +wealth is entailed in families, and where the colleges themselves are +richly endowed, may be impracticable or impolitic in a country not +possessing such incentives. Education must, therefore, be suited to the +country; and a long period must elapse before we can expect to have +individuals as well educated as in those universities, although the mass +of our community may be much more enlightened. We have no benefices, no +fellowships with fixed stipends, to offer for those who may devote +themselves to the profound study of certain subjects. In England and +Ireland, it is by no means uncommon for a student to remain at college +until he is twenty-two or twenty-three years of age, in the acquisition +of his preliminary education, or of those branches that are made to +precede a professional course of study--the whole period of his academic +residence being consumed in the study of these departments. In this +country, such a course would be as unadvisable as it is generally +impracticable. The equal division of property precludes any extensive +accumulation of wealth in families. The youth are compelled to launch +early into life: the more useful subjects of study have to be selected, +and the remainder are postponed as luxuries, to be acquired should +opportunity admit of indulgence. + +In no country are the colleges or higher schools so numerous, in +proportion to the population, as in the United States. + +In France there are three universities; in Italy, eight; in Great +Britain, eight; in Germany, twenty-two; and in Russia, seven: whilst in +the United States, we have thirteen institutions bearing the title of +universities, and thirty-three that of colleges; making in all forty-six +higher schools capable of conferring degrees: yet a very wrong inference +would be drawn, were we to affirm that the education of a nation is +always in a direct ratio with the number of its higher schools. Such +would be the fact, did these institutions assume an elevated standard in +the distribution of their highest honours, and were the condition of the +intermediate schools such that the youth could be sent to the university +so prepared as to be able to cultivate his studies there to the greatest +advantage. Unfortunately, in many parts of the United States the +condition of the intermediate schools and academics has been grievously +neglected; and the authorities of the universities have been compelled +to lower their standard, and to admit students totally unprepared for +more advanced studies. In this way many of the higher schools have +degenerated into mere gymnasia, or ordinary academies. This +circumstance, with the multiplication of institutions capable of +conferring degrees, has been attended with the additional evil, that, in +some, the highest honours have been, and are conferred for acquirements, +which would scarcely enable the possessors to enter the lowest classes +in others. + +It seems, indeed, that the real or fancied insufficiency of most of our +existing institutions, gave occasion to the proposition for establishing +a university in New-York, and to the Convention, a review of whose +proceedings will enable us to offer some practical considerations and +reflections, deduced from some experience and meditation on this +momentous subject. "Much as our country," observes the Rev. _Dr. +Mathews_, in his opening address in behalf of the committee of the +university, "owes to her excellent colleges, the sentiment seems to be +general, that the time has arrived when she calls for something more; +when she requires institutions which shall give increased maturity to +her literature, and also an enlarged diffusion to the blessings of +education, and which she may present to the world as maintaining an +honourable competition with the universities of Europe." p. 14. + +The establishment of a university in the city of New-York having been +determined upon, and "an amount of means" pledged to the object, which +would place the institution at its commencement on a liberal footing, +its friends, "believing it to be desirable, and that it would prove +highly gratifying to all who feel an interest in the important subject +of education, that a meeting should be convened of literary and +scientific men of our country, to confer on the general interests of +letters and liberal education," appointed a committee, with powers to +invite, as far as practicable, the attendance of such individuals in +behalf of the university. Accordingly, on the 20th of October last, a +number of literary and scientific gentlemen assembled from various parts +of the United States, when President Bates, of Middlebury College, +Vermont, was appointed president of the convention; and the Honourable +Albert Gallatin, and Walter Bowne, Esq. Mayor of the City, were named +vice presidents. The convention sat daily until the 23d inclusive, when +it adjourned _sine die_; but not without having provided for the +perpetuation of its species at a future period. + +In an assemblage so constituted, it was not to be expected that, +excepting the notoriety occasioned by it, any great advantage could +accrue to the university or to the public from its deliberations; the +most discordant sentiments on almost all points of discipline and +instruction;--the views of the experienced and inexperienced--the +_experientia vera_, and the _experientia falsa_--of the contemplative +and the visionary, were to be anticipated; but we must confess, that +humble as were our expectations from the results of its labours, the +published record of its proceedings proves that we had pitched them too +high. The committee appear to us to have had no definite object--no +system--in bringing many of the subjects before the convention; every +discussion is arrested, without our being able to decide what was the +conclusion at which the meeting arrived: and + + "Like a man to double business bound, + They stand in pause where they shall first begin, + And both neglect." + +Of these debates the "Journal" is, doubtless, a faithful record, so far +as regards their succession; the brevity, however, of the minutes, +published by the secretary, renders the work very unsatisfactory; and +scarcely elevates it above the character of a log-book, if we make +exception of one or two excellent addresses--such as that of Mr. +Gallatin--which are reported at length; and of some (generally +indifferent) communications transmitted by their authors. + +The first topic presented for the consideration of the convention, +was:--"_As to the universities of Europe; and how far the systems +pursued in them may be desirable for similar institutions in this +country_." On this subject, Dr. Lieber read a communication of interest +in relation to the organization, courses of study and discipline of the +German universities, which was referred to the committee of +arrangements. Mr. Woolsey, of New-York, gave an account of the French +colleges; their system of instruction and discipline; a few desultory +observations are next made by Mr. W. C. Woodbridge. Mr. Hasler flies off +at a tangent, and offers "a few remarks on the appointment of +professors," and is followed by Professor Silliman on the same subject. +Mr. Sparks presents a few observations and alludes to the organization +of Harvard College. President Bates gives the plan of choosing +professors adopted at the college over which he is placed; and Mr. +Keating, of Philadelphia, puts a _finale_ to the proceedings of the day +and to the question at the same time, by the expression of his views. +After this, we hear no more of this "topic," and we are left in the dark +whether the system or any part of the system of the universities of +Europe be desirable for similar institutions in this country. + +It is a mere truism to remark, that the success of an institution must +be greatly dependent upon the character of its professors; hence, in all +universities, the best mode of selecting them has been a point of +earnest and careful inquiry. In some countries, they are appointed by +the government; in others, the office is obtained _au concours_. The +candidates being required to defend theses of their own composition, and +the most successful receiving the office; whilst in others, the faculty +have the power of supplying vacancies in their own body. In our own +country, no uniformity exists on this point. Harvard, by the scheme of +organization, is under the supervision and control of two separate +boards, called the _Corporation_, and _Board of Overseers_. The former +is composed of seven persons, of whom the president of the college is +one, by virtue of his office; the other six being chosen from the +community at large. The board of overseers consists of the governor and +lieutenant-governor of the state, the members of the council and of the +senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the president +of the college _ex-officio_; and, also, of fifteen laymen and fifteen +clergymen, who are elected, as vacancies occur, by the whole board. This +board has a controlling power, which, however, is rarely exerted over +the acts of the corporation. + +The professors are all chosen, in the first instance, by the +corporation, or rather nominated for the approval or rejection of the +board of overseers: "but as a case has rarely, if ever been known, in +which such a nomination has been rejected by the overseers, the election +of all the professors and immediate officers, may be said to pertain in +practice to the corporation alone. It is probable, however, that this is +seldom done without consulting the members of the faculty into which a +professor is to be chosen." _Journal_, p. 82. + +In the generality of our institutions, the appointing power is vested in +a board of trustees, who have no controlling body placed over them. In +almost all, however, we find from the Journal of the Convention--that +the faculty are consulted--"that" according to Dr. Bates, "experience +had proved the wisdom of consulting the faculty on any contemplated +appointment of a professor; and that, in fact, though not professedly, +yet in effect, professors are appointed by the instructers or +faculty,--and thus by securing their good will towards the new +incumbent, amity was enforced." P. 83. + +The great difficulty exists in becoming acquainted with the +qualifications of the candidate, especially if he has not been +previously engaged in teaching. There can be no better mode of testing +the capacity of a teacher, than in the class room; but if this be not +available, the recommendation of _sufficient_ individuals, with us, has +always to be taken; and in this, a certain degree of risk must +necessarily be incurred. It is never, however, a matter of so much +moment to procure a professor, who is pre-eminently informed upon the +subject of his department, as one that is capable of communicating the +knowledge he possesses, is systematic, has a mind that can enable him to +improve and to take part as a member of the faculty in the management of +the university, in which the greatest firmness, good sense, and ability +are occasionally demanded. "A man," says the illustrious Jefferson, "is +not qualified for a professor, knowing nothing but merely his own +profession. He should be otherwise well educated as to the sciences +generally; able to converse understandingly with the scientific men with +whom he is associated, and to assist in the councils of the faculty on +any subject of science in which they may have occasion to deliberate. +Without this he will incur their contempt and bring disreputation on the +institution."[1] + +Young professors are, on the above accounts, _cæteris paribus_, +preferable to old. They have not had time to acquire any bad system; are +energetic in the acquisition of information, and become attached to the +occupation. In institutions where the faculty live within the same +walls, it is, likewise, important that the disposition of the individual +should be taken into the account, in order that every thing may go on +harmoniously. A kind, conciliating deportment, will also gain the +respect of the student, and tend materially to discipline. + +The best system for the appointment of professors, perhaps, would +be--that the faculty should nominate, and the trustees approve or +reject. It is improbable, that they would ever be guided by any feelings +which would be counter to the prosperity of the institution; whilst they +would generally have better opportunities of becoming acquainted with +the qualifications of individuals than the board of trustees. This +course appears to us less objectionable than any other; and we are glad +to find that it was suggested by Mr. Sparks, in the convention.-- + + "No good policy," he remarks, "would introduce an efficient + member into a small body, where such a step would be likely + to endanger the harmony of feeling and action. For this + reason, it may be well worthy of consideration, whether, in + the scheme of a new constitution, it is not better to + provide for the nomination of a professor by the members of + the faculty, with whom he is to be associated. Such a body + would be as capable as any other, to say the least, of + judging in regard to the requisite qualifications of a + candidate, and much more capable of deciding whether his + personal qualities, traits of character, and habits of + thinking, would make him acceptable in their community. It + seems evident, therefore, that something is lost and nothing + gained by referring this nomination to another body of men, + who have no interest in common with the party chiefly + concerned. It is enough that the electing or sanctioning + power dwells in a separate tribunal." P. 83. + +Much diversity of opinion has prevailed on the subject of remuneration +to professors. In some universities they are paid entirely by fees from +the students. The objection urged against this, is, that the professor +is too much dependent upon the student, and that this feeling may +materially interfere with discipline. To those who consider that there +ought to be no discipline in our universities--and strange as it may +seem, such views were expressed in the convention--this plan of +remuneration can be liable to no objection. Nor to institutions in which +there are no resident pupils, like the one proposed in New-York, would +the objection apply. On the contrary, the mode in which the professor +receives his remuneration entirely from the students, the stimulus which +is thus excited, and the feeling that his emoluments may be +proportionate to his energy and success in conveying instruction, may +have the most beneficial effect upon his exertions. Accordingly, we find +the most meritorious application on the part of the professors in our +great medical schools; and a degree of enthusiasm aroused, which might +not be elicited were the mode of recompensing them other than it is. + +On the other hand, it has been maintained, that the professor should be +in no wise dependent upon the student; that he should receive no fees, +but be paid by a fixed salary. The objection urged against this system +is, that there is here no stimulus, and that as the professor feels his +income altogether independent of his exertions, he will relax in his +efforts, neglect his duties, become inattentive to his own improvement, +and uncourteous in his behaviour to the pupil. This is plausible in +theory, and doubtless, has occasionally been found to be the fact. It is +not likely to occur, however, if the professor be held rigidly +responsible, and if the tenure of his office be on good behaviour, +instead of for life. It is to be calculated, likewise, that every +professor is a gentleman, and that the honour of the situation is a part +of the emolument. These should be a sufficient guarantee that his duties +will be performed energetically, and that his behaviour will be +courteous. Should this not be the case, he is unfit for his situation, +and the trustees should have moral courage enough to remove him. +Experience, too, has, we think, sufficiently proved, that the evils of +fixed salaries, under the tenure _dum bene se gesserit_, are more +imaginary than real: some of the very best institutions are conducted +upon this system, in various parts of Europe and of this country. On the +whole, perhaps, where the students reside within the precincts, a +combination of a fixed salary, of a sufficient amount to enable the +professor to be, to a certain extent, independent of the student, with +the payment of a fee from the student for tuition, is the most politic +and satisfactory mode of remuneration. In this manner, he receives a +certain stimulus to exertion, whilst other objections to both exclusive +systems are obviated. Experience, however, shows, that although the zeal +and industry of a professor may occasion a slight fluctuation in the +numbers that resort to his school, this influence is very limited in its +action. It is the character of the study which attracts followers; and +whilst one department will be crowded to excess, independently of the +merits or demerits of the professor, others will be almost entirely +neglected. This will occur in all institutions in which professional, or +extremely advanced, or unusual studies are taught. Every student, +whether he may be intended for one of the learned professions, or for +any other pursuit, considers it absolutely necessary to attend certain +academical departments;--those of ancient languages and mathematics for +example;--whilst comparatively few can be expected to attend the +professional chairs, or the higher branches of study, notwithstanding +the subjects may be taught in the most attractive and sufficient manner. +Unless the manners of a professor are strikingly obnoxious, but little +effect will be produced in the numbers frequenting his school: and if +they are so, it is a sufficient ground for removal. + +In those universities in which the professors are remunerated by a fixed +salary, this inequality of attendance is not felt; but it is a serious +evil, where the emolument accrues wholly or in part in the form of +tuition fees. The greatest inequality may prevail in the compensation; +and those teachers who are engaged in the most abstruse departments, +will necessarily be worse paid than those who are engaged in +superintending the elementary branches. Suppose the department of +mathematics to be divided into the elementary and transcendental: if +each be remunerated by an equal fee from his students, the latter cannot +expect to have an income of more than one-twentieth part of that of his +colleague. This we know is a ground of much dissatisfaction in many +institutions, and attempts have been made to obviate it. Meiners,[2] a +reflecting writer on the subject of universities, thinks it would be +proper to correct this inequality by making a portion of the fees +received common stock: but if we admit that the abilities and attention +of the professors are equal, and that the same number of hours is +employed in teaching the various branches, there seems to be no reason +why the remuneration of one professor should be permitted to exceed that +of his colleague. On this subject, some pertinent remarks were made by +Dr. Lieber, in which he agrees, in many respects, with his countryman, +_Meiners_. + + "Now I ask," says he, "how much even Professor Gauss, _le + plus grand des mathematiciens_, as _La Grange_ called him, + has realized from his lectures? Mathematics, at least the + higher branches of them, never can be very popular; I mean, + it is impossible that they should be generally studied, and + it would be to consign a professor to absolute indigence, if + government should leave professors of mathematics dependent + on the honorarium paid by their students. I studied + mathematics under the celebrated Pfaff at Halle, whom _La + Grange_ called _un des premiers mathematiciens_, and we were + never more than twenty in his lecture room, of whom I fully + believe not much more than half paid the _honorarium_, which + was very small." P. 58. + +And again,-- + + "Yet I believe, that generally speaking, it is better for + professors and students to have fees paid for their + lectures, for various reasons, although it would be unsafe + to let professors be solely or chiefly depending upon them, + for it would be unsafe to settle such annuities upon persons + intended to live for science, or guarantee them, forever, an + easy life. It has besides been found, that generally, + students attend those lectures more carefully for which they + pay. With the different branches of instruction, the + principle upon which professorships are to be established, + ought to vary. In a city, in which many students of medicine + always will be assembled, it may be safe to let the + professor greatly depend upon the fees of the students, + whilst a professor of Hebrew ought to be provided for in + such a way, that he may follow the difficult study of + Oriental languages, without the direct care for his support, + in case the number of students would be too small for this + purpose, as it generally will prove." P. 65. + +In most of our colleges, the president has some control over the course +of education in the schools of the institution; and, consequently, over +the professors. Such a plan is, however, impolitic. No control whatever +ought to be exerted over the teacher. If qualified--and if not he is not +fitted for his situation--he ought to be left to himself, and to follow +that system which he conceives best adapted to develop the intellect of +his pupils; at the same time he should be held rigidly responsible for +his free agency. In the University of Virginia, as well as in other of +the higher schools of the country, the professor is required to send in +a weekly report of the number of lectures he has delivered; the daily +examinations instituted; the length of time occupied in each; and this +report of the mode in which his duties have been executed, is laid +before the board of visitors at their next meeting. In this manner +delinquencies can be detected, and the appropriate corrective be +applied. + +Occasionally, however, it may happen, that a professor may be indolent, +and inaccurate in his reports; and it may be a question, whether it is +not advantageous that the presiding officer should have authority to +attest how often a professor really does meet his class, with the length +of time expended, and the precise course of instruction adopted; and +then to report to the trustees, but not to interfere himself in the +rectification of abuses. + +In the discussion of this subject in the Convention, Mr. Keating has +committed a blunder, regarding the University of Virginia. + + "He would like to see the president, in truth, the head of + the university, occupying a distinguished station in the + board of trustees, controlling all the faculties, + superintending all the departments. It should be a situation + such as an experienced and retiring statesman would be proud + to fill. A good example had been set by the new University + of Virginia." P. 86. + +Now, the rector of that institution is merely a member of the board of +visiters, chosen from out the body to preside over them, has no +delegated authority, but meets the other visiters once a year, and +presides over their deliberations, without, however, having a casting +vote. The chairman of the faculty, chosen annually by the board of +visiters, from amongst the professors, is the real president, and +possesses the powers usually granted to the presidents of colleges. We +are surprised, by the bye, to observe from the journal of the +Convention, that the University of Virginia was entirely unrepresented +there. It has now been established six years, and has been proceeding on +a tide of successful experiment. It is the first effort that has been +made in this country to cast off the trammels that have fettered +practical instruction; to suffer each to take the bent of his own +inclination in the selection of his studies, requiring for the +attainment of its highest honours, _qualifications_ only, and rejecting +_time_ altogether. Although the first attempt in this country on a large +scale, the plan has been long adopted in other countries, particularly +in Germany, which has been so justly celebrated for the novelty and +excellence of its academic instruction; yet in no country can such an +experiment be regarded with more interest than in the United States, +where, for the reasons already assigned, the youth are compelled to +attain, if practicable, the strictly useful, and to strive for their own +support at a very early period of their career. + +In the debates of the Convention, we find few allusions to that +institution, and wherever it is referred to, the most lamentable +ignorance of its economy is exhibited, and the greatest errors are +committed. In it there is an entire separation of the legislative from +the executive power; the board of visiters exercising the former--the +board of professors, or faculty, the latter. This has its advantages and +inconveniences. In many of our colleges for resident students, the +president is, _ex officio_, presiding officer of the board of visiters, +so that he forms a part of the two _powers_. Where the president is at +the same time a professor this is apt to create heart burnings and +jealousies, and gives him a decided, and often unfair preponderance in +any dispute with his brother professors, in which the decision of the +board of trustees may be requested; whilst, if the executive power have +no voice in the deliberations of the superior board; and especially if +the visiters reside at a distance from the institution, laws are apt to +be enacted, which create great dissatisfaction and confusion, which have +not been suggested by experience, and which, consequently, are either +wholly inoperative, unfeasible, or impolitic. To obviate these evils the +executive might have a delegate at the meetings of the legislative body, +who, even if he had no vote, might be expected to take part in those +deliberations which regarded the rules and regulations of the +university, or the interests of the body to which he belonged; but in +the discussion of other topics, his attendance might be dispensed with. +In this manner, the legislative body would have the advantage of the +voice of experience, and the faculty, by choosing their own delegate, +could always be represented, should discussions arise between them and +their presiding officer. Nothing is more certain, than that laws which +seem easy of execution, and admirably conceived, are often found, in +practice, to be wholly unavailable and injudicious. But the mischief +does not end here. The respect of the student is any thing but increased +towards the board that conceives, or the executive which attempts to +fulfil such regulations. By the enactments lying before us, of almost +all the well regulated institutions of this country, we find, that the +board of professors are requested by the trustees to suggest to them +such laws as experience may indicate; this is wise; the faculty are +unquestionably the best judges, and no non-resident can possibly have +the necessary experience. + +Well adapted rules are the best safeguards for the success of any +university, where the students reside within the precincts especially. +They should be simple, yet not trivial; efficient, yet not unnecessarily +rigorous, and should be drawn up, if not perspicuously, at least +intelligibly. What shall we say to such cases as the following, which we +copy from the published laws of one of the oldest colleges of this +Union? + + "No person, other than a student or other member of the + college, shall be admitted as a boarder at the college + table. No liquors shall be furnished or used at table, + _except_ beer, cider, toddy, or _spirits and water_!" + + "No student shall be permitted to lodge or board, or without + permission from the president or a professor, go _into_ a + tavern." + +And again,-- + + "If offences be committed in which there are many actors or + abettors, the faculty may select _such of the offenders for + punishment as may be deemed necessary to maintain the + authority of the laws, and to preserve good order in the + college_, &c." + +It is always found more easy to make laws, than to have them well +executed. This is, in fact, usually the great difficulty, and formed, +very properly, a subject of deliberation in the Convention. No light +was, however, shed upon it, and the most visionary sentiments were +elicited, denying the necessity of any discipline whatever in the higher +schools. Whenever a number of youths are thrown together within a small +compass, other rules become necessary besides those of the land. The +_esprit du corps_, the influence of bad example afforded by a few, lead +to the commission of offences that demand interposition; accordingly, in +every intelligent and sound thinking community, certain transgressions, +such as gambling, drinking, disorderly behaviour, habits of expense and +dissoluteness, and incorrigible idleness, have been esteemed to merit +serious collegiate reprehension. + +Of the different kinds of government adopted in universities, we shall +mention those only which prevail in the United States. The authority is +generally vested in a president and faculty, the former having the power +of inflicting minor punishments; the major punishments requiring the +sanction of the latter. With the president the power is vested of +deciding whether any case is deserving the one or the other. An +objection has been urged against this system, that if the president be +of a timid, vacillating disposition, he may keep every case from the +faculty, and in this there is some truth; he is, however, responsible to +the trustees, and hence it can rarely happen that he will exercise +ill-judged lenity; this danger too, is greatly abated, provided the +faculty be allowed collateral jurisdiction, and can act on cases of +which he has not taken cognizance. If he has already acted, it would be +obviously improper that any additional jurisdiction should be +exercised--in accordance with the common law maxim--that no man can be +put in jeopardy twice for the same offence. + +If such discretionary power be not granted to the presiding officer, he +will have to carry every case before the faculty; and thus his office +will be merely nominal, for it would be utterly impracticable to define, +with any accuracy, the cases that must fall under his dominion, +distinctly from those to be assigned for the animadversion of the +faculty. + +It has been fancifully presumed, that the students themselves might be +induced to form a part of the government--to constitute a court for the +trial of minor offences, and to inflict punishment on a delinquent +colleague; and, further, that their co-operation might react +beneficially in the prevention of transgressions. The scheme has a +republican appearance, but experience has sufficiently shown that it is +impracticable. In the first printed copy of the enactments of the +University of Virginia, (1825) we find the following. + +"The major punishments of expulsion from the university, temporary +suspension of attendance and presence there, or interdiction of +residence or appearance within its precincts, shall be decreed by the +professors themselves. Minor cases may be referred to a board of six +censors, to be named by the faculty, from among the most discreet of the +students, whose duty it shall be, sitting as a board, to inquire into +the facts, propose the minor punishment which they think proportioned to +the offence, and to make report thereof to the professors for their +approbation or their commutation of the penalty, if it be beyond the +grade of the offence. These censors shall hold their offices until the +end of the session of their appointment, if not sooner revoked by the +faculty." But in the next edition of the enactments, (1827) we find that +no such law exists; hence we conclude, that the experiment had met with +the usual unsuccessful issue. So long, indeed, as the _esprit du corps_ +or _Burschenschaft_ prevails amongst students, which inculcates, that it +is a stigma of the deepest hue to give testimony against a +fellow-student, it is vain for us to expect any co-operation in the +discipline of the institution from them. This "loose principle in the +ethics of schoolboy combinations," as it has been termed by Mr. +Jefferson, has indeed led to numerous and serious evils. It has been a +great cause of the combinations formed in resistance of the lawful +authorities, of intemperate addresses at the instigation of some +unworthy member, and to repeated scenes of commotion and violence, and +cannot be too soon laid aside. Sooner or later, it must yield to the +improved condition of public feeling; and we cannot but regret to see +the slightest and most indirect sanction given to it in the regulations +of a university, which has made so many useful innovations in systems of +instruction and discipline, that have been perpetuated by the prejudices +of ages. The law to which we allude is the following:--"When testimony +is required from a student, it shall be voluntary and not on oath, and +the obligation to give it, shall be left to his own sense of right." + +No youth hesitates to depose in a court of justice touching an offence +against the municipal laws of his country, committed by a brother +student. The youth and the people at large, are, indeed, distinguished +for their ready attention to the calls of justice. Yet it is esteemed +the depth of dishonour to testify when called upon by the college +authorities, against the grossest violator not only of collegiate but +municipal law, as if it could be less honourable to give the same +testimony before one tribunal than another; or the morality of the act +differed in the two cases. + +This erroneous principle, which leads to the separation of so many +promising individuals from the universities, threatens their reputation +and prosperity, injures the cause and saps the very foundation of +education, prevails in some countries, and in some portions of this +country more than in others. In some of the most respectable of our own +colleges, it is made a duty to give evidence under pain of the highest +punishments; and in some of those in which the _esprit du corps_ has +prevailed to the greatest extent, it has given occasion to the adoption, +by the faculty, of the monstrous alternative of selecting persons on +bare suspicion, or at random, and punishing them under the expectation +that the real delinquent might exhibit himself. A law of this kind +prevails in the college of William and Mary, in Virginia. "In any case +of disorderly conduct within the college, in which students are +concerned, every student in college at the time, whether he be a +resident therein or not, shall be considered as a principal and treated +accordingly, unless he can show his innocence." It has also been +proposed to get over this difficulty, with regard to testimony, by +establishing a law court at the university, of which the law professor, +for example, might be judge, and the jury be constituted of the +inhabitants of the vicinity. This tribunal to possess the ordinary +jurisdiction of courts of law, and of course, empowered to require +testimony on oath from the student. Such might be a valuable adjunct to +the powers ordinarily possessed by the faculties of our colleges. + +The majority of the convention, seem manifestly to have been in favour +of what they term _Parental Discipline_; but we are left to conjecture +how much this embraces. If it be meant, in the language of Meiners, that +"the academical authorities should bear to the students the relation of +fathers as well as of judges; that they should not only punish, but +entreat, admonish, advise, warn, and reprove"--no one will dispute the +propriety of the system. It is, in fact, that which is introduced into +our best institutions. + +"The governors and instructors," say the laws of Harvard, "earnestly +desire that the students may be influenced to good conduct and literary +exertion, by higher motives than the fear of punishment; but when such +motives fail, the faculty will have recourse to friendly caution and +warning, fines, solemn admonition, and official notice of delinquency to +parents or guardians; and where the nature and circumstances of the case +require it, to suspension, dismission, rustication, or expulsion." But +important as may be the reformation of an offender, and interesting as +it is to see the wild and the thoughtless restored to the paths of +rectitude, it is obvious, that the prime object of discipline is less +such reformation than the advantage to others; and if in the collegiate, +as in the corporeal economy, an offending member should endanger the +safety of the whole fabric, it will have to be removed. A man is not +sent to the penitentiary merely because he has stolen a sheep, but in +order that sheep may not be stolen. The term parental discipline, in +fact, is most undefined; it includes the most discrepant and the most +heterogeneous modes of correction. Solitary confinement, sitting in a +corner, whipping, are used according to circumstances; but we presume +none of these punishments were contemplated by the Convention. + +Most of the speakers seem to have been of opinion, that the parental +system of intercourse, such as a wise father would maintain with his +son, is best adapted for instruction and discipline in our colleges. +Such a course would be manifestly impracticable where the number of +students is considerable, and is of doubtful policy in all. The +professor should, indeed, be kind, courteous, and affable; conciliating +and ready to afford every information; but we doubt whether either +discipline or instruction is aided by constant and familiar intercourse. +There should be a certain distance maintained between pupil and +preceptor; but no presumption, no affected dignity on the part of the +latter; and under such circumstances every thing will be better effected +than where the communication is closer and less unrestrained. + +But the great dread entertained by these gentlemen, has been towards the +infliction of disgrace; yet no punishment, whatever, can be awarded, +without more or less of this. It is a disgrace to an offender to be +reprimanded; to be dismissed from the schoolroom for a time; to be sent +away from the institution; the good, however, of the rest requires it, +and it is pseudo-philanthropy to repine. One point canvassed in the +Convention and connected with this subject, requires notice. "Whether a +student who has been dismissed from one institution ought to be refused +admittance into any other? There is a general understanding amongst the +colleges of the United States, that no student thus separated from one, +shall be received into another, unless he be so far restored to favour +as to be able to obtain from his college what is termed a regular +dismissal." (Journal, p. 145.) Unconditional refusal to admit, appears to +us to be a rule which can allow of but little justification. Meiners +observes, that "those who come from other universities ought to bring +certificates that they have not been expelled. If merely dismissed, they +may be admitted,--but then they should be narrowly watched." It would, +however, be barbarous to exclude even an expelled student, provided he +could produce satisfactory evidence of his return to rectitude. It is a +good practice to make the matriculation, under such circumstances, +difficult; and to require a sufficient period of probation before he is +permitted to join the university. The University of Virginia, has no +comity in this respect with the other institutions of the Union. It has +followed the only rational plan; ordaining--"that no person who has been +a student at any other incorporated seminary, shall be received at that +university, but on producing a certificate from such seminary, or _other +satisfactory evidence_, to the faculty, with respect to his general good +conduct." A no less important regulation would be, to exclude those of +notoriously idle or dissolute habits, and yet who had never been at any +incorporated seminary. + +But Mr. Hasler is of opinion, and in this he is joined by Dr. Wolf, and, +so far as we can judge, from the published speech of Mr. Woodbridge, by +that gentleman also,--that little or no control is necessary over the +students who resort to universities. The paper from the pen of that +gentleman, in the Journal before us, bears the stamp of visionary +enthusiasm; exhibits, we think, clearly a total deficiency of +experience, and is + + "A fine sample, on the whole, + Of rhetoric, which the learn'd call rigmarole." + + "Against this liberal discipline," he remarks, "the example + of the Virginia university has very erroneously been alleged + by way of disapprobation, or as a failure: it affords no + proof of that kind. The erroneous system of collegiate life + has been preserved in it. The locality is insulated, and the + constant sameness of the company, of fellow-students only, + produces the bad results of tedious and too close influence + between the student, even with the professors. Besides that, + the architect of that building, the well informed, + philosophical, and amiable Jefferson, died before it was + finished; for the construction of such an institution is not + finished, with the walls that enclose its lecture rooms, or + the dwellings; the organization can only be the result of + several years actual activity of the institution, + particularly when the plan is novel in the place where it is + established. To this is still to be added, that the + professors appointed there, were all accustomed to the + collegiate life, and therefore not likely of such + dispositions as to be proper secundents to the liberal plans + of the original founder." P. 265. + +Without pointing out the numerous minor errors that pervade this +paragraph, we may remark, that Mr. Hasler is manifestly uninformed +regarding the condition of the institution to which he alludes. We have +every reason for believing, that the discipline of the University of +Virginia, is equal to that which prevails in any institution of the +Union. The evils of bad discipline, occasioned by the want of sufficient +and efficient rules, were speedily experienced there. The objections +felt by the board of visiters to over-legislation, led to an opposite +error; whilst undue dependence was placed upon the effect that might be +produced from the participation of the students themselves in the +judicial power. Accordingly, we find, from the supplement to the printed +enactments, that it became necessary to tighten the reins of authority +during the very first session. + +It has often been remarked, that owing to the feeble domestic discipline +which ordinarily prevails in the United States, the youth, particularly +of the southern parts of the Union, require a different mode of +management from those of other countries. There does not appear to be +the slightest foundation for this vulgar error. Young men, as well as +adults, are much alike over the whole civilized globe; and if it be +found that mild measures are ineffectual, recourse must be had to more +severe every where: and in all cases, the laws, where needed, must be +executed temperately, unhesitatingly, and firmly. + +It has been said, that certain offences are esteemed as such in all +institutions: of these, perhaps the most fatal are gambling and +drinking. Both exert their baneful effects upon the morals, habits, and +application of the student; and it is difficult to say, which is the +most to be deprecated. The general evils produced upon society by their +indulgence, it is as unnecessary as it would be out of place, to depict. +It is only as regards their influence on college life and discipline, +that they concern us at present. + +Habits of gambling should lead to immediate separation of the offender; +they are rarely abandoned; whilst they are as pernicious to the student +himself, as they are likely to be by evil example to others. Gaming is +one of the offences that require a collegiate, in addition to the +municipal law. Under this head are included all those, which, from their +seductive character, are apt to engross the time of the student, or to +lead to parental loss and inconvenience, as cards, dice, billiards, &c. + +Serious, however, as we must necessarily esteem the offence of gambling, +it is, if possible, less so than habits of drinking. The latter is not +an evil which entails with it so much pecuniary difficulty, but it is +apt to lead to the former, and to every other loathsome vice. Few +professed drunkards are reclaimed; and even should they be, the valuable +time lost in youth in these indulgences, renders the youth subsequently +unfit for the reception of moral and intellectual culture; hence he +remains in after life debased and vicious, exhibiting merely the wreck +of his previous intellect. Both these weighty offences may, in some +measure, be checked by wisely devised sumptuary laws. In all well +regulated universities, such endeavours have been directed to restrain +the expenditure of the students. + +The _Credit Gesetre_ of Göttingen occupy a space of twenty-two octavo +pages in the work of Meiners. At Harvard, (and we take this in our +references to institutions on the old system of instruction, as being +one of the longest established of those that receive resident students,) +every student who belongs to places more than one hundred miles distant +from Cambridge, is compelled to have a patron, appointed by the +corporation, who has charge of all his funds, and disburses them under +the regulations of the establishment. For this duty, he receives from +the student six dollars a year as a compensation. In the University of +Virginia, the proctor is the patron; and it is enacted, that "no +student, resident within the precincts, shall matriculate, till he shall +have deposited with the proctor all the money, checks, bills, drafts, +and other available funds, which he shall have in his possession or +under his control, in any manner intended to defray his expenses whilst +a student of the university, or on his return from thence to his +residence." On this the proctor is allowed a commission of 2 per cent. +To ensure a more faithful compliance with this and other enactments on +the subject, each student, about to leave the university, is required to +sign a written declaration that he has made such deposit; or if not, to +state the sum withheld, and the proctor is entitled to the same +commission upon that sum as if it had been deposited. But if the student +refuses to give such written declaration, the proctor is entitled to +demand and receive from him so much as, with the commission on the money +actually deposited, will make the sum of twelve dollars. Moreover, in +all cases in which the student fails to make such written declaration, +or in which it may appear that he has not deposited the whole of his +funds with the proctor, that officer is required to report the fact to +the chairman of the faculty, in order that it may be communicated to the +parent or guardian of the student, be laid before the faculty and +visiters, and otherwise properly animadverted upon. + +The contraction of debts by students has, also, been made liable to the +severest collegiate penalties; but, notwithstanding, the offence is +always committed to a greater or less extent. The tradesman will give +credit, and the student escape detection. The last and best resource is +in the public spirit of the parent or guardian, who ought, +unhesitatingly and firmly, to refuse to discharge any debt of an +unauthorized nature, which his son or ward may have contracted, and +especially those of the tavern-keeper or confectioner. The censures +which he may incur from the exercise of his public spirit, can proceed +only from the interested and sordid; whilst he will receive the applause +of all those, whose favourable opinion it is desirable to possess. He +will, moreover, have the gratifying conviction, that, by such a course, +he is contributing to the annihilation of a system which is the cause of +much public and domestic mischief. + +The legislature of Massachusetts, to aid in the prevention of expense +and dissoluteness, have patriotically enacted "That no inn-holder, +tavern-keeper, retailer, confectioner, or keeper of any shop or +boarding-house, for the sale of drink or food, or any livery-stable-keeper, +shall give credit to any under-graduate, of either of the colleges +within the commonwealth, without the consent of such officer or officers +of the said colleges, respectively, as may be authorized to act in such +cases, by the government of the same, or in violation of such rules and +regulations as shall be, from time to time, established by the authority +of said colleges respectively." + +The example might be advantageously followed in other states. The +objection, that, in a free country, every one ought to be protected in +the exercise of his avocation, provided it be honest, is nugatory. They +who are receiving their education at our universities, are to form the +future strength,--and, in many cases, the pride and ornament of the +state; and the pecuniary detriment that might accrue to a few +individuals by the enactment of such a law, must be reckoned as nothing, +compared with the overwhelming evil which results where unlimited +indulgence is permitted. + +One of the most prevalent sources of expense is in the article of dress. +They, whose pecuniary means will admit of ostentatious display, will +frequently attempt to exceed others in this fancied evidence of +superiority. This excites a spirit of emulation in such as are but ill +able to afford it, and is the origin of much idle extravagance. + +To rectify this evil, as well as to aid in the more ready detection of +offences, a uniform style of dress has been adopted in many of the +universities of this country, and of Europe. + +In some, this consists merely of a gown thrown over the clothes: which +latter may be as costly as the wearer chooses. + +In others, as in the universities of Harvard and Virginia, cloth of the +cheapest colour, and of a determinate quality, has been selected; and +the uniform dress, made from this, has been directed to be worn, +whenever the student is out of his room. The plan pursued at those +colleges, is the most advantageous, both in a sumptuary and penal point +of view: the fashion of the dress being such as to distinguish readily +the student from others, and thus to admit of the discovery of +transgressors. + +As a general system, the adoption of a uniform is attended with the most +beneficial results: although, in particular cases, it may clearly and +necessarily add to the expenditure, where, for instance, the student +purposes to remain at an institution for a single session only. He +leaves home provided with his ordinary apparel, which he is compelled to +abandon, on becoming a matriculate. The prescribed uniform must, of +course, be laid aside, on his quitting college at the end of the +collegiate year; and, by this time, his ordinary apparel has become too +small for him. For this reason, a law requiring a uniform dress, is +obviously more beneficial in such institutions as prescribe a particular +course and term of study, than where no such regulations exist. In the +laws of the University of Virginia, we find that boots are proscribed, +and this may seem to be descending to unnecessary minutiæ; but they who +are practically conversant with university discipline, are aware that +this article of dress is objectionable on other grounds than expense. It +is one of the contraband methods, often had recourse to, for the +introduction of forbidden liquors. The boot is sent apparently to the +shoemaker, containing an empty bottle, which returns, by the same +conveyance, filled with the prohibited article. + +On the important topic of practical instruction, the Convention appear +to have entered at some length; but, seemingly, with the same discursive +irregularity, that characterizes all their other deliberations. We +observe no method,--no lucid exposition, and no evident conclusion. A +great part of their discussion was connected with the question, "whether +students should be confined to their classes, or allowed to graduate, +when found prepared, on examination?" On this subject, again, we find +the most discordant sentiments. The majority, perhaps, are in favour of +what they term "_classification_," and adherence to "tried and +well-known courses;" whilst others, from the same premises, have arrived +at opposite conclusions:--the courses having been, in their opinion, +tried and found inadequate. + +The most conflicting sentiments have been indulged on this point for +ages: whether, for example, it be advisable to permit a student to +select his own studies, or to compel him to enter and proceed with his +class: to pass a definite period at college, if desirous of attaining +honours, and to offer himself for graduation only in company with his +class. + +Most of the older universities adhere to the system, which requires a +fixed course to be followed, and for a certain time. Many of the more +modern, on the other hand, permit a free choice; and some allow the +student to become a candidate for graduation, whenever he feels himself +competent to offer. + +In the United States, with but one or two exceptions, we believe, the +antiquated system, with more or less modification, is adopted; and, in +most, the distinctions into freshman and sophomore, junior and senior +classes, prevail: the sciences only becoming predominant objects of the +student's attention in the two last. The course of study in each of +these continues for a year, and is the same for every student, whatever +may be his capacity or tastes. To be received into any of those upon the +old system, it is made indispensable, that he should be acquainted, to a +certain extent, with the Greek and Latin languages. + +"No boy," says Mr. Gallatin, in an address characterized by the same +comprehensive and enlightened views, which we mark in every thing +emanating from that distinguished individual--"who has not previously +devoted a number of years to the study of the dead languages; no boy, +who, from defective memory, or want of aptitude for that particular +branch, may be deficient in that respect, can be admitted into any of +our colleges. And those seminaries do alone afford the means of +acquiring any other branch of knowledge. Whatever may be his inclination +or destination, he must, if admitted, apply one-half of his time to the +further study of those languages. It is self-evident, that the avenue to +every branch of knowledge is actually foreclosed by the present system, +against the greater part of mankind." _Journal_. P. 175. + +Mr. Gallatin does not seem to have been aware that there is one +university in the Union to which his strictures do not apply--the +University of Virginia. In it the student, except in the schools of +ancient languages, mathematics, and natural philosophy, is subjected to +no preliminary examination; and, moreover, he is required to pass +through no definite course or term of study; to attend no particular +classes, but is left free to select his own studies. When he has once +embraced them, however, he is not permitted to relinquish them, unless +by request of his parent or guardian, and by the permission of the +faculty; and whenever he esteems himself sufficiently informed on the +subject taught in any one of his schools, he is permitted to become a +candidate for graduation in it. This system, which, so far as it goes, +will bear the test of rigid and philosophical examination more than any +other, prevails more or less in the German universities, and has been +adopted, we believe, in the new London University. + +Professor Vethake of Princeton, New-Jersey--a communication from whom +was read to the convention, and which exhibits sound practical sense, +and ingenious and discriminating reflection--has exhibited the prevalent +inaccuracy of information, regarding the system adopted at the southern +university, to which, from its novelty, we have so frequently alluded. +"I see no objection," he remarks, "to render it obligatory on them (the +students) to attend at the same period of time, a certain number of +courses, unless specially exempted for sufficient reasons, as is now the +arrangement in the University of Virginia." _Journal_, P. 30. No such +arrangement exists in that institution. The professor has been guilty of +an _error loci_; the plan is pursued at the old college of William and +Mary, in Virginia. + +In canvassing the comparative merits of the two systems, and, indeed, of +every point of college discipline and education, it is necessary to take +into consideration the age at which the students are received. In most +of our colleges they are admitted when mere boys, and the course of +instruction is necessarily made more elementary. In the University of +Virginia, on the other hand, no student is received under the age of +sixteen, and when, whatever may be the fact, it is to be presumed, that +the more elementary portion of his education has been completed, and +that he is now prepared for the prosecution of more advanced academic, +or for professional, studies. To adopt a rigid rule, that students of +this age should be compelled to pass a period of four or more years at +college, before they can offer themselves for honours; or that they +should be confined to classes, with boys, to whom a few years is a +matter of comparatively little moment, would be manifestly unreasonable. +This much is certain, that in this country few can spare the time in the +mere attainment of academical or preliminary information. The truth is, +our universities are, like those of Scotland now, and Oxford and +Cambridge in former times--both schools and colleges. The under graduate +course, in those venerable seats of learning, seems at first to have +corresponded precisely, in point of age, with that of the modern +schools. Many of the statutes, still in force at Oxford and Cambridge, +respecting the discipline of students, sufficiently attest the boyhood +of those for whom they were enacted. One of these directs corporal +chastisement for those who neglect their lessons. Another, at Cambridge, +prohibits the undergraduates from playing marbles on the steps of the +senate house. In process of time, excellent schools arose, at which the +ordinary preliminary education was obtained, and the period of resorting +to college became thus postponed. The dislike to innovation, which +augments in intensity according to the age of the establishment, +prevented, however, any modification in the course of scholastic +instruction, and thus it would seem was occasioned the length of time +consumed there in preliminary education.[3] + +It will be manifest, that the objections to the system of classification +are not so numerous or so weighty in those colleges into which mere boys +are received. It has been repeatedly urged, that by such a system they +are compelled to study subjects foreign to their inclinations and +capacities; but, until the age of sixteen or seventeen, the mind cannot, +perhaps, be better employed than in the acquirement of such knowledge as +forms part of the course prescribed in the generality of our +universities. The great objection is, that those of all ages are +subjected to the same restrictions. + +The opposite course, as it at present prevails at the University of +Virginia, is also liable to animadversion; the less, however, as the +students are not received under sixteen years of age. It will most +generally happen, that neither the youth, nor his parent nor guardian, +is sufficiently acquainted with the course he ought to adopt with the +view of being well educated; and if the youth be left solely to the +exercise of his own discretion, which is often a negative quantity, he +will be apt to select those schools that require the least application, +and are the most interesting, to the exclusion of more severe and +elementary subjects. The best system is that which turns out the +greatest number of well instructed individuals, or which holds out the +greatest amount of incentives to regular study. This cannot be +accomplished by any plan which leaves the student, or the parent or +guardian--often less competent than the student--to be the sole judge of +what should be the course of instruction in all cases. The University of +Virginia, which admits this system to the full extent--in no wise +controlling the choice of the student--affords us some elucidation of +the comparative value attached to different subjects of university +instruction, by the student, or by parents and guardians, and of the +disadvantages of this unrestricted plan. From the report of the rector +and visiters of that university for 1830, we find that there were +attending the + + School of Ancient Languages 52 + Mathematics 60 + Natural Philosophy 47 + Moral Philosophy 16 + +We have selected those subjects only, which constitute the usual course +of academic instruction; and which, we think, ought to constitute it. +The school of chemistry we have omitted, because it was composed of both +academic and professional students, with the ratio of which to each +other we are unacquainted. The probability also is, that some of those +attending the departments of natural and moral philosophy, were students +of law or medicine. From this list we find, that whilst the schools of +ancient languages, of mathematics, and of natural philosophy were well +attended, that of moral philosophy--one of eminent importance in forming +the youthful mind--was comparatively neglected. The two first +departments, as taught in most of our colleges, are the subject of the +first years' attention; the latter are esteemed more advanced studies, +and, where free agency is allowed the pupil, he will generally prefer +the study of matter, with the advantage of the beautiful and diversified +elucidations afforded by the advanced state of physical science, to that +of mind, with all its arid, but by no means sterile investigations. + +We have said that, in the University of Virginia, the selection of +studies by the student is free and uncontrolled. An indirect influence +is, however, exerted by the graduation of the fees paid to the +professors. If the student attends but one professor, he is required to +pay $50; if two, $30 to each; if three or more, $25 to each. A similar +effect is produced by the enactment which requires that the student +shall enter three classes, unless his parent and guardian shall +authorize him, in writing, to attend fewer. Such regulations are +favourable only to diffusion of studies over three subjects; the evil +remains--of permitting the student to employ his own unassisted judgment +in the choice. Such a rule must, however, be generally inoperative. If +the collegiate regulation be known, the student will take care to +provide himself with the necessary authorization from his parent or +guardian; and if not known, it would be hard that the rule should apply. +But let us suppose that he arrives at the university without any such +authorization, and desires to join the elementary departments of ancient +languages and mathematics. When he discovers that he is required to +attend three schools, he will necessarily select one that may afford the +greatest attractions, and the attention to which may be esteemed +recreation rather than study. In such a case, the law, independently of +being productive of no clear advantage except that of adding to the +emolument of a greater number of professors, has the evil of compelling +an elementary student to adopt a more advanced subject of study, or, at +all events, an additional study to the disadvantage of the main object +for which he joined the university. Less objection would have existed, +if the regulation had required the student to attend _two_ schools under +such circumstances. He might then devote himself exclusively to +elementary studies; or, if more advanced, he could readily find a +collateral subject, which would not distract his attention from the main +department, and might form an agreeable and useful alternation. + +The truth is, however, that the law is liable to all the objections +which apply to the old collegiate regulations, which make time the only +element of qualification for distinction. The board of visiters of that +university should have gone a step further, and instead of stating the +_number_ of schools which a pupil should be compelled to attend, unless +his parent or guardian wished otherwise, they should have recommended, +not enforced, a particular system of study for those desirous of +attaining high literary distinction, or of becoming well educated; still +retaining the valuable feature, that they, whose opportunities, tastes, +or capacities, do not admit of their following the recommendation, may +choose their own subjects. + +What this system ought to be, we will now inquire into. It will enter +naturally into the consideration of the latter part of the question +canvassed before the Convention--"ought students to be confined to their +classes, or _allowed to receive degrees when found prepared on +examination_?" The affirmative of the proposition, as regards +graduation, seems to be the natural view; yet there are few institutions +at which this course is permitted. If the pupil be constrained to follow +a prescribed and unbending series of studies, as is the case in most of +the universities of this country and of Europe, it would appear to +result as naturally that the negative view should be adopted. + +In the Convention, the most opposing sentiments were here again +elicited; and, as on other topics, they seem to have arrived at no fixed +conclusion; all that we are informed being, that "the discussion of the +topic was discontinued." + +As regards the requisites for graduation in the different colleges of +the Union, they are as various as the colleges themselves. This +circumstance has, indeed, given occasion to the little estimation in +which the degrees are in general held. It often happens, in truth, that +the degree of Bachelor of Arts is conferred at one institution, on such +as would be utterly incapable of acquiring it at another; and, at the +close of his college career,--which differs in length in different +institutions,--every individual receives the first degree in the arts: +the examinations instituted being a matter of form, and, too often, of +farce. We cannot be surprised, then, that a degree, thus obtained, +should be contemned; and that, even in legislative assemblies, members +should be found to declare themselves totally unworthy of the honours +thus conferred upon them. This is not the case in the universities of +Europe. In the English universities, the Baccalaureate is made the test +of severe devotion to particular studies; and, whatever objections may +be made to the plan followed in those institutions, of requiring +accurate classical and mathematical knowledge, to the exclusion of every +thing else, the degree is, at all events, an evidence that the possessor +is unusually well instructed in those matters. Hence, we find in that +country the initials B. A. and M. A. proudly appended to the names of +the Bachelor or Master, and received by all as emblems of literary +distinction. How rarely do we see the title thus added in this country? +This comes from the causes already alluded to;--the degree is too easily +attained; and, when attained, is such an insufficient evidence of +learning, that it is discarded; and the parchment and the seal and +riband, and the pomp and ceremony of the day for the distribution of +honours, which excited so much juvenile exultation, are, in after life, +esteemed no criterion of literary distinction. We cannot, then, be +surprised, that one of the topics which engaged the Convention, was, +"whether the title of B. A. should be retained?" + +To the title _Bachelor of Arts_, unmeaning as it derivatively is, we +have but little objection, provided certain definite ideas are attached +to it. In the University of Virginia, the term _graduate_ seems to be +considered more appropriate. We do not think it an improvement upon the +ancient appellation:-- + + "Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well-- + Weigh them, it is as heavy." + +But few appellatives, in their received acceptation, would be found to +correspond with their derivative meaning. The French have their +"Bachelors" and "Masters of Sciences," but these terms are not more +significant; whilst "Doctor" too often means any thing rather than +_doctus_--"Qui dit Docteur ne dit pas un homme docte, mais un homme qui +devrait être docte." + +Every well devised system of education should combine an attention to +language; to the sciences relating to magnitude and numbers; and to +those that embrace the phenomena of mind and of matter. + +Little doubt, we think, can exist in the minds of the intelligent, that +the ancient languages should form one element. Much has been said, and +much will continue to be said, on both sides of this question, into +which we do not propose to enter: admitting, however, that the Latin +language, for example, is less necessary now than when it was the +exclusive language of the learned, and that the modern languages have +emerged from their then _Patois_ condition, and risen in relative +importance, a certain knowledge of that tongue, as well as of the Greek, +ought still to form part of the education of every gentleman. The mind +of youth cannot be better engaged, during the early period of their +university career, than in becoming acquainted with the classic models +of antiquity, and practised in the habits of discrimination which the +study engenders. Whether it should be prosecuted to the extent +inculcated at the English universities, and to the comparative exclusion +of other subjects, is another question. In this country, at least, the +course would be injudicious and unfeasible, and has been canvassed by +Mr. Gallatin with that gentleman's usual felicity of exposition. The +illustrious founder of the University of Virginia appears, however, to +have had different views on this subject from those we have expressed; +and views which appear somewhat inconsistent with freedom of graduation +in the separate schools. + +In the earliest copy of the enactments, (1825,) we find it stated, +amongst other matters relating to the attainment of honours, that "the +diploma of each shall express the particular school or schools in which +the candidate shall have been declared eminent, and shall be subscribed +by the particular professors approving it. But no diploma shall be given +to any one who has not passed such an examination in the Latin language +as shall have proved him able to read the highest classics in that +language with ease, thorough understanding, and just quantity. And if he +be also a proficient in the Greek, let that too be stated in the +diploma; the intention being that the reputation of the university shall +not be committed but to those, who, to an eminence in some one or more +of the sciences taught in it, add a proficiency in those languages which +constitute the basis of a good education, and are indispensable to fill +up the character of a 'well educated man.'" + +Without dwelling on the unreasonableness of denying a diploma to one who +has sufficient knowledge of mathematics, or chemistry, or of natural or +moral philosophy, because he may not be thoroughly acquainted with +Latin, we cannot avoid expressing our surprise that it should not have +struck that philosophic individual, and his respectable colleagues, as +being a total prohibition to graduation in certain departments. To be +able "to read the highest classics in the Latin language with ease, +thorough understanding, and just quantity," would, of itself, require as +much time as the majority of our youths are capable of devoting to their +collegiate instruction. Accordingly, we find, from the printed +enactments, that the faculty judiciously suggested a modification of the +rule relating to graduation, which was confirmed by the board of +visiters. As it now stands, it merely requires that every candidate for +graduation, in any of the schools, shall give the faculty satisfactory +proof of his ability to write the _English language_ correctly. + +For a _university degree_, then, the subject of ancient languages should +certainly be one element. This, we believe, is conceded in all colleges: +at least, the only exception with which we are acquainted, is that of +William and Mary, in Virginia. + +As little doubt can there be, with regard to mathematics; which has, in +some institutions, been esteemed the study of primary importance. The +utility of a certain acquaintance with numbers and magnitude, is obvious +in every department of life; but the greatest advantage from the study, +is the precision and accuracy which it gives to the reasoning powers. +When the student has attained this more elementary instruction, he is +capable of undertaking, satisfactorily, the study of physics, and of +becoming acquainted with the bodies that surround him, and the laws that +govern them, as well as of entering upon the science of moral +philosophy, and of comprehending the interesting subject of his own +psychology. + +These seem to be the only departments that need be acquired for a +university degree. They embrace an acquaintance with the ancient +classics, and the philosophy of language, as well as with mathematical, +physical, and metaphysical facts and reasonings; and their acquisition +enables the student to enter upon professional or political life with +every advantage. + +We have said nothing, it will be observed, of the modern languages. The +valuable stores to be drawn from these, especially from the French and +German, are, of themselves, attractions which render unnecessary +collegiate restraint or recommendation. No one can now be esteemed well +educated, who is thoroughly ignorant of them. + +It has been remarked that the student is permitted, in the University of +Virginia, to graduate in the separate schools; and that an evil exists +there, in no course of study being advised. The consequence of this is, +that few can be expected to remain, for any length of time, at that +institution. We would by no means interfere with this graduation in the +schools; but, in addition to this, there ought, we think, to be some +goal of more elevated attainment, which might excite the attention and +emulation of those whose opportunities admit of their being well +educated. Let it bear the title of _Bachelor of Arts_, or _Master of +Arts_, or _graduate_, and, if a definite meaning be affixed to it by the +college authorities, it cannot fail to be as well understood as the +unmeaning terms, sophomore, freshman, senior-wrangler, &c. and let the +requisites for this higher honour be graduation in, or a sufficient +knowledge of ancient languages, mathematics, natural philosophy, and +chemistry and moral philosophy. If this plan were universally adopted, a +certain degree of uniformity might exist amongst the different colleges: +the degree would be received as the test of literary merit, and the +possessor be proud of appending the title to his name. At present, as +Mr. Sparks has correctly observed, the "diplomas of this country, as +they are now estimated in the United States, appear to be of little +value." + +The only other topic on which we shall pause, relates to the mode in +which instruction should be conveyed, and to the examinations to be +instituted, with the view of ascertaining comparative merit, and of +exciting emulation. On this subject, as is well known, the English +universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and that of Dublin, differ +essentially from the Scotch and many others: the latter teaching, +solely, by lectures delivered orally. The most successful plan is that +which combines both lectures and examinations. It is but rarely, that a +text book can be found to suit the views of the professor, and no +student pays the same degree of attention to a written composition. Even +in the departments of ancient languages and mathematics, where the +combination of lectures with examinations would appear most difficult, a +prælection, explaining the various points of the subsequent examination, +may be, and often is, premised with striking effect. In the ordinary +method of teaching the classics, little attention is paid, except to the +vocabulary; and many a student has thumbed his Horace for the fourth or +fifth time, without being aware of the import of the philological, +geographical, historical, and other allusions, with which the inimitable +productions of the satirist abound. The vocabulary is but the key, that +unlocks these various treasures. In a well devised prælection, _things_ +can be thought as well as _words_. We do not, indeed, know any +department of science or literature, in which a union of prælections and +examinations may not be employed with advantage. There is, however, +another and a more serious objection to confining a student, in most +branches at least, to a text book:--the professor is not stimulated to +keep pace with the rapidly improving condition of science. If indolent +and devoid of enthusiasm, he confines the youth closely to the +text,--takes no pains to advance him farther,--and the student leaves +the institution with the most insufficient instruction on the subject. +The text books which are used at this time, in some of our colleges, and +have been so for the last fifty years, are melancholy evidences of the +imperfect mode in which particular studies are taught there, and of the +absence of all progress on the part of the teachers. + +We believe the very best system of instruction, where it can be adopted, +is:--to recapitulate the subject of the preceding lecture, and, after +the lecture of the day, to examine the class thoroughly on the last +lecture but one. In this manner, the facts and theories of a science are +impressed three times, upon the memory of the pupil; and if, after this, +he is unable to retain them, he must be pronounced incorrigible. This +plan we conceive to be the superlative; and to this conclusion we are +led, not from theory simply, but from practice. + +The nature of certain subjects, and the shortness of time appropriated, +in some institutions, to lecture, may, occasionally, preclude its +fulfilment: the nearer it can be accomplished, the better. Under this +plan, the text book becomes a matter of comparatively trifling +moment,--as the student will, of course, be understood to come prepared +for examination on the subject of the lecture, as delivered _ex +cathedrâ_. + +With regard to _public examinations_, we need not dwell on the question +of their policy. All well-regulated universities in this country and +Great Britain, at least, have a system of rewards, as well as of +punishments; and this uniformity may be esteemed a fair criterion of the +opinions of the wise and reflecting of those countries on this topic. +However desirable it may be, that mankind should do their duty without +fear or expectation, every day's experience testifies that the hope of +reward, or the dread of punishment, powerfully influences their +exertions, not only for temporal, but eternal purposes. + +In the German universities, there are neither daily, nor semi-annual, +nor annual examinations; and, accordingly, we are not much surprised to +find them objected to by some who had received their education in that +country. The difference, however, which prevails upon this point in the +best colleges of different parts of the globe, ought to have suggested +some slight qualification of the sweeping censures that were passed upon +the system in the Convention. "The semi-annual examinations," says Dr. +J. Leo Wolf, "as recommended by some of the gentlemen of the Convention, +lower the student to the rank of a schoolboy, while, being a man, as he +ought to be, they are useless, for he will know that it is for his own +good, to be assiduous in his studies. Moreover, the result of his +studies is proved at the time when he desires to graduate, and to be +licensed for the practice of his profession. Then he must pass a strict +rigid and public examination; and this I should warmly recommend. In +Prussia, these examinations are particularly severe, but quite impartial +and recorded." P. 251. So far as we can judge from the involved and +almost unintelligible twaddle contained in the address of Mr. Woodbridge +on the subject of discipline, we should conceive him opposed to these as +well as to all other means, which would excite the _emulation_ of the +student; thus discarding, on faulty metaphysical speculation, one of the +most powerful stimuli to all literary and honourable distinction; and +which, if rightly directed, can never, in collegiate life, act otherwise +than beneficially. Granting, then, that annual, or semi-annual public +examinations are of excellent policy in all higher schools, it remains +to inquire into the best mode of conducting them. The oral system is +that received into most of our colleges. In it the students are +necessarily interrogated on different subjects, so that it becomes a +matter of difficulty, nay of impracticability, to determine, with any +accuracy, their relative standing. Added to this, if the class be +numerous, it is impossible to put a sufficient number of questions to +each individual; and the bold and confident, will ever exhibit a +manifest advantage over the timid and retiring. In every respect, the +oral, seems to us to be inferior to the written examination, where +either is practicable. In the departments of the languages--ancient and +modern--an admixture of the two would always be requisite, for the +purpose of determining the student's acquaintance with quantity or +accent, etymology, syntax, &c. + +The plan universally adopted into the higher schools of England, is that +by written answers. The students of a class are all furnished with the +same questions; and the answers to these are written in the examination +room. All communication between the examinants is prevented; and no book +allowed to be brought into the apartment. After the expiration of a +certain time the answers are collected. + +The English method has, so far as we know, been received into one of our +universities only--the University of Virginia. It has now been practised +there for five years; and, we have reason to believe, the results have +been such, as to satisfy the faculty of its pre-eminence over the +methods usually practised. The following is its arrangement as published +in the _Virginia Literary Museum_. + + "1. The chairman of the faculty shall appoint for the + examination of each school, a committee consisting of the + professor of that school, and of two other professors. 2. + The professor shall prepare, in writing, a series of + questions to be proposed to his class, at their examination, + and to these questions he shall affix numerical values, + according to the estimate he shall form of their relative + difficulty, the highest number being 100. The list, thus + prepared, shall be submitted to the committee for their + approbation. In the schools of languages, subjects may also + be selected for oral examination. 3. The times of + examination for the several schools shall be appointed by + the chairman. 4. At the hour appointed, the students of the + class to be examined shall take their places in the lecture + room, provided with pens, ink, and paper. The written + questions shall then, for the first time, be presented to + them, and they shall be required to give the answers in + writing with their names subscribed. 5. A majority of the + committee shall always be present during the examination; + and they shall see that the students keep perfect silence, + do not leave their seats, and have no communication with one + another or with other persons. When, in the judgment of the + committee, sufficient time has been allowed for preparing + the answers, the examination shall be closed, and all the + papers handed in. 6. The professor shall then carefully + examine and compare all the answers, and shall prepare a + report, in which he shall mark, numerically, the value which + he attaches to each: the highest number for any answer being + that which had been before fixed upon as the value of the + corresponding question. For the oral examinations, the + values shall be marked at the time by the professor, with + the approbation of the committee, but the number attached to + any exercise of this kind shall not exceed 20. 7. This + report shall be submitted to the committee, and if approved + by them, shall be laid before the faculty, together with all + the papers connected with it, which are to be preserved in + the archives of the university. 8. The students shall be + arranged into three separate divisions, according to the + merit of their examinations as determined by the following + method. The numerical values attached to all the questions + are to be added together, and also the values of all the + answers given by each student. If this last number exceeds + three-fourths of the first, the student shall be ranked in + the first division; if it be less than three-fourths, and + more than one-fourth, in the second; and if less than + one-fourth, in the third." + +This scheme combines the advantages of affording both the _positive_ and +_relative_ standing of the pupil. And as those in the separate divisions +are arranged alphabetically, it does not necessarily expose the lowest +in the third division to the degradation and mortification, to which, +however, they are often richly entitled. + +The plan of examinations for honours and prizes, in the University of +London, resembles the above essentially; differing from it, indeed, in +few particulars. It comprises one regulation, however, which might be +advantageously appended to the other. We copy it from the printed +"Regulations"--Session, 1828-29. + +"The paper containing the answers must not be signed with the student's +own name, but with a mark or motto; and the name of the student using +it, inclosed in a sealed envelope, inscribed with the mark or motto must +be left with the professor, to be opened after the merit of the answers +shall have been determined." This prevents the possibility of +favouritism, in all classes, which are so large that the professor does +not become acquainted with the autographs of his students. The +examinants are there also placed, according to the merits of their +answers, in classes, denominated the _first_, _second_, and _third_; +provided the sum of their answers be equal to a certain amount; all +below this point are not classed. + +We have now touched upon the most important topics presented by the +committee for the consideration of the Convention. Several others were +propounded, but they seem to have fallen still-born from their authors. +As regards the 11th, 12th, and 14th, "whether any religious service, +and, if any, what may with propriety be connected with a +university?"--"Whether any course of instruction on the evidences of +Christianity will be admissible?"--And, "Is it proper to introduce the +Bible as a classic in the institutions of a Christian country?" We shall +gladly follow the example of prudence exhibited by the Convention, and +pass them over. The affirmative view of the last topic, meets with an +enthusiastic supporter in the author of one of the works, whose titles +are placed at the head of this article. + +One proposition only remains, on which, in conclusion, we may indulge a +few remarks:--"The importance of adding a department of English +language, in which the studies of rhetoric and English classics shall be +minutely pursued." This subject, we regret to see, experienced the fate +of others, more deserving of neglect, and was not discussed. + +We have long felt impressed, that the organization of our colleges is +defective in this respect. Into many of them the student is received, +after having been employed in scraping together a few Greek and Latin +words and phrases; yet lamentably ignorant of the literature, structure, +and even of the commonest principles of the orthography of his own +tongue. Such a chair ought to be established in all our universities, +and a certain degree of proficiency in the subjects embraced by it, +should be a preliminary to every collegiate attainment. It would be an +instructive and delightful study to trace back, as far as possible, the +language of Britain to its aboriginal condition, and to follow up the +changes impressed upon it, by the Celtic, Gothic, Roman, Saxon, Belgic, +Danish, and Norman invaders; the investigation being accompanied with +elucidative references to the literature of the different periods. The +poetry, romances, and the drama would constitute inquiries of abundant +interest and information. To these might be added didactic and +rhetorical exercises for improving the student in the practice of +writing--not merely accurately, but elegantly and perspicuously. + +Such a professorship has been wisely established in the University of +London; and we trust the new University of New-York will follow the good +example. If we may judge, indeed, from the ungrammatical and inelegant +Journal of the Convention, an attention to this subject is as much +needed there as elsewhere; and were the professorship in the hands of an +accomplished individual, it could not fail to improve the literary taste +and execution of the community. + + +[Footnote 1: Memoir, Correspondence, &c. Vol. IV. P. 387.] + +[Footnote 2: Ueber die verfassung und verwaltung deutscher +universitaten. Göttingen, 1801-2.] + +[Footnote 3: Quarterly Review, Vol. XXXVI. P. 229.] + + + + + ART. II.--_The Life and Times of His Late Majesty, George + the Fourth: with Anecdotes of distinguished Persons of the + last fifty years._ By the Rev. GEORGE CROLY, A. M. London: + 1830. + + +_C'est un métier que de faire un livre comme de faire une pendule_--it +is a trade to make a book just as much as to make a watch--is a remark +which was never better exemplified, than by the manner in which the +craftsmen of the book-making trade in London, have compressed the Life +of His Late Most Sacred Majesty, within the two covers of a volume. That +exalted personage may have descended to the tomb unwept and unhonoured, +in reality, however numerous the tears shed upon his bier, or gorgeous +the ceremonies attending his interment; but he certainly has not gone +down to it unsung, as the above work is only one of several, if we are +not much mistaken, in which his requiem has been chanted with becoming +loyalty. We have seen none of its fellows, though the advertisement of +them has met our eye. Judging, however, from the reputation of its +author, there is not much literary boldness in pronouncing it the best +which has appeared about its kingly subject. + +Mr. Croly is well known as a candidate of considerable pretensions, as +well for the honours of Parnassus, as for those which an elevated seat +on the prosaic mount, whatever may be its name, can confer. But, in +concocting this last production, it is beyond doubt, that the main +object he had in view, was one of a more substantial kind than a mere +increase of fame. "The Life, &c." is, in fact, a bookseller's job, +executed, we allow, by a man of genius. There are evident marks about it +of hasty and careless composition,--of a desire to make a book of a +certain number of pages, with as little trouble and delay as possible. +The style is often deficient in purity and correctness, and overloaded +with glittering tropes and ornaments, not always in good taste; the +arrangement wants consecutiveness and perspicuity; and attention is +sometimes bestowed upon topics comparatively unimportant, to the +detriment of such as are of more moment. But it is, on the whole, a work +of undeniable talent, containing much powerful writing, richness and +beauty of diction, graphic delineation of character, interesting +information, and amusing anecdote. Some of the author's sentiments are +obnoxious to censure, and we shall venture to disagree with him, +occasionally, as we proceed. + +It was on the 8th of September, 1761, that His Majesty, George the +Third, espoused Sophia Charlotte, daughter of the Duke of Mecklenburg +Strelitz; and, on the twelfth of August, in the following year, she +presented him with a son and heir, to his own great delight, and the +universal joy of the British empire. Ineffable as is the contempt which +is expressed at the present day, for the superstitious trust reposed in +omens by the heathen ancients, yet nothing of any consequence occurs, +without being attended by signs in which the Christian multitude discern +either fortunate or disastrous predictions. It has thus been carefully +recorded and handed down, that the birth of the royal infant happened on +the anniversary of the Hanover accession, and that the same day was +rendered trebly auspicious, by the arrival at London of wagons +containing an immense quantity of treasure, the fruits of the capture of +a Spanish galleon off Cape St. Vincent, by three English frigates. A few +days after his appearance in this world, His Royal Highness was created +Prince of Wales, by patent, and would have been completely crushed under +the load of honours that devolved upon him, had their weight been of a +kind to be physically felt; Duke of Cornwall, hereditary Steward of +Scotland, Duke of Rothsay, Earl of Carrick, and Baron of Rothsay, were +his other titles,--being those to which the eldest son of the British +throne is born. There is no harm in this, perhaps, as things are +constituted in England, but we have never been able to think of one of +the titles to which the second son is heir, without feeling an +inclination to smile;--the Duke of York is Bishop of Osnaburgh;--nothing +more ridiculous than this, can be discovered even amid the nonsense that +is inseparable from regal institutions;--born a bishop! + +At the time of the Prince of Wales's birth, George the Third was at the +height of popularity,--the reasons for which, Mr. Croly has detailed at +some length. In depicting the character of this monarch, he certainly +has not employed the pencil with which it was darkened, as our readers +may recollect, by Mr. Coke of Norfolk, on a recent occasion, who thus +brought upon his own head a torrent of abuse. It was shocking, was it +said, to disturb the repose of one who had so long been slumbering in +the tomb, in the same way as it had been pronounced monstrous to say +aught in disparagement of His Majesty, when he had just been gathered to +his forefathers; as if kings were like private individuals, the effects +of whose acts either expire with themselves, or are of contracted +influence. It is far, however, from our wish, to dispute the fidelity of +Mr. Croly's portrait; and we are perfectly willing to believe, that "no +European throne had been ascended for a hundred years before, by a +sovereign more qualified by nature and circumstances, to win golden +opinions from his people, than George the Third," though, we must be +allowed to think, that circumstances did not qualify him to win "golden +opinions" from us Americans. "Youth, striking appearance, a fondness not +less for the gay and peaceful amusements of court life, than for those +field sports, which make the popular indulgence of the English +land-holder, a strong sense of the national value of scientific and +literary pursuits, piety unquestionably sincere, and morals on which +even satire never dared to throw a stain, were the claims of the king to +the approbation of his people;" but all these claims were neutralized, +by the appointment of Lord Bute, as his prime minister. The odium that +resulted from this measure, was carefully fomented by the arts of +demagogues, the most conspicuous of whom was Wilkes. It was ascribed to +an unworthy passion entertained for the handsome nobleman by the +princess dowager, and to arbitrary principles in the monarch; and, such +was the effect produced upon the latter, by the opposition and virulence +which he encountered, that he is said to have conceived the idea of +abandoning England, and retiring to Hanover. At one time, his +inclination to take this step was so great, that he communicated it to +the Lord Chancellor Thurlow, who honestly told him, that, "though it +might be easy to go to Hanover, it might be difficult to return to +England." + +In December, 1765, when not quite three years of age, the Prince of +Wales received a deputation from the Society of Ancient Britons, on St. +David's day, and, in answer to their address, said,--"he thanked them +for this mark of duty to the king, and wished prosperity to the +charity,"--an early development of that talent for public speaking, +which he is said to have possessed! In the same year, he was invested +with the order of the garter, along with the Earl of Albemarle, and the +hereditary Prince of Brunswick. + +When the Prince had attained an age at which it was deemed necessary for +his education to commence, it was determined that it should be conducted +on a private plan; and Lord Holdernesse, "a nobleman of considerable +attainments, but chiefly recommended by dignity of manner and knowledge +of the court," was appointed his governor, and Dr. Markham, subsequently +archbishop of York, and Cyril Jackson, were named preceptor and +sub-preceptor. This measure excited a violent outcry; it was said that +the heir to the throne should receive a public education at one of the +great schools; and this opinion Mr. Croly strenuously advocates. It did +not, however, produce any effect, and the whole course of instruction +which the Prince underwent was private, though the preceptorship was +twice changed. The Duke of Montague, Hurd, Bishop of Litchfield, and the +Rev. Mr. Arnold, formed the last preceptorial trio. + +In January, 1781, when the Prince was but a little more than eighteen, +he was declared of age, "on the old ground that the heir-apparent knows +no minority;" and a separate establishment, on a small scale, having +been assigned to him, he now became, in a measure, his own master. In +1783, when about to take his place in the legislature, arrangements were +commenced for supplying him with an income, and at the instigation of +the king, the parliament voted him an annual revenue of £50,000, besides +an outfit of £100,000. The sum of £60,000 for the outfit had been +originally proposed by the king, but it was increased in consequence of +the demand of the cabinet, known by the name of the Coalition Cabinet, +some of the members of which, especially Fox, insisted for a time upon +making the grant £100,000 a year. This, however, the king resolutely +refused to allow, "for the double reason of avoiding any unnecessary +increase to the public burdens, and of discouraging those propensities +which he probably conjectured in the Prince." He accordingly demanded +"_but_" the sums we have mentioned. Can any one read the sentence just +quoted from Mr. Croly, without a smile? The precious fruits of +royalty!--they even reduce a man of sense to write what is ludicrous +from its absurdity. It is, without doubt, an admirable method of +avoiding any unnecessary increase of the public burdens, and +discouraging the evil propensities of a young man, to deprive the people +of five hundred thousand dollars at once, and half that sum every year, +in order to bestow it upon the individual who has no other use for it +than to gratify those propensities. But, we shall be told, the heir to a +throne must support his dignity. In that phrase is comprised as +unanswerable an argument against royal institutions, as can be desired. +The people must be heavily burthened, to enable the person by whom they +are to be governed, to indulge in all sorts of excesses, and thus +disqualify himself for that duty, in order that he may support the +dignity of his station! Thank Heaven we live in a land in which there is +no such dignity to be supported,--where the time of the great officers +of state is never occupied in wrangling about the extent of the +facilities which shall be afforded the successor to the administration +of affairs, of bringing disgrace upon himself, and the country,--where +the people are infinitely better governed, at an infinitely less +expense, both of money and honour! + +"Now, fully," says Mr. Croly, "began his checkered career,"--which, +properly interpreted, means, that now he fully plunged into that +reckless course of profligacy and folly, which terminated only with his +life, and which should render his name odious to all who are friends of +decency and virtue. We were afraid when we saw the announcement of the +work we are reviewing, that its author would allow himself to be blinded +by the regal blaze which surrounded its subject, and would endeavour to +palliate those violations by a king, of the most sacred ordinances of +the religion of which he is a minister, which he would have branded with +indelible infamy in a private individual. Our fears, unfortunately, have +not proved groundless. "There are no faults that we discover with more +proverbial rapidity, than the faults of others,--and none that generate +a more vindictive spirit of virtue, and are softened down by fewer +attempts at palliation, than the faults of princes in the grave. Yet, +without justice, history is but a more solemn libel; and no justice can +be done to the memory of any public personage, without considering the +peculiar circumstances of his time." Such is the sophistry with which he +enters upon the task of extenuation. The first part of the first period +in the above extract, is certainly undeniable--"fit nescio quomodo," +says Cicero, "ut magis in aliis cernamus si quid delinquitur, quam +nobismet in ipsis;" but, though the second part may also be indisputable +as a general position, it is not at all applicable to this case. The +historian or biographer, who is discussing the character of a monarch +long since "fixed in the tomb," will doubtless find it an easy matter to +make + + "His virtues fade, his vices bloom," + +should he be so inclined: no other considerations but those of +conscience operate then to influence his pen. But the case is quite +different when he is writing about a king scarcely yet cold in the +grave, when a species of popular infatuation commands that grave to be +strewn with flowers, when it is necessary, as it were, to sail with the +stream or sink; and when the brother of the deceased monarch has just +ascended the throne, and, for the sake of appearances, may deem himself +called upon to consider every thing said concerning his predecessor as +touching himself. How many motives combine here to warp the judgment and +the conscience, and convert sober history into funeral panegyric! Thus, +if Mr. Croly had undertaken the task of delineating the moral features +of Richard the III., or of James the II.--we adduce James the II., +because our author seems to regard Catholicity as so monstrous a crime +that this prince would, we are sure, not be drawn by him in the most +flattering colours--he would have found, to use his own words, that +there are no faults which generate a more vindictive spirit of virtue, +than those of princes in the grave; but in depicting George the IVth., +he has proved the reverse of this to be the fact. It is amusing, +although at the same time melancholy, to contrast the virtuous +indignation with which he pours out his anathemas against those who +committed the tremendous crime of advocating and effecting the +emancipation of the Catholics, with the gentle terms in which he +comments upon the wanderings of the Prince of Wales from the proper +path, and the glosses with which he softens their obliquity. One might +be induced to suppose that his creed holds religious liberality as the +crime of deadly dye, and dissipation of the lowest kind as a vice merely +venial in its character. + +"Without justice," he continues "history is but a more solemn libel, and +no justice can be done to the memory of any public personage, without +considering the peculiar circumstances of his time." This remark is true +with regard to those public personages whom he has so severely taken to +task for their conduct respecting the Catholic question; had not his +mind's eye been covered with a film, he would have perceived that the +"peculiar circumstances of the time" fully warranted that change in the +course pursued by Mr. Peel, the Duke of Wellington, and others, with +reference to that important question, which has drawn from him such +expressions of horror; but it is far from being equally admissible where +he has applied it. That less tenderness should be extended towards the +vices of princes than to those of subjects is, we think, undeniable, +when the weightier (secular) reasons they have for keeping a strict +control over their passions, are considered,--reasons which should +completely counterbalance any greater temptations they may be obliged to +undergo. + + "A sovereign's great example forms a people; + The public breast is noble or is vile, + As he inspires it." + + "The man whom Heaven appoints + To govern others, should himself first learn + To bend his passions to the sway of reason." + +Surely these two considerations--the potent effect of his example, and +the almost impossibility of governing others when not able to govern +himself--without referring to that paramount one which operates for all +men alike, ought to have been sufficient to counteract the tendency of +"the peculiar circumstances of his time," to inflame the "propensities" +of the Prince; or, at least, should be enough to prevent an extenuation +on that ground, of his unrestrained indulgence of them, by the historian +of his life. What those circumstances were, we will let Mr. Croly +relate. + + "The peace of 1782 threw open the continent; and it was + scarcely proclaimed, when France was crowded with the + English nobility. Versailles was the centre of all that was + sumptuous in Europe. The graces of the young queen, then in + the pride of youth and beauty; the pomp of the royal family + and the noblesse; and the costliness of the fêtes and + celebrations, for which France has been always famous, + rendered the court the dictator of manners, morals, and + politics, to all the higher ranks of the civilized world. + But the Revolution was now hastening with the strides of a + giant upon France: the torch was already waving over the + chambers of this morbid and guilty luxury. The corrective + was terrible: history has no more stinging retrospect than + the contrast of that brilliant time with the days of shame + and agony that followed--the untimely fate of beauty, birth, + and heroism,--the more than serpent-brood that started up in + the path which France once emulously covered with flowers + for the step of her rulers,--the hideous suspense of the + dungeon,--the heart-broken farewell to life and royalty upon + the scaffold. But France was the grand corruptor; and its + supremacy must in a few years have spread incurable disease + through the moral frame of Europe. + + "The English men of rank brought back with them its + dissipation and its infidelity. The immediate circle of the + English court was clear. The grave virtue of the king held + the courtiers in awe; and the queen, with a pious wisdom, + for which her name should long be held in honour, + indignantly repulsed every attempt of female levity to + approach her presence. But beyond this sacred circle, the + influence of foreign association was felt through every + class of society. The great body of the writers of England, + the men of whom the indiscretions of the higher ranks stand + most in awe, had become less the guardians than the seducers + of the public mind. The 'Encyclopédie,' the code of + rebellion and irreligion still more than of science, had + enlisted the majority in open scorn of all that the heart + should practise or the head revere; and the Parisian + atheists scarcely exceeded the truth, when they boasted of + erecting a temple that was to be frequented by worshippers + of every tongue. A cosmopolite, infidel republic of letters + was already lifting its front above the old sovereignties, + gathering under its banners a race of mankind new to public + struggle,--the whole secluded, yet jealous and vexed race of + labourers in the intellectual field, and summoning them to + devote their most unexhausted vigour and masculine ambition + to the service of a sovereign, at whose right and left, like + the urns of Homer's Jove, stood the golden founts of glory. + London was becoming Paris in all but the name. There never + was a period when the tone of our society was more polished, + more animated, or more corrupt. Gaming, horse-racing, and + still deeper deviations from the right rule of life, were + looked upon as the natural embellishments of rank and + fortune. Private theatricals, one of the most dexterous and + assured expedients to extinguish, first the delicacy of + woman, and then her virtue, were the favourite indulgence; + and, by an outrage to English decorum, which completed the + likeness to France, women were beginning to mingle in public + life, try their influence in party, and entangle their + feebleness in the absurdities and abominations of political + intrigue. In the midst of this luxurious period the Prince + of Wales commenced his public career. His rank alone would + have secured him flatterers; but he had higher titles to + homage. He was, then, one of the handsomest men in Europe: + his countenance open and manly; his figure tall, and + strikingly proportioned; his address remarkable for easy + elegance, and his whole air singularly noble. His + contemporaries still describe him as the model of a man of + fashion, and amusingly lament over the degeneracy of an age + which no longer produces such men. + + "But he possessed qualities which might have atoned for a + less attractive exterior. He spoke the principal modern + languages with sufficient skill; he was a tasteful musician; + his acquaintance with English literature was, in early life, + unusually accurate and extensive; Markham's discipline, and + Jackson's scholarship, had given him a large portion of + classical knowledge; and nature had given him the more + important public talent of speaking with fluency, dignity, + and vigour. + + "Admiration was the right of such qualities, and we can feel + no surprise if it were lavishly offered by both sexes. But + it has been strongly asserted, that the temptations of + flattery and pleasure were thrown in his way for other + objects than those of the hour; that his wanderings were + watched by the eyes of politicians; and that every step + which plunged him deeper into pecuniary embarrassment was + triumphed in, as separating him more widely from his natural + connexions, and compelling him in his helplessness to throw + himself into the arms of factions alike hostile to his + character and his throne." + +Our readers may compare the above portrait of his royal highness, with +that which Mr. Jefferson draws of him in one of his letters. + +In 1787, the Prince had involved himself in debt to such an amount, that +it was found necessary to solicit Parliament, not only for a sum +sufficient to liquidate his obligations, but also for an increase of his +income, the salary first granted having proved quite inadequate for his +royal propensities. The following account of his debts and expenditure +was laid before the House of Commons, and furnishes a teeming commentary +on the blessings of hereditary government. In considering this matter, +one might be tempted to regard Parliament as a species of eleemosynary +institution, for the relief of insolvent royalty. + + _Debts._ + + Bonds and debts, £13,000 + Purchase of houses, 4,000 + Expenses of Carlton House, 53,000 + Tradesmen's bills, 90,804 + -------- + £160,804 + + _Expenditure from July 1783, to July 1786._ + + Household, &c., £29,277 + Privy purse, 16,050 + Payments made by Col. Hotham, + particulars delivered in + to his majesty, 37,203 + Other extraordinaries, 11,406 + -------- + £93,936 + Salaries, 54,734 + Stables, 37,919 + Mr. Robinson's, 7,059 + -------- + £193,648 + +The debate upon the grant was of a highly animated character, and in the +course of it the Prince was not spared. He was befriended by the +opposition, with Fox at its head, having thrown himself into the arms of +that party, who were endeavouring in every way to drive Pitt from his +ministerial seat. But in this instance, as in most others, the latter +succeeded in carrying his point; in consequence of which, £161,000 were +issued out of the civil list to pay the Prince's debts, and £20,000 for +the completion of Carlton House, but no augmentation of his income was +allowed. "Hopeless of future appeal, stung by public rebuke, and +committed before the empire in hostility to the court and the minister, +the Prince was now thrown completely into Fox's hands." + +Perhaps the two most interesting chapters in Mr. Croly's book, are those +entitled "the Prince's friends," in which he has brought into review +most of the principal characters of that period of intellectual giants, +whose renown continues to shed increasing lustre around the political +and literary horizon of England. The world is never tired of reading +whatever has reference to those personages, and a book that professes to +speak respecting them, may be said to possess a sure passport to public +favour at the present day. Well may the old man now living in England, +the prime of whose life was passed in that time, be allowed to be a +"laudator temporis acti," without having it imputed to the fond weakness +of senility. We shall make copious extracts from this portion of our +author's work. + + "England had never before seen such a phalanx armed against + a minister. A crowd of men of the highest natural talents, + of the most practised ability, and of the first public + weight in birth, fortune, and popularity, were nightly + arrayed against the administration, sustained by the + solitary eloquence of the young Chancellor of the Exchequer. + + "Yet Pitt was not careless of followers. He was more than + once even charged with sedulously gathering round him a host + of subaltern politicians, whom he might throw forward as + skirmishers,--or sacrifices, which they generally were. + Powis, describing the 'forces led by the right honourable + gentleman on the treasury bench,' said, 'the first + detachment may be called his body-guard, who shoot their + little arrows against those who refuse allegiance to their + chief.' This light infantry were of course, soon scattered + when the main battle joined. But Pitt, a son of the + aristocracy, was an aristocrat in all his nature, and he + loved to see young men of family around him; others were + chosen for their activity, if not for their force, and some, + probably, from personal liking. In the later period of his + career, his train was swelled by a more influential and + promising race of political worshippers, among whom were + Lord Mornington, since Marquess Wellesley; Ryder, since Lord + Harrowby; and Wilberforce, still undignified by title, but + possessing an influence, which, perhaps, he values more. The + minister's chief agents in the house of commons, were Mr. + Grenville (since Lord Grenville) and Dundas. + + "Yet, among those men of birth or business, what rival could + be found to the popular leaders on the opposite side of the + house,--to Burke, Sheridan, Grey, Windham, or to Fox, that + + "'Prince and chief of many throned powers, + Who led the embattled seraphim to war.'" + + Without adopting the bitter remark of the Duke de Montausier + to Louis the Fourteenth, in speaking of Versailles:--'Vous + avez beau faire, sire, vous n'en ferez jamais qu'un favori + sans mérite,' it was impossible to deny their inferiority on + all the great points of public impression. A debate in that + day was one of the highest intellectual treats: there was + always some new and vigorous feature in the display on both + sides; some striking effort of imagination or masterly + reasoning, or of that fine sophistry, in which, as was said + of the vices of the French noblesse, half the evil was + atoned by the elegance. The ministerialists sarcastically + pronounced that, in every debate, Burke said something which + no one else ever said; Sheridan said something that no one + else ought to say, and Fox something that no one else would + dare to say. But the world, fairer in its decision, did + justice to their extraordinary powers; and found in the + Asiatic amplitude and splendour of Burke; in Sheridan's + alternate subtlety and strength, reminding it at one time of + Attic dexterity, and another of the uncalculating boldness + of barbarism; and in Fox's matchless English + self-possession, unaffected vigour, and overflowing + sensibility, a perpetual source of admiration. + + "But it was in the intercourses of social life that the + superiority of Opposition was most incontestable. Pitt's + life was in the senate; his true place of existence was on + the benches of that ministry, which he conducted with such + unparalleled ability and success: he was, in the fullest + sense of the phrase, a public man; and his indulgences in + the few hours which he could spare from the business of + office, were more like the necessary restoratives of a frame + already shattered, than the easy gratifications of a man of + society: and on this principle we can safely account for the + common charge of Pitt's propensity to wine. He found it + essential, to relieve a mind and body exhausted by the + perpetual pressure of affairs: wine was his medicine: and it + was drunk in total solitude, or with a few friends from whom + the minister had no concealment. Over his wine the speeches + for the night were often concerted; and when the dinner was + done, the table council broke up only to finish the night in + the house. + + "But with Fox, all was the bright side of the picture. His + extraordinary powers defied dissipation. No public man of + England ever mingled so much personal pursuit of every thing + in the form of indulgence with so much parliamentary + activity. From the dinner he went to the debate, from the + debate to the gaming-table, and returned to his bed by + day-light, freighted with parliamentary applause, plundered + of his last disposable guinea, and fevered with + sleeplessness and agitation; to go through the same round + within the next twenty-four hours. He kept no house; but he + had the houses of all his party at his disposal, and that + party were the most opulent and sumptuous of the nobility. + Cato and Antony were not more unlike, than the public + severity of Pitt, and the native and splendid dissoluteness + of Fox. + + "They were unlike in all things. Even in such slight + peculiarities as their manner of walking into the house of + commons, the contrast was visible. From the door Pitt's + countenance was that of a man who felt that he was coming + into his high place of business. 'He advanced up the floor + with a quick firm step, with the head erect, and thrown + back, looking to neither the right nor the left, nor + favouring with a glance or a nod any of the individuals + seated on either side, among whom many of the highest would + have been gratified by such a mark of recognition.' Fox's + entrance was lounging or stately, as it might happen, but + always good-humoured; he had some pleasantry to exchange + with every body, and until the moment when he rose to speak, + continued gaily talking with his friends." + + * * * * * + + "Of all the great speakers of a day fertile in oratory, + Sheridan had the most conspicuous natural gifts. His figure, + at his first introduction into the house, was manly and + striking; his countenance singularly expressive, when + excited by debate; his eye large, black, and intellectual; + and his voice one of the richest, most flexible, and most + sonorous, that ever came from human lips. Pitt's was + powerful, but monotonous; and its measured tone often + wearied the ear. Fox's was all confusion in the commencement + of his speech; and it required some tension of ear + throughout to catch his words. Burke's was loud and bold, + but unmusical; and his contempt for order in his sentences, + and the abruptness of his grand and swelling conceptions, + that seemed to roll through his mind like billows before a + gale, often made the defects of his delivery more striking. + But Sheridan, in manner, gesture, and voice, had every + quality that could give effect to eloquence. + + "Pitt and Fox were listened to with profound respect, and in + silence, broken only by occasional cheers; but from the + moment of Sheridan's rising, there was an expectation of + pleasure, which to his last days was seldom disappointed. A + low murmur of eagerness ran round the house; every word was + watched for, and his first pleasantry set the whole + assemblage in a roar. Sheridan was aware of this; and has + been heard to say, 'that if a jester would never be an + orator, yet no speaker could expect to be popular in a _full + house_, without a jest; and that he always made the + experiment, good or bad; as a laugh gave him the country + gentlemen to a man.' + + "In the house he was always formidable; and though Pitt's + moral or physical courage never shrank from man, yet + Sheridan was the antagonist with whom he evidently least + desired to come into collision, and with whom the collision, + when it did occur, was of the most fretful nature. Pitt's + sarcasm on him as a theatrical manager, and Sheridan's + severe, yet fully justified retort, are too well known to be + now repeated; but there were a thousand instances of that + 'keen encounter of their wits,' in which person was more + involved than party." + + * * * * * + + "Burke was created for parliament. His mind was born with a + determination to things of grandeur and difficulty. + + "'Spumantemque dari, pecora inter inertia, votis + Optat aprum, aut fulvum descendere monte leonem.'" + + Nothing in the ordinary professions, nothing in the trials + or triumphs of private life, could have satisfied the noble + hunger and thirst of his spirit of exertion. This quality + was so predominant, that to it a large proportion of his + original failures, and of his unfitness for general public + business, which chiefly belongs to detail, is to be traced + through life. No Hercules could wear the irresistible + weapons and the lion's skin with more natural supremacy; but + none could make more miserable work with the distaff. + Burke's magnitude of grasp, and towering conception, were so + much a part of his nature, that he could never forego their + exercise, however unsuited to the occasion. Let the object + be as trivial as it might, his first instinct was to turn it + into all shapes of lofty speculation, and try how far it + could be moulded and magnified into the semblance of + greatness. If he had no large national interest to summon + him, he winged his tempest against a turnpike bill; or flung + away upon the petty quarrels and obscure peculations of the + underlings of office, colours and forms that might have + emblazoned the fall of a dynasty." + + * * * * * + + "Erskine, like many other characters of peculiar liveliness, + had a morbid sensibility to the circumstances of the moment, + which sometimes strangely enfeebled his presence of mind; + any appearance of neglect in his audience, a cough, a yawn, + or a whisper, even among the mixed multitude of the courts, + and strong as he was there, has been known to dishearten him + visibly. This trait was so notorious, that a solicitor, + whose only merit was a remarkably vacant face, was said to + be often planted opposite to Erskine by the adverse party, + to yawn when the advocate began. + + "The cause of his first failure in the house, was not unlike + this curious mode of disconcerting an orator. He had been + brought forward to support the falling fortunes of Fox, then + struggling under the weight of the 'coalition.' The 'India + Bill' had heaped the king's almost open hostility on the + accumulation of public wrath and grievance which the + ministers had with such luckless industry been employed + during the year in raising for their own ruin. Fox looked + abroad for help; and Gordon, the member for Portsmouth, was + displaced from his borough, and Erskine was brought into the + house, with no slight triumph of his party, and perhaps some + degree of anxiety on the opposite side. On the night of his + first speech, Pitt, evidently intending to reply, sat with + pen and paper in his hand, prepared to catch the arguments + of this formidable adversary. He wrote a word or two; + Erskine proceeded; but with every additional sentence Pitt's + attention to the paper relaxed; his look became more + careless; and he obviously began to think the orator less + and less worthy of his attention. At length, while every eye + in the house was fixed upon him, he, with a contemptuous + smile, dashed the pen through the paper, and flung them on + the floor. Erskine never recovered from this expression of + disdain; his voice faltered, he struggled through the + remainder of his speech, and sank into his seat dispirited + and shorn of his fame. + + "But a mind of the saliency and variety of Erskine's, must + have distinguished itself wherever it was determined on + distinction; and it is impossible to believe, that the + master of the grave, deeply-reasoned, and glowing eloquence + of this great pleader, should not have been able to bring + his gifts with him from Westminster-hall to the higher altar + of parliament. There were times when his efforts in the + house reminded it of his finest effusions at the bar. But + those were rare. He obviously felt that his place was not in + the legislature; that no man can wisely hope for more than + one kind of eminence; and except upon some party emergency, + he seldom spoke, and probably never with much expectation of + public effect. His later years lowered his name; by his + retirement from active life, he lost the habits forced upon + him by professional and public rank; and wandered through + society, to the close of his days, a pleasant idler; still + the gentleman and the man of easy wit, but leaving society + to wonder what had become of the great orator, in what + corner of the brain of this perpetual punster and + story-teller, this man of careless conduct and rambling + conversation, had shrunk the glorious faculty, that in + better days flashed with such force and brightness; what + cloud had absorbed the lightnings that had once alike + penetrated and illumined the heart of the British nation." + +The following investigation of the authorship of Junius will be read +with interest. + + "The trial of Hastings had brought Sir Philip Francis into + public notice, and his strong Foxite principles introduced + him to the prince's friends. His rise is still unexplained. + From a clerk in the War-office, he had been suddenly exalted + into a commissioner for regulating the affairs of India, and + sent to Bengal with an appointment, estimated at ten + thousand pounds a-year. On his return to England he joined + Opposition, declared violent hostilities against Hastings, + and gave his most zealous assistance to the prosecution; + though the house of commons would not suffer him to be on + the committee of impeachment. Francis was an able and + effective speaker; with an occasional wildness of manner and + eccentricity of expression, which, if they sometimes + provoked a smile, often increased the interest of his + statements. + + "But the usual lot of those who have identified themselves + with any one public subject, rapidly overtook him. His + temperament, his talents, and his knowledge, were all + Indian. With the impeachment he was politically born, with + it he lived, and when it withered away, his adventitious and + local celebrity perished along with it. He clung to Fox for + a few years after; but while the great leader of opposition + found all his skill necessary to retain his party in + existence, he was not likely to solicit a partisan at once + so difficult to keep in order and to employ. The close of + his ambitious and disappointed life was spent in ranging + along the skirts of both parties, joining neither, and + speaking his mind with easy, and perhaps sincere, scorn of + both; reprobating the Whigs, during their brief reign, for + their neglect of fancied promises; and equally reprobating + the ministry, for their blindness to fancied pretensions. + + "But he was still to have a momentary respite for fame. + While he was going down into that oblivion which rewards the + labours of so many politicians; a pamphlet, ascribing + Junius's letters to Sir Phillip, arrested his descent. Its + arguments were plausible; and, for a while, opinion appeared + to be in favour of the conjecture, notwithstanding a denial + from the presumed Junius; which, however, had much the air + of his feeling no strong dislike to being suspected of this + new title to celebrity. But further examination extinguished + the title; and left the secret, which had perplexed so many + unravellers of literary webs, to perplex the grave idlers of + generations to come. + + "Yet the true wonder is not the concealment; for a multitude + of causes might have produced the continued necessity even + after the death of the writer; but the feasibility with + which the chief features of Junius may be fastened on almost + every writer, of the crowd for whom claims have been laid to + this dubious honour: while, in every instance, some + discrepancy finally starts upon the eye, which excludes the + claim. + + "Burke had more than the vigour, the information, and the + command of language; but he was incapable of the virulence + and the disloyalty. Horne Tooke had the virulence and the + disloyalty in superabundance; but he wanted the cool sarcasm + and the polished elegance, even if he could have been fairly + supposed to be at once the assailant and the defender. + Wilkes had the information and the wit; but his style was + incorrigibly vulgar, and all its metaphors were for and from + the mob: in addition, he would have rejoiced to declare + himself the writer: his well-known answer to an inquiry on + the subject was, 'Would to Heaven I had!' _Utinam + scripsissem!_ Lord George Germaine has been lately brought + forward as a candidate; and the evidence fully proves that + he possessed the dexterity of style, the powerful and + pungent remark, and even the individual causes of bitterness + and partisanship, which might be supposed to stimulate + Junius: but, in the private correspondence of Junius with + his printer, Woodfall, there are contemptuous allusions to + Lord George's conduct in the field, which at once put an end + to the question of authorship. + + "Dunning possessed the style, the satire, and the + partisanship; but Junius makes blunders in his law, of which + Dunning must have been incapable. Gerard Hamilton + (Single-speech) might have written the letters, but he never + possessed the moral courage; and was, besides, so consummate + a coxcomb, that his vanity must have, however involuntarily, + let out the secret. The argument, that he was Junius; from + his notoriously using the same peculiarities of phrase at + the time when all the world was in full chase of the author, + ought of itself to be decisive against him; for nothing can + be clearer, than that the actual writer was determined on + concealment, and that he would never have toyed with his + dangerous secret so much in the manner of a school-girl, + anxious to develop her accomplishments. + + "It is with no wish to add to the number of the + controversialists on this bluestocking subject, that a + conjecture is hazarded; that Junius will be found, if ever + found, among some of the humbler names of the list. If he + had been a political leader, or, in any sense of the word, + an independent man, it is next to impossible that he should + not have left some indication of his authorship. But it is + perfectly easy to conceive the case of a private secretary, + or dependent of a political leader, writing, by his command, + and for his temporary purpose, a series of attacks on a + ministry; which, when the object was gained, it was of the + highest importance to bury, so far as the connexion was + concerned, in total oblivion. Junius, writing on his own + behalf, would have, in all probability, retained evidence + sufficient to substantiate his title, when the peril of the + discovery should have passed away, which it did within a few + years; for who would have thought, in 1780, of punishing + even the libels on the king in 1770? Or when, if the peril + remained, the writer would have felt himself borne on a tide + of popular applause high above the inflictions of law. + + "But, writing for another; the most natural result was, that + he should have been _pledged_ to extinguish all proof of the + transaction; to give up every fragment that could lead to + the discovery at any future period; and to surrender the + whole mystery into the hands of the superior, for whose + purposes it had been constructed, and who, while he had no + fame to acquire by its being made public, might be undone by + its betrayal. + + "The marks of _private secretaryship_ are so strong, that + all the probable conjectures have pointed to writers under + that relation; Lloyd, the private secretary of George + Grenville; Greatrakes, Lord Shelburne's private secretary; + Rosenhagen, who was so much concerned in the business of + Shelburne house, that he may be considered as a second + secretary; and Macauley Boyd, who was perpetually about some + public man, and who was at length fixed by his friends on + Lord Macartney's establishment, and went with him to take + office in India. + + "But, mortifying as it may be to the disputants on the + subject, the discovery is now beyond rational hope; for + Junius intimates his having been a spectator of + parliamentary proceedings even further back than the year + 1743; which, supposing him to have been twenty years old at + the time, would give more than a century for his experience. + In the long interval since 1772, when the letters ceased: + not the slightest clue has been discovered; though doubtless + the keenest inquiry was set on foot by the parties assailed. + Sir William Draper died with but one wish, though a + sufficiently uncharitable one, that he could have found out + his castigator, before he took leave of the world. Lord + North often avowed his total ignorance of the writer. The + king's reported observation to Gen. Desaguiliers, in 1772, + 'We know who Junius is, and he will write no more,' is + unsubstantiated; and if ever made, was probably prefaced + with a supposition; for no publicity ever followed; and what + neither the minister of the day, nor his successors ever + knew, could scarcely have come to the king's knowledge but + by inspiration, nor remained locked up there but by a + reserve not far short of a political error. + + "But the question is not worth the trouble of discovery; + for, since the personal resentment is past, its interest can + arise only from pulling the mask off the visage of some + individual of political eminence, and giving us the amusing + contrast of his real and his assumed physiognomy; or from + unearthing some great unknown genius. But the leaders have + been already excluded; and the composition of the letters + demanded no extraordinary powers. Their secret information + has been vaunted; but Junius gives us no more than what + would now be called the 'chat of the clubs;' the currency of + conversation, which any man mixing in general life might + collect in his half-hour's walk down St. James's Street: he + gives us no insight into the _purposes_ of government; of + the _counsels_ of the _cabinet_ he knows nothing. The style + was undeniably excellent for the purpose, and its writer + must have been a man of ability. If it had been original, he + might have been a man of genius; but it was notoriously + formed on Col. Titus's letter, which from its strong + peculiarities, is of easy imitation. The crime and the + blunder together of Junius was, that he attacked the king, a + man so publicly honest and so personally virtuous, that his + assailant inevitably pronounced himself a libeller. But if + he had restricted his lash to the contending politicians of + the day, justice would have rejoiced in his vigorous + severity. Who could have regretted the keenest application + of the scourge to the Duke of Grafton, the most incapable of + ministers, and the most openly and offensively profligate of + men; to the indomitable selfishness of Mansfield; to the + avarice of Bedford, the suspicious negotiator of the + scandalous treaty of 1763; or to the slippered and + drivelling ambition of North, sacrificing an empire to his + covetousness of power?" + +Mr. Croly has recorded a quantity of the "good things" that were said by +the wits of the day at the table of the Prince, who used the facilities +which his rank afforded him, of collecting around him all that was most +distinguished in intellect, with praiseworthy zeal. Had his companions +been chosen only from among that highest class, we might have quoted +with regard to him, the sentence of Cicero--"facillime et in optimam +partem, cognoscuntur adolescentes, qui se ad claros et sapientes viros, +bene consulentes rei publicæ, contulerunt: quibuscum si frequentes sunt, +opinionem afferunt populo, eorum fore se similes quos sibi ipsi +delegerint ad imitandum"--but unfortunately his intimacy was habitually +shared by far less worthy associates--persons whom it was contamination +to approach. Many of these _jeux d'esprit_ are of respectable antiquity; +we transcribe a few which are attributed to the Prince himself, as +specimens of royal humour. + + "The conversation turning on some new eccentricity of Lord + George Gordon; his unfitness for a mob leader was instanced + in his suffering the rioters of 1780 to break open the + gin-shops, and, in particular, to intoxicate themselves by + the plunder of Langdale's great distillery, in Holborn. 'But + why did not Langdale defend his property?' was the question. + 'He had not the means,' was the answer. 'Not the means of + defence?' said the prince; 'ask Angelo: he, a brewer, a + fellow all his life long at _carte_ and _tierce_.'" + + "Sheridan was detailing the failure of Fox's match with Miss + Pulteney. 'I never thought that any thing would result from + it,' said the prince. 'Then,' replied Sheridan, 'it was not + for want of sighs: he sat beside her cooing like a + turtle-dove.' + + "'He never cared about it,' said the prince; 'he saw long + ago that it was a _coup manqué_.'" + + "Fox disliked Dr. Parr; who, however, whether from personal + admiration, or from the habit which through life humiliated + his real titles to respect--that of fastening on the public + favourites of the time, persecuted him with praise. The + prince saw a newspaper panegyric on Fox, evidently from the + Dr.'s pen; and on being asked what he thought of it, + observed, that 'it reminded him of the famous epitaph on + Machiavel's tomb,'-- + + "'Tanto nomini nullum _Par_ elogium.'" + + "If English punning," says Mr. Croly, "be a proscribed + species of wit; though it bears, in fact, much more the + character of the 'chartered libertine,' every where + reprobated, and every where received; yet classical puns + take rank in all lands and languages. Burke's pun on 'the + divine right of kings and toastmasters,'--the _jure + de-vino_--perhaps stands at the head of its class. But in an + argument with Jackson, the prince, jestingly, contended that + trial by jury was as old as the time of Julius Cæsar; and + even that Cæsar died by it. He quoted Suetonius: '_Jure_ + cæsus videtur.'" + +In October, 1788, George the III. was afflicted with a mental disease, +which totally incapacitated him for the duties of government. We do not +wish to be unjustly harsh, but when we consider the irritability which, +as may be inferred from the anecdote we have related of the King's +intention to retire from England, must have formed a prominent trait in +his character, and the displeasure he could not help manifesting in his +communications to Parliament respecting the Prince's debts, it is +impossible to reject the idea that the conduct of the latter was a main +cause of his affliction. + +He recovered, however, before the preliminary arrangements for the +entrance of the Prince upon the regency had been completed. From this +period up to the moment when the King became again a victim of the same +dreadful malady, from whose grasp he never afterwards was freed, the +Prince mixed no more with politics, but "abandoned himself," in the +words of our author, "to pursuits still more obnoxious than those of +public ambition." The course of his life was only varied by his +disastrous marriage with the unfortunate Caroline, Princess of +Brunswick. One of Mr. Croly's chapters is headed "the Prince's +Marriage," the next, "the Royal Separation." We need not occupy much +space with a subject which must be familiar to all of our readers, and +of which the details are as disgusting as they are pitiful. Of all the +foul stains upon the character of the royal profligate, it has stamped +the foulest. Every principle of honour, of virtue, of humanity, was +violated in the grossest manner. + +That the Prince of Wales was morally guilty of the crime of bigamy in +marrying the Princess Caroline, we have no hesitation in asserting. No +one can doubt that Mrs. Fitzherbert had the claims of a wife upon him +previously to his entering into this second engagement, however it may +be attempted, as has been done by Mr. Croly, to deny such claims, upon +the ground that the connexion was void by the laws of the land, although +the ordinances of religion may have been complied with. If it can be +supposed, that the Prince was determined, whilst binding himself at the +altar of God by the most sacred vows, to take advantage of the laws of +the land to cast aside the solemn obligations he thus assumed, as soon +as it suited his convenience, in what a despicable situation is he +placed! Deceit, perjury, sacrilege, would be terms too weak for the act. +But Mr. Croly's own words are sufficient to prove that the lady was, and +is, considered to have been connected with him by other ties than those +of a mistress. He says, "she still enjoys at least the gains of the +connexion, and up to the hoary age of seventy-five, calmly draws her +salary of ten thousand pounds a year!" Would that salary be continued to +a mistress? It is evident from the English papers that Mrs. Fitzherbert +is treated with the greatest consideration by the present king and royal +family, and that she is received by them on the most intimate footing; +her name is recorded amongst those of the constant guests at the royal +table and social assemblages of every kind. On what other ground can +this circumstance be accounted for, than that she is regarded as a +sister-in-law by the sovereign, and as a reputable relative by his +family? + +It is singular enough that Mr. Croly seems to consider a violation of +the laws of God less reprehensible than a violation of the laws of man. +Such at least is the unavoidable inference to be drawn from his remarks +on this matter. He is quite indignant at the idea of his Royal Highness +having married a woman of inferior rank, and a Roman Catholic (there is +the horrid part of the affair,) by which he would have been guilty of a +sin against the state, and evinces great anxiety to prove that the crime +was one of a much lighter dye--merely an adulterous connexion, by which +he transgressed one of the Divine Commandments. This Mr. Fox also +attempted to do in Parliament, when it was hinted by a member that the +_liaison_ was not of the character which usually subsists between +individuals in the relative rank of the Prince and the lady, and the +attempt was disgraceful enough even in a statesman--but in a minister of +religion!--we leave it however to speak for itself. + +In 1811, George the III. was a second time a lunatic, and the Prince +ascended his throne, though only with the title of Regent, which he did +not change for that of King until 1820, when the nominal monarch died, +having survived his reason for nearly ten years. Ten years longer did +the Fourth George sway the sceptre of the noblest empire in the world; +and then he too mingled with the same dust as the meanest of his +subjects. "C'est ainsi," in the words of Bossuet, "que la puissance +divine, justement irritée centre notre orgueil, le pousse jusqu' au +néant, et que, pour égaler á jamais les conditions, elle ne fait de nous +tous qu' une même cendre." + +During the last years of his life, George the IVth was the prey of +various maladies, with which a remarkably strong constitution enabled +him to struggle until the spring of 1830. His corporeal sufferings may +have been one cause of his almost entire seclusion at Windsor Castle, +where he was like the Grand Lama of Thibet, unseeing and unseen, except +by a chosen few, but it cannot be doubted that the knowledge of the +unpopularity under which he certainly laboured, had some effect in +producing the slight communication which took place between him and his +subjects. So notorious was his aversion to making an appearance in +London, that when he was first announced, last April, to be seriously +indisposed, it was rumoured for a time that the sickness was +fictitious--a mere pretence to avoid holding a levee which had been +fixed for a certain day in that month, and which was in consequence +deferred. But before the period had arrived to which it was postponed, +there was no longer a doubt that the angel of death was brandishing his +dart, and that there was little chance of averting the threatened +stroke. The bulletins which the royal physicians daily promulgated, +though couched in equivocal and unsatisfactory terms, shadowed out +impending dissolution. The reason of their ambiguity was currently +believed to be the circumstance, that the King insisted upon reading the +newspapers in which they were published; whilst the medical attendants +were anxious to withhold from him a knowledge of his true situation. + +Besides being in the public prints, these bulletins appeared, in +manuscript copies, in the windows of almost every shop, and were +likewise shown every day at the Palace of St. James, by a lord and groom +in waiting, richly dressed, to all of the loving subjects who preferred +repairing thither for the satisfaction of their affectionate solicitude. +It was rather amusing to watch the manner in which this satisfaction was +obtained. The bulletins were thrust into the faces of all as they +entered into the great hall where the exhibitors were stationed, with +laudable earnestness and zeal, and most of the visiters looked with +great interest--upon the paintings with which the apartment was adorned. +The multitudes of persons, however, of both sexes, and often of high +distinction, who filled the rooms that were thrown open, during the +fashionable hours of the day, rendered it an entertaining scene. The +most anxious faces were those of the owners of dry-good shops, by whom +the recovery of the monarch was indeed an object devoutly desired, as +they had already laid in their varieties of spring fashions, which the +universal mourning that was to follow the demise of the crown, would +convert almost into positive lumber. + +At length, on the 26th of June, intelligence was received that the +monarch of Great Britain had been conquered by a still more powerful +king. What mourning without grief! what weeping without a tear! The +papers immediately commenced a chorus of lamentation and eulogy, in +which but one discordant voice was heard. This was the voice of the +"Times"--the only leading journal which had independence and spirit +enough to vindicate its character as a guardian of the public morals, by +disdaining to prostitute its columns to the purposes of falsehood. One +paper affirmed, among other fulsome and mendacious remarks, that the +royal defunct must have taken his departure from this world with a clear +conscience, as he had never injured an individual! After such an +assertion + + "Quis neget arduis + Pronos relabi posse rivos + Montibus, Tiberimque riverti?" + +Did the shades of an injured wife and an injured father never rise +before the imagination of the dying man? did the injury inflicted by a +life of evil example never appal the recollection of the dying King? +Yes, a life of evil example; we repeat the phrase. Look at his whole +career, from the moment when it first became free from control, to its +close. Does it not afford an almost uninterrupted series of the most +scandalous violations of the rules which a king especially should hold +sacred--the rules of religion, of morals? When young, he countenanced by +his deportment the extravagance and profligacy of all the youth of the +kingdom--when old, contemplate the avowed, the flagrant concubinage he +sanctioned--see one adulteress openly succeeding another in his favour, +and say whether his declining years furnished a more exemplary model for +imitation than those of his boyhood. Worse than all, behold by whom, +amongst others, his very death-bed, we may say, is surrounded--the +mistress who had last sacrificed her virtue and honour, and the husband +and the children of that woman, who were occupying places in the royal +household, as the price of the wife and the mother's shame. It is well +known that it was not until after the accession of the present +sovereign, that Lady Conyngham, and the man from whom she derives the +right of being so entitled, together with their offspring, received an +intimation that their presence was no longer desirable at Windsor +Castle, from which they departed, in consequence, amid the ridicule and +scorn of the empire. + +It was an interesting period for an American to be in London, that of +the death of one king, and the accession of another; and, as such events +are not of every-day occurrence, we esteemed ourselves particularly +fortunate in being on the spot at the time. The various ceremonies +consequent upon them,--the lying in state,--the obsequies,--the +proclamation,--the prorogation of Parliament, and so forth, were well +worth witnessing; but, by far the most interesting result they produced, +was the general election which followed the dissolution of the +legislature. We were enabled, through the kindness of a gentleman who +was a candidate, to study the whole process of an election in a free +borough, having accompanied him, at his invitation, to the scene of +political strife, and remained there until the contest was brought to a +close. By occupying a few pages with an account of it, we may, perhaps, +communicate some degree of information and pleasure to a portion of our +readers, without being guilty of too wide a digression. + +The two first days subsequently to our arrival in the town, were spent +in visiting those persons whose suffrages were not ascertained at the +time when the candidates made their canvass, two or three weeks before, +that is to say,--called personally upon every one who possessed a vote, +and requested his support. In this, there is no mincing of the matter in +the least,--the suffrage is openly asked, and as openly promised or +refused; but it is only among the more respectable class, that this +ceremonial is sufficient,--the others "thank their God they have a vote +to sell." On the third day, the election commenced. Two temporary +covered buildings had been erected near each other in the principal part +of the town, in one of which were the hustings and the polls, and the +other was employed for the sittings of a species of court, where the +qualifications of suspected voters were tried. About nine in the +morning, the candidates, three in number, proceeded to the former booth, +if we may so term it, and, after the settlement of the necessary +preliminaries, were proposed and seconded as representatives of the +borough, in the order in which they stood on the hustings. These were +partitioned into three divisions,--one belonging to each of the opposing +gentlemen,--which were crowded with their respective friends. Directly +below the hustings, which were considerably elevated, was a table, round +which were seated the poll clerks, and others officially connected with +the election. This was separated by a board running across the building, +from the polls, which were also divided into three parts, or boxes, +corresponding with the divisions of the hustings. All the proposers and +seconders made speeches, as well as the candidates,--and nothing could +surpass the amusing nature of the scene during the discourses of two of +the haranguers, who were particularly obnoxious to a large portion of +the assembled crowd. They were saluted with a vast variety of _gentle_ +epithets, and almost every method of annoyance and interruption was put +in practice. After the _speechification_ was concluded, the polling +commenced. It was done by tallies. The committee of each candidate, +marshalled in succession ten of their friends at a time, who appeared in +the box belonging to their party, and, on being asked, one after +another, for whom they voted, gave, vivâ voce, either a plumper for one, +or split their vote amongst two of the candidates. This system was +regularly prosecuted, until the diminished numbers of one of the +parties, rendered it difficult to collect ten men in time, when as many +as could be brought together, were sent in. On the last day of the +election, not more than one vote was polled in an hour in one of the +boxes. + +The candidates were obliged to remain in their places on the hustings, +day after day, from the opening until the closing of the polls, and +thank aloud every one who gave them a vote. At the end of every day's +polling, the three gentlemen made speeches, all pretty much of the same +purport, expressing their thanks for the support they had received, and +their perfect confidence of ultimate success. There were not more than +six or seven hundred voters in the town; and yet, for eight days, was +the contest carried on. On the ninth, one of the parties retired from +the field, and the other two were declared duly elected; after which +they were chaired. The reason of this protraction, was owing in part to +the unavoidable slowness of vivâ voce voting, but chiefly to the number +of votes objected to, by persons whose occupation it was to point out +every flaw they could discover in the qualifications of those who +appeared at the polls. One of those persons was in the employ of each +candidate, and, as the struggle was close and somewhat acrimonious, +objections were made on the slightest possible grounds, which were +furnished in abundance, by the variety of circumstances that +disqualified a man for voting in that borough. Whenever an objection was +made, the objector stated the cause of it; and, having written it down +on a piece of paper, handed it to the voter objected to, who repaired +with it to the other booth. Here, having shown it to the assessor, or +judge, who was invested with unlimited power to decide upon every +question of qualification, he was tried in his turn. This was by far the +more interesting and amusing of the two booths. The trial was conducted +in regular form. The accused, so to call him, was placed at the bar of +the court, where he was cross-questioned, and confronted with friendly +and adverse witnesses; and then the lawyers in attendance, who had been +respectively largely feed by the several candidates, pleaded for, or +against his qualifications, according as he was a friend, or not, of +their employer. When the arguments were finished, the assessor either +rejected his vote, or sent him back to the polls with a certificate of +qualification, which he exhibited, and had his suffrage recorded. In +some instances, the trials were speedily despatched; but, generally, +they occupied a considerable space of time, so that when the polls were +finally closed, there were at least a hundred names on the books of the +court, of persons who were yet to be arraigned. + +It would require more space than is at our disposal, to enter into any +detail of the odd speeches which were made, and the various scenes, +laughable and serious, that occurred during the course of the election. +For the same reason, we cannot dwell upon the observations which are +naturally excited by the whole matter; but, we may remark, that we +became fully satisfied, that frequent Parliaments, with the present +election system, would be one of the greatest evils which could be +inflicted on England. The seldomer, certainly, that such sluices of +varied corruption are opened, the better. Here was a whole town for +weeks in a state of the worst kind of commotion,--almost all the usual +labours of the lower classes were suspended; unrestricted freedom of +access to taverns and alehouses, at the expense of those who were +courting their sweet voices, was afforded them; and some idea may be +formed of the use that was made of it, from the fact that the bill +brought to one of the candidates, by the keeper of an inn, for a single +night's debauch, amounted to nearly a hundred pounds sterling. At the +bar of the court where the qualifications were examined, abundant +evidence was given, that this indirect species of bribery was not the +only kind which was in operation. The intense eagerness manifested by +the greater part of those to whose votes objections had been made, to +obtain a decision of the assessor in their favour,--the quantity and +grossness of the falsehoods they uttered, in order to effect that +object, rendered palpable the existence of some very potent motive for +desiring the possession of a suffrage. That these evils are to be +attributed mainly to the vivâ voce mode of voting, we have little doubt, +and, assuredly, the tree which produces such fruit, cannot be sound. +But, we feel no desire to involve ourselves in a discussion concerning +the best system of election, which has been debated _usque ad nauseam_, +and we shall therefore return to our proper subject. + +There are various pictures afforded by the different portions of the +career of his late Majesty, which it may be of the highest benefit for +republican Americans to contemplate. It was beautifully said by +Sheridan, in one of the most brilliant of his speeches, that Bonaparte +was an instrument in the hands of Providence to make the English love +their constitution better; cling to it with more fondness; hang round it +with more tenderness: and in the same way we may affirm that such kings +as George IV. are eminently calculated to strengthen our attachment to +the republican institutions of this country. The history of their lives +furnishes that gross evidence of the absurdities involved in the +doctrine of hereditary right, which cannot fail to disgust and revolt. +It presents the spectacle of a ruler the least fitted to rule. It proves +that princes, from the very circumstance of being princes, are the least +likely to be able to execute those duties which devolve upon them, with +efficiency or conscientiousness--that the situation in which they are +placed by their birth, nullifies the very reason for which their order +was first established, and renders them a curse instead of a blessing. +What was the source from which royal privileges and authority first +flowed? Was it not the superiority in various ways of the persons who +were invested with them, and which caused them to be considered as +pre-eminently qualified to discharge the functions incumbent on a king? +And is not the name of king at present, a by-word for inferiority in +every respect in which inferiority is degrading? Every deficiency indeed +of talent, knowledge, virtue, is regarded so much as a matter of course +in a personage of royal station, that the slightest proof of the +possession of either, which in an humbler individual would just be +sufficient to screen him from remark, is cried up as something +wonderful. Think of a king being able to quote a Latin line, or make a +speech of ten minutes in length!--the boast of Mr. Croly with regard to +George IV. Such an unusual occurrence is deemed almost incredible, and +many persons, even among his own subjects, will firmly believe that +neither feat was performed in consequence of original information and +faculties, but resulted from the suggestions of another. + +But by far the most important light in which we republicans can +contemplate the career of George IV. in connexion with the object of +increasing our love for the institutions under which we live, is that of +morality and religion. The point may be conceded, which is always +advanced as the main argument in support of hereditary monarchical +government--that it is better adapted to preserve the peace of a country +by keeping the succession free from difficulty and doubt, though a +reference to history may perhaps warrant the denial even of this +position, by exhibiting the various usurpations, murders, unnatural +rebellions of children against parents, and other heart-sickening +crimes, the consequences of the right invested in one family of +exercising sovereign rule, which have so often plunged whole nations +into misery and blood;--but this point may be acknowledged; we may admit +that elections of chief magistrates are more likely to be the source of +frequent troubles. If it can nevertheless be shown, that there is that +in the very essence of monarchical institutions which is in any way +hostile to virtue, the question ought to be considered as settled in +favour of the system that is free from this insuperable objection; for +it cannot be denied, that any principle at all tending to aid the +propagation of immorality, is the worst which can be admitted into the +social and political compacts by which men are united together, and +should most be deprecated and eschewed. No matter what apparent or real +beneficial results may flow from it, they cannot counterbalance the +detriment it may inflict upon the surest guarantee of permanent good to +man, both in his individual and aggregate capacity--both with regard to +his temporal and eternal interests. National happiness and prosperity of +a durable character, are inseparable from national virtue. The evils +produced by dissensions concerning the chief power in a state, are in a +degree contingent and temporary; those engendered by immorality are +certain and lasting. Let then the pages, not merely of the book which +tells the story of George IVth of England, but of all history be +consulted, and who will deny that they furnish overwhelming evidence +that the moral atmosphere of courts has been at all times tainted and +baleful; that they have been ever the centres of corruption and vice, +and that they must ever be so? They must ever be so, we assert, because +the natural and unavoidable result of raising any collection of persons +above the opinion, as it were, of the rest of the world, and of +surrounding them with a species of _prestige_ which prevents their vices +and follies from being viewed in their real hideousness, is to ensure +amongst them the sway of immorality. They thus form a sanctuary for +corruption, which can never be established in a country where no +factitious distinctions exist; there profligacy can have no refuge when +hard pressed by public opinion, no ramparts behind which to protect +itself from the assaults of that potent enemy; and it will never in +consequence be able to obtain there any other than individual dominion. + +If we turn our eyes upon the condition of the English court as it now +exists, although it may be less exceptionable than when George was at +its head, we shall find sufficient justification of the foregoing +remarks. The present sovereign, it is well known, is unfortunate in +possessing a mind of that nervous description, which renders any +considerable excitement a thing to be avoided; it was the effect +produced upon it by his appointment to the Lord High Admiraltyship +during his brother's life, which occasioned his removal from that post. +His moral character is certainly less disreputable than that of his +predecessor; but who can witness, without feelings akin to disgust, the +spectacle of a family of illegitimate offspring exalted in the palace, +and following him in all his perambulations? It is far from our wish to +cast any reflection upon those unfortunate persons, who are in no way +accountable for the ignominy and guilt connected with their birth. The +shame and the reproach are for the author of the stain, who exposes +himself to double reprehension, by the countenance he virtually lends to +the cause of immorality. William IV., however, is a paragon in +comparison to his next brother, the Duke of Cumberland, a person, who, +if he has given any warrant for the tenth part of the imputations which +rest upon him, can only have escaped the penalties inflicted by the law +on the greatest offences, because he is the brother of the king. We +cannot convey a better idea of the estimation in which he is held in +London, than by stating, that in all the caricatures where an attempt is +made to embody the evil spirit, his person is used for that purpose. + + "What poor things are kings! + What poorer things are nations to obey + Him, whom a petty passion does command!" + +These considerations, we repeat, are well adapted to promote the +important object to which we have alluded, of causing our institutions +to be properly appreciated and loved by ourselves. This is the great +desideratum with respect to them--the chief thing necessary for their +preservation. Our situation now is more enviable than that of any +country of the earth; and all which is requisite is, that we should be +aware of our own happiness, and rightly understand the source from which +it springs--the republican form of government. Let us be thoroughly +impressed with the conviction of the superior efficacy of this system +over every other, in promoting the end for which political societies +were instituted, and we are safe. We will then be furnished with the +best defence against the principal enemy from which danger need be +dreaded,--we mean that propensity to change, which is one of the common +infirmities of the human breast,--that restlessness which renders the +life of man a scene of constant struggle, tends to prevent him from +estimating and enjoying the blessings he possesses, and often causes him +to dash away with his own rash hand, the cup of happiness from his lips. +"Our complexion," says Burke, "is such, that we are palled with +enjoyment, and stimulated with hope,--that we become less sensible to a +long-possessed benefit, from the very circumstance that it is become +habitual. Specious, untried, ambiguous prospects of new advantage, +recommend themselves to the spirit of adventure, which more or less +prevails in every mind. From this temper, men and factions, and nations +too, have sacrificed the good of which they had been in assured +possession, in favour of wild and irrational expectations." To be +satisfied, is, indeed, we fear, difficult for human nature, even where +there is no good to be reached beyond what we already have obtained. A +great object, in such case, is to be convinced that there is no such +good to be acquired--to suppose that we have arrived at the utmost +boundaries of mortal felicity. + +Nothing, however, that we have advanced as fitted to aid that object, +inasmuch as it respects our political condition, is of such influence +for its accomplishment, as the contemplation of the actual state of the +European world. When the tempest howls without, the domestic hearth is +invested with a doubly inviting aspect; we gather round it with +eagerness, in proportion to the dismal appearance of external nature, +and bless it for the security which it affords from the rage of the +heavens. Should we not, in like manner, embrace with redoubled fondness, +the institutions which maintain us in prosperity and peace, now, +especially, whilst we are enabled to behold the fearful operation of the +consequences of monarchical rule--the horrors in which they are +involving the fairest and most civilized portions of the globe; and when +we know, too, that the motive which inspired the inhabitants of those +countries with courage to encounter the storm, by which they are tossed +about on the sea of revolution, was the hope of being driven by it into +some haven like that which shelters us from the fury of winds and waves? +When, if ever, they will attain to the possession of the blessings which +we enjoy,--how all the troubles by which they are agitated will end, is +what no human ken is competent to discern; but the philanthropist and +the Christian need never despair. Out of chaos came this beautiful +world; and the same Being who called it into existence, still watches +over its concerns,--is still as potent to convert obscurity into +brightness, as when He first said, "Let there be light," and there was +light! + + + + + ART. III.--_Essay on the Hieroglyphic System of M. + Champollion, Jr. and the advantages which it offers to + sacred criticism._ By J. G. H. GREPPO, _Vicar-General of + Belley. Translated from the French by_ ISAAC STUART, _with + notes and illustrations._ Boston: pp. 276. + + +In former numbers of this journal, there are several articles devoted to +the subject of Egyptian hieroglyphics, particularly as connected with +the labours of Mons. Champollion. Every day seems to give opportunity of +additional observation, by furnishing new and interesting facts. How +much further the investigations may be carried, it would be unsafe even +to conjecture; but, in the present state of things, we are fully +authorized to consider the problem of hieroglyphics as at last solved, +and such general principles established, as must render subsequent +investigations comparatively easy. Every age seems to be productive of +some great genius peculiarly adapted to the accomplishment of some great +design, connected either with the advancement of learning, or the +melioration of the moral condition of mankind. The present appears +fruitful of great men, and France, particularly favoured, whether we +regard the great political events which have called out the most +gigantic exhibitions of practical wisdom, or look at the onward march of +science, which seems in no wise impeded, by convulsions which scatter +every thing but science, like the yellow leaves of autumn. Let us not, +however, be diverted from our object,--the sober investigation of a +sober subject, alike deeply interesting to the philologer, the student +of history, and the inquirer into the sacred truths connected with +divine revelation. + +The work which stands at the head of this article, purports to be an +investigation of the hieroglyphic system developed in the published +works of Mons. Champollion, Jr. and the advantage which it offers to +sacred criticism. It is the performance of a clergyman of the Roman +Catholic Church, J. G. H. Greppo, Vicar-General of Belley. The original +work, however, is not before us. We examine it through the medium of a +translation made by Mr. Isaac Stuart, son of the Rev. Moses Stuart, one +of the most eminent scholars of our country, who vouches for the +accuracy of the translation, having inspected the whole, and compared it +with the original. Dr. Stuart has added some notes, where he has seen +occasion to differ from Mr. Greppo, on some points of Hebrew philology +and criticism. The reasons for his difference of opinion are given with +that candour for which the writer is distinguished, and the intelligent +reader is left to judge as to the merits of the question. + +It is well known to the learned, that Mons. Champollion, the younger, +has been spending several years in the uninterrupted study of the +Egyptian hieroglyphics. In his capacity of Professor of History at +Grenoble, he found his labours embarrassed by the immense hiatus which +occurs in Egyptian history, and, to the filling up of this, he set +himself to work with all the zeal and energy which genius could inspire. +In this work, he had the advantage of youth, and a very superior +education in the Coptic and other oriental languages, connected with a +patience of investigation, which appears almost miraculous. He had the +advantage of knowing, moreover, that, if ever any just conclusion was to +be gained, he must seek it by getting some starting point, different +from that whence all his predecessors had set out. There had been a +variety of learned men whose investigations were directed to this point, +such as Father Kircher the Jesuit, whose different works on Egyptian +antiquities had been successively published in Rome, from 1636 to +1652--Warburton, the highly gifted author of the Divine Legation of +Moses, the learned Count de Gebelin, and others of equal and less name. +But these had all confessedly failed, and the learned almost gave up the +subject in despair, so much so, that Champollion himself, states it as +the only opinion which appeared to be well established among them, viz. +"that it was impossible ever to acquire that knowledge which had +hitherto been sought with great labour, and in vain." + +In the midst of these discouragements, a circumstance occurred, familiar +probably to our readers, but to which we allude merely to observe, that +it seemed at once to open a new era of investigation, and is among the +many evidences of the fact, that events of apparently the most +inconsiderable description, are connected with results whose magnitude +cannot be estimated. At the close of the last century, while the French +troops were engaged in the prosecution of the war in Egypt, it is well +known, that a number of learned men were associated with the expedition, +for the prosecution of purposes far more honourable than those of human +conquest,--we mean the exploration of a hitherto sealed country, with +the express design of advancing the arts and sciences. One division of +the army occupied the village of _Raschid_, otherwise called _Rosetta_; +and, while they were employed in digging the foundation for a fort, they +found a block of black basalt, in a mutilated condition, bearing a +portion of three inscriptions, one of which was in the Egyptian +hieroglyphics. The fate of the military expedition, lost to the French +the possession of this stone, as it fell into the hands of the British, +by the capitulation of Alexandria; it was afterward conveyed to London, +and placed in the British museum. Previously to the termination of the +war, however, the stone and its characters had been correctly delineated +by the artists connected with the commission, and then, through the +medium of an engraving, placed in possession of the learned. This is a +brief history of the Rosetta stone, as it is called, but still it +baffled the investigations of the learned. They had gone upon the +supposition, that the hieroglyphic method of writing must, of necessity, +be _ideographic_, i. e. figurative or symbolical, and that each of these +signs was the expression of an idea. Here appears to have been the great +root of all their mistakes on the subject, mistakes naturally fallen +into by the moderns, inasmuch as the few incidental passages left on the +subject in the writings of the ancients, all recognized this as a fact. +Except Clement of Alexandria, one of the fathers of the church, not a +solitary writer had left on record any other opinion; and the passage of +Clement has itself never been understood, until since the discoveries of +Champollion. It seems to be one of those curious facts connected with +the history of the human mind, that it requires a great intellect to +seize on the simplest element of truth. It is easy to speculate on data, +which are assumed without a rigorous examination, and then to make an +exhibition of learning which may astonish the world; but, it is the +province of the greatest genius to lay hold of simple truth, and +establish a foundation utterly immoveable, before there is any attempt +at a superstructure. This was the business, and this the achievement of +Champollion. Now that the discovery is made, we are amazed at the want +of previous penetration. It struck the mind of Champollion, that, if the +Egyptian hieroglyphics were _ideographic_, there must be _exceptions_, +for two substantial reasons: first, because _proper names_, or names of +persons, do not always admit of being expressed by any sign, that is, +proper names have not in all cases a meaning; and, second, because +_foreign names_, or those which have no relation to any particular +spoken language, could not be represented by conventional signs. These +principles appear now to be self-evident, and this is the basis of +Champollion's discovery. On this he built the idea, that there must +exist among the Egyptians _alphabetic characters_, which should express +the _sounds_ of the spoken language; and, in order to test this +principle, he set about the investigation of the celebrated Rosetta +stone. This stone, let it be remembered, had on it _three inscriptions +in different characters_. One of these inscriptions was written in +Greek, and of course easily decyphered; of the other two, one was +written in hieroglyphics, and the other in the common character of the +country. The course pursued by Champollion, was exceedingly simple, and, +on that account, may be considered masterly. In the Greek text, the name +of Ptolemy occurred, together with some names which were foreign to the +Egyptian language. In the hieroglyphic inscription, there were certain +signs grouped together and frequently repeated; and, what rendered them +remarkable was, that they were enclosed in a kind of oval or ring, +called a cartouche, and maintained a relative position which seemed to +correspond with the Greek word Ptolemy. Champollion conjectured, that +there must be some connection between the signs clustered in these +rings, and the name of Ptolemy expressed by signs, which would _sound_ +like that word; and this led him to expect, that he would get at what he +was persuaded was the truth, viz. that the hieroglyphic writing was +_alphabetic,_ rather than exclusively _ideographic_. With the view of +testing this, he went into a close analysis of the group of signs which +he supposed designated the name of Ptolemy; and, as the result of this +analysis, obtained what he considered the equivalents to the letters in +the name of this prince. + +In order to give our readers an idea of his process of investigation, we +will state the signs which he found in the group surrounded by a ring on +the Rosetta stone. These are the following: a square--half circle--a +flower with the stem bent--a lion in repose--the three sides of a +parallelogram--two feathers, and a crooked line. The square, Champollion +considered the equivalent of the Greek letter Pi--the half circle, +Tau--the flower with the stem bent, Omicron--the lion in repose, +Lamda--the three sides of the parallelogram, Mu--the feathers, Eta,--and +the crooked line, Sigma. This gave the name Ptolmês. At this stage of +his investigations, Champollion supposed that he had obtained seven +signs of an alphabet; but, could he have gone no further, he would have +established nothing, and his researches would have passed off with the +labours of the learned who had preceded him. To test his principle +further, it was necessary, therefore, that he should be able to get at +some other monument, on which there should be recognized some name also +known by some Greek or other connected inscription. Such a monument was +found in an obelisk discovered in the island of Philæ, and transported +to London. On this was discovered a group of characters also enclosed in +a ring, and containing more signs than the former, some of them similar. +On a part of the base which originally supported the obelisk, there was +an inscription in Greek, addressed to _Ptolemy_ and _Cleopatra_. Now, if +the basis of Champollion was correct, there ought to be found in the +name Cleopatra, such signs as were common to both, and they must perform +the same functions which had been previously assigned them; and this was +precisely the result. We have this strikingly set forth in a note of the +translator, which is here presented. + + "To prove that the conjectures of Champollion were true, the + first sign in the name of Cleopatra should not be found in + the name of Ptolemy, because the letter _K_ does not occur in + PTOLMÊS. This was found to be the fact. The letter _K_ + represented by _a quadrant_. + + "The second sign (_a lion in repose_ which represents the + _Lamda_), is exactly similar to the fourth sign in the name of + Ptolemy, which, as we have already seen, represents a _Lamda_. + + "The third sign in the name of Cleopatra is _a feather_; + which should represent the _single_ vowel _Epsilon_, because + the _two feathers_ in the name of Ptolemy represent _double + Epsilon_, which is equivalent to the Greek _Eta_. Such is its + import. As Greppo remarks in a note, and as has been fully + proved by subsequent investigations of Champollion, the sign + which resembles two feathers, corresponds also with the + vowels _Eta_, _Iota_, and with the diphthongs _Alpha Iota_, + _Epsilon Iota_. + + "The fourth character in the hieroglyphic cartouche of + Cleopatra, representing _a flower with a stalk bent back_ (or + a knop), corresponds to the _Omicron_ in the Greek name of + this queen. This sign is the very same with the third + character in the hieroglyphic name of Ptolemy, which there + represents _Omicron_. + + "The fifth sign is in the form of _a square_. It here + represents the _Pi_, and is the same with the first sign in + the hieroglyphic name of Ptolemy. + + "The sixth sign, corresponding to the Greek vowel _Alpha_ in + Cleopatra, is _a hawk_; which of course ought not to be + found in the name of Ptolemy (as it has no letter _Alpha_), and + it is not. + + "The seventh character is an _open hand_, representing the + _Tau_; but this hand is not found in the hieroglyphic name of + Ptolemy, where _Tau_, the second letter in that name, is + represented by a half circle. The reader will see in Note G, + why these two signs stand for the same letter and sound. + + "The eighth character in the name of Cleopatra, which is _a + mouth_, and which here represents the Greek _Rho_, should not + be found in the name of Ptolemy, and it is not. + + "The ninth and last sign in the name of the queen, which + represents the vowel _Alpha_, is _the hawk_, the very same + sign which represents this vowel in the third syllable of + the same name. + + "The name of Cleopatra is terminated by two hieroglyphic + symbolical signs, _the egg and the half circle_, which, + according to Champollion, are always used to _denote the + feminine gender_." + +These were great advances, and our readers will now easily understand +the process by which the distinguished discoverer arrived at his +results. Step by step, he has thus been able to form his _phonetic +alphabet_. In September, 1822, he gave an account of his discovery, and +of the principles of his system, in a letter to Mons. Dacier, perpetual +Secretary of the Academy of Inscriptions, and of Belles Lettres. In +1824, Champollion published the first edition of his work, "Précis du +système hièroglyphique des anciens Egyptiens, ou recherches sur les +elémens premiers de cette ecriture sacrée, &c." This is the work which +is reviewed in the number of this journal for June, 1827, p. 438. In the +year 1828, a second edition of this work was called for, and this second +edition is rendered more valuable, by having appended to it the letter +to Mons. Dacier. + +It is not the purpose of the present article, to go into an account of +the results of Champollion's labours;--this has been amply done in +preceding pages of this journal. The essay of Mons. Greppo, gave us a +favourable opportunity, following the course of the author, of stating +in brief, the process by which Champollion arrived at his most valuable +and interesting conclusions. The object of the essay is to show the +advantages which this discovery gives to the study of sacred criticism. +This is the special aim of the work; and, in relation to this, the +author has observed:-- + + "Some of the numerous facts, which the study of Egyptian + developed, will be applied to the Holy Scriptures in some of + those portions which relate to Egypt, and they will shed + much light upon these passages of the sacred annals. We + shall endeavour to accomplish this work with all the + precision and simplicity possible in researches which are + necessarily scientific, but which are of high interest on + account of their tendency; and it is on this account only, + that we present them with such confidence. + + "A religion whose origin is from above, is without doubt + safe from the vain attacks of a few blinded men; and, while + it has been defended for so many centuries by the most + powerful minds that have shed a lustre upon the sciences and + upon literature, it scarcely needs our weak defence. Yet it + is consoling to a Christian, to witness the amazing progress + of human knowledge. The mind is ever attaining to new + truths, and is confirming the remark so often quoted from a + celebrated English Chancellor, (Bacon) a remark which + applies as well to revealed as to natural religion, of which + Christianity is but the development; _Leves gustus in + philosophia movere fortasse ad atheismum, sed pleniores + haustus ad religionem reducere_: i. e. _superficial + knowledge in philosophy may perhaps lead to atheism, but a + fundamental knowledge will lead to religion_." + +The Essay of Mons. Greppo is composed of two parts, the first of which +is an explanation of the hieroglyphic system of Champollion; and the +second, the application of the hieroglyphic system to the elucidation of +the sacred writings. The relations of the Hebrews with the Egyptians +were such, that the history of the latter cannot be otherwise than most +intimately connected with the religion of the Bible. In fact, there was +no country in the world, foreign to Judea, whose name is so conspicuous +in the Bible, as that of Egypt; beginning at the time of Abraham, and +going down to the very Apostolic age; and it hence follows, that he who +would study in detail, the historic annals of the Hebrews, ought to be +as fully acquainted with those of ancient Egypt, as the largest means +will allow. In carrying out his intention, M. Greppo has gone deeply +into philological, historical, chronological, and geographical +considerations. By making the "précis" of Champollion the basis of his +argument, and bringing in to his assistance the labours of the elder +Champollion, called by way of distinction Champollion Figeac, from the +place of his residence; he has investigated the history of the Pharaohs, +as connected with the accounts given in the books of Genesis and Exodus, +and the later historical writings. + +In the fourth chapter of the second part, there is an interesting +discussion relative to the difficulty of reconciling the position taken +in Exodus, as to the perishing of Pharaoh, with the conclusions drawn +from the investigations of Champollion. The last Pharaoh of the Exodus, +is ascertained to be the King _Amenophis Ramses_. According to Manetho, +he reigned twenty years; viz. from 1493 B. C., to 1473 B. C., so +calculated also by Champollion Figeac. But the departure of the children +of Israel took place about the year 1491 B. C., consequently in the +second or third year of this Prince. If this Prince perished in the Red +Sea, how can this be reconciled with the fact, that Manetho states him +to have reigned twenty years, and this is confirmed by the calculations +of the elder Champollion. M. Greppo goes into an interesting discussion, +to prove that the text of the Book of Exodus does not state that Pharaoh +perished in the Red Sea. His examination of the sacred text will be +interesting to many of our readers: + + "Scripture does not compel us to believe that the Pharaoh + with whom we now are concerned, participated in the fatal + calamity of his army. And first, Moses says not a word to + this effect, when he relates the miracle performed by the + Lord in favour of his people. He informs us, it is true, + that Pharaoh marched in pursuit of the children of Israel; + _And he made ready his chariot and took his people with him. + And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the + chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them. And + the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he + pursued after the children of Israel_ (Exod. xiv. 6-8.). A + little further on he says; _And the Egyptians pursued, and + went in after them, into the midst of the sea, even all + Pharaoh's horses, his chariots and his horsemen_ (v. 23.). + Finally he adds; _And the waters returned, and covered the + chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that + came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as + one of them_ (v. 28). Such are the principal features of the + narrative which Moses gives of this Egyptian expedition, and + of the terrible event in which it resulted. But in the + circumstantial account of this disaster, he does not name + Pharaoh personally except when he speaks of his departure. + Now if the persecutor of Israel entered the Red Sea with his + army, and was swallowed up with it, is it probable that the + chief and legislator of the Hebrews would have been silent + about such a circumstance as the tragical death of this + prince? an event more important, perhaps, than even the + destruction of his army, and surely very proper as a + striking illustration both of the protection which God + extended to his people, and of the chastisements his justice + inflicted upon the impious. And further; to strengthen the + faith of this people when in a state of distrust and + murmuring, Moses often recounts to them their deliverance + from Egyptian bondage, their passage through the Red Sea, + and the other miracles which God had wrought for them; and + on all these occasions, when the allusion to the death of an + oppressive prince would have been so natural, he conveys no + such idea. + + "The circumstance related by Moses, that no one escaped, + _there remained not so much as one of them_, proves nothing + relative to the supposed disaster of Pharaoh. It refers to + those who followed the Hebrews into the sea, among whom + Moses does not enumerate this prince. We remark also, that + the sacred historian seems designedly to leave room for + making exceptions to the general disaster, by the precise + manner in which he announces, _that the waters covered the + chariots and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that + came into the sea after them_; this literally signifies that + the waters covered only the chariots and horsemen which + entered into the sea, and leaves us to infer that all did + not enter. The incidental expression in verse 28, _that came + into the sea after them_, seems then to modify the more + general expression in verse 23, _even all_, and authorizes + us to understand it with some latitude, rather than to + restrain it to its rigorous sense. All these circumstances + of the narrative accord with the presumption, not only that + Pharaoh did not enter into the Red Sea, but perhaps even + that some of his infantry, if he possessed any, did not + enter; and at least, that this is true of some principal + chiefs who surrounded him, and who formed what we now call a + body of _staff-officers_. + + "In relating the miraculous passage of the Red Sea, the book + of _Wisdom_, which describes so often and in such an + admirable manner, the wonders of the Lord in conducting his + people, and which celebrates the illustrious men whom he + made his instruments, makes no mention either of Pharaoh or + of his tragical death. It is limited to the remark, that in + his wisdom he precipitated the enemies of Israel into the + sea (_Wisdom of Solomon_, x. 19)." + +Mons. Greppo appears to be aware, that there are difficulties attending +his interpretation, arising out of the apparent positive declarations +contained in other parts of the sacred volume: for instance, in Ex. ch. +xv. 19th v., as also Ps. cxxxvi. 15th v. His answer to these objections, +and some collateral arguments by which he endeavours to support his +theory, are too long to be here introduced. Professor Stuart, in a +learned note, part of which we feel compelled to quote, dissents from +the reasoning of Mons. Greppo, and takes the safer course of leaving to +further discoveries, what, in the present state of the researches, may +not yet be considered as definitely settled. + + "The modesty and ingenuity which M. Greppo has exhibited, in + the discussion which gives occasion to the present note, + certainly entitle him to much credit and approbation. Still + it seems to me very doubtful, whether the exegesis in + question can be supported. When God says, in Exod. xiv. 17, + 'I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, + upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen;" and when he + repeats the same sentiment in Exod. xiv. 18; the natural + inference seems to be, that the fate of Pharaoh would be the + same as that of his host, his chariots and his horsemen. + Accordingly, in Exod. xiv. 23, it is said, 'The Egyptians + pursued, and went in after them [the Hebrews] into the midst + of the sea, _every horse of Pharaoh and his chariot_, and + his horsemen, into the midst of the sea.' It is true, + indeed, that kol-sus par`ó v^eh.é-ló may mean, _all the + horses of Pharaoh and all his chariots_, viz. all those + which belonged to his army. But is it not the natural + implication here, that Pharaoh was at the head of his army, + and led them on? And when in Exod. xiv. 28 it is said, that + of all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after the + Israelites, _there remained not so much as one of them_, is + not the natural implication here, that Pharaoh at the head + of his army went into the sea, and perished along with them? + + "In the triumphal song of Moses and the Hebrews, recorded in + Exod. xv., the implication in verses 4, 19, seems most + naturally to be, that Pharaoh was joined with his army in + the destruction to which they were subjected. + + "But still more does this appear, in Ps. cvi. 11, where it + is said, 'The waters covered their enemies [the Egyptians]; + _there was not one of them left_.' How could this well be + said, if Pharaoh himself, the most powerful, unrelenting, + and bitter enemy which they had, was still preserved alive, + and permitted afterwards to make new conquests over his + southern neighbours? This passage M. Greppo has entirely + overlooked. + + "In regard to Ps. cxxxvi. 15, the exegesis of our author is + ingenious; but it will not bear the test of criticism. For + example; in Exod. xiv. 27, it is said, 'And the Lord + _overthrew_ the Egyptians, in the midst of the sea; where + the Hebrew word answering to _overthrew_ is dgbz-r from + váyna`ér from ní`ér. But in Ps. cxxxvi. 15, the very same + word is applied to Pharaoh and his host; '_And he overthrew_ + (váyna`ér) _Pharaoh and his host_. In both cases (which are + exactly the same), the word ní`ér properly means, _he drave + into_ (_hineintreiben, Gesenius_.) Now if the Lord _drave_ + the Egyptians _into_ the midst of the sea, and also _drave_ + Pharaoh and his host _into_ the midst of the sea, we cannot + well see how Pharaoh escaped drowning. Accordingly, we find + that such an occurrence is plainly recognized by Nehemiah + ix. 10, 11, when, after mentioning Pharaoh, his servants, + and his people, this distinguished man speaks of the + 'persecutors of the Hebrews as thrown into the deep, as a + stone in the mighty waters.' + + "As to any difficulties respecting _chronology_ in this + case, about which M. Greppo seems to be principally + solicitous, it may be remarked, that the subject of ancient + Egyptian chronology is yet very far from being so much + cleared up, as to throw any real embarrassments in the way + of Scripture facts. More light will give more + satisfaction--as in the famous case of the zodiacs, so + finely described in the last chapter of M. Greppo's book." + +The fifth and sixth chapters of the work of Mons. Greppo, are devoted to +the examination of the history of the Pharaohs mentioned in the sacred +writings, down to the time of Solomon, and of the other kings of Egypt, +who are distinguished by proper names. + +The seventh chapter is devoted to the chronology of Manetho, the +official historiographer of Egypt; and several questions are discussed, +which relate to the difference between him, and the scripture +chronologers. In the close of the chapter, the author draws two +conclusions, which we are disposed to think entirely justified by the +present state of the investigations--these conclusions will be better +stated in the author's own words:-- + + "From the remarks which we have communicated to our readers, + we infer that there is no foundation for that fear about the + advance of Egyptian studies, which the religious zeal of + some estimable men has led them to cherish; neither is there + any occasion to distrust the _data_ transmitted by the + historian of the Pharaohs. Nothing can authorize such a + distrust. On the other hand, every thing conspires to prove, + at the present time, that the new discoveries and their + application to chronology, will disclose more and more the + truth and exactness of the historic facts in Scripture. We + believe that men are too apt to form a judgment of systems + when they hardly understand them; and perhaps they are too + prone to forget that if true faith is timorous, it is not + distrustful, like the pride which is connected with the vain + theories of men; because it views the basis, upon which the + august edifice of divine revelation reposes, as immoveable. + Inspired with this thought, we have adopted, from entire + conviction, all the satisfactory results elicited by the + labours of the Champollions; and we wait, with impatience + and with confidence, the new developments which they + promise, persuaded beforehand that revealed religion cannot + but gain from them." + +In the eighth chapter of his essay, Mons. Greppo applies the discoveries +of Champollion to the Egyptian geography, so far as the scriptures are +concerned. If it be true, as he conceives, that the city of Rameses +occupied the site of the Arabian city, now called Ramsis, there seems to +be an irreconcilable difference with some of the scripture relations; +for this city, _Ramsis_, is on the western side of the river Nile, and +not less than one hundred and fifty miles from that position on the Red +Sea, where it is believed that the passage of the Israelites was made. +However the question may eventually be settled, it appears to us, that +this location can in no sense consist with the text of the sacred +writings; for, in the first place, it would have required that the +Israelites should have crossed the Nile, on their journey towards +Palestine. Of this there is no account; neither had they any means; and +it would have required a miraculous interposition to enable them so to +do. But, second, the sacred text informs us, that, at the close of the +second day after the departure of the Israelites from Rameses, they +reached the borders of the Red Sea. It is utterly impossible that they +could have crossed the Nile, and travelled one hundred and fifty miles +in two days. It is beyond all rational calculation to suppose that they +could have travelled at the rate of more than twenty miles per day, and, +consequently, we must look for the situation of Rameses at a distance +not greater certainly than forty miles from the Red Sea, and on the +eastern side of the Nile. If the integrity of the sacred writings is to +be preserved, the idea that the Rameses of the Bible, and the Ramsis of +the Arabians are identical, must be abandoned, or, at any rate, not +adopted until something far more conclusive shall be found, than has yet +been given. Professor Stuart, in a note which we have above condensed, +refers to a previous work of his, where this subject is more largely +discussed, and which, as it may not be familiar to the mass of our +readers, being a work distinctly connected with theological studies, +will be referred to for a moment. In this work, the Professor enters +largely into the examination of the location of Rameses, which stands +also for Goshen. He considers, and with vast power of argument and +illustration, that the royal residence of the Pharaohs at the time of +Joseph and Moses, was at Zoan, and not Memphis, as has been generally +supposed. There can be no question, that Zoan was one of the oldest +cities of Lower Egypt, and situated on the eastern shore of the second +or Tanitic mouth of the Nile, and this was but a little distance from +the Pelusiac or eastern branch, on which the residence of the Israelites +has generally been supposed to have been. It was an extensive city, and +its ruins in the time of the French expedition, occupied an extensive +country. Champollion has remarked that the word signifies, "mollis, +delicatus, jucundus," which would make Zoan to mean Pleasant town. The +reader will be interested to observe, that, in Ps. lxxviii, the writer +alludes to Zoan, as the scenes of the miracles of Moses: also Ps. v. +verse 12, and also lxxii. verse 43. In the time of Isaiah, it is quite +clear, that Zoan was the place where the Egyptian court resided, at +least for a time. See ch. xix. verse 11. There are objections to this +view of Professor Stuart, but not stronger, than to others; and the most +probable is, that the kings of Egypt had different places of royal +residence, as is still customary. We know that Cyrus, after conquering +Babylon, spent part of his time there, and part at the capital of his +native country. + +Contrary, therefore, to the opinion of Mons. Greppo, Professor Stuart +considers Rameses or Goshen, to be decidedly on the eastern side of the +Nile, and this is rendered more certain, if, as the Professor has +attempted to prove, _Zoan_ was frequently a royal residence of the +Pharaohs. The opinion taken by Mons. Greppo, that Rameses was on the +western side of the Nile, in what may be called Lower Eastern Egypt, +without the delta, is refuted in Michaelis _Supp. ad Lex._ Hebraica, p. +397. We make no pretentions to the ability of settling these disputed +points, and consider it perfectly safe to abide by the present general +idea, as to the location of Rameses, especially as there is nothing yet +in the shape of positive testimony against it. The reader who is +particularly interested in Biblical Archæology, will be highly gratified +by consulting the work of Dr. Stuart, entitled--"Course of Hebrew +Study." In the ninth chapter of his Essay, the author has made use of +the discoveries of Champollion, to defeat certain objections to the +genuineness and authenticity of the Books of Moses, which were started +by Voltaire and others of his time. The high antiquity of the Pentateuch +was doubted, on the ground that writing in the common language could not +then have been known. Champollion has decyphered a manuscript, which +contains an act of the fifth year of the reign of Thouthmosis III. This +prince governed Egypt at a time when Joseph was carried there as a +slave, and this was at least two hundred years previous to the time in +which Moses wrote the Pentateuch. + +An objection to the truth of the history of the Pentateuch, also, arose +out of the circumstance, that the magnificence and excellence of the +work said there to have been put upon the ark and its furniture in the +wilderness, was utterly beyond the state of the arts at the time +challenged in the relation. The discoveries of Champollion have +overthrown a supposition which had been held almost indisputable, +viz:--that the arts of Egypt had been indebted for their progress, to +the influence of those from Greece under the domination of the Lagidæ +kings. He has established the contrary, beyond doubt, and has proved +that the most brilliant epoch of the arts in Egypt, was under a dynasty +contemporary with the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt. + +The only remaining objection which is noticed by the author, is one +which he considers as capable of receiving the same satisfactory +solution. + +It is objected that the name of _Sesostris_ is not mentioned in +Scripture, nor any feature of his history recognised. To this, the +investigations made by Champollion and the calculations of Champollion +Figeac are made to answer. The commencement of the reign of Sesostris is +fixed by these, in the year 1473, B. C.; consequently, this was +seventeen or eighteen years after the departure of the Israelites from +Egypt. While they were wandering in the wilderness, Sesostris overran +Palestine, which was then in possession of its primitive inhabitants, +and before the Israelites reached that land, the expedition of Sesostris +had long passed, for Diodorus tells us, that it terminated in the ninth +year of his reign. The silence of Scripture, therefore, as to Sesostris, +is in no wise remarkable, as the people of Israel had no connexion with +him, either as friend or foe. + +The tenth chapter of the Essay, relates to the Egyptian Zodiacs. To our +readers who have examined the subject at all, the history of these is +now familiar,--the curious may turn to the Number of this Journal for +December, 1827, p. 520, where will be found an ample description. + +We have thus given a detailed description of the Essay of Mons. Greppo, +and we cannot resist the pleasure before we close, of presenting the few +remarks with which he concludes his discussion. + + "We come now to the conclusion of our undertaking. With the + aid of the new discoveries in Egypt, we think that we have + shed some light upon various passages of the sacred annals, + and that we have resolved, in a more satisfactory manner, + certain difficulties which were opposed to their veracity. + We have attentively examined the resources which the + writings and monuments of Egypt afford, in the + interpretation and defence of a religion, whose lot has + been, in all ages, to meet with enemies, when it should have + found only admirers and disciples. But the researches to + which we have been attending very naturally, as we think, + give rise to a thought consoling to the Christian. + + "Providence, whose operations are so sensibly exhibited in + the whole physical constitution of the world, has not + abandoned to chance the government of the moral or + intellectual world. By means often imperceptible even to the + eye of the man of observation, and which seem reserved for + his own secret counsel, God directs second causes, gives + them efficiency according to his will, and makes them serve, + sometimes even contrary to their natural tendency, to + accomplish his own immutable decrees, and to propagate and + support that religion which he has revealed to us. It is in + this way that, consistently with his own will, he delays or + accelerates the march of human intellect; that he gives it a + direction such as he pleases; that he causes discoveries to + spring up in their time, as fruits ripen in their season; + and that the revolutions which renew the sciences, like + those which change the face of empires, enter into the plan + which he traced out for himself from all eternity. + + "Does not this sublime truth, which affords an inexhaustible + subject of meditation to the well instructed and reflecting + man, but which needs for its development the pen of a + Bossuet,--does it not apply with great force to the subject + that we have been considering? + + "Since the studies of our age have been principally directed + to the natural sciences, which the irreligious levity of the + last age had so strangely abused to the prejudice of + religion, we have seen the most admirable discoveries + confirming the physical history of the primitive world, as + it is given by Moses. It is sufficient to cite in proof of + this fact, the geological labours of our celebrated Cuvier. + Now that historic researches are pursued with a greater + activity than ever before, and the monuments of antiquity + illustrated by a judicious and promising criticism, + Providence has also ordered, that the writings of ancient + Egypt should in turn confirm the historic facts of the holy + books: facts against which a _systematic_ erudition had + furnished infidelity with so many objections that were + unceasingly repeated, though they had been a thousand times + refuted. We cannot doubt that human knowledge, as it becomes + more and more disengaged from the spirit of system, and + pursues truth as its only aim, will still attain, as it + advances, to other analogous results. + + "Thus, as has been often said, revealed religion has no + greater foe than ignorance. Far from making it _her ally_, + as men who deny the testimony of all ages have not blushed + to assert, she cannot but glory in the advance of the + sciences. She has always favoured them, and it is chiefly + owing to her influence, that they have been preserved in the + midst of the barbarism from which she has rescued us. Thus + the progress of true science, _the progress of light_ (to + use a legitimate though often abused expression,) far from + being at variance with revealed religion, as its enemies + have represented,--far from being dangerous to it, as some + of its disciples have appeared to fear, tends, on the + contrary, each day to strengthen its claims upon all + enlightened minds, and to prove, in opposition to the pride + of false science, that this divine religion, confirmed as it + is by all the truths to which the human mind attains, _is + the truth of the Lord which endureth forever_." + +We have ventured upon this protracted notice of the Essay of Mons. +Greppo, because the subject itself is one of gratifying pursuit even to +the mere scholar, but still more because it is vitally connected with +the evidences of revealed religion in which we hope that none of our +readers are altogether uninterested. There is in the Essay, no question +as to any of the minor points of the Christian faith,--there is here +nothing but what all may peruse with satisfaction. The question is one +entirely connected with evidence; and science and literature are pressed +fairly into the service of truth. The work is peculiarly valuable, +because it is the only work connected with the labours of Champollion +which has been made to wear an English dress. The works of both the +Champollions are locked up in a foreign language from most of our +readers; and we fear that the time will not soon come when there will be +sufficient encouragement either to translate or publish in this country +the splendid volumes of these brothers, who are, by their discoveries, +raising up for France the gratitude of the world. Until there shall be +liberality enough in our republic of letters, to enable us to possess +these works, with all their riches of illustration, and thus have +ancient Egypt brought to the inspection of American eyes, we would +recommend the work of Mons. Greppo, as the best, and indeed only +substitute at present known, always excepting the pages of our own +journal. + +It is needless to say, that the merits of the translation cannot be +questioned, after the testimonials furnished by the learned Dr. Stuart; +without the advantage of comparing it with the original, we can speak of +its excellence relatively, for the style is clear, concise, and +classical. + + + + + ART. IV.--IRON. + + 1.--_Memorial of the workers in iron of Philadelphia, + praying that the present duty on imported iron may be + repealed, &c._ + + 2.--_Report of the Select Committee (of the Senate of the + United States,) to whom was referred "the petition of + upwards of three hundred mechanics, Citizens of the City and + County of Philadelphia, employed in the various branches of + the manufacture of iron," and also, the petition of the + "Journeymen blacksmiths of the City and County of + Philadelphia, employed in manufacturing anchors and chain + cables."_ + + 3.--_Report of the minority of the Select Committee on + certain memorials to reduce the duty on imported iron._ + + 4.--_Remarks of the majority of the Select Committee on the + blacksmiths' petition in reply to the arguments of the + minority._ + + 5.--_Manuel de la Metallurgie de fer par_ C. I. B. KARSTEN, + _traduit de l'Allemand, par_ F. I. CULMAN, _seconde edition, + entierement refondue, &c._ 3 vols. 8vo. pp. 504, 496, & 488. + Mme. Thirl: 1830: Metz. + + 6.--_Voyage Metallurgique en Angleterre, par_ MM. DUFRENOY + _et_ ELIE DE BEAUMONT. 1 vol. 8vo. pp. 572. Bachelier: + Paris: 1827. + + +The discussion contained in the petitions and legislative reports which +we have prefixed to this article, is one of the most powerful interest, +not merely to those concerned in the manufacture of iron, and the +articles of commerce of which it is the material, but to the whole +community. Iron, if the cheapest and most abundant, is intrinsically the +most valuable of the metals. It may supersede, and gradually has, in its +applications, superseded the greater part of the rest, and has taken the +place of wood and stone in a great variety of mechanical structures; it +is indispensable in the modern arts of the attack and defence of +nations; and its possession is the distinctive difference between +civilized man and the savage. Well was it said to Croesus exhibiting his +golden treasures, that he who possessed more iron, would speedily make +himself master of them, and the truth of the maxim was even more +powerfully verified, when the accumulated riches of the Aztecs and Incas +were acquired at the cost of a few pounds of Toledo steel. + +When we compare the state of manners and arts of the Mexicans and +Peruvians with that of their Spanish conquerors, we are almost compelled +to admit, that the possession of iron was perhaps the only real +superiority in civilization which the latter possessed. Gunpowder played +but a small part in the contests where handfuls of men routed myriads; +the courage of the Indian warrior is not less firm than that of the +descendant of the Goths. + +The sciences and arts which are now the boast of European civilization, +were then but awakening from a slumber of ages; in the latter, the +workmanship of Europe was in many instances inferior to that of the new +world, and in the former, to take as an instance that which occupies the +highest place, astronomy, the civil year of the Mexicans was +intercalated and restored to the solar, by a process more perfect than +that we even now employ; and the latter was not introduced into Europe +until half a century after the throne of Montezuma fell. The bloody +human sacrifices which excited to such a degree the abhorrence of the +conquerors, were not greater marks of savage cruelty, than were their +own _auto da fes_, and the tortures inflicted on Guatemozin. Yet if not +superior in bravery, in the arts, the sciences, and the more distinctive +attribute of civilization, humanity, the possession of iron was +sufficient to ensure the triumph of the Spaniards. + +Of all the metallurgic arts, that by which iron is prepared from its +ores, demands the greatest degree of practical skill, and is the most +difficult to bring to perfection. Although ages have elapsed since it +first became an object of human industry, its manipulation and +preparation are yet receiving improvements, while those of the other +ancient metals appear hardly susceptible of modification or advancement. +Copper and its alloys, tin, lead, and mercury, were as well and as +cheaply prepared by the ancients as by the moderns; and the reduction of +the precious metals has received no important change, since the process +of amalgamation was first applied to them,--while the preparation of +iron is daily improving under our eyes, and its cost diminishing. It may +even be doubted whether the iron we first find mentioned in history, was +an artificial product, and not obtained from the rare masses in which it +is found existing in the native state, and which are supposed to be of +meteoric origin. + +The original use of iron is ascribed in the sacred writings to Tubal +Cain, who lived before the flood;--but we have no proof that he did not +employ a native iron of this description. Be this as it may, the united +testimony of antiquity exhibits to us an alloy of copper used for the +purposes to which we apply iron, and the latter metal as comparatively +scarce, and of high value. The qualities of iron were known and +appreciated, but the art of preparing it was not understood. The reason +is obvious; those ores of iron which have an external metallic aspect, +are difficult of fusion and reduction, those which are more readily +converted, are dull, earthy in their appearance, and unlikely to attract +attention,--while gold and silver manifest in their native state their +brilliant characters, and the ores of copper and lead exhibit a higher +degree of lustre than the metals themselves. + +If, then, history does not show us the ancient nations employing iron +for their arms and instruments, it is because they were unable to +prepare it. Even in the middle ages, we find copper in use for arms, +because the nations that employed it, could not conquer the difficulties +that attend the preparation of iron. + +The books of Moses, however, show that iron was known at that era to the +Egyptians, and the distinction he draws between it and brass, seems in +favour of our view of the origin of that which was then employed. The +stones of the promised land were to be iron, but brass was to be dug +from the hills. Twelve hundred years before Christ, if we receive the +testimony of Homer, who, if he be rejected as an historian, must still +be admitted as a faithful painter of manners. The Greeks used an alloy +of copper for their arms, but were unacquainted with iron, which they +estimated of much higher value. + + Autar Pêleidês thêchen solon autochoônon, + hon prin men riptaske mega sthenos Êetiônos. + Alla êtoi ton epephne podarchos dios Achilleus, + Ton d aget ennêessi sun alloisin chteatessin. + Stê d orthos chai muthon en Argeioisin eeipen. + Ornusth, hoi chai toutou aethlou peirêsesthe! + &c. Iliad, Book XXIII, 1. 826. + +From this passage and the following lines, we learn the two-fold fact: +1. That a mass of iron of no greater weight than could be used as a +quoit, by a man of great strength, was esteemed of sufficient value to +be cited as an important article in the spoil of a prince: 2. That its +use was confined to agricultural purposes, and not applied in war. Hence +the more valuable form steel, and its tempering, were unknown. + +Five hundred years later, Lycurgus attempted to introduce the use of +iron, as money, into Sparta. The reasons usually cited for this act, do +not seem to apply; and we ought not to accuse that lawgiver of the want +of knowledge in political economy that is usually ascribed to him, in +endeavouring to give a base material a conventional value to which it +was not entitled. The iron was still, probably, more costly than brass, +and the error of Lycurgus did not lie in ascribing to it a value beyond +its actual cost, but in depriving it of the property of convertibility +to useful purposes, which was necessary to maintain its price. + +In the construction of the temple by Solomon, 130 years before the æra +of Lycurgus, iron was employed in great abundance; and, from the cost +lavished upon that building, we are almost warranted in considering it +as still bearing a high value, even in that country, so far in the +advance of Greece in the arts of civilized life. + +Herodotus ascribes the discovery of the art of welding iron to Glaucus +of Chio, 430 years before the Christian æra. But, before this period, +the Greeks had carried the art of working it into Italy, Spain, and +Africa; and the famous mines of Elba, that are still worked, were +probably opened 700 years before Christ. + +It is from the working of these mines that we are to date the +introduction of iron in such abundance as to reduce its price, bring it +into general use, and finally cause it to supersede wholly the alloys of +copper. This ore is of extremely easy reduction, by processes of great +simplicity, which furnish iron of excellent quality, and are, as we +shall hereafter see, still in use. We cannot, indeed, infer with +certainty, that these were the processes used by the ancients; but their +simplicity is a strong argument in favour of their remote invention. + +Steel seems to have been known as different in qualities from iron, at a +very remote period; that is to say, it was understood that there were +varieties of iron, which when tempered, became hard, whilst others +remained soft. The intentional preparation of it, as a different +species, seems to have taken its rise among the Chalybes, a people of +Asia Minor, and it was afterwards obtained from Noricum. We still find +in the latter country, (Styria,) an ore that furnishes steel, by +processes as simple as those by which the iron is obtained from the ore +of Elba, and hence can form some tolerable guess at the mode in which +the steel of the ancients was obtained. + +The third form in which we find iron as an article of commerce, namely, +cast iron, is of far more recent origin. It has been traced to the banks +of the Rhine, and it is certain that stove-plates were cast in Alsace in +A. D. 1494. From this epoch, then, dates the great improvement in the +preparation of iron, by which its price has been so far lessened, as to +render it available for innumerable purposes, from which a small +addition to its present cost would exclude it. + + * * * * * + +Iron, as may be inferred from what has been stated, is known in commerce +in three distinct forms--wrought or bar iron, cast or pig iron, and +steel. The received chemical theory on this subject is, that the former +is metallic iron nearly in a pure state, and that the two latter are +chemical compounds of iron and carbon. How far this is true will be +examined in the sequel. + +When wrought iron is nearly pure, it has, when in bars of not less than +an inch square, or plates not less than half an inch in thickness, a +granular structure. From the appearance of these grains, an estimate may +be had of its quality; grains without any determinate form, neither +presenting, when broken, crystalline faces, nor arranging themselves in +plates; and which, in the fracture of the bar, exhibit points, and even +filaments, manifesting the resistance they have opposed, are marks of +the best quality. If, when broken, a crystalline character is exhibited, +the quality is bad, and will, according to a disposition difficult to +describe in words, either break under the hammer when heated, or be +subject to rupture when cold. These two opposite defects are, in the +language of our manufacturers, called red and cold short, or shear. The +former fault unfits it for being easily worked; the latter destroys its +most important usefulness. When the manufacture has been badly +conducted, crystals will appear mingled with tenacious grains, and a +want of uniform consistence will render it unfit for being cut and +worked by the file. Iron of the latter character may, notwithstanding, +possess great tenacity. + +In still smaller bars, good iron, in breaking, exhibits filaments like +those shown by a piece of green wood when broken across; this is +technically called nerve; and as it does not show itself in larger bars, +it has been supposed that it is the result of the process of drawing out +the bars. This is partially true, although the iron that presents a +crystalline structure will not acquire nerve, however frequently +hammered. To obtain nerve in larger masses, it is necessary to form them +of bundles of smaller bars, a process known under the name of faggoting. + + * * * * * + +Iron contains in its ores many impurities of different natures, +according to circumstances, and is in its preparation exposed to several +others; by these its quality is frequently much affected. Its valuable +ores all contain the iron in the state of oxide. The oxygen, it is +generally believed, is not wholly separated even in the best malleable +iron, but enough still remains to impair in some degree its good +qualities. In its manufacture it is exposed to the action of carbon, +with which it is capable of combining. Much iron appears to contain some +of the combinations of this sort, existing in the form of hard +particles, technically known by the name of _pins_. + +Of inflammable bodies, sulphur and phosphorus are frequently contained +in the ores of iron; and when pit coal is used in the manufacture, the +former substance is present, and may influence the product. The union of +sulphur, in very small quantities, with the iron, creates the defect +called red short, although it is probably not the only substance that +produces the same fault; but when it is caused by sulphur, all the good +properties of the iron are impaired, which is not always the case when +it arises from other impurities. The defect of breaking when cold, has +been attributed to the presence of phosphorus by high authority. There +are, however, ores in this country, containing a phosphate of lime, +which yield iron of excellent quality. + +A mixture of sulphur and carbon deprives iron of its property of +welding, and in the highest proportion gives the opposite defects of +being both red and cold short. + +Ores of iron contain the earths, silex, alumina, lime, and magnesia. +With the bases of these earths the metal is capable of forming alloys; +those of the three first are often thus combined. Silicium has been +discovered combined with iron to the extent of 3-1/2 per cent. It has +been found to render this metal harder, more brittle, and more similar +in structure to steel; so small a quantity as 1/2 per cent. has been +sufficient to render it liable to break when cold; and it appears +probable, that by far the greater part of the cold short irons owe this +fault to the presence of silex, rather than to that of phosphorus. Iron +obtained from the ores by means of coal, is, under circumstances of +equality in other respects, more likely to be combined with silicium +than when made with charcoal. Karsten infers that a combination with +aluminum produces similar defects, and denies the assertion of Faraday, +that the good qualities of a steel brought from India are due to an +alloy with this earthy base. A combination with the metallic base of +lime, lessens the property that iron possesses of being welded, but does +not render it more liable to fracture, either under the hammer or when +cold. + +Of the metals proper:-- + +Copper renders iron red short. + +Lead combines with iron with great difficulty, so that its presence in +the ores can hardly be considered dangerous, but when the combination is +formed, the iron is both liable to break when red-hot and when cold. + +A very small quantity of tin destroys the strength of iron in a great +degree when cold, but still leaves it fit to be forged. + +Wrought iron does not appear to unite with zinc, but its presence in the +ores is injurious to the manufacture, for a reason that will be +hereafter stated. + +Antimony renders iron cold short, the alloy is harder and more fusible, +and approaches in character to cast iron. + +Arsenic produces a great waste in the manufacture of iron, and when +alloyed with it, injures or destroys its capability of being welded. + +Ores which contain titanium, according to universal experience in this +country, give an iron inclining to the defect of red short, but +possessing the highest degree of tenacity. Such are several of the ores +of the northern part of New-Jersey, and of Orange County, New-York. + +Manganese in small quantities renders iron harder, but injures none of +its good qualities. Many of our ores contain manganese, but when +carefully manufactured the iron appears to contain but an insensible +trace of this _metal_. + +Nickel unites with iron in all proportions, and gives a soft and +tenacious alloy; no good property of the iron appears to be injured by +it. United with steel it gives an alloy of excellent quality. Nickel is +rare among the ores of iron that are not of meteoric origin. But native +malleable iron is occasionally found in large masses alloyed with this +metal, and its extrinsic source has been fully ascertained. The masses +are sometimes of very great size; we have already expressed our opinion +that the iron that first came into use was derived from this source, and +had been employed for ages before the processes for preparing it from +its more abundant ores were discovered. + +Cast iron is distinguished into two varieties, which are obviously +distinct in character, the grey and the white; a mixture of the two +forms that which is called mottled. It is generally believed, and +usually stated in the books, that both of these are combinations of iron +with carbon, and that their difference in appearance and quality grows +out of the difference in the proportions in which the two substances +exist; that the grey iron contains the greatest dose of carbon, and the +white the least. There is, as will be seen, good reason to question the +latter part of this statement. + +The grey iron requires the greatest degree of heat for its fusion, is +more fluid when melted, is softest, best fitted for castings which +require to be turned or filed, and for those that must be thin; the +white iron is very hard and brittle; the greatest degree of strength and +tenacity is due to the mixture, or mottled iron, and to that variety of +mottled in which the grey rather predominates. + +The different varieties are readily convertible, for the grey iron when +melted and suddenly cooled becomes white, when cooled more slowly is +mottled, and when carefully preserved from rapid loss of heat, retains +its colour. On the other hand, experiments on a small scale have shown, +that white cast iron, subjected to a heat equal to that at which the +grey melts, and allowed to cool slowly, becomes grey. Hence their +difference can hardly be ascribed to chemical constitution. Neither can +the presence of a greater or less quantity of oxygen, as is sometimes +supposed, produce the difference, for under circumstances in all other +respects similar, except the rate at which they are cooled, iron of the +three different varieties may be produced, We therefore feel warranted +in rejecting the usual theory, particularly as the reception of it has +rather impeded than advanced the manufacture of iron. + +The theory of Karsten is far more consistent with the facts, and is +directly applicable to the practical purposes of the iron master. We +shall endeavour to give a succinct exposition of this theory, +introducing all that is necessary for its full explanation. + +The ores of iron, which are all oxides, are reduced by exposing them to +the action of carbonaceous matter, at a high temperature. The carbon +first separates the oxygen from the ore, which becomes metallic, but as +it has for the carbon a high affinity, that substance tends to combine +with it. The iron combined with carbon is rendered far more fusible than +it is when pure, and thus readily melts; when the heat of the furnace is +little more than is sufficient for effecting this fusion, the two +substances are uniformly mixed, and probably form a compound analogous +to a metallic alloy; this is the white cast iron. When the compound is +exposed to a heat higher than is sufficient to melt it, a separation +appears again to take place, the carbon tending to assume in part the +form of plumbago, the iron to retain no more of carbon than is +sufficient to keep it liquid at the new temperature, and thus passes +from the state of cast iron to that of steel, and finally approaches to +that of malleable iron. If the cooling take place slowly, the carbon, +obeying its own law of crystallization, arranges itself in thin plates, +and the iron, consolidating afterwards, fills up all the interstices +with grains or imperfect crystals; and thus the mass assumes a dark grey +colour, partly owing to the natural colour of the iron, but in a greater +degree to the plumbago. When the cooling is rapid, the carbon still +disseminated throughout the mass, does not crystallize separately, but +the two substances again form an uniform compound. + +Thus, according to the theory, there is no essential difference in the +proportion of carbon between grey and white cast iron, but the former is +a mechanical mixture of crystals of carbon, nearly pure, with iron +containing a less proportion of carbon than the white, while the white +iron is a homogeneous alloy of carbon and iron. + +Upon this theory may be explained all the facts which have been found +wholly irreconcilable with the other. + +1. The more intense the heat of the furnace, the deeper the colour, and +consequently the higher quality of the cast iron. + +2. The changes that take place from grey to white cast iron, merely by +difference in the rate of cooling. + +3. The reconversion of the white variety into grey, by simply heating it +above its melting temperature, and allowing it to cool gradually. + +4. The formation of imperfect crystals of plumbago (_kish_) on the +surface of grey iron. + +5. The approach to malleability of the grey iron, which is utterly +irreconcilable with its being a homogeneous compound, more charged with +carbon than the white. + +The basis of white cast iron, appears to be a definite chemical +compound, of two atoms of iron to one of carbon, and is therefore +analogous in its chemical constitution to carburet of hydrogen and +carburet of sulphur, but like all metallic alloys it is capable of +containing an excess of one of the substances in a state of mixture +during fusion, and which does not separate on rapid cooling. The iron +alone is found in excess in this substance. + +Steel appears to contain but half the quantity of carbon in its chemical +proportions that white cast iron does, but, like it, is susceptible of a +variety of mixtures; if the proportion of carbon amount to three per +cent., it loses the property of malleability, if the proportion fall as +low as one per cent. it can no longer be tempered, and is identical with +the harder varieties of bar-iron. As the carburets of iron, whether in +the form of pig or of steel, may be considered as alloys, if they be +presented to other metals, the results must necessarily be different +from what occurs when pure iron is exposed to the same substance. The +union that may take place in the one instance may not occur in the +other. It may often happen, that when the iron is pure, a true chemical +combination will occur, while in the other case, no more than a +mechanical mixture can be effected. For the same reason, the consequence +may be totally different when the third substance is presented to the +iron when first deoxidated, in the presence merely of an excess of +carbon, and when the combination with that substance has actually +occurred. + +If reduced at the same time with the iron, the other metals will unite +with it more readily than with the carburet, and they may afterwards +prevent its union with carbon, for there are few, if any metals, besides +iron, which have any affinity for carbon. + +Cast iron may contain the bases of the earths that form a part of its +ores. Of these, silicium is the most usual, and there is probably no +cast iron that does not contain a portion of it. It appears to render +this form of the metal harder and less suitable for the purposes of the +moulder, but is separated almost wholly when it is converted into +wrought iron. + +We have seen a parcel of pig iron that was marked with a species of +white efflorescence, ascertained on examination to be silica; this was +rejected for its hardness by the founder, but on being manufactured by +the process of puddling, gave bar iron of good quality. + +From what has just been stated, it appears that the other metals more +generally exist in cast iron, in a state of alloy with pure iron, which +is intimately mixed with the carburet. Thus as a general rule, the pig +which contains them, will be more likely to be grey in colour than that +which does not, but it may, notwithstanding, be injured in quality. The +exact effect of such alloys upon cast iron, does not appear to have been +fully examined. + + * * * * * + +The ores whence iron is obtained, are all oxides, with the exception of +a carbonate whence steel is in a few places obtained directly. They +contain, in combination with the iron, or forming parts of a +heterogeneous aggregate, a variety of earthy substances. In the +reduction of these ores, two objects are to be accomplished, the +separation of the oxygen, and the fusion of the earthy mass. Carbon, in +some one of its native or artificial forms, is used to effect the former +purpose, upon the same principle that it is applied to the other +metallic oxides. Thus a furnace in which a fire of carbonaceous matter +is kept up and urged to the highest possible degree of intensity by +blowing machines, is necessary. When the earths are pure, even the +highest heat of furnaces is incapable of fusing them, and although the +oxides of the ancient metals, and among the rest, the oxide of iron, +increase the fusibility of one of the earths; still, if but one earth be +present, it is only in a few cases that the simple ore will furnish the +means of its own fusion. We are therefore compelled to make use of the +property possessed by the earths, of rendering each other more fusible. + +Silica is the earth to which we have referred, as being susceptible of +fusion when mixed with the oxide of iron. Silica, also, when mixed with +the other earths, renders them more fusible than is its own mixture with +oxide of iron. Hence it may be stated as a general rule, that ores which +do not contain silica, cannot be decomposed without the addition of that +earth. The most of our American ores contain silex in sufficient +abundance; hence it is usual to add to them, in the process of +reduction, carbonate of lime, which is called _flux_. Did not the ore +contain silica, this would not produce its effect, and a due admixture +of the three earths, silica, alumina, and lime, appears to be necessary +to cause the most advantageous results. + +The remarks of Karsten on this head are new and worthy of attention. + + "It is upon the choice and the just proportion of the flux, + that the profit of the manufacturer in a great degree + depends. Employed in too great quantities they fail in the + important purpose of giving to the scoriæ a proper + consistence. It is very difficult to fix their proportions + exactly, and, in truth, these ought to vary with the manner + in which the furnace works; but a proportion determined for + a state of the furnace when the temperature is neither too + high nor too low, is usually adopted. + + "Chemists and metallurgists, have endeavoured to determine + the degree of fusibility of the earths when mixed with each + other; but their researches have shed but little light upon + the management of blast furnaces. We are, in spite of them, + still compelled to have recourse to experience. Far, + however, be it from me to depreciate the attempts of Achurd, + Bergman, Chaptal, Cramer, &c.; they are valuable at least, + in pointing out the road that is to be pursued in the + experiments. + + "It follows, in general terms, from these experiments, that + lime, silica, alumina, and magnesia, are infusible when not + mixed with each other; that no mixture of earths is fusible + without the presence of silica; that the fusion of the + oxides of iron cannot take place by the addition of any + simple earth other than silica; that ternary mixtures are + more fusible than binary; that quaternary mixtures vitrify + even more readily, and that the oxide of manganese promptly + determines the liquefaction of all the earths. + + "The theory of the vitrification of oxides, aided by trials + on a small scale, points out the kind of earthy mixture + which ought to be employed, but it cannot fix the exact + proportion of the different earths that ought to be adopted; + nor does it teach the means of replacing an earth by its + chemical equivalent, as, for instance lime, by magnesia. The + solution of the question will depend rather upon the + properties of the silicates of lime and magnesia at high + temperatures, than upon the action of these silicates upon + iron. It is hardly probable that the iron obtained from all + ores, could be equally good, even if the most proper fluxes + could be added to these ores. Those who have maintained this + opinion, have erroneously imagined that the reduction of the + ore could always be effected under the same circumstances, + which would not be the case, even if these fluxes were + ascertained and made use of." + +Most of the ores of iron require, before they are subjected to the +process of reduction, a preparatory operation called roasting. This +consists in exposing them to a comparatively low heat. The more +important use of this process is to render the mass more susceptible of +mechanical division, but it also serves in many cases to separate the +sulphur and arsenic that may exist in the ore. There are some ores, as, +for instance, those of a number of mines in Morris and Sussex counties, +New-Jersey, which are so free from impurities, and which yield so +readily to the mechanical means employed for separating them, that this +process is wholly unnecessary; but such ores are rare, and the process +of roasting must, generally speaking, be performed. + +The mechanical division, which exposes a larger surface to the action of +heat and of the chemical agents, is called stumping; this is usually +performed by appropriate machinery, but was in the infancy of the art +effected by hand. + +The reduction of rich ores of iron, such as are almost wholly made up of +its oxides, and contain but little earthy matter, may be performed in a +common smith's forge. The reduction in this case takes place immediately +in the blast of the bellows, where the intensely heated ore is in +contact with the burning charcoal; and if a carburet be formed, it is +immediately decomposed, and pure iron is the result. Such is probably +the more ancient of all the processes for obtaining malleable iron, and +it is still used to a certain extent even at the present day. The hearth +in which the operation is at present performed, differs from the forge +of a common smith only in its greater size, and in the increased power +of its bellows. A cavity is prepared, in which a charcoal lire is +lighted, and to which the nozzle or _tuyere_ of the bellows is directed; +ore in minute fragments is thrown upon the ignited fuel, fresh coal and +ore are added from time to time, and the latter being reduced to the +malleable state descends, as the charcoal burns away, to the bottom of +the cavity. Here the successive portions, still kept hot by the fuel +above them, agglutinate, and form a porous mass, containing in its +cavities a black vitreous substance, which is composed of the earthy +matter rendered fusible by the metallic oxide. This porous mass is +called the _Loup_. + +It would be unsafe to subject the loup immediately to the action of +heavy hammers of iron. It is, therefore, after being withdrawn from the +fire, beaten with wooden mallets, to bring its parts into closer +contact, and press out the vitreous matter. While this is performed, it +cools so much as to require to be again heated, which is done in the +same fire. Indeed, the same forge is used in all the successive heats +that the iron in this process requires. + +After the loup has been again heated, it may be subjected to the hammer. +This unquestionably was anciently one moved by hand; but now, in all +manufactories of this character, a heavy mass of case hardened iron is +employed for the purpose; this is lifted by machinery impelled by a +water wheel, and permitted to fall upon the loup. The loup is again +heated, and again beaten into an irregular octangular prism, called the +cingle; this, after a third heat, is formed into a rectangular block, +called a bloom; and the whole, or a proper proportion of this is drawn +into a bar, at three successive heats; the middle being beaten out +first, and the two ends in succession. Thus, in addition to the heat +employed in the original reduction, the iron must be at least six times +reheated before it becomes a finished marketable bar. + +In this manner the ore of Elba is still manufactured in Catalonia and +Tuscany, and there can be little doubt that it is identical with the +original rude process, by which the iron of that most ancient of known +mines was prepared to be an object of commerce. The processes in these +two districts differ from each other in some minute particulars, and are +known on the continent of Europe as the processes _à la Catalane_ and _à +l'Italienne_. This method is known in the United States by the name of +_blooming_. + +Bloomeries are frequent in the United States, being found in many parts +of the primitive country, where the magnetic ore of iron is abundant. +The iron manufactured by blooming is, generally speaking, remarkable for +its nerve, being strong and tenacious in the highest degree, unless the +ore be in fault. It is not, however, homogeneous, being liable to +contain what are called pins, or grains that have the hardness and +consistence of steel. + +Blooming is comparatively an expensive process. It requires, indeed, +little original capital, but the product in proportion to the capital +employed is but small. It is wholly impracticable with poor ores, and +demands a great length of time and expenditure of fuel, unless the ore +be very fusible. Another objection to it is common to a process we shall +hereafter describe, that of refining, and lies in the numerous +successive heats, which the small extent of fire, and the slow process +of hammering render necessary, before the bar is finished. It has been +attempted in New-Jersey to lessen the expense attending these heats, by +performing them in reverberatory furnaces. A saving of fuel to a small +amount would probably thus be effected, but the number of heats would +still remain the same. A more important and useful improvement has +superseded the last; the process of rolling, which will be hereafter +described, has been introduced, and by means of it a bar may be drawn +out at a single heat, and at far less expense of manual labour. Such +establishments exist at Dover and Rockaway, New-Jersey, which receive +the iron completely reduced from the neighbouring forges, and fashion it +into bars. + +A forge fire, and, consequently, the process of blooming, is +insufficient to convert poor ores, or those that contain much earthy +matter, into iron. Treated in this way, those ores, if fusible at all, +would become a mass of slag, as the earth would require, at the +temperature of a forge fire, the whole, or the greater part of the +metallic oxide for its fusion. + +Iron being introduced, and its valuable applications known, it became +necessary, in those countries that do not afford rich ores, to discover +a method by which the poorer might be reduced. This could only be +effected by giving such a degree of heat, as would render the earthy +matter capable of melting, at a less expense of metal. To increase the +mass of fuel, by increasing the depth of the cavity, and actually +forming it of walls, thus enabling it to contain a greater quantity, +would be obvious means of attaining this end. The ore must be added in +smaller proportions, and, being longer in contact with the heated +charcoal, would become carbureted; the carbon must therefore be finally +burned away, before malleable iron could be attained. A rude but +efficient process of this sort, is described by Gmelin as in use among +the Tartars; an analogous method, whose use has been superseded by iron +imported from Europe, was found among the nations of Guinea; and Mungo +Park saw a more perfect application of the same principle at Camalia, on +the Gambia. Furnaces of similar character, but more skilfully +constructed, are still used in some parts of Germany, and are called +_stuckoffen_. + +As a carburet, or actual cast-iron, must be formed in these processes, +and, as the separation of carbon at the bottom of a deep cylinder, and +where the metal would probably be covered by a vitreous liquid, is +difficult, the iron might sometimes resist the efforts made to render it +malleable, and run from the furnace in a liquid form. It might therefore +have readily occurred, that it would be less costly to finish the +process in a forge. The _stuckoffen_ were therefore converted into +_flossoffen_, or melting furnaces, whence the liquid carburet was +withdrawn, and afterwards converted into bar iron. Such was probably the +cause that led to the original discovery of cast iron, a discovery that +cannot be traced further back than the end of the fifteenth century. + +The uses of cast iron for purposes to which wrought iron is +inapplicable, and the readiness with which it is fashioned, by pouring +it into moulds, led to the increase of the size of the _flossoffen_, and +in the power of the blowing apparatus, which has caused the introduction +of the blast furnace. This forms the basis of the methods by which iron +in all its forms is chiefly prepared at the present day, and is hence +worthy of particular consideration. + +The difference between the blast furnace proper, and the ancient fires +from which it gradually took its rise, consists wholly in its superior +height, and in the greater power of the blowing machines, by which its +combustion is supplied with air. + +This increase of height adds to the mass of the contained +combustible,--additional air is therefore required for effecting its +complete inflammation, and the joint effect is, that a much higher +temperature is generated. By this, the earthy matters either contained +in the ores, forming portions of the combustible, or added as _fluxes_, +are rendered fusible at a less expense of oxide of iron; the carburet +formed, becomes more fluid, and the product is more likely to assume the +character of grey pig-iron. + +Charcoal, as in the other processes, was the fuel originally employed, +and is still principally used in most countries. But coal deprived of +its volatile parts, and charred or converted into coke, has been +substituted in some regions, as will hereafter be stated. Each of these +combustibles requires a furnace of appropriate character, and demands a +difference in the mode of management. + +A blast-furnace is a hollow chamber enveloped, generally speaking, in a +mass of masonry, of the form of a truncated pyramid. The chamber is +composed essentially of three parts; the upper has the figure of a +truncated cone, whose greatest base is lowest: this may be called the +body of the furnace; the middle portion has also the figure of a +truncated cone, whose greater base is uppermost, and is common to it and +the upper portion: this contraction is called the _boshes_ of the +furnace; the lower position is called the hearth, and is usually +enclosed on three sides by walls of refractory substances, on the fourth +it is bounded by two stones, one serving as a lintel, which is called +the tymp, the other resting on the foundation, and known by the name of +the _dam_. Such at least is the shape of the blast furnaces in common +use, and which will suffice for our present purpose. + +The blast is introduced into the hearth, at a small distance above the +level of the upper edge of the dam, and is now generally performed by +means of two _tuyeres_; in the more ancient furnaces, there was but one. +The furnace being completely dried, a fire is lighted in the hearth, and +fuel gradually added, until the whole is filled to the _trundle head_, +which is the open and lesser base of the truncated cone that forms the +body of the furnace. The blast may then be applied, slowly and gently at +first, and increasing gradually, until it reach its maximum of +intensity. As the blast proceeds, the charcoal gradually burns, and +descends; its place is supplied at top by fresh fuel, by ore, and by the +earthy matter used as a flux. This is styled _charging_ the furnaces. +The earlier charges often contain no ore, but are wholly composed of +charcoal and flux, and, in all cases, the proportion of ore and flux is +at first small, and is gradually augmented. The charges are made as +often as the mixed mass in the furnace descends sufficiently low to +admit the quantity that is chosen as the proper amount. The charcoal is +thrown in first, and the ore and flux are spread and mixed upon its +surface. The principles which govern the amount of the charge, are as +follows:-- + + "The volume of the charges depends upon the capacity of the + furnace. If they be too large, they cool the upper part of + the furnace, which will cause great inconveniences, + particularly if zinc exist in the ore. On the other hand, + small charges of charcoal will be cut or displaced by the + ore, which will occasion a descent by sudden falls, in an + oblique direction, or in a confused manner. It follows that + the volume of the charge, although proportioned to the + volume of the furnace, must be augmented: when the charcoal + is light and susceptible of being displaced; and with the + friability, the weight, and the shape of the fragments of + the ore." + + "The heat, considered in any given horizontal section of the + furnace, will be intense in proportion to the thickness of + the layer of charcoal that reaches it. It follows, that the + fusible ore requires smaller charges of charcoal than one + that is more refractory. If the beds of charcoal and mineral + are too thick, the upper part of the furnace will not be + sufficiently heated. Hence it is obvious, that there must be + a maximum and minimum charge for every different dimension + of furnace, and for every different species of ore and + fuel." _Karsten_. + +The charge of charcoal being determined upon such principles, it is +added by measure, and always in equal quantities, while the proportion +of ore and flux is made to vary, not only by a gradual increase at the +beginning of the operation, but according to the working of the furnace. +The manner in which the furnace is working can be inferred, even before +its products are ascertained, by the appearance of the flame at the +trundle-head, and at the tymp, by the manner in which the charge +descends, and more surely still, by the appearance of the scoriæ. By a +strict attention to these circumstances the proportion of the charge of +ore may be regulated. A fortnight usually elapses from the time of the +first charge until it reaches a regular state of working, and variations +will occur even after that period, in consequence of the greater or less +moisture of the combustible and minerals, the continual wearing away of +the sides of the furnace, the variations in the state of the atmosphere, +and in the play of the blowing machines, the greater or less attention +of the workmen, and numerous other accidental circumstances. + +The mode of proceeding when coke is the fuel employed, rests upon the +same principles, but the dimensions of furnace that are best suited to +the different combustibles are different. As a general principle, the +height of furnaces must depend upon the force of the blast and the +density of the fuel. If the fuel be dense, and the blowing machine weak, +the furnace must not have a great height; and even if the blast can be +made strong, too high a furnace is disadvantageous for light charcoal. +Coke, on the other hand, may be used in furnaces of greater height than +any species of charcoal, provided the blast be of sufficient power. So +long as the imperfect bellows were used in blowing, the height of the +furnace was limited wholly by their action. More powerful apparatus in +the form of cylinders, analogous in form and arrangement to those of +steam-engines, and like them, either single or double acting, have now +been introduced; the intensity of the blast is in them only limited by +the moving power, which is applied to them, and when this is the steam +engine, it may be said, that no limit can arise from the want of blast. +We may, therefore, at the present day, regulate the height of furnaces +by the nature of the fuel that is consumed in them. + +The greater part of the furnaces in our country still retain the ancient +and imperfect form of bellows, hence their height is restricted to the +limits of from eighteen to twenty-four feet, and rarely or never reaches +thirty. But when the apparatus is such as to supply a proper quantity of +air, it has been found that even with light and porous charcoal, such as +is given by white pine, the height ought not to be less than thirty +feet, and when hard woods are used should be as great as thirty-six +feet. Furnaces of even forty feet have been found to answer an excellent +purpose, where the charcoal was prepared from oak. When coke is used, +furnaces have been made as high as fifty, or even as seventy feet; but +experience in England has shown, that from forty-five to forty-eight +feet is the proper limit. This height is not at present exceeded in that +country, even when the furnace has the greatest dimensions in other +respects, and has been found efficacious, even when the vast quantity of +eighteen tons has been furnished daily by a single furnace. + +The force of the blast will depend upon the nature of the fuel, the +volume of air, the quantity of mixed material the furnace holds; and +thus furnaces in which coke is used, will require the most powerful +blast, whether we have regard to the volume or the intensity. The latter +may be measured by a column of mercury adapted in a syphon tube to the +air pipes, exactly as the gauge is adapted to the pipes of the steam +engine. + +The reduction and liquefaction of the metal take place progressively, as +the charges descend in the furnace. The separation of the oxygen is due +to the presence of carbonaceous matter at high temperatures, begins at +the surface of the pieces of ore, and proceeds gradually inwards; the +earthy parts of the ore, of the fuel employed, and the flux, unite and +melt; they are thus separated, and being sooner fused than the metal, +make their way through the charcoal, and descend first to the hearth. +The reduced metal, continuing in contact with the burning carbon, +acquires a greater or less portion of that substance, becomes fusible, +melts, and follows the liquified earths. Dropping into the hearth that +already contains the liquid vitrified earths, it passes by its superior +gravity to the bottom, and is protected by them from the blast. Even at +the bottom of the hearth, the heat is sufficient to retain the +carbureted metal in a liquid state, and this is permitted gradually to +accumulate, until it rises nearly to the level of the dam. + +It now becomes necessary to withdraw or _cast_ the metal. This is done +by forcing a way through a channel left beneath the dam in the masonry +of the hearth, and closed with clay; the inner portion of this is baked +hard, and requires to be broken through with a steel point. As soon as +the passage is opened, the metal runs out, and is received in a long +trench formed in the sand floor of the moulding house, to which are +adapted a number of less trenches, at right angles, each containing +about one hundred weight of metal. The metal in the longer trench is +also broken into pieces of the same size, and the ingots thus formed are +called _pigs_, whence the term for this variety, _pig iron_. + +From one to three days will elapse from the time of the first charge +until the furnace can be tapped, and pigs cast. From that time the +casting succeeds with tolerable regularity, according to the working of +the furnace, and at intervals depending upon the volume of the charge, +and the capacity of the hearth. + +It appears probable that the fusion of the iron is effected always by a +direct chemical union of that metal with carbon, in the proportion of +two atoms of the former to one of the latter. This constitutes, as we +have seen, the white variety of pig iron. But as it continues, generally +speaking, in the furnace, long after its fusion takes place, it acquires +a temperature higher than its proper melting point, and a tendency to +separation takes place, the iron retaining in combination no more of the +carbon than is necessary to maintain it in a fluid state at the +increased temperature. Thus the grey variety of pig iron is formed; and +on casting it, the carbon, in a form similar to that of plumbago, is +disseminated throughout the mass, or forms on its surface the +efflorescence that is called kish, and which is always a sign of a high +quality in the iron it accompanies. + +In conformity with this theory, we find that a high temperature in the +furnace always produces grey cast iron; and that a low temperature, from +whatever cause it may arise, renders the iron more or less inclining to +white. So also if the metal be not exposed to the heat for a sufficient +length of time, it becomes white. + +Karsten classes these several causes of whiteness in the product, in the +following order:-- + + "In conformity with the observations that have hitherto been + made, white cast iron is obtained: + + "1. By the use of ores that are too easily fusible, or which + is the same thing, by an excess of flux, by a want of + density in the charcoal, and by too strong a blast, even + when the working of the furnace is regular. + + "2. By a surcharge of ore, which deranges the action of the + furnace, and produces impure cinder, containing uncombined + iron. + + "3. By boshes of too rapid a slope, and a blast of too great + a velocity; and this may occur even where the cinder is + pure. + + "4. By too low a temperature, even when the cinder is pure, + and the furnace works regularly. + + "5. By a derangement in the action of the furnace, arising + not from a surcharge of ore, but from an irregularity in the + descent of the charge. + + "6. By the substances contained in the body of the furnace + exercising too great a pressure upon those beneath; the heat + in this case, concentrated in the hearth, cannot reach the + boshes, and the upper part of the furnace; the working may + be regular, the cinder and flame may in this case give no + sign of derangement. + + "7. By too great a breadth in the furnace. + + "8. When coke is used, it may arise from too great a + quantity of ashes, or of fossil charcoal, (anthracite,) + being contained in it. The presence of these will keep down + the heat of the furnace. An excess of ashes may be remedied, + by using the ore and flux in proper proportions to fuse + them, but a diminution in the charge must be made; the + cinder becomes viscid, and likely to obstruct the descent of + the charges. + + "9. By an accidental cooling, arising from humidity, and + other similar causes." + +Among the last may be reckoned the presence of zinc in the ore. This +metal, although volatile, is not separated at the temperature given in +the process of roasting, nor does it sublime in the upper and cooler +parts of the furnace. But, as the ore descends, it passes into the state +of vapour, and requires for its conversion, great quantities of heat +that becomes latent. It hence cools the lower part of the furnace far +more rapidly than even wet coal, or moist ores. The cooling thus caused, +may not be effected until the melted metal reach the hearth, and may +there cause it to become solid. Thus the solid mass called a salamander, +may, in some cases, be formed; and thus may be explained the fact, that +ores of iron that contain the more easily fusible metal zinc, are more +liable to interrupt the action of the furnace in this manner, than +others. The volatilized zinc rises to the upper part of the furnace, +where the heat is often insufficient to retain it in the state of +vapour, and is then deposited on the sides. In this position, it will +also disturb the action of the furnace. + +Coke being more dense than charcoal, will, in its combustion, furnish a +more intense heat;--hence it is hardly possible to obtain by a charcoal +fire, iron of as deep a colour as may be procured by the use of the +former fuel. It will also resist the pressure of far greater weights +than charcoal, and hence the proportion of ore may be much greater when +it is used; containing more and less fusible earthy matters than +charcoal, it requires a greater quantity of flux. + +In the manufacture of cast iron then, coke gives iron better suited for +small castings, for those which require turning or filing, and yields a +far greater quantity from a furnace. Hence arises the very great +superiority which Great Britain has, until recently, possessed over most +other countries, in those fabrics in which these qualities are valuable; +and hence it has been found until lately, in this country, hardly +possible to manufacture fine machinery that requires workmanship after +it is cast, without the aid of the higher qualities of Scotch iron, +which, in these qualities, exceeds even the English. Recently, however, +iron fully equal to the best Scotch, but like it wanting in tenacity, +has been manufactured at the Bennington furnace in Vermont:--so also at +the Greenwood furnace in Orange county, N. Y., and at West Point, iron +approaching to the Scotch in softness, but very superior in strength, +has been produced. In these cases, the height of the furnace has been +carried up to the limits we have before laid down, and powerful blowing +cylinders substituted for the ancient bellows. + +When the pig iron is to be used for re-casting, every effort ought to be +used to obtain it of the deepest possible colour. This, as may be seen +from what has been already stated, will be effected by keeping the +furnace at the highest possible temperature, and exposing the metal to +it a sufficient length of time. In effecting this, however, certain +defects may arise:--thus a longer exposure to a high heat, will cause +the reduction of other oxides that may be present, as of manganese and +the metallic bases of the earths; and the iron in becoming more soft, +and approaching in fact more nearly to the form of the pure metal, will +combine and form alloys with these bases. In this way, it will, as has +been stated, become cold short; and to this may be attributed the want +of strength in the greater part, if not all, of the British iron. The +use of coke as a fuel, tends to increase this defect, in consequence of +the great quantity of earthy matter it contains. + +When the ores are pure, cast iron manufactured by charcoal, is not +liable to such a fault. Hence the cast iron of Sweden and the United +States, manufactured from the magnetic iron, or, in some cases in this +country, from rich hæmatites, has very superior tenacity, insomuch that +these two nations have alone been able to use this material in the +construction of field pieces. When white iron is obtained from a +furnace, it may have two different qualities. The first arises from a +mere defect of heat, where all other circumstances are favourable, and +the ore is completely reduced. The second arises when the reduction is +not complete, and the separation of the earths and other oxides has not +been fully effected. Of all the varieties of cast iron, this latter is +by far the worst. It is indeed more easily converted into wrought iron +than the other species, but the product is always of very inferior +quality; it is rarely or never produced by furnaces fed with charcoal, +but may be obtained by accident or design in those where coke is used, +by a surcharge of ore, or by too great a proportion of flux, and +sometimes cannot be avoided in warm and moist weather, where the air is +rarefied and charged with vapour. + +The grey iron obtained by the use of each of the different kinds of +fuel, has its own peculiar advantages; that made with coke possessing, +as a general rule, when melted, a higher degree of fluidity which adapts +it for more delicate castings; being softer and better suited for +fitting; while that manufactured with charcoal, possesses a greater +degree of strength. One solitary instance has been quoted, in which a +manufacturer of great intelligence has obtained by the use of charcoal, +from a very pure ore, a union of both these valuable properties, and +another, in which iron as soft as that made with coke, has been produced +by means of charcoal. + +In spite of this apparent balance in the properties of the two fuels, +the introduction of coke into the art of reducing iron has been attended +with the most important advantages. These lie in the superior economy of +the process, and in the enormous quantity of the product. The +manufacture of iron by charcoal is limited, by the growth of the +forests, which replace themselves only at distant periods, by the large +space they occupy, and the consequent labour of transportation; by the +cost of cutting the wood and preparing the coal; and finally, even when +the fuel can be obtained in abundance, and at small cost, the burden of +the furnace, and the heat obtained in a given space are less than when +coke is used, and the quantity of metal yielded is in consequence +comparatively small. The coke furnaces of Great Britain, have therefore +supplied cast iron in such abundance and at such diminished prices as to +have brought it into use for a great variety of purposes, to which, +until recently, it was hardly considered applicable. + +In England, as in other countries, charcoal was the only fuel at first +used; and after bloomeries had been in vogue for centuries, the blast +furnace was introduced from the shores of the Rhine. For many years the +growth of the forests proved sufficient to supply the demand, but at +length the increase of population caused them to be encroached upon by +cultivation; the growth of the manufacture was first prevented, and +finally, almost extinguished. + +The method by charcoal appears to have reached its acme of prosperity, +at the close of the reign of the First James, when the furnaces of the +kingdom yielded 180,000 tons of pig iron. About this period, Dudley +first proposed the use of pit coal; but the time had not yet arrived in +which it was absolutely necessary to seek for a new process, in +consequence of the failure of the old one. + +In 1745, or in the course of one hundred and thirty years, the forests +had been so far encroached upon, that the product of the furnaces had +fallen to 17,000 tons per annum, and in 1788, the quantity made with +charcoal had dwindled as low as 13,000 tons. At this epoch, coke was +introduced into blast furnaces, and in eight years the whole quantity +produced by both methods had mounted up to 150,000 tons, or increased +more than tenfold. + +At nearly the lowest ebb of the British manufacture, the art of +preparing iron was introduced into her then provinces, the present +United States; and in 1737 it was attempted to obtain permission to +introduce the product into England. The attempt failed, and in 1750 an +act was passed to protect the exportation of English iron to America, +and to prevent the establishment of forges. Had the other policy +prevailed, England would probably have seen her manufacture of iron +transferred to the United States, and with great immediate advantage +both to herself and her then most valuable colony; but she would +probably have seen herself at the present day degraded from her high +stand in the scale of nations, to the secondary place in which the +extent of her territory would keep her, were it not for the superiority +of her manufacturing industry, of which iron is the basis. The quantity +of iron now produced in England, exceeds that furnished by the rest of +the world united, and does not fall short of 800,000 tons. It has a +value even in its raw state of near four millions sterling, and is of +far greater intrinsic worth, in consequence of the spur which its +abundance gives to every other branch of industry. + +Bar iron is at the present day principally manufactured from the pig. +The process originally used for this purpose is called refining. The +fire in which it is performed is a forge, similar in form and character +to that employed in blooming. In blooming, the iron must be reduced, +combines with carbon, and is subsequently decarbureted; while in the +refining, the latter part of the operation alone remains. In this last +process, while the carbon is burning away, the metallic bases of the +earths are then oxidated, combine with oxide of iron, and form a +vitreous substance. Hence, when it is carefully conducted, by far the +greater part of the impurities contained in the cast iron may be +removed. Refined iron, if made from ore of equal purity, is not inferior +in tenacity to bloomed, and is superior in other respects, being more +homogeneous, free from pins, and more easily treated by the smith. As a +general rule, it is also less costly, that is to say, the same quantity +of charcoal and workmanship will furnish a greater quantity of refined +iron. It requires, however, a much greater capital, and the labour of +transporting the coal from the greater distances which the increased +consumption of a single blast furnace and several refineries will +demand, may swell the cost of that article. A bloomery fire does not +require more than 2000 acres of woodland, while a blast furnace will use +the charcoal of 5000. Thus it happens, that it may be more advantageous +to spread a number of bloomeries over a given district of country, than +to unite a blast furnace and an equal number of refineries in a single +place. The celebrated iron of Sweden and Russia is refined, and our +country furnishes iron prepared in the same manner not inferior in +quality. The principle objection to the process is the great expense of +the fuel employed, in the successive heats to which the iron must be +exposed in drawing it into bars, after the processes of conversion and +the separation of impurities have been effected. + +As charcoal became scarce in England, it was attempted to employ coke in +lieu of it, in the refineries. This, however, constantly failed, in +consequence of the great intensity of the heat, by which the pig was +melted suddenly instead of being exposed to the blast, long enough to +burn away the carbon. Reverberatory furnaces were next tried, and with +partial success, but a combined process has finally been introduced +which has been successful and which is called, from a part of the +operation, the method of _puddling_. + +The manufacture of wrought iron, by means of bituminous coal, is +executed at three successive processes, and is facilitated by very great +improvements in the machinery. Where hammers are still used, they are +much increased in weight, and driven with greater velocity; but by far +the greater part of the operation of drawing the bars is effected by +means of rollers. The plan of these is in some measure borrowed from the +slitting mill, in which bar iron is reduced into rods and thin rolls for +various uses. These rollers are in sets, composed each of two of equal +diameter, lying in a horizontal position, and placed one vertically +above the other. Grooves corresponding to each other are cut in the two +rollers, between which the heated iron is drawn by their revolution, and +forced to assume a section that just fills up the two grooves. By +passing in succession through grooves gradually decreasing in size, any +form or magnitude may be given to the bars; and the operation is so +rapid, that the bar may be drawn from the loup at a single heat. + +The first operation to which the pig iron is subjected, consists in +melting it in a fire called a finery, similar in form and character to +the bloomeries and refineries of which we have spoken, but in which the +fuel is coke. The melted metal is drawn off by tapping the furnace from +beneath, and is cast into thin plates. In this way it assumes the +characters of the white cast iron, which has been described as formed, +when the reduction of the metal is complete, a form that cannot be given +when the blast furnace in which it is made is supplied with coke. The +rapidity of the cooling is increased, by throwing water on the surface +of the plates. It thus appears, that this operation is adopted in order +to bring the cast iron into a slate that it may often assume when +manufactured by charcoal, and which cannot be given to it by coke. In +conformity with this view of the subject, it has been found, that when +wrought iron is manufactured by puddling, from American pig prepared by +charcoal, this preliminary operation is unnecessary. + +The fine metal, obtained in the manner we have described, is next broken +into pieces, and subjected to heat in a reverberatory furnace. A rapid +heat is given at first to liquefy the iron, and is then diminished by +means of dampers; the melted mass is violently stirred to expose it to +the action of air and heat, by which the carbon is burnt away, and a +part of the oxides of iron and the earthy bases combined and vitrified; +as the carbon is separated, the metal gradually loses its liquidity, and +finally dries, or assumes the consistence of sand: this shows that the +carbon is separated, and the iron has assumed its malleable nature. The +addition of water aids the oxidation of the several substances, and +facilitates the process. The heat is again increased, and the metal +collected under it, and rolled together into parcels suited to the +action of the drawing machinery, and to the size of the bar that is to +be made; these are pressed together, and a partial union takes place +among their particles. When they have attained a white heat, they are +withdrawn in succession. In some cases, where the number of puddling +furnaces is great, they are immediately carried to the rollers and drawn +down. But where quality is more regarded than quantity, they are first +subjected to the action of the hammer, and finally rolled. The latter +process has the advantage of separating more completely the vitrefied +oxides, than can be done by rolling alone, but it will often require a +second heat, which is given in a forge fire called the _chaffery_. When +rollers are used alone, a minute and half is sufficient to form the bar; +and a power of thirty houses will roll two hundred tons per week. + +The iron in this state is still of very inferior quality, although its +external appearance may be good. It is, notwithstanding, sometimes +thrown into the market, and this has given rise to the impression that +prevails in this country of the bad quality of English rolled iron. It +may, however, be used in some cases, where it need not be fashioned by +forging; thus, where it requires no more than to be cut into lengths, or +where the original bars will answer the purpose, its cheapness may +recommend it. Iron for rail-roads is of this quality; and the punching +of holes, by which it may be fastened down, is effected by a simple +addition of steel teeth, at proper distances, to the last groove through +which it is passed. In this form, ready to lay down, rail-road iron may +be shipped from England at the low price of 7_l._ 10_s._ sterling per +ton; and a similar quality in the simple bar may probably be afforded at +about 7_l._ We have never heard of its being sold so low as is stated in +the evidence before the Committee of Congress, say 5_l._ 5_s._ There +was, however, a period, when an excess of production, caused by a +competition between the manufacturers of Wales and Staffordshire, +entailed ruin on many of them, and their articles were sold far below +the price of production. The price which we have stated is lower than +that which has recently been paid in England for rail-road iron, and is +that of some shipped from Liverpool, 1st March, 1831, when a +considerable fall had taken place. + +In order to render the iron which has undergone this process +merchantable, it is subjected to the third of the operations which we +have enumerated. For this purpose, the bars are made from three to four +inches in breadth, and half an inch in thickness. These are cut into +lengths, proportioned to the weight of the bar of finished iron that is +to be made, and piled together by fours, in a reverberatory furnace, +similar in character to the puddling furnace. Here they are exposed to a +white heat, by which the four pieces of each pile are made to adhere; +they are then withdrawn, and subjected to rollers similar to those used +after the puddling process, but of more careful workmanship. The cost of +finishing bar iron in this way, when the pig is made by the manufacturer +himself, as ascertained upon the spot by Dufrênoy and de Beaumont, is, +in Wales, 8_l._ 15_s._, in Staffordshire, 9_l._ 12_s._ The cost of +making pig iron in Wales is 4_l._ 7_s._, or about half that of the +finished bar iron, and in Staffordshire 5_l_ 2_s._ + +The iron prepared by the three processes of which we have spoken, +although merchantable, and suited for various common purposes, is still +far from good. We give the characters by which it is distinguished, from +the work of Karsten:-- + + "The iron prepared in the English manner, appears dense and + exempt from cracks and flaws. But this goodness is only + apparent; the uniform pressure to which the bars are + subjected at every point, masks their defects. If a piece of + this kind be taken, that in its fracture appears dense and + homogeneous, and it be heated in order to be drawn out under + a common forge hammer, it dilates and exhibits numerous + flaws, that sometimes increase to such a degree, that the + bar will fall to pieces under the hammer. It is probable + that the cause of this phenomenon is due to the scoriæ, + which, in this mode of working, remain mixed in the mass." + +The translator adds:-- + + "It is not however true, that the English method of itself, + injures the quality of iron,--experience has proved the + contrary: it appears that soft irons lose their harshness in + this operation, and become better for many uses." + +It may therefore be inferred, that, when the English method is applied +to pig iron, that would produce a good wrought metal by the process with +charcoal, it will produce one that is equally good by means of coal, but +that the latter is capable of hiding the apparent defects of even the +worst iron. + +The inferiority of the puddled iron is well understood in England, and +therefore when it is to be used for chain cables and anchors, it is +again heated, and rolled a third time, its price will be then raised to +10_l._ 10_s._ Another quality still superior, is made by uniting scraps +of the better qualities that we have mentioned, into loups in the +puddling furnace, drawing it in the puddle rolls, balling or piling, and +again rolling. Its cost will thus be raised to 12_l._ Even this is yet +inferior to Swedes and Russia iron, which sell in the English market +from 13_l._ to 15_l._ sterling per ton. For particular purposes in the +fabrication of machinery, charcoal is still used in England, in +manufacturing a very small quantity of iron, but of very superior +quality; this, we have recently understood from good authority, is sold +as high as 22_l._ per ton. + +Thus it appears that the manufactories of England produce five different +descriptions of wrought iron, four of which bear a lower price, and are +therefore inferior in quality to those of Sweden and Russia, and, +consequently, to the best American iron. No more than one of these, and +that the lowest in quality, is usually shipped to this country, and it +was the influx of this cheap and almost worthless material, which in +1816 and '17, completely prostrated the American manufacture. Under a +protecting duty, it has again revived, but has not reached its former +level. New capital has been invested in it under this protection, and it +would be a breach of faith suddenly to withdraw it. Still sound policy +would dictate that this protection should not be perpetual, provided it +can be incontestably proved that it bears so hard upon other branches of +industry, as to injure the country through them to a greater extent, +than the benefit it derives from the manufacture of iron. But this is +far from being the case. The manifest and habitual policy of our +government, is to derive its revenue indirectly through the custom +house, instead of seeking it in direct taxation. When these duties +descend to a level with the minimum expenditure, they cannot be +considered burthensome, because they in fact replace revenues that must +be drawn from other sources. If, for instance, the iron employed in a +specific object, appear to cost more than in some other country, that +object may yet be afforded cheaper with us, in consequence of its maker +being free from other burthens, which the repeal of the duty on iron, +would throw upon him as a necessary substitute. If then our furnaces and +forges, when a sufficient capital shall be invested in them under a +protecting duty, can afford iron as cheap as it can be imported from +other countries, under a minimum of duty, it cannot in truth be said, +that this raw material will enhance the price of the articles +manufactured from it. Let us see whether there be any reasonable +prospect that we shall have iron produced in our own country, which will +compete with foreign iron of equal quality, paying a duty of 25 per +centum. If this be the case, the profits arising from the present +protection, must, in a few years, call forth such production as will +reduce the price to a proper level. + +The best grey pig iron of American manufacture, superior in strength, +and equal in all other respects to the Scotch, is now sold in the New +York market at $45 per ton. Good grey iron of the usual character, is +worth $35 per ton, and there is no question that forge pig could be +obtained by the manufacturer of bar iron, for $25. If it were even to +cost $30, it is still cheaper than Staffordshire iron, far less fit for +the purpose, can be imported. The Muirkirk iron, so valuable for the +casting of machinery, used to cost to import it, at the present rate of +duty, $55 and $56. The Bennington furnace commenced the competition with +it at this rate, but has been compelled, after driving the Scotch iron +from the market, to sell at $45, which is as low as the foreign could be +imported at a minimum duty. + +Taking the cost of forge pig at $25, the price of converting into bars +by charcoal, would be, according to the Philadelphia memorial, $18, and +the ton of wrought iron ought to cost no more than $43. We however +believe that this cost is far underrated, and that even by the aid of +rollers in a part of the process, iron of the best quality could not be +produced under $50. This is as cheap as merchantable English puddled +iron can be imported, paying 25 per cent. duty. But, even if the pig +cost $35, and the wrought iron, $60, it is still cheaper than the +English iron, worth in that market 10_l._ 10_s._ can be imported; and +the latter is the cheapest which can be obtained in that country, +suitable for the manufacture of anchors and chain-cables. At the present +moment, however, iron cannot be produced so cheaply, for the forges and +furnaces may be considered as in a great measure new, and undergoing all +the difficulties of new establishments. Capital above all is wanting, +from a want of confidence in the success of the enterprize, growing out +of a fear of the repeal of the duty, and the recollection of the former +catastrophe; and even credit, so essential where capital is deficient, +is at a low ebb. Hence, if profit be made, it rather centers in the +capitalist who makes the advances, than in the maker. Thus we have known +iron in the bloom, sold at $45 per ton; and, when finished for the +market by rolling, bring $100. The latter price, however, could not long +be maintained, and has descended to $75 and $80, which still leaves the +greater part of the profit to the capitalist. + +But we are of opinion, that the manufacture of iron by charcoal is not +that to which our country should look for its final supply. It is at +best a precarious resource, and its production must diminish with the +advance of agriculture, and the consequent demand, while every increase +in the price of land must raise the cost. It is then to a total change +in the seat and mode of manufacture, that we are to be hereafter +beholden for the supply of this first necessary of civilized life. A +change will first take place in the sites of the two branches; pig iron +will continue to be manufactured by charcoal, and the bar converted by +coal. For this the great coal field of Pennsylvania will afford the +earliest facilities. No doubt can be entertained that the more freely +burning varieties of anthracite will work well in the puddling furnace, +as they have been successfully employed in the rolling and slitting of +bar iron. When the same species of coal is mixed with charcoal in the +blast furnace, it produces excellent forge pig, and thus the two species +of fuel may be advantageously united, although the coal alone will not +answer the purpose. The value of this coal in the mine and the cost of +raising it, is as yet less than that of bituminous coal in any part of +Europe, and thus we cannot avoid concluding that when it shall be +brought into use, our manufacturers might compete with the English even +if unprotected by duty. Our fields of bituminous coal are yet too +distant from dense population, and too far removed from easy +communication, to be looked to at present, but unless modes be invented +by which the anthracite coal can be used without mixture in the blast +furnace, these will become the ultimate seats of the manufacturing +industry of the United States. + +But for reducing the price of iron, by competition within our country, +to a level with that of other countries, capital is required, and to +divert it to this purpose, the capitalist must feel assured that he +shall derive a certain profit from its investment, and that he shall be +subjected to no fluctuations in price and still more in demand, from a +vacillating course in the government. The establishment of works so +perfect as to compete in their manipulations with the English, is a +serious business, and till they be established in numbers, we must be +dependent on foreign countries for no small proportion of the important +article of iron that we consume. A forge for manufacturing puddled iron +cannot be profitable unless its machinery be kept in regular employ, for +the cost of that will be the same in all cases. This constant employment +cannot be given by fewer than eighteen reverberatory furnaces, and the +first cost of the works will not be less than $100,000, of which the +machinery alone costs $50,000. To supply an establishment of this +magnitude with pig, would employ three blast furnaces working with coke, +or six with charcoal, the cost of which would reach at least $120,000. +The value of the manufactured article would not fall short of a million +of dollars, and would require to carry it on a floating capital of not +less than $250,000. Thus it appears that a system of works for the +manufacture of iron, which should compete to advantage with those of +England, would find employment for a capital of half a million of +dollars, even with the advantage of credit, and the ready conversion of +its securities into cash through the banks. So long, then, as the policy +of our government is unsettled, we can hardly expect that so vast an +operation can be undertaken either by individual or by corporate funds. +A division of the business has been indeed attempted; there is more than +one puddling forge in the United States that relies upon the purchase of +pig for its supply. These unquestionably do a fair and profitable +business, but do not act to the same advantage as they would were the +two branches of the manufacture united. The chief difficulty under which +they labour is, that they must consult, in their location, convenience +in the supply of the raw material, and must therefore neglect what would +in the abstract be the most important consideration, the supply of fuel. +Thus, at least one of the puddling forges of which we have spoken, is +compelled to use imported fuel, and none are situated where alone the +nation could derive essential benefit from them, immediately over a rich +bed of coal. + +It is not pretended to maintain that the present duties on iron are not +too high in general for a permanent rate, and that the distribution of +their rates is not injudicious. All that we would contend for is, that +there shall be no sudden change in the principle, by which a valuable +branch of industry would be at once destroyed beyond the possibility of +re-establishment. We have been able to discover no argument in the +blacksmith's petition, or in the report of the majority of the committee +of the Senate, in favour of an entire repeal of duty on raw iron, that +does not apply equally to the articles manufactured from it; and we +presume that those useful and respectable mechanics would think their +principles carried a step too far, should they be made to bear upon the +fabrics of their own industry. We are willing, in addition, at once to +admit that where the scale has been founded upon improper principles, it +ought to be instantly changed. + +To attain the first object, as we presume it will not be contended that +iron shall ever be imported free of duty, while the nation needs a +revenue to meet its current expenditure, let a minimum be fixed beyond +which it shall not descend, and which will, evidently, when correctly +viewed, place our consumers of iron on an equal footing with those who +pay direct taxes in other countries; to this minimum, after a certain +definite period, let the duty be gradually and almost insensibly +reduced. Less than twenty-five years would probably be insufficient to +effect this without incurring a wanton waste of property. We are aware, +indeed that our national legislature can perform no act which its +successors may not annul, but a hearty concurrence on the part of Mr. +Dickerson and Mr. Hayne, representing, as they do, the two great +opposing interests in this question, would be a pledge that might be +acted upon by capitalists. The expediency of investment would then +become a subject of strict calculation, and we do not fear the result. + +As to the injudicious adjustment of the scale, the higher rates of +duties fall upon articles, which under present circumstances are not +capable of being protected, except by actual prohibition. These are the +small forms of rod and round iron, hoops and sheets. The introduction of +the joint operations of puddling and rolling, has altogether changed the +manner of manufacturing these in Europe; they are now, with the +exception of sheets, made directly from the pig, by as few operations as +common bars; our own puddling forges are adopting the same method, and +so soon as they are capable of supplying the market, must drive out the +articles of these descriptions, made by those who use merchantable bar +iron, and roll it down or slit it. The slitting and rolling mills which +are conducted on this last principle, are therefore beyond the reach of +support. The inequality in the duty too, is more than the cost of +performing the additional operation upon the bar, and is hence rather +injurious than otherwise, to the interest of the producers of the raw +iron, while it bears with great severity upon those consumers who are +themselves manufacturers of hardware. The duty upon these articles +should then be adjusted so as to bear the proportion to that upon bar +iron, which their values do in the foreign market whence they are +derived. + +On the other hand, there are certain articles, of which the price of the +raw material, whether cast or bar iron, forms the chief value, and which +are actually convertible to the same purposes with their base. On these, +there can be no question, that every consideration of policy and justice +requires that the duty should be raised. Several articles of this +description are enumerated by the Philadelphia memorialists, where the +fabric is of wrought iron; and it is obvious that there are others, made +at a blast furnace from the metal at its first reduction, which might be +used as a substance for pig. Such articles, however, cannot be numerous; +for iron is, after all, a material of such low price, that it can be +hardly wrought into any important species of goods, in which the value +of the workmanship will not exceed the cost of the raw article. The _ad +valorem_ duty must, therefore, in most cases, be an efficient +protection, both to the maker of iron and the manufacturer of hardware. +Where however it is not, an easy principle will restore the +irregularity; for it is only necessary to collect the duties by weight, +and affix to them the same rates which the raw iron pays. + +The plan we have proposed, of continuing the present duty for a limited +time, is consistent with the policy of all civilized nations, who do not +hesitate to grant monopolies for definite periods to the inventers of +new processes in the arts, and most of whom give equal encouragement to +those who merely introduce them. Our government, indeed, has never +adopted the latter principle, but it may well be questioned whether it +have not in this way prevented the introduction of many important +branches of manufacture. The former has been adopted in its full extent, +and its utility is unquestioned. If, then, it be sound and highly +profitable policy, to grant a monopoly to individuals for limited +periods, thereby excluding our own citizens from advantages which in +most cases lie open to foreign countries, much more will it be politic +and profitable, to protect a whole class of our own artificers from +external competition for a similar period, leaving the price to be +lessened by the competition that security, from a change of system, will +infallibly create. The usual limit of a patent right having been found +efficient in drawing forth inventive talent, an equal duration of +protecting duty might be depended upon as sufficient to induce the +investment of capital in a business whose processes are understood, and +in relation to which strict calculations can be made. But these +protecting duties must not suddenly cease; for if they do, a spirit of +speculation, both on our part and on that of foreign merchants, would +infallibly throw into the market an excess of the article from abroad; +and although the importer might not be exempted wholly from the ruinous +consequence of the over trade, infallible destruction would visit our +own establishments. Such was the case in 1816 and 1817. The losses on +the iron trade were not confined to our own manufacturers, but visited +the importers, whether British or American, and reached in their remote +consequences, but with diminished effect, the forges and furnaces of +England. The latter were, however, protected by the whole capital of the +merchant, which was annihilated before the ruin could reach them, while +the American establishments were directly exposed to it. The adventurous +spirit of British commerce, in fact, produced on this occasion an effect +similar to that which the people of the continent have erroneously +ascribed to the government of that country. New markets are no sooner +opened, than loads of British fabrics are thrown in, and necessarily +sacrificed; those who see no more than their own domestic misfortunes, +naturally ascribe to the policy of the nation, what is in fact the +misjudged enterprise of rash individuals. The effect has, however, been +in many cases the same, as if the act had been the result of a +deliberate national system; for the foreign industry has been often +prostrated, while the capital of the British has enabled it to bear the +momentary shock, and then to replace its losses by the undivided +enjoyment of the disputed market. + +Having proposed that the duty on imported iron, after remaining for a +limited period at its present rate, should thereafter be gradually +reduced to a minimum, it remains that we should examine at what rate +this minimum should be fixed. This we conceive may be adjusted merely as +a question of revenue. Raw iron being a material of great weight, in +proportion to its value, cannot be smuggled; it will therefore bear, +among all articles, nearly the highest rate of impost, in proportion to +its cost. This rate of duty should be calculated upon the higher +qualities of wrought and bar iron, and be applied equally to all the +different shades of each article. For a wise policy would dictate that +the import of the inferior sorts should be more impeded than that of the +best descriptions. This is analogous to the system at present sanctioned +by law, and is dictated by sound views. Fixing then the minimum duty at +about twenty-five per cent, on the value of the better qualities of the +two varieties of raw iron, it will amount to about seven and a half +dollars on the pig, and fifteen dollars on the bar. To this limit we +believe that the duty may be finally reduced, without causing injury to +our own trade, provided the present duties remain in force for fourteen +years, and be then gradually lessened to this assumed minimum. + +It will be seen, that our views neither go the whole length of those of +the sticklers for either system, the _tariff_ or the _anti-tariff_,--and +we fear, that, at the moment, they will be equally objectionable to the +advocates of both. We however cannot but believe, that they are founded +upon sound and just principles. We give the fullest meed of praise to +that policy which has recalled into existence by a protecting duty, the +most important of manufactures, because the basis of all the rest. But, +we cannot see that it would be judicious to continue this duty, after it +shall have produced its whole vivifying effect. While, therefore, on the +one hand, it appears to be no more than a fulfilment of a solemn +contract, that the manufacture of iron shall be protected, we cannot +urge that that protection should continue forever; and, in relation to +the diminution of duty, we conceive that it ought to be gradual, and not +sudden. Modified in conformity with such principles, we conceive that a +"judicious tariff" might be rendered popular in all parts of the Union. + +In the northern and eastern states, the tariff policy has no opponents, +except in the merchants engaged in foreign commerce; in the western +States, the opinion in favour of the present system, is almost +unanimous. The southern states, and a portion of the mercantile interest +of the north, are alone in direct opposition to protecting duties. The +agricultural interest of the north and west, seeing and feeling directly +the benefits which the establishment of manufactures confers upon it, +has given what is called the American system,--which is in principle, if +it err occasionally in detail, the sound and true policy of the +nation--its full and undivided support. We cannot but hope to see the +day arrive, when the mist raised by designing politicians, and _soi +disant_ economists, shall be dissipated, and when the southern states +will see that they are not merely indirectly, but as directly benefited +by the creation of manufacturing industry in the northern districts of +the Union, as they have been by that part of the system which has +secured them a complete monopoly of the home market for their own +products. Of all the states of the Union, Louisiana has derived the most +immediate and important advantages from protecting duties, but they have +also been shared by her neighbours; and we cannot hesitate to conclude, +that, next to Louisiana, South Carolina has been most benefited. The +cotton of India, which would have been preferred, from its low price, +for the manufacture of the coarse articles with which our factories have +in all cases commenced their business, is in fact prohibited; the +creation of the growth of sugar has occupied land and capital, which, if +applied to the culture of cotton, must have driven the whole upland +staple from the markets of the world; and, more than all, a growing +domestic demand has arisen, which foreign interference cannot controul +or diminish. In return for such advantages, it might fairly have been +expected that some burthen would fall upon the southern states, and no +doubt it might appear to be capable of plausible proof, that a portion +of the increased duties amounted to an actual tax. But this appearance +on which so much stress has been laid, is only upon paper, and does not +exist in reality, for we believe that they may be challenged, and must +fail if they attempt, to prove that the cost of the production of any +one staple has been in the slightest degree increased. We believe that +it has, on the contrary, diminished. It would lead us too far to show +how this has been the natural result: we appeal therefore to the fact +alone. + +And so in respect to the clamour which it has been attempted to excite +among importing merchants, we might appeal to the growing prosperity of +that interest, as a proof that the clamour has no foundation. We however +believe that the obvious cause lies, in the latter instance, upon the +surface, and exists in the plan of credit duties, the wise conception of +the illustrious Hamilton, by which, so long as the limit at which +smuggling would be profitable, or consumption diminished, is not +reached, every addition of duty increases the effective capital, and +adds to the net profits of the importer. In illustration of this view of +the subject, we may cite the well-established fact, that most of the +great mercantile fortunes of our commercial cities, have owed their more +important increase to the judicious employment of the capital, thus in +effect loaned by the government without interest. + +To use the words of the majority of the Committee of the Senate of the +United States, quoted at the head of this article: + + "Of all the metals, iron contributes most to the wealth, the + comfort, and the improvement of society. It enters most + largely into the consumption of all ranks and constitutions + of men. It furnishes the mechanic with his tools, the farmer + with the implements of his husbandry, the merchant with the + means of fitting out his ship, and the manufacturer with the + very instruments of his wealth and prosperity." + +The wisdom of Europe draws very different conclusions, from a similar +view of the importance of iron, from those which are deduced by the +majority of the Committee of the Senate. + + "The preparation of iron has become the most essential + branch of industry, in consequence of the immediate profit + it produces to the masters of forges, of the general good + that society draws from it, and of the advantages it offers + to governments. No other occupies so many arms, produces so + active or so constant a circulation of money, or exercises + so direct an influence on the riches of the state and the + ease of the people. It is therefore the particular interest + of every government to favour it, to sustain it by the most + efficacious measures, and to carry it to the highest degree + of prosperity." _Karsten_--(_Introduction_.) + +The measures proposed for this purpose, include bounties, the advance of +capital, and the prohibition of foreign iron. Such is the uniform +practice of by far the greater part of the nations of Europe. The +governments receive the most advantageous returns for such protection. + + "In the imposts of all kinds, that it derives directly or + indirectly from the establishments themselves, the workmen + employed, and the numerous _personnel_ whose existence is + linked to that of the manufacture of iron. But that which + ought most particularly to fix the attention of government, + consists in the precious advantages which are derived from + it by rural economy, by other branches of industry, and + which it affords for internal security and external + defence." _Karsten_. + +It has been seen, that we cannot consider that measures of such extent +are required in our own country. Still, were we, as all European nations +are, in direct contact with rival or hostile powers, their necessity +would be imperative. + + + + + ART. V.--_The Siamese Twins. A Satirical Tale of the Times, + with other Poems, by the Author of Pelham, &c._ J. & J. + Harper: New-York: pp. 308. + + +This production furnishes one of the most remarkable instances to be +found in the history of literature, of the wide difference between +notoriety and merit. No work ever came from the press whose anticipated +excellence was more loudly proclaimed, and none, we are persuaded, ever +more disappointed high-wrought expectation. That the author of Pelham +was about to favour the world with a great poetical production of a +satirical character, was announced in the different periodical works, +with all that elation and pomposity which indicated the assurance that +some important addition to the poetical literature of England, was about +to take place. Prophetic eulogy was strained to the uttermost. Public +anxiety for the appearance of the mighty work, became all that the +booksellers could wish. Every one was not only eager to read, but +prepared to admire, and impatient to praise--for the fashion of praising +this author, whether he wrote well or ill, had set in; and who in this +age of polite pretensions, would dare to be unfashionable? + +Nor has the attentive author himself been deficient on this occasion, in +the fatherly duty of bespeaking public opinion in favour of his +offspring. In a preface remarkable for that startling species of modesty +by which a man becomes the trumpeter of his own greatness, he predicts +that, if not immediately, at least in eight or ten years hence, his +works will make such an impression, as to occasion a revolution in the +poetical taste of mankind, and become the model of a new school in the +"Divine Art." The confidential puffers to whom the idea was imparted, in +despite of whatever doubts they might entertain on the subject, scrupled +not to give publicity to the prediction. A work destined to such an +illustrious career, could not fail to be endowed with an exalted and +overpowering excellence of some kind, and also of a kind different +altogether from any that had hitherto given satisfaction to the readers +of poetry. The poetical tastes and habits of our nature were, in fact, +to be entirely changed by the influence of this mighty satire. No +wonder, therefore, that curiosity respecting the work was sufficiently +awakened to occasion for it a large demand on its first appearance. + +Many of the conductors of the periodical press, who gave publicity to +this exaggerated strain of praise, were, no doubt, sceptical as to its +being altogether merited, and must have acted from motives either of +interest or of courtesy. Yet there may have been some who believed in +the possibility of the wonders which were predicted. Indeed, in this +strange age, when miracles are scarcely to be accounted wonders--when +ships are propelled without wind, and carriages without horses--when +schoolboys and journeymen printers overturn governments and make and +unmake kings with almost as much facility as the manager of a play-house +casts the character of a drama; what extraordinary things may not with +propriety be credited? Even philosophy may now, without reproach, +believe in absurdity; and thoughtless paragraphists, without being +laughed at, may be permitted to suppose that an adventurous rhymester +may speak truth, when he asserts that he is about to revolutionize the +principles of poetical taste and composition! + +When mutation is the order of the day, why may not human nature itself +be changed? When all physical obstructions to locomotion, and all +impediments to the march of mind, are yielding to the ingenuity and +activity of man, why may not his own natural feelings and dispositions +also yield, and become changed? But hold--the author of this Siamese +satire has discovered that they have already changed! Not merely have +the opinions and pursuits of society taken a new direction, and the +habits and views of the present, become different from those of the past +generation--this would be readily admitted--but a much more important +alteration in the constitution of man, he affirms, has taken place. It +is not only the _condition_, but the _nature_ of the species that he +asserts to be changed. With the last generation, all the old impulses of +the heart--all susceptibility of love or hatred, friendship or enmity, +pity or revenge--all feelings of pride, avarice, ambition, or love of +fame--all emotions of joy, grief, anger, remorse--all generosity, +charity, desire of happiness, and self-preservation--all, all are passed +away! + +"Has not a new generation," our author asks, in his odd and hardly +intelligible preface, "arisen? Has not a new impetus been given to the +age? Do not _new feelings_ require to be expressed? and are there not +new readers to be propitiated, who sharing _but in a feeble degree the +former enthusiasm_, will turn, not with languid attention, to the claims +of fresh aspirants." + +These are some of the changes which have brought about, as he +imagines--the circumstances that call for the new and "_less_ +enthusiastic" school of poetry, which, founded by him, is to secure the +admiration of at least part of the present, and the whole of the ensuing +generation. "A poet," he says, "who aspires to reputation, must be +adapted to the coming age, not rooted to that which is already gliding +away." He admits that "the worn out sentiments, the affectations and the +weaknesses of our departed bards, may, by the elder part of the +community, be still considered components of a deep philosophy, or the +signs of a superior mind." But, for this unfortunate circumstance, which +militates so much against the immediate success of his new school, he +consoles himself with the persuasion that "the _young_ have formed a +nobler estimate of life, and a habit of reasoning, at once founded upon +a homelier sense, and yet aspiring to more elevated conclusions." + +What this, as well as many other equally awkward sentences in this +presumptuous preface, exactly means, it is not easy to say. Our sons, on +whose admiration of his poetry, Mr. Bulwer depends for the success of +his new system, are, in order to qualify themselves for relishing its +beauties, to form a _nobler_ estimate than we entertain of life, while +their habits of reasoning are to be founded on a _homelier_ sense; and +yet, homely as they are to be in their reasoning, they are to aspire to +_more elevated_ conclusions! If, indeed, such inconsistencies are to +characterize our sons; if their intellects are to be so utterly confused +and perplexed as is here predicted, they may possibly become admirers of +the new school, of which the redoubtable satire before us is to be the +origin. But we hope better things of our posterity. We cannot think that +their natural feelings will vary so very far from our own, as to induce +them to prefer insipid verbosity and unintelligible doggerel, to the +animating strains of genuine poetry, or the sprightly wit and stinging +ridicule of true satire. + +Since the work which was to perform such miracles has appeared, and has +been found so egregiously to disappoint expectation, why do those who +puffed it on trust, still continue to extol it? The expression of their +favourable anticipations might be excused; for they may have believed +all that they asserted. But their eyes must now be open. The most +prejudiced, on perusing the work, must be convinced of its imbecility as +a satire, and its insipidity as a poem. Why, then, persist in error? +Complaisance to the prevailing fashion, and a desire to swim with the +current, may be the feelings which generally prompt to such conduct. But +they are poor apologies for wilfully deceiving the public in a matter so +essential to the interests of poetical literature. The critic who +knowingly recommends an undeserving poem, ought to be aware that he is +contributing to destroy the public confidence in all new poetry; for +when men find that tame and uninteresting works are so freely +recommended, they very naturally conclude that the times produce none +others worthy of recommendation. + +We should think, indeed, that experience had, by this time, taught the +world the little reliance which ought to be placed generally on +contemporary criticism, particularly that description of it usually +found in newspapers. But the wide diffusion of this species of +periodical work, gives them an influence which no experience, however +palpable, of their erroneous judgments in literary matters, has yet been +able to counteract. The public, in truth, has hitherto had its attention +but little drawn towards this subject. The fate of a new book seems to +be a matter so uninteresting to any but the author and the publisher, +that whether editors speak of it favourably or unfavourably, or pass +over it with entire neglect, is considered of no importance. It is +forgotten that _good_ literature forms the chief and most permanent +glory of a country; that its prosperity is, therefore, of much national +value, and ought, for the public benefit, to be assiduously promoted. +But the chance of good literature being properly encouraged, will be +ever extremely small, so long as worthless productions are forced into +even temporary eclat, by those ready and often glowing commendations of +careless editors, which must always, more or less, give direction to +public patronage. + +There is an erroneous opinion, unfortunately too prevalent among all +classes, that no book can become generally noticed and much praised in +the periodical works, but in consequence of its merit. To those who hold +this opinion, the system of reverberating praise from one journal to +another, must be unknown. In this country this system is, at present, +carried to a great extent. It is chiefly produced by indolence or want +of leisure, preventing our editors from carefully reading and judging +for themselves, aided by a desire which actuates many of them to be +thought fashionable in their opinions. The literary idol of the day is +generally set up in the English metropolis. Of course, the fashion of +worshipping him commences there. We soon hear of him on this side of the +ocean. We wait not to examine whether he be entitled to homage. We take +that for granted, since we are told that he is considered so in London. +With slavish obsequiousness, we hasten to follow the capricious example +of the great metropolis, and shout pæans for the fashionable idol, with +as much zeal as if we really discerned in his works merit sufficiently +exalted to entitle him to such applause, although the probability is, +that, while we are bestowing it, we have scarcely glanced over his +productions. + +Now all this is, on our parts, exceedingly ridiculous and irrational. It +not only exposes our servility, but it betrays our ignorance of many of +the temporary excitements in favour of certain authors and their works, +which take place in London. It shows that we are not aware of the fact, +that, in the majority of cases, the rage for a new book, is owing to +circumstances not at all connected with its merit. An influential and +enterprising publisher,--a striking or a popular subject,--a sounding +title,--a bold,--a wealthy or an eccentric author,--and, above all, a +continued series of well-managed puffs, invariably do much more towards +making a new book fashionable, than any excellence it may possess; and +the inducement to purchase it is more frequently the knowledge that it +is fashionable, than the conviction that it is good. Hence, it is to +their title-pages, rather than to their nature or quality, that new +books are mostly indebted for their immediate success. Their permanent +success--that is, their enduring fame--is another matter. Merit, and +merit only, can secure that; for it is the result of the cool and +deliberate approbation which is awarded by the judgment of mankind, when +the adventitious circumstances which first excited attention towards the +book, have passed away, and can operate no longer on curiosity. The +history of literature amply proves this. Books have often had, for a +time, great mercantile value, and been highly profitable to the +booksellers, that have been utterly worthless in a literary point of +view. Of this fact the book-dealers are so well aware, that, rather than +risk the expense of publishing the most beautiful composition of an +unknown author, they will pay largely for manuscripts of the merest +trash, from the pen of one to whom some lucky accident has already drawn +public attention. Many of our well-meaning echoers of the London puffs +of new books, are certainly ignorant of this circumstance, or they would +not lend their aid to give circulation and temporary repute to much of +the vile literature, which, under the names of novels, poems, travels, +&c. the press of London has so largely poured forth, during the last +eight or ten years, to the great deterioration not only of the literary +taste, but of the manners and morals of the age. + +It is indeed a sad mistake to suppose, that nothing but the literary +excellence of a new book, renders it saleable. Yet it is a mistake so +very general, that the booksellers find that the most effectual mode of +recommending a new work, is, to allege that it _sells_ rapidly. Who does +not know, when a book with the reputation of being in great demand, +comes amongst us, the eagerness with which it is sought after? No matter +how dull it may be, while it is considered saleable, it is perused with +delight. A thousand beauties are discovered in it, which cool and +unprepossessed judgment could never discern; and, as to faults, although +they should stare the deluded reader in the face, as thickly and visibly +as trees in a forest, he will doubt the accuracy of his own sensations, +rather than admit that he perceives them. Such, over weak minds, is the +magic influence of a fashionable name,--nay, such is the influence, when +the name is only _supposed_ to be fashionable. + +That the work before us would sell well, at least for a season, let its +poetry be ever so bad, was to be expected, from the circumstances under +which it appeared. Its publishers, Colburn and Bentley, are now the most +fashionable in London, and are considered to possess more influence over +the periodical works, than even the magnificent Murray; its author is a +man of bustle, boldness, and notoriety, who has acquired considerable +repute as the writer of three or four novels, which got into extensive +circulation by professing, however untruly, to give genuine and +unsparing delineations of fashionable life. To speak technically, _his +name was up_; and, by the aid of this lucky elevation, his active +publishers could not fail to dispose of an edition or two of his satire, +in despite of its worthlessness as a literary performance. + +We have thus, we imagine, satisfactorily shown that it is possible for a +work to be, for a time, noted, saleable and fashionable, without +possessing any great share of literary merit. We may, therefore, be +allowed to deny, that the present demand for this poem, which, we +believe, will be of but brief continuance, is any evidence of its +deserving that unlimited homage which its author claims for it. That it +will ever effect the great poetical revolution which he so modestly +anticipates, we imagine that, by this time, few are more inclined to +believe, than ourselves. From its appearance, therefore, we feel no +alarm for the stability of that reputation which our favourite bards +have gained by those immortal works, to whose noble and animating +strains, the hearts of millions have so often responded! + +But, it is time that we should enter into some examination of the +character of this work, and show our reasons for the disapprobation of +it as a poem and a satire, which we have so freely expressed. + +It will be admitted, we presume, that, when an author does not succeed +in accomplishing his design, his work is a failure. The design of the +author of this poem was, as we are informed by the title-page, to write +a satire, has he done so? Those who are loudest in commendation of the +poem, have acknowledged its satirical portions to be feeble, and without +point. But they contend that it contains a sufficiency of good poetry of +another description, to atone for this defect. We confess that we have +not been fortunate enough, after a careful perusal, to discover this +redeeming poetry. Whether it be of the sentimental, descriptive, or +ethical species, we therefore cannot tell. Perhaps it is an ingenious +mingling of them in one mass, in which the beauties of each, conceal +those of the others from view? If so, how many disinterested readers +will submit to the trouble of extricating them from the confusion in +which they lie, so as to see them distinctly, and become fully aware of +their _latent_ splendour? We attempted, as in duty bound, to hunt for +these gems. We discovered a few that sparkled a little,--but they were +indeed so few, and their lustre so faint, that we could not consider +them worth the labour of exploring one moiety of the abundance of +rubbish in which they are buried. We believe that the generality of +readers will be equally disappointed; and that the book will be almost +invariably laid down with a feeling that it is tedious, awkward, and +dull,--in short, in respect to its _poetical_ as well as its satirical +character, a failure without redemption. + +But the author calls it a satire. It is therefore as a satire, that it +ought to be judged. In our opinion, it is no more a satire than a +sermon; nay, we have read sermons in which the satiric thong is wielded +with much more effect against wickedness and folly, than in this +production. We need not enter into a philological explanation of the +term satire,--the word is common enough, and we presume that every +reader who understands plain English, knows its meaning. To render vice +disgusting, and folly ridiculous, is the legitimate office of the +satirist. Sarcasm and wit are his most usual and effectual weapons. +Ridicule and reprobation are also used; the former when the intention is +to excite derision, and the latter when the arousing of indignation is +the object. The great aim of the satirist ought always to be the +reformation of depraved morals, corrupt institutions, absurd customs, or +offensive manners. The contemporary prevalence of such, is what excites +his indignation, or provokes his ridicule; and, if he possesses power +and dexterity to apply the lash, he performs a real service to society, +and acquires a deserved and enviable name among the useful and agreeable +writers of the day. + +Has Mr. Bulwer applied the lash in this manner? Against what vice does +he awaken the indignation of his readers, or what folly does he expose +to their contempt? We ask for information, for we have not, with our +best efforts, been able ourselves to make the discovery. It is true, +that, in the perusal of his work, we met with some awkward attempts to +be witty at the expense of Basil Hall, the Duke of Wellington, Thomas +Moore, Joseph Hume, and two or three others of the conspicuous +characters of the times. But, if satire never launches keener arrows +against these men, than are to be found in this book, we fear that, +whatever may be their faults or foibles, no dread of her power will +induce them to reform. The only feelings they can experience from the +harmless missiles of Mr. Bulwer, are pity for his vanity, and contempt +for his weakness. + +There is but one passage in this long poem which contains upwards of +eight thousand lines, that deserves to be called satirical. It is in +relation to the missionary Hodges. In this some tolerable _hits_ are +made at the union of selfishness and prejudice which too frequently +characterize the religious missionaries of all sects, who are employed +by the zeal of the wealthy and pious at home, to convert to Christianity +the heathen inhabitants of foreign countries. The missionary in +question, who is the only character in the work drawn with any power of +dramatic conception, is represented as haranguing the people of Siam on +the inferiority of their institutions to those of England, (in which, by +the by, neither Americans nor Englishmen will be apt to discover much +satire,) and threatening, in language as coarse as that of the canting +Maworm, to reform them, whether they will or not, from the evil ways of +their ancestors. We shall quote part of the passage, and as it is +unquestionably the cleverest satirical portion of the whole poem, the +friends of Mr. Bulwer cannot accuse us of doing him injustice by the +selection.-- + + "Accordingly our saint one day, + Into the market took his way, + Climbed on an empty tub, that o'er + Their heads he might declaim at ease, + And to the rout began to roar + In wretched Siamese. + 'Brethren! (for every one's my fellow, + Tho' I am white, and you are yellow,) + Brethren! I came from lands afar + To tell you all--what fools you are! + Is slavery, pray, so soft, and glib a tie, + That you prefer the chain to liberty? + Is Christian faith a melancholy tree, + That you will only sow idolatry? + Just see to what good laws can bring lands, + And hear an outline of old England's. + Now, say if _here_ a lord should hurt you, + Are you made whole by legal virtue? + For ills by battery or detraction, + Say, can you bring at once your action? + And are the rich not much more sure + To gain a verdict than the poor? + With us alike the poor or rich, + Peasant or prince, no matter which-- + Justice to all the law dispenses, + And all it costs--are the expenses! + _Here_ if an elephant you slay, + Your very lives the forfeit pay: + Now that's a _quid pro quo_--too seri- + Ous much for beasts _naturæ feræ_. + + * * * * * + * * * * * + + _These_ are the thing's that best distinguish men-- + These make the glorious boast of Englishmen! + More could I tell you were there leisure, + But I have said enough to please, sure: + Now then if you the resolution + Take for a British constitution, + A British king, church, commons, peers-- + I'll be your guide! dismiss your fears. + With Hampden's name and memory warm you! + And, d--n you all--but I'll reform you! + As for the dogs that wont be free, + We'll give it them most handsomely; + To church with scourge and halter lead 'em, + And thrash the rascals into freedom." + +This fine speech, it appears, had much the same effect on its auditors, +that we believe Mr. Bulwer's poem will have on nine-tenths of his +readers;--it produced a sensation of disdain for the understanding as +well as the principles of its author. Under the influence of this +feeling, the men of Siam could not forbear executing a practical joke on +the orator. They elevated him in a palanquin, raised by means of tall +poles, to a great height above their heads; from which altitude, after +parading him in mock triumph through the streets of their chief city, +they, with little regard to consequences, tossed him into the air. The +poem says-- + + "So high he went, with such celerity, + It seemed as for some god-like merit he + Carried from earth, like great Alcides, + To Jupiter's ambrosial side is. + But, oh! as maiden speakers break + Ev'n so, (while fearing to be crushed + Each idler from beneath him dodges), + Swift, heavy--like an avalanche--rushed + To earth the astonished form of Hodges. + He lay so flat, he lay so still, + He seemed beyond all farther ill. + They pinched his side, they shook his head, + And then they cried, 'The man is dead!' + On this, each felt no pleasing chill; + For ev'n among the Bancockeans, + A gentleman for fun to kill, + Is mostly punished--in plebeians. + They stare--look serious--mutter--cough-- + And then, without delay, sneak off; + Nor at a house for succour knocked, or + Thought once of sending for the doctor." + +The twins, Chang and Ching, remain behind, and taking pity on the +maltreated missionary, convey him to their father's house, which was +convenient. Here he is treated with kindness, and soon recovers of the +contusions and a broken leg, occasioned by his fall. + +A notable scheme now seized the fertile brain of the money loving +missionary. The _lusus naturæ_ which connected the bodies of the twins, +he conceived would render their exhibition profitable in England. He +obtained the consent of their father to carry them to Europe, by +stipulating to allow them one-half of the earnings of their exhibition. +The acquiescence of the youths themselves he easily procured by +inflaming their curiosity to witness the glory and happiness of England, +which he described in the most glowing terms of national panegyric. + +The twins, however, resolved to consult one of the magicians of the +country relative to the result of their intended enterprise, before they +should commit themselves to the care of an absolute stranger who was to +convey them so far from home. The account of this consultation--the +temple of the magician--his manner of consulting the fates, and the +mystical style of his addressing the twins, form by much the most +fanciful and readable portion of the book, and would certainly entitle +the author to some credit for wild and weird conceptions, were it not +for the unfortunate circumstance, that the whole is a palpable imitation +of the celebrated incantation scene in Der Freischutz. It is also +infested with the besetting sin of the whole poem, prolixity. Mr. Bulwer +too plainly shows in this work, that he is a bookmaker by profession, +and if the faculty of hammering a given number of ideas into as many +words as possible, be a useful branch of the craft, it is one in which +he has assuredly few competitors. + +The arrival of Hodges and the twins in London, is at length announced in +the newspapers, and then begins what the author unquestionably intended +should be the principal business of the poem--namely, the quizzing of +London life and manners--or to use his own phrase, satirizing the times. +The idea of bringing Oriental strangers to Europe in order to exhibit +their surprise at witnessing customs and manners totally different from +those of their own country, is rather stale, and the humour of it, if +there be any humour in it, has been exhausted by much finer writers than +Mr. Bulwer has as yet shown himself to be. Various essayists, both of +France and England, have had recourse to this method of exposing the +vices and absurdities of their respective countries. Turkish spies, +Persian envoys, and Chinese philosophers, have all been brought into +requisition for this purpose. No novelty, therefore, can be claimed for +the employment of our Siamese adventurers on such trodden ground. It is, +indeed, sufficiently apparent, that the idea of making them a vehicle +for satire upon the English, was suggested by Goldsmith's Citizen of the +World. To try his strength with such a writer as Goldsmith, especially +in the walks of satire, was at least courageous on the part of Bulwer; +and if any circumstance could, in our estimation, atone for his woful +failure, it would be the hardihood which induced him to make the +attempt. We believe no reader ever became wearied of perusing +Goldsmith's Citizen of the World. But how any reader can toil through +this Siamese production, without becoming exhausted, we own is beyond +our comprehension. + +In London, the twins meet with various adventures, which, no doubt, the +author intended should be extremely amusing to the reader. To us they +appear extremely jejune and silly. For instance, Lady Jersey sends one +of them a ticket of admission to Almacks, without recollecting to pay +the same compliment to the other. On appearing for entrance, the +door-keeper refuses to admit him who had been neglected. This obstacle, +of course, prevents the other from availing himself of his right to +enter. Lady Cowper, however, very soon sets all right by furnishing them +with another ticket. Now what there is either facetious or satirical in +this, we confess we cannot conceive. Equally silly is the incident of +the one brother being seized by a recruiting sergeant who had enlisted +him, while the other is arrested by a bailiff for debt. But as the +brothers cannot be separated, they get clear, the recruiting officer not +daring to carry off Ching who had not enlisted, and the bailiff being +equally afraid of the consequence of imprisoning Chang against whom he +had no writ--an old joke. + +Now such bungling inventions appear to us insufferable. In the first +place, there is no emotion whatever, either of surprise, merriment, or +pity, awakened by the narrative, and in the next, the occurrences are so +contrary to all probability, that even poetical license, in its fullest +range, will not sanction their introduction. The deformity of the twins +would render either of them ineligible to be enlisted. The bailiff's +writ might, it is true, authorize the arrest of one only; but even that +is inconsistent with the statement previously made that their earnings +and expenses were all in common. We should suppose, therefore, that no +creditor would make such an invidious distinction between partners so +closely connected. These inconsistencies, however, might be pardoned, if +the stories were told with sufficient sprightliness and vigour to make +them interesting. But when an ill-contrived tale is drowsily told, the +reader must possess an immense fund of good nature not to scold the +author in his heart. + +We shall pass over the rest of these dull adventures, which rebuke no +vice, and satirize no folly, and shall give a very brief outline of the +remainder of the poem. The brothers, unlike the real twins from whom the +title of the poem is borrowed, are represented as of entirely different +characters. Chang's disposition is grave, contemplative, and +sentimental, while Ching is light-hearted, gay, and volatile. Their +protector, Hodges, has a handsome daughter, with whom the meditative +Chang falls in love; but, without any apparent cause, he imagines that +she has given her heart to Ching. He becomes exceedingly jealous, and +absurdly enough, considering the nature of their connexion, meditates +the murder of his brother. He however discovers his mistake in time to +prevent the deed, and feels a reasonable share of remorse. In the +meantime, Mary, the lady in question, who commiserates their condition, +contrives, while they are asleep, to introduce a surgeon and his +assistant, who successfully cut through the connecting bond of flesh, +and, to the great joy of Chang, who had long felt much mortification at +the unnatural union, they are separated. Chang now cherishes strong +hopes of becoming acceptable to Mary, which are destined soon to be +blasted for ever. By an incident which detracts much from the +sentimental dignity with which he has been hitherto invested, for it +represents him as an eavesdropper, he discovers that she is irrevocably +engaged to her cousin, who is called Julian Laneham. This discovery +arouses him to a certain fit of magnanimity. He understands that Mary's +father objects to her union with Laneham, on account of the young man's +poverty. He suddenly disappears; and four days afterwards, two letters +are received, one by Hodges, and one by Ching, which, as the author +says, "shows the last _dénouement_ of the story." The public curiosity +had rendered the brothers rich; and in his letter to Hodges, Chang +generously bestows on him his share of their property, on condition that +he will give his daughter to Laneham. + +The old gentlemen agrees to the compact; and if the reader should have +patience enough to carry him so far through the book, he will, towards +its conclusion, be rewarded with a marriage, according to the old +established laws of romance writing. Why did Mr. Bulwer so far forget +the "originality of matter and of manner," in other words, the new +school of poetry, which he promised us in the preface, as to put us off +with so trite a conclusion? + +In a passage towards the close of the poem, the indomitable egotism of +our author appears, in a curious allusion which he makes to the failure +of his efforts to become a member of parliament at the last general +election. His hero Laneham, for he is the true hero of the work, had +been a more successful candidate for the people's favour. The poet says, +without jealousy, we presume,-- + + "Moreover in the late election + He won a certain Burgh's affection. + Dined--drank--made love to wife and daughter, + Poured ale and money forth like water, + And won St. Stephen's Hall to hear + This parliament _may_ last a year! + The sire's delight you'll fancy fully-- + He thinks he sees a second Tully; + And gravely says he will dispense + With Fox's force and Brinsley's wit, + So that our member boast the sense + Of that great statesmen--Pilot Pitt! + For me, my hope lies somewhat deeper; + We'll now, they say, be governed _cheaper!_ + So Julian, pour your wrath on robbing, + And keep a careful eye on jobbing. + If you should waver in your choice + To whom to pledge your vote and voice, + You'll waver only, we presume, + Between an Althorpe and a Hume. + But mind--ONE vote--o'er all you hold, + And let the BALLOT conquer GOLD. + Don't utterly forget those asses,-- + Ridden so long,--the lower classes; + But waking from sublimer _visions_, + Just see, poor things! to their _provisions_. + Let them for cheap bread be your debtor, + Cheap justice, too--that's almost better. + And though not bound to either College, + Don't clap a turnpike on their knowledge. + + * * * * * + + And ne'er forget this simple rule, boy, + Time is an everlasting schoolboy, + And as his trowsers he outgoes, + Be decent, nor begrudge him clothes. + + * * * * * + + In these advices towards your policy, + Many, dear Julian, will but folly see; + Yet what I preach to you to act is + But what _had been your author's practice_, + Had the mercurial star that beams + Upon elections blessed his dreams, + Had--but we ripen with delay, + And every dog shall have his day!" + +From the last couplet, it appears, that our author has not yet +relinquished his expectations of being gratified with a seat in St. +Stephens. + +In the following concluding lines, which succeed those we have just +quoted, the Twins are finally disposed of. We insert them here as a +notable instance of long efforts to kindle a blaze, at last dying away +in the suffocation of their own smoke.-- + + "And Ching?--poor fellow!--Ching can never + His former spirits quite recover; + Yet he's agreeable as ever, + And plays the C----k as a lover. + In every place he's vastly _fêted_, + His name's in every lady's book; + And as a wit I hear he's rated + Between the Rogers's and Hook. + + But Chang?--of him was known no more, + Since, Corsair like, he left the shore. + Wrapped round his fate the cloud unbroken, + Will yield our guess nor clew nor token. + He runs unseen his lonely race, + And if the mystery e'er unravels + The web around the wanderer's trace-- + I fear we scarce could print his travels. + Since tourists every where have flocked, + The market's rather overstocked-- + And so we leave the lands that need 'em + Throughout this 'dark terrestrial ball,' + To be well visited by freedom,-- + And slightly nibbled at by Hall!" + + + + + ART. VI.--_Europe and America; or, the relative state of the + Civilized World at a future period. Translated from the + German of_ Dr. C. F. VON SCHMIDT-PHISELDEK, _Doctor of + Philosophy, one of his Danish Majesty's Counsellors of + State, Knight of Dannebrog, &c. &c._ By JOSEPH OWEN. + Copenhagen: 1820. + + +Although the translator of this book professes in his Preface to have +been principally induced to undertake the task by "the desire of being +the humble instrument of imparting to the American nation, that picture +of future grandeur and happiness, which the author so prophetically +holds out to them," we believe it is but little known among the readers +of this country. Yet it is in every respect a very interesting and +curious work. It will be seen by the title-page, that it was not only +translated into, but printed in English, at Copenhagen, with the view of +disseminating a knowledge of its contents among the people of the United +States. Yet we do not recollect that it was noticed at the time of its +publication in any of our critical journals, and the only copy that has +ever fallen under our notice is that now before us, which has been in +our possession many years. Nevertheless, it is the work of a man of very +extensive views, and of deep sagacity. His speculations on the state of +the different kingdoms of Europe, in relation to the past and the +present, seem to us equally just and profound; and the predictions which +ten years ago the author announced to the world, are every day, nay, +almost every hour, becoming matters of history. + +It has been said, and said reproachfully, that the people of the United +States are somewhat boastful and presumptuous. One reason doubtless is, +that they have had to bear up on one hand against much obloquy and +injustice, and on the other against certain airs of affected superiority +on the part of the nations of Europe, equally offensive. Those who are +perpetually assailed, are perpetually called upon to defend themselves; +and what in other cases would be an offensive pretension, is, in ours, +simply self-defence. It is not boasting, but a manly assertion of what +is due to ourselves, in reply to those who take from us what is our +right. But even if the charge of national pride were true, we are among +those who rather approve than lament it. National pride is a commendable +and manly feeling; it is the parent of virtue and greatness--the +foundation of a noble character; and if the nation which has led the way +in the bright path of freedom--which, young as it is, has become already +the beacon, the example, the patriarch of the struggling nations of the +world--has not a fair right to be proud, we know not on what basis +national pride ought to erect itself. + +For these reasons, we feel no hesitation in calling the attention of the +people of the United States, to a work eminently calculated to awaken +the most lofty anticipations of the destiny which awaits them. Nothing +but good can come of such contemplations of the future. They will serve +to impress upon the nation the necessity of being prepared for such high +destiny; of fitting herself to maintain it with honour and dignity; of +attaching herself, heart and hand, body and soul, to that sacred union +of opinions, interests, and reflections, which alone can lead us +steadily onward in the path of prosperity, happiness, and glory. + + "The 4th of July in the year 1776," observes Dr. Von + Schmidt, "points out the commencement of a new period in the + history of the world. Not provoked to resistance by the + intolerable oppression of tyrannical power, but merely + roused by the arbitrary encroachments upon well earned, and + hitherto publicly acknowledged principles, the people of the + United States of North America declared themselves on that + memorable day independent of the dominion of the British + Islands, generally speaking mild and benevolent in itself, + and under which they had hitherto stood as colonies, in a + state, not of slavish servitude, but of partial + guardianship, under the protection of the mother country." + +The author has here marked the nice and peculiar feature which +distinguishes the American Revolution from all others, and confers on it +a degree of philosophical dignity. It was not a ferment arising from +momentary impatience of existing and operating hardships; nor the result +of extensive distresses pressing upon a large mass of the nation. When +the people of the United Colonies rose in resistance to the mother +country, they were in possession of a greater portion of all the useful +means of happiness, than the mother country itself. It was not therefore +a revolution originating in the belly, but the head; it was a revolution +brought about by principles, not by distresses. The early emigrants to +the new world, brought these principles with them from England;--every +year added to their strength, and every accession of strength, brought +the crisis nearer to maturity. The annals of each one of the colonies, +exhibit every where evidence of the existence of this leaven of freedom, +which was perpetually rising and agitating the surface; and, although +like the eruption of a volcano, it broke forth at first in one +particular spot, it was only from accidental causes. The whole interior +was equally in a ferment, and the boiling mass must have forced a vent +somewhere, and soon. It had long been evident, that, wherever the +pressure should be greatest, there would be the point of resistance. + +That the American revolution, though unquestionably precipitated, was +not produced by a sudden excitement originating in any particular +measure of the British government, we think must appear to all those who +read with attention the early records of our colonial history. As long +ago as the year 1635, representations were made to the government of +England, touching the disloyalty of the people of Massachusetts. + + "The Archbishop of Canterbury," says Hutchinson, "the famous + High Churchman Laud, kept a jealous eye over New England. + One Burdett of Piscataqua, was his correspondent. A copy of + a letter to the Archbishop, wrote by Burdett, was found in + his study, and to this effect: 'That he delayed going to + England, that he might freely inform himself of the state of + the place as to _allegiance_, for it was not new discipline + which was aimed at, but _sovereignty_; and that it was + accounted perjury and treason in their general court, to + speak of appeals to the king.'"[4] + +But to return to the immediate subject before us. Dr. Von +Schmidt-Phiseldek, after stating the result of this declaration in the +establishment of our independence, proceeds to notice the second war +between the United States and England, in which the former successfully +maintained the positions she had assumed, as the grounds of hostility:-- + + "By these occurrences," he says, "which we have only + cursorily touched upon, the North American confederacy had + tried her strength, preserved her dignity by the rejection + of illegal pretensions, and vigorously proved and maintained + her right as an active member in the scale of nations, to + take part in the grand affairs of the civilized world. _From + that moment, the impulse to a new change of events, ceased + to proceed exclusively from the old continent, and it is + possible that in a short time it will emanate from the new + one._" + +The author then proceeds to deduce the attempts of the South American +Provinces, which, however, at that period, had not been consummated, +from the example of North America, which had inspired them with the +desire of emancipation:-- + + "This word, as intimating the resistance of a people feeling + themselves at maturity, to their wonted tutelage, and + desirous of taking upon themselves the management of their + own affairs, most suitably expresses the spirit of the + times, _which, being called to light in 1776, has spread + itself over the new and old world_." + +Having indicated his belief, that the South American States will acquire +independence, Dr. Von Schmidt-Phiseldck gives it as his opinion, "that +the similitude of their constitutional forms, and an equal interest in +rejecting the European powers, will unite these new states in a close +compact with the North American confederacy; and, if a quarter of a +century only elapsed before North America began to act externally with +vigour, it may be presumed that the younger states of the Southern +Continent, endowed with more ample resources, and more ancient culture, +will require a shorter period to arrive at a state of respectable +force." + +Having traced a rapid sketch of the situation and prospects of the new +world, the author next turns his attention to the old governments of +Europe, of which he gives a masterly analysis:-- + + "The new spirit which had been called to life on the other + side of the Atlantic, and the universal fermentation it + caused, happened at a period in which the most excessive + laxity reigned predominant on the old continent. The + political existence of the people was for the most part + extinguished; their active industry had been directed + abroad, and the governments finding no opposition or + dangerous collisions internally, followed with the stream. + Commerce, exportations, colonial systems, every means of + acquiring money, were cherished and protected,--riches + presenting the only possibility of investing the low with + consideration and influence, and the high with power and + inordinate dominion. The maxims by which the nations were + governed, lay less in the ground pillars of an existing + constitution, than in the changeable systems of the + cabinets, and the character of their rulers; there remained, + for the most part, nothing for the great body of the people, + but to be spectators. + + "Germany, the grand heart of Europe, presented now nothing + more than the shadow of a political body united in one + common confederacy; the imperial governments, as also the + administration of the federal laws, were without energy, and + united efforts to repel invasions from abroad, had not been + witnessed since the fear of Turkish power had ceased to + operate. The larger states had outgrown their obedience, and + often ranged themselves in opposition to the head, which was + scarcely able to protect either itself or the weaker states + against injuries. + + "The internal affairs of the individual vassal states, were + exclusively conducted according to the will of their + regents; the energy and importance of the representative + popular states, were become dormant, and the standing armies + which had been introduced by degrees even into the smallest + principalities, since the peace of Westphalia, being + perfectly foreign to the hearts and dispositions of the + people, threw an astonishing weight into the scale of + unlimited sovereignty. Being mercenary soldiers recruited + from every nation, modelled upon a system of subordination, + and raised by Frederick of Prussia to the highest pitch of + perfection, they had been accomplices in diffusing this + system of despotism over all the relations of the state, + _and in leaving the people who were freed from military + services, nothing but the acquisition of gain_. + + "Agriculture, agreeably to the direction given it, had been + improved, and with a population increased; industry + supported by the progress of the mechanical arts, had also + been considerably extended. But each separate state had its + own little jealous feelings of aggrandisement, its own petty + internal policy, viewing its neighbour with a jealous eye; + and the whole of Germany never reaped any beneficial result + from a system, which, had it been general, would have + conduced highly to the wealth and power of the confederated + states, of which it was composed. All these various + institutions, at the same time that they conflicted with + each other, were reared on loose foundations, and it was + evident must fall together, on the first external + shock,--circumstances like these were incapable of producing + an universal national character. There, where no reciprocal + tie binds the individuals of a state together, who, living + under the equal laws of one community, ought to form one + solid whole, the spirit of the nation loses itself in + different directions; the attainment of individual welfare + is possible in such a state of things, but never will a + sense of what is universally good and great, be promoted. + + "If in Germany," proceeds the author, "where the imperial + crown represented a mere shadow, deprived of power and + consequence, the mighty vassals were all; in France the + crown was every thing, after it had subdued the powerful + barons of the country. The people represented, indeed, one + body, but were deprived, like the several German states, of + all political weight, and were arbitrarily subjected to + every impulse of the government. The same was the case with + Spain and Portugal, where religious intolerance more + powerfully suppressed every utterance of contrary opinions, + and every doctrine which might lead to a deviation from the + maxims of the state, so intimately connected with those of + the priesthood. The latter, chained since Methuen's + celebrated treaty, to the monopoly of England from which it + had vainly attempted to free itself under Pombal's + administration, was nearly sunk to the condition of a + British colony working its gold mines in the Brazils for the + benefit of the proud islanders. + + "Italy, parcelled out amongst different powers, presented + upon the whole, the same political aspect as Germany, only + with this difference, that it was totally divested of the + shadow of unity, which the latter at least appeared to + present. Upper, and a great part of middle Italy, being + dismembered, were entirely subservient to foreign impulse. + The lower part, with the fertile island on the other side of + the Pharos, presented, to be sure, since 1735, the outward + appearance of one national whole, but was too weak to + withstand the fate of the more powerful Bourbon families, + from which, according to treaties, it had derived its + sovereigns. There reigned in the papal state alone, which + could not derive its weight from its worldly sovereignty, + but from the spiritual supremacy of its ruler, the ancient + maxims of the Romish pontificate, with the economical state + faults of a clerical government. But the consideration and + the power of the former were visibly sunk; the journeys of + the pope of that period to Vienna, were like the + contemporary ones of the Hierarch of Thibet to China, rather + prejudicial, than favourable to spiritual dignity; and the + faulty internal administration of the state seemed to invite + every attempt at innovation. The republics on the east and + the west of the Adriatic Gulf, were, since the rise of the + other great naval states, only the ruins of past glory, + sinking daily into insignificance. But notwithstanding this, + neither was the image of former greatness blotted from their + memories, nor a proper feeling for it extinguished in the + minds of the inhabitants of the luxuriant peninsula. The + pride of the more noble, fed itself on the sublime remains + of lionian antiquity; and the monuments of the golden age of + the family of Medicis indemnified a people given to the + arts, and full of imagination for the loss of present + grandeur, and kept up a lively anticipation of a better + futurity, founded on the merits of its ancestors. + + "Helvetia, hemmed in between Italy, Germany, and France, by + its mountains, continued in the peaceable enjoyment of its + liberties through the respect its venerable age had + universally diffused. Nevertheless, the disturbances at + Geneva, and the increased spirit of emigration, were + sufficient to indicate that a people who become indifferent + to the present order of things, would willingly have + recourse to a system of innovation, and that the ancient + ties which had held the Swiss nation so many centuries + together, were gradually relaxing. + + "The dissolution of the existing form of government, in the + north-western Netherlands, which ought never to have been + separated from the German corporation, was more visibly + approaching. The unwieldiness of their disorganized union + had no remedy to administer to the decline of their + commerce, and naval power, which became more and more felt, + being a natural consequence of the daily concentration of + the larger states; and it was evident that the fate of the + republic would be decided by a blow from abroad. + + "The British islands, at that time the only country in + Europe which united under a monarchical head, moderate, but + on that account more solid principles of freedom, with an + equal balance of the different powers of the state, were at + the commencement of the American disturbances in a + progressive state of the most flourishing prosperity. For + this happy condition they were indebted to their freedom and + eligible commercial situation, together with the + inexhaustible treasures nature had deposited in their mines + of coal and iron, on the existence of which the industry of + their diligent inhabitants is principally founded. Political + ebullition existed in no higher degree than was necessary to + give proper life, and less, perhaps, than was necessary to + preserve it in all its purity, a constitution which, long + since acquired after the most bloody struggles, was more + deeply rooted in the modes of thinking, and in the manners + and customs of the nation, than it was imprinted on them by + the letter of the law. The government had sufficient leisure + to direct its attention abroad, and by means of hostile + enterprises, and political treaties, which must sooner or + later give a naval power a decided ascendency, held out a + helping hand to the commercial spirit of the people who + aimed at making (and with increasing hopes of success) the + remainder of the world tributary to it, for the productions + of its fabrics and manufactures. + + "The plan of supporting commerce upon territorial + acquisitions, and of forming an empire out of the conquered + provinces of India, whose treasures should flow back to the + queen of cities on the Thames, was already fully developed, + and the exasperation against the western colonies was to be + attributed as much to a mistaken commercial interest as to a + spirit for dominion. The ingredients of the British national + character, ever more coldly repulsive than amiable or + attractive in its nature, had produced an almost universal + antipathy not alone of the public mind, but also of the + individual affections, against a people in so many points of + view so highly respectable, and being unceasingly fed by + that envy which every species of superiority involuntarily + creates, produced the most conspicuous influence in the + development of subsequent events." + +The author then proceeds to notice the proceedings of Russia, Austria, +and Prussia, in relation to Poland, until its final dismemberment in +1795:-- + + "It is unnecessary," he says in conclusion, "to give a + further exposition of the leading principles of the three + courts which began this work of annihilation, and still + persevered in it, contrary to the solemn stipulations of + treaties lately entered into, just at the moment when a new + constitution, enthusiastically received, had offered every + guaranty of security, the want of which had served to give + an air of legitimacy to the first spoliations. External + aggrandisement in the acquisition of territory and + population, and internal considerations, so far as they + afforded means of attaining the object in view, are, in + short, the features of these unnatural principles. This + economical digestion of an administration merely of things, + not persons, may be termed excellent in its kind. Taken in + this point of view, the Prussian government gave the most + splendid proofs of the beneficial results which may be + attained by military organization. Austria and Russia had + followed this example; _and it required later events to + prove, that the calculation is not always correct, that a + standing army, forming a state within the state, is the only + support and rallying point of a government, and that no + system is safe, but that which is founded on the internal + strength and unanimity of the people_." + +Having sketched the political situation of Europe, at the commencement +of the American revolution, the author proceeds to notice the +interference of France and Spain;--the situation in which the colonies +of North America were left after the acknowledgment of their +independence;--the adoption of the new constitution;--the extraordinary +prosperity which followed;--the immense acquisitions of territory, and +the accession of wealth and numbers. He then traces the effects produced +in Europe, and most especially in France, by a participation in the +struggle between England and her colonies, and the contemplation of +their subsequent prosperity and happiness. The spirit of emancipation +was caught from the new, and was fast spreading itself over the old +world. This spirit first produced its practical effects in France, +whence it reached England, and almost all the states on the continent of +Europe, begetting a revolution of ideas at least, if not leading to the +revolution of governments, as it did in France. + +The spirit of conquest which was perhaps forced upon France, by the +necessity of giving to the enemies of the new order of things, +employment at home, in order to prevent their interference abroad, was +fatal to the beneficial results of the revolution. The rapid conquests +achieved by Napoleon, drew the eyes and hearts of a people fond of +glory, and full of a military spirit, from their internal affairs, to +foreign conquests; and, while they were subduing a world, they were +themselves subdued by the same power. Then came the empire of Napoleon; +the confederacy of nations,--not merely of kings and their armies, but +of nations, instigated partly by their own wrongs, and partly by the +promises of their rulers, to rise in mass, and do what neither their +kings nor their armies had been able to perform. It was the people of +Europe that at length overthrew Napoleon. + +When, after this great event, it became necessary to reorganize Europe, +which had been cast from its ancient moorings, by the gigantic power, +and gigantic mind of the child of democracy, who had devoured his +mother, there arose a schism between the people and their sovereigns. +The former expected the fulfilment of those promises, which the latter +had made in the hour of extreme peril, in order to rouse them to +effectual resistance against the French. These promises in Germany, +Prussia, the Netherlands, &c. consisted principally in the establishment +of representative governments, which would leave the sovereign in +possession of a hereditary power, checked by a body elected by the +people. On the other hand, the sovereigns, unmindful of the preservation +of their thrones, which they owed to _the people_, refused to fulfil +their solemn stipulations. In the hour of success, they as usual forgot +the hour of adversity, and insisted upon the unconditional +re-establishment, if not of old boundaries, at least of the old +political regime. Hence we may trace the origin of what is called +seriously by some, in derision and scorn by others, _the Holy Alliance_, +which originated in the fears and the weakness of kings, who, being +unable to maintain singly their antiquated pretensions at home, sought +in a close union of policy and interests, the means of doing that, which +each one alone was inadequate to achieve. By this alliance, Europe was +dismembered--millions of acres, and millions of people, were parcelled +out among the different sovereigns, and the balance of Europe was either +believed, or affected to be believed, restored by placing whole nations +under a dominion which they abhorred. It is obvious that such an +unnatural state of things could endure only while cemented by a mutual +fear of the powers which had constituted it; which fear would subside +immediately, or very soon after the dissolution of the great +confederacy. A large portion of Europe had been fermenting for nearly +fifteen years, under the oppressions of this union of despots, and the +moment of its separation, would naturally be that of the downfall of the +system they had attempted to impose on mankind. But we are anticipating +our brief analysis of the work before us:-- + + "After twenty-three years of blood and revolution," + continues the author, "Louis was again seated on the throne + of his forefathers, and the principles of monarchy seemed + firmly established in Europe. But the principle of + government was in reality no longer the old one, and the + spirit of the relation in which the ruled stood to the + rulers, although it had not yet been brought to light in + visible forms, and specified limits, was materially changed. + Mutual struggles of kings and their people against foreign + aggression, and mutual sufferings in consequence of the + division between the people and their rulers, the latter of + whom owed esteem and acknowledgment for services rendered by + the former, laid the foundation of a relation between them + mutually more honourable. For centuries, indeed, the + monarchs of Europe had not been identified and interwoven + with their people; nor had they shared as now, the + privations and humiliations, the domestic and public + calamities, of the nations they governed; nor had they + fought by their sides, and conquered by their efforts, as + they had lately done in the late stormy period of the + world." + +Mutual suffering had taught them to feel a community of interests they +had not before recognised. Calamity brings all ranks to a level, and the +monarch exiled from his throne, can sympathise with the peasant driven +from his hovel. + +In this state of feelings, one would suppose Europe might have reposed +in peace. But the elements of internal discord, lay buried deeply in her +bosom, and the internal relations of the different powers had been so +altered, as to present ample materials for dissension abroad. With the +necessity of appealing to the patriotism of their people, by promises of +privileges and immunities, expired the disposition to comply with them. +This breach of faith, produced on one hand indignation and discontent, +on the other, jealousy and apprehension. The discontents of the people, +caused their rulers to depend more on the support of their standing +armies, than on the attachment of their subjects, and these armies were +accordingly augmented to such an extent, that the unfortunate people +were at length impoverished by the very means used in enslaving them. At +this moment, nearly the whole of Europe, including the British islands, +constitutes a mass of military governments. Every where the civil power +is inadequate to the preservation of order, the enforcement of obedience +to the king and the laws, and every where a standing army under some +form or other presides over the opinions and actions of the people. +Hence results the curious and ominous, not to say awful spectacle of the +rights of property at the mercy of a mob; and on the other hand, the +rights of person, the liberties of the citizen, subject to the arbitrary +domination of the bayonet. At this moment, such is the state of every +monarchy in Europe. + +Such a juxtaposition of kings and their people, must of necessity +alienate them from each other every day; and thus by degrees, the +feeling of loyalty towards the one, and of parental affection towards +the other, will be finally extinguished in mutual fears and mutual +injuries, that will for ever disturb their repose, until the people are +either perfectly satisfied, or totally subdued. + +Another fruitful source of the discontents now agitating all Europe, is +the state of the labouring classes, not only manufacturing but +agricultural. The means of producing the necessaries and luxuries of +life have been multiplied by the increase of paper capital and +artificial expedients, until the supply exceeds the demand, and the +price of labour, even where labour can be procured, bears no proportion +to the price of bread. During fifteen years of peace, America and Europe +have augmented their powers of supplying their own wants and those of +the rest of the world, by means of improvements in arts, sciences, +machinery, &c., to an extent which cannot be estimated. The whole world +is glutted with the products of machinery, and exactly in the proportion +that these increase upon us, is the increase of the poverty of the +labouring classes. Millions of people in Europe, the largest proportion +of whom are inhabitants of the richest country in the world, and one +producing the greatest quantity of the results of industry, want bread, +because they either have no employment, or their wages will not obtain +it for them. Let political economists reason as they will, this is the +state of the labouring classes of Europe, and this state is aggravated +precisely in the proportion that the facility of supplying the +necessities and luxuries of life by artificial means is increased. + +The cause of this singular state of things to us is sufficiently +obvious. The powers of wealth, the force of example, opinion, authority, +laws, of every concentrated influence that can be brought to bear upon +human affairs, have, all combined, been directed to a reduction of the +price of labour, and consequently to diminishing the consumption of the +products of human industry; for the great mass of mankind have nothing +but the fruits of their labour to offer in exchange for those products +which are necessary to their subsistence and comfort. In vain may it be +urged, as we have seen it done repeatedly, and most especially in an +address of a clergyman of England to the labouring classes of that +country--in vain may it be urged, that the decrease of the price of +labour has been met by a corresponding decrease in the price of the +necessaries of life, and that, therefore, the labouring classes are no +worse off, nay better off, than before the vast increase of machinery +either threw them out of employment, or forced them to labour for almost +nothing. This comfortable gentleman, who, we understand, has a good fat +living, and will probably be made a bishop if he can only stop the +mouths of the sufferers with reasons instead of bread, asks these poor +people if they don't get their hats, shoes, &c. one half cheaper in +consequence of the perfection of machinery, the improvements of the +arts, &c. But he takes care not to ask them if the difficulty of earning +this half price is not increased in a much greater proportion, in +consequence of the diminution of their wages, and whether bread, meat, +beer, and all the essentials of human existence, are not enhanced rather +than diminished in price. We could illustrate the theory of the reverend +gentleman, by an honest matter of fact story, which we can vouch for, as +it happened to a near relative of ours. + +He had a gardener named Dennis, an honest fellow, full of simplicity, +and a dear lover of Old Ireland, as all Irishmen are, at home or abroad. +One day he was dilating with much satisfaction on the difference between +the price of potatoes in this country and Ireland. "In Ireland, your +honour, now I could git more nor a barrel of potatoes for a pishtareen, +but here it costs as much as a dollar and a half." The gentleman asked +him good naturedly why he did not remain where potatoes were so cheap. +Dennis considered a moment, and answered with the characteristic +frankness of his country--"why to tell your honour the honest truth, +though the potatoes were so cheap, I never could get the pishtareen to +buy them." + +Here is the solution of the whole enigma. Every thing is cheap we will +say; but labour, which is the only equivalent a large mass of mankind +have to offer for every thing, is cheaper than all. Evident, as we think +this will appear, still it seems to have no influence on those who +govern mankind. And how should it? Their emoluments, their means of +expenditure, are derived, not from their own physical labour, but the +labours of others. The cheaper they can procure this, the deeper they +can revel in luxuries. With them, the relative proportion between the +remuneration of toil, and the means of living is nothing. Hence the +rulers of nations, hence capitalists, and all the brood of monopolists, +are stirring their energies abroad, to increase the supply of the +products of labour, at the same time that they take from the labourer +the due rewards of his labours, and thus prevent the consumption of the +vast accession of manufactures, &c. occasioned by the increase and +perfection of machinery. Inanimate powers are daily substituted for +human hands, and productions continue to multiply in an equal ratio. +This is a benefit to a single nation, while it possesses all the +advantages of superiority, and is enabled to supply a portion of the +rest of the world. But when other nations, as is the case now, adopt the +same system, and avail themselves of the same means of supply, a glut +takes place in the market, at home and abroad, and poverty and distress +among the labourers are the inevitable consequence. + +Such seem to us the principal elements of combustion now at work in +Europe. Political disgust, and physical distresses are co-operating with +each other, and in order to quiet these disturbances, it is not only +necessary to give them more liberty, but more bread. But to return once +more to the speculations of our author,-- + + "If we turn our view to the present state of agriculture," + continues Dr. Von Schmidt, "in many countries of Europe, it + will appear evident, that even the paternal soil in many + districts, is becoming too confined to afford nourishment to + those who have remained faithful to its bosom. If in the + mountainous countries, as for example, in the west and south + of France, on the Alps, and along the Rhine, every spot is + occupied, and the very earth and manure have for centuries + been carried aloft upon the naked rock attended with the + most boundless labour, in order to furnish soil for the + vine, the olive, and for the different species of cerelia, + and at present no further room exists for a more extended + cultivation; it is not possible for a more numerous growing + generation to find nourishment in these districts, whose + productions are not susceptible of increasing progression. + The too frequent practice of parcelling out common lands, + and large estates, originally beneficial in itself, has + produced similar consequences in other states. It was + undoubtedly a wise and humane plan to transform commons, and + extensive pastures into fruitful fields, and by dividing + large estates which their owners could not overlook, into + smaller lots, thus ensure more abundant crops, and an + increasing population, by a more careful cultivation. But + if, as is the case at the present day, in many places, + useful lands have been split into so many small independent + possessions, as to render it hardly possible for families + occupying them, to subsist in the most penurious manner, by + cultivating them; whence, then, is sustenance to be obtained + for their more numerous posterity, and from what source is + the state to derive its taxes? It is evident, that this + condition of things must lead to the most poignant distress, + and that a breadless multitude, either driven by + irretrievable debts from their paternal huts, or voluntarily + forsaking them on account of an inadequate maintenance, will + turn their backs upon their country; and it may be + considered a fortunate resource if they, as has frequently + occurred in later times, carry with them the vigour of their + strength to the free states of America, which stand in need + of no one thing but human hands, to raise them to the + highest degree of prosperity. Those governments in which + such an unnatural distension of the state of society + prevails, ought not, most assuredly, for their own + advantage, and for the sake of humanity, by any means to + throw obstacles in the way, but rather favour such + emigration, and render it easy and consolatory for all, + since they have it not in their power to offer a better + remedy for their present misery. By doing this, they will + prevent dangerous ebullitions and unruly disaffections of a + distressed and overgrown population; they will lighten the + number of poor which is increasing to a most alarming + extent, and put an end to that angry state of abjectness and + misery which is felt by every honest heart, and under which + thousands have sunk down, who, with numerous families in + hovels of wretchedness, prolong their existence upon more + scanty means than the most common domestic animals, and who + appear only to be gifted with reason in order to be more + sensible to their forlorn and pitiable fate." + +From the foregoing premises, the author deduces the conclusion, that the +free states of North America will increase in population more rapidly +than any other country has ever done, partly from emigration, and partly +from the unequalled facility of obtaining the comforts of life, by which +the numbers of mankind are regulated. The people, equally free from +political oppression, and the evils of abject poverty, such as scanty +nourishment, and crowded habitations, will at first make a rapid +progress in the useful, and subsequently, in the elegant arts, and more +abstract sciences. The freedom of their institutions will continually +offer every stimulus to the development of the features of independence, +and animate that spirit of intelligence, which always increases in +proportion to the freedom with which the human faculties are exercised. +Thence he proceeds to the supposition, that the states of South America +having attained to independence, will establish constitutional +governments similar to those of the North, whose example first +stimulated them to resistance to the mother country,--that this +similarity will naturally produce a close union of interest and policy +among all the states of the Western Continent, and that such a union +will give a death blow to the colonial system of Europe, at no distant +period. + +The discovery and colonization of America, led to consequences which +re-modelled all Europe; and her emancipation from European thraldom +will, in like manner, force upon that portion of the world a new state +of things. _Europe, in her present situation, cannot do without +America,--while, on the other hand, America has no occasion for Europe._ +America can, and will, therefore, become independent of Europe; but, in +the present state of things, Europe cannot become independent of +America. That almost universal empire which Europe attained by the +superiority of her intelligence,--by the tribute she exacted from every +other quarter of the globe, and by the superiority of her skill as well +as of her industry, cannot be sustained for a much longer period. + +Wrapped up in a sense of his superiority, the European reclines at home, +shining in his borrowed plumes, derived from the product of every corner +of the earth, and the industry of every portion of its inhabitants, with +which his own natural resources would never have invested him, he +continues, as the author observes, revelling in enjoyments which nature +has denied him;--accustomed from his most tender years, to wants which +all the blessings and donations of the land and the ocean, produced +within the compass of his own quarter of the globe, are unable to +satisfy. While, therefore, the rest of the world has become tributary to +him, he, in return, has become dependent on it, by those wants,--the +supply of which, custom and education have made indispensably necessary. + +America alone furnishes in a sufficient quantity those precious metals, +which constitute the basis on which the existing relations of all the +different classes of society, and indeed the whole concatenation of the +civil institutions of society in general, have been formed, and retained +to the present time. All the elements of modern splendour were derived +from her,--and it was her gifts to Europe, which changed almost all the +constituents of social life. The costly woods of the new world, banished +the native products of the old;--her cochineal and indigo furnish the +choicest materials for the richest dyes;--her rice is become an article +of cheap and general nourishment to the European world;--her cotton, +tobacco, coffee, sugar, molasses, cocoa and rum;--her numerous and +valuable drugs;--her diamonds and precious stones;--her furs, and, in +time of scarcity, the rich redundant stores of grain she pours forth +from her bosom, constitute so large a portion of the wants and luxuries +of Europe, that it is not too much to say, the latter is in a great +measure dependent upon America. A great portion of these cannot be +domesticated in the former, or produced in such quantities, as to supply +the demand which custom has made indispensable, nor upon such terms, as +would enable the people of Europe to indulge in their consumption. On +the contrary, experience has demonstrated, that all the natural +productions of Europe, its olives, and even its boasted vines, can be +naturalized in some one of the various regions of this quarter of the +globe, which comprehends in itself every climate and every soil. There +is not the least doubt, that, when the habits of the people, or the +interests of the country point to such a course, all these will be +produced in sufficient quantities, not only for domestic use, but +foreign exportation. + +America, thus standing in need of none of the natural productions of +Europe, and possessing within herself much more numerous, as well as +precious gifts of nature, than any other quarter of the globe, will soon +be able to dispense with the products of foreign industry. Whenever she +can command the necessary stock of knowledge, and a sufficient number of +industrious hands, which emigration, aided by her own increasing +population, will soon place at her disposal, this will inevitably take +place. Where there exist materials, and understanding to use them, the +freedom of using them at pleasure, and security in the enjoyment of the +fruits of labour, the spirit of enterprise is inevitably awakened into +life and activity, and with it must flourish every species of +industry:-- + + "North America," observes the author, "at the commencement + of her revolution, found herself nearly destitute of all + mechanical resources and means of resistance,--whereas now + she possesses fortifications, and plenty of military + supplies of all kinds, with the means of multiplying them, + as occasion may require. She has already formed an + efficient, spirited and increasing navy, which will before + long dispute the empire of the seas; she is complete + mistress of the several branches of knowledge, and contains + within herself all the mechanical institutions requisite for + the increase and maintenance of these things. She can equip + an army or a navy, without a resort to Europe, for the most + insignificant article." + +The author then goes on to express an opinion that the complete +emancipation of South America, which he anticipates as soon to happen, +will lead to similar results, in that portion of the continent, and +produce an entire and final independence, political as well as +commercial. He does not pretend to designate the precise period in which +this will take place, but confines himself to the assertion, that in the +natural and inevitable course of things, it must and will happen, after +a determined opposition from European jealousy. + +An inquiry is then commenced, into the possibility that Europe will be +enabled to supply the loss of America, by means of new connexions with +the other quarters of the globe. If she cannot procure a new market for +her surplus manufactures, how is she to acquire the means of purchasing +those productions of the new world, which have become indispensable to +her existence, in the sphere she has hitherto occupied? To do this she +must not only retain in their fullest extent, all the remaining branches +of her commerce, but obtain others, by entering into new connexions with +Asia and Africa, and colonizing new regions. To do this, not only does +the necessary energy seem wanting, but Europe will have to encounter the +competition of America, with all our unequalled celerity of enterprise, +and all our rapidly increasing powers of competition. She is much more +likely to lose her remaining colonies than to acquire new ones; and it +approaches to an extreme degree of probability, that she will be driven +from many of her accustomed branches of commerce, by the superior energy +and enterprise of America, rather than obtain new marts for her +manufactures. Already the North American cottons are finding their way +to India, and banishing the productions of the British looms from the +markets of the southern portion of this continent. The trade to China is +already assuming an entire new character, and will probably before long +be carried on without the instrumentality of Spanish dollars. + +We think the positions of our author are eminently entitled to +consideration. The situation of a part of the continent of America, +south of the Isthmus of Darien, is much more favourable to a commercial +intercourse with Asia, western Africa, than that of Europe. The coast of +Guinea can be much more easily visited from Caraccas, Cayenne, and +Surinam, than from any portion of Europe; and the Cape of Good Hope, +lying directly to the east of the great river La Plata, is much better +adapted to an intercourse with Rio Janeiro, and Buenos Ayres, than any +of the Dutch or English colonies. The Isles of France, Bourbon, and +Madagascar, situated between the Cape of Good Hope, and the eastern +coast of Africa, are much more suited to a communication with the new +states of South America, than with the mother countries. Such is the +case with the Philippine islands, New-Holland, the Marquesas, the +Friendly and Society islands. The geographical relations between all +these, and different portions of South America, sufficiently indicate +that when the reins shall have fallen from the hands of Europe, the +intercourse will in a great measure change its course, and centre in the +new instead of the old world. + +The principle, we are aware, has been assumed, that whatever state +supports the most powerful navy for the protection of its commerce, will +always take the lead. But it hardly now remains a question, whether the +states of the new world will not be able ere long, to direct trade into +the free channel which nature herself seems to point out for all +nations, but which the exorbitant naval power of one has forced into +artificial and circuitous directions. + +Europe will not for ever be able to wield the trident of the seas, nor +sway the sceptre of intellectual superiority. There is a time for all +things. There was a time when she borrowed her arts, her literature, her +refinements, and her civilization, from Asia. These are for ever passing +from one nation, and from one continent to another. The descendents of +Europeans in the new world, have not degenerated, and possessing as they +do as many advantages of situation as were ever enjoyed by any people +under the sun, with as great a field for their exercise as was ever +presented for human action, it would be departing from the natural order +of things, and the ordinary operations of the great scheme of +Providence; it would be shutting our ears to the voice of experience, +and our eyes to the inevitable connexion of causes and their effects, +were we to reject the extreme probability, not to say moral certainty, +that the old world is destined to receive its impulses in future, from +the new. Already we see the bright dawnings of this new relation, in the +universal diffusion of the spirit of emancipation, first sought in the +wilds of America. It was there that was first lighted that spark which +is now animating and stimulating the nations of the old world to become +free and happy like ourselves. The unshackled genius of the new world is +now exerting itself with gigantic vigour, aided by the infinite +treasures of nature, to strengthen its powers, increase its commerce, +its resources, and its wealth. No other quarter of the globe, much less +a single nation, will eventually be able to dispute the empire of the +seas, with the new world. + +We shall devote the remainder of this article to a consideration of +events which have occurred in Europe since the publication of the work +before us, which richly merits a better translation, as well as a +republication in this country. This course is necessary to our purpose, +although it is our humble opinion, that the writers and publications of +this country, give a disproportionate attention to the affairs of other +people, and of consequence, neglect our own. Let us look to ourselves; +preserve the purity of the national manners and institutions--foster our +natural and accidental advantages, and observe, and gather lessons of +wisdom as well as moderation from the folly and excesses of rulers and +people in the old superannuated world. Above all, let us ever bear in +mind and continue to act upon the sentiment of Daniel Webster, and be +careful that "_while other nations are moulding their governments after +ours, we do not break the pattern_." + +The present state of Europe, we think, offers additional probabilities +to the theory laid down in the work of the Danish philosopher. Two great +principles are now approaching to a struggle, which will, in all human +probability, ere long, produce not only wars, but the worst of wars, +internal dissensions, aggravated by external struggles with foreign +powers. Although the principle of emancipation is common to the +revolution of America, and the revolutionary spirit now at work in +Europe, all other circumstances are essentially different. With us, it +was throwing off a dominion seated at a vast distance beyond the seas, +and only known among us by its representatives. In Europe, on the +contrary, it is a central power existing in the heart, and pervading +every portion of the body politic. A revolution then, must overturn +thrones, church establishments, standing armies, hereditary orders, and +prejudices hallowed by ages of reverence and submission. The whole frame +and organization of society must be dissolved, changed into new +elements, and be arranged into new forms. + +The enemies of _statu quo_, and the genius of change, are now arraying +their respective powers, and in proportion as the people have been +debarred from all participation in the government, will be their ardour +to govern without controul. Such a struggle cannot end in a day, or in a +year,--nor will it be decided in all probability, except through a long +series of gradations, which will finally rest at last on a basis +suitable to the present state of the human mind. We cannot, therefore, +but anticipate heavy times for Europe. A long course of internal and +external wars, is fatal to the great interests of a state. Commerce +decays, and seeks other more peaceful climes--agriculture is robbed of +its labourers, and of the products of labour, to recruit and feed the +armies,--and manufacturers are deprived of their foreign purchasers. The +powers of the intellect, too, are diverted from the pursuits of science +and literature, into the bloody paths of warfare,--and thus it has ever +happened, that a long continuance of national struggles, produces a +neglect of the arts of peace, and an approach to barbarism. + +Insecurity of property is one of the inevitable consequences of civil +wars. The products of the land are the common stock of plunder for both +parties, and the land itself becomes a prey to confiscation. At this +day, a vast portion of the wealth of Europe is vested in stocks, which +are still more fatally operated upon by civil wars. Their value, in +fact, becomes, in such a state of things, merely nominal; and it depends +upon the success of one or other of the parties in the struggle, whether +they again attain to their original prices, or become worthless. Such a +crisis seems fast approaching in Europe. When once the conflicting +elements of anarchy and despotism commence their warfare, who shall say +where and when it will end? Prophecy, in this case, would be +presumption,--when it does end, the result will be equally uncertain. +Whether a chastened freedom, guarantied by a fair representation of the +people in the governments, a despotism without limits, or an anarchy +without controul, is beyond the reach of human foresight to predict. + +One thing, however, we think, is certain. This unsettled state of life, +liberty and property, in Europe, will produce a vast accession of wealth +and population in the new world, and accelerate its progress to the +sceptre of intellect and power, hitherto, for so long a time, wielded by +the old. The neighbouring nations of Europe, being all nearly in the +same state of internal insecurity, afford no safe refuge to fugitives or +property, from each other--even if their national antipathies did not +present a barrier to emigration. The United States, on the contrary, +with nothing to disturb their tranquillity, but the peaceable struggles +of an election, and stretching out a hand of welcome to all nations, and +all ranks of mankind, from the exiled monarch to the mechanic or +peasant, coming in search of employment and bread, will present a safe +deposit for the wealth of Europe,--a sanctuary where the persecuted, the +harassed, and the timid spirit, may find repose from the storms that vex +his native land. + +Thus, to our native energy, intelligence, and resources, will be added a +large portion of those of the other quarter of the world, and the united +result, in all human probability, _must_ be the fulfilment of the great +prophecy, that the empire of the world was travelling towards the +setting sun. The sceptre will depart from the east, and be wielded by +the west. Power, dominion, science, literature, and the arts, hitherto +the satellites of despotism, will become the bright and beautiful +handmaids of a brighter goddess than themselves, and the glory of +Europe, like that of Asia, be preserved in her history and her +traditions. + +The anticipation is as rational as glorious to an American. Look at the +state of Europe once more, and separate it into its constituent parts. +Let us begin with France. What has she gained by her revolution of July +but a branch of the same tree, in the room of the rotten trunk? Has she +won freedom or repose? Not even the freedom of complaint,--nor any other +repose, but the repose of the National Guards. What is the cry of the +people of Paris? Not liberty alone, but "give us employment and bread." +Thus irritated by a feeling of disappointment on one hand, and goaded on +by hunger, can they stop where they are? Certainly not; it is not in the +nature of man, nor the nature of things. Two such impulses can only be +satisfied by the grant of their demands, and only quelled by force. + +Look at the great rival of France on the opposite side of the channel. +The same mighty evils are at work there--discontent aggravated by +hunger. At the moment we are writing, a question is depending in the +Parliament of England, which agitates the island to its centre, and the +decision of which, either one way or other, is acknowledged by both +parties to amount to the signal of a revolution. The opponents of the +Bill of Reform maintain, that, if carried, it will destroy the basis of +the government; and the advocates assert, that, if not carried, it will +produce a revolution, originating in the disappointment and indignation +of the people. + +Will the aristocracy of England--the most wealthy and powerful +aristocracy in the world--voluntarily, and without a mighty struggle, +divest themselves of one of their chief sources of power in the state. +Will they sacrifice their parliamentary influence, which constitutes one +of the regular modes and means of providing for younger sons and poor +relations? Nay, which enables them to dictate to their sovereign? We +believe not. Will the people remain quiet under the disappointment of +their newborn hopes, aggravated as it will be by poverty and distress, +among so large a number? Perhaps they will, so long as there is an army +of sixty or eighty thousand men, disposed so happily for the protection +of order in the _United_ Kingdom, that every breath of discontent is met +by a bayonet. But let the monarchs who maintain _order_ in Europe, by +means of standing armies, recollect the lesson of history, which teaches +us, that throughout all ages, and countries, the power which sustained +the throne by force, in the end by force overthrew it. There is but one +solid permanent support of power, and that is, the attachment of the +people. + +In the present state of Europe, we incline to the opinion that the +safest course for kings to take, would be to identify themselves with +the people, and become the organs of their wishes. We see no other means +for the present King of England to make head successfully against the +weight of the opposition of the church and nobility, in case he +decisively sustains the present ministry in their plans of parliamentary +reform, than to make common cause with his people, and say to them +honestly, "I have become your champion, do you become my supporters." +The government of England is acknowledged on all hands to be a mixed +government of king, lords, and commons. Who represents the commons of +England? The House of Commons. But can it do this effectually, while a +large portion of the members are returned by the House of Lords? We +should think not. The spirit and purity of the system can only be +preserved by the commons, and the commons alone, selecting their +representatives in their own house, and not the nobility. Does the House +of Commons interfere in the same way in the creation of the members of +the House of Lords? They have no voice or influence in the business. +Why, then, should the House of Lords interfere in the election, or +appointment rather, of the members of the House of Commons? In this +point of view, therefore, we can perceive no sort of foundation for the +argument of the opponents of reform, that the measure will operate to +destroy the balance of the government. We rather think it will restore +the balance, and bring it back to the true old theory of three distinct +powers--king, lords, and commons. + +We believe that the people will be satisfied with this reform for a +time, if it take place. When they shall see, as no doubt they will see, +that the burthens of the state, and consequently their own, remain the +same, or perhaps increase with the increase of those who require relief, +and the decrease of those who are able to bestow it; when they shall +find that a reform in Parliament will not give them liberal wages, or +feed their suffering families, then will they become more dissatisfied +than ever. Then, too, will the result disclose where the shoe of reform +pinched the opponents of reform. The increased representation of the +people will then enable the people to _make_ themselves heard and felt, +and to force the government into measures that may indeed destroy the +constitution of England, if there be any such invisible being. Whichever +way we look, therefore, we perceive the same causes of discontent, the +same spirit of emancipation at work, that agitates the continent of +Europe; and so long as this state of things continues, it requires no +spirit of prophecy to predict, that England, so far from advancing in +power or intelligence, will, in all probability, invincibly slide from +the summit of power, and become the victim of internal weakness at last. + +The state of Holland and Belgium, of Italy and Germany, and Russia and +Prussia, and Spain and Poland, is still more unfavourable to arts, +science, commerce, literature, and agriculture. The rulers are employed +in schemes for keeping the people in subjugation, and the people in +wresting the promised privileges from their rulers. In such a state of +things, the one party has no time to devise schemes for enriching or +enlightening the people, but is employed, on the contrary, in placing +them, as far as possible, in ignorance and poverty. The other is so +taken up with politics, that its habits of economy, steadiness, and +enterprise, are forgotten by degrees in the whirlpool of turbulent +excitement. Each and all of these countries, with the exception perhaps +of Russia, instead of advancing, will gradually recede in wealth and +intelligence, not only from internal dissensions, but on account of the +large portion of both, that will from time to time, as long as this +state of things shall last, direct its course to the new world. + +The change from old to new times; from the inapplicable maxims of the +past, to the practical truths of the present, has, every where, and in +all past ages, been a period of suffering to the human race. The +approaches to this state of regeneration, are marked by turbulent +disaffection on one hand, inflexible severity on the other; its progress +is marked by the dissolution of the social ties, and its crisis with +blood and tears. The people have to encounter the most formidable +difficulties, under which they probably sink many times, before they +rise at last and make the great successive effort. These evils are +aggravated and perpetuated as long as possible, by the stern inflexible +rigidity of old-established institutions, worthless in proportion to +their obstinacy, aided by the blind besotted pride of kings, who seem +never to have learnt the lesson of yielding to the changes produced by +time and circumstance, and sacrificing gracefully, what will otherwise +be taken from them by force. + +But all that is great, or good, or valuable, in this world, must be +attained by labour, perseverance, courage, and integrity. Liberty is too +valuable a blessing to be gained or preserved without the exercise of +these great virtues. It must have its victims, and its charter must be +sealed with blood. A people afraid of a bayonet, are not likely to be +free while Europe swarms with standing armies, having little or no +community of interests or feeling with those who maintain them by the +sweat of their brow. When the oppressed states of Switzerland, sent +forth patriots who made a breach in the forest of German bayonets +opposed to them, by circling them in their arms, and receiving them into +their bosoms, they deserved to be free--they became free, and their +liberties are still preserved. But so long as a host often thousand +brawling and hungry malcontents, can be quieted and dispersed by the +sound of a bugle, the clattering of a horse's hoofs, or the glittering +of a musket barrel, can such people expect to be free? Assuredly not, we +think. No where will despotism or aristocracy peaceably resign their +long established preponderance without a struggle, and like our own +revolution, the contest will at last come to the crisis--"_we must +fight, Mr. Speaker, we must fight_," as said the intrepid Patrick +Henry,--and we did fight. So must Europe if it expects emancipation. All +the governments of that quarter of the globe, are now sustained by a +military force--and by force only can they be overthrown or modified, to +suit the great changes which have taken place in the feelings and +relative situation of the different orders of society. + +That the present state and future prospects of that renowned and +illustrious quarter of the globe, are ominous of a continued succession +of storms and troubles, we think appears too obvious. The night that is +approaching, will be long and dark, in all human probability--it may end +in a total regeneration--in a confirmed and inflexible despotism; or in +that precise state of things which characterized what are called, the +dark ages of Europe--in the establishment of a hundred petty states, +governed by a hundred petty tyrants, eternally at variance, and agreeing +in nothing but in oppressing the people. Great standing armies are at +present the conservators of the great powers of Europe, and public +sentiment is no longer the sole or principal cement of empires; when +these are gone, as they must be, ere the nations which they oppress can +be free, then all the little sectional and provincial jealousies and +antipathies, every real or imaginary opposition of interests, and even +feelings of personal rivalry, will have an opportunity of coming into +full play, and the result may very probably be, the erection of a vast +many petty states, which will never be brought to act together in any +great system of policy. Thus situated, they will never be able to make +head against the growing power of the vast states of the new world, +which whatever may be their minor causes of difference, will naturally +unite in those views of commercial policy, which being common to all, +will be sought by a common effort. + +The South American states, it is true, have not yet realized the +blessings of emancipation, partly owing to their inexperience in the +practical secrets of civil liberty; partly to the want of public virtue +in the people, and their rulers, and partly, as we are much inclined to +suspect, to the secret intrigues of more than one European power. But +their natural and inevitable tendency is, we believe, towards a stable +government, combining a complete independence of foreign powers, with +such a portion of civil liberty as may suit their present circumstances +and situation. They are serving their apprenticeship--they will soon be +out of their time, and may safely set up for themselves. + +But, however doubtful may be the final result of the great struggle +between the kings and the people--or of the aristocracy and the +people--for this seems to be the real struggle after all--whatever may +be its final result, one thing is certain as fate. While it continues, +it must inevitably arrest the prosperity of Europe, such as it is, and +force it to retrograde for a time. Instead of devoting their attention +to the interests of the nation abroad, and encouraging the industry and +intelligence of the people at home, kings will be employed in watching +and restraining their subjects. Fearing the intelligence and wealth, as +the means of increasing their discontents as well as their power, they +will seek to diminish both by new restraints or new exactions; and thus +the best ends of government will be perverted to purposes of ignorance +and oppression. This is the history of the degradation, and consequent +internal weakness of all nations, and a perseverance in such a course in +Europe, will only afford another example, that the same effects proceed +from similar causes, every where, and at all times. + +In the mean while, as oppression, civil wars, internal disaffection, +anarchy, and expatriation of wealth and numbers, all combined, are +gradually undermining the strength of Europe, and draining her veins, +the new world will be, in all human probability, every day acquiring +what the old is losing. If she once pass the other, if it be only by the +breadth of a single hair, it is scarcely to be anticipated that age and +decrepitude will ever be able to regain the vantage ground, against the +primitive energies of vigorous youth. Once ahead, and the new world will +remain so, until the ever revolving course of time, and the revolutions +it never fails to accomplish, shall perhaps again transfer to Asia the +sceptre of arts, science, literature, power, and dominion, which was +wrested from her by Europe. + +To realize these bold anticipations, nothing seems necessary but for the +people of the United States to bear in mind, that they are the +patriarchs of modern emancipation--that the spark which animates the +people of Europe was caught from them--that they led the way in the +_great common cause of all mankind_--that the eyes of the world are upon +them--and that they stand under a solemn obligation to do nothing +themselves, to suffer their leaders to do nothing, which shall bring the +sacred name of liberty into disgrace, or endanger the integrity of our +great confederation. "_While other nations are moulding their +governments after ours, may we not destroy the pattern._" + + +[Footnote 4: Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts, Vol. I, pages 84, +85.] + + + + + ART. VII.--_Speeches and Forensic Arguments, by_ DANIEL + WEBSTER: 8vo. pp. 520. Boston: 1830. + + +It has often enough been objected to books written and published in the +United States, that they want a national air, tone, and temper. +Unhappily, too, the complaint has not unfrequently been well founded; +but the volume before us is a striking exception to all such remarks. It +consists of a collection of Mr. Webster's Public Addresses, Speeches in +Congress, and Forensic Arguments, printed chiefly from pamphlets, +already well known; and it is marked throughout, to an uncommon degree, +with the best characteristics of a generous nationality. No one, indeed, +can open it, without perceiving that, whatever it contains, must have +been the work of one born and educated among our free institutions,--formed +in their spirit, and animated and sustained by their genius and power. +The subjects discussed, and the interests maintained in it, are entirely +American; and many of them are so important, that they are already +become prominent parts of our history. As we turn over its pages, +therefore, and see how completely Mr. Webster has identified himself +with the great institutions of the country, and how they, in their turn, +have inspired and called forth the greatest efforts of his uncommon +mind, we feel as if the sources of his strength, and the mystery by +which it controuls us, were, in a considerable degree, interpreted. We +feel that, like the fabulous giant of antiquity, he gathers it from the +very earth that produced him; and our sympathy and interest, therefore, +are excited, not less by the principle on which his power so much +depends, than by the subjects and occasions on which it is so strikingly +put forth. We understand better than we did before, not only why we have +been drawn to him, but why the attraction that carried us along, was at +once so cogent and so natural. + +When, however, such a man appears before the nation, the period of his +youth and training is necessarily gone by. It is only as a distinguished +member of the General Government,--probably in one of the two Houses of +Congress, that he first comes, as it were, into the presence of the +great mass of his countrymen. But, before he can arrive there, he has, +in the vast majority of cases, reached the full stature of his strength, +and developed all the prominent peculiarities of his character. Much, +therefore, of what is most interesting in relation to him,--much of what +goes to make up his individuality and momentum, and without which, +neither his elevation nor his conduct can be fully understood or +estimated, is known only in the circle of his private friends, or, at +most, in that section of the country from which he derives his origin. +In this way, we are ignorant of much that it concerns us to know about +many of our distinguished statesmen; but about none, probably, are we +more relatively ignorant than about Mr. Webster, who is eminently one of +those persons, whose professional and political career cannot be fairly +or entirely understood, unless we have some acquaintance with the +circumstances of his origin, and of his early history, taken in +connection with his whole public life. We were, therefore, disappointed, +on opening the present volume, not to find prefixed to it a full +biographical notice of him. We were, indeed, so much disappointed and +felt so fully persuaded, that neither the contents of the volume itself, +nor the sources of its author's power, nor his position before the +nation, could be properly comprehended without it, that we determined at +once to connect whatever we should say on any of these subjects, by such +notices of his life, as we might be able to collect under unfavourable +circumstances. We only regret that our efforts have not been more +successful,--and that our notices, therefore, are few and imperfect. + +Mr. Webster was born in Salisbury, a farming town of New-Hampshire, at +the head of the Merrimack, in 1782. His father, always a farmer, was a +man of a strongly marked and vigorous character,--full of decision, +integrity, firmness, and good sense. He served under Lord Amherst, in +the French war, that ended in 1763; and, in the war of the Revolution, +he commanded a company chiefly composed of his own towns-people and +friends, who gladly fought under his leading nearly every campaign, and +at whose head he was found, in the battle of Bennington, at the White +Plains, and at West-Point, when Arnold's treason was discovered. He died +about the year 1806; and, at the time of his death, had filled, for many +years, the office of Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, for the state +of New-Hampshire. + +But, during the early part of Mr. Webster's life, the place of his +birth, now the centre of a flourishing and happy population, was on the +frontiers of civilization. His father had been one of the very first +settlers, and had even pushed further into the wilderness than the rest, +so that the smoke sent up amidst the solitude of the forest, from the +humble dwelling in which Mr. Webster was himself born, marked, for some +time, the ultimate limit of New England adventure at the North. +Undoubtedly, in any other country, the sufferings, privations, and +discouragements inevitable in such a life, would have precluded all +thought of intellectual culture. But, in New England, ever since the +first free school was established amidst the woods that covered the +peninsula of Boston, in 1636, the school-master has been found on the +border line between savage and civilized life, often indeed with an axe +to open his own path, but always looked up to with respect, and always +carrying with him a valuable and preponderating influence. + +It is to this characteristic trait of New England policy, that we owe +the first development of Mr. Webster's powers, and the original +determination of his whole course in life; for, unless the school had +sought him in the forest, his father's means would not have been +sufficient to send him down into the settlements to seek the school. The +first upward step, therefore, would have been wanting; and it is not at +all probable, that any subsequent exertions on his own part, would have +enabled him to retrieve it. The value of such a benefit cannot, indeed, +be measured; but it seems to have been his good fortune to be able in +part, at least, to repay it; for no man has explained with such +simplicity and force as he has explained them, the very principles and +foundations on which the free schools of New England rest, or shown, +with such a feeling of their importance and value, how truly the free +institutions of our country must be built on the education of all. We +allude now to his remarks in the Convention of Massachusetts, where, +speaking of the support of schools, he says:-- + + "In this particular we may be allowed to claim a merit of a + very high and peculiar character. This commonwealth, with + other of the New England states, early adopted, and has + constantly maintained the principle, that it is the + undoubted right, and the bounden duty of government, to + provide for the instruction of all youth. That which is + elsewhere left to chance, or to charity, we secure by law. + For the purpose of public instruction, we hold every man + subject to taxation, in proportion to his property, and we + look not to the question, whether he, himself, have or have + not children to be benefited by the education for which he + pays. We regard it as a wise and liberal system of police, + by which property, and life, and the peace of society are + secured. We seek to prevent, in some measure, the extension + of the penal code, by inspiring a salutary and conservative + principle of virtue, and of knowledge, in an early age. We + hope to excite a feeling of respectability, and a sense of + character, by enlarging the capacity, and increasing the + sphere of intellectual enjoyment. By general instruction, we + seek, as far as possible, to purify the whole moral + atmosphere; to keep good sentiments uppermost, and to turn + the strong current of feeling and opinion, as well as the + censures of the law, and the denunciations of religion, + against immorality and crime. We hope for a security, beyond + the law, and above the law, in the prevalence of enlightened + and well principled moral sentiment. We hope to continue and + to prolong the time, when, in the villages and farm houses + of New England, there may be undisturbed sleep, within + unbarred doors. And knowing that our government rests + directly on the public will, that we may preserve it, we + endeavour to give a safe and proper direction to that public + will. We do not, indeed, expect all men to be philosophers, + or statesmen; but we confidently trust, and our expectation + of the duration of our system of government rests on that + trust, that by the diffusion of general knowledge, and good + and virtuous sentiments, the political fabric may be secure, + as well against open violence and overthrow, as against the + slow but sure undermining of licentiousness." pages 209, + 210. + + "I rejoice, Sir, that every man in this community may call + all property his own, so far as he has occasion for it, to + furnish for himself and his children the blessings of + religious instruction and the elements of knowledge. This + celestial, and this earthly light, he is entitled to by the + fundamental laws. It is every poor man's undoubted + birth-right, it is the great blessing which this + constitution has secured to him, it is his solace in life, + and it may well be his consolation in death, that his + country stands pledged, by the faith which it has plighted + to all its citizens, to protect his children from ignorance, + barbarism and vice." p. 211. + +How Mr. Webster's education was advanced immediately after he left these +primary schools, is, we believe, not known. It was, however, with great +sacrifices on the part of his family, and severe struggles on his own. +At last, when he was fifteen or sixteen years old, after a very +imperfect preparation, he was entered at Dartmouth College; at least, so +we infer, for he was graduated there in 1801. What were his principal or +favourite pursuits during the three or four years of his academic life, +we do not know. We remember, however, to have met formerly, one of his +classmates, who spoke with the liveliest interest of the generous and +delightful spirit he showed among his earliest friends and competitors, +in the midst of whom, he manifested, from the first, aspirations +entirely beyond his condition, and, when the first year was passed, +developed faculties which left all rivalship far behind him. Indeed, it +is known, in many ways, that, by those who were acquainted with him at +this period of his life, he was already regarded as a marked man; and +that, to the more sagacious of them, the honours of his subsequent +career have not been unexpected. + +Immediately after leaving college, he began the study of the law in the +place of his nativity, with Mr. Thompson, soon afterwards a member of +Congress; a gentleman who, from the elevation of his character, was able +to comprehend that of his pupil and contribute to unfold its powers. But +the _res augustæ domi_ pressed hard upon him. He was compelled to exert +himself for his own support; and his professional studies were +frequently interrupted and impaired by pursuits, which ended only in +obtaining what was needful for his mere subsistence. + +Circumstances connected with his condition and wants at this time, led +him to Boston, and carried him, when there, into the office of Mr. Gore. +This was, undoubtedly, one of the deciding circumstances of his life. +Mr. Gore was a lawyer of eminence, and a _gentleman_, in the loftiest +and most generous meaning of the word. His history was already connected +with that of the country. He had been appointed district attorney of the +United States for Massachusetts, by Washington; he had served in England +as our commissioner under Jay's treaty; and he was afterwards governor +of his native state, and its senator in Congress. His whole character, +private, political, and professional, from its elevation, purity and +dignity, was singularly fitted to influence a young man of quick and +generous feelings, who already perceived within himself the impulse of +talents and the stirrings of an ambition whose direction was yet to be +determined. Mr. Webster felt, that it was well for him to be there; and +Mr. Gore obtained an influence over his young mind, which the peculiarly +kind and frank manners of the instructer permitted early to ripen into +an intimacy and friendship that were interrupted only by death. + +Mr. Webster finished the study of his profession in Boston, and was +there admitted to the bar in 1805;--Mr. Gore, who presented him, +venturing, at the time, to make a prediction to the court respecting his +pupil's future eminence, which has been hardly more than fulfilled by +all his present fame. At first, he began the practice of his profession +in Boscawen, a small village adjacent to the place of his birth; but in +1807, he removed to Portsmouth, where, no doubt, he thought he was +establishing himself for life. + +As a young lawyer, about to lay the foundations for future success, his +portion could, perhaps, hardly have been rendered more fortunate and +happy than it was now in Portsmouth. He rose rapidly in general regard, +and was, therefore, almost at once, ranked with the first in his +profession in his native state. Of course, his associations and +intercourse were with the first minds. And, happily for one like him, +the presiding judge of the highest tribunal in New-Hampshire was then +Mr. Smith, afterwards governor of the state, whose native clearness of +perception, acuteness, and power, united to faithful and accurate +learning in his profession, and the soundest and most practical wisdom +in the fulfilment of his duties on the bench, and in his intercourse +with the bar, gave him naturally and necessarily great influence over +its younger members. Mr. Webster, as the most prominent among them, came +much in contact with him, and profited much from his sagacious foresight +and wise and discriminating kindness. He came, too, still more in +contact with Mr. Mason, afterwards a senator in Congress, and then and +still the leading counsel in New-Hampshire. Mr. Mason was his senior by +several years, but there was no other adversary capable of encountering +him; and the intellect with which Mr. Webster was thus called to contend +on equal terms was one of the highest order, of ample resources, and of +the quickest penetration; whose original reach, firm grasp, and +unsparing logic, left no safety for an adversary, but in a vigour, +readiness and skill, which could never be taken unprepared or at +disadvantage. It was a severe school; but there is little reason to +doubt, Mr. Webster owes to its stern and rugged discipline much of that +intellectual training and power, which render him, in his turn, so +formidable an adversary. He owes to it, also, notwithstanding their +uniform and daily opposition in court, the no less uniform personal +friendship of Mr. Mason in private life. + +It was in the midst, however, of this period, both of discipline and +success as a lawyer, in New-Hampshire, that he entered public life. In +the government of his native state, we believe, he never took office of +any kind; and his first political place, therefore, was in the +thirteenth Congress of the United States. He was chosen in 1812, soon +after the declaration of war; and as he was then hardly thirty years +old, he must have been one of the youngest members of that important +Congress. His position there was difficult, and he felt it to be so. He +was opposed to the policy of the war; he represented a state earnestly +opposed to it; and he had always, especially in the eloquent and +powerful memorial from the great popular meeting in Rockingham, +expressed himself fully and frankly on the whole subject. But he was now +called into the councils of the government, which was carrying on the +war itself. He felt it to be his duty, therefore, to make no factious +opposition to the measures essential to maintain the dignity and honour +of the country; to make no opposition for opposition's sake; though, at +the same time, he felt it to be no less his duty, to take good heed that +neither the constitution, nor the essential interests of the nation, +were endangered or sacrificed--_ne quid detrimenti respublica accipiat_. +This, indeed, seems to have been his motto up to the time of the peace; +and his tone in relation to it is always manly, bold, and decisive. When +Mr. Monroe's bill for a sort of conscription was introduced, he joined +with Mr. Eppes, and other friends of the administration, in defeating a +project, which, except in a moment of great anxiety and excitement, +would probably have found no defenders. But when, on the other hand, the +bill for "encouraging enlistments" was before the house, he held, in +January 1814, the following strong and striking language, in which, now +the passions of that stormy period are hushed, all will sympathize. + + "The humble aid which it would be in my power to render to + measures of government, shall be given cheerfully, if + government will pursue measures which I can conscientiously + support. If, even now, failing in an honest and sincere + attempt to procure a just and honourable peace, it will + return to measures of defence and protection, such as + reason, and common sense, and the public opinion, all call + for, my vote shall not be withholden from the means. Give up + your futile projects of invasion. Extinguish the fires that + blaze on your inland frontiers. Establish perfect safety and + defence there by adequate force. Let every man that sleeps + on your soil sleep in security. Stop the blood that flows + from the veins of unarmed yeomanry, and women and children. + Give to the living time to bury and lament their dead, in + the quietness of private sorrow. Having performed this work + of beneficence and mercy on your inland border, turn, and + look with the eye of justice and compassion on your vast + population along the coast. Unclench the iron grasp of your + embargo. Take measures for that end before another sun sets + upon you. With all the war of the enemy on your commerce, if + you would cease to make war upon it yourselves, you would + still have some commerce. That commerce would give you some + revenue. Apply that revenue to the augmentation of your + navy. That navy, in turn, will protect your commerce. Let it + no longer be said, that not one ship of force, built by your + hands since the war, yet floats upon the ocean. Turn the + current of your efforts into the channel, which national + sentiment has already worn broad and deep to receive it. A + naval force, competent to defend your coast against + considerable armaments, to convoy your trade, and perhaps + raise the blockade of your rivers, is not a chimera. It may + be realized. If, then, the war must continue, go to the + ocean. If you are seriously contending for maritime rights, + go to the theatre, where alone those rights can be defended. + Thither every indication of your fortunes points you. There + the united wishes and exertions of the nation will go with + you. Even our party divisions, acrimonious as they are, + cease at the water's edge. They are lost in attachment to + the national character, on the element where that character + is made respectable. In protecting naval interests by naval + means, you will arm yourselves with the whole power of + national sentiment, and may command the whole abundance of + the national resource. In time, you may be enabled to + redress injuries in the place where they may be offered; + and, if need be, to accompany your own flag throughout the + world with the protection of your own cannon."[5] Speech, + pp. 14, 15. + +Later in the same Congress, the subject of the establishment and +principles of a national bank came into discussion, and the finances of +the country being then greatly embarrassed, this subject rose to +paramount importance, and absorbed much of the attention of Congress up +to the moment when the annunciation of peace put a period, for the time, +to all such debates. On the whole matter of the bank and the currency, +Congress was divided into three parties. First, those who were against a +national bank under any form. These persons consisted chiefly of the +remains of the old party, which had originally opposed the establishment +of the first bank in Washington's time, in 1791, and in 1811 had +prevented the renewal of its charter. They were, however, generally, +friends of the existing administration, whose position now called +strongly for the creation of a new bank; and, therefore, while they +usually voted on preliminary and incidental measures with the favourers +of a bank, they voted, on the final passage of the bill, against it; so +that it was much easier to defeat the whole of any one project, than to +carry through any modification of it. Second, there was a party +consisting almost entirely of friends of the administration, who wished +for a bank, provided it were such a one as they thought would not only +regulate the currency of the country, and facilitate the operations of +the government, but also afford present and important aid by heavy +loans, which the bank was to be compelled to make, and to enable it to +do which, it was to be relieved from the necessity of paying its notes +in specie;--in other words, it was a party that wished to authorize and +establish a paper currency for the whole country. The third party wished +for a bank with a moderate capital, compelled always to redeem its notes +with specie, and at liberty to judge for itself, when it would, and when +it would not, make loans to the government. + +The second party, of course, was the one that introduced into Congress +the project for a bank at this time. The bill was originally presented +to the Senate; and its main features were, that the bank should absorb a +large amount of the depreciated public debt of the United States, and +grant to the government heavy loans on the security of a similar debt to +be created; that its capital should consist of fifty millions of +dollars, of which five millions only were to be specie, and the rest +depreciated government securities; and that the bank, when required, +should lend the government thirty millions. At the time when this plan +was brought forward, all the numerous state banks south of New-England +had refused to redeem their notes, or, as it was called "to ears +polite," had "suspended specie payments," in consequence of which, their +notes had fallen in value from 10 to 25 per cent., and specie, of +course, had risen proportionally in value, and disappeared from +circulation entirely. To afford the contemplated national bank any +chance for carrying on its operations, or even for beginning them, it +was to be authorized "to suspend specie payments," which meant, that it +was to be authorized never to begin them; for, without this authority, +their specie would be drained the moment their notes should be issued +equal to its amount. On the other hand, all the taxes and revenues of +the government were to be receivable in the paper of the bank, however +much it might fall in value. In short, the whole scheme was one of those +vast Serbonian bogs, where, from the days of Laws's Mississippi Company, +armies whole of legislators and projectors have sunk, without leaving +even a monument behind them to warn their followers of their fate. + +We must not, however, be extravagantly astonished, that a project which +we now know was in its nature so wild and dangerous, should have found +favourers and advocates. The finances of the country were then in a +critical, and even distressing position; and all men were anxious to +devise some means to relieve them. A large part of the nation, too, +sincerely entertained the chimerical notion, now universally exploded, +that it was practicable to establish and maintain a safe and stable +paper currency, even when not convertible into specie at the pleasure of +the holder; and the example of England and its national bank was +referred to with effect, though, from its history since, the same +example could now be referred to with double effect on the other side of +the discussion. After an earnest and able debate, then, the bill, on the +whole, passed the Senate, and it was understood that a considerable +majority of the House of Representatives was in its favour. + +When brought there on the 9th of December, 1814, it excited a very +animated discussion, which, with various interruptions from the forms +and rules of the House, references to committees, and occasional +adjournments, was continued till the 2d of January. In this protracted +debate Mr. Webster took a conspicuous part; and his efforts, of which +the speech now published is but an inconsiderable item, did much to +avert the threatened evil, and to establish his reputation, not merely +as an eloquent and powerful debater, which had already been settled in +the previous session, but as a sagacious and sound statesman. + +His principal opposition to the bill was made on the last day of its +discussion. He then introduced a series of resolutions, bringing the +bank proposed within the limits of the specie-paying principle, and +taking off from it the restraints, which placed it too much within the +power of the government to make it useful as a monied institution, +either to the finances or to the commerce of the country. The objections +to the plan then before Congress, and the disasters that would probably +follow its adoption, he portrayed in the following strong language, +which none, however, will now think to have been too strong. + + "The capital of the bank, then, will be five millions of + specie, and forty-five millions of government stocks. In + other words, the bank will possess five millions of dollars, + and the government will owe it forty-five millions. This + debt from government, the bank is restrained from selling + during the war, and government is excused from paying until + it shall see fit. The bank is also to be under obligation to + loan government thirty millions of dollars on demand, to be + repaid, not when the convenience or necessity of the bank + may require, but when debts due to the bank, from + government, are paid; that is, when it shall be the good + pleasure of government. This sum of thirty millions is to + supply the necessities of government, and to supersede the + occasion of other loans. This loan will doubtless be made on + the first day of the existence of the bank, because the + public wants can admit of no delay. Its condition, then, + will be, that it has five millions of specie, if it has been + able to obtain so much, and a debt of seventy-five millions, + no part of which it can either sell or call in, due to it + from government. + + "The loan of thirty millions to government, can only be made + by an immediate issue of bills to that amount. If these + bills should return, the bank will not be able to pay them. + This is certain, and to remedy this inconvenience, power is + given to the directors, by the act, to suspend, at their own + discretion, the payment of their notes, until the President + of the United States shall otherwise order. The President + will give no such order, because the necessities of + government will compel it to draw on the bank till the bank + becomes as necessitous as itself. Indeed, whatever orders + may be given or withheld it will be utterly impossible for + the bank to pay its notes. No such thing is expected from + it. The first note it issues will be dishonoured on its + return, and yet it will continue to pour out its paper, so + long as government can apply it in any degree to its + purposes. + + "What sort of an institution, sir, is this? It looks less + like a bank, than a department of government. It will be + properly the paper-money department. Its capital is + government debts; the amount of its issues will depend on + government necessities; government, in effect, absolves + itself from its own debts to the bank, and by way of + compensation absolves the bank from its own contracts with + others. This is, indeed, a wonderful scheme of finance. The + government is to grow rich, because it is to borrow without + the obligation of repaying, and is to borrow of a bank which + issues paper, without liability to redeem it. If this bank, + like other institutions which dull and plodding common sense + has erected, were to pay its debts, it must have some limits + to its issues of paper, and therefore, there would be a + point beyond which it could not make loans to government. + This would fall short of the wishes of the contrivers of + this system. They provide for an unlimited issue of paper, + in an entire exemption from payment. They found their bank, + in the first place, on the discredit of government, and then + hope to enrich government out of the insolvency of their + bank. With them, poverty itself is the main source of + supply, and bankruptcy a mine of inexhaustible treasure." + Pp. 224-5. + +The resolutions proposed by Mr. Webster, and supported in this speech, +were not passed. Probably he did not expect them to pass, when he +proposed them; but the same day, the main question was taken upon the +passage of the bill itself; and, as it was rejected by the casting vote +of the speaker, there can be no reasonable doubt, that without his +exertions this portentous absurdity would not have been defeated. It is +but justice, however, to the supporters of the measure, to say, that the +mischievous consequences of its adoption, were by no means so apparent +then as they are now. We have since had no little experience on the +whole matter. It required all the power and influence of the general +government, and of the present sound and specie-paying Bank of the +United States, acting vigorously in concert for several years after the +war, to relieve the country from the flood of depreciated notes of the +state banks with which it was inundated, and to restore a safe and +uniform currency. When or how this evil could have been remedied, if, at +the very close of the war, it had been almost indefinitely increased by +the establishment of a vast machine, issuing every day as much +irredeemable paper as would be taken at any and every discount, and thus +co-operating with the evil itself, instead of opposing it, is more than +any man will now be bold enough to conjecture. We should, no doubt, have +been in bondage to it to this hour, and probably left it as a yoke upon +the necks of our children. + +But, at the time referred to, the necessities of the government were +urgent; and, on motion of Mr. Webster, the rule that prevented a +reconsideration at the same session of a subject thus disposed of, was +suspended the very next day, and a bill for a bank was on the same day, +January 3, recommitted to a select committee. On the 6th, the committee +reported a specie-paying bank, with a much diminished capital, which was +carried in the house, with the fewest possible forms, on the 7th; Mr. +Webster and most of his friends voting for it. It passed the senate, +too, though with some difficulty; but was refused by the president, on +the ground, that it was not sufficient to meet the exigencies of the +case, which, indeed, we now know, no bank would have been able to meet. +This project, however, being thus rejected, another was immediately +introduced into the senate, the basis of which was to be laid, like that +of the first bank proposed, in a paper currency. It passed that body; +but on being brought into the house met a severe and determined +opposition, which ceased only when, on the 17th, the news of peace being +received, the bill was indefinitely postponed. + +Mr. Webster's exertions, however, on the subject of the currency, did +not cease with the overthrow of the paper bank system. He was re-elected +to New-Hampshire for the fourteenth Congress, and sat there during the +sessions of 1815-16; and 1816-17. The whole state of things in the +nation was now changed. The war was over, and the great purpose of sound +statesmanship was therefore to bring the healing and renovating +influences of peace into the administration and finances of the country. +The present bank was chartered in April 1816, and was placed, +substantially on the principles maintained in Mr. Webster's resolutions +of the preceding year. But still it seemed doubtful whether this +institution, however wisely managed, would alone have power enough to +restore a sound currency. The small depreciated notes of the state banks +south of New-England, still filled the land with their loathed +intrusion; and, what was worse, the revenue of the general government, +receivable at the different custom-houses, was collected in this +degraded paper, to the great injury of the finances of the country, and +to the still greater injury of the property of private individuals, who, +in different states, paid, of course, different rates of duties to the +treasury, according to the value of the paper medium in which it +happened to be received. Mr. Webster foresaw the mischiefs that must +follow from this state of things, if a remedy were not speedily applied. +He, therefore, in the same month of April 1816, introduced a resolution, +the effect of which was, to require the revenue of the United States to +be collected and received only in the legal currency of the United +States, or in bills equal to that currency in value. + +In stating the nature of the evil, after showing by what means the paper +of the state banks south of New-England had become depreciated; he +says,-- + + "What still farther increases the evil is, that this bank + paper being the issue of very many institutions, situated in + different parts of the country, and possessing different + degrees of credit, the depreciation has not been, and is not + now, uniform throughout the United States. It is not the + same at Baltimore as at Philadelphia, nor the same at + Philadelphia as at New-York. In New-England, the banks have + not stopped payment in specie, and of course their paper has + not been depressed at all. But the notes of banks which have + ceased to pay specie, have nevertheless been, and still are, + received for duties and taxes in the places where such banks + exist. The consequence of all this is, that the people of + the United States pay their duties and taxes in currencies + of different values, in different places. In other words, + taxes and duties are higher in some places than they are in + others, by as much as the value of gold and silver is + greater than the value of the several descriptions of bank + paper which are received by government. This difference in + relation to the paper of the District where we now are, is + twenty-five per cent. Taxes and duties, therefore, collected + in Massachusetts, are one quarter higher than the taxes and + duties which are collected, by virtue of the same laws, in + the District of Columbia." Pp. 233-4. + +A little further on, after showing that if this state of things is not +changed by the government, it will be likely to change the government +itself, he adds,-- + + "It is our business to foresee this danger, and to avoid it. + There are some political evils which are seen as soon as + they are dangerous, and which alarm at once as well the + people as the government. Wars and invasions therefore are + not always the most certain destroyers of national + prosperity. They come in no questionable shape. They + announce their own approach, and the general security is + preserved by the general alarm. Not so with the evils of a + debased coin, a depreciated paper currency, or a depressed + and falling public credit. Not so with the plausible and + insidious mischiefs of a paper money system. These insinuate + themselves in the shape of facilities, accommodation, and + relief. They hold out the most fallacious hope of an easy + payment of debts, and a lighter burden of taxation. It is + easy for a portion of the people to imagine that government + may properly continue to receive depreciated paper, because + they have received it, and because it is more convenient to + obtain it than to obtain other paper, or specie. But on + these subjects it is, that government ought to exercise its + own peculiar wisdom and caution. It is supposed to possess + on subjects of this nature, somewhat more of foresight than + has fallen to the lot of individuals. It is bound to foresee + the evil before every man feels it, and to take all + necessary measures to guard against it, although they may be + measures attended with some difficulty and not without + temporary inconvenience. In my humble judgment, the evil + demands the immediate attention of Congress. It is not + certain, and in my opinion not probable, that it will ever + cure itself. It is more likely to grow by indulgence, while + the remedy which must in the end be applied, will become + less efficacious by delay. + + "The only power which the general government possesses of + restraining the issues of the state banks, is to refuse + their notes in the receipts of the treasury. This power it + can exercise now, or at least it can provide now for + exercising in reasonable time, because the currency of some + part of the country is yet sound, and the evil is not + universal. If it should become universal, who, that + hesitates now, will then propose any adequate means of + relief? If a measure, like the bill of yesterday, or the + resolutions of to-day, can hardly pass here now, what hope + is there that any efficient measure will be adopted + hereafter?" pp. 235-6. + +The doctrine of this speech is as important as it is true. A sound and +uniform currency is essential, not only for the convenient and safe +management of the fiscal concerns of a government; but, no less so, for +the security of private property. It is, indeed, at once the standard +and basis of all transfer and exchange; and, whenever the circulating +medium has become much deranged in any country, it has been found an +arduous, and sometimes a dangerous task, to restore it to a sound state. +The effort almost necessarily brings on a conflict between the two great +classes of debtor and creditor, into which every community is +divided,--the creditor claiming the highest standard of value in the +currency, and the debtor the lowest; and the results of such a conflict +have not unfrequently been found in changes, convulsions, and political +revolution. From such a conflict we were saved in this country, by the +defeat of the paper-currency bank proposed in 1814,--by the +establishment of the present specie paying bank, and by the adoption of +Mr. Webster's resolution, which was approved by the President on the +30th of April, 1816. + +It was at this period, however, that Mr. Webster determined to change +his residence, and, of course, to retire for a time at least, from +public life. He had now lived in Portsmouth nine years; and they had +been to him years of great happiness in his private relations, and, in +his relations to the country, years of remarkable advancement and +honour. But, in the disastrous fire, which, in 1813, destroyed a large +part of that devoted town, he had sustained a heavy loss, which the +means and opportunities offered by his profession in New Hampshire were +not likely to repair. He determined, therefore, to establish himself in +a larger capital, where his resources would be more ample, and, in the +summer of 1816, removed to Boston, where he has ever since resided. + +His object now was professional occupation, and he devoted himself to it +for six or eight years exclusively, with unremitting assiduity, refusing +to accept office, or to mingle in political discussion. His success +corresponded to his exertions. He was already known as a distinguished +lawyer in his native state; and the two terms he had served in Congress, +had placed him, notwithstanding his comparative youth, among the +prominent statesmen of the country. His rank as a jurist, in the general +regard of the nation, was now no less speedily determined. Like many +other eminent members of the profession, however, who have rarely been +able to select at first what cases should be entrusted to them, it was +not for him to arrange or determine the time and the occasion, when his +powers should be decisively measured and made known. We must, therefore, +account it for a fortunate accident, though perhaps one of those +accidents granted only to talent like his, that the occasion was the +well known case of Dartmouth College; and, we must add, as a +circumstance no less fortunate, that the forum where he was called to +defend the principles of this great cause, and where he did defend them +so triumphantly, was that of the Supreme Court of the United States, at +Washington. + +There is, indeed, something peculiar in this grave national tribunal, +especially with regard to the means and motives it offers to call out +distinguished talent, and try and confirm a just reputation, which is +worth notice. The judges themselves, selected from among the great +jurists of the country, as above ignorance, weakness, and the +temptations of political ambition,--with that venerable man at their +head, who for thirty years has been the ornament of the government, and, +in whose wisdom has been, in no small degree, the hiding of its +power--constitute a tribunal, which may be truly called solemn and +august. The advocates, too, who appear before it, are no less a chosen +few, full of talent and skill, and eager with ambition, who go there +from all the ends of the country, to discuss the gravest and most +important interests both public and private,--to settle the conflicts +between domestic and foreign jurisprudence, or the more perilous +conflicts between the authority of the individual states, and that of +the general government;--in short, to return constantly upon the first +great principles of national and municipal adjudication, and take heed, +that, whatever is determined shall rest only on the deep and sure +foundations of truth, right, and law. And, finally, if we turn from the +bench and the bar, to the audience which is collected around them, we +shall find again much that is remarkable, and even imposing. We shall +find, that, large as it is, it is gathered together from a city not +populous, where every thing, even the resources of fashion, must have a +direct dependence on the operations of government; and where the +senators themselves, and the representatives of foreign powers, no less +than the crowds collected during the session of Congress, by the +solicitations of an enlightened curiosity, or of a strenuous indolence, +can, after all, discover no resort so full of a stirring interest and +excitement, as that of the Supreme Court, into whose arena such +practised and powerful gladiators daily descend, rejoicing in the +combat. Taking it in all its connexions, then, we look upon this highest +tribunal of the country, not only to be solemn and imposing in itself, +but to be one of peculiar power over the reputations of these jurists +and advocates, who appear before it, and who must necessarily feel +themselves to be standing singularly in presence of the nation, +represented there as it is, in almost every way, and by almost every +class, from the fashion and beauty lounging on the sofas in the recesses +of the court-room, up to the eager antagonists, who are impatiently +waiting their time to contend for the mastery on some great interest or +principle, and the judges who are ultimately to decide it. + +Mr. Webster had already appeared once or twice before this +tribunal;--but not in any cause which had called seriously into action +the powers of his mind. The case of Dartmouth College, however, was one +that might well task the faculties of any man. That institution, founded +originally by charter from the king of Great Britain, had been in +successful operation nearly half a century, when, in 1816, the +Legislature of New Hampshire, from some movements in party politics, was +induced, without the consent of the college, to annul its charter, and, +by several acts, to give it a new incorporation and name. The trustees +of the college resisted this interference; and, in 1817, commenced an +action in the state courts, which was decided against them. A writ of +error was then sued out by the original plaintiffs, to remove the cause +for its final adjudication, to the Supreme Court of the United States; +and it came on there for argument in March, 1818. + +The court room was excessively crowded, not only with a large assemblage +of the eminent lawyers of the Union, but with many of its leading +statesmen,--drawn there no less by the importance of the cause, and the +wide results that would follow its decision, than by the known eloquence +of Mr. Hopkinson and Mr. Wirt, both of whom were engaged in it. Mr. +Webster opened it, on behalf of the college. The question turned mainly +on the point, whether the acts of the Legislature of New-Hampshire, in +relation to Dartmouth College, constituted a violation of a contract; +for, if they did, then they were contrary to the Constitution of the +United States. The principles involved, therefore, went to determine the +extent to which a legislature can exercise authority over the chartered +rights of all corporations; and this of course gave the case an +importance at the time, and a value since, paramount to that of almost +any other in the books. Mr. Webster's argument is given in this volume +at p. 110, et seq.; that is, we have there the technical outline, the +dry skeleton of it. But those who heard him, when it was originally +delivered, still wonder how such dry bones could ever have lived with +the power they there witnessed and felt. He opened his cause, as he +always does, with perfect simplicity in the general statement of its +facts; and then went on to unfold the topics of his argument, in a lucid +order, which made each position sustain every other. The logic and the +law were rendered irresistible. But, as he advanced, his heart warmed to +the subject and the occasion. Thoughts and feelings, that had grown old +with his best affections, rose unbidden to his lips. He remembered that +the institution he was defending, was the one where his own youth had +been nurtured; and the moral tenderness and beauty this gave to the +grandeur of his thoughts; the sort of religious sensibility it imparted +to his urgent appeals and demands for the stern fulfilment of what law +and justice required, wrought up the whole audience to an extraordinary +state of excitement. Many betrayed strong agitation; many were dissolved +in tears. When he ceased to speak, there was a perceptible interval +before any one was willing to break the silence; and, when that vast +crowd separated, not one person of the whole number doubted, that the +man who had that day so moved, astonished, and controlled them, had +vindicated for himself a place at the side of the first jurists of the +country. + +From this period, therefore, Mr. Webster's attendance on the Supreme +Court at Washington has been constantly secured by retainers, in the +most important causes; and the circle of his professional business, +which has been regularly enlarging, has not been exceeded, if it has +been equalled, by that of any other lawyer who has ever appeared in the +national forum. The volume before us contains few traces of all this. It +contains, however, two arguments upon constitutional questions of great +interest and wide results. One is the case of Gibbons _vs._ Ogden, in +1824, involving the question, how far a state has authority to grant the +exclusive right of navigating the tide-waters within its territorial +limits; refusing that right to all persons belonging to other states, as +well as to its own citizens. This question struck, of course, at the +great steam-boat monopoly granted by the state of New-York, from motives +of public munificence, to Mr. Fulton, the admirable first mover of that +national benefit, and Chancellor Livingston, its early and adventurous +patron. The case was argued by Mr. Webster and Mr. Wirt against the +monopoly, and by Mr. Oakley and Mr. Emmet for it; so that probably as +much ability was brought into the discussion on each side, as has been +called for by any single cause in our judicial annals. The result was, +that the monopoly was declared to be unconstitutional; and thus another +great national blessing was obtained, hardly less important than the +original invention,--that of throwing open the right to steam-navigation +to the competition of the whole Union. + +There were circumstances which gave uncommon interest to this cause, +independently of its great constitutional importance, and the wide +consequences involved in it. It had been litigated, during a series of +years, in every form, in the state courts of New-York, where the +monopoly had triumphed over all opposition. And it need hardly be said, +that the state courts of New-York have maintained as proud a reputation +for learning, research, and talent, as any in the Union. What lawyer has +not sat gladly at the feet of Chancellor Kent, and Chief Justice +Spencer? And what state, in relation to her jurisprudence, can so boldly +say-- + + "Quæ regio in terris nostri non plena laboris?" + +Mr. Webster's argument in the opening of this case,--which was closed +with great power by the Attorney-General, Mr. Wirt,--furnishes, even in +the meagre outline still preserved, p. 170-184, a specimen of some of +the characteristics of his mind. We here see his clearness and downright +simplicity in stating facts; his acute suggestion and analysis of +difficulties; his peculiar power of disentangling complicated +propositions, and resolving them into elements so plain, as to be +intelligible to the simplest minds; and his wariness not to be betrayed +into untenable positions, or to spread his forces over useless ground. +We see him, indeed, fortifying himself, as it were, strongly within the +narrowest limits of his cause, concentrating his strength, and ready at +any moment to enter, like a skilful general, at all the weak points of +his adversary's position. This argument, therefore, especially as it was +originally pronounced in court, we look upon, as a whole, to have been +equally remarkable for depth and sagacity; for the choice and +comprehensiveness of the topics; and for the power and tact exhibited in +their discussion. Yet we are carried along so quietly by its deep +current, that, like Partridge in Tom Jones, when he saw Garrick act +Hamlet, all seems to us so spontaneous, so completely without effort, +that we are convinced, nay, we feel sure, there is neither artifice nor +mystery, extraordinary power nor genius, in the whole matter. But, to +those who are familiar with Mr. Webster, and the workings of his mind, +it is well known, that, in this very plainness; in this earnest pursuit +of truth for truth's sake, and of the principles of law for the sake of +right and justice, and in his obvious desire to reach them all by the +most direct and simple means, is to be found no small part of the secret +of his power. It is this, in fact, above every thing else, that makes +him so prevalent with the jury; and, not only with the jury in court, +but with the great jury of the whole people. + +The same general remarks are applicable to his argument in the case of +Ogden against Saunders, in 1827, which we notice now, out of the regular +series of events, in order to finish at once the little we can say of +his professional career as a lawyer. The case to which we now refer, +involved the question of the constitutionality of state insolvent laws, +when they purported to absolve the party from the obligation of the +_contract_, as well as from personal _imprisonment_, on execution. In a +legal and constitutional point of view, this has always been thought one +of Mr. Webster's ablest and most convincing arguments. With the court he +was only half successful; there being a remarkable diversity of opinion +among the judges. But, taken in connexion with the opinion of Chief +Justice Marshall, delivered in the case, with which Mr. Webster's +argument coincides, both in reasoning and in conclusion, it seems +absolutely to have exhausted the whole range of the discussion on that +side, and to furnish all that future inquirers can need to master the +question. + +But, during the years we have just passed over, Mr. Webster's success +was not confined to the bar. In the year 1820-21, a convention of +delegates was assembled in Boston, to revise the constitution of +Massachusetts. As it was one of those primary assemblies, where no +office disqualifies from membership, and as the occasion was one of the +rarest importance, the talent and wisdom, the fortunes and authority of +that commonwealth were, to a singular degree, collected in it. The +venerable John Adams, then above eighty-five years old, represented his +native village; Mr. Justice Story, of the Supreme Court of the United +States, was a delegate from Salem; Judge Davis, of the District Court of +the United States, and the greater part of the judicial officers of the +state were there, as well as a large number of the leading members of +the Massachusett's bar, and a still larger number of its wealthiest or +most prominent land-holders and merchants. No assembly of equal dignity +and talent was ever collected in that commonwealth. Mr. Webster was one +of the delegates from Boston. What influence he exerted, or how +beneficial, or how extensive it was, can be entirely known only there +where it was put forth. But, if we may judge from the important +committees on which he served; the prominent interests and individuals +his duty called him occasionally to defend, to encounter, and to oppose; +and the business-like air of his short remarks, which are scattered up +and down through the whole volume of the "Journal of Debates and +Proceedings" of this convention, published soon afterwards, we should be +led to believe, that, though he was then but a newly adopted child of +Massachusetts, he had already gained a degree of confidence, respect and +authority, to which few in that ancient commonwealth could lay claim. +The fruits of it all, in the present volume, are, a short speech on +"Oaths of Office;" another on "the removal of Judges upon the address of +two-thirds of each branch of the Legislature;" and a more ample and very +powerful one on the "Principle of representation in the Senate." They +are all strong and striking; and it would be easy to extract something +from each, characteristic of its author; but we have not room, and must +content ourselves with referring, for a specimen of the whole, to the +remarks on the free schools of New-England, from the speech in the +Senate, which we have already cited; adding merely, that, to this +remarkable speech of Mr. Webster, and to another of great beauty and +force, by Mr. Justice Story, was ascribed, at the time, a change in the +opinions and vote of the convention, which, considering the importance +of the subject, and the long discussion it had undergone, was all but +unprecedented.[6] + +While this convention was still in session, a great anniversary came +round at the north. The two hundredth year from the first landing of the +Pilgrims at Plymouth, was completed on the 22d of December, 1820; and +every man born in New-England, or in whose veins stirred a drop of +New-England blood, felt that he had an interest in the event it +recalled, and demanded its grateful celebration. Preparations, +therefore, for its commemoration, on the spot where it occurred, were +made long beforehand; and, by the sure indication of the public will, +and at the special invitation of the Pilgrim Society, Mr. Webster was +summoned as the man who should go to the Rock of Plymouth, and there so +speak of the centuries past, as that the centuries to come should still +receive and heed his words. Undoubtedly he amply fulfilled the +expectations that waited on this great occasion. His address, which +opens the present volume, is one of the gravest productions it contains. +He seems to feel that the ground on which he stands is holy; and the +deep moral sensibility, and even religious solemnity, which pervade many +parts of this striking discourse,--where he seems to have collected the +experience of all the past, in order to minister warning and +encouragement to all the future,--is in perfect harmony with the scene +and the occasion, and produced its appropriate effect on the multitude +elected, even at that inclement season, from the body of the New-England +states, to offer up thanksgivings for their descent from the Pilgrim +fathers. The effect, too, at the time, has been justified by a wider +success since; and the multiplied editions of the printed discourse, +while they have carried it into the farm-houses and hearts of the +New-England yeomanry, are at the same time ensuring its passage onward +to the next generation and the next, who may be well satisfied, when the +same jubilee comes round, if they can leave behind them monuments +equally imposing, to mark the lapse and revolutions of ages. + +It would not be difficult to select eloquent passages from this +discourse. We prefer, however, to take one containing what was then a +plain and adventurous prediction; but what is now passing into history +before our very eyes. We allude to the remarks on the principle of the +subdivision of property in France, as affecting the permanency of the +French government, which Mr. Webster ventured to call in question, on +the same general grounds, on which he undertook to prove the permanency +of our own. + + "A most interesting experiment of the effect of a + subdivision of property on government, is now making in + France. It is understood, that the law regulating the + transmission of property, in that country, now divides it, + real and personal, among all the children, equally, both + sons and daughters; and that there is, also, a very great + restraint on the power of making dispositions of property by + will. It has been supposed, that the effects of this might + probably be, in time, to break up the soil into such small + subdivisions, that the proprietors would be too poor to + resist the encroachments of executive power. I think far + otherwise. What is lost in individual wealth, will be more + than gained in numbers, in intelligence, and in a sympathy + of sentiment. If, indeed, only one, or a few landholders + were to resist the crown, like the barons of England, they + must, of course, be great and powerful landholders with + multitudes of retainers, to promise success. But if the + proprietors of a given extent of territory are summoned to + resistance, there is no reason to believe that such + resistance would be less forcible, or less successful, + because the number of such proprietors should be great. Each + would perceive his own importance, and his own interest, and + would feel that natural elevation of character which the + consciousness of property inspires. A common sentiment would + unite all, and numbers would not only add strength, but + excite enthusiasm. It is true, that France possesses a vast + military force, under the direction of an hereditary + executive government, and military power, it is possible, + may overthrow any government. It is in vain, however, in + this period of the world, to look for security against + military power, to the arm of the great landholders. That + notion is derived from a state of things long since past; a + state in which a feudal baron, with his retainers, might + stand against the sovereign, who was himself but the + greatest baron, and his retainers. But at present, what + could the richest landholder do, against one regiment of + disciplined troops? Other securities, therefore, against the + prevalence of military power must be provided. Happily for + us, we are not so situated as that any purpose of national + defence requires, ordinarily and constantly, such a military + force as might seriously endanger our liberties. + + "In respect, however, to the recent law of succession in + France, to which I have alluded, _I would, presumptuously, + perhaps, hazard a conjecture, that if the government do not + change the law, the law, in half a century, will change the + government; and that this change will be not in favour of + the power of the crown, as some European writers have + supposed, but against it_. Those writers only reason upon + what they think correct general principles, in relation to + this subject. They acknowledge a want of experience. Here we + have had that experience; and we know that a multitude of + small proprietors, acting with intelligence, and that + enthusiasm which a common cause inspires, constitute not + only a formidable, but an invincible power." Pp. 47-8. + +In less than six years from the time when this statesman-like prediction +was made, the King of France, at the opening of the Legislative +Chambers, thus strangely and portentously echoed it, + + "Legislation ought to provide by successive improvements, + for all the wants of society. _The progressive partitioning + of landed estates essentially contrary to the spirit of a + monarchical government_ would enfeeble the guaranties which + the charter has given to my throne and to my subjects. + Measures will be proposed to you, gentlemen, to establish + the consistency which ought to exist between the political + law and the civil law; and to preserve the patrimony of + families, without restricting the liberty of disposing of + one's property. The preservation of families is connected + with, and affords a guaranty to political stability, which + is the first want of states, and which is especially that of + France after so many vicissitudes." + +But the discovery came too late. The foundations, on which to build or +sustain the cumbrous system of the old monarchy, were already taken +away; and the events of the last summer, while they would almost +persuade us, that the "Attendant Spirit" so boldly given by the orator +in this very discourse to one of the great founders of our government, +had opened to him, also, on the Rock of Plymouth, "a vision of the +future;"[7]--these events, we say, can leave little doubt in the mind of +any man, that the speaker himself may live long enough,--as God grant he +may!--to witness the entire fulfilment of his own extraordinary +prophecy, and to see the French people erecting for themselves a sure +and stable government, suited to the foundation, on which alone it can +now rest. + +In 1825, Mr. Webster was called to interpret the feelings of +New-England, on another great festival and anniversary. Fifty years from +the day, when the grave drama of the American Revolution was opened with +such picturesque solemnity, as a magnificent show on Bunker's Hill, +witnessed by the whole neighbouring city and country, clustering by +thousands on their steeples, the roofs of their houses, and the +hill-tops, and waiting with unspeakable anxiety the results of the scene +that was passing before their eyes,--fifty years from that day, it was +determined to lay, with no less solemnity, the corner stone of a +monument worthy to commemorate its importance. An immense multitude was +assembled. They stood on that consecrated spot, with only the heavens +over their heads, and beneath their feet the bones of their fathers; +amidst the visible remains of the very redoubt thrown up by Prescott, +and defended by him to the very last desperate extremity;[8] and with +the names of Warren, Putnam, Stark, and Brooks, and the other leaders or +victims of that great day frequent and familiar on their lips. In the +midst of such a scene and with such recollections, starting like the +spirits of the dead from the very sods of that hill-side, it may well be +imagined, that words like the following, addressed to a vast +audience,--composed in no small degree of the survivors of the battle, +their children, and their grandchildren,--produced an effect, which only +the hand of death can efface. + + "We know, indeed, that the record of illustrious actions is + most safely deposited in the universal remembrance of + mankind. We know, that if we could cause this structure to + ascend, not only till it reached the skies, but till it + pierced them, its broad surfaces could still contain but + part of that, which, in an age of knowledge, hath already + been spread over the earth, and which history charges itself + with making known to all future times. We know, that no + inscription on entablatures less broad than the earth + itself, can carry information of the events we commemorate, + where it has not already gone; and that no structure, which + shall not outlive the duration of letters and knowledge + among men, can prolong the memorial. But our object is, by + this edifice, to show our own deep sense of the value and + importance of the achievements of our ancestors; and, by + presenting this work of gratitude to the eye, to keep alive + similar sentiments, and to foster a constant regard for the + principles of the Revolution. Human beings are composed not + of reason only, but of imagination also, and sentiment; and + that is neither wasted nor misapplied which is appropriated + to the purpose of giving right direction to sentiments, and + opening proper springs of feeling in the heart. Let it not + be supposed that our object is to perpetuate national + hostility, or even to cherish a mere military spirit. It is + higher, purer, nobler. We consecrate our work to the spirit + of national independence, and we wish that the light of + peace may rest upon it for ever. We rear a memorial of our + conviction of that unmeasured benefit, which has been + conferred on our own land, and of the happy influences, + which have been produced, by the same events, on the general + interests of mankind. We come, as Americans, to mark a spot, + which must for ever be dear to us and our posterity. We + wish, that whosoever, in all coming time, shall turn his eye + hither, may behold that the place is not undistinguished, + where the first great battle of the Revolution was fought. + We wish, that this structure may proclaim the magnitude and + importance of that event, to every class and every age. We + wish, that infancy may learn the purpose of its erection + from maternal lips, and that weary and withered age may + behold it, and be solaced by the recollections which it + suggests. We wish, that labour may look up here, and be + proud, in the midst of its toil. We wish, that, in those + days of disaster, which, as they come on all nations, must + be expected to come on us also, desponding patriotism may + turn its eyes hitherward, and be assured that the + foundations of our national power still stand strong. We + wish, that this column, rising towards heaven among the + pointed spires of so many temples dedicated to God, may + contribute also to produce, in all minds, a pious feeling of + dependence and gratitude. We wish, finally, that the last + object on the sight of him who leaves his native shore, and + the first to gladden his who revisits it, may be something + which shall remind him of the liberty and the glory of his + country. Let it rise, till it meet the sun in his coming; + let the earliest light of the morning gild it, and parting + day linger and play on its summit." Pp. 58-9. + +The last formal address delivered by Mr. Webster on any great public +occasion, was unexpectedly called from him in the summer of 1826, in +commemoration of the services of Adams and Jefferson;--an occasion so +remarkable, that what was said and felt on it, will not pass out of the +memories of the present generation. We shall, therefore, only make one +short extract from Mr. Webster's address at Faneuil Hall--the +description of the peculiar eloquence of Mr. Adams, in giving which, the +speaker becomes, himself, a living example of what he describes. + + "The eloquence of Mr. Adams resembled his general character, + and formed, indeed, a part of it. It was bold, manly, and + energetic; and such the crisis required. When public bodies + are to be addressed on momentous occasions, when great + interests are at stake, and strong passions excited, nothing + is valuable, in speech, farther than it is connected with + high intellectual and moral endowments. Clearness, force, + and earnestness are the qualities which produce conviction. + True eloquence, indeed, does not consist in speech. It + cannot be brought from far. Labour and learning may toil for + it, but they will toil in vain. Words and phrases may be + marshalled in every way, but they cannot compass it. It must + exist in the man, in the subject, and in the occasion. + Affected passion, intense expression, the pomp of + declamation, all may aspire after it--they cannot reach it. + It comes, if it come at all, like the outbreaking of a + fountain from the earth, or the bursting forth of volcanic + fires, with spontaneous, original, native force. The graces + taught in the schools, the costly ornaments, and studied + contrivances of speech, shock and disgust men, when their + own lives, and the fate of their wives, their children, and + their country, hang on the decision of the hour. Then words + have lost their power, rhetoric is vain, and all elaborate + oratory contemptible. Even genius itself, then feels + rebuked, and subdued, as in the presence of higher + qualities. Then, patriotism is eloquent; then, self-devotion + is eloquent. The clear conception, outrunning the deductions + of logic, the high purpose, the firm resolve, the dauntless + spirit, speaking on the tongue, beaming from the eye, + informing every feature, and urging the whole man onward, + right onward to his object--this, this is eloquence; or + rather it is something greater and higher than all + eloquence, it is action, noble, sublime, god-like action." + page 84. + +During a part, however, of the period, over which we have thus very +slightly passed, Mr. Webster was again in public life. He was elected to +represent the city of Boston, in the seventeenth Congress, and took his +seat there in December, 1823. Early in the session, he presented a +resolution in favour of appointing a commissioner or agent to Greece; +and the resolution being taken up on the 19th of January following, Mr. +Webster delivered the speech, which usually passes under the name of +"the Greek Speech." His object, however, in presenting the resolution, +did not seem, at first, to be well understood. It was believed, that, +seeing the existence of a warm public sympathy for the suffering Greeks, +and solicited by the attractions of the subject itself, and of the +classical associations awakened by it, his object was to parade a few +sentences and figures, and so make an oration or harangue, which might +usher him, with some _éclat_, a second time, upon the theatre of public +affairs. The galleries, therefore, were thronged with a brilliant and +fashionable audience. But the crowd was destined to be disappointed;--Mr. +Webster, after a graceful and conciliating introduction, in which he +evidently disclaimed any such purpose, addressed himself at once to the +subject, and made, what he always makes, a powerful, but a downright +business speech. His object, instead of being the narrow one suggested +for him, was apparent, as he advanced, to be the broadest possible. It +was nothing less, than to take occasion of the Greek revolution, and the +conduct pursued in regard to it by the great continental powers, in +order to exhibit the principles laid down and avowed by those powers, as +the basis on which they intended to maintain the peace of Europe. In +doing this, he went through a very able examination of the proceedings +of all the famous Congresses, beginning with that of Paris, in 1814, and +coming down to that of Laybach, in 1821;--the principles of all which +were, that the people hold their fundamental rights and privileges, as +matter of concession and indulgence from the sovereign power; and that +all sovereign powers have a right to interfere and controul other +nations, in their desires and attempts to change their own +governments:-- + + "The ultimate effect of this alliance of sovereigns, for + objects personal to themselves, or respecting only the + permanency of their own power, must be the destruction of + all just feeling, and all natural sympathy, between those + who exercise the power of government, and those who are + subject to it. The old channels of mutual regard and + confidence are to be dried up, or cut off. Obedience can now + be expected no longer than it is enforced. Instead of + relying on the affections of the governed, sovereigns are to + rely on the affections and friendship of other sovereigns. + They are, in short, no longer to be nations. Princes and + people no longer are to unite for interests common to them + both. There is to be an end of all patriotism, as a distinct + national feeling. Society is to be divided horizontally; all + sovereigns above, and all subjects below; the former + coalescing for their own security, and for the more certain + subjection of the undistinguished multitude beneath." page + 249. + +But, as he says afterwards,-- + + "This reasoning mistakes the age. The time has been, indeed, + when fleets, and armies, and subsidies, were the principal + reliances even in the best cause. But, happily for mankind, + there has arrived a great change in this respect. Moral + causes come into consideration, in proportion as the + progress of knowledge is advanced; and the _public opinion_ + of the civilized world is rapidly gaining an ascendency over + mere brutal force. It is already able to oppose the most + formidable obstruction to the progress of injustice and + oppression; and, as it grows more intelligent and more + intense, it will be more and more formidable. It may be + silenced by military power, but it cannot be conquered. It + is elastic, irrepressible, and invulnerable to the weapons + of ordinary warfare. It is that impassable, unextinguishable + enemy of mere violence and arbitrary rule, which, like + Milton's angels, + + 'Vital in every part, + Cannot, but by annihilating, die.' + + "Until this be propitiated or satisfied, it is vain for + power to talk either of triumphs or of repose. No matter + what fields are desolated, what fortresses surrendered, what + armies subdued, or what provinces overrun. In the history of + the year that has passed by us, and in the instance of + unhappy Spain, we have seen the vanity of all triumphs, in a + cause which violates the general sense of justice of the + civilized world. It is nothing, that the troops of France + have passed from the Pyrenees to Cadiz; it is nothing that + an unhappy and prostrate nation has fallen before them; it + is nothing that arrests, and confiscation, and execution, + sweep away the little remnant of national resistance. There + is an enemy that still exists to check the glory of these + triumphs. It follows the conqueror back to the very scene of + his ovations; it calls upon him to take notice that Europe, + though silent, is yet indignant; it shows him that the + sceptre of his victory is a barren sceptre; that it shall + confer neither joy nor honour, but shall moulder to dry + ashes in his grasp. In the midst of his exultation, it + pierces his ear with the cry of injured justice, it + denounces against him the indignation of an enlightened and + civilized age; it turns to bitterness the cup of his + rejoicing, and wounds him with the sting which belongs to + the consciousness of having outraged the opinion of mankind. + + "In my own opinion, Sir, the Spanish nation is now nearer, + not only in point of time, but in point of circumstance, to + the acquisition of a regulated government, than at the + moment of the French invasion. Nations must, no doubt, + undergo these trials in their progress to the establishment + of free institutions. The very trials benefit them, and + render them more capable both of obtaining and of enjoying + the object which they seek." page 253. + +How completely does the mighty drama now passing before our eyes on the +great theatre of Europe, justify these hold and sagacious predictions! A +great revolution has just taken place in France, and a distinguished +prince, out of the regular line of succession, has been invited to the +throne, _on condition_ of governing according to the constitution +prescribed by the representatives of the popular will. Belgium is doing +the same thing. Devoted Poland has attempted it. Italy is in +confusion,--and Germany disturbed and uneasy;--so that, it seems already +no longer to be in the power of any conspiracy of kings or Congresses, +to maintain permanently in Western Europe, a government not essentially +founded on free institutions and principles. We will only add, that Mr. +Webster has, on hardly any other occasion, entered into the discussion +of European politics; and the consequence has been, that, if this speech +has found less favour at home than some of his other efforts, it is one, +that has brought him great honour abroad; since, besides being printed +wherever the English tongue is spoken, it has been circulated through +South America, and published in nearly every one of the civilized +languages of Europe, including the Spanish and the Greek. + +In April, 1824, he took a part in the great discussion of the tariff +question; and his speech on that occasion, as well as the one he +delivered on the same subject in May, 1828, are both given in the volume +before us. But the whole matter is so fresh in the recollections of the +community, and Mr. Webster's constant defence of a tariff adapted to the +general interests of the country, encouraging alike the cause of +American manufactures and the interests of commerce, are so well known, +from the first tariff of 1816, to the present moment, that it cannot be +needful to speak of them. We would remark, however, that, in the speech +of 1824, two subjects are discussed with great ability;--the doctrine of +exchange, and the balance of trade. Both of them had been drawn into +controversy in Congress, on previous occasions, quite frequently, +calling forth alternately "an infinite deal of nothing," and the crudest +absurdities; but, from the period of this thorough and statesmanlike +examination of them, they have, we believe, hardly been heard of in +either house. The great points involved in both of them, have been +considered as settled. + +We have thus far spoken of Mr. Webster almost entirely as a public +orator and debater, or as a jurist. But there is another point of view, +in which he is less known to the nation, but no less valued at +Washington. He has few equals in the diligence of the committee-rooms. +Reputation in and out of Congress, is, in this respect, very differently +measured. Nothing is more common in either House than moderately good +speakers, prompt in common debate, and sufficiently well instructed not +to betray themselves into contempt with the public. Because they _can_ +speak and _do_ speak; and especially because they speak _often_ and +_vehemently_, they obtain a transient credit abroad for far more than +they are worth, and far more than they are, at last, able to maintain. +It may, indeed, be said, as a general truth, that those who speak most +frequently in Congress are least heeded, and least entitled to +distinction. Members of real ability speak rarely; and, when they do +speak, it is from the fulness of their minds, after a careful +consideration of the subject, and with a deference for the body they +address, and a regard to the public service, which does not permit them +to occupy more time than the development of their subject absolutely +requires. They are, therefore, always heard with attention and respect; +and often with the conviction, that they may be safely followed. + +But there is another class in Congress, less known to the public at +large, and yet whose services are beyond price. We speak now of those +excellent men, who, as chairmen and members of the committees, in the +retired corners of the capitol, are doing the real business of +legislation, and giving their days and nights to maturing schemes of +wise policy and just relief; men who are content, week after week, and +month after month, to sacrifice themselves to the negative toil of +saving us from the follies of indiscreet, meddlesome, and ignorant +innovators, or from the more presumptuous purposes of those who would +make legislation the means of furthering and gratifying their own +private, unprincipled ambition. Such business-men,--who should be the +heads of the working party, if such a party should ever be formed,--are +well understood within the walls of Congress. They are marked by the +general confidence that follows them; and when they speak, to propose a +measure, they are listened to; nay, it may almost be said, they are +obeyed. + +Mr. Webster has long been known as an efficient labourer in these +noiseless toils of the committee-rooms and of practical legislation; and +we owe to his hand not a few important improvements in our laws. The +most remarkable is, probably, the Crimes-Act of 1825, which, in +twenty-six sections, did so much for the criminal code of the country. +The whole subject, when he approached it, was full of difficulties and +deficiencies. The law in relation to it remained substantially on the +foundation of the first great Act of 1790, ch. 36. That act, however, +though deserving praise as a first attempt to meet the wants of the +country, was entirely unsuited to its condition, and deficient in most +important particulars. Its defects, indeed, were so numerous, that half +the most notorious crimes, when committed where the general government +alone could have cognizance of them, were left beyond the reach of human +law and punishment;--rape, burglary, arson and other malicious burnings +in forts, arsenals, and light-house establishments, together with many +other offences, being wholly unprovided for. Mr. Webster's Act, which, +as a just tribute to his exertions, already bears his name, cures these +gross defects, besides a multitude of others; and it was well known at +the time, that he wished to go much further, and give a competent system +to the country on the whole criminal code, but was deterred by the +danger of failure, if he attempted too much at once. Indeed, the +difficulty of obtaining a patient hearing for any bill of such +complexity and extent, is well understood in Congress; and it is not, +perhaps, an unjust reproach upon our national legislature to confess, +that even the most experienced statesmen are rarely able to carry +through any great measure of purely practical improvement. Temporary +projects, and party strifes, and private claims, and individual +jealousies, and, above all, the passion for personal display in +everlasting debate, offer obstacles to the success of mere patriotism +and statesmanship, which are all but insurmountable. Probably no man, at +that time, but Mr. Webster, who, in addition to his patient habits of +labour in the committee-room, possessed the general confidence of the +House, and had a persevering address and promptitude in answering +objections, could have succeeded in so signal an undertaking. Sir Samuel +Romilly and Mr. Peel have acquired lasting and merited reputations in +England for meliorations of their criminal code. But they had a willing +audience, and an eager support. Mr. Webster, without either, effected as +much in his Crimes-Act of 1825, as has been effected by any single +effort of these statesmen, and is fairly to be ranked with them among +those benefactors of mankind, who have enlightened the jurisprudence of +their country, and made it at once more efficient and more humane. + +At the same session of Congress, the great question of internal +improvements came up, and was vehemently discussed in January, on the +appropriation made for the western national road. Mr. Webster defended +the principle, as he had already defended it in 1816; and as he has +defended it constantly since, down to the last year and the last +session, without, so far as we have seen, receiving any sufficient +answer to the positions he took in debate on these memorable occasions. +Perhaps the doctrine he has so uniformly maintained on this subject, is +less directly favourable to the interests of the northern than of the +western states; but it was high-toned and national throughout, and seems +in no degree to have impaired the favour with which he was regarded in +New-England. At any rate, he was re-elected, with singular unanimity, to +represent the city of Boston in the nineteenth Congress, and took his +seat there anew in December, 1825. + +In both sessions of this Congress, important subjects were discussed, +and Mr. Webster bore an important part in them; but we can now only +suggest one or two of them. As chairman of the Judiciary Committee, he +introduced the bill for enlarging the number of judges of the Supreme +Court of the United States. His views in relation to it are contained in +the remarks he made on the occasion, and had great weight with the +House; but the bill was afterwards lost through an amendment of the +Senate. So, too, on the question of the Panama mission, involving the +points that were first moved in 1796 in the House of Representatives, on +occasion of the British Treaty, Mr. Webster has left on record his +opinions, doctrines, and feelings, in a speech of great beauty and +power, which will always be recurred to, whenever the right of the House +of Representatives to advise the executive in relation to the management +of foreign missions may come under discussion. But we are compelled to +abstain from any further notice of them both, by want of room. + +In 1826, he had been elected, we believe, all but unanimously, to +represent the City of Boston, in the House of Representatives; but, +before he took his seat, a vacancy having occurred in the Senate, he was +chosen to fill it by the Legislature of Massachusetts, of which, a great +majority in both its branches, besides the council and the governor, +belonged to the old republican party of the country. He was chosen, too, +under circumstances, which showed how completely his talents and lofty +national bearing had disarmed all political animosities, and how +thoroughly that commonwealth claimed him as her own, and cherished his +reputation and influence as a part of her treasures. There was no +regular nomination of him from any quarter, nor any regular opposition; +and he received the appointment by a sort of general consent and +acclamation, as if it were given with pride and pleasure, as well as +with unhesitating confidence and respect. + +How he has borne himself in the Senate during the four sessions he has +sat there, is known to the whole country. No man has been found tall +enough to overshadow him; no man has been able to attract from him, or +to intercept from him, the constant regard of the nation. He has been so +conspicuous, so prominent, that whatever he has done, and whatever he +has said, has been watched and understood throughout the borders of the +land, almost as familiarly and thoroughly as it has been at Washington. + +But though the eyes of all have thus been fastened on him in such a way, +that nothing relating to him can have escaped their notice, there is yet +one occasion, where he attracted a kind and degree of attention, which, +as it is rarely given, is so much the more honourable when it is +obtained. We refer now, of course, to the occasion, when, in 1830, he +overthrew the Doctrines of Nullification. Undoubtedly, in one sense of +the word, Mr. Webster was taken completely by surprise, when these +doctrines, for the first time in the history of the country, were +announced in the Senate; since he was so far from any particular +preparation to meet or answer them, that it was almost by accident he +was in his place, when they were so unexpectedly, at least to him and +all his friends, brought forth. In another and better sense of the +phrase, he was not taken by surprise at all; for the time was already +long gone by, when, on any great question of national interest or +constitutional principle, he could be taken unprepared or unarmed. We +mean by this, that the discussion of the most important points in the +memorable debate alluded to, came on incidentally; or rather that these +points were thrust forward by a few individuals, who seemed +predetermined to proceed under cover of them, to the ultimate limits of +personal and party violence. + +Mr. Foot's resolution to inquire respecting the sales and the surveys of +western lands, was the innocent cause of the whole conflict. It was +introduced on the 29th of December, 1829; and was not then expected by +its author, or, perhaps, by any body else to excite much discussion, or +lead to any very important results. When it was introduced, Mr. Webster +was absent from Washington. Two days afterwards he took his seat. The +resolution had, indeed, called forth a few remarks, somewhat severe, the +day after it was presented, and then had been postponed to the next +Monday; but, apparently from want of interest in its fate, or from the +pressure of more important business, it was not called up by the mover +till January 13. From this time, a partial discussion began; but it +lingered rather lifelessly, and, in fact, really rose even to +skirmishing only one day, until the 19th, when General Hayne, a +distinguished senator from South Carolina, in a vehement and elaborate +speech, attacked the New-England States for what he considered their +selfish opposition to the interests of the West; and endeavoured to show +that a natural sympathy existed between the Southern and Western States, +upon the distribution and sales of the public lands, which would +necessarily make them a sort of natural allies. With this speech, of +course, the war broke out. + +While it was delivering, Mr. Webster entered the Senate. He came from +the Supreme Court of the United States; and the papers in his hands +showed how far his thoughts were from the subjects and the tone, which +now at once reached him. As soon as General Hayne sat down, he rose to +reply; but Mr. Benton of Missouri, with many compliments to General +Hayne, and apparently willing the Senate should have all the leisure +necessary to consider and feel the effects of his speech, moved an +adjournment; Mr. Webster good naturedly consented. Of course, he had the +floor the next day; and in a speech, which will not be forgotten by the +present generation, poured out stores of knowledge long before +accumulated, in relation to the history of the public lands and to the +legislation concerning them; defending the policy of the government +towards the new states; showing the dangerous tendency of the doctrines +respecting the Constitution, current at the South, and sanctioned by +General Hayne; and repelling the general charges and reproaches cast on +New-England, especially the charge of hostility to the West, which,--if +there was meaning in words or acts,--he proved to be distinctly +applicable to the language and votes of the South Carolina delegation in +the House of Representatives in 1825. The war was thus, at once, carried +into the enemy's country. + +The next day, January 21, it being well known that Mr. Webster had +urgent business, which called him again into the Supreme Court of the +United States, one of the members from Maryland moved an adjournment of +the debate. It would, perhaps, have been only what is customary and +courteous, if the request had been granted. But General Hayne objected. +"The gentleman," he said, "had discharged his weapon, and he (Mr. H.) +wished for an opportunity to return the fire." To which Mr. Webster +having replied;--"I am ready to receive it; let the discussion go +on;"--the debate was resumed. Mr. Benton then concluded some important +remarks he had begun the day before; and Mr. Hayne rose, and opened a +speech, which occupied the Senate the remainder of that day, and the +whole of the day following. It was a vigorous speech, embracing a great +number of topics and grounds;--calling in question the fairness of +New-England, the consistency of Mr. Webster, and the patriotism of the +State of Massachusetts;--and ending with a bold, acute, and elaborated +exposition and defence of the doctrines now, for the first time, +formally developed in Congress, and since well known by the name of the +_Doctrines of Nullification_. The first part of the speech was caustic +and personal; the latter part of it grave and argumentative;--and the +whole was delivered in presence of an audience, which any man might be +proud to have collected to listen to him. + +Mr. Webster took notes during its delivery; and it was apparent to the +crowd, which, for two days, had thronged the senate-chamber, that he +intended to reply. Indeed, on this point, he was permitted no choice. He +had been assailed in a way, which called for an answer. When, therefore, +the doors of the senate-chamber were opened the next morning, the rush +for admittance was unprecedented. Mr. Webster had the floor, and rose. +The first division of his speech is in reply to parts and details of his +adversary's personal assault,--and is a happy, though severe specimen of +the keenest spirit of genuine debate and retort;--for Mr. Webster is one +of those dangerous adversaries, who are never so formidable or so +brilliant, as when they are most rudely pressed;--for then, as in the +phosphorescence of the ocean, the degree of the violence urged, may +always be taken as the measure of the brightness that is to follow. On +the present occasion, his manner was cool, entirely self-possessed, and +perfectly decided, and carried his irony as far as irony can go. There +are portions of this first day's discussion, like the passage relating +to the charge of sleeping on the speech, he had answered; the one in +allusion to Banquo's ghost, which had been unhappily conjured up by his +adversary; and the rejoinder respecting "one Nathan Dane of Beverly, in +Massachusetts,"--which will not be forgotten. The very tones in which +they were uttered, still vibrate in the ears of those who heard them. +There are, also, other and graver portions of it,--like those which +respect the course of legislation in regard to the new states; the +conduct of the North in regard to slavery, and the doctrine of internal +improvements,--which are in the most powerful style of parliamentary +debate. As he approaches the conclusion of this first great division of +his speech, he rises to the loftiest tone of national feeling, entirely +above the dim, misty region of sectional or party passion and +prejudice:-- + + "The eulogium pronounced on the character of the state of + South Carolina, by the honourable gentleman, for her + revolutionary and other merits, meets my hearty concurrence. + I shall not acknowledge that the honourable member goes + before me in regard for whatever of distinguished talent, or + distinguished character, South Carolina has produced. I + claim part of the honour, I partake in the pride, of her + great names. I claim them for countrymen, one and all. The + Laurenses, the Rutledges, the Pinckneys, the Sumpters, the + Marions--Americans, all--whose fame is no more to be hemmed + in by state lines, than their talents and patriotism were + capable of being circumscribed within the same narrow + limits. In their day and generation, they served and + honoured the country, and the whole country; and their + renown is of the treasures of the whole country. Him, whose + honoured name the gentleman himself bears--does he esteem me + less capable of gratitude for his patriotism, or sympathy + for his sufferings, than if his eyes had first opened upon + the light of Massachusetts, instead of South Carolina? Sir, + does he suppose it in his power to exhibit a Carolina name, + so bright, as to produce envy in my bosom? No, Sir, + increased gratification and delight, rather. I thank God, + that, if I am gifted with little of the spirit which is able + to raise mortals to the skies, I have yet none, as I trust, + of that other spirit, which would drag angels down. When I + shall be found, Sir, in my place here, in the Senate, or + elsewhere, to sneer at public merit, because it happens to + spring up beyond the little limits of my own state, or + neighbourhood; when I refuse, for any such cause, or for any + cause, the homage due to American talent, to elevated + patriotism, to sincere devotion to liberty and the country; + or, if I see an uncommon endowment of Heaven--if I see + extraordinary capacity and virtue in any son of the + South--and if, moved by local prejudice, or gangrened by + state jealousy, I get up here to abate the tithe of a hair + from his just character and just fame, may my tongue cleave + to the roof of my mouth! + + "Sir, let me recur to pleasing recollections--let me indulge + in refreshing remembrance of the past--let me remind you + that in early times, no states cherished greater harmony, + both of principle and feeling, than Massachusetts and South + Carolina. Would to God that harmony might again return! + Shoulder to shoulder they went through the revolution--hand + in hand they stood round the administration of Washington, + and felt his own great arm lean on them for support. Unkind + feeling, if it exist, alienation and distrust, are the + growth, unnatural to such soils, of false principles since + sown. They are weeds, the seeds of which that same great arm + never scattered. + + "Mr. President, I shall enter on no encomium upon + Massachusetts--she needs none. There she is--behold her, and + judge for yourselves. There is her history: the world knows + it by heart. The past, at least, is secure. There is Boston, + and Concord, and Lexington, and Bunker Hill--and there they + will remain forever. The bones of her sons, falling in the + great struggle for independence, now lie mingled with the + soil of every state, from New England to Georgia; and there + they will lie forever. And, Sir, where American liberty + raised its first voice; and where its youth was nurtured and + sustained, there it still lives, in the strength of its + manhood and full of its original spirit. If discord and + disunion shall wound it--if party strife and blind ambition + shall hawk at and tear it--if folly and madness--if + uneasiness, under salutary and necessary restraint--shall + succeed to separate it from that union, by which alone its + existence is made sure, it will stand, in the end, by the + side of that cradle in which its infancy was rocked: it will + stretch forth its arm with whatever of vigour it may still + retain, over the friends who gather round it; and it will + fall at last, if fall it must, amidst the proudest monuments + of its own glory, and on the very spot of its origin." pages + 406, 407. + +The next day, Mr. Webster went into a grave and formal examination of +_the doctrines of nullification_, or the right of the state legislatures +to interfere, whenever, in their judgment, the general government +transcends its constitutional limits, and to arrest the operation of its +laws. Four days had hardly elapsed, since this doctrine had been +announced with an air of assured success in the Senate; and these four +days had been filled with active debate and contest. Of course, here +again, there had been neither time nor opportunity for especial +preparation. Happily, too, there was no need of it. The fund, on which +the demand was so triumphantly made, was equal to the draft, great and +unexpected as it was. Mr. Webster's mind is full of constitutional law +and legislation. On all such subjects, he needs no forecast, no +preparation, no brief;--and, on this occasion, he had none. He but +uttered opinions and arguments, which had grown mature with his years +and his judgment, and which were as familiar to him as household words. +We have, therefore, no elaborate, documentary discussion,--no citation +of books or authorities. It is with principles, great constitutional +principles, he deals; and it is in plain, direct arguments, which all +can understand, that he defends them. There is nothing technical, +nothing abstruse, nothing indirect, either in the subject or its +explanation. On the contrary, all is straight forward--obvious--to the +purpose. For instance, after stating the question at issue to be, +"_whose prerogative is it, to decide on the constitutionality or +unconstitutionality of the laws?_" he goes on:-- + + "This leads us to inquire into the origin of this + government, and the source of its power. Whose agent is it? + Is it the creature of the state legislatures, or the + creature of the people? If the government of the United + States be the agent of the state governments, then they may + control it, provided they can agree in the manner of + controlling it; if it be the agent of the people, then the + people alone can control it, restrain it, modify, or reform + it. It is observable enough, that the doctrine for which the + honourable gentleman contends, leads him to the necessity of + maintaining, not only that this general government is the + creature of the states, but that it is the creature of each + of the states severally; so that each may assert the power, + for itself, of determining whether it acts within the limits + of its authority. It is the servant of four and twenty + masters, of different wills and different purposes, and yet + bound to obey all. This absurdity (for it seems no less) + arises from a misconception as to the origin of this + government and its true character. It is, Sir, the people's + constitution, the people's government,--made for the + people,--made by the people,--and answerable to the people. + The people of the United States have declared that this + constitution shall be the supreme law. We must either admit + the proposition, or dispute their authority. The states are, + unquestionably, sovereign, so far as their sovereignty is + not affected by this supreme law. But the state + legislatures, as political bodies, however sovereign, are + yet not sovereign over the people. So far as the people have + given power to the general government, so far the grant is + unquestionably good, and the government holds of the people, + and not of the state governments. We are all agents of the + same supreme power, the people.--The general government and + the state governments derive their authority from the same + source. Neither can, in relation to the other, be called + primary, though one is definite and restricted, and the + other general and residuary. The national government + possesses those powers which it can be shown the people have + conferred on it, and no more. All the rest belongs to the + state governments, or to the people themselves. So far as + the people have restrained state sovereignty, by the + expression of their will, in the constitution of the United + States, so far, it must be admitted, state sovereignty is + effectually controlled. I do not contend that it is, or + ought to be controlled farther. The sentiment to which I + have referred, propounds that state sovereignty is only to + be controlled by its own "feeling of justice;" that is to + say, it is not to be controlled at all; for one who is to + follow his own feelings is under no legal control.--Now, + however men may think this ought to be, the fact is, that + the people of the United States have chosen to impose + control on state sovereignties. There are those, doubtless, + who wish they had been left without restraint; but the + constitution has ordered the matter differently. To make + war, for instance, is an exercise of sovereignty; but the + constitution declares that no state shall make war. To coin + money is another exercise of sovereign power; but no state + is at liberty to coin money. Again, the constitution says + that no sovereign state shall be so sovereign as to make a + treaty. These prohibitions, it must be confessed, are a + control on the state sovereignty of South Carolina, as well + as of the other states, which does not arise "from her own + feelings of honourable justice." Such an opinion, therefore, + is in defiance of the plainest provisions of the + constitution." pages 410, 411. + +Again, what can be more sure and convincing than such plain reasoning as +this:-- + + "I maintain, that, between submission to the decision of the + constituted tribunals, and revolution, or disunion, there is + no middle ground--there is no ambiguous condition, half + allegiance, and half rebellion. And, Sir, how futile, how + very futile it is, to admit the right of state interference, + and then attempt to save it from the character of unlawful + resistance, by adding terms of qualification to the causes, + and occasions, leaving all these qualifications, like the + case itself, in the discretion of the state governments. It + must be a clear case, it is said, a deliberate case; a + palpable case; a dangerous case. But then the state is still + left at liberty to decide for herself, what is clear, what + is deliberate, what is palpable, what is dangerous. Do + adjectives and epithets avail any thing? Sir, the human mind + is so constituted, that the merits of both sides of a + controversy appear very clear, and very palpable, to those + who respectively espouse them; and both sides usually grow + clearer as the controversy advances. South Carolina sees + unconstitutionality in the tariff; she sees oppression + there, also; and she sees danger. Pennsylvania, with a + vision not less sharp, looks at the same tariff, and sees no + such thing in it--she sees it all constitutional, all + useful, all safe. The faith of South Carolina is + strengthened by opposition, and she now not only sees, but + _resolves_, that the tariff is palpably unconstitutional, + oppressive, and dangerous: but Pennsylvania, not to be + behind her neighbours, and equally willing to strengthen her + own faith by a confident asseveration, _resolves_, also, and + gives to every warm affirmative of South Carolina, a plain, + downright, Pennsylvania negative. South Carolina, to show + the strength and unity of her opinion, brings her assembly + to a unanimity, within seven voices; Pennsylvania, not to be + outdone in this respect more than others, reduces her + dissentient fraction to a single vote. Now, Sir, again, I + ask the gentleman, what is to be done? Are these states both + right? Is he bound to consider them both right? If not, + which is in the wrong?--or rather, which has the best right + to decide? And if he, and if I, are not to know what the + constitution means, and what it is, till those two state + legislatures, and the twenty-two others, shall agree in its + construction, what have we sworn to, when we have sworn to + maintain it? I was forcibly struck, Sir, with one + reflection, as the gentleman went on in his speech. He + quoted Mr. Madison's resolutions, to prove that a state may + interfere, in a case of deliberate, palpable, and dangerous + exercise of a power not granted. The honourable member + supposes the tariff law to be such an exercise of power; and + that, consequently, a case has arisen in which the state + may, if it see fit, interfere by its own law. Now, it so + happens, nevertheless, that Mr. Madison deems this same + tariff law quite constitutional. Instead of a clear and + palpable violation, it is, in his judgment, no violation at + all. So that, while they use his authority for a + hypothetical case, they reject it in the very case before + them. All this, Sir, shows the inherent--futility--I had + almost used a stronger word--of conceding this power of + interference to the states, and then attempting to secure it + from abuse by imposing qualifications, of which the states + themselves are to judge. One of two things is true; either + the laws of the Union are beyond the discretion, and beyond + the control of the states; or else we have no constitution + of general government, and are thrust back again to the days + of the confederacy." pp. 416, 417. + +This is a striking fact about Mr. Madison; but one still more striking +occurred after the publication of the speech. His great name and +authority had been constantly and confidently appealed to, not only in +this debate, by General Hayne, but, on previous occasions, by other +favourers of the South Carolina doctrines, until at last it began to be +almost feared, that Mr. Madison sustained the positions of the +nullifiers. But as he had already shown that the tariff law was quite +constitutional, so, now, with no less promptness and power, he came out +against the whole doctrine of nullification, and showed that his +resolutions of 1798, on which its friends had rested the wild fabric of +their argument, as its main pillars, had nothing to do with it; and +thus, in conjunction with what had been done in the Senate, brought down +the whole temple they had built with such pains and cost, upon the heads +of their uncircumcised presumption and extravagance. His letter, indeed, +on this subject, is one of the most characteristic efforts of his great +wisdom, and one of the most important results of this discussion, since +it took from the advocates of nullification all the support of his +authority--the _magni nominis umbra_--the shade and shelter of his great +name. + +But to return to Mr. Webster; the general tone of the last half of his +speech is uncommonly grave and imposing; but there is one passage in +which a lighter accent is assumed. It is that in which he runs out +General Hayne's nullifying doctrine into practice, and sets him, as a +military man, to execute his own nullifying law. The argument of this +passage is the more efficacious, because it is concealed under so much +wit and good-humour. + + "And now, Mr. President, let me run the honourable + gentleman's doctrine a little into its practical + application. Let us look at his probable _modus operandi_. + If a thing can be done, an ingenious man can tell _how_ it + is to be done. Now, I wish to be informed, _how_ this state + interference is to be put in practice. We will take the + existing case of the tariff law. South Carolina is said to + have made up her opinion upon it. If we do not repeal it, + (as we probably shall not,) she will then apply to the case + the remedy of her doctrine. She will, we must suppose, pass + a law of her legislature, declaring the several acts of + Congress, usually called the Tariff Laws, null and void, so + far as they respect South Carolina, or the citizens thereof. + So far, all is a paper transaction, and easy enough. But the + collector at Charleston, is collecting the duties imposed by + these tariff laws--he, therefore, must be stopped. The + collector will seize the goods if the tariff duties are not + paid. The state authorities will undertake their rescue; the + marshal, with his posse, will come to the collector's aid, + and here the contest begins. The militia of the state will + be called out to sustain the nullifying act. They will + march, Sir, under a very gallant leader: for I believe the + honourable member himself commands the militia of that part + of the state. He will raise the _Nullifying Act_ on his + standard, and spread it out as his banner. It will have a + preamble, bearing that the tariff laws are palpable, + deliberate, and dangerous violations of the Constitution! He + will proceed, with his banner flying, to the custom-house in + Charleston; + + 'All the while, + Sonorous metal blowing martial sounds.' + + Arrived at the custom-house, he will tell the collector that + he must collect no more duties under any of the tariff laws. + This, he will be somewhat puzzled to say, by the way, with a + grave countenance, considering what hand South Carolina + herself had in that of 1816. But, Sir, the collector would, + probably, not desist, at his bidding. He would show him the + law of Congress, the treasury instruction, and his own oath + of office. He would say, he should perform his duty, come + what might. Here would ensue a pause: for they say that a + certain stillness precedes the tempest. The trumpeter would + hold his breath awhile, and before all this military array + should fall on the custom-house, collector, clerks, and all, + it is very probable some of those composing it, would + request of their gallant commander-in-chief, to be informed + a little upon the point of law; for they have, doubtless, a + just respect for his opinions as a lawyer, as well as for + his bravery as a soldier. They know he has read Blackstone + and the Constitution, as well as Turrene and Vauban. They + would ask him, therefore, something concerning their rights + in this matter. They would inquire, whether it was not + somewhat dangerous to resist a law of the United States. + What would be the nature of their offence, they would wish + to learn, if they, by military force and array, resisted the + execution in Carolina of a law of the United States, and it + should turn out, after all, that the law _was + constitutional_? He would answer, of course, treason. No + lawyer could give any other answer. John Fries, he would + tell them, had learned that some years ago. How, then, they + would ask, do you propose to defend us? We are not afraid of + bullets, but treason has a way of taking people off, that we + do not much relish. How do you propose to defend us? 'Look + at my floating banner,' he would reply, 'see there the + _nullifying law_!' Is it your opinion, gallant commander, + they would then say, that if we should be indicted for + treason, that same floating banner of yours would make a + good plea in bar? 'South Carolina is a sovereign state,' he + would reply. That is true--but would the judge admit our + plea? 'These tariff laws,' he would repeat, 'are + unconstitutional, palpably, deliberately, dangerously.' That + all may be so; but if the tribunal should not happen to be + of that opinion, shall we swing for it? We are ready to die + for our country, but it is rather an awkward business, this + dying without touching the ground! After all, that is a sort + of _hemp_-tax, worse than any part of the tariff. + + Mr. President, the honourable gentleman would be in a + dilemma, like that of another great general. He would have a + knot before him which he could not untie. He must cut it + with his sword. He must say to his followers, defend + yourselves with your bayonets; and this is war--civil war." + pp. 421, 422. + +After this his tone becomes even more grave and solemn than before, +until, when he approaches the conclusion, he bursts forth with the +expression of feelings of attachment to the Union and the Constitution, +which it seemed no longer possible for him to suppress. We should quote +the passage, but that it has been quoted every where, and is familiar to +every body. + +We forbear to pursue this debate any further. Mr. Hayne replied in a +short speech, which he afterwards expanded in the newspapers into a long +one; and Mr. Webster rejoined with a syllogistic brevity, exactness, and +power, which carried with them the force and conclusiveness of a +demonstration; and thus ended the discussion as between these two. It +was afterwards continued, however, for several weeks, and a majority, or +nearly a majority, of the whole Senate took part in it; but whenever it +is now recollected or referred to, the contest between the two principal +speakers, from the 19th to the 23d of January, is, we believe, generally +intended. + +The results of this memorable debate are already matter of history. The +vast audience that had contended for admission to the senate-chamber, +till entrance became dangerous, were the first to feel and make known +its effect; for, with his peculiar power of explaining abstruse and +technical subjects, so that all can comprehend them, Mr. Webster there +expounded a great doctrine of the constitution, which had been +powerfully assailed, so that all might feel the foundations on which it +rests, to have been consolidated rather than disturbed by the attempt to +shake them. Their verdict, therefore, was given at the time, and heard +throughout the country. But since that day, when the crowd came out of +the senate-chamber rejoicing in the victory which had been achieved for +the constitution, nearly twenty editions of the same argument have been +called for in different parts of the country, and thus scattered abroad +above an hundred thousand copies of it, besides the countless multitudes +that have been sent forth by the newspapers, until almost without a +metaphor, it may be said to have been carried to every fire-side in the +land. The very question, therefore, which was first submitted to an +audience in the capitol,--comprising, indeed, a remarkable +representation of the talents and authority of the country, but still +comparatively small,--has since been submitted by the press to the +judgment of the nation, more fully, probably, than any thing of the kind +was ever submitted before; and the same remarkable plainness, the same +power of elucidating great legal and constitutional doctrines till they +become as intelligible and simple as the occupations of daily life, has +enlarged the jury of the senate-chamber till it has become the jury of +the whole people, and the same verdict has followed. What, therefore, +Chancellor Kent said in relation to it, is as true as it is +beautiful;--"Peace has its victories as well as war;"--and the triumph +which Mr. Webster thus secured for a great constitutional principle, he +may now well regard, as the chief honour of his life. + +Indeed, a man such as he is, when he looks back upon his past life, and +forward to the future, must needs feel, that his fate and his fortunes, +his fame and his ambition, are connected throughout with the fate and +the fortunes of the constitution of his country. He is the child of our +free institutions. None other could have produced or reared him;--none +other can now sustain or advance him. From the days when, amidst the +fastnesses of nature, his young feet with difficulty sought the rude +school-house, where his earliest aspirations were nurtured, up to the +moment when he came forth in triumph from the senate-chamber, conscious +that he had overthrown the Doctrines of Nullification, and contended +successfully for the Union of the States, he must have felt, that his +extraordinary powers have constantly depended for their development and +their exercise on the peculiar institutions of our free governments. It +is plain, indeed, that he has thriven heretofore, by their progress and +success; and it is, we think, equally plain, that in time to come, his +hopes and his fortunes can be advanced only by their continued stability +and further progress. We think, too, that Mr. Webster feels this. On all +the great principles of the constitution, and all the leading interests +of the country, his opinions are known; his ground is taken; his lot is +cast. Whoever may attack the Union on any of the fundamental doctrines +of our government, he must defend them. _Prima fortuna salutis monstrat +iter._ The path he has chosen, is the path he must follow. And we +rejoice at it. We rejoice, that such a necessity is imposed on such a +mind. We rejoice, that, even such as he cannot stand, unless they +sustain the institutions that formed them; and that, what is in itself +so poetically just and so morally beautiful, is enforced by a +providential wisdom, which neither genius nor ambition can resist or +control. We rejoice, too, when, on the other hand, a man so gifted, +faithfully and proudly devotes to the institutions of his country the +powers and influence they have unfolded and fostered in him, that, in +his turn, he is again rewarded with confidence and honours, which, as +they can come neither from faction nor passion, so neither party +discipline nor political violence can diminish nor impair them. And, +finally, and above all, we rejoice for the great body of the people, +that the decided and unhesitating support they have so freely given to +the distinguished Senator, with whose name "this land now rings from +side to side," because he has triumphantly defended the Union of the +States and the principles of the Constitution;--we rejoice, we say, _for +the people_, because, such a support given by them for such a cause, not +only strengthens and cements the very foundations of whatever is most +valuable in our government; but at the same time, warns and encourages +all who would hereafter seek similar honours and favours, to consult for +the course they shall follow, neither the indications of party nor the +impulses of passion, but to address themselves plainly, fearlessly, +calmly, directly to the intelligence and honesty of _the whole nation_, +"and ask no omen but their country's cause." + + +[Footnote 5: These are the last words of the speech; and the sentiment +they contain in favour of a navy and naval protection, has been +maintained with great earnestness by Mr. Webster for nearly thirty +years, on all public occasions. In an oration delivered July 4th, 1806, +and printed at Concord, N. H., he says, "an immense portion of our +property is in the waves. Sixty or eighty thousand of our most useful +citizens are there, and are entitled to such protection from the +government as their case requires." In another oration, delivered in +1812, and printed at Portsmouth, he says, "a navy sufficient for the +defence of our coasts and harbours, for the convoy of important branches +of our trade, and sufficient, also, to give our enemies to understand, +when they injure us, that _they_ too are vulnerable, and that we have +the power of retaliation as well as of defence, seems to be the plain, +necessary, indispensable policy of the nation. It is the dictate of +nature and common sense, that means of defence shall have relation to +the danger." These doctrines in favour of a navy were extremely +unwelcome to the nation when they were delivered; the first occasion +referred to, being just before the imposition of the embargo; and the +second, just before the capture of the Guerriere. How stands the +national sentiment now? Who doubts the truth of what Mr. Webster could +not utter in 1806 and 1812 without exciting ill-will to himself?] + +[Footnote 6: North American Review, 1821. Vol. xii. p. 342.] + +[Footnote 7: See the beautiful passage respecting the fortune and the +life of John Adams at p. 44.] + +[Footnote 8: In an able article on the battle of Bunker's Hill, which is +found in the North American Review, 1818, VII. 225-258, and is +understood to have been written by Mr. Webster, he says,--"In truth, if +there was any commander-in-chief in the action, it was Prescott. From +the first breaking of the ground to the retreat, he acted _the most +important part_; and if it were now proper to give the battle a name +from any distinguished agent in it, it should be called, Prescott's +battle." We have no doubt this is but an exact measure of justice to one +of those who hazarded all in our revolution, when the hazard was the +greatest. The whole review is strong, and no one hereafter can write the +history of the period it refers to, without consulting it. The opening +description of the battle is beautiful and picturesque.] + + + + + ART. VIII.--POLAND. + + 1.--_Histoire de Pologne par_ M. ZIELINSKI, _Professeur au + Lycée de Varsovie_. Tome premier, pp. 383. Tome second, pp. + 422: Paris: 1830. + + 2.--_Polen, zur Zeit der zwey letzten Theilungen dieses + Reichs: Historisch, Statistisch, und Geographisch + beschrieben, &c. &c. Poland, at the time of the two last + divisions of this kingdom; Historically, Statistically, and + Geographically, described, with a map, exhibiting the + divisions of Poland, in the years 1772, 1793, and 1795_: pp. + 551. + + 3.--_Histoire de l'Anarchie de Pologne, par_ M. RULHIERE. + + 4.--SPITTLER'S _Entwurf der Geschichte Polens, Miteiner + Fortsetrung bis auf die neuesten Zeiten verslhen von_ GEORG + SARTORIUS, _in Spittler's Essay at the History of the + European States_. Vol. II. pp. 460-546: Third edition: + Berlin: 1823: + + +We venture to invite public attention to a review of the history of +Poland. The subject excites a deep but melancholy interest; we dread to +hear the result of the glorious but unhappy conflict, in which that +devoted country is engaged. We know, indeed, that the Poles will be +faithful to their cause; we know, that they are encouraged by the +sincere prayers of all who desire the permanent and extended welfare of +the world; we know, that though single-handed, hemmed in by hostile +powers, and all unprovided as they are with the means of conducting war, +they will sustain the terrible struggle with fearless intrepidity. But +Warsaw, like the Carthage of old, must fall at last; though the excited +spirit of patriotism may cover its fall, with a glory which will not +fade. But we fear almost to read of partial successes. The generous +enthusiasm of the Poles for political independence, is identified with +the best interests, the security and permanent repose of Europe; it has +not failed to achieve brilliant actions in its contest against the +fearful odds of an immense empire; it may perform yet more honourable +deeds upon the great theatre of the contest; but all these temporary +advantages fail to excite in us a thrill of triumph. We fear for the +result. The brave opposition which has been made, displays the more +fully the merits of the nation which is doomed as a victim, and we +almost shrink from admiring the gallantry which will eventually render +more bloody and more severe the sacrifice that must at last be offered +on the unholy altars of despotism. The nationality of Poland has excited +the struggle; has animated her sons to battle; and has armed them in the +panoply of an heroic despair. That nationality will be utterly destroyed +by the impending successes of Russia. The alarum was rung too late for +the devoted people; they rallied to the watchword of liberty, but their +glory and strength were already departed. Its name will be erased from +the list of nations; and the beautiful plains on which the proud cavalry +of its nobles used to assemble in the haughty exercise of their elective +rights, will be confounded with the great mass of lands, which +constitute the vast empire of the North. + +Before our remarks can meet the eyes of our readers, perhaps, this +result will have been accomplished. There was a short interval in the +history of our age, when the monarchs, in their resistance to Napoleon, +made their appeal to their people, acknowledged the power and aroused +the enthusiasm of the many, and seemed inclined to give durability to +their institutions by conciliating the general good will. It was during +that short period, that the residue of Poland, having by the fortunes of +war become occupied by Russian troops, was annexed to Russia, not as an +integral part of its empire, but as a coordinate and independent +kingdom. No such system had ever before been pursued; but Alexander was +for a while seized with the general love of constitutions, and believed +them still consistent with his independent sway. In consequence, Poland, +that is, the small remaining portion of the ancient kingdom, received +its separate existence, and under a free constitution. But the absolute +politicians soon discovered that this would prove in their doctrines an +anomaly. It soon became evident that the liberties of Poland were +inconsistent with the abject submission of Russia; and since we cannot +hope, that the latter will as yet claim a change in its government, it +seems assured, that the Poles will be compelled to submit to the same +servitude. Such appears to us the necessary issue of the present +conflict; Polish nationality will be entirely subverted; and the kingdom +of Poland be merged in the consolidated empire. + +We regard such an issue, as one deeply to be deplored. The favorite poet +of Italy, in searching for objects to illustrate the general decay of +human affairs, and to pourtray the insignificance of personal +sufferings, as compared with the larger proofs of the instability of +fortune, exclaims with pathetic truth; + + "Cadono le città, cadono i regni + E l'uom d'esser mortal par che si sdegni." + +Of the ruin of a realm, we have a most appalling example. In the places +of many of the old Polish cities, it is said, that dense forests have +now sprung up; that the traveller, as he makes his way through their +interminable shades, finds the pavement of streets and the relics of +deserted towns in the midst of a lifeless solitude. And now, that the +sum of evils may be full, the nation of the Poles seems destined to a +fall, from which there will be to them no further resurrection. + +Yet the former history of Poland hardly palliates the position which the +sovereigns and states of Europe have assumed towards her. In the days of +her republican pride, was she not the chosen ally of France and the +rightful mistress of Prussia? The crowns of Sweden and of Bohemia have +at separate times been worn by her kings; the Danube was hardly the +limit of her southern frontier; the coasts of the Euxine were hers; and +when Vienna itself was about to yield to the yoke of Turkish barbarism, +it was a Polish king that stayed the wave and rescued Christendom from +the danger of Turkish supremacy. If France had on the one side saved +Europe from the Saracens, Poland had in its turn protected it against +the Turks; and John Sobieski alone deserves to be named with Charles +Martel, as the successful defenders of Christendom in the moments of its +greatest danger. + +But in the foreign politics of European powers, generosity and gratitude +have usually prevailed no more than other moral considerations. The +interests of the state have sometimes disputed the ascendency with the +intrigues of courtiers, or the cabals of ecclesiastics; but the voice of +justice has rarely been heard in its own right. Political vice has +usually been counteracted by political vice; and if the right of the +stronger has been sometimes resisted, it was only from the +multiplication of jealousies. Thus, we shall see, that the crisis of +Poland was delayed, not by its intrinsic strength, but by the collision +of foreign interests. + +A consideration of the revolutions in Polish history is full of +instruction for our nation. The inquirer finds, that the causes of the +decline of that unhappy country were deeply rooted in its constitution; +that it yielded to foreign aggression, only because it had been reduced +to anarchy by the licentious vehemence of domestic feuds. The Poles +themselves struck the wounds of which their republic bled; and their +efforts at resistance would have been ample and effectual, if they had +not continued their factions till the ruin was complete; if the alarums +which aroused them to united action, had not been the knell of their +country. + +The Poles are a branch of the great Slavonian family of nations. No +history reveals, no tradition reports their origin. The plains upon the +Vistula were at a very early period the seat of their abode; and when, +in the seventh century, the Bulgarians excited movements on the Danube, +new tribes crossed the Carpathian mountains, and perhaps contributed to +the development of the political condition among their brethren whom +they joined. + +The name itself of Poles, does not occur till the end of the tenth +century; but fable has not omitted to lend an aspect of romance to the +early fortunes of the nation. Shall we repeat the wonderful tale of the +hospitable peasant Piast, who is said have been chosen in 840 to be the +Polish king? His descendants are said to have been kings in Poland till +the time of Casimir III.; and so late as 1675 were princes in Silesia. +It was owing to the virtues of this plebeian monarch, that the natives +among the Poles, when elected to be kings, were called Piasts. + +The German kings were zealous to diffuse Christianity beyond the +Vistula; and Mjesko, who was baptized in 964, was the first of the +Polish chiefs who embraced Christianity, and at the same time became the +vassal of the German king. Yet it is hard to assign a fixed character to +the government during this earliest historical period. As Poland is a +plain, its natural aspect invited aggressions from all sides; and it was +in its turn fond of war as a profession. Its limits were uncertain, and +the power of its chiefs ill defined. Nor was its relation to Germany +established. International law was but faintly developed; nor could it +be said, whether the masters of Poland did homage for the whole, or only +for a portion of their territory. Indeed, it was sometimes utterly +refused. To the peremptory demand of tribute, on the part of the Emperor +Henry V., the Polish Duke replied, "no terror can make me own myself +your tributary, even to the amount of a penny; I had rather lose my +whole country, than possess it in ignominious peace." Unsuccessful in +the field, the emperor relied on his treasures to make his supremacy +acknowledged. "See here," said he to the Polish deputation, opening his +chest, "the resources which shall enable me to crush you." A Polish +envoy immediately drew from his finger a ring of great value, and +throwing it in, exclaimed, "add this to your gold."[9] Venality was not +in fashion in those days, and the emperor suffered a complete overthrow. + +So it was, that for the four first centuries in Polish history, prowess +in the field rendered the nation glorious and passionately fond of war. +The pressure of external force at last led to the formation of a +permanent territory, and an acknowledged form of government, after a +long subdivision of the country among various chiefs, and a confused +political condition, eminently favourable to the leaders of a barbarous +aristocracy. + +The first permanent mass that arose out of the chaos of separate +principalities, was Great Poland, on the Wartha; and this was at last +united under the same master with Little Poland, on the Vistula. The +nation desired a king, as their only refuge from anarchy and invasions. +The Pope John XII. had been desired to appoint the king; he pleaded the +principle of nonintervention, and bade the nation execute its own laws +and its own will. In consequence, Ladislaus was crowned with great +solemnity at Cracau, in 1320, and the series of Polish kings is from +that time uninterrupted. But the period of aristocratic anarchy had +impressed a character upon the government and the nation. There existed +no established laws, no rising commerce, no pure religious worship. The +bravery of the Poles in the field was brilliant, but barren. Their +enthusiasm won victories, but could not turn them to the advantage of +the country. And when, at the epoch we have named, a king was chosen for +the whole state, his power was already limited, not by a fair +representation of the interests of the nation, but solely by the high +aristocracy. Without their consent no laws could be established, nor +wars declared, nor government administered, nor justice decreed. + +And yet the ensuing period of Polish history is that of greatest +national prosperity. The vices of the constitution were not fully +developed till the close of the sixteenth century. Indeed, Casimir the +Great, the immediate successor of Ladislaus, was able, like Augustus of +Rome, during a reign of thirty-seven years, to establish something like +justice and tranquillity in his kingdom. If he lost territory on the one +side, he gained large provinces from Russia on the other. But his +greatest merit consisted in his functions as a law-giver. His code was +written in the Latin, expressed in neat and clear language, and was +favourable to the industry and prosperity of the country. The Polish +historians delight to recount the magnificence which his economy enabled +him to maintain; and applying to him what used to be said of the Roman, +declare that he found Poland of wood, and left it of brick. + +But the seeds of evil were also planted by him. According to his desire, +Lewis, the king of Hungary, was elected his successor. The consent of +the nobles could be purchased only by concessions; and in order to +secure the royal dignity in his family to one of his daughters, he was +compelled to enter into terms with the oligarchy. Freedom from taxation +was the great point demanded and promised. All towns, castles, and +estates, belonging to the nobles, were freed from taxation forever; and +no services of any kind were to be required. In case of war, the nobles +were to take the field on horseback, for the defence of the country; but +if necessity required the employment of troops abroad, it was to be at +the charge of the king. Thus the paternal ambition of the king, uniting +with the avarice of the nobles, laid the foundation of anarchy and +weakness, by concessions wholly at variance with the existence of an +equitable liberty. The people, having no means of making their rights +heard, were abandoned entirely to the tyranny of their immediate +masters. Such was the origin of the _pacta conventa_, and such the first +venal bargain, by which the energies of Poland were bartered away, and +aristocratic tyranny made the basis of the constitution. + +Fatal as was this arrangement for the political progress of Poland, it +was yet favourable for the extension of its territory. Hedwiga, the +daughter of Lewis, succeeded to the throne; and by accepting for her +husband Jagellon, the grand duke of Lithuania, she annexed that dutchy +to Poland, and was the means of converting its inhabitants from +paganism. It was in 1386 that the grand duke was baptized, and with him +the celebrated family of the Jagellons obtained the Polish crown. + +The Lithuanians were converted to Christianity, not by fire and sword, +nor by any process of argument. It was the will of their prince; and +besides, excellent woollen coats and leather shoes, were distributed to +the neophytes. He who could repeat the _pater noster_ and the decalogue, +was received as a Christian. They were a barbarous race,--yet, like the +Poles, formed a part of the Slavonian family, and had gradually become +an independent nation. The complete union of the two countries did not +take place for nearly two centuries. + +The family of the Jagellons, for seven successive reigns, extending +through 186 years, obtained the throne. The praises of that period form +the theme of eulogy among the patriotic writers of Poland. It was the +period of the greatest harmony between the kings and the nation. They +were admired for the fidelity with which they maintained their +covenants; the crown of Sweden was repeatedly proffered to them,--and +they had conferred on Poland, the lasting benefit of uniting to it a +country, which before had been the theatre of constant hostilities. But +yet so far as the sovereigns themselves are observed, not one of them +displayed the highest excellence of a ruler. They were abundantly +distinguished for the virtues which constitute personal worth; but they +were not of the persevering energy, or prudent discernment, which could +alone have given a sure foundation to the Polish government. + +The first in the line, to secure the accession of his son, confirmed the +privileges of the nobles. The peasantry was forgotten; the class of +citizens hardly remembered, but the personal rights and the property of +the nobles was sacredly assured. It was further stipulated, that none +but natives should be appointed to the high offices of the state. A +stipulation of that sort, would have rendered the genius of Peter the +Great inadequate to the reforms which he planned and executed; the +limitation in Poland undoubtedly retarded the progress of culture. + +The second in the series, a minor at his accession, was elected king of +Hungary also; and he had hardly begun to exercise his power and display +his valour, before he fell in the famous battle of Varna, in the effort +to save the Greek empire from the Turks. His brother and successor, +Casimir IV., had two powerful enemies, the Teutonic knights, and the +Polish nobility. The latter war was the more formidable,--for, as the +power of his foreign adversaries compelled him to resort frequently to +the diets, of which he convoked no less than forty-five, it is not +strange, that the nobles wrung some new privilege from every occurrence, +which rendered their co-operation necessary. At length it was +established, that no new law should be enacted, nor any levy of troops +be made, without the consent of the general diet. The custom of sending +deputies now became prevalent, because the frequency of the diet +rendered a general attendance troublesome. The number of delegates was +at first fixed by no rule, and the whole form grew up as chance, as +gradual usage prescribed; but, as the excessive power of the nobility +increased, the rights of the peasantry were impaired. The code of +Casimir the Great, had left the labourer the choice of his residence; it +was now decreed, that the peasant should be considered as attached to +the soil, and the fugitive might be pursued and recovered as a run-a-way +slave. A third estate was hardly known; and, if the deputies of cities +sometimes appeared in a convention, their chief privilege was to kiss +the new king's hand, or sign decrees, on which they were not invited to +deliberate. Polish politics established the rule, that none but nobles +were citizens. + +While the general diet thus received its character as the representation +of the nobility, elected in the provincial assemblies, another body now +gradually assumed an active existence. The highest civil and religious +officers of the kingdom formed a senate; and they were constituted +members, not because they were great proprietors, but in consequence of +the office, to which they had been named by the king. + +Casimir was succeeded by his three sons. Under the first, John Albert, +the power of the oligarchy was confirmed, and not a semblance of an +independent prerogative remained to the crown. Under Alexander, it was +further decreed by the diet, that nothing should in future be +transacted, except _communi consensu_. The nobility had already usurped +all the sovereign authority; they now in their zeal to confirm their +usurpations, introduced the ambiguous clause, which was afterwards to be +perverted to their own ruin. A dismal inadvertence failed to insert, +that the will of the majority should be binding; and hence it became +possible at a later day to interpret the law, as investing each deputy +with a tribunicial authority. Under Sigismund, the third son of Casimir, +all attempts to restore the royal authority were futile. The equality of +the nobles was established by law;--yet a portion of them already began +to look with contempt on their less wealthy peers, and would gladly have +separated themselves from the great mass of "the plebeian nobility." + +With Sigismund Augustus, the son of Sigismund, the race of the Jagellons +expired. At that time, Poland was still powerful; the Prince of Stettin +and the Prince of Prussia were its vassals; the palatines of Wallachia +and Moldavia owed allegiance to it; the Duke of Courland did it homage; +Livonia was incorporated among its territories. Nothing but a government +was wanting to render it one of the most brilliant states of Europe. +Copernicus had already rendered it illustrious in science; and, in no +part of Europe was the knowledge of the Latin language so generally +diffused. + +Now that the royal dynasty was at an end, the succession to the throne, +which had hitherto been in part hereditary, became necessarily elective. +But no forms had been prescribed for the occasion. It was not known who +were the rightful depositaries of power during the interregnum, nor who +were possessed of a voice in the election of king. At length the right +of convoking the diet was assigned to the primate, and the elective +franchise was decided to appertain in an equal degree to each of the +nobles, without the intervention of electors. + +To maintain religious peace was the next concern. The reformation had +made its way to Poland,--but not merely under the forms of Calvinism and +Lutheranism. The Socinians existed also as a powerful party. Those who +were not Catholics, were at variance with each other; the diet, +therefore, with great consideration, decreed, that no one should be +punished or persecuted for his religious opinions. The term, +_dissidents_, was originally used of them all, as expressing their +mutual differences; in process of time, it was, however, applied +exclusively to those who were out of the Roman church. + +At length the day for the election arrived. The Polish nobility, each on +his war-horse, appeared at the appointed place in countless troops, and +it seemed as though an army had been assembled, rather than an electoral +body. The candidates were proposed,--the ambassadors of the leading +foreign powers admitted to address the electors, and freedom given to +any Pole to offer himself as a candidate, for the suffrages of his +countrymen. Yet, before proceeding to the election, a constitution was +formed, embodying all the privileges of the oligarchy, and conferring on +that order, the unequivocal sovereignty. After this work was +accomplished, the vote was taken, and Henry of Anjou was chosen king. + +It was wise for the nation, which showed a spirit of religious +tolerance, to exact of their new king, a pledge in favour of religious +peace. An oath was not too strong a guarantee to be required of him, who +was a leader in the massacre of St. Bartholomy's night! It was wise, +also, to require money and other advantageous stipulations of France. +But the Poles felt still greater satisfaction in the law which was now +established, prohibiting the choice of a successor, during the lifetime +of the king. + +The Duke of Anjou left the siege of Rochelle for the Polish crown; and +four months after his coronation, he fled from Poland by night, as a +fugitive, on horseback, accompanied by seven attendants. The Poles, +dismayed and humiliated by the procedure, fixed a limit for his return, +and when that period had expired, they declared the throne to be vacant, +and proceeded to a new election. + +Stephen Bathory, the duke of Transylvania, was the successful candidate. +Under his short reign, Poland saw the last years of its prosperity; and +from the epoch of his death, the spirit of faction prevailed over every +sentiment of justice or patriotism. The king had no further authority to +concede; and internal feuds, sustained by the most bitter passions, now +divided the nobility. + +It was in 1586 that king Stephen died. At that time Poland extended from +Brandenburgh and Silesia to Esthonia; its power along the Baltic was +undisputed; and the shores of the Euxine had as yet submitted to no +other dominion. Wallachia and Hungary were its southern limits; while, +in the east, it still contended with Russia for an extended frontier. +Its soil was productive of the most valuable returns; its plains were +intersected by navigable rivers; its population amounted to sixteen +millions, and its resources seemed to promise the means of easily +sustaining more than three-fold that number. The principle of religious +equality was recognized by its law; and it believed itself to possess a +greater degree of liberty than any nation of Europe. How could such a +state, so magnificent in its resources, so commanding in its actual +strength, so celebrated for daring valour, sink into the gloom and +debility of anarchy? How could such a nation in its glory submit to +unconnected activity, and, like the fabled Titan, suffer the birds of +prey to gorge upon its vitals, without one effectual struggle in +self-defence? + +The wildest spirit of party was displayed at the next election of a +king. The factions were respectively led by two powerful and ambitious +families; and to the former evils in the state were now added those +political feuds, fostered by the passion for aggrandizement, and +rendered virulent by the excess of personal hatred. The dominant party +declared Sigismund III. to be elected the king of Poland. + +The new king was, unluckily, first, an imbecile and narrow-minded man, +with all the obstinacy belonging to weakness; next, he was heir to the +Swedish throne; thirdly, he was a bigotted Catholic; and, lastly, and +for Poland the saddest of all, he lived to reign forty-five years. His +blind stupidity left the storms of party to rage unrestrained, and the +usurpations of the nobility to proceed unchecked: his hereditary claim +on Sweden, which wisely rejected his right, and preferred Gustavus +Adolphus, led to a war, in which Poland was the chief sufferer; his +bigotry prevented him from healing the intestine divisions by wise +toleration; and, finally, his long life gave almost every one of his +neighbours an opportunity of aggrandizement by aggressions on his realm. +The dismemberment of the Polish dominions began. The Porte secured +Moldavia; the Swedes took possession of Livonia and Courland; and, +though the short anarchy in Russia led to some success in that quarter, +it was a greater loss that the Elector of Brandenburgh, contrary to the +stipulations of ancient treaties, claimed and obtained the succession to +the fief of the Prussian Dutchy. In short, the reign of Sigismund was +marked by deadly errors of policy, and foolish obstinacy of character. +The continued oppression of the peasantry, and the constant recurrence +of eventual losses in wars, were in no degree compensated by the display +of warlike virtues on the part of a democratic nobility. + +It was of little advantage to the Poles, that Ladislaus IV., the son and +successor of Sigismund, was a man of distinguished merit. At his +accession the nobles devised a new condition. Hitherto they had guarded +themselves against taxation; they now proceeded to tax the king. For a +long period, one quarter of the income of the royal domains had been set +apart for the military service, especially for the artillery; they now +demanded a concession of a full moiety. But, it may be asked, what was +done for the people? The answer would be, absolutely nothing. It did not +seem to be imagined, that the labouring class had any rights; not a law +was proposed for the benefit of the millions, who cultivated the soil. +Even the peasants on the estates of the king were equally +oppressed;--why? It was the nobles who farmed the royal domains. + +Every thing stagnated. Every thing, do we say? The natural instinct of +freedom in the Cossacks could brook their abject servitude no longer. +They reclaimed their partial independence, complained that their rights +were infringed, and found demagogues, who were desirous and were able to +lead them. + +At this crisis the king died, and his brother, John Casimir, a man tried +by misfortunes, who, having been the inmate of a French dungeon, +afterwards, from disappointment and chagrin, became a Jesuit and a +Cardinal, was elected his successor. + +The powers and the revenues of the king had been plundered; one thing +more was alone wanting to give full development to the Polish +constitution. In the year 1652, a diet was dissolved by the opposition +of a single deputy; this was remarkable enough; but it was still more +strange, that what had been once effected by passion, should remain an +acknowledged right; and that while the country rung with curses against +the deputy who had set the example, the power should still have been +claimed as a sacred privilege. No redress could be obtained except by +confederations; and it was now the height of anarchy, that public law +recognized these separate assemblies. Indeed, the days of the _liberum +veto_ were necessarily the days of legalized insurrection. It was a sort +of dictatorship, invented for the new contingency. Only the misery was, +that there could be as many confederations as there were separate +factions. + +Poland had, all this while, formidable foreign enemies to encounter. The +Swedes, the Czar, the Porte, were all greedy for aggrandizement. This +was no time for domestic dissensions. The only wonder is, that the +nation could have resisted its enemies at all. As it was, several +provinces were lost; in 1657, the Duke of Prussia seized the opportunity +of freeing himself altogether from his relation as vassal to the Polish +crown. + +The melancholy Casimir could not endure all this. He held a diet in +1661, and told the deputies plainly: "First or last, our state will be +divided by our neighbours. Russia will extend itself to the Bug, and +perhaps to the Vistula; the Elector of Brandenburgh will seize upon +Great Poland and the neighbouring districts; and Austria will not remain +behind, but will take Cracau and other places." The prophecy was uttered +in vain; and a few years after, the philosophic monarch, having buried +his wife, for whose sake alone he had been willing to reign, resigned +the crown, and removed to France. + +This was a new state of things. A diet of election was convened, and the +decree ratified, that _henceforward no king of Poland should be allowed +to resign_. One would think the decree very flattering to the nation! + +The next object was the choice of a king. We have seen, that the Poles +had usually elected a member of the previous royal family. They had +adhered to the Jagellons, and now also to the Sigismunds, until the +families were extinct. The field was therefore open; and this time the +division lay, not between contending factions of the high aristocracy, +but between the high aristocracy, on the one hand, and the "plebeian +nobility," on the other. The party of "the many" prevailed; and the +electoral vote was given to Michael Wisniowiecki, a man of great private +worth, poor, as to his fortunes, modest, and retiring. The joy of the +inferior nobility was at its height; and the shouts of the noble +multitude, and the salutes from the artillery, proclaimed aloud the +triumphs of equality. Poor Michael declined the honour, in vain. He +entreated, with tears in his eyes, to be released from it. His tears +were equally vain. He made his escape from the electoral field on +horseback; the deputies pursued him and compelled him to be king. + +From the commencement of his reign the faction of the high aristocracy +opposed him. The first diet which he convened was broken up; the senate +was openly discontented; the enthusiasm of the nobility grew cool; and +it was found that a mistake had been committed. The Cossacks were +tumultuous; the Turks pursued a ruinous war, terminated only by a +disgraceful peace. The nation was indignant; a new war was decreed; +when, fortunately for himself and the state, the king died. John +Sobieski, the leader of the aristocracy, succeeded. + +The relief of Vienna, in 1683, is the crowning glory of Sobieski. His +subsequent campaigns were unsuccessful; for he had neither sufficient +troops, nor money, nor provisions, nor artillery. Nor was he happy in +his family. The great champion of Christendom was governed by his wife, +and the nation sneered at his weakness. His ambition as a father led him +to desire, during his lifetime, the election of his son as successor. +Unable to accomplish this, he took to avarice, not a very respectable +passion for a private man, but a very dangerous one for a prince. But in +avarice he had able auxiliaries in his wife and the Jews. Every thing +was venal; and the king grew rich, without growing happy. As a last +resort, he tried retirement and letters. But the pursuit of letters, in +itself intrinsically exalted, must be chosen in its own right, if +happiness is to be won by it; to the disappointed statesman it is but a +mere shield against despair; a sort of philosopher's robe to hide the +ghastliness of sullen discontent. Sobieski found in the Latin classics, +which he diligently read, no healing "medicine for the soul diseased;" +and the atrabilious humours of his wife, and the torment of his station, +and his mental discontent, all combined to hasten his death. He passed +from this world on the same hour and the same day as his election. + +We have traced the progress of the infringements upon the royal +authority; we have seen the election of the king decided by a faction in +an oligarchy, by a rabble of noblemen, by the high aristocracy; the next +election was decided by bribes. Two strong parties only appeared; the +French, which declared for Conti, and the Saxon, which advocated the +interests of the Elector Augustus. But the French ambassador had +distributed all his money, while the Saxon envoy was still in Funds. So +each party chose its own king; each made proclamation of its sovereign; +each sung its anthem in the Cathedral; but the French party subsided, as +soon as the primate, its chief support, could agree upon his price. + +Thus the Saxon elector prevailed. He was one of the most dissolute +princes of the age; and an unbounded luxury and abandoned profligacy +were introduced by him among the higher orders in Poland. The morals of +the nobility now became nearly as bad as their political constitution. +What need have we to dwell on the personal war which Augustus II. +commenced against Charles XII. of Sweden; the defeats he sustained; his +forced resignation of the crown; the appointment of Stanislaus in his +stead; and his own restoration after the battle of Pultawa? The leading +point in his history is this: that with him the Russian ascendency in +Poland was established. All the rest of Europe was rapidly advancing in +culture; the only change in Poland was the predominance of Russia. + +On the death of Augustus II. the majority of the votes was in favour of +Stanislaus; but the vicinity of a Russian army sustained the pretensions +of Augustus III. His reign, if reign it may be termed, extended through +a period of thirty years. They were interrupted by no wars; not because +the nation desired or profited by peace, but in consequence of the +general inertness, the universal languor, the unqualified anarchy. The +king possessed no power, except through the miserable expedients of an +intriguing cabinet. The cities were deserted; the regular administration +of justice was unknown; and the barbarism of the middle ages reverted. +Nothing preserved Poland in existence, but the jealousies of surrounding +powers. + +The last king of Poland was chosen under the dictation of Russian arms, +at the express desire of Catharine the Second. Stanislaus Poniatowski +was crowned at Warsaw in 1764, and ascended the throne with +philanthropic intentions, but with a feeble purpose. His reign +illustrates the vast inferiority of the virtues of the heart to the +virtues of the will. The difficulties of his position do not excuse his +own imbecility; and while the paralysis of the nation was complete, he +was himself deficient in the manly virtues of a sovereign. + +Within nine years after his accession to the throne, the first +dismemberment of Poland was consummated. The student of human nature +might ask, by what mighty armies the division was effected? What +overwhelming force could lead a nation of nobles to submit to the +degradation? What bloody battles were fought, what victories were won in +the struggle? It might be supposed, that all Poland would have started +as if electrified; that the ground would have been disputed, inch by +inch; that every town would have become a citadel, garrisoned by the +stern lovers of independence and national honour. + +The fall of Poland was ignominious. Not one battle was fought, not one +siege was necessary for effecting the division. Anarchy, intolerance, +scandalous dissensions, an imbecile sovereign, these were the +instruments which accomplished the ruin of the state. + +The personal adherents of Stanislaus had designed to change the form of +government from a legal anarchy to a limited monarchy. This patriotic +design of the Czartorinskis was defeated by the hot-headed zeal of the +republican party, by the influence of Russia, and most of all, by the +excesses of intolerable bigotry. + +The dissidents had, in the early part of the century, incurred +suspicion, as the secret adherents of Sweden. If in England, where +culture had made such advances, the Catholics could be disfranchised, is +it strange, that in Poland, a vehement party was opposed to the +toleration of Protestants? In 1717, unconstitutional enactments had been +made to their injury; and at subsequent periods, the religious tyranny +had proceeded so far as to exclude the dissident from all civil +privileges. They were excluded from the national representation, and +declared incapable of participating in any public magistracy whatever. + +On the accession of Stanislaus it was hoped that a more moderate and +equitable spirit would prevail. Stanislaus himself favoured the cause of +religious freedom. The dissidents made a very moderate request for the +establishment of freedom of worship, without claiming the restitution of +all their franchises. The zealots, strengthened by the opponents of the +king, would concede absolutely nothing; and as in politics religious +parties have always exhibited the most deadly hostility, so in this case +Poland was more distracted than ever. + +The Russian ambassador immediately seized the opportunity of making +Russian influence predominant under the mask of protecting liberty of +conscience. The empress demanded for the dissidents a perfect equality +with the Catholics; and amidst scenes of tumultuous discussion and +legislative frenzy, the demand was rejected. The highest religious zeal +became combined with a detestation of Russian interference, and +unbridled passion accomplished its utmost. + +The dissidents, unsuccessful in their application to the diet, +confederated under Russian protection; and as the proceedings of the +king had excited a vague apprehension of some encroachments on the +privileges of the nobles, the confederates were joined by the opponents +of the king also. In this way a general confederation was formed +agreeably to the established usage in Poland; but the whole was under +the guidance and control of Repnin, the Russian ambassador. + +When the general diet was convened in 1767, so large a Russian army was +already encamped in Poland, that Repnin was able to dictate the +petitions and the complaints which were to be presented for +consideration. No foreign power interfered. France and Austria were +exhausted; and Frederic was careful to preserve a good understanding +with his great Northern ally. + +But with all this, some refractory spirits appeared in the diet. No +terrors could subdue the inflexible and impassioned spirit of Soltyk, +Zaluski, and the two Rzewuskis. And what was done by an ambassador of +the foreign power in the capital of a free and mighty state? Repnin +ordered the resolute patriots to be seized by night and transported to +Siberia. Horror chilled the nation at the outrage, and the rage of +despair filled all but the partisans of Russia. The ambassador of +Catharine was now able to dictate to the diet all the decrees relating +to the dissidents, and all the other laws which were enacted at the +session. It was plain, that he did not understand the wants of the +dissidents; but he took care to render the continuance of Russian +interference necessary for their security. + +It was the misfortune of the Polish patriots, that the defence of their +nationality became identified with the most furious form of religious +bigotry. The diet had not terminated its session before a new +confederation convened at Bar, and contending against the Russians on +the one hand, attempted to depose the king on the other. But the +confederation was easily dissolved by the Russian army, and its leaders +were obliged to fly for refuge beyond the frontier. + +Thus the cause of the Poles seemed to be abandoned by all the world. The +efforts of the king were insignificant; the nobles were many of them in +the pay of Russia, the rest of them divided by civil, religious, and +family factions; and England and France were idle spectators of the +approaching dissolution of the Polish state. + +Yet one power there was, whose ancient maxim would not allow a Russian +army in Poland. While all the Christian monarchs neglected or joined to +pillage the unhappy land, the Porte declared war against the aggressor. +The issue of that contest is well known; and the power of Russia was but +the more confirmed by her entire success in the war. Russian ascendancy +in the North and East became established, and the last hope of Poland +was removed. + +When at length the three principal powers invaded Poland, and published +their manifesto, proclaiming its dismemberment, the nation submitted +almost without a struggle. The blow came as upon one in a lethargy. The +revelries of the wealthy nobility, the feuds of the great families, and +the wretchedness of the peasantry, continued as before. + +It may be asked, who first planned the partition of Poland? We believe +it was Frederic. Austria was indeed the first to advance her frontier; +but every thing tends rather to show, that the Austrian cabinet insisted +upon its share, only because the robbery was at all events to be +committed; and Russia had no interest in proposing a division, for she +already virtually possessed the whole. Frederic, on the contrary, was +earnestly desirous of consolidating and uniting his kingdom, of which +the parts were before divided by Polish provinces. + +Previous to this first division in 1773, Poland had possessed a +territory of about 220,000 miles; her neighbours now left her about +166,000. Prussia and Austria would gladly have taken more; but Russia +protected the residue, as prey reserved for herself. + +Or rather, the Russian ambassador in Warsaw, was from that time the real +sovereign over the land. A secret article in the treaty with Prussia +guaranteed the liberties and constitution of Poland, that is, stipulated +that the state of anarchy should continue. + +And yet it seems surprising, that a nation of fourteen millions, and of +proverbial valor should have submitted without a blow. The result can be +explained only from the abject state to which the peasantry had become +reduced, and the immense gulf which separated the nobility from the +people. + +But a new epoch was opening in the history of the world. The United +States of America had achieved their independence, and established their +liberties. The impulse was instantaneously felt throughout Europe, and +it extended to Poland. The relative position of the Northern European +powers was also changed. The alliance between Russia and Prussia had +expired in 1780, nor had the Empress been willing to renew it. On the +contrary, the alliance of Austria was preferred, and the new associates +combined to engage in a war with the Porte. The purpose of dismembering +the Turkish state was avowed, and the Poles foresaw full well, that +their own territory would next be coveted. They therefore determined to +shake off the intolerable yoke of foreign interference, and, observing +that their constitution was absolutely in ruins, they ventured to +attempt a reconstruction of their state. + +The condition of the public mind in France had its share of influence. +The Polish nobility had long been partial to the language and manners of +France. Nor were the two countries in situations wholly unlike. Both +states were disorganized; one was suffering from anarchy, the other +tending to it; and both needed a renewal of their youth. On the Seine +and on the Vistula, a new order of things was demanded. The United +States had been the first state in the world to introduce a written +constitution; Poland was now the first country in Europe to imitate the +example. + +It was in October, 1788, that the revolutionary diet assembled at +Warsaw. It assembled tranquilly: for Austria and Russia were at war with +the Porte, and Sweden had also threatened St. Petersburg from the north. +Its first decree abolished the _liberum veto_. Henceforward, the will of +the majority was to be the law. + +But even yet the spirit of faction was unsubdued. A Russian party,--a +minority, it is true, yet, under the circumstances, a formidable one, +introduced divisions into the diet. The king himself had not lofty +independence enough to join heartily with the patriots, but still +continued to hope for the political safety of his country, from the +clemency of Catharine. + +A treaty of alliance with Russia against the Porte, was proposed to the +diet and rejected, in part, through the influence of Prussia. It was +next voted to raise the Polish army, from 18,000 to 60,000; and, if +possible, to 100,000 men. To effect this object, the nobility and clergy +voluntarily submitted to taxation. The control of the army was entrusted +not to the king, but to a special commission. + +Some foreign support was next desired; and the political position of +Prussia, gorged though she had been with the spoils of Poland, seemed +yet under the reign of its new king to offer a safe and resolute +protector. The court of Berlin published to the world its determination +to guarantee the independence of Poland, and to avoid all interference +in its internal concerns. + +Stanislaus wavered, and evidently leaned to the Russian side. The +decision of the diet at length won him over to the party of the +patriots;--and he agreed to assist in expelling the Russian army from +the Polish soil, in forming a constitution, and in soliciting the +concurrence of other nations in repressing the unmeasured aggrandizement +of Russia. These proceedings were not without effect;--in June of the +following year, the ambassador of Catharine announced that her army had +left Poland, and would not again cross its boundaries. + +The diet now advanced to the work of framing a constitution; while the +representatives of the third estate were, in the meanwhile, admitted to +a seat in the assembly. + +The alliance with Prussia was, however, delayed, partly by means of +Russian intrigue, but still more, because Frederic William demanded the +cession of Dantzig. On this point, divisions ensued, which were never +reconciled. But, in March, 1790, a treaty of peace and alliance between +Poland and Prussia was signed, containing a guarantee of each other's +possessions, and a mutual pledge of assistance, in case of an attack +from abroad. Should any foreign nation attempt interference in the +internal concerns of Poland, the court of Berlin pledged itself to +render every assistance by means of negotiations, and, if they failed, +to make use of its whole military force. + +But, alas, for the plighted faith of princes! The time of this treaty +was a very critical juncture. Joseph II. of Austria was dead; Prussia +was in alliance with the Porte, and of course exposed to a war with +Russia; and the negotiations for a general peace in the congress of +Reichenbach, were not yet begun. At that congress, Prussia revealed its +will to become master of Dantzig and Thorn; and it was not deemed an +impossible thing to induce King Frederic William to be false to his +word, which had been plighted to the Poles. + +The period, during which a diet might legally continue, having expired, +a new one was convened December 16th, 1790. It consisted of all who had +been members of the former diet, and of an equal number of additional +members. The new infusion increased the strength of the patriotic party. +In January, 1791, they voted the punishment of death against any who +should receive a pension from a foreign power; in April, they extended +the right of citizenship to mechanics, and all free people of the +Christian religion;--a _habeas corpus_ act was passed, protecting all +residents in the cities. + +Finally, on the 3d of May, 1791, the long desired new Polish +constitution was promulgated. The king repaired to the cathedral, and, +at the high altar, swore to maintain it; the illustrious nobles imitated +the example,--all Warsaw celebrated the day as a memorable festival. + +The new constitution made the Roman Catholic religion the ruling +religion in Poland,--but conceded full liberty to other forms of +worship. It confirmed the privileges of the nobility, and the charters +of the cities; it gave to the peasantry the right of making compacts +with their over lord, and placed the inhabitants of the open country, +under the protection of the laws and the government. Poland was called a +republic. The supremacy of the will of the people was distinctly +recognized; but, for the sake of civil freedom, order, and security, the +government was composed of three separate branches. _The legislative_ +was divided into two chambers,--that of the deputies and the senators; +the former, the popular branch, was esteemed the sacred source of +legislation; the latter, under the presidency of the king, could accept +a law, or postpone its consideration. The decision was according to a +majority of voices. The _liberum veto_ was abolished; confederations +were prohibited as inconsistent with the genius of the constitution; and +it was provided, that, after every quarter of a century, the +constitution should be revised and amended. _The executive_, composed of +the king and his cabinet, was bound to carry the laws into effect; but +it could neither number nor interpret them, nor impose taxes, nor borrow +money, nor declare war, nor make peace, nor conclude treaties +definitively. The crown ceased to be elective, and was declared to be +hereditary in the family of the elector of Saxony. _The judiciary_ +shared in the general improvement. + +The majority of the nation loudly applauded the results of the diet, and +the western cabinets of Europe were satisfied. The British Parliament +was eloquent in the praises of the new order of things, and Austria and +Prussia united in negotiating with Russia for the recognition of the +constitution, and the indivisibility of Poland. + +Catharine II. preserved an ominous silence, till the peace of Jassy was +concluded, and her armies were ready for action. She then rejected the +interference of the two powers, who had attempted to check her +career,--and, listening to the requests of a few factious and misguided +members of the ancient Polish oligarchy, she proceeded to denounce the +spirit of revolutions. The Polish diet rejoined with dignity and +moderation, expressed its intentions of peace with respect to the rest +of Europe, and published its determined resolution to maintain the +independence of its country, and its new form of government. It then +applied to the neighbouring powers for assistance;--but Lucchesini, the +Prussian envoy, gave evasive answers to all questions respecting an +impending war, and especially avoided all written communications; and +the elector of Saxony, after some wavering, declined the intended honour +of the Polish crown for his family. + +Meanwhile the war of Austria and Prussia against France had begun; and +now the way was open to Russia to invade Poland, Lucchesini, the +Prussian envoy, declared, May 4th, 1792, that his king had not +participated in framing the new constitution, and was not bound to its +defence; while, on the 18th of the same month, Catharine censured the +new government "as adverse to Polish liberties," and declared that she +made war "to rescue Poland from its oppressors." While a confederation +of factious refugees was made at Targowitz, according to the ancient +usage of the anarchy, the Russians precipitated themselves upon the +distracted kingdom in two great masses. The Poles, under Joseph +Poniatowski and Kosciusko, fought with undaunted valour, but +unsuccessfully. On the 30th of May, King Stanislaus ordered a general +levy of the population. On the 4th of July, he expressed his +determination to share the fate of the nation, and to die with it if +necessary, rather than survive its independent existence: and oh! the +misery of a gallant nation, with a pusillanimous chief, on the 23d of +July he declared his adhesion to the confederation of Targowitz. A +vehement scolding letter from Catharine had effected the change in his +heroism. The movements of the Polish army were stopped by his order; +while Joseph Poniatowski and Kosciusko resigned their places. The +leading patriots poured out their souls in eloquent regrets at the last +assembly of the diet, and travelled abroad. + +The innocent confederates having, after the king's adhesion, added many +names to their former number, were now assembled at Grodno, fully +relying on the magnanimous clemency of Catharine, to maintain the +integrity of their state. Just then the German army was returning from +its excursion in Champagne, where it had won no laurels; and Prussia, +having obtained the reluctant assent of Austria, claimed, as a +compensation for its ill success against France, the privilege of a new +inroad upon its neighbour; and in January, 1793, its army took +possession of Great Poland, under pretence of keeping the Jacobins in +order. + +The confederates rubbed their eyes and began to awake; but it was only +to read the Prussian note of March 25th, 1793, declaring the necessity +of incorporating about 17,000 square miles of the Polish territory with +Prussia, "in order," as it was kindly intimated, "to give to the +republic of Poland limits better suited to its internal strength." Two +days after the publication of this note, Dantzig was seized, to check +the progress of a dangerous political sect. Two days more, and Russia +declared its willingness to incorporate into its empire about 73,000 +square miles of Poland, and three millions of inhabitants. The diet at +Grodno showed some signs of obstinacy; but was obliged to assent to the +terms dictated by their ally and their protector. The confederation of +Targowitz was now dissolved; it had done its work. + +The anger of the Poles was frenzied. They were indignant at every thing; +but to them it was the bitterest of all, that Frederic William should +have had a share in the plunder. + +There now remained to Poland about 76,000 square miles, and between +three and four millions of inhabitants. The neighbouring powers +generously renounced all further claims, became joint guarantees of the +remainder, and promised that now the diet might make any constitution it +pleased. How far the good pleasure of the diet was independent, may be +inferred from the treaty concluded in October with Russia; of which the +conditions were, that Poland should leave to Russia the conduct of all +future wars, allow the entrance of Russian troops, and frame its foreign +treaties only under the Russian sanction. The diet of Grodno signed this +treaty November 24th, 1793, and adjourned. Igelstrom, the general of the +Russian army, was constituted the Russian ambassador in Poland. It is +evident, that Catharine proposed no further _division_ of Poland; she +intended to lay claim to the whole that remained; and as a preparatory +step, caused a large part of the Polish army to be disbanded. + +The party of the patriots determined upon one final effort; and a new +confederation was made at Cracau. Its aims extended to the establishment +of the internal and external independence of their country, and the +restoration of its ancient limits. Kosciusko was called from his +retirement at Leipzig, to be the generalissimo of the Patriot army. A +supreme council was established, with plenary authority, till the +national independence should be recovered; and then a representative +constitution was to be formed by a general convention. The movement was +national; the Poles were invited to rise in the defence of their +country; and those between eighteen and twenty-seven years of age were +to serve in the armies; the elder men to constitute the militia. + +Success beamed upon the first efforts in the field; and the victory of +Raclawice, April 4th, 1794, breathed inspiration into every heart. The +Prussian armies continued their encroachments; the Austrians offered no +hope of succour; and the king had declared in favour of the Russians. +But the victory of Kosciusko inspired such hopes, that, just as +Igelstrom was preparing to exile twenty-six men, whom he could not bend, +and to disarm the Polish garrison, the people of Warsaw rose in arms. +The Russians were defeated; more than 2000 fell; an equal number were +made prisoners; Igelstrom, with the remainder, fled from Warsaw. Thus +was Good Friday celebrated in Poland, in 1794. + +It was ominous, however, for the eventual success of the patriots, that, +though they were joined by Lithuania, the dismembered provinces made no +movements towards an insurrection. In the Prussian, a strong military +police maintained military quiet; in the Russian, there was still less +room for hope, since the peasantry knew nothing about politics, and the +nobility having lost nothing in the exchange of allegiance, remained +contented. Secret cabals were also active in gaining partisans for the +foreign powers; some tendencies to the licentious influence of the +passions of the multitude, were observed with apprehension; and the +spirit of faction had not yet learnt to yield to the exalted sentiment +of general patriotism. + +The supreme national council, now established in Warsaw, had neither +money nor credit. Cracau surrendered to the Prussians; Lithuania was +given up after a hard struggle; and though the Poles could have coped +victoriously with the Prussians, yet the advance of Suwarrow seemed to +portend a fatal issue. On the 10th of October, the last battle in which +Kosciusko commanded, was bravely contested; but in consequence of the +faithlessness of one of his generals, Poninski, the Polish cavalry +yielded. Kosciusko rallied them, was thrown from his horse, grievously +wounded, and made a prisoner by the Cossacks. FINIS POLONIÆ, was his +exclamation as he fell. + +The contest now centered round Praga, which was defended by a hundred +cannon, and the flower of the Polish army. Suwarrow, whose name is +unrivalled as the ruthless stormer of cities, commanded the assault. It +ensued on the 4th of November. The bridge over the Vistula was +destroyed; more than eight thousand Poles fell in battle; more than +twelve thousand inhabitants of the town were murdered, drowned, or +burned to death in their houses. On November 6th, the capitulation of +Warsaw was signed upon the smoking ruins of Praga. + +The third division of Poland was complete. No permission was asked. The +three powers signed the treaty of partition, and promised each other +aid, in case of attack; but no formal communication of the procedure was +made to any foreign country. A declaration only was presented to the +German diet. Napoleon could, therefore, truly say, in 1806, that France +had never recognised the partition of Poland. + +And King Stanislaus? He was angry, and wept, and took up and threw down +the pen, and fainted, and wept again; and January, 1795, signed the +document of abdication. They agreed to pay him 200,000 ducats a year. It +was more than he merited. He would have made a very charitable almoner, +a very liberal patron, to second rate artists and men of letters. But +excellence of heart, when coupled with debility of purpose, is but a +sorry character for every day concerns; in a ruler it becomes the most +deadly pusillanimity. And now for the romance; for Catharine loved +romance. The letter of abdication was forwarded to St. Petersburg by a +courier, who arrived on the very birthday of the empress, and in the +midst of the festival, presented it to her in the form of a bouquet. +What a commentary on despotism! A nation struck out of existence to +grace a gala! If men may thus be sported with in masses, if the +concentrated existence of a people may be made the pastime of a woman's +fancy, well did the ancient exclaim, how contemptible a thing is man, if +we do not raise our view beyond his deeds! + +The result of what we have written, established the truth, that the fall +of Poland was an event which destiny had been preparing for centuries. +In an age of barbarism, a great nation had become resolved into separate +principalities, and an aristocracy, not definitely limited, if not +absolute, had sprung up. The family of the Jagellons came to the throne +by a compromise with that nobility; at the extinction of that family, a +tumultuous mob exercised tumultuously, by a sort of general enthusiasm, +the privilege of electing a monarch; enthusiasm declining, a faction of +the high oligarchy succeeded in the election of Sigismund III.; with +Michael, the inferior nobility came into power; with Sobieski was +introduced the influence of the high nobility, and of female intrigue; +with Augustus II. came the reign of gross and undisguised venality; with +Augustus III. the controlling presence of a foreign army and domestic +anarchy; with Stanislaus the wild fury of religious bigotry, in +collision with the treacherous liberality of foreign influence. Every +thing had had its day but the real nation; of them no notice had been +taken; and though Poland was called a republic, it was a republic +without a people. The royal power, the tumultuous patriotism of a +nobility, the oligarchical feuds, the democracy of the nobility, the +high aristocracy, downright bribery, the direct presence and +interference of foreign troops, each had had its period; and is it +strange that the anarchy of Poland had become complete? There was not +only no government virtually, but even the forms did not exist, by which +a government could be effectually set in motion. Is it strange, then, +that the party of the patriots was unable to triumph over the obstacles +in their path, since they had to contend with the strongest foreign +powers, with a domestic political chaos, and with a destiny, which had +for ages doomed their country to destruction? The Russians and their +coadjutors could never have accomplished their purpose, if the ancestors +of the Poles had not themselves prepared the way. + +The world would have heard no more of the Polish state, but for the +simultaneous revolution in France. There the issue was as different, as +the abuses which required remedy, and the instruments which could be +applied for their correction. In Poland there was no middling class; in +France the revolution sprung from the middling class; in Poland the +contest was against the anarchy of an oligarchy; in France against the +impending anarchy of superannuated absolutism. Both nations were fertile +in great men; both had patriots disciplined in the school of America; +both suffered from internal dissensions; both were attacked by the +refugees from their own country, under the banners of foreign monarchs; +both suffered from the hesitancy of inefficient kings; both contended +with the greatest financial difficulties; but in France there existed a +free yeomanry, a free class of mechanics, a free, numerous, and +cultivated order of citizens; while in Poland, there was almost no +intermediate class between the nobility and the serfs. In that lies the +secret of the different issue of their struggles. Poland was the victim +of the American revolution; France its monument. Poland was erased from +among the nations of the earth; while France put forth a gigantic +strength in the triumphant defence of its nationality. Poland, brightly +though it had shone for ages in the eastern heavens, was blotted out, +while the star of France, rising in a lurid sky, through clouds of +blood, was at length able to unveil the peerless light of liberty, and +lead the host of modern states in the high career of civil improvement. + +After the victories of Napoleon over Prussia, the peace of Tilsit +restored a portion of Poland to an independent existence as a Grand +Dutchy. The loss of national existence, and the disgust at submitting to +foreign forms, had excited discontent; and the race still lived, which +had witnessed the two last partitions of their country. Napoleon's +answer to the Polish deputies, "that he was willing to see if the Poles +still deserved to be a nation," resounded through the provinces; and +troops assembled hastily between the Vistula and the Niemen. But in +Posen, the French emperor set Austria at rest as to Galicia; and when he +became the personal friend of Alexander, nothing could be wrested from +Russia. Thus the relations of Napoleon enabled him to dispose only of +Polish Prussia; and of that, Bialystock was ceded to the Czar, while +Prussia still retained a territory sufficient to connect East-Prussia +with Brandenburgh. Thus the new Grand Dutchy of Warsaw, under the +hereditary sway of the Saxon king, and constituting a portion of the +French empire, contained but less than twenty-nine thousand square +miles, and less than two and a half millions of inhabitants. Its +constitution was given, July 22, 1807. Slavery was abolished, and +equality before the law decreed. Two chambers were created, and a diet +was to be convened at least once in two years, for fifteen days. The +_initiative_ of laws belonged to the Grand Duke; the chamber of deputies +was to be renewed, one-third every three years. The code of Napoleon was +made the law of the land. + +In the peace of 1809, the Grand Dutchy was increased by further +restorations from Austria; though Russia took advantage of that +emergency to demand from its Austrian ally, also a territory of great +value, with a population of four hundred thousand souls. + +The great expedition against Russia, in 1812, was called by Napoleon his +second Polish war. It was his professed object to restrain Russia, and +to circumscribe her limits. A proclamation to the Poles promised the +restoration of their state, with larger boundaries even than under their +last king; and the Poles rose with their wonted enthusiasm. It was a +point of honour with their young men to serve in the army; the middling +class would accept no pay, while the rich lavished their fortunes, and +the women their ornaments, for the defence and restoration of their +nation. + +Yet, when in June, Napoleon entered Wilna, the Lithuanians showed little +disposition to unite with their brethren of Warsaw; and the emperor's +answers, as to the future condition of Poland, were too vague to inspire +confidence. The eventual defeat of Napoleon, brought the Russians into +the pursuit, and the Grand Dutchy was occupied by their armies. + +In the close of 1814, the fate of Poland was at issue on the +deliberations of the congress of Vienna. While Prussia demanded the +cession of all Saxony, Russia claimed Poland, including Austrian +Galicia. Encountering strong opposition, the emperor Alexander in his +turn formed a Polish army, and issued a proclamation to the Poles, +inviting them to arm under his auspices for the defence of their +country, and the preservation of their political independence, while +Austria, Great Britain, and France, formed a treaty for resistance. But +for the return of Napoleon from Elba, the congress of Vienna would +probably have issued in a war between its members. A compromise ensued, +it conformity with which, Russia retained nearly all which in had gained +of Prussia in the peace of Tilsit, and of Austria in 1809, and further +acquired all the Grand Dutchy of Warsaw, except Posen, which fell to +Prussia, and Cracau, which was left in neutral independence. +Constitutions were promised to the respective parts, and have been, +after a manner, conceded. + +The constitution issued for Poland, November 27, 1815, by the emperor +Alexander, was an attempt to conciliate the liberal sympathies of the +people. Religious equality, freedom of the press, security of personal +liberty against arbitrary procedures, the responsibility of all +magistrates, and an assurance of all civil and military offices in +Poland to Poles, were the leading features of the compact. The power of +making treaties, of declaring war, of controlling the armed force, and +of pardoning, was assured to the king; but all his commands were to be +countersigned by a minister, who should be held responsible in case of +any violation of the constitution. The diet, composed of two chambers, +was to be assembled once in two years; the king had the _initiative_ and +a _veto_. + +At the opening of the diet, April 27, 1817, Alexander declared his +intention of gradually introducing into his immense empire, the salutary +influence of liberal institutions; and promised security of persons, and +of property, and freedom of opinions. "Representatives of Poland," said +he, "rise to the elevation on which destiny has placed you. You are +called upon to give a sublime example to Europe, whose eye is fixed upon +you." The Poles have in this latest period of their existence, shown no +reluctance to be true to themselves and to the world; but the revolution +of Spain, and Naples, and Greece, struck terror into the cabinet of +Alexander, and led him to abandon the sympathies which he had professed +for ameliorated forms of government. Accordingly, by an arbitrary +decree, February 13, 1825, he abolished the publicity of the assemblies +of the diet, and taught the Poles the true value of an apparently +liberal form of government, of which the fundamental principles might be +altered according to the caprices or the fears of an individual. + +We have thus endeavoured, by a careful reference to numerous and exact +authorities, to which we have had access, to give some historical +explanations of the present Polish question. It seems plain, that there +is little room to hope for the re-establishment of Polish independence. +The provinces belonging to Austria, have most of them been under the +Austrian rule for nearly sixty years; and so, too, a large portion of +Polish Prussia has belonged to the Prussian monarchy, since 1773. The +still larger parts, which have been incorporated into the Russian +monarchy, seem to have learnt acquiescence in their condition. A kindred +dialect, and a sort of national relationship, have always rendered +Russian supremacy more tolerable to the Polish provinces, than that of +the dynasty of Hapsburg, or the court of Berlin. It is only in that +portion of Poland, where, by the establishment of the Grand Dutchy of +Warsaw under Napoleon, and by the erection of a nominally independent +kingdom, a spirit of irritation and change has fostered the honourable +passion for national existence, that the present revolution has been +supported with enthusiasm. The world will do honour to this last effort +of determined patriotism; but the liberties of Poland will be +reconquered only by the gradual progress of the moral power of +free-opinions, which is advancing in the majesty of its strength; over +the ruins of centuries and the graves of nations. + + +[Footnote 9: The emperor in no wise confused, is said to have replied, +"much obliged to you," and retained the present.] + + + + + ART. IX.--_A Historical View of the Government of Maryland, + from its Colonization to the present day._ By JOHN V. L. + M'MAHON. Baltimore: 1831. Vol. 1. pp. 539. + + +The history of Maryland under the proprietary government is little +known, says our author, even to her own people. Yet, as that government +was the mould of her present institutions, the school of discipline for +her revolutionary men, it is to its history we must go back for just +notions of both. The revolution was not wrought by a few master minds, +miraculously born for the occasion, but was the natural development of a +train of causes which leave us less surprised at our ancestors' manful +and accordant resistance of usurpation, than at the strange ignorance of +them which seems to have begot the unwise designs of the mother country. + +Montesquieu has observed, with his usual antithesis, "In the infancy of +societies, it is the leaders that create the institutions; afterwards, +it is the institutions which make the leaders." Perhaps, the former +event has in truth happened less often than received history would +persuade us. The more dim the dawn of tradition, the oftener we find +ascribed to the Lycurguses, the Numas, the Alfreds, either such original +establishments or such fundamental changes as would seem to have created +the civil or religious polity of their people anew. We know not how much +they were indebted to precedent and concurrent circumstances; and thus +obscurity may magnify their renown, as distant objects, according to a +figure of our author's, are exaggerated to the eye in a misty morning. +The vulgar, who do not trouble themselves with cavils, resolve the +result they perceive into the effort of some moral hero, just as the +Greeks referred to Hercules the feats which transcended the ordinary +limits of physical prowess. + +The same thing takes place in a less degree, at periods whose history is +more authentically written. The leaders of revolutions may transmute, so +to speak, into personal merit, some of the results which, more narrowly +considered, are referrible to the pervading spirit and general movement +of the occasion. To weigh justly these elements of their renown, is not +invidiously to derogate from it, but only to vindicate the truth of +history. It still leaves them the highest merit to which, perhaps, the +leaders in any kind of reform can truly lay claim, that of seizing the +spirit of their age, and employing and directing it with a just energy +and discernment. As it has been said that Luther might have +ineffectually preached the Reformation in the twelfth century, and +Napoleon, if he had not been, in fact, but "the little corporal," might +have been no more than a leader of _Condottieri_ in the fourteenth; so +our revolutionary sages could hardly, in the circumstances of the +crisis, and amidst the men of the age, have been other than what they +were. Though they fought in the van of the war, they had, however, their +_Triarii_ to sustain them, a nation, namely, accustomed to the +discipline of liberty. The wave of opinion rolled high, and they had the +praise of launching their barks on it, with strength and skill indeed, +but yet with a propitious gale and a favouring current. The notices in +the volume before us, of the character and history of the colonists of +Maryland, show how the principles of liberty which they brought with +them to "this rough, uncultivated world," (such is their own description +of it,) they maintained with a uniform constancy and understanding. +Though colonial dependence has seldom been less burdensome in point of +fact than in their case, the abstract doctrines of political right were +not on that account guarded with the less vigilance. Thus, in our +author's language, "they were fitted for self-government before it came, +and when it came, it sat lightly and familiarly upon them;" the first +moments of its adoption being marked with little or none of that anarchy +and licentiousness which mostly deform political emancipations. Their +institutions had moulded them; a conclusion not more apparent from our +colonial and revolutionary history, than apposite for estimating at +least the immediate results of revolutions effected under moral +circumstances less propitious. The political structure has often, as in +our own case, been pulled down by an excusable impatience of the people; +but seldom has it been repaired with such solidity, and just adaption to +their wants. + +We have said that the obscurity of history may have magnified the +pretensions of some of its heroes; it is certain that it quite quenches +the light of others. The state whose early transactions our author +records, furnished its full share of the intelligent minds that +contributed their impulse to the general movement of their time; and as +the execution of his task has led him to a closer contemplation of their +influence on its issue, he laments the comparative obscuration of +merited fame, even in this brief lapse of time, in individuals who were +the theme and boast of contemporaries. This is the law of our fate. As +the series of events is prolonged, the greater part of the actors in +them sink out of their place in the perspective, though their lesser +elevation might be scarcely observable to their own age. In the twilight +which falls on all past transactions, the rays of national recollections +fade from summit to summit, and linger at length only on a few of the +more "proudly eminent." Our author sketches some of these forgotten +worthies in the melancholy spirit of a traveller who finds a stately +column in the desert. With the reverence of "Old Mortality," he +re-touches the inscription to the illustrious dead, that they may not +wholly perish. + +The first volume of the present work, the only one yet published, brings +down the history of Maryland to the establishment of the state +government. Besides a historical view of the transactions preceding this +era, it contains, in an introduction, a view of the territorial limits +of the colony as defined in the first grant to the proprietary, and of +the disputes with neighbouring grantees by which they were successively +retrenched. Two other chapters of the introduction are occupied with a +sketch of the civil divisions of the state, and an essay on the sources +of its laws. Appended to the historical sketch is a view of the +distribution of the legislative power, of the organization of the two +houses of assembly, their respective and collective powers, and the +privileges of their members. This plan involves a critical inquiry into +the political laws of the state, and a laborious examination of its +records. The diligence with which the writer seems to have executed his +task, is a voucher of his accuracy; and the body of information thus +collected with painful research, will probably establish his work as one +of authentic reference. This original collation of the materials from +which history is _distilled_, includes a labour, and deserves a praise, +which readers can hardly estimate competently. The writer's style is +vigorous, but wants compression; he is occasionally inaccurate, but is +often lively and striking; his scriptural phraseology is superabundant. +As he understands the period and the men he describes, his views and +reflections are just. The narrative would have been enlivened by a +little more individuality in the portraits of the actors; but though +some of the materials for this were probably at his command, at least as +to the more recent ones, we are aware of the reasons which impose on +this head, a partial silence on the historian of an age not remote. It +is respecting its personages that Christina's saying of history is more +emphatically true;--"_Chi lo sa, non scrive; chi lo scrive, no +sa._"--"The one who knows it, does not write; the one who writes it, +knows it not." It was this Mr. Jefferson meant, when he said the history +of the revolution had never been written, and never would be written. On +the whole, Mr. M'Mahon's is a valuable contribution to an interesting +theme, and we must increase the obligations we are under to him, by +borrowing the copious materials he supplies, for a hasty sketch, or +rather some selections of the colonial history of Maryland, in which we +shall take the liberty to make, without scruple, free use both of his +language and thoughts. + +The present state of Maryland is embraced within considerably narrower +limits than those described in the original grant. By the charter which +bears date the 20th of June, 1632, the province assigned to Cecilius, +Lord Baltimore, had the following boundaries. On the south, a line drawn +from the promontory on the Chesapeake, called Watkins's Point, to the +ocean; on the east, the ocean, and the western margin of Delaware Bay +and river, as far as the fortieth degree of latitude; on the north, a +line drawn in that degree of latitude west, to the meridian of the true +fountain of the Potomac; and thence, the western bank of that river to +Smith's Point, and so by the shortest line to Watkins's Point. These +limits, it is apparent, embrace the whole of the present state of +Delaware; they comprehend also that part of Pennsylvania in which +Chester lies, as far north as the Schuylkill, and a very considerable +portion of Virginia. It may not be uninteresting to trace the +controversies which resulted in this abridgment of territory, especially +as it appears from Mr. M'Mahon's deduction of that with Virginia, that +Maryland has a subsisting claim to a large and fertile portion of the +latter state, lying between the south and north branches of the Potomac. + +The proprietary's first contest, was with a personage who makes some +figure in the early history of his colony, and who, though painted with +little flattery by its chroniclers, seems to have possessed some +talents, enterprise, and courage. This was the notorious William +Clayborne, who, before the grant to Baltimore was carved out of the +limits of Virginia, had made some settlements on Kent Island, in the +Chesapeake, under the authority of that province. Clayborne defended his +claims with pertinacity for several years, and was not brought to +submission to the new grantee, till he had harassed the infant colony +with commotions, and even prepared to make depredations. He subsequently +gratified his resentment by exciting a rebellion, and driving the +proprietary's governor to Virginia. That province also for some time +persisted to assert its dominion over Maryland, in defiance of the royal +grant; and, when that question was at length decided in the +proprietary's favour, it was next necessary to fix the actual boundary +between the two provinces, a matter not adjusted till June, 1668, when +the existing southern line of Maryland was finally determined. + +The proprietary's next territorial controversy had a greater duration, +and a less fortunate issue, being prolonged nearly a century, and +resulting in the dismemberment of a portion of his fairest and most +fertile territory. It must be mentioned, that the charter of Maryland +extended its northern boundary to the southern limit of what was then +called New England. In the intermediate territory between the actual +settlements of the two, the Dutch and the Swedes had planted some +colonies and trading-houses on the banks of the Delaware Bay and river, +in what is now the state of Delaware. The Swedish establishments were +reduced by the Dutch in 1655, and appended, together with their own, in +the same quarter, to the government of New Netherlands; on the English +conquest of which, and the grant of them by Charles II. to his brother, +the Duke of York, the settlements on the Delaware became dependencies on +the government of New-York, and, though clearly within the limits of +Maryland, being south of the latitude of 40°, remained so until the +grant to Penn, and the foundation of Pennsylvania in 1681. The southern +boundary of Penn's grant, was somewhat loosely established to be "a +circle of twelve miles drawn round New Castle, to the beginning of the +fortieth degree of latitude." Penn was eager to adjust his boundary with +Maryland; but when it was found, on an interview between his agent and +Baltimore, at Chester, then called Upland, that Chester itself was south +of the required latitude, and that the boundaries of Maryland would +extend to the Schuylkill, he very earnestly applied himself, to obtain +from the Duke of York, a grant of the Delaware settlements mentioned +above. In contravention of the claims of Baltimore, a conveyance was +made to him in 1682, of the town of New Castle, with the district twelve +miles round it, and also of the territory extending thence southward to +Cape Henlopen. + +Thus fortified, Penn was again eager to adjust the disputed boundary. +The negotiations for this purpose, proving fruitless, were referred to +the Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, to whom Penn submits a case +of hardship, more _naïf_ than convincing. "I told him, (Baltimore,) that +it was not the love of the land, but of the water;--that he abounded in +what I wanted,--and that there was no proportion in the concern, because +the thing insisted on was ninety-nine times more valuable to me, than to +him." It must be recollected, that this reasonable claim involved +nothing less than Baltimore's entire exclusion from Delaware Bay, and +greatly abridged his territory on the coast of the ocean. Another +objection was urged by Penn, which finally governed the award of the +commissioners, who, in 1685, decided that Baltimore's grant "included +only lands uncultivated, and inhabited by savages;" whereas the +territory along the Delaware had been settled by Christians antecedently +to his grant,--a decision, by the way, inconsistent with the previous +ejectment of Clayborne, and with the determination in Baltimore's +favour, of the jurisdiction claimed over his grant by Virginia. They +directed also, for the avoidance of future contests, that the peninsula +between the two bays, should be divided into two equal parts, by a line +drawn from the latitude of Cape Henlopen, to the fortieth degree of +latitude,--the western portion to belong to Baltimore, and the eastern +to His Majesty, and, by consequence, to Penn. This is the origin of the +eastern boundary of Maryland, which was thus cut off from the ocean, on +the greater portion of her eastern side. + +Her northern boundary still remained to be adjusted; but the +embarrassments of both proprietaries with the crown, caused the +controversy in this quarter to sleep nearly half a century. The mutual +border outrages which meanwhile disturbed the debatable ground, led to +the compact of the 10th of May, 1732, between Baltimore and the younger +Penns, which provided, in the first place, for the extension of a line +northerly, through the middle of the peninsula, so as to form a tangent +to a circle drawn round Newcastle, with a radius of twelve miles. The +northern boundary of Maryland was also to begin, not at the fortieth +degree of latitude, but at a point fifteen miles south thereof; and in +case the tangent before described should not extend to that point, it +was to be prolonged by a line drawn due north from the point where the +tangent met the circle; thus was ascertained the eastern extremity of +the northern boundary line, which was thence to be extended due west. +New obstacles intervened, however, to the execution of this agreement, +which was subsequently carried into chancery, but on which no decision +was had until 1750; and in the interval, some frightful excesses were +committed by the borderers on both sides. The house of one Cresap, in +Maryland, was fired by a body of armed men from Pennsylvania, who +attempted to murder him, his family, and several of his neighbours, as +they escaped from the flames. In retaliation, a little army of three +hundred Marylanders invaded the county of Lancaster, and took summary +measures to coerce submission to the government of Maryland. These +mutual outrages occasioned, in 1739, an order from the king in council +for the establishment of a provisional line; and in 1750, Chancellor +Hardwicke pronounced a decree, which ordered the specific execution of +the agreement of 1732. But Frederic, Lord Baltimore, the heir of +Charles, with whom the agreement had been made, contending that he was +protected from its operation by certain anterior conveyances in strict +settlement, objected to the execution of the decree, until finally, and +pending the chancery proceedings, a new agreement was entered into on +the 4th of July, 1760, between himself and the Penns, which adopted that +of 1732, and also the decree of 1750. Commissioners were appointed to +run the lines accordingly, who in November, 1768, reported their +proceedings to the proprietaries, and definitively adjusted the eastern +and northern boundaries of Maryland, in the terms of the agreement +before described. The northern line, from the names of the surveyors, is +commonly known as "Mason and Dixon's line," so often referred to as the +demarcation of the slave states from the others. + +This controversy was not terminated in the north, when the proprietary +found new pretensions to combat in the west. These grew out of the words +of his charter, which described "the true fountain of the Potomac" as +the common _terminus_ of his western and southern boundaries. A +subsequent grant from the crown had conveyed to certain persons all the +tract between the heads and courses of the Rappahannock and Potomac, and +the Chesapeake Bay. This grant, which comprehended what was commonly +known as "The Northern Neck" of Virginia, and which carried only the +ownership of the soil, the jurisdiction remaining in Virginia, was +finally vested solely in Lord Culpepper, and from him descended to his +daughter, who marrying Lord Fairfax, the property in it passed to the +Fairfax family. As it called only for lands on the south side of the +Potomac, there was nothing on the face of it inconsistent with the call +of the charter of Maryland; but the under-grants from Fairfax were soon +pushed so far west as to raise the question of the true fountain of the +Potomac. Commissioners appointed by Virginia to ascertain, as between +that state and Fairfax, the limits of their respective ownership, +determined the North Branch to be the fountain of that river; whereas, +from information given to the council of Maryland, in 1753, by Colonel +Cresap, one of the settlers in the eastern extremity of the state, it +appeared, from its having the longest course, and from other +circumstances, that the South Branch was to be considered the principal +stream, and its source the true source of the Potomac. The British +council for plantation affairs had, as early as 1745, on the petition of +Fairfax, made a report, adopting the North Branch as such; but the +proprietary of Maryland, who viewed his rights as disregarded in this +decision, continued to assert his claim up to the first fountain of the +Potomac, "be that where it might." Various circumstances prevented his +bringing the matter before the king in council; and so the question +hung, till the Revolution substituted the _state_ of Virginia for the +British crown, as one party in the controversy, and that of Maryland as +the other. + +In the constitution of the former, adopted in 1776, there is an express +recognition of the right of Maryland "to all the territory contained +within its charter;" but the actual boundary was not brought into +negotiation till 1795. New delays then interposed, and though Virginia +named commissioners in the matter in 1801, she restricted their powers +to the adjustment merely of the western line, unwilling to allow even a +discussion of her claim to the territory between the two branches. The +negociation consequently dropped for the time, and Maryland, wearied, it +would seem, with various efforts to reclaim the territory south of the +North Branch, agreed, at length, by an act passed in 1818, to adopt as +the terminus, the most western source of that stream. But a new +obstacle, interposed by Virginia, defeated the adjustment under this +concession. Her commissioners were instructed to commence the boundary +"at a stone, planted by Lord Fairfax on the head waters of the Potomac," +being thus restricted to the old adjustment between Fairfax and the +crown; those of Maryland were directed to begin at the true or most +western source of the North Branch, be that where it might. Fairfax's +stone, our author says, is not planted in fact at the extreme western +source. The proffer of Maryland, by the act of 1818, to confine herself +to the North Branch, being thus rejected by Virginia, she is remitted +apparently to her original rights, which comprehend the sovereignty of +all the territory between these two streams of the Potomac, and call for +the South Branch as her south-western boundary in that quarter. In a +letter of Mr. Cooke, then a distinguished lawyer of Maryland, and one of +the commissioners named in 1795, to adjust the point, the territory in +contest is stated to contain 462,480 acres; and he remarks, that prior +occupancy gives, in such a case, no title to one party, and no length of +time can bar the claim of the other. + +We have thus abridged the author's copious and distinct account of the +territorial wars, which resulted in the defeat of the proprietaries of +Maryland on two parts of their frontier, and have left a legacy of +debate on a third. We must now return to the era of the first grantee +and proprietary, and take up the line of the general events of the +colonial history. + +Cecilius Calvert had no sooner obtained his grant, for which he is said +to have been indebted to the influence of his father, George Calvert, +who but for his death would have been himself the grantee, than he +prepared for the establishment of a colony. The expedition, which he +entrusted to his brother, Leonard Calvert, sailed from the Isle of Wight +on the 22d of November, 1633, the emigrants consisting of about two +hundred persons, principally Catholics, and many of them gentlemen of +family and fortune. They reached Point Comfort, in Virginia, on the 24th +of February following, and thence proceeded up the Potomac, in search of +an eligible site. Having taken formal possession of the province, at an +island which they called St. Clements, they sailed upwards of forty +leagues up the river, to an Indian town called Piscataway; but deeming +it prudent to establish themselves nearer its mouth, they returned to +what is now known as St. Mary's river, (an estuary of the Potomac,) on +the eastern side of which, six or seven miles from its mouth, they +disembarked, on the 27th of March, 1634. Here, near another Indian town, +bearing the uncouth name of Yaocomoco, they laid the foundation of the +old city of St. Mary's, and of the state of Maryland. The proprietary +had made ample provision for his infant colony, of food and clothing, +the implements of husbandry, and the means of erecting habitations; +expending in the first two or three years upwards of £40,000, and +governing, by all concurring accounts, with much policy and liberality. + +The new colony seems to have been looked on a little coldly by Virginia, +her next neighbour in the great continental wilderness, and to have had +indeed more positive ground of complaint in the connivance given there +to Clayborne, who has already been mentioned as the colonizer of Kent +Island, and whose fancied or real injuries from the proprietary, made +him the persevering foe of the colony during twenty-five years. His +first essay was to kindle the jealousies of the natives against the +colonists, which, in the beginning of 1642, broke out into an open war, +that endured for some time, and was the cause of much expense and +distress to the province. The distractions of the great rebellion of +1642, which began at this time to involve the colonies, furnished him +the next pretences of disturbance, and with fit associates. Richard +Ingle, the most prominent of these, was a known adherent of the +parliamentary cause; he had before this time been proclaimed a traitor +to the king, and had fled the province. The insurrection promoted, +therefore, by these confederates and others, (commonly known as +"Clayborne and Ingle's rebellion,") was probably carried on in the name +of the Parliament; though the loss of the greater part of the provincial +records, anterior and relating to this period, the circumstance from +which it acquired its chief notoriety, leaves us little other knowledge +of the insurrection itself, than that it was attended with great misrule +and rapacity, that it commenced in 1644, and that the proprietary +government was suspended till August, 1646; Leonard Calvert, the +governor, being compelled meanwhile to seek refuge in Virginia. Quiet +was then restored by a general amnesty, from which only Clayborne, +Ingle, and one Durnford, were excepted. During two or three years the +province maintained this tranquillity, by pursuing a neutral course +towards the contending parties in England, varied by the single +unadvised act of proclaiming, on the 15th of November, 1649, the +accession of Charles II., Governor Stone being absent at the moment. +This procedure was followed by very ill consequences to the proprietary. +The Parliament, now triumphant, issued a commission for the subjugation +of the disaffected colonies, of which, ominously, for Maryland, +_Captain_ Clayborne was named one, and which, after reducing Virginia, +demanded of Stone, the Governor of Maryland, an express recognition of +the parliamentary authority. Delaying compliance with this demand, he +was threatened with the deprivation of his government; but it was +arranged at length that he should continue to exercise it, till the +pleasure of the commonwealth government could be known. This trust he +seems to have discharged with due fidelity to the Parliament. He +required, indeed, the inhabitants of the province to take the oath of +allegiance to the proprietary government; an act which does not seem +inconsistent with his engagements. It was alleged, however, to be an +evidence of disaffection; and as intentions, says our author, are always +easy to charge, and difficult to disprove, he was in the end compelled +to resign his office to a commission named by Clayborne and his +associates. Stone now attempted resistance; but an engagement taking +place near the Patuxent, his small force of two hundred men was entirely +defeated, and himself taken prisoner. He was condemned to die; but he +had, like another Marius, inspired, it seems, such respect and affection +in the soldiery, that the party intrusted with his execution refused to +proceed in it. A general intercession of the people procured a +commutation of his sentence to imprisonment, which was continued, with +circumstances of severity, during the greater part of the protectorate. +With him the proprietary government fell for the time. + +The occasion was seized by Virginia, to urge with the Protector, her old +claim of jurisdiction over Maryland. The proprietary's charter was +assailed, and the story of Clayborne's wrongs, pathetically told at +length. The fanaticism of the Protector was approached, by objecting the +religious toleration, which, much to the honour of the proprietary, had +consistently characterized his government. The union of the two +provinces was urged, among other reasons, on the score of its preventing +"the cutting of throats," and restraining the excessive planting of +tobacco, thereby making way _for the more staple commodities_, such as +_silk_. Cromwell, however, who could lay aside his fanaticism on +occasion, but who, on the other hand, probably sought to keep the +proprietary in his interests, by holding his rights in suspense, made no +decision in the case; and the latter, who at first expected a speedy +result in his favour, seems to have resolved at length to regain his +province by force. His government had fallen without a crime, and, +besides, the pretensions of Virginia had roused the pride and +indignation of all parties. He had thus many adherents, among the most +conspicuous of whom was Josias Fendall, who having, with a consistency +that merits remark, signalized by treachery every measure he was +concerned in, played for some years a part in the transactions of the +colony, worthy of versatile politicians on a more extensive theatre. He +is brought to our notice in 1655, when he was in custody before the +provincial court, on a charge of disturbing the government, under a +pretended power from the late governor, Stone, and was imprisoned. Being +discharged, probably on taking an oath not to disquiet the government, +he nevertheless appeared soon after as an open insurgent, acting under +the proprietary's commission as his governor. We are uninformed of the +particulars of his operations against the commissioners. During a part +of 1657 and 1658, there seems to have been a divided empire in the +province, the commissioners administering theirs at St. Leonard's, and +Fendall and his council sitting at St. Mary's. An arrangement between +the proprietary and the Virginian commissioners, then in England, at +length put an end to these divisions. The latter ceased to push the +claims of Virginia, and it was agreed that his province should be +restored to the proprietary. On the 20th of March, 1658, it was formally +surrendered to Fendall as his governor, under a stipulation for the +security of the acts passed during the defection;--a stipulation which +the latter fulfilled, not only by declaring them void, but by causing +them to be torn from the records. + +Clothed thus with authority, Fendall was enabled to play off a kind of +parody of Cromwell's proceedings, by "kicking away the ladder by which +he had mounted." At the next convention of the assembly, the lower house +transmitted a message to the upper, declaring itself the true assembly, +and the supreme court of judicature, and demanding its opinion on this +claim. The latter, not acceding with the required good grace and +promptness to this new doctrine, which involved a complete independence, +not only of itself, but of the proprietary, was visited in a body by the +lower house, and ordered to sit no longer apart, with the privilege, +nevertheless, of seats in the lower house. To the assembly thus +reformed, Fendall surrendered his commission from the proprietary, +accepting a new one from itself; and the inhabitants of the province +were required to recognize no other authority but that of this new +legislature, or of the king. The Restoration cut short the rule of this +commonwealth party in the province. Baltimore obtained the countenance +and aid of the new government,--and thus fortified, enjoined his +brother, Philip Calvert, as his governor, to proceed against the +insurgents even by martial law, and especially not to permit Fendall to +escape with his life. Fendall, accordingly, with one Hatch, was excepted +from the general indemnity, and proclamations were issued for their +apprehension;--yet, on a subsequent voluntary surrender, he found means +to be quits for a short imprisonment, with a disability to vote or hold +office;--a lenity not more impolitic in the government, than unmerited +by him, as he not long afterwards attempted to excite another rebellion. + +An uninterrupted tranquillity of many years followed the commotions just +narrated. In 1675, died Cecilius, Lord Baltimore, the first proprietary, +leaving his estate in the province to his son and heir, Charles Calvert. +On a visit to England, the new proprietary found himself and his +government the subject of complaint to the Crown, from the resident +clergy of the Church of England, in the province. They represented that +the province was no better than a Sodom,--religion despised,--the Lord's +day profaned, and all notorious vices committed;--in short, it was in a +deplorable condition for want of an established ministry, the Quakers +providing for their speakers, and the Catholics for their priests, but +no care taken to build up churches in the Protestant religion. Baltimore +represented very honestly, that all religions were tolerated by his +laws, and none established,--and was dismissed for the time, with the +general injunction to restrain immorality, and provide for a competent +number of clergy of the Church of England. But the jealousy of popery, +now abroad in England, began to flame up in the colonies, and especially +in Maryland, which, peopled chiefly by Protestants, was yet under the +dominion of a Catholic. Complaints were poured into Charles's ear, of +Catholic partialities in the proprietary administration; and, in reply +to a communication from Baltimore, by which it was shown beyond doubt, +that his offices were distributed without distinction of religion, and +the military power almost exclusively in Protestant hands--"that +exemplary monarch," says our author, "gave his commentary on religious +liberty, by ordering all offices to be put into the hands of the +Protestants." With a singular ill fortune, which must be put to the +account of his tolerance, the proprietary, thus controlled by a +Protestant king, and menaced, besides, with that then formidable weapon +of royalty, a _quo warranto_, did not the less encounter an enemy in his +Catholic successor, by whom, in 1687, a _quo warranto_ was actually +issued. Before judgment was pronounced, indeed, the monarch himself was +an exile, by the judgment of his people; but the proprietary was now +attacked, on the opposite quarter, by the "Protestant Association of +Maryland," which succeeded in overthrowing his government. This +revolution marks one era in our author's historical narrative, before we +proceed in which, we must pause a moment with him, to mention the +condition of the colony, at the time this event occurred. + +The two hundred original settlers were increased as early as 1660 to +twelve thousand, and in 1671 to nearly twenty thousand; their exact +number at the protestant revolution is unknown. The settlements had +extended from St. Mary's a considerable distance up the Potomac, and all +along the Chesapeake Bay on both sides, and were seated chiefly on its +shores, and around the estuaries of its rivers. Excepting St. Mary's, +there appears to have been no place entitled to the appellation of a +town, unless, says the author, we adopt the same number of houses to +make a town, which it requires persons to constitute a riot. The _city_ +of St. Mary's, which numbered fifty or sixty houses in two or three +years from its planting, never much exceeded these humble limits. The +colonists were almost universally planters of tobacco, and each +plantation, according to an early writer, "was a little town of itself, +every considerable planter's warehouse being a kind of shop," where +inferior planters and others might obtain the necessary commodities. +Tobacco supplied the purposes of gold and silver; but as this currency +was in some respects inconvenient, the lords proprietaries struck coin, +and imitated more powerful sovereigns by attempting,--and, as may be +supposed, with the like success,--to circulate it at a rate beyond its +intrinsic value. The act of 1686, making coins a legal tender at a +certain advance beyond their real worth, deserves mention as +establishing the provincial currency in lieu of sterling. There was also +at this time a printing-press and a public printer; a circumstance +peculiar to this colony at that early period. _Toleration was coeval +with the province._ The oath of office prescribed by the proprietary to +his governors, recognising the freedom of religious opinion in the +amplest manner, "is in itself a text-book of official duty," and ought +to be remembered to the honour of Cecilius Calvert, "when the lustre of +a thousand diadems is pale." For the only two departures from this +principle, the proprietary government is not responsible. An ordinance +of Cromwell's Commissioners prohibited the profession of the Catholic +religion; and the unscrupulous Fendall, at another time, banished the +Quakers for refusing to subscribe an engagement of fidelity to the +government. We are to seek, therefore, other causes than the intolerance +of the proprietary for the Protestant revolution which we are now to +notice. + +A chasm in the colonial records, from November, 1688, to the beginning +of 1692, leaves us without accurate information of its reasons and +progress. Apparently, the alarm of Popery then general through the +empire, was the true cause, and some indiscretions of the proprietary's +governors the pretence. The government was at this time in a commission +of nine deputies, who by summoning the lower house of assembly to take +an oath of fidelity to the proprietary, were deemed to have committed a +breach of its privilege. The president of the deputies was a Mr. Joseph, +whose address on the opening of the assembly, being a very quaint but +clumsy exposition of _jus divinum_, and of its derivation to himself, +cannot claim the praise of a happy adaption to the humour of the moment. +The house refusing to take the oath, the assembly was prorogued. News +now came of the expected invasion of England by the Prince of Orange; +and, without any fixed views probably, even as to their own course in +the existing distractions, much less against the Protestants of the +province, the deputies awaked jealousy, and gave rumour wings by +ordering the public arms to be collected, and attempting to check +reports which might beget "disaffection to the proprietary government." +The whole colony resounded with the cry of a Popish plot; and as a +treaty long subsisting with some Indian tribes happened to be renewed +about this time, the plot thus engendered by the deputies was to be +accomplished, it was asserted, by the aid of the savages and the French. +An accidental delay of the proprietary's instructions for proclaiming +William and Mary, heightened the alarm, or increased the exasperation; +and at length, in April 1689, an association was formed, styling itself, +"An Association in arms for the defence of the Protestant Religion, and +for asserting the right of King William and Queen Mary to the province +of Maryland." The deputies took refuge from the storm in a garrisoned +fort at Mattapany, by whose surrender, in August 1689, the Associators +gained undisputed possession of the province. The articles of surrender +have preserved the names of the leaders, at the head of which is that of +John Coode, another personage of colonial celebrity. + +The first measure of the Associators was to summon a convention at St. +Mary's, which transmitted to the king an exposition of the motives of +the recent revolution. Their charges against the provincial government +are so much at war with the tenor of its history, under both Cecilius +and George Calvert, that we can in reason only impute them to popular +exaggeration. It was alleged that all the offices of the province were +under the control of the Jesuits, and the churches all appropriated to +the uses of popish idolatry; nay, that under connivance, if not +permission of the government, all sorts of murders and outrages were +committed by Papists upon Protestants. Another topic, not less +prevailing, was the reluctant and imperfect allegiance of the +proprietary rulers to the crown, which they accordingly solicited to +take the province under its immediate guard and administration, William +gratified his own wishes as well as theirs, by arbitrarily depriving the +proprietary of his province, without even the usual forms of law, and by +sending out, in 1692, Sir Lionel Copley as the royal governor. We blush, +says our author, to name Lord Holt as having given the opinion, behind +whose high authority the crown intrenched itself in this summary +procedure. The new governor's message to the assembly, recommending "the +making of wholesome laws, and the laying aside of all heats and +animosities," was responded to by an act, the second passed after its +meeting, "for the service of Almighty God, and the establishment of the +Protestant religion in the province." By this act, the Church of England +was made the established church, and a poll-tax imposed of forty pounds +of tobacco on every taxable, to build churches and support ministers. +But the new church was not only to be encouraged; penalties were to be +added for the suppression of others. Under the act of 1704, "to prevent +the growth of popery," Catholic priests were inhibited by severe +penalties from saying mass, or exercising, except in private families, +other spiritual functions, or in any manner persuading the people to be +reconciled to the Church of Rome. Protestant children of Papists, might +also compel their parents to furnish them adequate maintenance. The +Quakers, too, shared these persecutions for a time; but the toleration +of Protestant dissenters was established some years after; and thus, "in +a colony founded by Catholics, and which had grown into power and +happiness under the government of Catholics, the Catholic inhabitant was +the only victim of religious intolerance." The next attempt was against +the revenues and land rights of the proprietary; but these were +sustained by the crown. + +Another victim of the Protestant revolution seems to have been the +ancient city of St. Mary's, which, being in a district inhabited chiefly +by Catholics, had always been distinguished by its attachment to the +proprietaries. This circumstance was not calculated to lessen the +complaints long made of its inconvenient remoteness from the greater +part of the present settlements. A natural feeling had nevertheless +retained the government at its old seat, (antiquity is comparative,) and +in 1674 a state-house was built, at an expense (40,000 pounds of +tobacco) which, in our author's opinion, shows it to have been a work of +some taste and magnitude. This edifice was habitable till the present +year, when its remains, which it would have been better taste to spare +at least, if not preserve, were removed to make room for a church, +erected on or near its site. Notwithstanding this embellishment of his +capital, the proprietary, in 1683, yielded to the wishes of the +colonists, and removed the legislature, the courts, and the public +offices, to "the Ridge," in Anne Arundel county, and thence to Battle +Creek, on the Patuxent; but the want of the necessary accommodations +drove them from the first after one session, and from the latter after +the shorter experiment of three days. The government was brought back to +St. Mary's, and remained there till the Protestant revolution, when its +removal was again resolved on. The petition of the ancient city against +the measure, and the reply to it, exhibit the usual topics of the two +parties which divide the world; on the one side, prescription and +ancient privilege; utility, and the progress of events on the other. In +vain the citizens expatiated also on their capacious harbour, in which +five hundred sail might ride securely at anchor; and offered to keep up, +at their own cost, a coach, or caravan, or both, to run daily during the +session of the legislature and provincial courts, and weekly at other +times; and at least six horses, with suitable furniture, for all persons +having occasion to ride post. Neither their representations nor their +offers begat any thing more than sarcasms on their leanness and poverty, +and the intended removal took place in 1694-5. + +The spot selected for the new seat of government, was a point of land at +the mouth of the Severn; a town, according to the definition before +given, but not yet possessing the qualification required by a colonial +statute, entitled by the author "an act to keep the towns off the +parish," which denied it the right of sending a delegate to the +assembly, till inhabited by as many families as might defray his +expenses, without being chargeable to the county. This place, known as +"Proctor's," or "the town-land at Severn," was named, at the removal, +Anne Arundel town; the following year it acquired the title of the Port +of Annapolis; it was erected in 1708 into a city, with the privilege, +which it still retains, of sending two delegates to the assembly. Four +or five years after it had become the seat of colonial legislation, it +is described as containing about forty dwellings, seven or eight of +which could afford good lodging and accommodation for strangers. One is +curious to know what might have been the accommodations at "the Ridge," +and at Battle Creek. Our informant continues, "there is also a +statehouse and free-school, built of brick, which make a great show +among a parcel of wooden houses; and the foundation of a church is laid, +the only brick church in Maryland." He adds, "had Governor Nicholson +continued there a few _months_ longer, he had brought it to +_perfection_." This perfection it seems not to have acquired even as +late as 1711, being then described by one "E. Cooke, gentleman," in his +poem called "The Sotweed Factor," yet, by rare accident, extant, as-- + + "A city situate on a plain, + Where scarce a house will keep out rain; + The buildings, fram'd with cypress rare, + Resemble much our Southwark Fair;-- + And if the truth I may report, + It's not so large as Tottenham-court." + +This tobacco merchant, as we translate his title, a gentleman apparently +of a caustic vein, the prototype of English travellers in America, +reflects also on the hospitality of the new capital; an allegation +doubtful, considering its source, but at any rate amply refuted at a +subsequent day, as this little city, though it never acquired a large +population or commerce, was, long before the American revolution, +proverbial for the profuse hospitality of its inhabitants, their elegant +luxury, and liberal accomplishments. A French writer thus describes it +during the revolution, when it may be presumed to have shared the +distresses and gloom of the period: "In that very inconsiderable town, +of the few buildings it contains, at least three-fourths may be styled +elegant and grand. Female luxury here exceeds what is known in the +provinces of France. A French hair-dresser is a man of importance among +them; and it is said a certain dame here hires one of that craft at one +thousand crowns a year. The state-house is a very beautiful building; I +think the most so of any I have seen in America."[10] To these habits of +profusion, our author is inclined to add others less excusable, and +hints at "dangerous allurements," administering neither to happiness nor +purity. This early seat of colonial elegance and luxury is still the +political metropolis of Maryland. From the lofty dome of its state-house +the visiter may still look down on mansions that betoken ancient +opulence, and on a landscape of quiet beauty, varied with gardens and +ancient trees, and picturesquely watered by winding estuaries of the +Chesapeake, whose breeze attempers a climate rich in early flowers and +fruits. It was at this time the residence, of course, of the royal +governors, of whose administration we find little to record in this +hasty narrative. One of them, indeed, Francis Nicholson, though a pliant +minister of the crown, seems to have acquired some popularity in the +province, his versatility of temper combined with some energy and +talent, and a courteous demeanour, enabling him to fall easily into the +prevailing humour. Having arrived when the enthusiasm of the Protestant +revolution was yet fresh, he became a great patron of the clergy, and +promoter of orthodoxy, and in that capacity we find him engaged in +proceedings against Coode, though the latter had figured in the events +by which the Protestant ascendency had been established, when his +services were deemed of such merit as to entitle him to the reward of +one hundred thousand pounds of tobacco, and an office. Coode seems not +to have elevated his private virtues to the level of his public. He +subsequently appears exercising the incompatible functions of a +clergyman, a collector of customs, and a lieutenant-colonel of militia, +at the same time alleging that religion was a trick, and that all the +morals worth having were contained in Cicero's offices. If the orthodoxy +of Governor Nicholson was offended by these opinions, his vanity was not +less so by intimations from Coode, that as he had pulled down one +government, he might assist in overthrowing another. The agitator, on +the ground of his being in holy orders, was prevented by the governor +from serving as a delegate in the assembly, and was then dismissed from +his employments, and indicted for atheism and blasphemy. He fled to +Virginia, but afterwards, on the removal of Nicholson from the +government, came in and surrendered himself. In consideration of former +services, his sentence was suspended; age and adversity probably tamed +his unquietness, as thenceforward we hear no more of him in the colonial +history. Nicholson's next proceedings were against some persons whose +principal offence seems to have been the ascription to him of certain +acts of early licentiousness not very consistent with his orthodox zeal, +and which, as they have come down to posterity, might, the author says, +be entitled the _Memorabilia_ of Governor Nicholson. Whatever these +_Memorabilia_ were, they seem not to have impaired the popularity of his +administration, which was also remarkable for the establishment, in +1695, of a public _post_, before unknown in the colonies. The route of +this post extended from some point on the Potomac through Annapolis to +Philadelphia. The postman was bound to travel the route _eight times a +year_, for which he received a salary of 50_l._ The scheme dropped on +the death of the first postman in 1698, and appears not to have been +revived afterwards. A general post-office for the colonies was +established by the English government in 1710. + +Though our author pronounces the administration of the royal governors +to have been favourable in general to the liberties and prosperity of +the colony, its population and resources appear to have increased +extremely little during that era. In 1689 it contained about twenty-five +thousand inhabitants, and in 1710 only thirty thousand. Immigration had +in a great measure ceased; a circumstance imputable to nothing so +probably as the change in its religious policy. Complaints are made of +the distressed condition of its husbandry, and the years 1694 and 1695 +were years of unusual scarcity, and of surprising mortality among the +cattle and swine. The artisans, including the carpenters and coopers, +constituted, according to a statement in 1697, only one-sixtieth of the +whole population. The colonists depended entirely on England for the +most necessary articles; in a few families, coarse clothing was +manufactured out of the wool of the province; and some attempts were +made in the counties of Somerset, and Dorchester, to manufacture linen +and woollen cloths on a more extensive scale. Even these imperfect +attempts seem to have offended the commercial jealousy of the mother +country; for the difficulty of getting English goods at the time, is +mentioned by way of excuse for them. There was an inconsiderable export +to the West Indies, and a small trade with New-England for rum, +molasses, fish, and wooden wares, for their traffic in which latter +article the New-Englanders were already conspicuous. The shipping of the +colony was very trifling, the trade with England being carried on +entirely in English, and that with the West Indies, chiefly in +New-England vessels. + +The proprietary government had now been suspended twenty-five years. It +had fallen through jealousy of the Catholics, and Charles Calvert, who +submitted in his own person to the loss of power for the sake of the +religion in which he had grown up, had yielded to the anxieties of a +parent, and induced his son and heir, Benedict Leonard Calvert, to +embrace the doctrines of the established church. By his own death, in +February, 1714, and that of his heir in April, 1715, the title to the +province devolved to Charles Calvert, the infant son of the latter, who +was also educated in the Protestant faith. The reason for excluding the +proprietary family then subsisted no longer; their claims were in fact +soon after acknowledged by George I. and their government restored in +the person of the infant proprietary, in May, 1715. The only consequence +of this event meriting notice, was the imposition of a test-oath, +requiring of Catholics the abjuration of the Pretender, and the +renunciation of some of the essential points of their faith. Private +animosity gave edge to these civil persecutions; Catholics were excluded +from social intercourse, _nor permitted to walk in front of the +State-House_; swords were worn by them for personal defence. Charles +Calvert died in 1751, leaving the province to his infant son Frederic, +after acquiring for his administration the praise of moderation and +integrity. Yet it was fruitful in internal dissensions, which no policy +could have averted. The controversy respecting the extension of the +English statutes to the colony, originated in 1722, and was succeeded in +1739 by the disputes relating to the proprietary revenue; controversies +full of heat at the time, but which will be more conveniently considered +in connexion with some subsequent transactions of the same sort. One +dispute may be mentioned here, as indicating the spirit of all the rest. +The "Six Nations," a tribe of Indians, occupying a border position +between the French and English colonies, had claims to a considerable +portion of the territory of Maryland lying along the Susquehanna and the +Potomac, and in 1742 it was resolved to depute commissioners to Albany +for the purpose of extinguishing them by treaty. The lower house of +assembly claiming, however, to participate in the appointment of the +commissioners, and also to restrict the amount of expenditure, a dispute +arose on this point of prerogative, which was only adjusted, two years +after, by the governor's appointing the commission on his own +responsibility, and defraying its charges from the ordinary revenue. The +claims in question were extinguished by the Indian treaty of Lancaster, +in June, 1744. + +Questions of this sort now became frequent between the lower house of +the colonial legislature and the proprietary governors. At this period +the French settlements in Canada had begun to be formidable, and their +fortifications had been extended along the northern lakes, with a view +of connecting them by a chain of posts on the Mississippi, with their +possessions in Louisiana. They had encountered much resistance in this +quarter from the Six Nations, just mentioned, whose hostility to France +made them usually the allies of the English, but whose consistent aid +was only to be bought. As early as 1692, New-York had asked pecuniary +succors of the other colonies, of Maryland among them, for securing the +faith of these savage allies, and repelling the common enemy. A general +injunction to the like effect was issued by the crown, and this was +followed by more particular instructions, defining the respective quotas +of the colonies. Thus began the system of "crown requisitions," which, +always received with an ill grace, were often entirely disregarded. In +the "French war," which began in 1754, a few years after the death of +the last mentioned proprietary, Maryland scarcely co-operated, and the +want of her aid was seriously felt in several of its campaigns; a course +construed by the mother country into a pertinacious and unreasonable +opposition to its wishes, and by the sister colonies into a selfish +disregard of the obligations of mutual defence. Mr. Pitt himself, the +subsequent champion of American liberties, was so highly incensed at the +conduct of Maryland, as to avow his resolution to bring the colonies to +a more submissive temper. Dr. Franklin appreciated more correctly, and +explained, the course of the Maryland assembly. We have his authority, +that it voted considerable aids, only rendered abortive by unhappy +disputes between the two houses as to the mode of raising the requisite +revenue. The popular branch claimed also the privilege of exercising its +judgment as to the details of defence, and of directing its efforts with +a view to the more immediate interests of Maryland, and to the dangers +which seemed most instant. In 1754, it voted £6000, however, for the +defence of Virginia; and on the disastrous defeat of Braddock, by which +the frontiers of Maryland herself were left defenceless, and the terror +of her borderers borne to the very heart of her settlements, her +legislature waived the pending disputes, and entered into the extensive +plan of operations concerted by a council of the colonial governors at +New-York. A supply was voted of £40,000, of which £11,000 were to be +applied to the erection of a fort and block-house on her own western +frontier. + +At this period, the westernmost settlements of the province scarcely +extended beyond the mouth of the Conococheague, a tributary of the +Potomac, though a few of the more adventurous of the borderers had +plunged perhaps a little deeper into the wilderness. The settlement at +Fort Cumberland, was not then a settlement of Maryland; and, being +separated from the inhabited limits of the latter, by a deep and almost +trackless forest of eighty miles, the fort at that place could afford no +protection to the frontiers of the colony. Its very situation was, at +that not remote day, a subject of conjecture to the good people of +Maryland. There were many passes of approach for the Indian foe, beyond +its range; and a few stockade forts erected by the settlers were the +only retreats for their families in case of these sudden and frightful +inroads. A more eligible defensive position was sought, therefore, on +the Potomac, a few hundred yards from its bank, and ten or eleven miles +above the mouth of the Conococheague. On this spot was erected Fort +Frederick, the only monument of ante-revolutionary times remaining in +Western Maryland, every vestige of the fortification at Cumberland +having disappeared. It was constructed of durable materials, in the most +approved manner, and was seen by our author in the summer of 1828, the +greater part still standing, in good preservation, in the midst of +cultivated fields. + +At the peace of Paris, which ended the French war, the population of the +province had rapidly increased to about 165,000. The number of convicts +alone, imported since the proprietary restoration, was estimated at +fifteen or twenty thousand. The annual shipment of tobacco to England, +according to the best information obtainable, amounted to 28,000 +hogsheads, valued at £140,000, and the other exports, in 1761, to +£80,000 currency; the imports, in the same year, to £160,000. Iron was +the only manufacture that had made any progress. As early as 1749, there +were eight furnaces and nine forges, manufacturing, by an estimate in +1761, 2,500 tons of pig, and 600 of bar iron. Such were the resources of +Maryland, at the commencement of the civic struggle for her liberties, +beginning with the Stamp Act. + +For the honour of originating and sustaining the resistance to this, and +the like measures of the British government at this time, our author +justly remarks, that there is little room for rivalry among the +colonies. They had all brought with them, as a familiar principle of +English liberty, their right of exemption from taxes, unsanctioned by +their assent, for mere purposes of revenue. There was nothing in the +political establishments of Maryland to efface this original impression. +Its charter exhibits the most favourable form of proprietary government; +and its benignant provisions for the security of rights, were the cause +that it retained, till the revolution, the anxious attachment of the +colonists. It designed entirely to exclude the taxation of the province +by the mother country; and, though the proprietary rights were leniently +exercised by a family which seems to have been especially characterized +by mildness and moderation, they also were limited and modified by the +spirit of the colonists, to a consistency with public welfare, and their +broad notions of the privileges of freemen. Several branches of the +proprietary revenue proving burdensome, or vexatious in the mode of +their collection, were commuted, or partially diverted to the public +defence and uses; and, even when the provincial assemblies failed of +effecting these objects, their pretensions served to familiarize the +people with the principle, that all impositions were illegal, not +sanctioned by their consent. Our limits do not permit us to go into the +history of these questions, which forms an interesting portion of the +present work. + +The resistance of the colony to external aggressions was not less +resolute. We have noticed her neglect of the royal rescripts in the case +of the _quotas_; she opposed with like firmness, the plan originated in +1701, and revived in 1715, for destroying the charters, converting the +colonies into royal governments, and forming a confederacy of them, at +whose head was to be a royal commissioner, residing at New York. She was +as adverse to the plan of colonial union, aiming at much the same +object, proposed in 1753. We have already alluded to the controversy +respecting the extension of the English statutes to the province, which +began in 1722, and lasted ten years. In their session of that, year, the +lower House of Assembly adopted a series of resolves assertory of their +liberties, and declaring the grounds on which they claimed the benefit +of the statutes. These resolves, which became the Magna Charta of the +province, and were afterwards substantially re-adopted on every +occasion, involving its rights and liberties, declared that the province +was not to be regarded as a conquered country, but as a colony planted +by English subjects, who had not forfeited by their removal any part of +their English liberties; that, as such, they had always enjoyed the +common law, and those general statutes of England, which were not +restrained by words of local limitation, and such acts of the colonial +legislature, as were made to suit the particular constitution of the +province; and that this was declared, not from apprehension of the +infringement of their liberties by the proprietary, but as an assertion +of them, and to transmit their sense thereof, and the nature of their +constitution, to posterity. These resolves divided the whole province +into two parties, "the court party," consisting of the immediate +retainers and adherents of the proprietary, and "the country party," +which embraced the lower house, and the great body of the people. On the +latter side, were enlisted all the talents of the province; and the +papers on this subject proceeding from the lower house, were marked by +great ability and research. Some of them are from the pen of the elder +Daniel Dulany, the father of another distinguished person of that name, +and who transmitted to his son the talents, which, our author remarks, +seem to have been the patrimony of the family in every generation. The +controversy resulted in the recognition of the pretensions of the +assembly, and thenceforth the courts of judicature continued to adopt +such statutes as were accommodated to the condition of the province. + +The spirit which begat and established these claims, appeared equally in +the dissensions which succeeded them, respecting the proprietary +revenues. A series of resolves was adopted by the lower house in 1739, +denouncing, as arbitrary and illegal, the levying of certain duties, the +settling of officers' fees by proclamation or ordinance, and the +creation of new offices with new fees, without the assent of the +assembly. The act proposing the appointment of an agent to present these +grievances to the king was vindicated by a message from the lower house, +"worthy to be preserved for its laconic boldness." "The people of +Maryland," say they, "think the proprietary takes money from them +unlawfully. The proprietary says he has a right to take that money. This +matter must be determined by his majesty, who is indifferent to both. +The proprietary is at home, and has this very money to enable him to +negotiate this affair on his part. The people have no way of negotiating +it on theirs, but by employing fit persons in London to act for them. +These persons must be paid for their trouble, and this bill proposes to +raise a fund for that purpose." Though the measures then adopted did not +lead to a definitive suppression of the grievances complained of, some +of them were removed in another mode. Thus, fines on alienation were +relinquished by the proprietary in 1742; officers' fees were established +by law in 1747; but the tobacco and tonnage duties formed a standing +subject of complaint till the revolution, and a justification of the +refusal of supplies, and of other opposition to the government. In +voting supplies during the French war, the lower house had imposed an +increased tax on "ordinary licenses," and a duty on convicts transported +into the colony. The former was resisted as an invasion of proprietary +prerogative; the latter, as in conflict with the acts of Parliament +authorizing their importation, according to an opinion obtained from Mr. +Murray, afterwards Lord Mansfield. The assembly was not daunted by +authoritative names. "Precarious," said they, "and contemptible indeed +would the state of our laws be, if the bare opinion of any man, however +distinguished in his dignity and office, yet acting in the capacity of +private counsel, should be sufficient to shake their authority." "I +remember," says Daniel Dulany, in his Considerations on the Stamp-Act, +"many opinions of crown lawyers on American affairs. They have generally +been very sententious;--they have all declared that to be legal, which +the minister, for the time being, has deemed to be expedient." The +opinion of Attorney-General Pratt, afterwards Lord Camden, prevailed as +little on a subsequent occasion. In it he denied the legality of certain +extensions of the taxing power, in a supply bill voted by the lower +house. It is chiefly remarkable, however, for the distinction set up by +one who was afterwards an advocate of American liberties, between the +rights of the House of Commons and of the Colonial Assemblies. The +Assembly entertained a very different judgment. "Being desirous," they +said, "to pay the opinion all due deference, we cannot but wish it had +been accompanied with the state of the facts on which it was founded." +In nine successive sessions, the supply bill was passed in nearly its +original form. With such exhibitions of the tempers of the colonies, it +is a just subject of wonder that the Stamp-Act should ever have been +ventured on. + +The peace of Paris had now, however, not only secured the safety, and +with it the gratitude of the colonies, but also confirmed over them, it +was supposed, the authority of the mother country. But if the +termination of the French war, says the author, seemed to the government +a fair occasion for resuming designs never lost sight of, its progress, +however calamitous, had nurtured the free and adventurous spirit of the +colonists by privations and dangers, until their minds, as well as their +resources, were matured for effectual resistance. Their trade, indeed, +was burdened with duties imposed for its regulation and restriction; but +no tax had yet been laid for the mere purpose of revenue. Sir Robert +Walpole "had sagaciously remarked, that, contenting himself with the +benefits of their trade, he would leave the taxation of the Americans to +some of his successors, who had more courage, and less regard for +commerce." The Stamp-Act, by which the experiment was now to be tried, +being stripped of the odious machinery of collection, and operating +indirectly, was a well contrived initiatory measure. Coupled with it, +however, were certain harsh enforcements of the trade-laws at this time, +which had the effect of raising higher the indignation of the colonists, +and of confounding the distinction hitherto, though reluctantly +admitted, between the right to regulate their commerce, and that of +direct taxation. + +Circumstances prevented Maryland from expressing her opposition to the +measure through her legislature, before, and for some period after its +adoption. The act was passed on the 22d of March, 1765, and that body +was repeatedly prorogued, from November, 1763, to September, 1765. This +delay, at such a juncture, did not escape strong remonstrance. There +existed, however, at that time, another mirror of the public feeling, +whose respectable antiquity deserves mention. This was a journal at +Annapolis, conducted by Jonas Green, under the name of "The Maryland +Gazette." It was established in 1745, and has ever since been conducted +by his descendants, under the same title. Its pithy appeals to the +popular sentiment are amusing at this day; and, though the government +paper, its temperate support of colonial rights made it the vehicle of +communications on that side, not only from the province, but from other +colonies. In one from Virginia, the writer says, "it being well known +that the only press we have here is totally engrossed for the vile +purposes of ministerial craft, I must therefore apply to you, who have +always appeared to be a bold and honest assertor of the cause of +liberty." The person selected for the distribution of the stamps in +Maryland, was Zachariah Hood, a native of the province, and at one time +a merchant residing at Annapolis. His appointment was announced with due +mock ceremony in the Gazette, and himself to be a gentleman whose +conduct was highly approved by all "court-cringing politicians, since he +was supposed to have wisely considered, that, if his country must be +_stamped_, the blow would be easier borne from a native than a +foreigner." His arrival also was greeted with customary honours; his +effigy, according to a circumstantial narrative in the Gazette, being +hung to the toll of bells, by the "assertors of British American +privileges" at Annapolis, and afterwards at Baltimore, Elk-Ridge, +Fredericktown, and other places, in emulation. These significant tokens +of the popular temper seem to have been promoted, as acts of deliberate +defiance, by men of authority and character; as among the "assertors" at +Annapolis was the celebrated Samuel Chase, who, at twenty-four, was +already the champion of colonial liberties, and gave promise of that +combination of abilities, which afterward elevated him beyond rivalry in +the province, as a lawyer and advocate, and a leader both of popular and +deliberative assemblies. Talents thus employed would naturally provoke +the calumny of opponents. A publication of the municipality of +Annapolis, describes him as "a busy, restless incendiary, a ringleader +of mobs, and a promoter of their excesses; a foul-mouthed and inflaming +son of discord and faction." His reply, "abounding in personal +reflections, and savouring too much of coarse invective," shows +something of the spirit of a tribune of the people, who, thrown into a +tumultuous scene, and into contests with the courtly adherents of power, +might deem himself excused for some disdain of reserve, and some +bluntness of phrase. I admit, he says, that I was one of those who +committed to the flames the effigy of the Stamp-Distributor, and who +openly disputed the parliamentary right to tax the colonies; while some +of you skulked in your houses, and grumbled in corners, asserting the +Stamp-Act to be a beneficial law, or not daring to speak out your +sentiments. The reader may be curious to know Hood's subsequent +adventures. Not daring to distribute the stamps, and finding the +indignation which had been lavished on his effigy, taking a more +dangerous direction towards his person, he absconded secretly, and never +paused in his flight till he reached New-York, and had taken refuge +under the cannon of Fort George. Having gone afterwards to reside on +Long Island, a party surrounded the house where he was concealed, +requiring the abjuration of his office, on pain of being delivered to +the exasperated multitude, and carried back to Maryland, with labels +upon him signifying his office and designs. Unwilling to run this +gantlet through a country up in arms, he yielded, and was accompanied by +upwards of a hundred gentlemen from Flushing to Jamaica, where he swore +to his abjuration, and was discharged. + +The first measure of the assembly, when at length convened, was to +appoint commissioners to a general congress that was to be held in +New-York; its next, to make an expression of its sentiments on the +existing question. The tone and unanimity of the resolves adopted, +sufficiently show, in the author's opinion, that the temper and course +of Maryland at this juncture, have been too lightly considered, and may +advantageously be compared with those of any other colony. Another of +her contributions, and not the least effective, to the common cause, was +an essay published at Annapolis, in October, 1765. "A style easy but +energetic, perspicuous thoughts, illustrations simple, and arguments +addressed to every understanding," betrayed it to be the production of +Daniel Dulany, the younger, whom it placed at once in the first rank of +political writers. Long signal for talents and professional learning, +his "Considerations" earned him the more grateful distinction of the +great champion of colonial liberties; and in the joyous celebrations of +the repeal of the stamp-act, placed him in remembrance with Camden, and +with Chatham, his admirer and eulogist. It is known, that in this essay +Mr. Dulany, though bold and decided as to the question of right, urged +the disuse of British commodities as the most advisable weapon of +resistance. This appeal to the commercial cupidity of England would, +also, he thought, be the most effectual. The course, even could it have +been perseveringly adopted, was too pacific for the temper of the times. + +Political integrity and abilities associated the name of Dulany with the +history of Maryland, during the better part of a century. The father of +the distinguished person just mentioned, was admitted to the bar of the +provincial court in 1710, and for forty years held the first place in +the confidence of the proprietary and in the popular affection, being a +functionary in the highest post of trusts, and long a leader also of the +country party in the assembly. He was a kinsman of the celebrated +Delany, the intimate of Swift, some of whose letters to him breathe the +tone both of friendship and reverend regard. His son, Daniel Dulany, +_the Greater_, (as our author styles him,) came to the bar in 1747, and +was named one of the council in 1757; in 1761, he was appointed +secretary of the province, and thenceforward held these posts in +conjunction, till the Revolution. His legal arguments and opinions, the +praise of contemporaries, and the deference of courts, attest him to +have been an _oracle_ of law; as a scholar and an orator, he was not +only highly celebrated at home, but in the judgment of Mr. Pinkney, who +saw him but in his "evening declination," unexcelled by the master minds +abroad. Suavity of manners, and the graces of the person, combine to +complete a most agreeable picture. + +The stamp-paper had now arrived. The governor, to whom the lower house +had refused all advice as to the disposal of that paper, found it +expedient to pursue the suggestion of the upper, to retain it on board +of the vessel. By a general consent, the ordinary transactions of +business and of the courts proceeded without it, and on the 24th of +February, 1766, an association, bearing the name of the "Sons of +Liberty," was formed at Baltimore, with the object of compelling the +government offices at Annapolis to dispense with it likewise. They +assembled at that place on a day assigned, the 31st of March; and the +provincial court and other offices, after first a peremptory refusal, +and some delay, conceded the point. Thus was the stamp-act virtually +annulled in Maryland; it had been repealed in England a few days before, +on the 18th of March; so that, in the author's words, "Maryland was +never polluted even by an attempt to execute it." + +Of the subsequent revival of the scheme of taxing the colonies, the +manner and the event are so well known, that we have only to notice the +contemporary transactions in Maryland, which fanning the resentment of +her people, kept her at an even pace with the other provinces in the +march of resistance. The "Proclamation and Vestry Act questions," have +lost indeed their momentary interest, but serve to show in how many +schools of exercise the champions were trained, who afterward displayed +their collected prowess in a more conspicuous arena. + +The colonial legislature had always controlled the provincial officers +by exercising the right to determine their fees, which, by way of +further precaution, they had been in the habit of regulating by +temporary acts. An act of this nature, passed in 1763, coming up for +renewal in 1770, objections were made to the exorbitance of the fees +themselves, abuses in the mode of charging, and the want of a proper +system of commutation. Angry discussions were followed by a prorogation +of the assembly, and subsequently by a proclamation of Governor Eden, +ostensibly to prevent extortion in the officers, but with the real +purpose of regulating the fees by the prerogative of his office; +accordingly, he re-established the fee-act of 1763. The proclamation +begat the usual array of parties for and against prerogative, in which +our author includes the established clergy on the government side, and +on the popular, the lawyers. In this conflict of influence and +abilities, by a turn which is to be lamented, as it threw them into +collision with the Revolutionary leaders, and exciting high resentments +on both sides, kept him aloof from their measures, Daniel Dulany was, in +this question, the prominent partisan of the governor and upper house. +The grounds somewhat technical on which he defended their procedure as +both legal and expedient, and the more large and comprehensive ones on +which it was impugned, were set forth in a series of essays in the +Maryland Gazette, in which Mr. Dulany's antagonist was Charles Carroll +of Carrollton. The angry excitement of the day gave these essays one +feature in common,--strong invective, and personalities,--"of which, +some are now unintelligible, and all deserve to be forgotten." Their +distinctive characteristics are,--in Mr. Dulany's, "the traces +everywhere of a powerful mind, confident in its own resources, indignant +at opposition, contemptuous, as if from conscious superiority, yet +sometimes affecting contempt to escape from principles not to be +resisted;" in his opponent's, the language of a man "confident in his +cause, conscious that he is sustained by public sentiment, and exulting +in the advantage of this position." When the discussion was dropped by +these combatants, it was taken up by others, as vigorous and adroit. In +this new controversy, John Hammond, no contemptible reasoner in behalf +of the proclamation, found antagonists in Thomas Johnson, the first +governor of the _state_ of Maryland, Samuel Chase, and his more +conciliatory friend and coadjutor, William Paca. In the proceedings of +the lower house relative to this subject, we find a sententious +description of political liberty, which might serve as the motto of all +_Constitutionalists_. "Who," says their address, "_who are a free +people? Not_ those over whom government is reasonably and equitably +exercised, but those who live under a government so constitutionally +checked and controlled, that proper provision is made against its being +otherwise exercised." + +The "Vestry Act" related to _clergy dues_, and the controversy on it +arose out of the technical objection, that the law imposing them, which +was enacted in 1701-2, was passed by an assembly, which, being dissolved +by the demise of the king, had nevertheless been convened with fresh +writs of election. The law thus regarded as intrinsically defective, had +the farther demerit of being revived, (as in the case of the officer's +fees,) in default of an existing enactment, by proclamation of the +governor. In this discussion the clergy naturally took a part, and +"found in their own body an advocate of extraordinary powers, in the +person of Jonathan Boucher." These questions filled the province with +contention. An act regulating clergy dues, some time after, put that +question to sleep; the other remained in angry suspense, till swallowed +up, with all less disputes, in the vortex of the Revolution. + +That event was now nearly impending. It may be remembered, that the duty +act of 1767, in which the ministerial scheme of taxing the colonies had +been revived, had been subsequently repealed, except as to the article +of tea, on which the duty had been retained, "by way, it has been +remarked, of pepper-corn rent, to denote the tenure of colonial rights." +A new stratagem of the ministry in this matter was followed, it is also +known, by "the burning of the tea in Boston," and by the retaliatory +measure of the Boston-Port Bill; acts, respectively, which may be said +to have made up the issue between the conflicting parties. The +convention in 1774, assembled at Annapolis, in June of that year. In the +October following, the _tea-burning_ at Boston was re-enacted in +Maryland, with circumstances of deliberation and defiance that show what +a flame was abroad. On the 14th of that month, the brig Peggy Stewart +arrived at Annapolis, having, as a part of her cargo, seventeen packages +of tea. The non-importation agreement, to which the act of 1767 had +given rise, was understood to be retained as to this article, which +still bore the badge of usurpation in the obnoxious duty. The consignees +did not venture to incur the public indignation by landing the teas, +without at least consulting the Non-Importation Committee; but in the +meantime, the vessel was entered, and the duties paid by Anthony +Stewart, a part owner of the vessel. The people, highly incensed, +determined, _in a public meeting_, at Annapolis, that the tea should not +be landed. It was proposed, in a subsequent one, to burn it; and at a +county meeting which followed, it was decided, that this should be +accompanied also by a most humiliating apology from Stewart and the +consignees. As the people now threatened to burn the vessel itself, the +former, by the advice of Carroll of Carrollton, proposed to destroy her +with his own hands. Crowds repaired to the water-side to witness the +atonement; the vessel was run ashore at _Windmill Point_, where Stewart +set fire to his own vessel, with the tea on board. + +All was now preparation for open hostilities. Military associations were +formed, military exercises eagerly engaged in, and subscriptions set +afoot for purchasing arms and ammunition. The planters were requested to +cultivate flax, hemp, and cotton, and to enlarge their flocks with a +view to the manufacture of woollens. At this point we must leave Mr. +M'Mahon. On the appearance of his second volume, we may resume his +narrative from this period, and take the same occasion to notice some +other matters in his work, for the discussion of which we have not room +at present. + + +[Footnote 10: New Travels by the Abbé Robin, one of the Chaplains to the +French Army in N. America.] + + + + + ART. X.--_Notes on Italy._ By REMBRANDT PEALE. 1 vol 8 vo. + Carey & Lea: Philadelphia: 1831. + + +To review a new volume of travels in Italy, may seem to many readers an +unprofitable task. Since its shores were first hailed by the faithful +Achates, it has been the goal of travellers and the theme of authors. +Every age has sent its children to visit that favoured soil; and the +barbarians who rudely invaded it from beyond its Alpine barriers, have +been followed by successive generations of men, less rude indeed from +the progress of time, but not less ardent to explore and overrun it. +Peace and war have alike urged them on. Its mountains, its valleys, its +defiles, its broad and sunny plains, have resounded for hundreds of +years with the clash of arms, and glittered with innumerable warriors; +bands scarcely less numerous have penetrated every corner, led by +spirits inquisitive for knowledge or fond of dwelling on beauties of +nature, perhaps unrivalled, and on the certain charms of refined and +exquisite art, with which no other land, however favoured, has yet dared +to offer a comparison. Nor is there wanting the ample, the reiterated +record of all this. Historians, and poets, and antiquarians, and +novelists, and travellers, have made familiar every incident of every +age--every allusion that can give fresh and delightful associations to +every spot. What ruin is there that they have not made eloquent? What +mountain, what grove, can eager curiosity, urged on by the enthusiasm of +taste and genius, discover, which is not already hallowed--that has not +"murmured forth a solemn sound." + +Yet, still, we read over the oft-repeated tale; we can bear to hear +again and again the history of Roman grandeur; we delight to trace the +footsteps of warriors, of statesmen, of heroes, philosophers, and poets, +whom we have learnt to regard rather as old friends, as household +deities, as companions who have enchanted our youth, and beguiled our +later years,--who have given us at once rules and lessons of human +conduct, and pleasing visions to delight our fancies and our hearts, +than as merely individuals in the great family of mankind. We can bear +to dwell again and again on the graphic page which imparts to us the +knowledge of those triumphant efforts of taste, of genius, and of art, +whose charm time cannot injure, and which become to us the more dear, +because they remain after centuries have passed away, with scarcely a +single rival. + +We were impressed with these feelings when we took up the unpretending +volume before us; we can scarcely doubt, that they will be common to +many at least of our readers, when they find our page headed with +"_Notes on Italy_." To these sentiments will be justly added a +favourable impression from the character of the writer, and the +circumstances which have led to his tour and to the publication of the +present volume. + +As early as the year 1786, Charles Wilson Peale, the father of the +author, and a gentleman whose name is well known as connected with the +infant arts and sciences of America, was the first person to build an +exhibition room in the city of Philadelphia. There he displayed to a +public, perhaps but little prepared to appreciate them, the first +collection of Italian paintings, and there his son acquired in his +earliest youth, not only an enthusiastic admiration for the art itself, +which he has since successfully cultivated, but an ardent desire to +visit the region where he could behold the productions of artists whose +genius he had learned to venerate. + +Having commenced his studies as a painter under the direction of his +father, he went to England, during the peace of 1802, with the design of +visiting France and Italy. The renewal of hostilities, however, +prevented this, and after availing himself for a short time of the +benefits London offered, he returned home. In 1807, he again crossed the +Atlantic; the disturbed situation of the continent obliged him to +confine himself to France; but in the gallery of the Louvre he could +admire, study, and emulate the noblest productions of the pencil and the +chisel, collected by that wonderful man, who loved to blend in the +triumphs of warlike ambition, the trophies dear to philanthropy, to +science, and to art. Mr. Peale returned to his own country, not +satisfied however, because Italy itself was yet unseen. It was in vain +that an increasing patronage and attention to the fine arts in his own +country offered him renewed reasons to remain there; he was as restless +as before, and in 1810 we again find him in Paris, and again obliged, by +the unsettled state of Europe, to forego his long cherished visit. He +returned to his own country; but the fever that still burned as in the +ardour of youth, was not allayed, and the idea that his dreams of Italy +were never to be realized, seemed, as he tells us, to darken the cloud +which hung over the prospect of death itself. For a number of years the +duties required by a large family forbade his separation from them; but +these at length permitted the gratification of his wishes, and +patronised by the liberality of several gentlemen of New-York, at the +age of fifty-one he was able to gratify a desire which had not failed to +increase with his years. The narrative of his tour, which occupied +nearly two years, is embraced in this volume. His main object was to +examine the celebrated works of Italian art, and to select, for the +employment of his pencil, some of the most excellent pictures of the +great masters which are preserved in Rome and Florence; the copies of +these carefully made cannot fail to advance, among the artists and +amateurs of his own country, a correct knowledge of the fine arts. + +With his thoughts and his pursuits directed chiefly to this object, we +find in the volume before us, no pretension and little attention to +antiquarian research, or classical allusion, which have been so +generally called forth by the mouldering monuments, and the familiar +scenes connected with the history and poetry of earlier days. Neither do +we meet with the elaborate reflections on the political or social state +of Italy, in the present day. It is true, the remarks of Mr. Peale are +not confined to works of art, for he could not shut his eyes to the +scenes among which he had to pass, and he was not uninfluenced by a +general curiosity and love of truth;--but they are the notes of a +transient observer, whose mind was turned to other things. Yet they are +found not unfrequently to convey lively impressions of the state of +society and manners, and of the local peculiarities of Italy. + +Having sailed from New-York, Mr. Peale arrived at Paris, in the month of +December, 1828. After a short stay there, merely sufficient to glance +over the principal works of art, and to regret the altered situation of +the magnificent gallery of Napoleon, deprived of the matchless memorials +of his conquests, he continued his journey towards the south of France. +Passing through Lyons, the route continued a long way on the border of +the rapid Rhone, upon which he saw but one vessel,--whilst the road +presented a constant procession of wagons. Such a stream in America, +between two great cities, would be covered with steam-boats. As the road +advanced south, it passed through more abundant vineyards, the verdure +of the fields became more extensive, and, on each side, were seen vast +orchards of mulberry trees, for the support of silk-worms, tributary to +the great manufactories of silk at Lyons. As he approached Marseilles, +the milder atmosphere gave evidence of a more genial climate, and the +altered costume of the women, of a different people--to the caps common +after leaving Paris, was now added a piece of black silk, of the size +and shape of a plate laid on the top of the head; and, in the immediate +vicinity of the town, the women wore black hats, with small round crowns +and broad rims. Marseilles is a large and bustling sea-port, with but +little to detain those who are in search of the productions of Italian +art. Instead of pursuing the route he had intended, by Aix and Genoa, +Mr. Peale here embarked in a Neapolitan ship, and, after a stormy and +uncomfortable passage of ten days, found himself in the magnificent Bay +of Naples. Four weeks were devoted to an examination of the works of art +in the various galleries, palaces, and churches;--and most of the +curiosities, the objects which attract an inquisitive traveller, were +examined. Among the latter may be mentioned the catacombs of _Santa +Maria della Vita_, which are thus described:-- + + "Descending into the valley of houses, and then rising to + the foot of a neighbouring hill, we entered the court yard + of a vast hospital for the poor; an establishment made by + the French, in which are men, women, and girls, each class + being kept separate and made to work. Here an old man + presented himself who officiated as an experienced guide, + furnished with a lantern and great flambeau made of ropes + impregnated with some kind of resin. A little back lane + conducted us to a kind of grotto, containing an altar + ornamented with several marble medallions, which are said to + have been sculptured by the early Christians. This chapel + served as an entrance to the chambers of the dead, which + consist of long, winding, and intricate passages, cut out of + the _tufa_ rock; in procuring which, for the purposes of + building, these vast subterranean excavations were + originally made, and afterwards used as depositories of the + dead. During the persecutions against the early Christians, + they were occupied by them either secretly as places of + residence, where they might practise their worship + unmolested, or, by the permission of their pagan + persecutors, as abodes of the most humiliating kind, + secluded from the light of day. Here our guide, preceding us + with his smoking torch, which he occasionally struck on the + walls, so as to scatter off a radiating flood of sparks + which left him a brighter flame, showed us the little + lateral recesses in which the humble believers were + contented to lie, and shelves, excavated in the rock, in + which their mortal remains were deposited after death. He + pointed out the larger chambers, somewhat decorated with + columns and arches in faint relief, in which the priests + resided; the places where altars stood; and, in a higher + excavation, raised his torch to a rude recess, or sunken + balcony above the arched passage, whence the word was + preached to the faithful below in a hall of great width. The + chambers occupied by the most distinguished characters were + denoted by better sculpture, Mosaic incrustations, and + fresco paintings. We followed the windings of these + subterranean corridors to a great extent, till we reached a + hall which was said to be a quarter of a mile in height; but + whether contrived for the purpose of ventilation, or as a + shaft for raising the stone, we could not ascertain, any + more than we could the accuracy of our guide's information, + that the bodies of hundreds of martyrs were thrown down + there by their pagan murderers, whence they were conveyed by + their surviving friends into the niches prepared for them. + From these remote parts, passages, now closed, were formerly + open, which communicated with other catacombs and villages + for sixteen miles round, affording the inmates, it is said, + the means of escaping the persecutions which, from time to + time, fell upon a sect so obnoxious to the pagan priesthood. + + "We found the bones in these catacombs in excellent + preservation, and on many the flesh of fifteen hundred years + was still of such tenacious though pliant fibre, that it + required a sharp knife to cut off a piece. The guide showed + us the heads of some of those early Christians, with the + tongues still remaining in them, but would not permit us to + take one away. Here lived the venerated St. Januarius, whose + particular cell was pointed out to us; and to these retreats + was his dead body borne after his martyrdom; though some + ancient painters represent him walking back with his head in + his hands. + + "We then visited the church of _Santa Maria della Vita_; it + is an old and curious edifice, rich in marbles, and + remarkable for the style of the grand altar, which is + constructed over another one, as on a bridge, to which you + rise by two lateral flights of steps, ornamented with + elegant balustrades of costly marbles. The old monk showed + us, behind the altar, an ancient painting of the Madonna, + resembling an Indian, and a precious door to a case + containing some sacred relic; but as we did not seem + interested in these, he proceeded to open a door in the side + wall, and requested us to walk in. To our surprise it was + the entrance to another series of catacombs, in which were + deposited the dead within the last two hundred years. These + were placed in perpendicular niches in the rock, and + plastered up, leaving only a part of the head projecting; + the men with their faces out, the women with their faces in, + only exposing the backs of their heads, from which the hair + had long since fallen. By scraping away the plaster, some of + the skeletons appeared in their whole extent, among which + was an extraordinary one of a man about eight feet tall. The + plaster which covers these bodies, thus showing only one + half of the head, was painted so as to imitate the entire + figure, clothed as men or women, and sometimes representing + them as skeletons in part covered with drapery, with various + inscriptions above them. The deeper recesses of these vaults + led to chambers where we saw two carcasses of men, deposited + only six months since; the flesh not decaying, but gradually + drying up. They were naked and seated in niches in the wall, + with their heads and arms hanging forward in very grotesque + postures. In the catacombs which we first visited, the dead + were generally placed horizontally, whereas here, all that + we now saw were standing erect. We entered some chambers, + however, with numerous empty horizontal recesses." + +All the spots around Naples, of particular interest, as Vesuvius, +Posilippo, and Portici were visited; crowds of beggars were encountered +in all directions; but the people in general appeared to be healthy, +lively, and happy. The streets are made gay by the immense number of +carriages with which the public are accommodated at a very cheap rate, +and people of all ranks are seen splashing along, sometimes to the +number of seven or eight, clinging, as well as they can, to a vehicle +scarcely large enough to hold half the number. The Neapolitans speak +with great gesticulation, using many signs which have a known meaning; +and they may sometimes be seen thus conversing across the street, from +the upper stories of opposite houses. They are, of course, great eaters +of macaroni, which is seen dangling from the shops in all parts of the +city; and nothing is more amusing than the humble purchasers gathered +around the stalls, stretching their necks with open mouths to suck it +in. + +Having seen as much of Naples as a long succession of bad weather +permitted, our travellers set out in a vetturino for Rome, under the +guidance of a snug, young, leather-breeched postilion, who spoke nothing +but broad Italian. Crossing the Pontine marshes, where, it is probable, +the wintry season prevented the frogs and musquitoes from recalling to +their recollection the sufferings of Horace, they first looked down from +the heights of Albano on the dome of St. Peter's, glittering in the +bright rays of the sun, which just then broke through the clouds. On the +last day of January, Mr. Peale found himself comfortably placed in a +hotel of the Piazza di Spagna, ready to explore all that the eternal +city could offer to his curious research. He remained at Rome till the +month of July following. + +His earliest visit was to St. Peter's, which he has minutely and +graphically depicted. His first sensation he describes as one of +surprise at the brightness and elegance of the whole interior, and in +part of disappointment at the apparent want of magnitude. This was +probably occasioned by the colossal statues, which, being proportioned +to the vast pilasters, arches, and columns, seem to reduce the whole to +an ordinary scale; and also to the wonderful harmony of all the parts, +which prevents the contrast necessary to fill the mind with a sense of a +gigantic object. When he had, however, walked over the wide fields of +pavement, and compared the human beings before him with the stupendous +masses around, he became by degrees convinced of the mighty magnitude, +and experienced increased emotions of wonder and delight. + +His visit to St. Peter's was followed by a minute survey of all the +principal churches, galleries, antique monuments, and ruins, with which +Rome abounds, among them, and in the study of the works of the great +masters of art, he found five months pass rapidly away. + +The houses of modern Rome generally present a good appearance, from the +circumstance, that, although built of brick, they are, with few +exceptions, plastered with great skill and dexterity to resemble stone, +outside and inside. The puzzolana earth forms an admirable cement, and +even when placed on the tops of houses it forms a terrace impenetrable +by water. The streets are kept rather clean by the employment of +convicts, but there is always abundance of dirt around the dwellings of +the poor, who inhabit the ground floors, which are used not only for the +residence of poverty and wretchedness, but for stables, and shops of +every kind. The men, women, and children, however, in these unpromising +abodes, are fat, dirty, and merry, and present no appearance of being +victims of malaria or despotism. The streets, except the Corso, are +seldom straight; but in the evenings they are filled with people, the +rich taking a fashionable drive, with the utmost seriousness and +silence, the poor lying and sitting on the ground, eating a piece of +bread, or a fresh head of lettuce, in general, silent and serious like +their betters, but occasionally bursting into roars of laughter, and +expressing their hilarity by loudly clapping their hands. + + "As the warm weather advances, every kind of workman who can + get out his little bench, apparatus or chair, is at work in + the street close up to his house. I have counted nine + shoemakers, with their stalls, in front of one house, for + the purpose of enjoying light and air. Benches and chairs + are likewise occupied by the idle, chiefly old gentlemen, in + front of the coffee-houses, especially in the Corso, where + they are amused by the continual movement of carriages and + pedestrians. In the evening, especially on holidays, tables + are spread out with white cloths, and brilliantly + illuminated and decorated with flowers, containing various + articles of food, whilst a cook is busy on one side with his + portable kitchen, cooking dough-nuts, or other articles, + which are eaten on the spot. + + "The English and French style of dress, both among men and + women, prevails not only in the higher classes, but through + all others, and in every part of the city. Huge Parisian + bonnets, full set with broad ribands, are seen in every + street; contrasting widely with the fashion of the country, + which covers the head with a white linen cloth, folded + square, and either hanging loose, or kept flat by sticks + within them, or long pins like skewers, which bind up the + hair. Long waists and stays are universal--the rich wear the + fashionable corset of France--the poor, the stays of the + country, thick set with bone, covered with gay velvet, and + worn outside of their gowns, when they have any on, and tied + at the top and back of the shoulders with long bunches of + gay ribands. An apron, skirted with many coloured bands, + hangs in front of a short petticoat with similar bands, and + the shoes have great silver buckles. The taste for large ear + and finger rings is universal, and heavy rolls of beads + encircle almost every neck--the dark red coral being + calculated, by its contrast, to improve their brown Italian + complexion. + + "The peasants, as they appear in town, differ from these, in + wearing coarse pointed wool hats, decorated with ribands or + flowers; wretched, old, ragged, or patched clothes; breeches + without buttons or strings at the knees; sandals which they + make out of raw hide, turning up a little above the sole, + and with strong cords bound to their feet, the cord passing + around their legs and up to their knees, encircling coarse + linen or rags, which they wear instead of stockings. On + Sundays and holidays, certain streets, as the _Repetti_, are + the rendezvous of labouring men, who are then a little, but + very little, better dressed than on other days; always + displaying their stout legs in coarse white stockings, their + knees still unbuttoned, and their shirt collars open even in + cool weather, and, if warm, their jacket across one + shoulder, one sleeve hanging in front--the other behind, and + shifted to the other shoulder, should their exposure to the + wind or current of air require it. I have often stopped to + notice these groups, and have been surprised to find them + generally silent, but with an expression of content. + Occasionally, when a joke would circulate, it was managed + with the fewest words. It is only when much excited, that a + Roman displays any volubility of tongue or extravagance of + gesticulation to disturb his usual air of dignity--whether + above or below contempt--whether with much thought or with + no thought at all. + + "The Romans are certainly a sober people, but the lower + classes, though they are not afflicted by Irish, Scotch, or + American whiskey, Holland gin, or English porter, yet often + indulge to excess in the cheap wine of the country. Every + body drinks wine, and to offer water to a beggar would be an + insult. It is only used occasionally with lemons in hot + weather. At a late hour in the evening, in many streets, may + be heard the noise of Bacchanalian merriment proceeding from + some deep cavernous chamber, which, seen by lamp-light, + shows nothing but coarse plastered walls, a greasy brick + pavement, and benches and tables, around which, in the + absence of all other comforts, the most miserable enjoy + their principal, or only meal of the day, and freely + circulate the bottle as a social bond. Besides, on holidays, + the wine shops are frequented by groups of men and women, + who sometimes exhibit around the door a noisy and licentious + crowd. But wine is not always deemed sufficient, and those + who are disposed to take a walk about sunrise, may every day + see persons with little baskets of _aqua vitæ_, which is + swallowed by artificers between their beds and their + workshops." + +During Mr. Peale's stay at Rome, the election of the pope afforded him +an opportunity of witnessing the many gorgeous and striking ceremonies, +which attend the elevation of the spiritual father of the church to his +temporal throne. These he has described minutely, but with little +variation from the accounts given by those who have been at Rome on +previous and similar occasions. He speaks of the sudden illumination of +the vast dome of St. Peter's, as a sight of singular magnificence; in an +instant the whole edifice appeared to throw out flowers of flame, and +then, a few moments after, a new succession of lights, still more vivid, +by their superior brightness, rendered the first nearly invisible. + +From Rome, Mr. Peale went to Tivoli, and spent some days among the +lovely scenery of that spot, familiar to every one who has not forgotten +the exquisite praises Horace has bestowed on it. He saw and admired the +remnants of the temple of the Sibyl, which Claude Lorraine has so often +selected to add to the harmony and beauty of his inimitable landscapes; +and amid the importunities of beggars, who infest a traveller in Italy +in every haunt to which the love of antiquity or of scenery can lead +him, and beneath the spray of the cataract--the _polvere del'acqua_, as +it was called by the natives--he sketched a drawing of a spot which +poets and painters have alike loved to select in ancient and modern +days. + +On entering Tuscany, he was pleased to find no longer the rags and +patches of Naples and Rome, but a peasantry, better clad, and more +industrious; the country was in a fine state of cultivation, and the +habitations were neat and commodious. It was the season of harvest, and +the fields abounded with men and women in nearly equal numbers, and +apparently happy as they were cheerful. + +At Florence, where Mr. Peale arrived on the 7th of July, he remained +until the 22d of April following, thus devoting to that fair seat of the +arts more than eight months. His time was zealously employed in the +pursuit of his favourite studies; and he made, in the galleries so +liberally opened to artists, copies of many of those works which have +been considered as masterpieces at all times, which have been deemed the +noblest of the spoils of conquest, and have become the guides of +aspiring genius, and the test of taste, throughout the world. + +The manners of the inhabitants are lively, but in general decorous; and +whenever crowds are accidentally assembled, they disperse without +tumult. + + "In the public square it is common, once or twice a week, to + see a quack doctor, seated in his chaise or gig, haranguing + the crowd, with the most impassioned language and gestures: + at one corner of his carriage is a banner consisting of a + hideous portrait of an old monk, from whom he professes to + have learned his precious secrets in the healing art; + occasionally he displays a book of botanical engravings, + gaily coloured, to show his knowledge of nature and his + reliance on the bounty of Providence, invoking frequently + the name of the Blessed Virgin, and reverently taking off + his hat, in which he is imitated by the faithful around him. + At the end of his discourse he produces his medicines, which + are eagerly bought by the credulous. + + "Occasionally, too, a dentist appears, on horseback, with an + attendant, likewise on horseback, who, in a similar manner, + but with an eloquence more voluble, and language more + refined, expatiates on his well known skill and experience; + and then, to suit his action to the word, proceeds to draw + the teeth gratuitously of any that may present themselves at + the left side of his horse, to the amount of five or six. It + is surprising with what dexterity he performs the act, + without moving from his saddle. Afterwards, if any one wants + the assistance of the accomplished dentist, he must be + sought at his lodgings." + +The number of beggars, though great in itself, is small, when compared +to that at Rome. Every place, too, is crowded with persons who pester +you with knives, razors, and combs--linens, silks, and cloths--cravats, +shawls, and rugs--alabaster carvings, and every thing that can be +carried about by hand, which they persecute you to buy in spite of your +no, no, which means nothing to them. Experienced Italians send off the +dirty fellows with a "_caro mio_"--"no, my dear, I am not in want of +it." The streets are kept remarkably clean, and the houses are generally +substantial and well built, but less ornamented with stucco and +sculpture, than those of Rome. The public edifices are remarkable rather +for massive strength than architectural beauty, looking more like +fortresses than palaces, and black with stone and time. There are +numerous fountains scattered through the city; but, amidst the abundance +of bronze and marble ornaments which they exhibit, the stream of water +they pour out is extremely insignificant. The coffee-houses are well +served, the favourite ices are made with clean ice taken from the +streams, instead of the frozen and dirty snow collected in the +mountains, which is used at Rome. In all public places of resort, are +seen quantities of beautiful and fragrant flowers, the delight of the +Florentines; and men are everywhere met who carry baskets of them, which +are offered not only to the ladies, but are presented bunch after bunch, +with the most persevering assiduity, to gentlemen who are sipping their +coffee, eating their ice-creams, or reading the papers. + +While Mr. Peale was in Florence, he had the good fortune to witness the +powers of the most celebrated improvisatrice of the day, _Rosa Taddei_, +of Naples. Her performances took place at the principal theatre, two or +three times on each occasion, but with intervals of several days:-- + + "When the curtain rose, the scene was that of a parlour, + seated. On the entrance of Rosa Taddei, she was greeted with + loud applause by her old friends and confiding expectants. + She appeared to be about thirty years of age, and, though + small, her uncorsetted chest gave ample space for the + important action of her powerful lungs. She was dressed as a + private lady. Her pale face indicated a studious life, but + her forehead was low and narrow, though her head was broad; + her little sunken eye was quick in its movements, and when + it looked intently out, to fashion the measure of a thought, + was accompanied by a slight contraction of the brow that + banished all suspicion of coquetry. Her nose was small, and + her mouth would be called ordinary; but when it was about to + speak, it quivered delicately with the rising emotion, and + varied its expression according to the passion of her + discourse. + + "A servant now advances to the front of the stage, holding a + little casket, destined to received the papers which are + handed from different parts of the house, containing + subjects proposed for recitation. When about forty of these + are received, the casket is placed on a side table. Without + reading them she folds and returns them to the casket. This + is an operation of some time, and serves to give the + appearance of business, and, perhaps, composure to the + performer. Advancing to the side boxes and orchestra, she + offers successively to different persons the casket, out of + which, each time, a paper is drawn and presented to her. + With a grave, deliberate, and emphatic voice she reads the + theme proposed. If the subject is hackneyed, dull, or unfit, + a lamentable and deep-toned ah! synonymous with our bah! is + heard from various parts of the house; on which she tears up + the paper with an impressive look, which seems to say--such + is your pleasure. When six or seven subjects are approved by + the cries of yes, yes, she places them on her side table, + selects one, and, advancing to the piano, decides upon a + musical harmony, which the professor immediately begins to + play, and continues delicately; during which she walks in + measured steps across the stage backwards and forwards, + looking earnestly down, occasionally pausing, sometimes + raising her hand to her mouth or forehead. The crowded house + is silent as death, and she is only influenced by the + measure of the music and the arrangement of her unseen + materials of thought. This being completed, she suddenly + advances, and begins with a burst of language, in which she + continues with unhesitating volubility and moderate action, + occasionally uttering some fine expression that draws forth + from experienced critics an approving bravo! It was to be + remarked, that as she advanced to the termination of every + line, couplet, or stanza, according to the compass of the + sentiment, there was a dwelling on the syllables and a + monotonous chanting, very much resembling the cadence of a + Quaker preacher; thereby permitting her thoughts to advance + and fashion the commencement of the following line, couplet, + or stanza, which was always eagerly and expressively + pronounced at its commencement, and as regularly terminated + in the thought-resolving chant. + + "Among the subjects which she treated, some of which she + began with little preparation, were the following:--The + discoveries of Galileo and Columbus, and the ingratitude of + their country; two Doctors, a Lawyer and Jealous Woman; a + Lawyer's Inkhorn; and a Dialogue between the Dome of St. + Peter and the Dome of Florence. This last appeared to + perplex her a little, and it was some time before she could + fashion it to her mind; indeed, there was an expectation, + from the frequency of her turns across the stage, and her + contracted brow, that she would be obliged to acknowledge a + failure; but when she advanced and began in elegant strains + to state the difficult nature of the singular task imposed + on her, to give tongues to the domes so long silent, and + listen to so distant a dialogue between the Duomo, the boast + of Florence, and the Dome of St. Peter, suspended in mid air + by the divine Buonarotti; and then with increasing + enthusiasm, made them recount, in strains of honourable + emulation, the great events of which they had been the + witnesses, the delight of the audience knew no bounds in the + thundering repetitions of bravo! + + "Some of the pieces she composed with terminating words, + suggested by acclamation from the audience as she proceeded; + other pieces were so conceived as to introduce a particular + word into every stanza, proposed by any voice at its + commencement. It was a singular and interesting exhibition, + in which a little feeble woman, during a whole evening, + could afford the most refined entertainment to a crowded + theatre. Such is the homage paid to mental superiority." + +From Florence, Mr. Peale proceeded to Pisa, and thence along the plains +or alluvial grounds between the mountains and the Mediterranean, on the +road to Genoa. At Carrara, he visited and examined the studios and +work-shops, where the various works in the marble of the celebrated +quarries are made. This marble is obtained in the ravines of the +mountains, from two to five miles distant from the town. It is generally +taken from their base, but frequently great masses are tumbled from +situations many hundred feet high, to which the labourers are an hour in +ascending, and where they work with cords around them, to secure them +against the danger of falling. The whitest marble is found only in +occasional layers, some at the base of the mountain is most beautifully +so. + +On entering Genoa, the streets through which Mr. Peale passed, though of +moderate width, presented the appearance of much magnificence, being +lined with the palaces of the king and nobles. In other parts he +remarked, however, but little of the splendour which would entitle it to +be called a city of palaces; the houses are in general plain and high, +and the passages of communication wide enough only for persons on foot. + +From Genoa, Mr. Peale turned again to the east, and, crossing the +extremities of the Maritime Alps, passed through the broad and beautiful +plain which spreads far and wide on either bank of the Po. At Parma, he +visited the plain and simple palace where the Empress Maria Louisa +resides, and a beautiful new theatre contiguous to it lately built by +her; he saw also the more splendid palace once inhabited by Napoleon, +which is at the extremity of the city, surrounded by fine gardens, and +contains some good frescoes and fine old tapestry. The pictures which +crowd the churches, are not, however, in the best style, but the marbles +are frequently rich and well wrought. + +Bologna presents the singular character of a city composed of streets, +lined, with a few exceptions, with arcades, many of which are of lofty +and elegant proportions, and the arches supported by stone pillars with +handsome bases and capitals, while others are of plastered brick. These +long ranges of columnated arcades, impart great elegance to the general +aspect of the place. The public square is ornamented by a magnificent +fountain, which ranks among the greatest works of John of Bologna. In +the gallery of the fine arts are some admirable pictures of Guido, +Domenichino, and the Caraccis; and the Pontifical University is attended +by a great number of students, while its halls are well filled by an +extensive library, and large collections relating to natural science. + +From Bologna Mr. Peale proceeded through Ferrara to Venice. His +description of the entrance into that celebrated city of the sea, does +not offer the glowing picture which novelists and poets have delighted +to paint, but perhaps conveys a more correct idea of the reality. + + "Early the next morning we beheld the queen of the ocean, at + the extremity of the lagune, stretching across, and almost + united with the mole of fishermen's dwellings, called + Palestrina. The steeples and domes were relieved by an + extensive range of gray mountains, rising high in the + distance, upon the tops of which the snow was bright with + the rising sun. For many miles our boat was towed by another + boat with oarsmen. At length we reached some old walls and + ruinous houses, the outskirts of Venice, and passing these, + opened into a magnificent harbour, resembling a great river, + lined with good houses, and animated by a variety of + shipping and boats in motion. Crossing this great harbour, + we approached a point of land embellished by a beautiful + edifice as the Porto Franco, and then opened into another + great but less spacious canal. In front, the singular but + beautiful palace of the doges, and the lesser palace of St. + Mark were close by, with a fine terrace or wharf extending + along the water's edge. As our boat pursued its way to the + post-office, down the great serpentine canal or river, the + magnificence of the palaces, and their peculiar style of + architecture, rich in bold ornaments, balconies, and + sculptures, excited us to frequent exclamations of + admiration. What must have been their beauty when Venice was + in her full glory, and these marble palaces were new or in + bright repair? From many which were built of brick, the + plastering was falling off, and others, with broken windows, + were uninhabited: yet, as an evidence of renovation, since + Venice has been made a free port, we passed a large new + edifice, rising from an old foundation, and others + undergoing repair. + + "The _Gondola_, about which so much is said and sung, is a + ferry-boat, very much resembling an Indian canoe, floating + lightly on the water, and rising pointed at each end, the + front being ornamented with a large sharp-edged piece of + iron, something like a battle-axe. In the centre are + cushioned seats, with an arched covering of black cloth, + where two grown persons and two children may conveniently + sit, or, on an emergency, six grown persons may squeeze + together, either with open door and side windows, or closed + with glass or black Venetian blinds. The boatmen, without a + rudder, and only one oar at his right side, stands on the + little deck of his narrow stern, and bearing his weight on + his oar, which seldom rises out of the water, not only urges + the gondola straight onwards, but by dextrous movements, + which are practised from infancy, turns it in all directions + with surprising facility and accuracy. + + "Having reached the post-office, and assorted our baggage, + we entered one of these gondolas, and returned to the Hotel + de l'Europe, which we had passed on entering the port. I + found that the use of one oar produced an unpleasant rocking + of the boat, to which those are not subject who employ an + additional boatman at the front of the canoe, whose oar, + striking simultaneously with the other, at opposite sides, + corrects the evil, and it affords the advantage of greater + speed when long excursions are to be made. We landed on + marble steps rising a few feet out of the water to a vast + hall, in which the light gondola, when only for private use, + may be deposited; first divested of its covered chamber, + which two men lift off the seats and carry up. + + "It had begun to rain before we entered Venice, and a mist + obscured the magnificent mountains which we had seen at + sun-rise stretching beyond and extending far over the low + lands of the adjoining continent. As it cleared up, however, + the view from our elevated balcony, of splendid edifices + stretching in various directions into the broad expanse of + waters, was as delightful as it was novel." + +Mr. Peale remained in Venice, only sufficiently long to make a rapid +survey of the works of art which it contains, especially the +masterpieces of Titian, Paul Veronese, and Tintoretto, which are found +in its palaces and churches. Though the necessity of passing generally +along the canals, and the narrowness of the streets which do traverse +the city to a much greater extent than is supposed, give a gloominess to +Venice, yet the place and arcades of St. Mark offer a gay scene not +often surpassed. The leisure and excitement of a Sunday afternoon +especially, make them lively with the fashion and curiosity of the city; +among which the gay modes of Paris are less to be admired than the fine +features and rich complexions of the descendants of those men and women, +who have served as models for the glowing pencils of the masters we have +named. In the evening, the crowd may he seen still to increase, enjoying +the soft mildness of the sea atmosphere, and basking in the blaze of the +patent lamplight which attracts them round the coffee-houses; whilst a +fine band of military music, stationed in the centre of the place, with +music-books and lamps, greatly increases the popular enjoyment at the +expense of the government. The grand canal, in length two miles, +presents on each side a great number of elegant palaces, intermingled +with some ordinary buildings, all in a degree blackened and injured by +age and neglect. Some of the palaces of the ancient noble families are +in a grand style of architecture, enriched with a profusion of bold +sculpture, according to the taste of the times, and the peculiar +propensity of the Venitians to this exuberance of decoration. + +From Venice Mr. Peale again turned across the peninsula. Passing through +Padua, Vicenza, and Verona, he reached Milan, where he visited the +celebrated works of art, which however do not seem to be numerous. +There, however, he took leave of the arts of Italy, and bent his way +towards the Alps. Near the village of Arona, he saw and inspected the +colossal statue of San Carlo Borromeo, which he thus describes. + + "It is made of sheet copper, and stands on a pedestal about + forty feet high; and judging by a ladder which was placed at + one side, and the proportions of the persons who ascended + it, I computed the height of the statue to be about seventy + feet. This agrees with the statement of my companions, who + ascended under the skirt of his tunic, and climbed the iron + bars which united the circumference of the bishop's garment + with the brick core that rises through it. The head, they + agree, is about eight or nine feet in height, so that only a + boy or a very small man can stand in the nose. Yet it is not + only a very stupendous, but I think it rather an elegant + statue. My companions were amused with the singular + animation which they found in the head of the saint, the + dark asylum of a vast number of bats, which darted past them + to escape out of a trap-door in the neck." + +Crossing the Alps by the route of the Simplon, Mr. Peale reached Geneva, +on the 29th of May, and after a short stay, set off for Paris. The dirt +and incommodiousness of most of the Italian cities, gave increased +enjoyment to his return to the noble quays of Paris, the Boulevards, and +the gardens of the Luxembourg, Tuileries, and Palais Royal. After the +course, too, which he had made through Italy, it became an object of no +little interest to examine the treasures of the Louvre. He acknowledges +that the specimens of the Italian painters there preserved, sunk a +little in his estimation as he compared them with the best works in the +galleries he had visited; but at the same time, he derived increased +pleasure from many of the productions of what may be termed the old +French school--especially from those of Poussin, Vernet, and Subleyras. + +From Paris, he crossed the channel to England. He was astonished at the +great improvements of late years in London, especially in the vast +amount of buildings and ornamented squares, erected in the place of +green fields, and the improvements effected in opening and widening many +streets. _Regent street_, lined with splendid shops and dwellings like +palaces, including its circular sweep of fluted cast-iron columns, and +connecting St. James's park with the Regent's park, encircled with +splendid mansions, he thought perhaps unequalled by any thing of the +kind he had seen. Among the artists, he found our countrymen, Leslie and +Newton, holding a distinguished rank, and he bears especial testimony, +not only to the genius and reputation, but to the urbanity and moral +worth of the former. + +From London he proceeded to Portsmouth, and embarking there, reached +America after an absence of nearly two years, on the last of September, +1830. + +We have already remarked, that in this volume a reader is not to look +for those reflections, either on ancient or modern Italy, which are to +be found in the pages of scholars and travellers, who have visited it to +revive the memory of former studies, or to gratify emotions which are +excited by the contemplation of the fading relics of the grandeur of +Rome. Yet, we collect among the notices of Mr. Peale, many remarks which +occurred to him in the necessary attention he paid to the antiquities +that abounded on his route, from one part of the country to another; and +while he was exploring, with the curious zeal for which he is +distinguished, all parts of the various cities and towns in which he +stayed. Of these his narrative is perfectly simple. He enters into no +antiquarian discussions; he quotes no passages of familiar poets and +historians; he feels no peculiar glow from standing upon spots, or +gazing upon scenes, which would have filled to overflowing a heart +imbued with the remembrance of Virgil and of Livy. He paused in the +midst of the Forum, but not for him + + "Did the still eloquent air breathe--burn with Cicero." + +He wandered among the heights of Tivoli, but though the "præceps Anio" +and the "domus Albuneæ resonantis" were still there, they seem not to +have excited one thought of him, who not only preferred them to the +favoured cities of Juno and Minerva, but gave them as lasting a fame. +This is not in our opinion an objection to the volume of Mr. Peale; the +task of classical illustration has been well performed in the travels of +Eustace, whose book, censured as it may be, will ever be a favourite +with scholars; and it has been yet more brilliantly performed by the +wonderful genius of that man, who has given new fame in his immortal +poem to spots already consecrated by the noblest and sweetest +inspirations of the muse. As to most travellers, indeed, we had +infinitely rather that all classical allusion was omitted, than have +inflicted upon us the long string of hackneyed quotations, and the vapid +recollections of schoolboy studies, which go for the most part to make +up such portions of their journals. What we find here on the subject of +antiquities, is just what we might expect from an inquisitive man of +taste, making no pretensions to extraordinary research or information. +When at Naples, Mr. Peale of course visited the buried towns of +Herculaneum and Pompeii, and has described them with much minuteness, so +as convey a very distinct impression of their present state. + + "The first house which was shown to us was the _Villa of + Diomedes_, of considerable extent, comprising a variety of + apartments and gardens. We descended into his wine cellar, + where there still remain some of the jars that contained his + wine. In this spacious cellar seventeen skeletons were + found, probably persons of his family who had sought this + place for safety. They were smothered and entombed, with all + their ornaments of gold upon them, by the flood of hot water + and ashes, which had evidently flowed in through the little + windows where light had been admitted, and where the traces + of the fluid may still be seen. + + "The houses were generally of only one story, though, in a + few instances, we found a small stair-way leading to some + upper apartments. They consist of a great many small rooms + surrounding a court-yard, with a kind of piazza all around, + as a protection against the sun and rain. In two private + court-yards we were shown gaily decorated fountains, in + alcoves or niches, curiously and elaborately ornamented with + mosaic and shellwork, the shells being in perfect + preservation. + + "We looked into many shops, the counters of which were + incrusted with bits of marble, of various colours, fitted + around the narrow mouths of large earthen jars, which were + imbedded in solid brick work, to hold oil and wine. + Sometimes there were little shelves, like steps, covered + with marble, upon which small articles were displayed close + to the window. + + "The basilica, or great hall of justice, was an oblong hall + of great size, surrounded inside with noble columns, which, + from their size, must have supported a lofty roof. At the + farther end was an elevated throne, on which the judges sat; + and beneath it a chamber, where three skeletons of men were + found, fastened by their legs to iron stocks. From the + public promenade we entered the tragic and the comic + theatres; walked over the stone scats, now moss-stained; + looked on the shallow stage, which allowed no scenic effect; + stood in the prompter's central niche, and read the names of + the managers, recorded in mosaic letters on the pavement in + front of the orchestra; but its best sculptural decorations + had been removed to the museum." + +In the museum at Naples are preserved all the articles taken from the +houses at Herculaneum and Pompeii, and they offer specimens of almost +every thing that, even at the present day, domestic establishments seem +to require. The visiter may here behold the charcoal form of a loaf of +bread impressed with the baker's name; a plate of eggs, or rather egg +shells, some of which are not broken, retaining their natural whiteness; +thread nets for boiling vegetables; figs, prunes, dates, olives, and +nuts of various kinds; the golden ornaments of the ladies; vases of +glass of various colours; utensils of the clearest crystal; bronze +candelabra of singular and beautiful forms; and all the apparatus of a +household, exhibiting taste, convenience and luxury. Here, too, are seen +the fresco paintings taken from Pompeii. Those first discovered, +happening to be found in a part of the city inhabited by tradesmen, did +not furnish the most elegant specimens of the arts. The judgments which +were consequently propagated from one antiquarian critic to another, +were unfavourable to the ancient painters, who were pronounced inferior +to contemporary sculptors, and ignorant of grouping, foreshortening, and +perspective. Subsequent excavations have been made in a portion of the +city where splendid temples, halls of justice, theatres, and spacious +dwellings, gave occasion for the best employment of the arts. The result +has been the discovery not only of statues and sculpture far superior to +that formerly developed, but of fresco paintings of great excellence and +beauty. Very different from those previously collected, they decisively +indicate a high state of painting, as it must have been practised in +Greece and Italy at the time the statues were executed, which yet +exhibit such perfect knowledge of the human form, and of the principles +of grouping. They prove that the ancient painters were perfectly +acquainted with the rules of perspective and foreshortening. Indeed, we +may fairly believe, from these beautiful works, done on walls, and +probably by inferior artists, that on other occasions, as in moveable +pictures, their best artists must have painted in a manner to correspond +with the high rank of their sculpture, and the extraordinary accounts +given of them by contemporary writers. + + "These specimens of ancient fresco painting have been cut + out of the walls, where they were executed, with great care, + and transported here in strong cases, which serve as frames. + When first found, they are pale and dull; but, on being + varnished, their colours are brightened up to their pristine + hues, and exhibit to the astonished eye every stroke of the + brush, slightly indenting the fresh mortar, which was given + by hands that perished, with the genius that directed them, + nearly eighteen hundred years ago, yet appearing as the rich + and mellow pencilling of yesterday. Most of them are taken + from shops and ordinary houses, and represent all kinds of + objects, drawn with remarkable spirit and truth. Many of the + better kind served to decorate apartments in which there + were no windows, where they must have been executed, and + afterwards seen only by lamplight. But the best were found + in the porticos of open court yards, or on the walls of + dining-rooms or saloons. In looking closely into these, I + was surprised to find such spirited execution and knowledge + of anatomy, combined with the most exquisite beauty, + perfection of drawing, colouring and expression of + character." + +It is, however, to the works of modern art that Mr. Peale has turned his +principal attention. Travelling himself as an artist; seeking for the +subjects of his own studies, the masterpieces wherever found; exercising +a criticism, not as the picture-dealer who sees in every dingy canvass +which bears, truly or falsely, the name of some celebrated master, the +marks of pre-eminent genius, regardless of the time or circumstances +under which it was executed--nor as the connoisseur or virtuoso, who has +to maintain or to gain reputation by the singularity, the rashness, or +the accidental correctness of his opinions; but viewing them at once +with the devotion of an artist who had long heard of and known the works +he was now to see, as the various efforts of genius, sometimes +successful, but sometimes also less happy, and having no end to gain but +the improvement of his own style, and the gratification of his own +taste, Mr. Peale must be allowed the credit of candour, and entire +freedom from affectation in the judgments he has passed. At the same +time we should not omit to notice the variety, extent, and minuteness of +his examinations. No church, gallery, or collection, was passed by, and +most of the individual pictures are separately and carefully noticed. At +Rome, especially, he admired and copied many of the works of her +immortal artists, and in the loggie of the Vatican he gazed on their +matchless productions with the enthusiasm of a painter, but without +yielding up his senses to the praise of tablets, famous only in name, +and disfigured by smoke, damp, and age. The walls of the celebrated +Sistine chapel were painted by various artists of merit in their time, +but they are now much injured, and offer little worthy of notice; but +the ceiling, designed and executed by Michael Angelo, is eminently +worthy of admiration, as exhibiting the best productions of his pencil, +and as among the few paintings of that great genius not yet destroyed by +smoke, and giving evidence of the grandeur of his invention and the +boldness of his execution. The _Last Judgment_, so familiar in name to +every one who reads the history of art, now excites no attention except +from its former celebrity, as it is dimly traced in the dark, through +stains of damp and mould, and blackened by smoke. Of his great rival, +and in some respects superior, the fate is scarcely different, whilst +some of the smaller works of Raphael are tolerably preserved, the +celebrated frescoes in the Pauline chapel are so much injured by time +and smoke, and the lances of soldiers who have occupied the rooms as +barracks, that they excite but little pleasure at first sight. Artists, +however, of all nations may be seen continually copying them, some +mounted on scaffolding up to the ceiling, some drawing, others painting, +and all seeking out with almost idolatrous or rather superstitious +admiration, the beauty of every head, hand, limb, and fold of drapery. +They obtain permission to copy, without difficulty from the Pope's +secretary, when the places are not occupied, or whenever a vacancy may +occur; but so numerous are the applications for some celebrated +pictures, such as the _Transfiguration_, that they are frequently +engaged for years in advance by artists of various nations. + +It is, indeed, by foreigners chiefly, that the galleries of Italy are +filled. The praise of superiority is no longer due to the painters of +the peninsula, and amidst the precious models which they have around +them, few have, of late years, maintained or restored the departing +glory of their country. Fresco painting, so admirably calculated to call +forth and give display to grand and spirited invention, as well as to +promote careful and beautiful drawing, by the elaborate cartoons which +it requires, has almost ceased to exist as a branch of works of design. +Mosaic is still cultivated with considerable success, but it is seldom +applied to original works. We may rejoice, however, that this happy art +will preserve to future and distant ages, accurate copies of those great +productions which have faded, and are still quickly fading, beneath the +touch of time. + +In the Vatican, there are apartments especially assigned to workers in +mosaic, and placed under the directions of the historical painter, +Camucini, who is zealous in endeavouring, by means of this curious art, +and the great skill of those artists who at present execute it, to +preserve the best paintings of the great masters, now imperfectly seen +in several churches, and in danger of perishing. In these rooms may be +found various workmen, some copying small pictures, for the purpose of +learning and practising the art; and others, who are more experienced, +occupied with larger works for the churches. In a great hall is a store, +arranged on shelves, of the semi-vitreous porcelain, or coarse enamel, +in cakes half an inch thick and several inches in diameter. These cakes +are of every colour that may be required, all arranged, numbered, +registered, and weighed out by an accountant to the workmen as they are +wanted to be afterwards broken into bits. Some of the cakes consist of +two or more colours, gradually blending into each other; and there are +said to be no less than sixteen thousand assorted tints. The large +pictures are wrought by being placed nearly erect, with the one to be +copied, so that the effect may be compared from time to time; when not +more than three or four feet long, they are done on sheets of copper, +stiffened with strong iron bars within a rim of metal; but those of a +greater size, especially such as are intended for permanent fixture in +churches, are executed each on one great slab of stone, from eight to +twelve inches thick, which is excavated about an inch deep, leaving a +raised border all round. The irregular surface is then nearly filled up +with a level mass of cement. On this, when dry, the artist carefully +traces the contours of his picture; he then procures from the adjoining +magazine an assortment of tints to suit the part he purposes working at; +and is furnished with a little table, on which is fixed a chisel, with +the edge upwards, in the manner of an anvil, on which, with a hammer, he +breaks the semi-vitreous composition into small squares or other shapes, +to suit the part to be copied. Along side of this is another table, +furnished with a horizontal grindstone on a vertical shaft, made to +revolve rapidly by a cord which passes round a larger wheel, turned by a +pin at its periphery. This is moved with the left hand, while the right +is employed in fashioning the bits of stone into squares, triangles, +circles, crescents, &c. of various dimensions. The artist then chisels +out of his composition, within the lines of his drawing, any spot he +chooses to fill up with his mosaic; which, being inserted, stone by +stone, with fresh cement, enables him either to pursue the continuity of +an outline, or the masses and directions of similar tints; so that he +can work at any spot, and fill up the intervals, or take out any portion +of what he has done, and do it over again. The stones are from half an +inch to three quarters in depth, and in breadth, of all sizes, from an +eighth to half an inch in diameter. After the picture is finished, and +the surface of the stones ground down to a level, and perfectly +polished, the white cement is carefully scraped out of the interstices +to a little depth. A variety of painters' colours, in fine powder, are +then each mixed with a small portion of melted wax, and put on a +palette. With these, by means of a hot pointed iron, like a tinman's +soldering-iron, the artist melts a little of the coloured wax to match +the stones, and runs it from the point of his iron into all the +crevices--then scrapes off the superfluous wax, and cleans the surface +with spirits of turpentine. + +In an art kindred to painting, but perhaps more impressive on the +imagination and the senses, that of statuary, the Italians of the +present age may bear a more honourable comparison with their +predecessors. It is true, they cannot aspire to that wonderful +excellence, which we are able to appreciate in the few fragments that +have descended to us from the great sculptors of ancient times; but, +still, the works of Canova, Thorwaldsen, and others, may be added to +those of Michael Angelo and John of Bologna, and given as evidence of +great powers of invention and a profitable study of the ancient remains. +Thorwaldsen, who, since the death of his great rival, Canova, holds the +first place as a sculptor at Rome, and whose taste and skill are known +in America by a graceful statue of Venus, executed for and in the +possession of a gentleman of Philadelphia, is remarkable for his careful +cultivation of the antique taste, and the extreme simplicity of his +statues. To become an artist, he studied at Rome, with singular +assiduity, although contending with the most distressing poverty, till +the age of thirty. His practice at the academy was to draw from the life +only those parts of the figure which chanced to please him. He modelled +in clay numerous spirited compositions, which he was obliged to destroy +for want of the funds necessary to put them into marble or even plaster +of Paris: and it was owing to the taste, judgment, and liberality of an +English gentleman, that he was at last enabled to execute his first work +in stone. In his workshop, Mr. Peale was shown a basso relieve to the +memory of his patron, who is represented supplying the lamp of genius +with oil. + +Statuary, however, at the present day, appears to be an art altogether +different in its mechanical and practical details from that of former +times. The genius of Michael Angelo was frequently fatigued before he +could approach in his blocks of marble, the forms his imagination +conceived, and he often hastened to chisel out a part as a guide in the +development of the whole figure, which was sometimes spoiled by his +impatience. Now, however, a sculptor is scarcely required to touch his +marble, or even to know how to cut it. He first models the figure in +ductile clay, which is kept moist by wet cloths, during any length of +time, so that he may give it the utmost perfection of form. This model +he places in the hands of a careful mechanic, whose art is to make a +mould upon it, and to produce a facsimile in plaster of Paris, the +colour of which enables him more readily to judge of its effect, and to +add to its beauty. When the model is thus perfected, the artist may +either copy it himself in stone, or employ workmen who generally do +nothing else all their lives, and who proceed without any of the +inventive enthusiasm of genius, but with wonderful mechanical accuracy. +The model is marked all over with numerous spots, which are transferred +by the compasses to the block of marble; two well defined points may +serve as a base for fixing the position of a third, and the workman +continually measures as he advances to the completion; and in this he is +expert or excellent, in proportion to the attention he has paid to his +studies in drawing, modelling, and anatomy. The accuracy with which +these workmen copy the model, is such as to induce the ablest sculptors +to trust to them their choicest works. Many of the most skilful reside +at Carrara; and, to save the expense of transporting large masses of +marble, it is becoming very customary to transmit thither the model very +carefully packed up, and to have it either accurately copied there, or +roughed out for the sculptor to complete. Thorwaldsen, whose models are +seldom remarkable for the delicacy of the finish, is so well satisfied +with the general accuracy of the work done at Carrara, that statues +which he is making for his native country, will be boxed up there and +sent to Denmark, without being once seen by him. + +As a school of art, Mr. Peale seems to consider the great advantages of +Italy, as arising less from her academies, or from any direct facilities +which are there offered to the student, than from the treasures of +ancient sculpture, and the sublime works executed by the greatest +masters, which offer admirable models, and serve to infuse a kindred +spirit. In regard to the peculiar excellence exhibited in these, he +admits that nothing has more puzzled the professors and critics of art. +He thinks that, although much must have depended upon the capacity of +the artist, and his means of information, and a great deal on the nature +of his employment and encouragement, yet that almost as much advantage +has been derived from accidental circumstances. The Italians, who enjoy +a clear sky, and witness in their sunsets the most glowing colours, are +surprised that the Hollanders, living in an atmosphere of gray mist, +should have produced so many excellent colourists. It may be from that +very circumstance that they were so. A vapoury atmosphere which reduces +all colours at a distance to one hue of gray, serves, at the same time, +to render every colour which is near, not only more distinct, but more +agreeably illuminated; but, under a blue sky, the shadows are +necessarily tinged with blue, and the eye becoming accustomed to vivid +colours, too easily rests satisfied with the most violent contrasts, +both in nature and the works of art. The atmosphere of England, in like +manner, has contributed to produce a good taste in colouring, which was +confirmed by the example and authority of Reynolds, who so well +understood the principles of the Flemish masters. Giorgione, Titian, and +Paul Veronese, were, it is true, Italians, and rank at the head of good +colourists; but the situation of Venice, built in the water, essentially +softens its atmosphere, and combines the advantages of Holland and +Italy. The happy genius of Corregio derived his theory of light and +colour certainly not from his visit to Rome. + +Accidental circumstances have probably influenced several distinguished +artists. Vandyck happened to learn the use of a certain brown colour +from Germany, called Terra de Cassel, by which he softened and +harmonized his shadows; hence the English artists call it Vandyck brown. +Holland, enjoying the commerce of the East Indies, which furnished her +with a variety of pigments, likewise produced from her own soil the best +quality of madder, from which her chemists and manufacturers procured +the richest and most durable dyes. Van Huysum, and other painters of +that country, must have learned the use of this and other rich pigments, +the knowledge of which they could not entirely keep to themselves, but +which were probably known to Andrea del Sarto and the good colourists of +Florence. It is not improbable that the fashion of wearing changeable +silks, reflecting opposite colours in different angles, may have +influenced the old painters to represent their blue draperies with red +shadows and yellow lights, as in Raphael's picture of the +_Transfiguration_: certain it is that such things being found in the +master works of the great painters, which are copied with the most +scrupulous exactness, even to the most palpable fault, the painters of +the present day in Italy pursue the same system of colouring, with as +much pertinacity as they display in their hard-earned accuracy of +outline. + +Besides, the revival of the art in Italy was by fresco painting, the +peculiar nature of which required that the artist should first prepare +his compositions in finished cartoons. At all events, it was the +practice of painters, derived from each other, and passing from +generation to generation, to bestow their chief study on a cartoon +executed in black and white chalk of the full size of the intended +fresco. Many of these are preserved in the galleries and churches of +Italy, and are to be considered among the most precious relics of the +art; displaying the finest skill of the master, in composition, drawing, +light and shade, and execution. Of these original and spirited drawings, +what are called the original pictures are but copies in colour, +sometimes executed by the master himself, but more frequently by some of +his pupils. + +When oil painting was introduced into Italy, and adopted by those who +had practised in fresco, the habits which they had acquired led them to +practise the methods with which they were most familiar. Their oil +paintings were therefore generally painted from drawings, and, hence, +the colouring was often from imagination or recollection, which +sufficiently accounts for its deviation from nature; although it is +frequently spread out with great beauty and airiness. Those painters +who, it is agreed, excelled in colouring, almost always painted their +studies in colours, by which they had a double chance of success, +without vitiating their own powers of vision by the continual +contemplation of highly wrought colourless forms, or transcripts in +fanciful hues. + +We had desired, after these observations on the subject of the arts, +which it must be confessed form the topic of chief interest in perusing +the volume of Mr. Peale, to add some remarks on the political and moral +character of the Italians, as it appears in the unaffected and +occasional observations which occur in regard to the people themselves +and their institutions. There is in general a freedom from prejudice; a +temperateness of expression; a mildness of judgment, and a clear and +natural manner of relation, which do great credit to the author, and +while they assist a reader in forming an opinion of his own, give +strength to that expressed by the writer himself. Our limits, however, +do not permit us to do so, and after the expression of this general +opinion, we must refer to the volume itself for the evidence of its +correctness. In concluding, we may respond to the sentiment of Mr. +Peale, when on leaving Milan, he bade farewell to the arts of Italy. + + "An Italian, not exempted from bigotry, discovered a new + world for the emancipation of man. May America in + patronizing the arts, receive them as the offspring of + enlightened Greece, transmitted through Italy, where their + miraculous powers were nourished in the bondage of mind. Let + them in turn be emancipated, and their persuasive and + fascinating language be exalted to the noblest purposes, and + be made instrumental to social happiness and national + glory!" + + + + + INDEX. + + + A. + + _Achilles_, + illustration of the effects of ennui in, 38. + + _Acosta_, + commendation of tobacco, by, 149. + + _Address_ of Convention of Teachers and Friends of Education at Utica, + &c., + notice of, 283. + + _Alibert_, J. L., + his Physiology of the Passions, &c., chap. XI. Ennui, reviewed, 33, + &c. See _Ennui_. + + _Aristotle_, + a prey to Ennui, 43. + + _Augustus II._ and _III._, Kings of Poland, + reigns of, 469. + + _Auto-biography of Thieves_, 116, &c. + tests of truth in marvellous narratives, 117, 118 + first commitment to prison of James Hardy Vaux, Thomas Ward, and + Vidocq, with the effect of placing young prisoners with old convicts, + 119, 120 + Vaux's account of a prison-ship, 121 + necessity of solitary confinement, _ib._ + evils from the slow operation of the law, 122 + Ward's account of his first act of dishonesty, 123 + his escape after horse stealing, 124 + adventure of Vaux with Mr. Bilger, a jeweller, 126-128 + robbery by Beaumont of the police of Paris, 128, 129 + criminals the best police officers, 129 + circumstances that led Vidocq to become a police officer, 130 + his first capture, 131 + arrest of a receiver of stolen property, 132 + hazard police officers run, exhibited in the arrest of Fossard by + Vidocq, 132, 133. + + + B. + + _Bacon_, Lord, + commendation of tobacco, by, 149. + + _Balboa_, Vasco Nuñez de, + his adventures in South America, 176-183 + his execution, 184. + + _Baltimore_, Lord, + his grant of Maryland, &c., 483, &c. See _Maryland_. + + _Bank of the United States_, + report of the Committee of Ways and Means on, and the President's + Message in relation to, 246, &c. + President Jackson's course in relation to, 247, 248 + propositions involved in his Message examined, 249, &c. + on the constitutionality of, 249-258 + whether the influence it exercises is dangerous, 258-261 + whether it creates discontent with the people, and collision with the + states, 261-266 + whether the proposed bank is free from these objections, 266-282. + + _Bastides_, Rodrigo de, + his voyage to America, 169. + + _Bates_, Professor, + in the New-York Convention for founding a University, 285-287. + + _Beaumont_, M. E. de, + his researches on the geological age of mountains, 109-112. + + _Beaumont_, Elie de, and M. Dufrenoy, + their Voyage Metallurgique en Angleterre, notice of, 352. See _Iron_. + + _Bible_, the, + oration on the advantages of, as a school-book, &c., by Thomas S. + Grimké, notice of, 283. + + _Bolingbroke_, Lord, + character of, 49, 50. + + _Bollman_, Dr. Erick, + his arrest by General Wilkinson for a participation in Burr's plot, + 216. + + _Boré_, Etienne, + his cultivation of the sugar cane, 198. + + _Bruce_, + the traveller, a prey to ennui at the fountain head of the Nile, 38. + + _Brun_, Malte, + his Universal Geography, 82, &c. + his arrangement of mountains into connected systems, 90. + + _Bonaparte_, N., + remarkable instance of ennui in, 48. + + _Burke_, Edmund, + notice of, 323-326. + + _Burr_, Aaron, + proceedings at New-Orleans in relation to his plot, 216-218. + + _Byron_, Lord, + his description of ennui, 34. + + + C. + + _Calvert_, Cecilius, + his part in the settlement of Maryland, 490. + + _Calvert_, Leonard, + colony of Maryland established by, 490. + + _Carondelet_, Baron de, + his miscalculations respecting the western people of the United + States, 211. + + _Casimir_ the Great, King of Poland, + events in the reign of, 461, &c. See _Poland_. + + _Casimir_, John, + his resignation of the Polish crown, 467. + + _Catacombs_ of Santa Maria della Vita, 515. + + _Catechism of Education_, by William Lyon Mackenzie, + notice of, 283. + + _Catharine_ of Russia, + her part in the dismemberment of Poland, 476, &c. + + _Chamberet_, M., + his opinion of the use of tobacco, 152. + + _Champollion_, Jr. M., + his System of Egyptian Hieroglyphics, by J. G. H. Greppo, translated + by Isaac Stuart, reviewed, 339, &c. See _Hieroglyphic System_. + + _China_, + residence in, &c., 52. See _Dobell_, Peter, his Travels. + + _Cibber_, Colley, + epigram on, by Pope, and by self, 127, note. + + _Clarke_, Dr. Adam, + a dissertation on the use and abuse of tobacco, by, 136, &c. + anecdote of, 155. + + _Clayborne_, William, + his disturbances in the early settlement of Maryland, 486 + Clayborne and Ingle's rebellion, 491. + + _College-Instruction_ and Discipline, 283, &c. + education must be suited to the country, 284 + universities in France, Italy, Great Britain, Germany, Russia, and + the United States, _ib._ + proceedings of a Convention of literary and scientific gentlemen at + New-York, 285, &c. + organization of Harvard and other colleges, 287 + appointment of professors, _ib._ + Mr. Sparks on this subject, 288 + their remuneration, 289, 290 + Dr. Leiber's opinion, 290 + powers of the president, 291 + University of Virginia, 292 + salutary rules the best safeguards of universities, 293 + existing and proposed modes of punishment, 294-296 + should one university refuse admission to students dismissed from + another? 297 + gaming and drinking, 298 + regulations in regard to students' funds, 299, 300 + uniform dress, &c., 301 + practical instruction, 301, 302, + age of admission, and period and plan of study, 303-306 + ought students to be confined to their classes, or allowed to receive + degrees when found prepared on examination? 306 + should the title Bachelor of Arts be retained? 307 + study of languages and mathematics, 307, 308 + mode of conveying instruction, 309, 313 + necessity of a department of English language, 313. + + _Columbus_, C., + Voyages and Discoveries of the Companions of, 163. See _Irving_, + Washington. + + _Cosa_, Juan de la, + his participation in the discoveries of South America, 166, &c. + + _Croly_, Rev. George, A. M., + his Life of George the Fourth, reviewed, 314, &c. See _George IV._ + + _Cullen_, Dr., + his opinion on the use of tobacco, 153. + + _Culman_, F. I., + his translation of Karsten's Manuel de la Metallurgie de fer, notice + of, 352, &c. See _Iron_. + + + D. + + _Davila_, Pedro Arias, + his execution of Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, whom he superseded, 184. + + _Dobell_, Peter, + his Travels in Kamtchatka and Siberia, with a narrative of a residence + in China, reviewed, 52, &c. + his facilities for acquiring information, 52 + venality of the Chinese, 53 + opium smuggling, 54 + robbery of the government, 54, 55 + pirates, and fate of their leader Apo-Tsy, 55 + salt trade, _ib._ + unblushing venality of the mandarins, 56, 57 + population of China overrated, 57 + productions of the climate, tea, 58, 59 + mechanic arts, 59 + character, mode of living, temperature, fops, amusements, 60, 61 + dinners of ceremony, 62 + religion, 62, 63 + Mr. Dobell's arrival at St. Peter's and St. Paul's, 63 + bay of Avatcha, and embankments on the river, _ib._ + the Kamtchatdales poor but hospitable, 64 + their dwellings, 65 + hospitable reception at the cottage of Toyune of Sherrom, 66 + volcano of Klootchefsky, _ib._ + town of Nijna Kamtchatsk, _ib._ + winter store of a Kamtchadale family, 67 + perilous adventure of the Toyune of Malka, _ib._ + sagacity, perseverance, and swiftness, of the Kamtchatdale dogs, 69 + in the country of the Tongusees, the author deserted by the native + guides, and his dangerous adventures, 70-72 + town of Ochotsk, 72, 73 + journey thence to Yakutsk, 73 + dress and appearance of the Yakuts and Tongusees, 74 + water communications of Siberia, _ib._ + colony of banished persons on the banks of the river Aldan, 75 + the Yakuts a pastoral people, 76 + arrival at Yakutsk, _ib._ + Siberian wedding, 77 + town of Olekma, 78 + Irkutsk the capital of eastern Siberia, 79 + journey thence to St. Petersburg, 80, &c. + disinterestedness of the Siberians, _ib._ + Tomsk, _ib._ + Tobolsk, 81. + + _Dufrenoy_, MM. and Elie de Beaumont, + their Voyage Metallurgique en Angleterre, notice of, 352, &c. See + _Iron_. + + _Dyspepsia_, Method of Curing, by O. Halsted, + reviewed, 233-246. + + + E. + + _Egyptian Hieroglyphics_. See _Hieroglyphic System_, 339, &c. + + _Encisor_, Martin Fernandez de, + his participation in the early adventures in South America, 171, &c. + + _Ennui_, + J. L. Alibert's chapter on, in his Physiology of the Passions, + reviewed, 33, &c. + character of the work, _ib._ + Lord Byron's description of ennui, 34 + literature of the day transient, with a feverish excitement for + novelty, 34, 35 + nature of ennui, 36 + Solomon's delineation of it, 37 + illustration in Achilles, 38 + in Bruce the traveller, 38 + in Vergniaud, _ib._ + ennui conjured up the ghost of Cæsar to Brutus on the eve of the + battle of Phillippi, 39 + its extensive influence, 40 + its operation to be traced in the sanguinary amusements of ancient + Rome, 41 + its power over Jean Jacques Rousseau, 42 + exemplified in Spinoza, 43 + Aristotle, _ib._ + King Saul, 45 + causes the slander of the gossips, _ib._ + influence on fashion, 46 + in the haunts of business, _ib._ + peoples the mad house, and inhabits jails, _ib._ + Pyrrhus an ennuyé, 47 + Napoleon, 48 + Leibnitz, _ib._ + Lord Bolingbroke, 49, 50 + cure for it, 51. + + _Erskine_, Lord, + notice of, 324, 325. + + _Europe and America_, &c., + translated from the German of Dr. C. F. Von Schmidt-Phiseldek, by + Joseph Owen, reviewed, 398, &c. + features which distinguish the American from other revolutions, 399 + representations made to England in 1635 of disloyalty in + Massachusetts, 400 + deductions from the North American revolution in regard to the south, + 401 + the old governments of Europe, 401-403 + effects of the American revolution upon Europe, 404, 405 + discontents now agitating Europe, 406-408 + causes that will produce emigration to America, 408, 409 + Europe cannot do without America, 409, 410 + in seeking new markets for her surplus manufactures, North America + will be an enterprising rival, 411 + the old world destined to receive its impulses in future from the + new, 412 + consideration of events which have occurred in Europe since Von + Schmidt-Phiseldek's work was published, 413, &c. + situation of France, 415 + England, 415, 416 + Holland, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Russia, and Prussia, 417 + South American states, 418. + + + F. + + _Fendall_, Josias, + trouble to the colony of Maryland from, 492, 493. + + _Fowler_, Dr., + his opinion of the medicinal virtue of tobacco, 153. + + _Fox_, Charles, + notice of, 322, 325. + + _France_ in 1829-30, by Lady Morgan, + reviewed. See _Morgan_, Lady, 1, &c. + + _Francis_, Sir Philip, + his claim to the authorship of Junius, 325. + + _Franklin_, Dr., + anecdote of, 163. + + + G. + + _Gallatin_, Albert, + in the Convention at New-York, to form a University, 285-305. + + _George IV._, Life of, &c., by the Rev. George Croly, A. M., + reviewed, 314, &c. + marriage to Sophia Caroline, 315 + character of George III., 316 + private education of the Prince of Wales, 317 + income allowed him, _ib._ + attempts to palliate his vices, 318-320 + his debts and expenditures, 321 + Pitt, Fox, and Sheridan, 322-324 + Burke and Sheridan, 324, 325 + investigation of the authorship of Junius, Sir Philip Francis, Edmund + Burke, Horne Tooke, Wilkes, Lord George Germaine, Dunning, Gerard + Hamilton, &c., 325-327 + jeux d'esprit of the Prince, 328 + his marriage, Mrs. Fitzherbert, 329 + ascends the throne as regent, 330 + his last sickness and death, 330, 331 + description of an election for members of Parliament, 332-334 + how republicans can usefully study the characters of kings and + legitimate nobility, 335-338. + + _George III._, + character of, 316. + + _Germaine_, Lord George, + his claim to the authorship of Junius, 326. + + _Greppo_, J. G. H., Vicar General of Belley, + his Essay on the Hieroglyphic System of M. Champollion, Jr., + reviewed, 339, &c. See _Hieroglyphic System_. + + _Grimké_, Thomas S., + his oration before the Connecticut Alpha of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, + notice of, 283-302. + + _Guerra_, Christoval, + his adventure to South America, 168. + + + H. + + _Hall_, Judge Dominick A., + his arrest and imprisonment by General Jackson, 226-232. + + _Halsted_, O., + his Method of curing Dyspepsia, reviewed, 233-246. + + _Hamilton_, Gerard, + his claim to the authorship of Junius, 326. + + _Hayne_, General, + his attack in Congress on the New-England States, and the discussion + that ensued, 448-455. + + _Hearne_, + (the traveller) his commendation of tobacco, 153. + + _Herculaneum_ and Pompeii, + ruins of, 525-527. + + _Hieroglyphic System_ of Champollion, Jun., + Essay on, by J. G. H. Greppo, translated by Isaac Stuart, reviewed, + 339, &c. + cause of Champollion's researches, 340 + clew afforded by the Rosetta stone, confirmed by a monument found in + the island of Philæ, 341, 342 + signs common to both, 342, 343 + advantages of his discoveries in the prosecution of sacred criticism, + 344 + plan of the author's essay, _ib._ + did Pharaoh perish in the Red Sea? contrary opinions of the author + and Professor Stuart on, 345, 346 + city of Ramses, where situated? 347 + a manuscript 200 years older than the Pentateuch, 349 + reason for the silence of the Scripture in regard to Sesostris, _ib._ + concluding remarks of the author, 350. + + _Hood_, Zachariah, + the distributer of royal stamps, in Annapolis, case of, 507, 508. + + _Howell_, (author of Familiar Letters), + his commendation of tobacco, 149. + + + I. + + _Ingle_, Richard, + his part in the Clayborne and Ingle rebellion, 491. + + _Iron_, + importance of, 352 + the ancients carried nearly to perfection the preparation of other + metals, iron still in a state of advancement, 353 + its use by the Egyptians in the time of Moses, 354 + its importance gathered from Homer; used by Lycurgus for currency; in + Solomon's temple, 354 + art of welding; mines of Elba; steel; cast iron, 355 + appearances of good and bad iron, 356 + impurities in ores, 356, 357 + grey and white cast iron, 358 + theory of Karsten on, 359 + reduction of ores, 361, 362 + blooming, 363 + stuckoffen, 364 + flossoffen, 365 + blast furnaces 365-368 + casting; pig iron, 368 + causes of whiteness, 369 + fuel adapted to different kinds of castings, 370, 371 + early preparation of iron in the British American provinces, and + attempt to introduce into England, 372 + refining, 373-375 + cost of manufacturing iron in England, 375, 376 + duty on iron in this country; its manufacture by charcoal; stone coal; + capital required for a profitable competition, 377-380 + how far government ought to afford protection, 385. + + _Irving_, Washington, + his Voyages and Discoveries of the Companions of Columbus, reviewed, + 163-186 + why this book is not so interesting as the Life of Columbus, 164 + voyage of discovery of Alonzo de Ojeda, associated with Juan de la + Cosa and Amerigo Vespucci, 165 + arrival on the coast of Surinam, 166 + gives the name which it still bears to the town of Venezuela, 167 + reception at Coquibacoa, _ib._ + profitable voyage of Pedro Alonzo Niño and Christoval Guerra, 168 + expedition of Vincente Yañez Pinzon, _ib._ + of Diego de Lepe, 169 + of Rodrigo de Bastides, assisted by Juan de la Cosa, _ib._ + Ojeda and Diego de Nicuesa receive contiguous grants of territory, and + quarrel about the boundary, 170 + Ojeda relieved from embarrassment by Martin Fernandez de Enciso, and + sails, having on board Francisco Pizarro, 171 + disasters among the savages, and Ojeda's reconciliation with Nicuesa, + 173 + founds St. Sebastian; distress of the colony, _ib._ + sails for St. Domingo with Bernardo de Talavera, 174 + shipwreck, _ib._ + death, 175 + Vasco Nuñez de Balboa proceeds with Enciso to Ojeda's new settlement, + 176 + events there, 177 + fate of Nicuesa, _ib._ + Enciso superseded by Vasco Nuñez, 171 + his adventures; discovery of the Pacific Ocean, and return to Darien, + 178-181 + Pedro Arias Davila supersedes Vasco Nuñez and has him executed, 181-184 + Valdivia, and Juan Ponce de Leon, 184 + merits of the work, 185. + + _Italy_, + Notes on, by Rembrandt Peale, reviewed, 512, &c. + the author's long-cherished desire to visit Italy repeatedly + frustrated, 513 + arrival in the Bay of Naples, 514 + catacombs of Santa Maria della Vita, 515 + Rome, 516 + appearance, &c. of the inhabitants, 517 + Tivoli, Tuscany, Florence, 518, 519 + the celebrated improvisatrice Rosa Taddei, 520-521 + Pisa, Carrara, Genoa, 521 + Parma, Bologna, entrance into Venice, 522, 523 + statue of San Carlo Borromeo, 524 + return to France; and home through England, 524, 525 + ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii, 525-527 + workers in Mosaic, 529 + statuary, 530 + colouring of different artists, 531, 532. + + + J. + + _Jackson_, Gen. Andrew, + his proceedings at New-Orleans, before, during, and after the + battle, 218-231 + his message to Congress in relation to the Bank of the United + States, 246-282. + + _Jagellon_, + weds Hedwiga, daughter of Lewis of Hungary, and ascends the Polish + throne, 462, &c. + + _James_ I., + his counterblast to tobacco, 136-140 + his dinner for the devil, 145 + argument in his counterblast, 148. + + _Johnson_, Mr., + his letter on the culture of the sugar cane, 199-201. + + _Journal_ of proceedings of Literary and Scientific gentleman at + New-York, + notice of, 283, &c. + + + K. + + _Kamtchatka_, + Travels in, 52, &c. See _Dobell_, Peter. + + _Karsten_, C. I. B., + his manuel de la Metallurgie de fer, translated from the German by + F. I. Culman, notice of, 352, &c. See _Iron_. + + _Klootchefsky_, + volcano of, 66. + + _Koskiusko_, count, + his efforts for Polish liberty, 476, &c. See _Poland_. + + + L. + + _Ladislaus_ I., + crowned king of Poland, 461 + _Ladislaus_ IV., 466. + + _Leib_, James R., A. M., + Lectures on Scientific education by, notice of, 283. + + _Leiber_, Dr., + his part in the Convention for forming a University, 290. + + _Leibnitz_, Professor, + a victim to ennui, 49. + + _Lepe_, Diego de, + his voyage of discovery, 169. + + _Lewis_, king of Hungary, + made king of Poland, 462. + + _Livingston_, Mr., + his part in the cession of Louisiana to the United States, 214. + + _Louallier_, Mr., + his arrest by General Jackson, 225. + + _Louisiana_, History of, by François-Xavier Martin, + reviewed, 186, &c. + Barbé Marbois's history, 187 + character of Judge Martin, 188 + odd combinations in his work, 189 + account of an earthquake in Canada, 190 + Penn's purchase from the Indians, 191 + government paper money, 191, 192 + Marbois on this subject, 192 + Louisiana in 1713, 193 + introduction of negroes from Africa, 194 + a female adventurer, 195 + progress of New-Orleans, 195, 196 + aggression on the Indians and their revenge, 197 + introduction of the sugar cane, and its progress, 197, &c. + Mr. Johnson's letter on, 199-201 + paternal affection in an Indian, 202 + removal of the Arcadians, 203 + shipping off obnoxious characters, 204 + cession to Spain of a portion of Louisiana, _ib._ + Don Ulloa arrives to take possession, but refrains from formally doing + so, 204 + followed by Don Alexander O'Reilly, who commits many atrocities, + 205-208 + interest felt in Louisiana in our struggle for independence, 208 + instance of American gallantry and enterprise, _ib._ + the foundation of commercial intercourse laid with the United States + by General Wilkinson, 209 + Don Martin Navarro's sagacious communication to the king, 210 + Baron de Carondelet's miscalculations respecting the western people, + 211 + retrocession of the territory to France, 212, 213 + cession to the United States, 214, 215 + Burr's plot, and General Wilkinson's proceedings, 216-218 + General Jackson's preparations for the defence of New-Orleans, 218, + 219 + battle of Orleans and subsequent proceedings of Jackson, 221-232 + banishing the French from New-Orleans, 224 + arrest of Louallier, 225 + of Judge Hall, 226, 227 + of Hollander, 228 + Jackson summoned before Judge Hall, 230 + his sentence, 231. + + + M. + + _Mackenzie_, Wm. Lyon, + his catechism of education, notice of, 283. + + _M'Mahon_, John V. L., + his Historical View of Maryland, &c. reviewed, 483, &c. See _Maryland_. + + _Madison_, James, + his opinion upon the tariff and nullification, 453. + + _Maizeaux_, M. de, + his translation of Latin verses in praise of tobacco, 143. + + _Marbois_, Barbé, + his History of Louisiana, notice of, 186, &c. See _Louisiana_. + + _Martin_, François-Xavier, + his History of Louisiana, reviewed, 186, &c. See _Louisiana_. + + _Maryland_, Historical View of the Government of, by John V. L. M'Mahon, + reviewed, 483, &c. + occasional remarks, 483-485 + boundaries of Lord Baltimore's grant, 486 + his contest with William Clayborne, _ib._ + with William Penn, _ib._ + settlement of boundaries to the north, 488 + controversies in regard to the west, 489, 490 + first settlement under Calvert, 490 + Clayborne and Ingle's rebellion, 491 + contest with the Parliament, _ib._ + governor Stone defeated, 492 + troubles from Josiah Fendall, 492, 493 + condition of the colonies in 1687, 494, 495 + formation of Protestant Association, which transmits to the king + charges against the provincial government, who dispossesses the + proprietary and appoints Sir Lionel Copley royal governor, 496 + seat of government changed, 497 + Annapolis, 498 + Governor Nicholson, 499 + view of the colonies from 1689 to 1710, 500 + persecution of Catholics, 501 + internal dissensions, 501, 502 + resources of Maryland at the commencement of the revolution, 503 + resistance of colonies to aggressions, 504 + case of Zachariah Hood, the distributer of stamps in Annapolis, 507, + 508 + proceedings of Assembly, 508 + stamp paper retained on board the vessel, 509 + proceeding in relation to the tea, 511. + + _Matthews_, Rev. Dr., + notice of his address to the convention at New-York, 285. + + _Memorial_ of the workers in iron of Philadelphia, + notice of, 352, &c. + + _Monroe_, James, + his part in the cession of Louisiana to the United States, 214. + + _Morgan_, Lady, + her France in 1829-30, reviewed, 1, &c. + preparations for a tour, 2 + Lady Morgan's parentage, 3 + marriage, 4 + book-making propensity, 4,5 + pernicious tendency of her works, 5 + reasons for severity in regard to her, 6 + her egotism, 7 + arrival at Calais, 8 + the Diligence, and difference between English and French stages, 9-11 + arrival at Paris, 12 + her horror at the prevalence of Anglomania in France, 13-15 + travelling in France, 16 + want of magnificent country seats, _ib._ + number of mendicants, 17 + facility of making acquaintance with fellow-travellers, _ib._ + Lady Morgan's deductions as sapient as those of the Hon. Frederick de + Roos, 18 + her want of decorum, 19 + vanity, 20 + becomes the subject of the Parisians propensity to ridicule, 22 + notice of her works in the Edinburgh and Quarterly Review, 24 + romanticism and classicism in Paris, 26 + interview with a romanticist, 27, 28 + with a classicist, 29 + Othello at the Theâtre Français, _ib._ + Lady Morgan's plagiarism, 30, 31. + + _Murray_, Dr., + his opinion of the use of tobacco, 154. + + + N. + + _Navarro_, Don Martin, + his communication to the King of Spain in regard to the American + colonies, 210. + + _Nicholson_, Governor Francis, + his part in the colonial government of Maryland, 499, 500. + + _Nicot_, John, + tobacco introduced into France by, 144. + + _Nicuesa_, Diego de, + his grant of territory and adventures in South America, 170, &c. + + _Niño_, Pedro Alonzo, + his adventure to America, 168. + + _Nyssens_, Abbot, + his belief that the devil first introduced tobacco into Europe, 142. + + + O. + + _Ochotsk_, + town of, 72, 73. + + _Ojeda_, Alonzo de, + his Voyages of Discovery, 165-175. + + _Olekma_, + town of, 78. + + _O'Reilly_, Don Alexander, + his arrival at New-Orleans to take possession for Spain, and his + atrocities, 205-208. + + _Owen_, Joseph, + his translation of Von Schmidt-Phiseldek's Europe and America, + reviewed. See _Europe and America_. + + + P. + + _Paper currency_, + government, 191, 192. + + _Peale_, Rembrandt, + his Notes on Italy, reviewed, 512, &c. See _Italy_. + + _Penn_, William, + his difficulties in settling the boundary line with Maryland, 486, 487. + + _Physical Geography_, 82 + density of the earth, 83 + polar and equatorial diameters, _ib._ + sources of heat, 84, 85 + equilibrium of the particles of the earth, 85, 86 + heat at the centre, 86 + consolidation of the surface of the earth, 87 + present appearance of its surface, 88 + chain of mountains, 89 + Malte Brun's arrangement of mountains into connected systems, 90 + basins, rivers, and streams, 91 + traces of aqueous action, 92 + diluvial deposits, 93 + stratified rocks, 94 + third, fourth, and fifth orders of rocks, 95 + organic remains, 96-102 + different level of the same rocks, 103 + volcanoes, 104-109 + trap rocks, 105 + earthquakes, 107-109 + M. E. De Beaumont's researches into the age of mountains, 109-112. + + _Physiology_ of the Passions, by J. L. Alibert, + notice of, 33. + + _Pinzon_, Vincente Yañez, + his voyages of discovery, 168. + + _Pitt_, Prime Minister, + his followers and opponents, 322-325. + + _Pizarro_, Francisco, + his early adventures in America, 171, &c. + + _Poland_, + impending fate of, 457, 458 + constitution granted it by Alexander, 458 + its former importance, 459 + early history, 460 + Ladislaus crowned king, 461 + events in the reign of Casimir the Great, _ib._-- + Lewis, king of Hungary; his daughter Hedwiga, weds Jagellon, whose + family filled the throne through seven reigns, 462 + increasing power of the nobles, 463 + with Sigismund Augustus the reign of the Jagellons ceased, and the + succession became elective, 464 + Henry of Anjou elected king; succeeded by Stephen Bathory, duke of + Transylvania, 465 + Sigismund III. declared king, in whose reign the dismemberment and + woes of Poland began, 466 + succeeded by Ladislaus IV., _ib._ + followed by John Casimir, who, after predicting the fate of the + empire, resigned the crown, 467 + Michael Wisniowiecki chosen king; on his death, John Sobieski + succeeded, 468 + reigns of Augustus II. and III., 469 + Stanislaus Poniatowski, the last Polish king; events in his reign + that led to the dismemberment of Poland, 470-472 + assembling of the revolutionary diet at Warsaw, 473 + alliance with Prussia; second diet; constitution promulgated, 474 + Catharine invades Poland, and shares with Prussia a portion of its + territory, 476 + final effort of the patriots under Koskiusko, 477 + battle of Praga, and third division of Poland; abdication of + Stanislaus, 478 + summary of events in Polish history, 479-482. + + _Prussia_, + alliance of with Poland, 474 + share in its partition, 476. + + _Pyrrhus_, + an ennuyé, 47. + + + R. + + _Ralegh_, Sir Walter, + remarks on, 145-147. + + _Rome_, + appearance of the inhabitants of, &c. 516, 517. + + _Rousseau_, Jean Jacques, + a prey to ennui, 42. + + _Rulhiere_, M. his Histoire de l'Anarchie de Pologne, + notice of, 457, &c. See _Poland_. + + _Rush_, Dr. Benjamin, + his observations upon the influence of the habitual use of tobacco, + &c. 136, &c. + + _Russia_, + the part of, in the dismemberment of Poland, 457, &c. See _Poland_. + + + S. + + _San_ Carlo Borromeo, + statue of, 524. + + _Santa_ Maria della Vita, + catacombs of, 515. + + _Sartorius_, George, + his continuation of Spittler's Polish revolution, notice of, 457, &c. + + _Sheridan_, R. B., + notice of, 322-324. + + _Siamese Twins_, The, + a Satirical Tale by the author of Pelham, reviewed, 385, &c. + occasional remarks, 386-391 + outline of the poem, with remarks, 392-397. + + _Siberia_, + Travels in, 52, etc. See _Dobell_, Peter, his Travels. + + _Sigismund_ Augustus, + the last of the Jagellon family on the throne of Poland, 64. + + _Sigismund_ III., + woes to Poland in the reign of, 466. + + _Sobieski_, John, king of Poland, + reign of, 468. + + _Spanish_ Voyages of Discovery, + by Washington Irving, reviewed, 163, &c. See _Irving_, Washington. + + _Sparks_, Mr., + in the Convention at New York on the subject of an University, + 286-288-309. + + _Spinoza_, + his resources against ennui, 43. + + _Spittler's_ Polish revolution, + with a continuation by George Sartorius, notice of, 457. + + _Stanislaus_ (Poniatowski) king of Poland, + reign of, 470, &c. See _Poland_. + + _Steel_, + preparation of, &c. See _Iron_, 352-385. + + _Stone_, Governor, + his defeat in an insurrection in the colony of Maryland, 492. + + _Stuart_, Isaac, + his translation of Greppo's Hieroglyphic System of Champollion, Jr., + reviewed, 339, &c. See _Hieroglyphic System_. + + _Stuart_, Professor, + remarks of, on the perishing of Pharaoh in the Red Sea, 346. + + _Sugar-cane_, + introduction and culture of in Louisiana, 197-201. + + _Sylvester_, Joseph, + his tobacco battered, notice of, 140. + + + T. + + _Taddei_, Rosa, + celebrated improvisatrice, description of, 520, 521. + + _Talavera_, Bernardo de, + his adventure to South America, 174. + + _Thieves_, + auto-biography of, 116, &c. + + _Thompson_, Dr. A. T., + his notices relative to tobacco, &c. 136, &c. + + _Thorius_, Dr. Raphael, + his Latin poem in praise of tobacco, 137 + anecdote of, 138. + + _Tobacco_, 136 + whimsical subjects selected by authors, _ib._ + Latin poem in praise of tobacco, by Dr. Raphael Thorius, 137 + anecdote of him, 138 + Mr. Lambe's Farewell to Tobacco, 139 + James I., his Counterblast to Tobacco, 140 + origin of, _ib._ + Joseph Sylvester's tobacco battered, _ib._ + Indian superstition respecting, 141 + different names of the weed, 141, 142 + Abbot Nyssen's belief that the devil first introduced it into + Europe, 142 + competitors for that honour, 143 + Latin verses in its praise, with English translation by M. de + Maizeaux, _ib._ + its introduction into France by John Nicot, 144 + disputes respecting its origin, _ib._ + King James's dinner for the devil, 145 + remarks on Sir Walter Ralegh, 145-147 + young women imported for wives into Virginia, and paid for in tobacco, + 147 + prohibitions of it in Europe, _ib._ + King James's arguments in his Counterblast, 148 + commendations of it by Acosta, Lord Bacon and Howell, 149 + unprofitableness of its culture, 150 + its production and consumption in France, 151 + opinion of Dr. Rush, Mr. Chamberet, 152 + Dr. Walsh, Hearne, Willis, Dr. Cullen, and Dr. Fowler, 153 + Dr. Murray, 154 + anecdote respecting it, related by Dr. Clarke, 155 + its tendency to promote intemperance, 156 + snuff-taking, 156-159 + smoking, 160 + chewing, 161 + anecdote of Franklin, 163. + + _Tobolsk_, + town of, 81. + + _Tomsk_, + town of, 80. + + _Tooke_, Horne, + his claim to the authorship of Junius, 325. + + + U. + + _Ulloa_, Don, + his arrival at New Orleans to take possession for Spain of Louisiana, + and withdrawal without exhibiting his powers, 205. + + + V. + + _Vaux_, James Hardy, + Memoirs of, 116, &c. See _Auto-biography of Thieves_. + + _Vespucci_, Amerigo, + his participation in the discoveries of South America, 165, &c. + + _Vidocq_, + principal agent of the French police, memoirs of, 116, &c. See + _Auto-biography of Thieves_. + + _Von Schmidt-Phiseldek_, Dr. C. F., + his Europe and America, &c. reviewed. See _Europe and America_. + + + W. + + _Walsh_, Dr., + his testimony to the use of tobacco, 152. + + _Ward_, Thomas, + (the American Trenck) memoirs of, 116, &c. See _Auto-biography of + Thieves_. + + _Webster_, Daniel, + his Speeches and Forensic Arguments, reviewed, 420, &c. + nationality of his addresses, 420 + his birth, &c., 421 + remarks on the support of schools, 422 + graduates at Dartmouth college, studies the law; advantages derived + from intercourse with Messrs. Thompson, Gore, Judge Smith, Senator + Mason, 423-424 + elected to Congress in 1812, 425 + opinion upon a navy, 425 + opposition to paper-bank proposition of 1814, 426-430 + or receiving depreciated currency for government debts, 430, 431 + his removal from Portsmouth to Boston, 431 + counsel in the case of Dartmouth college, 432-434 + Gibson vs. Ogden, 435, 436 + Ogden vs. Saunders, 436 + one of the delegates to revise the Constitution of Massachusetts, 437 + selected to deliver an oration from the rock of Plymouth, in + celebration of the landing of the pilgrim fathers, 438, 439 + at Bunker's Hill, on laying the foundation stone of the monument, + 440, 441 + on the deaths of Adams and Jefferson, 441 + his part in Congress in favour of the Greeks, 442, 443 + on the tariff, 444 + Crimes'-Act, 445 + internal improvements, 446 + Panama mission, 447 + election to the United States' Senate, _ib._ + his overthrow of the doctrine of nullification, 447-455. + + _Wilkinson_, General, + the foundation of a commercial intercourse with the United States and + Louisiana laid by, 209 + his proceedings in relation to Burr's plot, 216-218. + + _Willis_, + (as quoted by Mons. Merat,) his commendation of tobacco, 153. + + _Wisniowiecki_, Michael, + chosen king of Poland, 468. + + _Wolf_, Dr. J. Leo, + his part in the New-York Convention for forming a University, 297-311. + + _Woodbridge_, W. C., + part taken by, in the New-York Convention, for forming a University, + 286-297-311. + + + Y. + + _Yakutsk_, + town of, 76. + + + Z. + + _Zielinski_, M., + his History of Poland, notice of, 457. See _Poland_. + + + + + Transcriber's Notes: + + Obsolete hyphenation, use of commas, archaic spelling of words, and + misspelled words contained within quotations were retained; minor + punctuation errors were corrected. + Footnotes were moved to the end of the applicable article. + In the index, pages numbered 1-282 refer to the March 1831 issue, + Project Gutenberg e-book 28012. + + Amendments to text: + Spelled Greek letters ...the Phi Beta Kappa society..., and in the + hieroglyphic system article, when used as stand-alone letters. + Hebrew text in Article III. was corrected, thus: + pl-mpm pd`h. kh=dkh= pz changed to: kol-sus par`ó v^eh.é-ló + g`r changed to: váyna`ér from ní`ér + zg`r changed to: váyna`ér + b`r changed to: ní`ér + 'adaddress' changed to 'address' ...in his opening address... + 'inviduals' to 'individuals' ...the attendance of such individuals... + 'trangressions' to 'transgressions' ...certain transgressions, such as + gambling,... + 'cart' to 'carte' ...at carte and tierce... + removed duplicate 'the the' ...up to the moment when... + 'stateman' to 'statesman' ...in a statesman--but in a minister... + 'of' to 'to' ...are always used to denote the feminine gender... + 'an' to 'a' ...represents a Lamda... + 'Egyytians' to 'Egyptians' ...the Lord overthrew the Egyptians... + 'Archaiology' to 'Archæology' ...interested in Biblical Archæology... + 'obversation' to 'observation' ...the man of observation... + 'quantites' to 'quantities' ...in too great quantities they fail... + 'consits' to 'consists' ...This consists in exposing them... + added 'which' to phrase ...the readiness with which it is fashioned... + 'vitrefied' to 'vitrified' ...bases combined and vitrified... + 'gray' to 'grey' for consistency ...Good grey iron... + 'analagous' to 'analogous' ...This is analogous to the system... + 'cotemporary' to 'contemporary' ...The contemporary prevalence of... + 'avalanch' to 'avalanche' ...heavy--like an avalanche--rushed... + 'nett' to 'net' ...adds to the net profits of the importer... + 'Engand' to 'England' ...the monopoly of England from which... + 'downfal' to 'downfall' ...that of the downfall of the system... + 'immunites' to 'immunities' ...promises of privileges and + immunities... + 'und' to 'and' ...and under which thousands have sunk down... + 'aand' to 'and' ...was difficult, and he felt it to be so... + 'multitutes' to 'multitudes' ...landholders with multitudes of + retainers... + 'higer' to 'higher' ...It is higher, purer, nobler... + 'origiginal' to 'original' ...with spontaneous, original, native + force... + 'gratificatification' to 'gratification' ...increased gratification + and delight... + 'awkard' to 'awkward' ...it is rather an awkward business,... + 'dectrines' to 'doctrines' ...and constitutional doctrines... + 'powful' to 'powerful' ...had two powerful enemies,... + 'glady' to 'gladly' ...would gladly have separated themselves... + 'dissidants' to 'dissidents' ...he did not understand the wants of the + dissidents;... + 'guarantied' to 'guaranteed' ...treaty with Prussia guaranteed the + liberties... + removed duplicate 'the the' ...shake off the intolerable yoke... + 'considerbly' to 'considerably' ...within considerably narrower + limits... + 'debateable' to 'debatable' ...disturbed the debatable ground... + 'possesssion' to 'possession' ...undisputed possession of the + province... + 'creek' to 'Creek' ...and at Battle Creek... + 'responsibilty' to 'responsibility' ...on his own responsibility,... + 'ballustrades' to 'balustrades' ...elegant balustrades of costly... + 'veturina' to 'vetturino' ...set out in a vetturino for Rome... + 'Maratime' to 'Maritime' ...of the Maritime Alps,... + 'lengh' to 'length' ...At length we reached some old walls... + 'appararatus' to 'apparatus' ...all the apparatus of a household... + 'Smith' to 'Schmidt' ...since Von Schmidt-Phiseldek's work was + published... + 'settletlement' to 'settlement' ...settlement of boundaries to the + north... + 'equitorial' to 'equatorial' ...polar and equatorial diameters... + added missing page number, 425, to index entry for Webster election + to Congress + corrected index page numbers: from 421 to 521 for Pisa, Carrara, + Genoa; from 560 to 460 for early history of Poland. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The American Quarterly Review, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMERICAN QUARTERLY REVIEW *** + +***** This file should be named 35739-8.txt or 35739-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/7/3/35739/ + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Carol Ann Brown, +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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