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diff --git a/44338-0.txt b/44338-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c87a04d --- /dev/null +++ b/44338-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8738 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44338 *** + +Transcriber's note: + +Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + +Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. + + * * * * * + + + + + BLACKWOOD'S + + Edinburgh + + MAGAZINE. + + VOL. LXVIII. + + JULY-DECEMBER, 1850. + + [Illustration] + + WILLIAM BLACKWOOD & SONS, EDINBURGH; + + AND + + 37 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. + + 1850. + + + + +BLACKWOOD'S + +EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. + + NO. CCCCXVII. JULY, 1850. VOL. LXVIII. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + THE HOUSE OF GUISE, 1 + + MY PENINSULAR MEDAL. BY AN OLD PENINSULAR. CONCLUSION, 20 + + CHATEAUBRIAND'S MEMOIRS, 33 + + THE GREEN HAND--A "SHORT" YARN. PART XI., 48 + + THE JEW BILL, 73 + + THE PICTURES OF THE SEASON, 77 + + THE YEAR OF SORROW.--IRELAND--1849, 93 + + LONDON AND EDINBURGH CHESS MATCH, 97 + + THE INDUSTRY OF THE PEOPLE, 106 + + +EDINBURGH: + +WILLIAM BLACKWOOD & SONS, 45 GEORGE STREET; AND 37 PATERNOSTER ROW, +LONDON. + +_To whom all communications (post paid) must be addressed._ + +SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. + +PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH. + + + + +BLACKWOOD'S + +EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. + + NO. CCCCXVII. JULY, 1850. VOL. LXVIII. + + + + +THE HOUSE OF GUISE.[1] + + [1] _Histoire des Ducs de Guise._ Par RÉNÉ DE BOUILLÉ, ancien + ministre plénipotentiaire. Volume the First. Paris: 1849. + + +Upon the page of history are inscribed the names of many great men, +uncrowned, but more illustrious than most kings, whose biography +essentially involves the records of their country and times. The +cases are very rare in which this occurs of an entire lineage; +when through several successive generations the same extraordinary +qualities are transmitted, and the hero or statesman who perished +yesterday, to-day and to-morrow seems to start again to life in the +persons of descendants who rival and even eclipse his fame. These +remarkable and most unfrequent instances are exemplified in the +house of Guise, those puissant nobles of Lorraine, immigrant into +and naturalised in France, who for eighty years led the armies and +directed the councils of their adopted country. Great warriors, bold +and profound politicians, unscrupulous and interested champions of +Rome, alternately defenders of and competitors for thrones, they +upheld their power and pretensions by the double lever of religious +enthusiasm, and of skilful appeals to the sympathy of the people. +Rich in glory, in wealth, in popularity, they were alternately +indispensable and formidable to their sovereigns, and were virtually +the last representatives of that energetic, able, and arrogant +aristocracy, whose services to the state were often limited by +the jealousy their power inspired, and whose patriotism was not +unfrequently tarnished by their factious temper and unbounded +ambition. From an early period of the sixteenth century, the +influence of Guise was felt in France, for the most part paramount +to that of royalty itself; until the might and glory of the house +sank and disappeared beneath the daggers of assassins, and before +the conquering sword of the Fourth Henry. + +The history of France during the sixteenth century necessarily +comprises the public acts of the family of Guise, and the memoirs +of the time abound in personal details of the members of that +renowned house; but a work especially devoted to them was still +a desideratum, until the appearance of that which M. Réné de +Bouillé has just produced. One of the chief difficulties of his +task must have been to avoid including the history of the century +in that of the extraordinary men so intimately connected with its +chief events. Whilst confining himself as much as possible to his +immediate subject, he has yet, as he himself says, found his horizon +of necessity extensive. And in order to assemble in one frame the +various members of that celebrated family, he has been compelled +to admit with them a host of other personages, who in their turn +have brought a retinue, and have insisted on at least a corner of +the canvass being allotted to their deeds. The manner in which M. de +Bouillé has treated this great historical picture, whose magnitude +and difficulty must have deterred a less zealous and persevering +artist, is most judicious. "I have been as sparing as possible of +discussion," he says, "prodigal perhaps, on the other hand, of +cotemporary evidence, of faithful quotations, of such details as +bring facts into a stronger light, exhibit the actors on the stage +in a more animated manner, and display and make known, of and by +themselves, the personages, parties, manners and spirit of the +times, and the character of the situations." M. de Bouillé claims, +as a matter of justice, credit for conscientious application, and +declares his whole aim will have been attained if his work be +admitted to possess historical interest and utility. No impartial +critic will refuse it these qualities. It is at once substantial +and agreeable; valuable to the student, and attractive to those who +consider histories of the Middle Ages as fascinating collections of +strange adventures and romantic enterprises. + +Réné the Second, reigning duke of Lorraine--the same who fought and +conquered with the Swiss at Morat, and defeated Charles the Bold at +Nancy--desired to see one of his sons settled in France. He selected +the fifth, Claude, to whom he left by will his various lordships in +Normandy, Picardy, and other French provinces, causing him to be +naturalised a Frenchman, and sending him at a very early age to the +court of France, where he was presented as Count de Guise, a title +derived from one of his domains. The young count found immediate +favour with Louis XII., to the hand of whose daughter Renée he was +considered a likely aspirant. But he fell in love with Antoinette +de Bourbon, daughter of Count de Vendôme, (the great-grandfather of +Henry IV.,) asked and obtained her in marriage, and celebrated his +wedding, when he was but sixteen years of age, in 1513, at Paris, +in presence of the whole French court. The following year another +wedding occurred, but this time youth was on one side only. In his +infirm and declining age, Louis XII. took to wife the blooming +sister of Harry VIII. of England, and honoured Guise by selecting +him to go, in company with the Duke of Angoulême and other princes +of the blood, to receive his bride at Boulogne. The wedding was +quickly followed by a funeral, and Francis I. sat upon the throne. +This chivalrous and warlike monarch at once took his young cousin of +Guise into high favour, to which he had a fair claim, not only by +reason of his birth, and of his alliance with the house of Bourbon, +but on account of his eminent capacity, and of the martial qualities +whose future utility Francis doubtless foresaw. To his triumphs in +the field, Guise preluded by others less sanguinary, but in their +kind as brilliant, in the lists and in the drawing room. His grace +and magnificence were celebrated even at a court of which those were +the distinguishing characteristics, thronged as it was with princes +and nobles, most of them, like the king himself, in the first flush +of youth, and with keen appetites for those enjoyments which their +wealth gave them ample means to command. He gained great credit by +his prowess at the jousts and tournament held at Paris on occasion +of the coronation, and his conduct in another circumstance secured +him the favour of the ladies of that gallant and voluptuous court. +"One night," says his historian, "he accompanied Francis I. to the +queen's circle, composed of those ladies most distinguished by their +charms and amiability. Struck by the brilliancy and fascination of +the scene, unusual at a time when custom, by assigning to women a +sort of inferior position, or at least of reserve, interdicted their +mingling in the conversation, and to a certain extent in the society +of men, Guise communicated his impression to the king, who received +it favourably, and at once decided that, throughout the whole +kingdom, women should be freed from this unjust and undesirable +constraint." It will easily be conceived that such an emancipation +insured Guise the suffrages of the fair and influential class who +benefited by it. From his first arrival at the French court he seems +to have made it his study to win universal favour; and he was so +promptly successful that, at the end of a very few months, he had +conquered the goodwill of both nobility and army. He took pains to +study and adapt his conduct to the character of all with whom he +came in contact, thus laying the foundation of the long popularity +which he and his successors enjoyed in France. + +But courtly pleasures and diversions were quickly to be succeeded +by the sterner business of war. At his death, Louis XII. had left +all things prepared for an Italian campaign; and Francis, eager +to signalise his accession by the recovery of the Milanese, moved +southwards in the month of August 1515, at the head of the finest +troops that had yet crossed the boundary line between France and +Italy. His army consisted of fifteen thousand excellent cavalry, +twenty-two thousand lansquenets, fourteen thousand French and +Gascon infantry, besides pioneers and a numerous artillery. The +Constable of Bourbon led the van, the Duke of Alençon commanded the +rear; Francis himself headed the main body, accompanied by Duke +Anthony of Lorraine, (eldest brother of Guise,) with Bayard for his +lieutenant, and by the Duke of Gueldres, captain-general of the +lansquenets, whose lieutenant was the Count de Guise. If the army +was good, none, assuredly, ever reckoned greater warriors amongst +its leaders. Guise, during the passage of the Alps--accomplished by +extraordinary labour, and which completely surprised the enemy--made +himself remarkable by his constancy and activity, by the wisdom of +his counsels, and by his generosity to the soldiers, thus further +augmenting the affection they already bore him. Bayard and other +illustrious officers formed his habitual society; and in him they +found the most cordial and affable of comrades, as well as the most +zealous advocate of their interests with the king. Devoted to his +sovereign, Guise, when Francis somewhat over-hastily promised the +Swiss an exorbitant sum of money as the price of the Milanese, nobly +offered to contribute to it to the extent of all he possessed. The +treaty, however, was broken by the Swiss. Steel, not gold, was to +settle the dispute; and the plains of Marignano already trembled at +the approach of the hostile armies. At the age of eighteen, Guise +found himself general-in-chief of twenty thousand men. The Duke of +Gueldres, having been recalled to his dominions by an invasion of +the Brabanters, transferred his command to his young lieutenant, at +the unanimous entreaty of the lansquenets, and in preference to all +the French princes there present. In the quickly ensuing battle, +Guise showed himself worthy of his high post. In the course of the +combat, when the Swiss, with lowered pikes and in stern silence, +made one of those deadly charges which in the wars of the previous +century had more than once disordered the array of Burgundy's +chivalry, the lansquenets, who covered the French artillery, gave +way. Claude of Lorraine, immovable in the front rank, shamed them +by his example; they rallied; the guns, already nearly captured, +were saved; the battle continued with greater fierceness than +before, and ceased only with darkness. Daybreak was the signal +for its resumption, and at last the Swiss were defeated. After +breaking their battalions, Guise, over eager in pursuit, and already +twice wounded, had his horse killed under him, was surrounded, +overmatched, and left for dead, with twenty-two wounds. Nor would +these have been all, but for the devotedness of an esquire, whose +name Brantôme has handed down as a model of fidelity. Adam Fouvert +of Nuremberg threw himself on his master's body, and was slain, +serving as his shield. After the action, Guise was dragged out +from amongst the dead, and conveyed by a Scottish gentleman to the +tent of the Duke of Lorraine. He was scarcely recognisable, by +reason of his wounds; he gave no sign of life, and his recovery was +deemed hopeless. He did recover, however, thanks to great care, +and still more to the vigorous constitution and energetic vitality +which distinguished all of his house, and without which the career +of most of them would have been very short. Scarcely one of the +prominent members of that family but received, in the martial +ardour of his youth, wounds whose severity made their cure resemble +a miracle. A month after the battle of Marignano, Guise, although +still suffering, was able to accompany Francis I. on his triumphant +entry into Milan, "as captain-general of the lansquenets, with four +lieutenants, all dressed in cloth of gold and white velvet." One +of his arms was in a scarf, one of his thighs had to be supported +by an esquire, but still, by his manly beauty and martial fame, he +attracted the admiring gaze of both army and people. Francis, in his +report to his mother of the battle, named Guise amongst the bravest, +as well he might; and thenceforward his great esteem for the young +hero was testified in various ways--amongst others, by intrusting to +him several important and delicate diplomatic missions. At Bologna, +on occasion of the interview between Francis and Leo X., the Pope +addressed to Guise the most flattering eulogiums. "Your holiness," +replied the ardent soldier, in a prophetic spirit, "shall see that +I am of Lorraine, if ever I have the happiness to draw sword in the +Church's quarrel." + +Master of the Milanese, Francis I. returned to France and beheld +his alliance courted by all the powers of Europe, when suddenly the +death of the Emperor Maximilian (15th January 1519) proved a brand +of discord. Francis and Charles were the only serious candidates +for the vacant dignity. Guise, with a secret view, perhaps, to +the crown of Jerusalem for himself, strained every nerve, exerted +all his influence, on behalf of the French King. But Charles, the +more skilful intriguer, prevailed; and Francis, deeply wounded and +humiliated by his failure, revolved in his mind projects of war. +In these the king did not lose sight of the great assistance he +might expect from Guise, brave, skilful, and prudent as he was; and +the esteem in which the young chief was held at court increased so +greatly, that the French nobles came to consider him almost the +equal of the members of the royal family. Guise, on the other hand, +by reason of his enormous fortune and high birth, and in his quality +of a foreign prince, spared no effort to place himself on the +footing of an ally rather than of a subject of the King of France. + +Pretexts for hostilities were not wanting; and soon we find Guise, +at the head of his lansquenets, fighting victoriously over the +very same ground upon which, in our day, French armies contended +with very different results. Maya, Fontarabia, and the banks of +the Bidassoa witnessed his prowess; he himself, a half-pike in his +hand, led his men through the river, with water to his armpits, +dislodging the enemy by the mere terror his audacity inspired. When +he returned to Compiègne, where the court then was, the King hurried +forth from his chamber to meet him, embraced him warmly, and gaily +said, "that it was but fair he should go out to meet his old friend, +who, on his part, always made such haste to meet and revenge him +on his enemies." His summer triumphs in the Pyrenees were followed +by a winter campaign in Picardy, where he succeeded in preventing +the junction of the English and Imperialists, besides obtaining +some advantages over the former, and harassing their retreat to the +coast. He thus added to his popularity with the army, and acquired +strong claims to the gratitude of the Parisians, deeply alarmed by +the proximity of the enemy to the capital, and who viewed him as +their saviour. + +The year 1523 opened under menacing auspices. Germany, Italy, +England, were leagued against France, whose sole allies were +Scotland, the Swiss, (the adhesion of these depending entirely +on regular subsidies,) and the Duke of Savoy, whose chief merit +was that he could facilitate the passage of the Alps. Undeterred, +almost foolhardy, Francis, instead of prudently standing on the +defensive, beheld, in each new opponent, only a fresh source of +glory. Unhappily for him, at the very moment he had greatest need +of skilful captains, the Constable of Bourbon, irritated and +persecuted in France, courted and seduced by the astute Charles V., +entered into a treasonable combination with the Imperialists. It was +discovered; he fled, and effected his escape. Out of France, he +was but one man the less, but that man was such a leader as could +hardly be replaced, and Charles gave him command of his troops in +the Milanese. The Constable's misconduct brought disfavour on the +princes of the house of Bourbon, (of that of Valois none remained,) +and this further increased the credit and importance of the Count +of Guise. He was already governor of Champagne and Burgundy, +provinces the Emperor was likely to attack. This command, however, +was not the object of his desires; he would rather have gone to +Italy, and applied to do so; but the King, rendered suspicious by +the Constable's defection, began to consider, with some slight +uneasiness, the position acquired by the Count of Guise; and it +was probably on this account only that he would not confer on the +Lorraine prince the direction of the Italian war. The glory of Guise +lost nothing by the refusal, although that of France grievously +suffered by the army of Italy being confided to the less capable +hands of Admiral Bonnivet. Fortune soon afforded the younger general +one of those opportunities of high distinction, of which no leader +ever was more covetous or better knew how to take advantage. A large +body of Imperialist infantry having made an irruption into Burgundy, +he assembled the nobility of the province and about nine hundred +men-at-arms, with which force he deemed himself able to keep the +field against the twelve thousand lansquenets that Count Furstemberg +led to meet him. By an odd accident, he had no infantry, his +adversary no cavalry. By dividing his horsemen into small parties, +and maintaining an incessant harassing warfare, Guise prevented +the Germans from foraging; and at last, compelled by famine, they +prepared to recross the Meuse, abandoning two forts they had +captured, and carrying off a large amount of spoil. Thus encumbered, +and vigorously pursued, their rearguard was cut to pieces, and +their retreat converted into a rout. "With a feeling of chivalrous +gallantry," says M. de Bouillé, "Guise desired to procure the +duchess his sister-in-law, Antoinette de Bourbon, and the ladies of +the court of Lorraine, then assembled at Neufchâteau, the enjoyment +of this spectacle, (the battle), to them so new. Warned by him, and +stationed at windows, out of reach of danger, whence they looked out +upon the plain, they had the pastime, and were able to recompense, +by their applause and cries of joy, the courage of the troops whom +their presence animated." + +But such partial successes, however glorious to him by whom they +were achieved, were all insufficient to turn the tide of disaster +that had set in against the French arms. The defeat of Bonnivet, +the invasion of Provence by the Constable, were succeeded by that +terrible day before the walls of Pavia, when Francis I., vanquished, +wounded, made prisoner by a rebellious subject, beheld his army +destroyed, and the battle-field strewn with the bodies of his best +generals, whilst, bleeding at his feet, slain in his defence, lay +Francis of Lorraine, a younger brother of the Count of Guise, the +second of that brave brotherhood who had fallen in arms under the +_fleur-de-lis_.[2] When the brave but most imprudent monarch was +carried into captivity, his mother, regent in his absence, placed +her chief trust and dependence in Guise. Of these he proved himself +worthy. He checked the ambition of the Duke of Vendôme, who, as +first prince of the blood, showed a disposition to seize upon the +regency; he advised the ransoming of the French prisoners taken +at Pavia, and exercised altogether a most salutary influence upon +the circumstances of that critical time. His good sword, as well +as his precocious wisdom, was soon in request. A large body of +German fanatics, proclaiming the doctrine of absolute equality, +and the abolition of all human superiority, had swept over Suabia, +Wurtemberg, and Franconia, burning churches and slaying priests, and +threatened to carry the like excesses into Lorraine and Burgundy. +By aid of his brothers, at much expense and with great difficulty, +Guise got together ten thousand men, four thousand of whom were +cavalry. The double cross was the rallying sign of this little +army. The time was come for Guise to perform his promise to Pope +Leo, to fight stoutly in defence of the Church. And truly his hand +was heavy upon the unfortunate and half frantic Lutherans, although +to a certain extent he tempered its weight with mercy. Besieged +in Saverne, the fanatics put to death the herald who summoned +them to surrender. Learning that reinforcements from Germany were +at hand, Guise hurried to meet them with three thousand men, and +encountered them at the village of Lupstein, into which the Germans +retreated, after a terrible conflict outside the place, and threw +up a barricade as best they could, of carts, casks, and gabions. +From the cover of these, and of the adjacent hedges, they kept up +so obstinate a defence, that Guise, whose men fell fast, caused +fire to be applied to the houses. But hardly had the flames begun +their ravages, when the Count, seized with compassion, threw himself +from his horse to assist in extinguishing them, and succeeded, at +imminent risk to his own life, in saving upwards of four thousand +persons of all ages. Nearly double that number perished; as many +more at Saverne and in the mountains, to which the unfortunate +Germans fled; and about fifteen thousand in a final engagement +at Chenouville, which broke the strength of the fanatic host, +and finally closed the campaign. During one of these battles, +the soldiers of Guise beheld in the air the image of the Saviour +attached to the cross, a phenomenon in which they saw assurance of +victory. + + [2] Francis of Lorraine was eighteen years old when slain at Pavia. + One of his brothers had fallen, at about the same age, at the battle + of Marignano. + +"Once more," says M. de Bouillé, "Guise had rendered a most +important service to the kingdom; he had also assumed a peculiar +and marked position, and had fixed a point of departure for himself +and his descendants, by striking, of his own accord, and without +instructions from the Government, the first blows that Protestantism +received in France: a circumstance often recalled, with more or less +exultation, by the panegyrists of that family, and which procured +Claude de Lorraine the nickname of the _Great Butcher_, given him +by the heretics, who were exasperated by the loss of nearly forty +thousand men, caused them by his arms in that fatal expedition." + +Determined foes to the Reformed faith as both of them were, a +distinction must yet be made between the Count of Guise assailing +and slaughtering, with far inferior forces, a formidable body of +armed and aggressive foreigners, and the fierce _Balafré_, wielding +a murderous sword against his defenceless and inoffensive Huguenot +countrymen, on the terrible night of St Bartholomew. If the amount +of bloodshed at Saverne and Chenouville appears excessive, and +implies that little quarter was given, it must yet be remembered +that greater clemency to the vanquished might have had the most +disastrous consequences to the handful of conquerors. The Council +of Regency disapproved of Guise's conduct in the affair; taxing him +with rashness in risking the whole of the small number of regular +troops disposable for the defence of the kingdom. But there could +hardly have been more pressing occasion to expose them; and Francis +I., on returning from exile, recognised and rewarded that and other +good services by elevating the county of Guise into a duchy and +peerage--further enriching the newly-made duke with a portion of +the crown domains. Such honours and advantages had previously been +almost exclusively reserved for persons of the blood-royal. The +Parliament remonstrated in vain; but Francis himself, before very +long, repented what he had done. He took umbrage at the increasing +popularity of the Duke of Guise, and gave ear to the calumnies +and insinuations of the French nobles, who were irritated by the +haughty bearing, great prosperity, and ambitious views of the house +of Lorraine. The manner in which Francis testified his jealousy and +distrust was unworthy of a monarch who has left a great name in +history. He showed himself indulgent to those of his courtiers and +officers who organised resistance to the influence and pretensions +of the Guises. "One time, amongst others," says M. de Bouillé, "the +Duke of Guise, governor of Burgundy, wishing to visit the castle +of Auxonne, whose governorship was a charge distinct from that of +the province, the titulary, Rouvray, a French gentleman, refused +him admittance, which he would not have dared to do had Guise been +recognised as prince. When the Duke complained of this treatment, +the King, delighted, whilst taking advantage of his services, to see +his pride and ambition thwarted, lauded the conduct of Rouvray, and +laughed at him who had wished to play the prince of royal blood." +For annoyances of this kind Guise sought compensation in popularity, +thus tracing out for his descendants the line they should most +advantageously follow. + +The partial disfavour into which the Guises had fallen, during +an interval of peace when their services were not indispensable, +was dissipated by the zeal and talents exhibited by the Duke's +brother, John Cardinal of Lorraine, in a most difficult and delicate +negotiation with Charles V., and by the prompt good-will with +which, when negotiation failed and war broke out, the Duke hurried +to the relief of Peronne, accompanied by his eldest son, the Count +of Aumale, then scarcely nineteen years old. Peronne la Pucelle +was hard beset by the Count of Nassau, who pounded its ramparts +with seventy-two pieces of cannon, and was defended with equal +valour by Fleuranges, Marshal de la Marck, who repulsed an assault +made simultaneously by two breaches, and destroyed a mine on which +the enemy reckoned for his discomfiture. Want of supplies, and +especially of powder, must soon, however, have compelled him to +yield, but for a stratagem practised by Guise. That able commander +selected four hundred resolute soldiers, loaded each of them with +a bag containing ten pounds of powder, and set out, at six in the +evening, from his headquarters at Ham, with the Count of Aumale, +whose first experience of war this was, and to whom Guise, as he +wrote to the King, "intended soon to give up his sword, as capable +of doing better service in his young hands than in his own." Two +hundred horsemen escorted them as far as the edge of the marshes of +Peronne, and at midnight Guise, who had brought with him a large +number of drummers and trumpeters, distributed these at different +points around the besiegers' camp. Whilst they sounded and beat +the charge, and the Imperialist generals, believing themselves +attacked on all sides, hastily formed their troops for the combat, +the powder-bearers, guided by a soldier of the garrison who had +borne news of its distress from Fleuranges to Guise, crossed the +marshes by means of a number of little roads and bridges, which the +enemy himself had made to maintain his communications, and reached +the moat, whence by means of ropes and ladders they entered the +fortress. The last of them were just getting in when day broke, and +the Count of Nassau discovered the trick that had been played him, +and detached a body of cavalry to pursue Guise, then retreating with +his drums and trumpets, and whose steady array discouraged attack. +A few days later the Imperialists raised the siege, and Paris, +which had been in consternation at the danger of Peronne, its last +bulwark against the advancing foe, knew no bounds in its gratitude +to the man to whom it thus, for the second time, was indebted for +its salvation. Guise's great services in this and the following +campaign rendered Francis I. indulgent to his still-recurring +pretensions; to the arrogance which led him frequently to refuse +obeying orders that did not emanate directly from the King, and +to assume a sort of independence and irresponsibility in the +exercise of his government. Looking back, through the clarifying +medium of history, upon the character and conduct of Claude of +Lorraine, we are disinclined to think that Francis had ever serious +cause for mistrusting the loyalty of his powerful subject; whose +encroachments, however, it cannot be denied, were sufficient grounds +for jealousy and uneasiness. And on more than one occasion we find +the royal anger--perhaps complete disgrace--averted from him only +by the interest of his brother the Cardinal, to whom Francis could +refuse nothing. + +As a diplomatist and patron of the arts, Cardinal John of +Lorraine occupies almost as elevated a pedestal in the gallery +of distinguished Frenchmen of the sixteenth century, as does his +brother Claude in his more active capacity of general of armies +and administrator of provinces. His courtly qualities, and a +congeniality of tastes--some of which, although they might be +held excusable in a king, were scarcely to be palliated in a +prelate, even in that age of lax morality--endeared him to Francis, +who associated with him on a footing of great familiarity. His +generosity and charity were on such a scale as at times to resemble +prodigality and ostentation; his love of pleasure and addiction +to gallantry were in like manner excessive. "He was," says M. de +Bouillé, "a very lettered prince, a splendid patron of learned men, +whom he treated as friends, and in whose labours he associated +himself. A writer named Bertrand de Vaux, having presented and +read to him a critical work, containing low personality, awaited, +notwithstanding its base character, the recompense which the +Cardinal always granted to those authors with whose productions he +was satisfied. The prelate accordingly handed him a golden etui. +'Take this, friend Bertrand,' he said; 'it is to pay the fatigue and +salary of the reader. The writer must seek payment from some more +malignant man than myself.'" The celebrated Erasmus, Clement Marot +the poet, and Rabelais the satirist, all benefited by the patronage +or enjoyed the intimacy of the Cardinal, who, conjointly with his +nephew the Cardinal Charles of Lorraine, is believed by some to +have been indicated by the witty priest of Meudon in the character +of Panurge. Passionately fond of art, the prelate-prince gathered +around him the men of genius whom the largesses and magnificence +of Francis I. seduced from Italy to France. He showed particular +favour to Benvenuto Cellini, who presented him with some of his +works and received from him costly gifts. "When in full blaze of +fortune and favour, he caused to be built and decorated, with blind +prodigality, after the designs of Primaticcio and by the pupils +of that famous artist, the superb chateau of Meudon, in whose +park was constructed, amongst other costly ornaments, a grotto, +'excellently fine and pleasant to save oneself from being wetted +by the rain.' He had musicians in his service, and Arcadelt, a +distinguished composer, some of whose works are still preserved and +esteemed, was his _maître de chapelle_." His charity, although often +too indiscriminate, sprang from real kindness of heart. Numerous +children, belonging to poor families, were educated at his expense +in the Paris schools. And his good grace in conferring favours +doubled their value. The farmer of his abbey of Fécamp, having made +the same receipt serve for three separate payments, and endeavouring +to make it pass a fourth time, the Cardinal's receivers refused +to admit it, and the case was referred to the prelate himself, +who, having examined and recognised his signature, merely said, +"Since John is there, John shall be believed," and ordered it to +be definitively admitted. When he went abroad, "he usually," says +Brantôme, "carried a great pouch, which his _valet-de-chambre_, who +had charge of the money for his petty expenses, failed not to fill +each morning with three or four hundred crowns: and as many poor +as he met he put his hand into the pouch and gave, without stint +or consideration, whatever he drew forth." The story is well known +of the blind mendicant, who, having implored an alms of him in the +streets of Rome, exclaimed, on receiving a handful of gold: "_O tu +sei Christo, o veramente il cardinal di Loriena_." By the light +which these details throw upon his character, it is not difficult +to discern that the magnificent cardinal must have been a welcome +courtier to the sumptuous Francis, who, during the period of his +favour, made him his constant companion and delighted to do him +honour. He sat upon the King's left hand on occasion of the _lit +de justice_ held at Paris on New Year's day 1537, at which Francis +declared Charles of Austria attainted of rebellion and felony, and +deprived of Artois, Flanders, and all the domains that he held _en +mouvance_ of the crown of France--a sentence more easily pronounced +than enforced, and which of course entailed a war. Peace again +concluded, in great measure by the diplomacy of the Cardinal, he it +was, according to Du Bellay, who alone accompanied the King and +Queen at dinner, on the day of Charles V.'s entrance into Paris. +The friendship borne him by Francis, was the cause of his being +charged to break to that monarch the death of his son, the Dauphin +of France. Of the familiarity with which the King treated him, M. +de Bouillé gives a specimen in a curious anecdote: "One day, at +mass, the Cardinal did not perceive that a thief, who had managed to +enter the chapel, had picked his pocket. The rogue, observing that +the King had his eyes fixed upon him, with extraordinary coolness +and audacity put his finger on his lips, looking at the same time +significantly at Francis I., who took the hint and said nothing, +in order not to spoil what he imagined to be an adroit practical +joke. Service over, however, he made an observation which induced +the Cardinal to put his hand in his pocket, when he discovered his +loss. When the King had amused himself at his surprise, he ordered +that what had been stolen should be restored; but the thief, who +was perfectly serious in his intentions, had made his escape, which +greatly increased the mirth of the monarch, thus cleverly duped. 'On +the word of a gentleman,' he exclaimed, 'the rogue has made me his +accomplice!'" + +Powerfully supported at court by his brother, Claude of Lorraine +was no less ably seconded in the field by his son Francis, Count +of Aumale, a young hero destined ultimately to surpass even him in +glory, and to raise the name of Guise to its apogee of splendour. +The constantly-recurring wars with the Emperor yielded him abundant +opportunities to display his prowess. In the campaign of 1543 he did +good service, until, at the siege of Luxemburg, he was dangerously +wounded above the ankle by an arquebuse ball. "Carried, almost +without hopes--on account of the fracture of the bones and the +injury to the nerves--first to his tent and then to Longwy, five +leagues in rear, he owed his recovery to the attention of the King, +who sent him his own physicians, and to the care bestowed upon him +by his father. And nevertheless, when he suffered signs of pain +to escape him during the dressing, the Duke of Guise addressed +to him reproaches by which it will be seen that he subsequently +profited, saying to him--a noble and stoical maxim--'That persons +of his rank ought not to feel their wounds, but, on the contrary, +to take pleasure in building up their reputation on the ruin of +their bodies.'" It was in no feather-bed school that the Guises were +educated. Nearly at the same time that the Count d'Aumale was hit +before Luxemburg, Gaspard de Coligny-Châtillon, then his rival in +valour, and at a subsequent day his deadly foe, was severely wounded +in the throat at the siege of Binche. + +In the war in which these incidents occurred, England was allied +with the Emperor against France. Personal motives combined with +political irritation to dispose the violent and uxorious Henry VIII. +to a rupture with Francis I. Mary of Lorraine, daughter of the Duke +of Guise, and widow of Louis of Orleans, duke of Longueville, had +been given in marriage to James V. of Scotland, in preference to +Henry, who, inflamed by the report of her beauty, had solicited her +hand as a pledge of perpetual alliance with France. Dazzling as +was the offer of so powerful a sovereign, his anti-catholic acts, +and his evil reputation as a husband, deterred the Guises from +entertaining it; and Francis I., obeying the dictates of feeling +rather than those of prudence, extricated them from a dilemma by +alleging a previous promise to the Scottish king. It is said that +Henry would then gladly have espoused Louisa, second daughter of the +Duke, and that, means being found to elude his pursuit, this second +disappointment further augmented his rancorous feelings towards +Francis and the house of Guise. However this may have been, the +war with England continued subsequently to the conclusion of peace +between Francis and Charles--chiefly in Picardy, around Boulogne, +which Henry held, and in whose neighbourhood his army was encamped. +Some severe skirmishes and partial engagements occurred, and in one +of these the Count of Aumale received a wound, probably the severest +ever survived by mortal man, from the lance of an English officer. +The weapon, according to the description of Ambrose Paré, entered +"above the right eye, declining towards the nose, and piercing +through on the other side, between the nape and the ear." So violent +was the blow that the weapon broke in the head, into which it had +penetrated more than half a foot, the entire lance-iron and two +fingers' breadth of the staff remaining in the wound. Paré explains +the possibility of such a wound, in an age when helmets and visors +were in use, by mentioning that the Count always went into action +with his face bare. + +"Terrible as was the shock," says M. de Bouillé, "it did not unhorse +d'Aumale. He still made head against his foes, succeeded in forcing +a passage through them, aided by his young and valiant brother +Claude, and by de Vieilleville--who, alone of all, had not abandoned +him--and rode gloriously into camp. His appearance was frightful; +his face, armour, and clothes were deluged with blood. The surgeons, +stupified by the depth and gravity of the wound, despaired of cure, +and refused to inflict useless sufferings upon the patient. But +Ambrose Paré, the King's surgeon, sent by Francis with orders to +try every means of saving the hero's life, was not discouraged. +Confiding in his skill, and in the firmness of the wounded man, he +resolved to attempt an operation, terrible indeed, but admirable for +those days, and worthy alone to insure celebrity to him who imagined +it. The lance-head was broken off so short, that it was impossible +to grasp it with the hand. Taking then a blacksmith's pincers, to +draw it out with great force, and assisted, amongst others, by +Master Nicolle Lavernan, a very experienced surgeon, he asked the +Lorraine prince, in presence of a crowd of officers shuddering +with horror, if he would submit to the employment of such means, +and would suffer him to place his foot upon his face. 'I consent +to everything; proceed,' replied d'Aumale. Nor did his fortitude +abandon him for an instant during this cruel operation, which was +not effected without fracture of bones, nerves, veins, and arteries, +and other parts, and which he endured as if they had only pulled out +a hair. The agony extorted from him but the single exclamation--'Ah! +my God!' Transported afterwards in a litter to Pecquigny, he +remained for three days in a hopeless state: early on the fifth day +more favourable symptoms declared themselves, and nature made such +powerful efforts, that the cure was completed without leaving the +Count d'Aumale any trace of this astonishing wound, except a scar, +equally glorious for him and for Ambrose Paré. That skilful surgeon +was wont modestly to say, when speaking of the marvellous cure of +Francis of Lorraine--'I dressed it, and God healed it.' As soon as +he began to get better, the Count d'Aumale hastened to write to the +King, with a hand still unsteady, the following note, characterised +by a calmness remarkable in such circumstances:--'Sire, I take the +liberty to inform you that I find myself well, hoping not to lose an +eye. Your very humble servant, LE GUIZARD.'" Admiring his energy, +and in recompense of his services, Francis I. made him governor +of Dauphiny; whilst the numerous partisans of the house of Guise +attributed his cure to a miracle wrought by the prayers of his pious +mother, Antoinette of Bourbon. This princess carefully preserved +till her death the lance-point which had penetrated her son's head. +The extent of the wound, as described by Paré, would be scarcely +credible, but for the testimony of that learned and excellent man, +and of other cotemporary writers quoted by M. de Bouillé. In a +short time the heroic Count had forgotten his hurt, and was again +in arms against the English, with whom, however, peace was shortly +afterwards concluded. + +Notwithstanding the frequent uneasiness occasioned him by the power +and ambition of the family of Guise, Francis I. continued, almost to +the close of his reign, to enrich and aggrandise them. The magnitude +of their services, and their many great qualities, at intervals +elicited his gratitude and generosity, to the oblivion of mistrust +and apprehension. Thus, only three years prior to his death, he +erected into a marquisate certain lands and lordships of the Duke +of Guise, and immediately afterwards elevated the marquisate to a +duchy, in consideration, said the letters patent, of the great, +virtuous, and commendable services that the Duke of Guise had long +rendered to king and country, without sparing his own person, his +children, or goods; "and also that our said cousin Duke of Guise +is of the house of Lorraine, descended by wife and alliance from +the house of Anjou, and from our predecessors, kings of France." +Thus was the title of Duke of Mayenne provided for a younger son of +Claude of Lorraine. Such laudatory declarations as the one above +cited were concurrent, however, with the systematic restriction of +the Guises' direct influence on state affairs. And on his deathbed, +when dividing his last hours upon earth between religious duties and +sage counsels to his son, Francis enjoined this prince not to recall +the Constable of Montmorency, or to admit to a share of government +the princes of the house of Guise. Montmorency had incurred disgrace +and banishment by exciting the King's conjugal jealousy. Henry II. +showed slight regard to his father's dying injunctions. Scarcely +had the earth closed over the deceased monarch, when those he had +recommended to his son's favour were removed from their posts; +Montmorency was recalled, and the Guises were taken into favour; +the Count of Aumale, and Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine, dividing +between them Henry's whole confidence. It must be admitted, that the +means to which they resorted to secure and preserve this favour, +were not of the most delicate description, although, doubtless, +they would be very differently estimated then and now. They +sustained their credit with Henry II. by their attentions to Diana +of Poitiers, his all-powerful mistress, whose eldest daughter one +of the brothers, Claude, Marquis of Mayenne, had just married. From +this discreditable alliance Châtillon, afterwards the Admiral de +Coligny, had tried to dissuade them, by pointing out, says Brantôme, +in his Life of the Admiral, "that it was not very honourable for +them, and that an inch of authority and favour with honour was +better than an armful without." The Count of Aumale, up to that +time the inseparable companion of Coligny, was but ill-pleased by +the freedom of this advice, which, he said, was less that of a +friend than of one envious of the good fortune such an alliance +insured to his family. This difference, however, cast but a slight +cloud over the intimacy which thereafter was exchanged for so +bitter an enmity. Meanwhile the royal favour, lavished on the young +Guises, was not extended to their father, who was excluded from the +government which his sons freely exercised, and who, immediately +after the coronation of Henry, left the court, to live in retirement +in his castle of Joinville. The prudence and moderation of the +elder Guise were probably less welcome to the young king than the +bolder and more impetuous counsels of his sons. There were six of +these, all pretty well provided for when Claude of Lorraine retired +into private life: Francis, Count of Aumale; Claude, Marquis of +Mayenne; Charles, Archbishop of Rheims; Louis, Bishop of Troyes, and +Francis, Chevalier of Lorraine, afterwards grand-prior and general +of the galleys of France. "During his stay at Paris, after the +campaign of 1544, the Duke of Guise frequently went, accompanied +by his six young sons, to pay his devoirs to the King, who always +graciously received and congratulated him, saying 'that he was six +times fortunate in seeing himself live again, before his death, in +a posterity of such great promise.' One day Charles, the second +brother, who was intended for the church, presented to Francis +I. some moral and theological theses, accompanying them with an +eloquent and tasteful harangue. His promotion to the archbishopric +of Rheims, the richest benefice in France, was, it is said, the +munificent reward of this precocious ability." Henry II. received +his crown from the hands of this youthful archbishop, upon whom the +Pope, five days after the ceremony, conferred a cardinal's hat. +Charles of Lorraine can have been but thirty or thirty-one years +old, when he thus attained to the highest dignities of the church. + +A few days before the coronation, Henry II. sanctioned by his +presence the celebrated judicial duel--which gave rise to a proverb +still current in France--between Guy Chabot de Jarnac, and François +de Vivonne. It took place in lists erected near the chateau of St +Germains. Vivonne's second (or godfather, as it was then called) +was the Count of Aumale, who attracted universal attention by the +grandeur of his air and the lustre of his renown. "Towards half-past +seven in the morning," says M. de Bouillé, "d'Aumale pronounced +it time to bring the arms, and the combatants appeared in the +lists, Vivonne conducted by d'Aumale; and, after the customary +salutations and injunctions, the king-at-arms, Normandy, having +thrice exclaimed--_Laissez aller les bons combattants!_ the combat +commenced with skill and fury. In a few moments, however, by a +blow, since proverbial, dealt and repeated on the left ham, Vivonne +was prostrated by his adversary. The Count d'Aumale sprang to the +assistance of the vanquished man, and to calm the rage which made +him tear open his own wounds. But Vivonne survived only three +days, and, after his death, d'Aumale had the following inscription +engraved upon his tomb: 'A great prince _Lorrain et François_, much +grieved and afflicted by so unexpected an event, has dedicated +this to the manes of a brave knight of Poitou.' In these few words +was revealed a pretension constantly entertained by the house of +Guise, and which then appeared surprising, but which received a sort +of consecration from its silent toleration by the King." It was +doubtless this toleration, combined with the sentiment of growing +power and influence, which raised the arrogance of the Guises to +such a pitch that, on occasion of Henry II.'s solemn entrance into +Chambery, during a visit of inspection to his frontier fortresses, +we find the Count of Aumale placing himself on the same line with +the Duke of Vendôme, first prince of the blood, and afterwards King +of Navarre. The angry dispute to which this gave rise was terminated +by the King, who maintained Guise in the place he had audaciously +assumed. Like his father, Henry was nurturing a pride which was +afterwards to give him umbrage. Already d'Aumale's influence and +popularity were so great as to make him courted by all classes, even +to the highest, not excluding persons of blood-royal; and only a +few months after the dispute at Chambery, we find the same King of +Navarre thanking him, conjointly with the Cardinal of Bourbon, for +services he had rendered to friends of theirs. The first nobles of +the land had recourse to his protection and support, and strove to +propitiate him by presents and flattering letters. From all quarters +he received offerings of "wine, fruit, confections, ortolans, +horses, dogs, hawks, and gerfalcons, the letters accompanying +these very often containing a second paragraph, petitioning for +pensions or grants from the King, or for places, even down to that +of apothecary, or of barber to the Dauphin, &c." The memoirs and +manuscripts of the time furnish many curious particulars of this +kind, especially the MSS. Gaignières, often referred to by M. de +Bouillé. And they further show that d'Aumale, amidst his countless +occupations, found leisure to listen to all petitioners, and means +to content many. There exist the most flattering letters written to +him by the hand of kings; the humblest supplications addressed to +him by great state corporations, such as the parliaments of Paris, +Bordeaux, and other cities; testimony of the profoundest deference +from the nobles of the court--names such as Brézé and Brissac being +affixed to fulsome protestations of service and thanks for favour +shown. Such was the immense position of the Duke d'Aumale, (that +county also had become a duchy,) who now openly affected the state +and quality of prince of the blood. Then, as afterwards, (when he +was duke of Guise,) he always received the title of _monseigneur_, +(except from the princes of the blood, who called him _monsieur_,) +and that of _vostre excellence or vostre seigneurie_. And in 1548 +the nuns of Bonneuil addressed him a supplication as _vostre haulte +et puissante majesté et seigneurie_. So great was his reputation for +magnanimity, so popular his rule, that those provinces rejoiced over +which he was appointed governor. And the affection borne him by the +French people became at last so great "that it may be said it was +carried to an excess, even to the point of making them forget their +fidelity to the King." For a time the favour and confidence of the +King kept pace with the love of the nation; and it was augmented by +the ability with which d'Aumale pacified several revolted provinces, +where his presence alone sufficed, for the most part, to calm angry +passions and revive the loyalty of the population. Soon after this +expedition, occurred his marriage with Anne d'Est, daughter of the +Duke of Ferrara, a beautiful, virtuous, and well-dowered princess +who had been sought in marriage by Sigismund, King of Poland, +but whom an innate sympathy for France, combined with the able +management of Cardinal de Guise, induced to give the preference to +the Duke d'Aumale. + +In his castle of Joinville, on the 12th April 1550, Claude, first +duke of Guise, piously and resignedly terminated his illustrious and +honourable career. His duchess, Antoinette de Bourbon, one of the +most virtuous and amiable princesses of her time, his eldest son +and the Marquis of Elbeuf, were beside his dying bed; and during +his illness the King sent frequent expresses to inquire his state. +His premature death, at the age of fifty-three, after a short but +violent illness,--combined with some solemn and generous expressions +he used a few minutes before breathing his last, to the effect +that he heartily forgave the person, whosoever it might be, who +had given him "_le morceau pour mourir_,"--gave rise to a belief, +further accredited by his funeral oration and by the inscription on +his tomb, that he had perished by poison. History has difficulty +in confirming this popular notion, in support of which no evidence +was ever produced, nor anything beyond a vague supposition that the +author of the Duke's death was a Genoese, an agent of the Emperor, +then in France to watch the measures taken by that republic to +obtain from Henry II. means of resistance to the party of Ferdinand, +in opposition to whom there was little doubt that Guise would +advise the King to give his support to Genoa. Considering, however, +that Claude of Lorraine lived away from court, where his son had +succeeded to his influence, this is rather a far-fetched story; +and the probability is that the Duke died of some unusual malady, +misunderstood by, perhaps wholly unknown to, the imperfect medical +science of those days. But natural deaths were rare in the house of +Guise; and in the sixteenth century poison had no unimportant share +in the bills of mortality. Some indeed have hinted its possible +agency in the death of John, Cardinal of Lorraine, which occurred +within forty days of that of his brother Claude. This prelate was on +his way back from Rome, where he had been an unsuccessful aspirant +to the papal tiara, when he was suddenly informed, on his passage +through Lyons, of the Duke's decease. It was possibly the shock of +this intelligence that brought on an attack of apoplexy under which +he sank and shortly expired. "Providence," says M. de Bouillé, "had +perhaps resolved to consecrate, by an almost simultaneous death, the +union which had so constantly and advantageously existed between him +and his brother, and which the cotemporary writers characterise, in +their mythological style, by comparing the two princes to Castor +and Pollux. Their place was not to remain vacant, but was about to +be even more than filled by two brothers, also 'the happiest pair +of brothers that ever were seen;' one an accomplished warrior and +magnanimous hero, the other a skilful and enterprising prelate, +who, by renewing the example of a constant agreement of views, by +putting in practice that useful and remarkable combination of the +churchman and the man of the sword, peculiar to their family, and +efficaciously applied by them to politics and ambition, realised an +immense amount of favour and authority. The first generation of this +dynasty--if not sovereign, at least so brilliantly episodical--had +passed away, already almost surpassed in grandeur by its successor, +destined to elevate itself in the inverse ratio of the wearer of +that crown which gradually became almost illusory." + +Certain it is that the figure of Francis, second Duke of Guise, +surnamed the Great, occupies, upon the canvass of French history, +a far more remarkable and important place than that of any one of +the three kings whose reigns were cotemporary with his power. Early +distinguished in arms, his generosity, urbanity, and irresistible +valour made him the idol of the army, whilst the prudence and +precocious wisdom he inherited from his father, rendered him +invaluable at the council board, and secured him the favour of his +sovereign; to such a point that Henry II. had no secrets from him, +but caused all important despatches to be communicated to him as +punctually as they were to himself. Nor was his brother Charles +inferior to him in talent, although their difference of profession +rendered its display less striking in the cardinal. Both possessed +of admirable tact and judgement in the conduct of public affairs, +the one was not more terrible in the battle-field than the other +was skilful and seductive in diplomatic negotiations, and in the +graceful intercourse of private life. The cardinal's learning +and eloquence, his fine countenance, his dignified bearing, his +richly-stored memory, combined to exercise a powerful fascination +upon all he met. "Had I the elegance of Monsieur le Cardinal de +Lorraine," said Theodore de Beze one day, when mounting his horse to +leave Rheims, where he had had a conference with the accomplished +prelate, "I should expect to convert half the persons in France to +the religion I profess." + +At the date of the death of Claude of Lorraine, Charles V. was +the sole survivor of the three remarkable sovereigns who had +simultaneously filled the three most important European thrones. +With him the Duke and Cardinal now impelled Henry II. into a +war, which had for its real object the realisation of a bold and +extensive scheme greatly to increase the authority of France in +Europe, and at the same time to establish the omnipotence of the +Guises in France. One of the most remarkable events of this war was +the siege of Metz, in which large ill-fortified place the Duke, +with a small number of men, was exposed to the assaults of an army +consisting of one hundred thousand infantry, twenty-three thousand +horse, and one hundred and twenty pieces of artillery. Guise +displayed extraordinary skill and energy, leading sorties himself, +and even issuing forth at the head of a mere handful of men to +skirmish with the enemy. Fortunately he had had time to lay in good +store of provisions; but his cannon were few in number and for the +most part unserviceable, and he was fain to defend with falconets +and other small guns, the breaches which the Imperialists soon made +in his walls. In an action that occurred during the siege, in the +neighbourhood of Nancy, Claude de Guise--that brother of the Duke +who, when a mere youth, had powerfully and valiantly contributed +to deliver him, in front of Boulogne, from an overwhelming number +of assailants--was taken prisoner. Thrice wounded, and with his +horse killed under him, he had no choice but to yield or die. This +disaster deprived Metz of a gallant defender, and plunged Guise and +the whole army into deep affliction; the Duke, however, consoling +himself by the resolution to make the Emperor dearly pay for his +brother's ransom, and by the reflection that d'Aumale had not +yielded until he was knocked down and had a cocked pistol at his +throat. The sorties continued with great vigour, but at the expense +of many wounded men, of whom so large a proportion died, for want +of efficient medical assistance, that a rumour gained credit that +the drugs were poisoned. Guise begged the King to send him Ambrose +Paré with a stock of fresh medicaments, and, by the connivance of +an Italian officer in the Imperialist camp, that skilful leech was +introduced at midnight into the town, with the apothecary Daigue +and a horse-load of medical stores. Paré was bearer of a letter +from the King, thanking Guise and the other princes and nobles for +all they had done and were doing to preserve his town of Metz, and +assuring them he would remember and reward their services. Thus +encouraged, and confident in his troops, Guise wrote to the King, +with whom he found means constantly to correspond in cypher, that +Metz could hold out six months without succour. On the other hand +the Imperialists redoubled their efforts for success. The Emperor, +who lay at Thionville, sick of the gout and expectant of triumph, +at last judged his presence indispensable for the fortunate +conclusion of the siege, and made his appearance in the camp, +mounted on an Arab horse, "his face very pale and wasted, his eyes +sunken, his head and beard white." His coming was the signal for +so great a salvo of artillery and small arms, that the besieged +flew to arms, expecting a general attack. Until the neighbouring +castle of La Horgne could be prepared for his reception, he took +up his quarters in a small wooden house, hastily constructed with +the ruins of an abbey. "A fine palace," he said, "when I shall +receive in it the keys of Metz." But the keys were long in coming, +although the fierceness of the attack was redoubled--fourteen +thousand cannon-shots being fired against the ramparts in one day, +the noise of which was said to have been heard beyond the Rhine, at +forty leagues from Metz. The constancy of the besieged was a match +for the fury of the assailants. Breaches were diligently repaired, +and sorties continued--the French actually seeking the Imperialists +under their tents. Suddenly the latter changed the point of attack, +and directed their cannonade against one of the very strongest parts +of the rampart, behind which the besieged hastened to construct a +second wall, also of great strength. The sudden change of plan is +attributed by Ambrose Paré in his _Voyage à Metz_, to a stratagem +employed by Guise. The Duke, according to the learned physician and +chronicler, wrote a letter to Henry II. with the intention of its +being intercepted by the enemy, in which he said, that if Charles V. +persisted in his plan of attack, he would be compelled to raise the +siege, but that a very different result was to be apprehended, if +unfortunately the enemy directed his attention to a certain point, +cunningly indicated in the despatch. Sewn, with an affectation of +mystery, under the doublet of a clumsy peasant, this letter was +destined for the perusal of the Duke of Alva, one of whose patrols +did not fail to seize and search the unfortunate messenger, who +was forthwith hanged. Misled by the information thus obtained, the +besiegers changed the position of their batteries. In two days a +breach was effected, the old wall crumbling into the ditch, amidst +the acclamations of the assailants. But their joy was exchanged +for rage and disgust when, upon the subsidence of the dust, they +beheld a second wall in rear of the breach. The French began to +scoff and abuse them, but Guise commanded silence, under pain of +death, lest some traitor should take advantage of the tumult to +convey information to the enemy; whereupon his soldiers fastened +live cats to the end of their pikes, whose discordant cries mocked +the enemy. The enthusiasm of the besieged now knew no bounds. Men, +women, and young girls toiled day and night to strengthen the inner +wall. Guise's gay and encouraging words gave confidence to all. +Collecting his soldiers upon the breach, which was ninety feet +wide: "I rejoice," he said, "that the enemy have at last overthrown +this barrier, more useful to them than to you. You have so often +visited them in their camp, that it is only just they should have +an opportunity of reconnoitring the town upon whose capture they +so boastfully reckoned." Charles ordered the assault; but when his +troops saw the French crowning the breach, with Guise at their +head, they recoiled as if already attacked, and neither entreaties +nor threats could move them forward. "How is it," the Emperor had +exclaimed with a great oath, when he saw the gaping breach, "that +they do not enter? It is so large and level with the ditch; _vertu +de Dieu!_ what means this?" He had himself conveyed in a litter to +the foremost ranks, to animate the soldiers by his presence. When he +beheld their retreat, he mournfully desired to be carried back to +his quarters. "Formerly," he said, "I was followed to the fight, but +I see that I have now no men around me; I must bid adieu to empire +and immure myself in a monastery; before three years are over, I +will turn Franciscan." Finally, on the 26th December, provisions +running short, and his army weakened one-third by sickness and +the sword, Charles, with a sad heart, raised the siege, uttering, +in the bitterness of his shame and disappointment, the well-known +words, "I plainly see that Fortune, like a true woman, prefers a +young king to an old emperor." The imperial camp and artillery +crossed the Moselle, and in the night the Duke of Alva evacuated his +position, leaving behind a quantity of stores and tents. Guise, who +had expressed, that very evening, in a letter to his brother the +Cardinal, his conviction that the Emperor would never endure the +shame of abandoning the siege, was greatly astonished in the morning +to find that the enemy had decamped. His skill and constancy had +triumphed, and France was saved from invasion. When he reappeared +at court, the King embraced him with transport, and called him his +brother. "You have vanquished me as well as the Emperor," said +Henry, "by the obligations you have laid me under." + +The Duke of Guise's humanity after the siege did him as much honour +as his bravery during it. A large number of sick men remained in +the Imperialist camp; the rearguard of the retreating army were in +a pitiable state, and, unable to proceed, yielded themselves ready +prisoners. The commander of a troop of Spanish cavalry, pursued +by the Prince of _la Roche-sur-Yon_, who would fain have brought +him to battle, suddenly faced about, exclaiming, "How should we +have strength to defend ourselves, when you see we have not enough +left to fly?" In the hospitals of Metz and Thionville, the sick +and wounded Imperialists were carefully tended by order of Guise; +non-combatant prisoners were sent back to the Duke of Alva, with +the offer of covered boats to transport his exhausted soldiers; +the bodies of the dead received suitable burial. The magnanimous +general's courtesy and humanity bore their fruits. In the following +campaign, when the town of Therouenne, in Picardy, was surprised by +the Imperialists, the Germans and Flemings were putting inhabitants +and garrison to the sword, without distinction of age or sex, +when the Spanish officers, with a lively and grateful remembrance +of the good treatment received from Guise and the French, united +their voices and efforts to check the carnage. "_Bonne guerre, +compagnons,_" they cried; "_souvenez-vous de la courtoisie de Metz!_" + +It was during the following campaign (1554) that there occurred the +first marked manifestations of discord between the Duke of Guise +and the Admiral de Coligny. In the combat of Renty, near St Omer, +Coligny commanded the infantry, in his quality of colonel-general +of that arm. Victory declared itself for the French; already +many trophies had been taken, and heavy loss inflicted on the +Imperialists, who were on the brink of a general rout, when Guise +"feeling" says M. de Bouillé, "that he was not supported by +the Constable de Montmorency--the retreat also, according to a +report current at the time, having been sounded _by the breath of +envy_--was unable to follow up his advantage, and could but maintain +himself on the field, whilst the Imperialists, although defeated, +succeeded in entering the besieged fort." The chief merit of this +imperfect victory was attributed by the Constable to his nephew +Coligny, who, on his part, was said to have asserted that, during +the heat of the fight, Guise had not been in his right place. This +led, upon the evening of the action, to a violent altercation, which +would have ended with drawn swords but for the intervention of the +King, in whose tent it occurred. He compelled them to embrace; but +the reconciliation was only skin-deep, and from that day forwards a +rancorous dislike was substituted for the close intimacy which had +existed in their youth between these two great soldiers, and which +had been carried to such a point that they "could not live without +each other, wearing the same colours, and dressing in the same +manner." Henceforward they were constant antagonists, the chiefs +of two parties under whose banners nobles, soldiers, and courtiers +ranged themselves, according to the dictates of their sympathies +or interests. And soon their rivalry for fame and influence was +inflamed and envenomed by the ardour of religious passions, and of +combats for their respective creeds. + +It is here impossible to trace, even in outline, the events that +crowded the reign of Henry II., and in which the Duke, the Cardinal, +and their brother d'Aumale played a most conspicuous part. It was +a constant succession of battles and intrigues, for the most part +terminating, in spite of formidable foes both in the field and at +court, to the advantage of the Guises. And when, a few weeks after +the battle of St Quintin, so disastrous to the French arms--where +the Constable de Montmorency, who had boasted beforehand of victory, +beheld his entire army slain or taken, and himself a prisoner--the +Duke of Guise returned from Italy, "to save the state," as the +King himself expressed it, he found himself at the utmost pinnacle +of power a subject could possibly attain. On the very day of his +arrival, Henry declared him lieutenant-general of the French armies, +in and out of the kingdom; a temporary dignity, it is true, but +one superior to that of Constable, and which usually was bestowed +only in times of regency and minority. That nothing should be +wanting to the exorbitant authority thus conferred upon the man +to whom sovereign and nation alike were wont to turn in the day +of danger and disaster, the King addressed to all the provincial +authorities particular injunctions to obey the orders of the Duke +of Guise as though they emanated from himself; and truly it was +remarked, says Dauvigny in his _Vies des Hommes Illustres_, that +never had monarch in France been obeyed more punctually and with +greater zeal. The whole business of the country now rested upon +the shoulders of Guise. But even whilst thus exalting him, Henry, +conscious of his own weakness, and haunted, perhaps, by his father's +dying injunction, was actually plotting how to lessen the power +of his great subject, so soon as the period of peril should have +passed, during which his services were indispensable. With strange +infatuation, the feeble monarch expected to be able to clip at +will the wings of that soaring influence, when victory over the +foreigner and the liberation of the country should have confirmed +its domination. + +Invested with his new dignities, whose importance his sagacity fully +appreciated, Guise, with the least possible delay, set out for +Compiègne, which, since the recent disasters of the French arms, +was a frontier town. Those disasters, he felt, could be effectually +repaired only by a brilliant feat of arms, at once useful to the +state, and flattering to the national pride. Upon such a one he +resolved. Calais, now upwards of two centuries in possession of +the English, to the great humiliation of France, was the object +of destined attack. Skilled in the stratagems of war, the Duke +contrived, by a series of able manoeuvres, to avert suspicion of his +real design, until, on the 1st January 1558, he suddenly appeared +before the ramparts of Calais. The siege that ensued has been often +narrated. It terminated, after an obstinate resistance, in the +capitulation of the garrison, which had scarcely been executed, when +an English fleet appeared off the port, bearing succours that came +too late. The triumph excited indescribable astonishment and joy +throughout France. It was a splendid revenge for the defeat of St +Quintin, and produced a marked change in the sentiments of several +foreign potentates, who believed that reverse to have prostrated the +French power for some time to come. The Grand Signior offered the +co-operation of his fleet, and the German princes hastened, with +redoubled good-will, the levies that had been demanded of them. Pope +Paul IV., when congratulating the French ambassador, pronounced the +highest eulogiums on Guise, and declared the conquest of Calais +preferable to that of half England. At court, the partisans of the +Constable were in dismay, and tried to lessen the merit of the +victor by attributing its success to the adoption of a plan sketched +by Coligny. But even if this were true, the merit of the execution +was all the Duke's own. Upon the heels of this triumph, quickly +followed the capture of Guines and the evacuation by the English of +the castle of Hames, their last possession in the county of Oye. "In +less than a month," says M. de Bouillé, "Francis of Lorraine had +accomplished the patriotic but difficult enterprise so often and +fruitlessly attempted during two centuries, and had cancelled the +old proverb applied in France, in those days, to generals of slight +merit, of whom it was derisively said, 'He will never drive the +English out of France.'" + +Henry II., accompanied by the Dauphin, the Cardinals of Lorraine and +Guise, and several nobles of the court, made a journey to Calais, +which he entered with great pomp. The object of this expedition was +to sustain the courage and zeal of the troops, who endured much +fatigue and hardship, in that inclement season and in the midst +of the marshes. The King also wished to testify his gratitude to +his lieutenant-general, showing him great confidence, referring to +him all who requested audience on business, and presenting him, +in the most flattering terms, with a house in Calais. The Duke +returned with Henry to Paris, where great feasts and rejoicings +were held in his honour, and, on occasion of the Dauphin's marriage +with Mary Queen of Scots, which shortly followed, Guise filled, in +the absence of Montmorency, the office of grand-master, which he +long had coveted. Concurrently, however, with this great apparent +favour, Henry was secretly uneasy at the power and pretensions of +the family of Guise, and maintained a constant and confidential +correspondence with their inveterate enemy the Constable de +Montmorency. On the other hand the Guises were on their guard, +labouring to countermine and defeat the intrigues levelled against +them. Urged on by his brother, and feeling that, in their position, +if they did not advance they must recede, the Duke directed all +his efforts to an effectual concentration in his own hands of the +entire military power of the kingdom. Should he fail in this, he at +least was resolved to leave none in those of his rivals. By this +time the progress of the Reformed religion in France had attracted +great attention. It was an abomination in the eyes of Henry; and of +this the Duke and Cardinal took advantage to work the downfall of +d'Andelot, brother of Coligny, and colonel-general of the French +infantry, the only military commander who at that moment caused +them any uneasiness. Accused of heresy, and summoned before the +King, who received him kindly, and, expecting he would so reply as +to disconcert his enemies, "commanded him to declare, in presence +of all the court, his belief with respect to the holy sacrifice of +mass; d'Andelot proudly replied that his gratitude for the King's +favours doubtless rendered entire devotedness incumbent upon him, +but that his soul belonged to God alone; that, enlightened by +the torch of Scripture, he approved the doctrines of Calvin, and +considered mass a horrible profanation and an abominable invention +of man." Furious at what he deemed a blasphemy, the King, who +was at supper, snatched a basin from the table and hurled it at +d'Andelot; but it struck the Dauphin. He was then tempted, says +one of his historians, to pierce the offender with his sword, but +finally contented himself with sending him to prison, and the post +of colonel-general was bestowed upon Montluc, an ex-page of Guise's +grandfather, and a devoted partisan of the house of Lorraine. This +brave Gascon officer at first scrupled to accept it, for he feared +to incur the hatred of the Colignys and the Constable. Wily and +wary, like most of his countrymen, he declared himself willing to +serve as a private soldier under the Duke, but modestly declined the +command offered him. The King insisting, he alleged a dysentery, +as rendering him incapable of the needful activity. This and other +objections being overruled, he took possession of his important +command, and speedily proved himself worthy to hold it--notably at +the siege of Thionville on the Moselle. This fortress, one of the +strongest the Imperialists owned, was defended by Jean de Caderebbe, +a brave gentleman of Brabant, at the head of three thousand picked +men. The Dukes of Guise and Nevers, and Marshal Strozzi, were the +leaders of the besieging army; Montluc joined them on the eve of +the opening of the batteries, and did excellent service. On the +fifteenth day of the siege, Guise was in the trenches, talking +to Strozzi, on whose shoulder his hand rested, when the Marshal +was struck by an arquebuse ball, a little above the heart. On +feeling himself hit, "_Ah! tête Dieu, Monsieur_," exclaimed this +brave and able general, "the King loses to-day a good servant, +and your Excellency also." He did himself no more than justice. +Guise was deeply affected, but, repressing his emotion, he tried +to fix Strozzi's thoughts on religion. The veteran's death was +less exemplary than his life; he died in profession of unbelief; +and Guise, much scandalised, but perhaps doubly furious at the +thought that the soul as well as the body of his old comrade had +perished by the sudden manner of his death, prosecuted the siege +with fresh ardour, eager for revenge, and suppressing for the +moment, as far as he was able, the disastrous news, which could not +but produce a most unfavourable impression. Valiantly seconded by +Montluc and Vieilleville, on the 22d June, two days after Strozzi's +death, he received the capitulation of the garrison. His triumph +was well earned. Besides the exhibition, throughout the siege, of +the genius and inventive resource that constitute a general of +the highest order, he had toiled and exposed himself like a mere +subaltern, constantly under fire, personally superintending the +pioneers and artillerymen, and rarely sleeping; so that it was no +wonder (considering he had not had a single night's rest during the +operations against Thionville) that on the 1st July, when preparing +for the siege of the rich little town of Arlon, he complained of +being very drowsy, and left Montluc to invest the place--himself +retiring to bed in a cottage, and giving orders to let him sleep +till he awoke of himself. "It is very quick work," he observed, +crossing himself, when he was the next day informed, in reply to +his inquiry whether the batteries had opened fire, that Montluc had +surprised and taken the place in the night. + +Whilst Guise was thus not only rendering great services himself, but +bringing forward leaders whose exploits honoured the French arms, +in other quarters affairs went less favourably for France. Near +Dunkirk, Marshal Thermes was beaten and taken prisoner, and Guise, +whose frequent lot it was to repair the blunders or misfortunes +of less capable generals, marched to Picardy; on the frontier of +which province, at a grand review passed by Henry II., the Duke's +son and successor, Henry, Prince of Joinville, then but eight years +old, appeared for the first time in public, with his cousin, the +Count of St Vallier, son of the Duke d'Aumale. Accompanied by their +preceptors and some other gentlemen, and mounted on ponies, they +rode through the ranks, until they reached the troops commanded +by Montluc. "_Cà, çà_, my little princes," exclaimed that brave +captain, "dismount; for I was brought up in the house of which you +are issue, which is the house of Lorraine, where I was page, and +I will be the first to put arms in your hands." The two cousins +dismounted, and Montluc, taking off the little silken _robons_ +that covered their shoulders, placed a pike in the hand of each of +them. "I hope," he said, "that God will give you grace to resemble +your fathers, and that I shall have brought you good fortune by +being the first to invest you with arms. To me they have hitherto +been favourable. May God render you as brave as you are handsome, +and sons of very good and generous fathers." After this species of +martial baptism, the two children, conducted by Montluc, passed +along the front of the troops, objects of the admiration and good +wishes of men and officers. A few months later, one of them was +dead; the other, heir to most of the great qualities, whether good +or bad, that distinguished his race, lived to prosecute, and at one +time almost to realise, the most ambitious designs his father and +grandfather had conceived. The fair-haired boy of the review at +Pierrepont, was the stern _Balafré_ of the wars of the League. + +The spring of the year 1559 found the Guises in marked disfavour +with the King. The great services of the Duke, the capture of +Calais and Thionville, and the many other feats of arms by which he +had reduced the power of the enemy, at moments when it was about +to be fatal to France, were insufficient to counterbalance the +alarm felt by Henry II. at his and the Cardinal's influence and +ambition. The star of the Constable was in the ascendant. Chiefly +by his intervention, a disadvantageous peace was concluded, and, +at his request, d'Andelot was recalled to court. Montmorency and +Coligny triumphed. The efforts of the Protestants combined with +court intrigues to ruin the credit of the house of Lorraine. The +two brothers were attacked on all sides, and in every manner: +epigram and satire furiously assailed them, and they were denounced +as aspiring, one to the tiara, the other to the crown of France. +However doubtful--or at least remote from maturity--these projects +were, they were yet sufficiently probable for their denunciation to +produce the desired effect on the mind of Henry, already writhing +impatiently under the domination of the Guises, against whom he was +further prejudiced by his mistress, the Duchess de Valentinois, +(Diane de Poitiers,) still influential, in spite of her threescore +winters. Never had circumstances been so menacing to the fortunes of +the Guises; and perhaps it was only the subtle and temporising line +of conduct they adopted in this critical conjuncture, that saved +them from utter disgrace and downfall. Things had been but a short +time in this state, and already, from the skilful manoeuvres of the +Cardinal, their side of the balance acquired an upward inclination, +when the whole aspect of affairs was changed by the death of Henry +II. With the reign of his feeble successor, there commenced for the +restless princes of Lorraine a new epoch of power and renown. + + + + +MY PENINSULAR MEDAL. + +BY AN OLD PENINSULAR. + + +PART VIII.--CHAPTER XIX. + +Now for the fight. On the morning of the battle of Toulouse we left +Grenade. It was known amongst us that the battle was coming off; and +we started in the expectation of passing the night either in the +city itself, or in its immediate vicinity. We ascended towards the +city by the left bank of the Garonne, but reached a pontoon bridge, +which enabled us to cross to the right bank, where the main body of +our troops was posted. The fight had commenced. We heard the firing +as we advanced; and while we approached the scene of action, it +became gradually louder and more distinct. Immediately in the rear +of the British lines we halted, not knowing the ground, and withdrew +from the road into a field which was close at hand, in order that +our numerous party might not prove an obstacle to passing troops, +ammunition, or artillery. Our forces held the low ground, and +closed, in a sort of semicircle, around the heights occupied by the +French. As it so happened that I was not only at this battle, but +in it, I here beg leave to relate the circumstances which led to my +finding myself in a position where, as a civilian, I was so little +wanted, and so much out of my ordinary sphere of duty. + +Sancho did it all. We were sitting upon our nags, speculating upon +the fight, and seeing all that could be seen, till we began to +think we knew something of what was going on. At this moment rode +up from the rear, coming across the fields, an old officer of rank, +a major-general, well known at headquarters, without aide-de-camp, +orderly, or any kind of attendant. He inquired eagerly, "Where are +the troops?--Where are the troops?" We pointed forward; little +was visible but trees. He looked rather at a loss, but turned his +horse's head in the direction we had indicated. That villain Sancho, +seeing another horse go on, snorted, and pulled at the bridle. He +was tired of standing still. I, ever indulgent to Sancho, followed +the old general, and soon overtook him. "I believe I know the +position of the troops, sir. Will you give me leave to show you?" + +"Thank you, sir, thank you," said he; "I shall really be much +obliged." + +We rode on till we reached a British regiment, drawn up in line. +With renewed acknowledgments he then took his leave. The air was +musical above our heads with whistling and humming missiles. I was +now fairly upon the ground, and didn't like to go back. + +There was a lull in the fight. The spectacle was singular. Some +firing was kept up on both sides, but not sufficient to obscure +the view of the French position, which rose immediately in front, +a bare range of hills, crowned by their redoubts. The atmosphere +was bright; and though the skirmishers on the declivity were +discoverable only by small white jets of smoke, as they fired from +time to time, every movement of the enemy on the summit, with the +sky for its background, was perfectly visible. I noticed a single +horseman, probably an aide-de-camp bearing orders, as distinct +and diminutive as if seen through the wrong end of a telescope. +You might perceive the very action of his horse, that laborious +up-and-down gallop of the French manége, which throws away so much +of the animal's strength, and sacrifices speed without securing +elegance. + +The combat, at this moment, was renewed, and our troops went to +work in earnest. The Spanish army ascended the hill to assault the +enemy's redoubts. This movement, at first, had all the regularity +of a review. But the redoubts opened their fire; as the Spaniards +moved up, the smoke rolled down; and, when the wind swept it away, +their broken bands were seen in precipitate retreat, followed by a +large body of the French, who swarmed out from their intrenchments. +Instantly, and just in front of me, our artillery opened upon the +pursuing foe. The round-shot plumped into their columns, knocking +up clods as high as a house; and the enemy, not relishing this +salutation, hastily fell back to their former position. Sancho +now became a dreadful plague. He had for some time been getting +unquiet, and, with the continual firing, he grew worse and worse. I +believe this was his first battle, as it was mine. Not content with +a little extra restiveness at every fresh discharge of artillery, +he had worked himself into a state of chronic excitement, and, at +intervals, attempted to bolt. It was clear I must get rid of Sancho, +or see no more of the fight; so I deposited him in a stable, under +care of a cottager, in the adjoining village. + +Still moving towards the left, along the base of the hill, I reached +a part of the British position, where a number of our troops were +waiting to storm the heights, when the flank movement against the +enemy's right, which was his weakest point, should be sufficiently +advanced. All at once I plumped upon "Cousin Tom," whom I had not +met since he embarked, three years before, a raw subaltern, at +Portsmouth. There he now stood, as large as life, rough and ugly, +at the head of his regiment, a regular "Old Peninsular;" and on him +had devolved the duty, as he gave me to understand, of "taking those +fellows up the hill." This service, I thought, would have fallen +to some officer of higher rank; but Tom explained. The regiment +having been reduced, either by losses or detachment, its numbers in +the field were small, and he, being the senior officer present, of +course had to "carry them up." "Come," said he, "we are going to +take a look at those monsieurs above there; you may as well go with +us." + +The proposal was coolly made, so I took it coolly. "With all my +heart," said I. "You know what is the feeling towards an amateur. +If he makes an ass of himself, he's laughed at; and if he gets hit, +they only say, it serves him right. If it's of any use, I'll go with +pleasure." + +"Use?" said Tom; "the greatest use. Why, I want to ask you twenty +questions about friends in England. Besides, you know, if I am +knocked over, you can pick me up." + +"Very well, then; and you can do the same for me." + +"No, no," said cousin Tom; "I don't promise that. Got my men to +attend to. If I am hit, you must take care of me. If you are hit, +you must take care of yoursel----Oh, that's the signal. Come along." +Away we went, up the hill. + +Rank and file--double-quick time--a capital pace for opening the +chest. Tom took it easy, trotting on at a steady pace, and assailing +me with a running fire of questions; while the row that had already +commenced above prevented my returning categorical replies. "Is +your father at sea now?"--Bang! from one of the big guns in the +French batteries right over our heads. "Got any brandy?"--A shout +from a thousand throats, in the rush and shock of a charge with +bayonets. "Had breakfast this morning?"--Pop! pop! pop! a running +fire of musketry. Pop! pop! pop! "Got any cigars?"--Bang! bang! the +big guns at it again. "When did you hear from your mother?" A new +sound, less loud and sudden, but, from its peculiarity, distinct +amidst the din; a spiteful, whirling, whizzing noise, ten thousand +skyrockets combined in one; not, though, like the skyrocket, first +loud, then less audible--quite the contrary. Commencing with a +faint and distant hiss, it grew louder and louder, came singing on, +nearer and nearer, till a shell dropped a few yards in front of our +column! The hiss was now an angry roar, like the blowing off of +steam. There lay the bottled demon, full in our path, threatening +instant destruction, and daring us to advance. Our column halted. +"Hurra! my lads," cried Cousin Tom, waving his sword. "Come along, +old Five-and-threepennies. Push by it at once, before it _spreads_." +The game old Five-and-threepennies gave a shout--rushed forward--got +by in time; each yelping and capering as he passed the fizzing foe. +Bang went the shell. For a few seconds I was stone deaf. Never felt +such an odd sensation. Not the deafness, but the return of hearing. +First, perfect silence in the midst of the turmoil--then the crack! +crack! bang! bang! as if you had suddenly flung open a door. Not a +man of us was hurt. "Got an English paper?" said Tom. + +"I've got some intelligence for you, old chap, not in this morning's +_Times_. Just look up there, in front." + +The view in front was striking and picturesque. Right above us, +dimly visible through the smoke, on the verge of the platform or +table-land which we were mounting to assault, appeared a regiment +of French infantry, enough of them to eat us up, advancing upon +us with an irregular fire, and led on by their colonel. He rode a +showy horse; and, hat in hand, waved them on, while his white hairs +streamed in the wind, and his whole bearing announced the brave old +soldier. "We must form line," said Tom. It was done forthwith, with +steadiness, order, and rapidity. "Make ready--present--fire." Crack! +went all the muskets together. I saw the gallant old colonel, with +outspread arms, tumbling from his horse.--"Charge!" We rushed upon +the foe; but, when the smoke had cleared away, found no foe to fight +withal. Nothing was visible, save their knapsacks in the distance, +poppling up and down in the smoke, as they scampered off. We still +continued advancing in pursuit, and now were fairly in for it, half +choked with dust and sulphur. If it be asked, how far I personally +contributed to the triumphs of that glorious day, I beg leave to +answer:--Unquestionably my arm performed prodigies of valour; of +that there neither is, nor can be, the shadow of a doubt. But as I +should have felt it extremely difficult to give a distinct account +of my exploits if questioned on the day, why, of course you won't +expect it now, after the lapse of six-and-thirty years. Suffice it +to say, we made good our footing on the platform, drove the enemy +from their position, occupied it ourselves, took possession of +their redoubts, and formed, with the rest of the British forces, +on the summit of the heights. The day was our own. But there was +one unfortunate circumstance to damp our exultation; Cousin Tom was +missing. A sergeant now informed me he was wounded, and had gone to +the rear. + + +CHAPTER XX. AND LAST. + +As victory had crowned our efforts, and my valuable services were +now no longer required, I determined to look for Cousin Tom, and +walked down the hill for that purpose. At its base, I entered a long +thicket or shrubbery. There, amongst the trees, I found several +wounded men, whom their comrades were removing off the ground. +No one could give me the information that I sought; no one knew +anything of Cousin Tom. Saw a sergeant sitting on a bank, who, I +soon discovered, was also wounded. He knew no such officer; had seen +no one answering the description. "What's your injury, sergeant?" + +"A musket-ball in my ankle, sir." + +"Well, but hadn't I better help you to a place of shelter?" + +"Much obliged to you, sir; but I couldn't walk, even with your +support. I'd rather wait till my turn comes to be carried, if you've +no objections, sir. Much obliged to you, equally all the same, sir." + +"As you please. Can I render you any assistance? What can I do for +you?" + +"If you'd have the kindness, sir, perhaps you'd be so good and take +off my gaiter. I can't take it off myself, sir, though I've tried; +it does hurt me so when I stoop forward. I'm afraid the bleeding +will spoil it, sir; and then I shall be forced to take out a new +pair." + +Having performed this office, and administered a little brandy both +topically and constitutionally, I once more ascended the hill, +thinking it possible Cousin Tom might be somewhere nearer the scene +of action. I inquired and looked in every direction, but without +success. Where are you, Cousin Tom? This time my steps brought me +into one of the redoubts, which had been carried by our troops. +When I entered, there were not a dozen men in it. Sunset was near, +and everything over for the day. Yet just at that moment, for what +reason I know not, perhaps for a freak, the enemy thought fit to +open upon this all but unoccupied post, from their own lines nearer +the city, with a heavy fire of shot and shell. Bang went a shell, +knocking up bushels of earth and mire. Plump came a round-shot, +into the mud parapet of the redoubt. It was no use moving; one +place was as hot as another. So we had nothing to do for it but to +stand still and exchange grins till the pelting was over. I then +took my leave for the evening. The day indeed was drawing to a +close as I descended the hill; and happily I succeeded in reaching +the village, and finding the cottage where Sancho had been left in +charge, just after it became pitch-dark. A cheering light streamed +through the cottage window; and, on entering, I found comfortably +seated by the blazing hearth a veterinary surgeon, who was there in +charge of wounded horses. He very civilly informed me there were +two good beds, so all was right with respect to accommodation; +and, more civilly still, invited me to partake of his supper, +which was boiling on the fire. Not having eaten a morsel since my +early breakfast at Grenade, and having just discovered that I was +enormously hungry, I accepted the invitation with glee, took my +seat, and cast many a glance at the boiling, bubbling, and steaming +kettle. Presently the contents were turned out into a large, +old-fashioned tureen, and displayed to my eager gaze a compound of +various materials, the chief of which were a fowl, and--what d'ye +think?--a pig's heart. Supper excellent. Bed ditto. + +Next day early I resumed my search for Cousin Tom, but still, +alas! without success. Went from village to village, inquired +from house to house, searched the whole neighbourhood. Lots of +wounded officers, but not the man I sought. Throughout the day my +search was unsuccessful. Towards night I was passing through a +street of scattered houses, a sort of hamlet, and was beginning to +think of securing a lodging and a dinner. Wolves rouse at sunset; +and I distinctly felt one gnawing at my stomach. At this painful +juncture, much to my satisfaction, at the door of a cottage I +discovered a jolly acquaintance, whom I beg to introduce as my "Fat +Friend." He was one of the smartest clerks amongst our civilians, +and probably the youngest; under, rather than over fifteen; in +short, a chubby boy, who somehow or other had broken away from his +mother's apron-strings, and obtained a post, which he filled in a +way that did him credit. In one respect he was precocious; namely, +that he soon proved himself up to all the waggery and villainy +of headquarters. Moreover, he had a vast idea of maintaining his +importance, and could take his own part; was touchy in anything +that affected his manhood; and, if you offended him, punched your +head; brushed up to fine women, with a marked preference for a +bouncer. Yet, after all, he was but an overgrown boy, and often +afforded us sport by his mannish airs. "Ah, Fatty, is that you? Glad +to see you. Got any room?" + +"Plenty, plenty," said Fatty; "good entertainment for man and horse. +Glad to see you; and glad to see the pony. Here, Francisco, take +Sancho, and give him some corn. Come in, old fellow. Sit down, and +make yourself comfortable. Dreadful dull here--horrid! Left in +charge of the departmental boxes." + +"I say, Fatty; have you dined?" + +"Dined? We dined an hour ago." Fatty saw his advantage, and was +resolved to make the most of it. + +"Well, what did you have for dinner? Got any cold beef?" + +"Why, where have you been?" said Fatty; "haven't seen you these two +days. Oh, I suppose you got into Toulouse. Lots of fine gals?" + +"Answer my question, and I'll answer yours." + +"Come out, old fellow. Let's take a turn through village before it +gets dark. Dinner? Why, a turkey. Sorry you were not with us to +partake. Not a morsel left. Picked the old gobbler clean, drumsticks +and all." + +"I wish you'd let me send your fellow for some beef." + +"Oh yes," said Fatty, "send him by all means. Sorry to inform you +it's no use, though. Not a morsel of rations to be had; not a +biscuit. What, haven't you _dined_?" I saw he meant to have his +joke, so made no reply. + +There was a dodge, though; my remedy was in my pocket. Brought out a +cigar, one of my choice grenadiers; struck a light, blew a fragrant +cloud, took it easy. The rich odour diffused itself through the +apartment. + +Fatty, knowing in cigars, soon discovered that mine was no common +weed. He first drew a sniff; then gave utterance to his emotions in +a coaxing and admiring "Oh!" I took no notice. + +"Come, old fellow," said Fatty; "hand out one of those." + +"Lost your cigar-case?" + +"No, no; nonsense. Come, give us one; that's a good chap." + +Failing in his request, Fatty sat silent and fidgetty. The first +finished, I lit a second. + +Fatty watched his opportunity; made a vicious grab at the case. I +was too quick for him--knew his ways. Down he sat again; tried all +the varieties of entreating, threatening, bullying, wheedling, till +cigar the second was burnt out. When I extracted the third, Fatty +could stand it no longer; made a rush, and commenced a ferocious +assault, pitching it in, right and left. The punches came so fierce +and fast, I was at length compelled, in self-defence, to administer +a slight persuader, and Fatty found it convenient to resume his +seat. He sat awhile, sulky and all but blubbering; then hastily +rose, and stalked out of the room in high dudgeon. I presently found +him stationed at the front door with his hands in his pocket, very +pensive and dignified. Shortly after, he slipped into the house; +Francisco appeared with the tablecloth and a bottle of wine; then +came half a turkey and the cold beef. After dinner we clubbed our +resources, and closed the evening with whisky punch and prime cigars. + +Next morning early, started afresh in search of Cousin Tom. Near +Toulouse, fell in with Gingham--told him my difficulties. "Come up +the hill," said Gingham; "I'll go with you. There, no doubt, we +shall find your cousin's regiment." On reaching the summit of the +heights, we found our way in the first instance into the Colombette +redoubt; the same in which, on the day of the fight, the brave +Forty-second had been suddenly overwhelmed by a superior force, +and had lost four-fifths of its numbers. Within the redoubt were +standing two or three privates; they belonged to the Forty-second. +The uniform at once reminded me of Corporal Fraser, the trusty +companion of my march to headquarters. I asked one of the privates, +did he know the Corporal. "He joined about three weeks ago, sir." + +"Hope he's well. Where is he now?" + +"He's there, sir," said the man, pointing to the parapet of the +redoubt. I looked, but saw no one. + +"The earth," said Gingham, "seems to have been recently stirred +there. That mound, I think, is not many days old." Then, addressing +the soldier, "your regiment suffered a heavy loss. Is that where you +buried after the action?" + +"That's the place, sir." The man then walked away, as if little +disposed for conversation. + +We did not pause to calculate how many bodies would fill a space +commensurate with the length, breadth, and altitude of the soil +displaced. There lay the slain of a gallant regiment, in the redoubt +they had so nobly won. There lay Corporal Fraser, who, in all the +difficulties of our march, had shown himself trustworthy, fearless, +intelligent, and energetic. He had longed to join ere the day of +combat, and had found a soldier's grave. + +We discovered at length the sergeant who had informed me of my +cousin's wound. He now pointed to a large house, near the thicket at +the bottom of the hill. While searching for Cousin Tom on the day of +the fight, I was close to that same house, but without seeing it. +From our present elevated position it was distinctly visible, though +not from the low ground, amongst trees and underwood. + +Our approach to the house led us through the thicket. While making +our way among the trees, we both, Gingham and I, came to a halt at +the same instant. The sight which arrested our steps was new to +Gingham, not to me. I saw, on that spot, an object that I had seen +two days before. The sergeant whom I had then found wounded was +still sitting there, on the same bank, in the same attitude! There +he had sat the whole time, overlooked by the bearers, and unable to +move. Viewed at the distance of a few paces, his aspect scarcely +appeared changed. It was the identical figure--I remembered him +at once. But on a nearer inspection, the alteration was but too +manifest. His eye was glazed, and half shut. His face was that of a +corpse. He sat up, like a dead man galvanised. "What, still here, +sergeant? Has nobody come to remove you yet." + +He attempted to speak--paused--at length found utterance. "Sorry I +didn't accept your offer, sir." His voice was low and husky, but +distinct. + +"Come," said Gingham, "you mustn't refuse this time. We'll soon +carry you into the house just by." + +"Thank you, sir; thank you, gentlemen. Would you have the kindness +though--I should be sorry to lose my gaiter." + +The gaiter secured, we prepared to lift the sufferer from his seat, +and he on his part made a feeble effort to rise. The attempt brought +on a gush of pain. For a moment, his features were distorted with +intolerable anguish; the next, he fainted in our arms. + +"Now then," said Gingham, thrusting back into his sidepocket a small +flask which he had just drawn out. "Now then; away with him at once, +before he recovers. Come, Mr Y----; you take his shoulders, I'll +take his legs. It may save him further pain." + +We bore the sufferer, still senseless, to the house. Gingham, not +having a hand to spare, banged at the door with his foot. It was +opened by Mr Staff-surgeon Pledget, who bowed on recognising us, but +looked rather perplexed at the unexpected addition to his duties. + +Pledget gave instant directions for the accommodation of the wounded +man, and informed me, in reply to my inquiries for Cousin Tom, that +he had an officer under his care, answering to my description. +Pledget appeared bewildered, and stood with us in the passage a few +moments, without speaking. At length he opened the door of a small +chamber close by, and begged us to enter. He placed chairs for us, +and seated himself on the bed. "I'm rather exhausted," said he. + +"I fear after such a fight," said Gingham, "your duties must be +heavy indeed." + +"Oh yes," said Pledget, looking distressed and rather wild. "I have +had much work, and little assistance; a long spell, too." + +"Why, you began, I suppose," replied Gingham, "early on the day of +the fight." + +"Yes," said Pledget; "and I've been at it ever since. Let me see: +two days and two nights, isn't it? Yes, and now going on for the +third. Here have I been operating, bandaging, taking up arteries, +taking off arms and legs, night and day, without time to lie down, +almost without a moment to eat. In fact," said he, looking about the +room like a man lost, "this is the first time I've sat down these +eight-and-forty hours." + +Pledget's look bore full testimony to his toils. Three weeks' +illness could hardly have wrought a greater change. Nor was his +appearance mended by his garb. He wore a sort of operating gown +similar to that employed in dissecting; a long pinafore with +sleeves, protecting the whole person from the chin to the feet, tied +round the middle, and closing with a fold behind. The front was +spotted in every part with jets of blood from wounded arteries. Some +of the stains had dried on, and blackened where they dried; others, +more recent, were still moist and crimson. Blood was on his unshaven +and haggard face; and on his hands, too, wore marks of blood. + +Gingham eyed him with a look of deep concern. "I really fear," said +Gingham, "you've been quite overdone." + +"I did hope, before this," replied Pledget, "to be relieved by other +gentlemen of my own department. I have but one medical assistant, +and he, at this moment, can afford me no help, for I have been +forced to leave him sitting with his finger on a wounded artery; and +if he takes it off but for a few seconds, the major's a dead man." + +Pledget now looked like a man that can't remember what's next. "Oh," +said he, in all absent tone, "so peace is really concluded. Come, Mr +Y----, suppose we go and look for your cousin. His case, I'm happy +to say, is not serious. The ball will be extracted this evening, and +then, I hope, he will do well." + +Pledget spoke, but did not stir. "By the bye," he added, "you know +Captain Gabion? I think you do. Oh yes, I recollect; we were all +three fellow-passengers from Lisbon to Falmouth. No, no, what am +I saying? From Falmouth to Lisbon. His case is past hope. He can +hardly live through the night." + +Gingham and I rose at once from our seats. For the moment, the +imminent danger of a man we so highly esteemed, expelled from my +thoughts even Cousin Tom. Pledget also rose, as if to lead the way, +but again lapsed into forgetfulness. His mind was evidently worn +out, as well as his body. "Well," said he, "I'm glad we've got +Toulouse.--Gentlemen, I beg your pardon. This way, if you please; up +stairs." + +He led the way. Every open door, as we passed through the spacious +mansion, discovered a room crowded with wounded and dying men, in +beds, or on the ground. Or, if we saw not into the apartment, sounds +were heard, which told of anguish and laceration within. We were +conducted by Pledget into a large room on the first floor, filled, +like the others, with every form of suffering. Some, slightly +wounded, sat round the fire, on which cookery was proceeding in +kettles of every size and shape. One officer, bandaged round the +head, had become delirious. He alternately laughed and whimpered, +muttered and sang. Another sat near him, moaning, with his arm in +a sling. A spent cannon ball had smashed the bones from the elbow +to the wrist, without inflicting an external wound. Every bed had +an occupant; and many lay upon the floor, with only a blanket under +them. My eye glanced round the apartment, and lighted on the pinched +features and pallid visage of Captain Gabion. + +He lay on his back in bed. Death was legible in his aspect. His eyes +were all but shut; but, from time to time, a convulsive twitching +of the muscles suddenly expanded them to their full width. To all +appearance, he was perfectly insensible. His breathing was irregular +and laborious; but the expression of his countenance, except when +disfigured by the spasms which occasionally shot through his frame, +and jerked him from head to foot, was, as in health, calm and +dignified. Strange indeed were the vicissitudes, strange was the +contrast, between the rigid tranquillity of one moment, and the +awful distortion of the next. Now, it was the quivering play of +features pulled by muscular contraction; now, the monumental repose +of marble. + +"I fear," whispered Gingham to Pledget, "you view the case +unfavourably." Pledget hopelessly raised his eyes. + +"The Captain has been insensible," said Pledget, "ever since he was +brought in; and probably will continue so till he expires." + +We turned from this sad spectacle, without exchanging a syllable. +A handkerchief was whisked in my face. I looked round; there +was the man I wanted. In the next bed, tucked in, with smiling +face, little changed since we parted, a splendid specimen of the +ugly-handsome--those fellows that make the biggest holes in ladies' +hearts--lay Cousin Tom. Gingham, my object attained, forthwith +took a temporary leave--had urgent business in Toulouse--an +appointment--would return as soon as possible. + +"Fine fellow, that" said Cousin Tom, craning round, and nodding at +Captain Gabion. + +"Well, Tom," said I; "what's the matter with YOU? What brought YOU +here?" + +"Oh, not much; nothing," replied Tom, curling out his lips +contemptuously, like a disappointed man; "only a musket-shot. It +won't get me a step, I'm afraid; no, nor a pension neither." + +"Well, but how was it? When was it? We lost you in a moment." + +"I'll tell you just how it happened," said Tom. "You saw the old +colonel knocked over. Ah! Don't touch the bed; that's a good fellow. +Well. Directly after, you know, we charged. I was running on; felt +a smart crack in the small of my leg. Thought it was a stone; took +no notice. A few paces further, though, found I couldn't walk. The +sergeant looked at my leg; said 'You're wounded, sir.' Wounded I +was, sure enough; and disabled, too. Got carried to the rear; placed +myself in the doctor's--" + +Here Tom suddenly knit his brows. His colour changed in an instant +from florid to livid; his whole face was distorted with pain. +Clapping his handkerchief to his mouth, he chewed away at it with +all his might, while big drops of sweat started out on his forehead, +and he drew in breath till the bedclothes heaved. Next moment he was +himself again. + +Once more Tom nodded at the next bed. "Known him long? The doctor +knows him." + +"We came over from England, all three of us in a ship." + +"Doctor was out, though, in one thing," said Cousin Tom. "Told you +he was insensible ever since he came in. No such thing; this morning +he revived; for about an hour seemed quite himself. Told me how he +got hit." + +"Then tell me. I must communicate with his friends in England." + +"Well," replied Tom, "the Captain wasn't on duty here at +headquarters; was doing some field-works on the left bank of the +river, to be ready for Soult in case of his bolting again for the +south. He heard, though, that the fight was coming off; so rode +in on the morning. Found out there was to be a flank movement to +the left; thought he might as well explore the line of march; went +forward alone. Passed through the thicket on foot; made his way +from one end to the other. When he reached the further extremity, +just where our men got such a pounding afterwards from the guns +on the heights, he looked out for the enemy's skirmishers; saw no +one; thought he might as well go a little further. Just then our +batteries at the right opened on the French position; some of our +shots flew too high, and came clean over the hill into the lane, +just exactly where he was standing."--Indeed! I thought of Captain +Gabion's dream.--"Well; he saw one coming; didn't trouble himself; +it seemed spent. Just when he thought it was going to stop, it +fetched a pitch; took him in the side. He was found when our troops +advanced, and brought in here." At this moment the pain returned. +Tom again made wry faces, took another chew at his handkerchief, and +soon recovered as before. + +"Well, Tom; I'm a leisure man. What can I do for you? Is there +anything you want?--anything I can get you?" + +Cousin Tom looked very much as if there was something he did want, +yet was backward to speak. "Why," said he, "I suppose by this time +you can get into Toulouse. I wish you would make inquiries; try +and find me some--But never mind; it's of no use. The ball will be +extracted this evening, and to-morrow I shall go in myself." + +"Nonsense, nonsense; I'll go this instant." + +"Don't be too sure of that, though," said Tom. "Yesterday morning +I tried it. Told the servant to have my mule ready; got my things +on while the doctor was sawing away on the other floor; slipped +down stairs; gave him the go-by. Mounted--rode to the top of the +hill--was riding down into the city--almost rode into a French +piquet." + +"No fear of that now, Tom; the city is ours. I saw the French troops +marching out. Come, tell us, old fellow. What is it you fancy? +Anything the doctor sanctions, you know. A quarter of mutton?--a +dozen of pigeons?--some prime French sausages?--a bushel or so of +oysters? What do you say to a brace of biddies?" + +"Oh, no!--oh, no!" said Tom, as if the very mention of biddies made +him sick. "We were always in advance; got fowls and turkeys till we +hated the sight of them." + +"Any dish from a French cuisine, then?" + +"Oh, no--oh, no! Nothing French, nothing Frenchified. What I +want, if it's to be got at all, is not to be got good, except in +England--or the West Indies." + +"Well, but, you know, Bordeaux is open; West India produce has come +into the country by ship-loads. What is it? Come, just tell us, old +chap, and I'll go and get it for you at once, if it's to be had in +Toulouse." + +Tom was not so well as he looked; and there was evidently something +for which, like other sick persons, he was inwardly pining. Now that +I had held out a prospect of its attainment, his cheek flushed, and +his eye gleamed with feverish eagerness. + +"Well, then," said Tom, "I wish you would try and get me--but it's +no use; it's a shame to bother you.--I say, though, can you spare +the time? Have you really nothing to do? Upon your honour?--I've +been longing for them, day and night, ever since I got here. Oh, if +you could only get me--some tamarinds!" + +His eye, while he spoke, fixed full on mine. He watched my +countenance with the anxiety of a dying man when he makes his last +request. "I'll be off and try this instant," said I, though really +fearing there was little chance of success. + +"Oh, thank you--thank you!" cried Cousin Tom. I was going. +"Here--here! Come back! I want to speak to you!" I returned. "Old +fellow," said Tom, with a coaxing, eager grin, "make haste now, will +you? Bring 'em directly--that's a good chap." + +"Well, but, you know--if tamarinds can't be had for love or money, +is there nothing else?" + +"No, stupid--no! Tamarinds, I say; get me some tamarinds. What did +I tell you? Didn't I tell you tamarinds? Now then; what are you +waiting for? Cut away, and be hanged to you! Be off!--be off!" + +I entered the ancient and very interesting city of Toulouse, and +rushed through streets choked with cars of wounded men, in search +of tamarinds. The search was tedious, and far from satisfactory. +I inquired at all the likeliest shops; found only two where +they professed to sell tamarinds. The samples were similar: a +made-up, sticky mess; a black, nauseous electuary, with a beastly +pharmaceutical odour, and barely the flavour of tamarinds. + +It was no pleasant thought returning to poor Tom with a big gallipot +of this filthy compound stowed in each of my coat pockets. Yet, +though bad thus to baulk him, it was worse to keep him in suspense; +so I started on my return with all speed, and, in my speed, came +full butt against a passenger, who hugged me like a wrestler, to +prevent a mutual capsize. + +"Well, Mr Y----! Glad to see you so active. Something of importance, +no doubt: official duty, I suppose." + +It was Gingham! I told him my troubles, my pursuit in behalf of +Cousin Tom, and my disappointment. Had searched all Toulouse, and +could find no good tamarinds. + +"Shall be happy to supply you," said Gingham, "in any quantity your +cousin can require. Got a whole kegful--capital. Always take some +with me when I visit the Continent. Got them on Fish-street Hill." +We walked off forthwith to Gingham's quarters. + +I was speedily on my return to Cousin Tom, with Gingham for +my companion, and a good jar of prime, sweet, wholesome, +unsophisticated tamarinds. On approaching Tom's bed, I held up the +jar in triumph. Tom raised himself without saying a word, tucked his +handkerchief under his chin, and sat up, poor fellow, like a child, +with eyes half-closed and mouth half-open, eager to be fed. In went +a spoonful. The next instant--bolt!--it was gone! What a swallow! He +sat as before, ready for another. A second allowance vanished with +equal speed. Down it goes! Why, it's like feeding a young rook!--Tom +now laid himself down again, exhausted. "Here," said he; and made me +a present of a handful of tamarind stones. "Now put a good lot in +that jug, and fill it up with water." + +While the drink was mixing, an unusual sound called our attention to +the adjoining bed. Captain Gabion was fast sinking. His respiration, +laborious from the first, had now become painfully audible; in +fact, he did not breathe, he gasped. The convulsive movements had +ceased. His face retained its natural expression; but there was that +in his look which told us he was a dying man. I felt at the moment +an impression,--He is not insensible! His lips moved. Surely he is +trying to speak! He strove to fix his eyes on us, but could not. +I stooped down, observing his lips again in motion. Yes, he was +speaking. I caught only the words--"On the platform." + +"The Calvinet platform?" I whispered in reply. "Is that the spot +where you wish--?" + +Feebly, tremulously he pressed my hand, which had just before taken +his. I had caught his last request, then; a grave on the summit of +Mount Rave, the key of the French position, where the table-land, +crowned with redoubts, had been carried by our troops. His breathing +became gradually feebler and less perceptible. The moment when it +ceased entirely, no one present could determine. This only was +evident:--a minute before, he had given signs of life; and now, he +had passed into another world! + +Cousin Tom's bullet was extracted the same afternoon, with immediate +relief to the patient. During the operation I was present, by Tom's +request; and friendship, let me tell you, has more pleasing duties +than that of attending on such emergencies. Tom, however, made it as +agreeable as he could. Throughout the process he viciously stared +me full in the face, grinning most horribly from time to time, half +in agony, half in fun. When the forceps was produced, he caught a +glimpse of that terrific implement, and twisted his ugly mug into +such a comical grimace, that mine, spite of the solemnity of the +occasion, was screwed into a smile. Tom thereupon clenched his fist, +with a look that said ferociously, "Laugh again, and I'll punch your +eye." + +The bullet, doctor, had lodged between the bones of the leg, a +little above the ankle, and, I need not inform you, came out +rather flattened. Tom kept it as a bijou, in a red morocco case +made express by an artist in Toulouse. Tom called it his pill-box. +Neither bone was broken; but the strain of this disagreeable +visitant wedged in between them, and rending them apart, had +occasioned from time to time those awful twinges, which Tom assuaged +by taking a chew at his handkerchief. The enemy removed, he not only +found himself in a state of comparative ease, but was relieved from +the constitutional irritation which had begun to manifest itself +by hardness of pulse, dryness of the mouth, parched lips, a dull, +hectic, brickdust-coloured patch on each cheek, a feverish lustre of +the eye, and an enormous appetite for tamarinds. + +The operation, though, I ought to have said, was not performed +by Pledget, but by another army surgeon, who had arrived in the +course of the day, not before he was wanted. Poor Pledget was quite +done up. His powers, both mental and physical, had evidently been +over-taxed. He looked haggard and wild. Yet still, though relieved, +anxious about his cases, he wandered from room to room, and fidgeted +from one patient to another; standing a while in silence, with his +hands behind him, first by an amputation, then by a wounded artery, +then by a contusion, then by a broken head; while his care-worn +countenance expressed pleasure or pain, according to the symptoms. +As Cousin Tom was now in a dreadful fuss to be off for Toulouse, +Gingham and I applied to the newly-arrived surgeon, and consulted +him as to the removal. + +"I think, gentlemen," said he, "if no bad symptoms supervene in the +night, it may safely be effected to-morrow; that is, of course, with +proper care and precautions." + +"You are not afraid, sir," said Gingham, "that to-morrow may be too +early a day, then?" + +"Why, sir, to say the truth," replied the doctor, "if we had more +room here, better accommodations, and a less vitiated atmosphere, +I should say a later day would be better. But, under existing +circumstances, less evil, I think, is likely to arise from the +patient's removal, than from his remaining. In his case, what we +now have most to look to, is the general health. Keep that right, +and the wound, I hope, will do well. Therefore the sooner he is +withdrawn from the bad air, and the associations which surround him +here, the better for him." The doctor paused.--"Pray, sir," said he, +looking Gingham full in the face, as though intuitively knowing he +spoke to a real good fellow, "pray, sir, if you will permit me to +ask the question, is Mr Pledget a friend of yours?" + +"There are few men, sir," replied Gingham, "for whom I have a higher +regard, than for Mr Pledget." + +"Well, sir," said the doctor, "I feel rather uneasy about him. It's +a delicate thing to speak about. But you yourself must have noticed +how changed he is, by the labours of the last three days. In short, +to speak plainly, he requires to be looked after; and just at this +time, with so many wounded upon our hands, I hardly know whether we +could possibly give him the attention here which his case requires. +If it is neglected now, it may become serious. Would it be asking +too much, if I requested you to take charge of him into Toulouse?" + +"Take him with us this instant, sir," said Gingham; "or when you +please. If you approve, I'll have him with me in my own quarters." + +"I really, sir, feel obliged to you," said the doctor. And the +doctor looked as if he spoke from his heart. "Hope you understand, +though, what it is you are taking on your shoulders. For a few +days--not longer, I hope--he will require vigilant superintendence, +and, possibly, slight control. His case demands firmness, and +indulgence at the same time." + +"Yes, sir, I understand," said Gingham. "Shall he go with us now?" + +"I would rather have him under my eye," said the doctor, "till +to-morrow morning. Perhaps a night's rest may effect a favourable +change. In the interval, too, I shall have time to prepare his mind +for the removal." So it was settled. + +The next morning we returned to the chateau, for the purpose of +bringing in Pledget and Cousin Tom. Tom's patience, though, had not +lasted out till our arrival. At sunrise, again giving the doctor +the go-by, he had got on his things, crept down stairs, mounted his +mule, and taken himself off. In fact, he had got into Toulouse, +obtained a billet, and, snugly located in a respectable French +family, was prattling the vernacular, which he had at his fingers' +ends, before we arrived at the chateau to fetch him. + +It only remained, therefore, to remove Pledget. He, poor man, though +all the better for a night's rest and a clean shirt, still looked +very unlike himself. He had rested, indeed, but he had not slept; +and his medical colleague hinted to Gingham, ere we departed, that +the case still required vigilance and care. The state of Pledget's +mind, at this time, was singular; he had all at once become +excessively ceremonious. When we reached the garden gate he drew up; +insisted that we should both precede him in going out. Had Gingham +and I been equally punctilious, we should not have reached Toulouse +by dinner-time. + +Gingham had a matter upon his mind. Captain Gabion having expressed +a last wish respecting his funeral, Gingham had undertaken the whole +details, and some arrangements had been necessary at the chateau, +or our departed friend would speedily have been consigned, on the +spot, to a ready-made grave. Gingham mentioned the subject as we +rode along, and began stating what steps he had taken. Pledget, who +was ambling side by side with us on his mule, suddenly fell behind. +Coosey, previously admonished by Gingham, kept still further in the +rear. We waited till Pledget came up. + +"Why, Mr Pledget," said Gingham, "I thought we had lost you, sir." + +"Excuse me, sir," said Pledget, with gravity; "you are making a +confidential communication. Part of it I unintentionally overheard. +For this, an apology is due to both of you. Gentlemen, I most humbly +beg your pardon." + +We rode on. Presently, Pledget edged up alongside of me, as though +he had something important to communicate. + +"Mr Y----," said he, "I consider it the first duty which one +gentleman owes another, to avoid giving him needless offence." Not +exactly perceiving to what this observation tended, I could only bow +my acquiescence. + +"But if," continued Pledget, "an offence is actually given, then I +conceive the next duty is to make reparation by a humble apology." +Apology, it was evident, was now the uppermost idea in poor +Pledget's mind. + +"Well, sir," said I, seeking to divert his thoughts, "I think, in +such a case, regard should be had to the feelings of both parties. +And, judging by my own, I should say that, next to making an +apology, there are few things one would more wish to avoid than +receiving one." + +"And accordingly," said Gingham, "in the intercourse of gentlemen, +it rarely, very rarely occurs, that an actual apology is deemed +requisite. To signify an intention, to express a willingness to +apologise, is in most cases thought amply satisfactory. Manly +feeling forbids the rest; and honour itself exacts no more." Pledget +rode on awhile, absorbed in thought. + +"Mr Y----," he said at last, "I appreciate your sentiments, as well +as Mr Gingham's; and I perceive their drift. Allow me to say it, +your conduct is most generous. I really feel that you have just +cause to complain of mine; and, if it would pain you to receive +the apology, which is your due, allow me at least to express my +_willingness_, and, believe me, it was my _intention_, to apologise." + +"Mr Pledget, my dear sir, what possible need of apology between +you and me? What offence has been given or received? I know of +none--never dreamt of any." + +"Very handsome of you to say so, Mr Y----," replied Pledget. "But +what could be more inconsiderate than my conduct yesterday morning? +You _must_ have felt it; I know you did. You came to me with an +anxious inquiry respecting your wounded cousin; I spoke to you of +Captain Gabion. It was wrong, I own. Nay, not merely wrong, it was +unfeeling. I trust you will bear in mind my peculiar circumstances +at the time. I was overwhelmed, perplexed, bewildered, I----" + +Gingham now saw it was high time to interpose, and with much +adroitness gave a new turn to the conversation. But ere we were +housed in Toulouse, Pledget, addressing us alternately, and +continually discovering fresh grounds of self-accusation, had made +two or three more apologies. + +For a few days, sedulously and most kindly tended by Gingham, who +managed him admirably, and evinced equal tact and delicacy, Pledget +continued in a state of alternate depression and excitement, with +occasional hallucinations. He made apologies to all who came near +him; and, ere he quitted Gingham's quarters, had begged pardon, +again and again, of every servant in the household. From my first +conversation with Gingham on the steps of the hotel at Falmouth, I +always valued his acquaintance. But when I had seen him in this his +new character as Pledget's nurse, wise, thoughtful, vigilant, and +indulgent, I really grew proud of such a friend. + +Within a week Pledget was almost himself again; and long before he +quitted Toulouse, to embark for England at Bordeaux, he was fully +and permanently restored. + +Cousin Tom's, though, was a business of more time. He begged or +borrowed a formidable sapling, with a knob as big as his fist, +and was soon able to hobble about Toulouse, very much to his own +satisfaction. But the bones of his leg had been injured, though not +broken; and it was long before the wound got well, if it ever did. +I was with him many months after in London, when the Medical Board +sat to award gratuities and pensions to the wounded and disabled +officers of the Peninsular Army. Lucky, then, did the wight esteem +himself who had lost a limb or an eye. Tom was waiting for his +turn to go before the Board; I saw him two days previously. His, I +feared, was only a case for a gratuity; but Tom was determined to go +for a pension, and made sure of getting it. I ventured to express +my doubts; Tom whipped off his half-boot, turned down his sock, and +exclaimed triumphantly, "Look at that!" The wound was clean, but +looked fresh; much, indeed, as it appeared two days after the fight +when the bullet was extracted, and still big enough to re-admit +it. "If the Board don't give me a pension," cried Tom, "for such a +punch as that, why, all I can say is, they deserve to be punched +themselves." Saw him again after the inspection. "It's no go," said +Tom; "I tried hard for it, too. Got up early in the morning--slapped +twice round the Park at a swinging pace. When I went before them it +was red all about, a couple of inches. The flinty-hearted villains +gave me only a gratuity, though it bled while they were looking at +it." + +At an early day after Pledget's and Tom's removal, we assembled +at the chateau, on an occasion in which we all felt a melancholy +interest--the funeral of Captain Gabion. The military arrangements, +of course, did not rest with us; Gingham had made every provision +which was left to his care with equal liberality and propriety. +Gingham also, no chaplain being present, officiated at the grave. He +read the service with great devoutness and solemnity. The procession +was joined, as we ascended the hill, by a mounted officer, a major +of the artillery, who, during the whole of the service, seemed lost +in thought, and stood with his eyes fixed upon the coffin till it +was lowered into the grave. The whole concluded, he approached and +shook hands with Gingham and myself, spoke a few hurried words, took +a hasty leave, mounted, and rode away. Gingham and I waited by the +grave till all was filled in and made right; we then walked down +together towards the city, both for some time silent. I spoke first. + +"Wouldn't it be right to communicate with the friends? I think +they ought to know the exact position of the grave, and also the +particulars which I got from my cousin." + +"Why, yes," said Gingham; "it would, I think, be as well to give +them all the information you can. I have already written to the +widow." + + + + +CHATEAUBRIAND'S MEMOIRS. + +_Mémoires d'outre Tombe._ Par M. LE VICOMTE DE CHATEAUBRIAND. Tom. +v. vi. vii. viii. et ix. Paris: 1849. + + +The great and honourable feature of Chateaubriand's mind, amidst +some personal weaknesses, is its noble and disinterested character. +It differs from what we see around us, but it differs chiefly in +superior elevation. It united, to a degree which perhaps will +never again be witnessed, the lofty feelings of chivalry, with the +philanthropic visions of philosophy. In the tribune he was often a +Liberal of the modern school; but in action he was always a paladin +of the olden time. His fidelity was not to prosperity, but to +adversity; his bond was not to the powerful, but to the unfortunate; +reversing the revolutionary maxim, he brought the actions of public +men to the test, not of success, but of disaster. He often irritated +his friends when in power by the independence of his language, +but he never failed to command the respect of his enemies when in +adversity, by his constancy to misfortune. "Vive le roi quand-même," +ever became his principle when the gales of adversity blew, and the +hollow-hearted support of the world began to fail. Prosperity often +saw him intrepid, perhaps imprudent in expression, but misfortune +never failed to exhibit him generous and faithful in action; and +his fidelity to the cause of royalty was never so strikingly +evinced as when that cause in France was most desperate. He was +the very antipodes of the hideous revolutionary tergiversation of +Fontainebleau. A pilgrim in this scene of trial, he was ever ready, +after having attained the summit of worldly grandeur, to descend +at the call of honour; and, resuming his staff and scrip, to set +out afresh on the path of duty. He was fitted to be the object of +jealousy and spite to kings and ministers in power, whose follies +he disdained to flatter or to overlook their vices, and of eternal +admiration to the great and the good in every future age, whose +hearts his deeds not less than his words will cause to throb. Such a +character might pass for fabulous or imaginary, were it not clearly +evinced, not only by words, but actions; not only in the thoughts of +genius, but in the deeds of honour. His life, and the feelings by +which it was regulated, are well worth examining, although we fear +he will find but few imitators in these days, and is more likely, in +a utilitarian and money-seeking age, to be classed with the mammoth +and mastodon, as a species of existence never again to be seen in +this world. + +A character of this description naturally became enamoured of awful +or heartstirring events, and was ever ready to find a friend in +those capable of noble or heroic deeds in the ranks even of his +enemies. Both qualities are evinced in the following graphic account +of the appearance of the Grand Army when it arrived at Smolensko +during the Moscow retreat:-- + + "On the 9th November, the troops at length reached Smolensko. + An order of Buonaparte forbade any one to enter before the + posts had been intrusted to the Imperial Guard. The soldiers + on the outside were grouped in great numbers round the foot of + the walls: those within were under cover. The air resounded + with the imprecations of those who were shut out. Clothed in + dirty Cossack cloaks, horse-cloths, and worn-out blankets, with + their heads covered with old carpets, broken helmets, ragged + shakos, for the most part torn by shot, stained with blood, or + hacked in pieces by sabre-cuts--with haggard and yet ferocious + countenances, they looked up to the top of the ramparts gnashing + their teeth, with the expression of those prisoners who, under + Louis the Fat, bore in their right hand their left cut off: you + would have taken them for infuriated _masques_, or famished + madmen escaped from Bedlam. At length the Old and Young Guard + arrived, they were quickly admitted into the place which had + been wasted by conflagration on occasion of our first passage. + Loud cries of indignation were immediately raised against the + privileged corps. 'Is the army to be left nothing but what it + leaves?' was heard on all sides. Meanwhile the household troops, + who had been admitted, rushed in tumultuous crowds to the + magazines like an insurrection of spectres: the guards at the + doors repulsed them; they fought in the streets: the dead, the + wounded encumbered the pavements, the women, the children, the + dying filled the waggons. The air was poisoned by the multitude + of dead bodies; even old soldiers were seized with idiocy or + madness; some whose hair stood on end with horror, blasphemed, + or laughed with a ghastly air and fell dead. Napoleon let his + wrath exhale in imprecations against a miserable commissary, + none of the orders given to which had been executed. + + "The army, a hundred thousand strong when it left Moscow, now + reduced to thirty thousand, was followed by a band of fifty + thousand stragglers; there were not eighteen hundred horsemen + mounted. Napoleon gave the command of them to M. de Latour + Maubourg. That officer, who had led the cuirassiers to the + assault of the great redoubt of Borodino, had had his head + almost cleft asunder by the stroke of a sabre; he afterwards + lost a leg at Dresden. Perceiving his servant in tears when + the operation was over, he said to him, 'Why do you weep? you + will have only one boot to clean.' That general, who remained + faithful to misfortune, became the preceptor of Henry V. in the + first years of the exile of that prince. I lift my hat in his + presence, as in that of the Incarnation of Honour."--_Memoirs_, + vi. p. 116, 118. + +As Chateaubriand had declined office, and narrowly escaped death in +consequence, when Napoleon murdered the Duke d'Enghien, his life, +from that period to the Restoration of the Bourbons, was one of +retirement and observation. The important part which he took in +the Restoration, by the publication of his celebrated pamphlet _De +Buonaparte et des Bourbons_, restored him to political life. The +effect produced by that work was immense, and the placing of the +ancient race of monarchs on the throne was in a great degree owing +to it; for, at a crisis when the intentions of the Allies were yet +undecided, and Austria openly supported the strong party in France +which inclined for a regency with Marie Louise at its head, it +swelled immensely the numbers of the decided Royalists, and gave a +definite and tangible object to their hitherto vague and divided +aspirations. It was written with prodigious rapidity, and bears +marks of the haste of its composition in the vehemence of its ideas +and the occasional exaggeration of its assertions; but it was the +very thing required for a national crisis of unexampled importance, +when every hour was fraught with lasting consequences, and every +effort of genius was required for laying the foundation of a new +order in European society. Of the first conception and subsequent +completion of this remarkable work he gives the following account:-- + + "I had been permitted to return to my solitary valley. The earth + trembled under the footsteps of stranger armies: I wrote like + the last Roman, amidst the din of barbarian invasion. During + the day, I traced lines as agitated as the events which were + passing: at night, when the roar of cannon was no longer heard + in my solitary woods, I returned to the silence of the years + which sleep in the tomb, and to the peace of my earlier life. + The agitated pages which I wrote during the day, became, when + put together, my pamphlet _On Buonaparte and the Bourbons_. I + had so high an idea of the genius of Napoleon, and the valour of + our soldiers, that the idea of a foreign invasion, successful + in its ultimate results, never entered into my imagination; but + I thought that such an invasion, by making the French see the + dangers to which the ambition of Napoleon had exposed them, + would lead to an interior movement, and that the deliverance of + the French would be the work of their own hands. It was under + that impression that I wrote my notes, in order that, if our + political assemblies should arrest the march of the Allies, + and separate themselves from a great man who had become their + scourge, they should know to what haven to turn. The harbour + of refuge appeared to me to be in the ancient authority, under + which our ancestors had lived during eight centuries, but + modified according to the changes of time. During a tempest, + when one finds himself at the gate of an old edifice, albeit in + ruins, he is glad to seek its shelter."--Vol. vi. p. 196, 197. + +Madame de Chateaubriand, in a note, has described the circumstances +under which this memorable pamphlet was written, and the morbid +anxiety with which she was devoured during its composition:-- + + "Had the pages of that pamphlet been seized by the police, the + result could not have been a moment doubtful: the sentence + was the scaffold. Nevertheless the author was inconceivably + negligent about concealing it. Often, when he went out, he left + the sheets on the table: at night he only placed them under his + pillow, which he did in presence of his valet--an honest youth, + it is true, but who might have betrayed him. For my part, I + was in mortal agonies: whenever M. de Chateaubriand went out, + I seized the manuscript, and concealed it on my person. One + day, in crossing the Tuileries, I perceived I had it not upon + me, and being sure I had it when I went out, I did not doubt + that I had let it fall on the road. Already I beheld that fatal + writing in the hands of the police, and M. de Chateaubriand + arrested. I fell down in swoon in the garden, and some + kind-hearted person carried me to my house, from which I had + only got a short distance. What agony I endured when, ascending + the stair, I floated between terror, which now amounted almost + to a certainty, and a slight hope that I might have forgot the + pamphlet. On reaching my husband's apartment, I felt again ready + to faint: I approached the bed--I felt under the pillow; there + was nothing there: I lifted the mattress, and there was the + roll of paper! My heart still beats every time I think of it. + Never in my life did I experience such a moment of joy. With + truth can I say, my joy would not have been so great if I had + been delivered at the foot of the scaffold, for it was one who + was more dear to me than life itself whom I saw rescued from + destruction."--Vol. vi. p. 206, 207. + +On the entrance of Louis XVIII. into Paris, on the 3d May 1814, the +Allied sovereigns, from a feeling of delicacy to that monarch, gave +orders that none but French troops should appear in the procession. +The Old Guard lined the streets next the palace, and Chateaubriand +gives the following account of the way in which they received him:-- + + "A regiment of infantry of the Old Guard kept the ground, from + the Pont Neuf to Notre Dame, along the Quai des Orfures. I + do not believe that human figures ever expressed anything so + menacing and so terrible. These grenadiers, covered with wounds, + so long the terror of Europe, who had seen so many thousand + bullets fly over their heads, who seemed to smell of fire and + powder--these very men, deprived of their leader, were forced + to salute an old king, enfeebled by time and not combats, + guarded by an army of Russians, Austrians, and Prussians, in the + conquered capital of Napoleon! Some, shaking their heads, made + their huge bearskins fall down over their eyes, so as not to + see what was passing: others lowered the extremities of their + mouths, to express their contempt and rage: others, through + their mustaches, let their teeth be seen, which they gnashed + like tigers. When they presented arms, it was with a gesture + of fury, as if they brought them down to the charge. The sound + they made with the recover was like thunder. Never, it must be + admitted, had men been subjected to such a trial, or suffered + such a punishment. If, in that moment, they had been called + to vengeance, they would have exterminated the last man, or + perished in the attempt. + + "At the extremity of the line was a young hussar on horseback, + with his drawn sabre in his hand; his whole body literally + quivered with a convulsive movement of wrath. He was deadly + pale; his eyes rolled round in the most frightful manner; he + opened his mouth alternately and shut it, grinding his teeth, + and uttering inarticulate cries of rage. He cast his eyes on a + Russian officer: no words can express the look which he gave + him. When the carriage of the King passed before him, he made + his horse leap forward, it was easy to see that he withstood + with difficulty the temptation to precipitate himself on his + sovereign.[3] + + "The Restoration, at its very outset, committed an irreparable + fault. It should have disbanded the army, preserving only the + marshals, generals, military governors, and officers, in their + rank, pay, and appointments. The soldiers, in this manner, would + have gradually re-entered their ranks, as they have since done + into the Royal Guard; but they would have done so isolated from + each other. The legitimate monarch would no longer have had + arrayed against him the soldiers of the empire in regiments and + brigades, as they had been during the days of their glory, for + ever talking to each other of times past, and comparing the + conquests of Napoleon with their inglorious inactivity under + their new master. + + "The miserable attempt to reconstruct the _Maison Rouge_, that + mixture of the military men of the old monarchy and the soldiers + of the new empire, only augmented the evil. To suppose that + veterans famous on a hundred fields of battle should not be + shocked at seeing young men--brave without doubt, but for the + most part unaccustomed to the use of arms--to see them wear, + without having earned or deserved, the marks of high military + rank, was to be ignorant of the first principles of human + nature."--Vol. vi. p. 311-313. + + [3] Having ourselves seen the Old Guard on this trying occasion, + we can vouch for the general fidelity of Chateaubriand's + narrative. + +These observations of Chateaubriand's are well founded, and the +last, in particular, is very important; but it may well be doubted +whether, by any measures that could have been adopted, the support +of the army could have been secured, or the dynasty of the Bourbons +established on a secure foundation. It was the fact of their +having been replaced by the bayonets of the stranger which was the +insurmountable difficulty; it was national subjugation, the capture +of Paris, which had for ever stained the white flag. This original +sin in its birth attended the Restoration through every subsequent +year of its existence: it was the main cause of the revolution of +1830, and operated with equal force in bringing about the still more +fatal one of 1848. Impatience of repose--a desire to precipitate +themselves on foreign nations--an aversion to the employments and +interests of peace, were the secret but principal causes of these +convulsions. If either Louis XVIII. or Louis Philippe had been young +and warlike princes, and the recollection of Leipsic and Waterloo, +of the invasions of France, and the double capture of its capital, +had not prevented them from engaging in the career of foreign +warfare; if they had been enterprising and _victorious_, they would +have secured the unanimous suffrages of the nation, and continued +the honoured possessors of the throne of France. But this dazzling +though perilous career was denied to Louis XVIII. To him there was +left only the difficult, perhaps the impossible task, of reconciling +irrevocable enmities, of closing irremediable wounds, of appeasing +inextinguishable mortifications. They have been thus set forth in +the eloquent words of genius:-- + + "The house of Bourbon was placed in Paris at the Restoration + as a trophy of the European confederation. The return of the + ancient princes was inseparably associated, in the public mind, + with the cession of extensive provinces, with the payment of an + immense tribute, with the occupation of the kingdom by hostile + armies, with the emptiness of those niches in which the gods of + Athens and Rome had been the objects of a new idolatry, with + the nakedness of those walls on which the Transfiguration had + shone with a light as glorious as that which overhung Mount + Thabor. They came back to a land in which they could recognise + nothing. The Seven Sleepers of the legend, who closed their + eyes when the Pagans were persecuting the Christians, and woke + when the Christians were persecuting the Pagans, did not find + themselves in a world more completely new to them. Twenty years + had done the work of twenty generations. Events had come thick; + men had lived fast. The old institutions and the old feelings + had been torn up by the roots. There was a new church founded + and endowed by the usurper; a new nobility, whose titles were + taken from the fields of battle, disastrous to the ancient line; + a new chivalry, whose crosses had been won by exploits which + seemed likely to make the banishment of the Emigrants perpetual; + a new code, administered by a new magistracy; a new body of + proprietors, holding the soil by a new tenure; the most ancient + local distinctions effaced, the most familiar names obsolete. + There was no longer a Normandy, a Brittany, or a Guienne. The + France of Louis XVI. had passed away as completely as one of the + Preadamite worlds. Its fossil remains might now and then excite + curiosity; but it was as impossible to put life into the old + institutions as to animate the skeletons which are imbedded in + the depths of primeval strata. The revolution in the laws and + the form of government was but an outward sign of that mightier + revolution which had taken place in the minds and hearts of men, + and which affected every transaction and feeling of life. It was + as absurd to think that France could again be placed under the + feudal system, as that our globe could be overrun by mammoths. + Louis might efface the initials of the Emperor, but he could not + turn his eyes without seeing some object which reminded him he + was a stranger in the palace of his fathers."[4] + + [4] MACAULAY'S _Essays_, ii. 230. + +As a parallel to this splendid passage, though in an entirely +different style, we gladly give place to a noble burst of +Chateaubriand, on that most marvellous of marvellous events, the +return of Napoleon from Elba. It was natural that so memorable +a revolution should strongly impress his imaginative mind; but +he seems to have exceeded himself in the reflections to which +it gives rise. We know not whether to award the prize to the +Englishman or the Frenchman, in these parallel passages. They are +both masterpieces in their way. Perhaps the correct view is, that +Macaulay is superior in graphic force and the accumulation of +sarcastic images; Chateaubriand in lofty thought and imaginative +images. + + "On the 1st March, at three o'clock in the morning, Napoleon + approached the coast of France in the Gulf of Juan; he + disembarked, walked along the shore, gathered a few violets, and + bivouacked in an olive wood. The inhabitants withdrew in a state + of stupefaction. He left Antibes to his left, and threw himself + into the Mountains of Grasse in Dauphiny. At Sisterone the road + passes a defile where twenty men might have stopped him; he did + not meet a living soul. He advanced without opposition among the + inhabitants who the year before had wished to murder him. Into + the void which was formed around his gigantic shade, if a few + soldiers entered, they straightway yielded to the attraction of + his eagles. His fascinated enemies seek him and find him not; he + shrowds himself in his glory, as the lion in the Sahara desert + conceals himself in the rays of the sun to dazzle the eyes of + his pursuers. Enveloped in a burning halo, the bloody phantoms + of Arcola, Marengo, Austerlitz, Jena, Friedland, Eylau, the + Moskwa, Lützen, and Bautzen, form his cortege amidst a million + of the dead. From the midst of that column of smoke and flame, + issue at the gates of towns some trumpet-notes mingled with + tricolor standards, and the gates fly open. When Napoleon passed + the Niemen, at the head of four hundred thousand foot, and a + hundred thousand horse, to blow into the air the palace of the + Czars at Moscow, he was less wonderful than when, breaking his + ban, casting his fetters as a gauntlet in the face of kings, + he came alone from Cannes to Paris, to sleep peaceably in the + palace of the Tuileries."--Vol. vi. p. 359, 360. + +To a mind like that of Chateaubriand, reposing in solitude when +Napoleon was acting with such marvellous effect in the world, the +character and qualities of that wonderful man could not fail to +be a constant object of solicitude and observation. It has been +already noticed that he braved the Emperor in the plenitude of his +power, and essentially contributed, in the crisis of his fate, to +his dethronement, and the re-establishment of the ancient line of +princes. But, as is not unusual with persons of his highly wrought +and generous temper of mind, his hostility to the Emperor declined +with the termination of his authority, and his admiration for his +genius rose with the base desertion of the revolutionary crowd who +had fawned upon him when on the throne. The following observations +on the style of his writings, indicate the growth of this counter +feeling, and are in themselves equally just and felicitous:-- + + "His partisans have sought to make of Buonaparte a perfect + being; a model of sentiment, of delicacy, of morality, and of + justice--a writer like Cæsar and Thucydides, an orator like + Demosthenes, a historian like Tacitus. The public discourses of + Napoleon, his sonorous phrases in the tent and at the council + board, are the less inspired by the spirit of prophecy, that + many of the catastrophes which he announced have not been + accomplished, while the warlike Isaiah himself has disappeared. + Prophecies of doom which follow without reaching states become + ridiculous. It is their accomplishment which renders them + sublime. During sixteen years, Napoleon was the incarnation + of destiny. Destiny now is mute, and he, too, should be + so. Buonaparte was not a Cæsar; his education had neither + been learnedly nor carefully conducted: half a stranger, he + was ignorant of the first rules of our language, and could + hardly spell it; but what did it signify, after all, that his + expression was defective?--he gave the law to the universe. His + bulletins have the most thrilling of all eloquence--that of + victory. Sometimes, during the intoxications of success, they + affected to be written on a drum-head: in the midst of the most + lugubrious accents, something emerged which excites a smile. I + have read all that Napoleon has written--the first manuscripts + of his infancy, his love-letters to Josephine, the five volumes + of his discourses, bulletins, and orders; but I have found + nothing which so truly portrays the character of that great + man, when in adversity, as the following autograph note left at + Elba:-- + + "'My heart refuses to share in ordinary joys as ordinary sorrows. + + "'Not having given myself life, I am not entitled to take it + away. + + "'My bad genius appeared to me and announced my end; which I + found at Leipsic. + + "'I have conjured up the terrible spirit of innovation, which + will overrun the world.' + + "Certes, there is Napoleon to the very life. His bulletins and + discourses have often great energy; but it was not his own; + it belonged to the age; he only adopted it. It sprang from + the revolutionary energy, which he only weakened by moving in + opposition to it. Danton said, 'The metal is fused; if you do + not watch over the furnace, you will be consumed.' St Just + replied, '_Do it if you dare_.' These words contain the whole + secret of our Revolution. Those who make revolutions by halves, + do nothing but dig their own graves."--Vol. vii. p. 101. + +Certes, there is Chateaubriand to the very life. + +Chateaubriand, as all the world knows, was Minister for Foreign +Affairs to Louis XVIII. at Ghent; adhering thus to his ruling +maxim throughout life, "Fidelity to misfortune." So great were the +services rendered by him to the cause of European freedom, by the +energetic series of papers which he poured forth with unwearied +vigour every week, that there were serious thoughts, after the +battle of Waterloo, of promoting him to the dignity of Prime +Minister. Louis XVIII. openly inclined to it; and if his advice had +prevailed, the catastrophe which fifteen years afterwards befel his +family, would probably have been prevented. But the insuperable +difficulty lay here: the pure and honourable mind of Chateaubriand +revolted from the idea of forming a Ministry in conjunction with +Talleyrand and Fouché; and yet their influence was such that the +monarch, in the first instance at least, was compelled to court +their assistance. Expedience, at least immediate expedience, seemed +to counsel it; but Chateaubriand, animated by higher principles, and +gifted with a more prophetic mind, anticipated no lasting advantage, +but rather the reverse, from an alliance with the arch-regicide +of Nantes, and the arch-traitor who had sworn allegiance to and +betrayed _twelve_ Governments in succession. But the chorus of +"_base unanimities_," as he expresses it, with which the monarch +was surrounded, proved too strong for any single individual, how +gifted soever. Fouché and Talleyrand were taken into power, and +Chateaubriand retired. Of the conversation with Louis XVIII., +when this vital change was resolved on, he gives the following +interesting account, which proves that that sagacious monarch at +least was well aware of the consequences of the step to which he was +thus involuntarily impelled:-- + +"Before quitting St Denis, on our way back to Paris, I had an +audience of the King, and the following conversation ensued: + + "'Well?' said Louis XVIII., opening the dialogue by that + exclamation. + + "'Well, sire, you have taken the Duke of Otranto,' (Fouché.) + + "'I could not avoid it; from my brother to the bailie of + Crussol, (and he at least is not suspected,) all said that we + could not do otherwise--what think you?' + + "'Sire! the thing is done; I crave permission to remain silent.' + + "'No, no--speak out; you know how I resisted at Ghent.' + + "'In that case, sire, I must obey my orders. Pardon my fidelity: + I think it is all over with the monarchy.' + + "The King remained some time silent. I began to tremble at my + boldness, when his Majesty rejoined:-- + + "'In truth, M. de Chateaubriand, I am of your opinion.' + + "I bowed and withdrew; and thus ended my connection with the + Hundred Days."--Vol. vii. 70. + +Manzoni has written an ode, known over all Europe, on the double +fall of Napoleon: "The last poet," says Chateaubriand, "of the +country of Virgil, sang the last warrior of the country of Cæsar. + + Tutte ei provo, la gloria + Maggior dopo il periglio, + La fuga e la Vittoria, + La reggia e il triste esiglio: + Due volte nella polvere, + Due volte sugli altar. + + Ei se nomo: due secoli, + L'un contro l'altro armato, + Sommessi a lui se volsero, + Come aspettando il fato: + Ei fe silenzio ed arbitro + S'assise in mezzo a loro. + + "He proved everything; glory greater after danger, flight, and + victory: Royalty and sad exile, twice in the dust, twice on the + altar. + + "He announced himself: two ages, armed against each other, + turned towards him, as if awaiting their fate; he proclaimed + silence, and seated himself as arbiter between them." + +Notwithstanding the vehemence of Chateaubriand's dissension with +Napoleon, it cannot be expected that a man of his romantic and +generous temperament would continue his hostility after death. +No one, accordingly, has awarded a more heartfelt or magnanimous +tribute to his memory. + + "The solitude of the exile and of the tomb of Napoleon has shed + an extraordinary interest, a sort of prestige, over his memory. + Alexander did not die under the eyes of Greece, he disappeared + amidst the distant wonders of Babylon. Buonaparte has not died + under the eyes of France: he has been lost in the gloomy edge + of the southern horizon. The grandeur of the silence which + now surrounds him equals the immensity of the noise which his + exploits formerly made. The nations are absent: the crowd of men + has retired: the bird of the tropics, 'harnessed,' in Buffon's + words, 'to the chariot of the sun,' has precipitated itself from + the star of light--where does it now repose? It rests on the + ashes of which the weight has all but subverted the globe." + +"Imposuerunt omnes sibi diademata post mortem ejus; et multiplicata +sunt mala in terrâ."[5] "They all assumed diadems after his death, +and evils were multiplied on the earth." Twenty years have hardly +elapsed since the death of Napoleon, and already the French and +Spanish monarchies are no more. The map of the world has undergone a +change: a new geography is required: severed from their legitimate +rulers, nations have been thrown against nations: renowned actors on +the scene have given place to ignoble successors: eagles from the +summits of the loftiest pines have plunged into the ocean, while +frail shellfish have attached themselves to the sides of the trunk, +which still stands erect. + + [5] MACHABIES. + + "As in the last result everything advances to its end, '_the + terrible spirit of innovation which overruns the world_', as + the Emperor said, and to which he had opposed the barrier of + his genius, has resumed its course. The institutions of the + conqueror fail: he will be the last of great existences on the + earth. Nothing hereafter will overshadow society, parcelled + out and levelled: the shadow of Napoleon alone will be seen + on the verge of the old world which has been destroyed, like + the phantom of the deluge on the edge of its abyss. Distant + posterity will discern that spectre through the gloom of passing + events still erect above the gulf into which unknown ages + have fallen, until the day marked out by Providence for the + resurrection of social man."--Vol. vii. 169-171. + +Assuredly no one can say that Chateaubriand's genius has declined +with his advanced years. + +To a man viewing Napoleon with the feelings expressed in these +eloquent words, the translation of his remains from their solitary +resting-place under the willow at St Helena could not but be an +object of regret. He thus expresses himself on that memorable event, +and future ages will probably confirm his opinion:-- + + "The removal of the remains of Napoleon from St Helena was a + fault against his renown. A place of sepulchre in Paris can + never equal the Valley of Slanes. Who would wish to see the + Pillar of Pompey elsewhere than above the grave dug for his + remains by his poor freedman, aided by the old legionary? What + shall we do with those magnificent remains in the midst of + our miseries? Can the hardest granite typify the everlasting + duration of Napoleon's renown? Even if we possessed a Michael + Angelo to design the statue on the grave, how should we fashion + the mausoleum? Monuments are for little men, for the great + a stone and a name. At least they should have suspended the + coffin from the summit of the triumphal arch which records his + exploits: nations from afar should have beheld their master + borne aloft on the shoulders of his victories. Was not the urn + which contained the ashes of Trajan placed at Rome, beneath + his column? Napoleon at Paris will be lost amidst the crowd + of unknown names. God forbid he should be exposed to the + vicissitudes of our political changes, surrounded though he is + by Louis XIV., Vauban, and Turenne. Let a certain section of our + revolutionists triumph, and the ashes of the conqueror will be + sent to join the ashes which our passions have dispersed. The + conqueror will be forgotten in the oppressor of our liberties. + The bones of Napoleon will not reproduce his genius; they will + only teach his despotism to ignoble soldiers."--Vol. vii. 184, + 185. + +The Restoration did not immediately employ Chateaubriand. His +anticipations were realised. The chorus of baseness and selfishness +with which the court was surrounded, kept him at a distance. They +were afraid of his genius: they were jealous of his reputation. +Above all, they dreaded his independence. He was not sufficiently +manageable. They were actuated, perhaps not altogether without +reason, by the same feeling which made Lord North say, when urged +to bring Dr Johnson into Parliament, whose great powers in the +political warfare of pamphlets had been so signally evinced on the +side of Government, "No, sir, he is an elephant, but a wild one, +as likely to trample under foot his friends as his enemies." The +veteran statesman, so well versed in the ways of men, was right. +Genius is the fountain of thought: it ultimately rules the councils +and destinies of men; but it generally requires to be tempered by +time before it can be safely introduced into practice. + +Chateaubriand enlivens this period of his memoirs, which is neither +signalised by political event nor remarkable literary effort, by +a sort of biography of Madame Recamier, with whom he was on terms +of intimate friendship. This remarkable person, who was beyond all +question the most beautiful and attractive woman of her age in +France, or perhaps in Europe, is now no more; and he appears to +have obtained from her relatives, or perhaps from herself prior to +her decease, not only many curious and highly interesting details +concerning her early years and subsequent history, but a great +variety of original letters from the most eminent men of the age, +who were successively led captive by her charms, but none of whom +appear to have impaired her reputation. In this country, where the +lines of severance between the sexes are much more rigidly drawn, +it would be impossible for a young and beautiful married woman to +be in the habit of receiving the most ardent love-letters from a +great variety of distinguished and fascinating admirers, without +the jealousy of rivals being excited, and the breath of scandal +fastening upon her as its natural prey. But it is otherwise on +the Continent, where, although there is doubtless abundance of +dissoluteness of manners in certain circles, yet in others such +intimacies may exist, which are yet kept within due bounds, and cast +no reflection on the fortunate fair one who sees all the world at +her feet. + +Such, at least, appears to have been the case with Madame +Recamier, the intimate friend of Madame de Stael, who said "She +would willingly give all her talents for one half of her beauty;" +and whose powers of fascination were such, that she not only +inspired a vehement passion nearly at the same time, in La Harpe, +Lucien Buonaparte, Murat, Moreau, Bernadotte, Marshal Massena, +Benjamin Constant, Prince Augustus of Prussia, Prince Metternich, +Chateaubriand, and a vast many others, but attracted the particular +notice of Napoleon, and did not escape the vigilant and practised +eye of the Duke of Wellington. The Prince of Prussia would have +married her, if he could have effected her divorce from M. Recamier. +It is one of the worst traits of the Emperor Napoleon's character, +that he was not only so envious of the celebrity of her beauty that +he banished her from Paris to extinguish its fame, but was inspired +with such malignant feelings towards her, from her having rejected +his advances, that he got a law passed which rendered the wives of +persons engaged in commerce responsible in their separate estates +for their husbands' debts; the effect of which was to involve Madame +Recamier, whose husband, a great banker in Paris, failed, in almost +total ruin, in the latter years of her life. + +Madame Recamier, whose birth, though respectable, gave her none of +the advantages of rank or opulence, was bred up at the abbey of the +_Desert_, near the confluence of the Rhone and the Saone at Lyons. +Her parents, however, resided at Paris; and they having brought +her home at the age of twelve years, she was at that tender age +married to M. Recamier, a rich banker, almost four times her own +age, whose immense transactions, which entirely absorbed his time +and attention, left him no leisure to attend either to the education +or occupations of his infantine and beautiful wife. But though thus +left to herself, surrounded by admirers, and with every luxury which +wealth could purchase at her command, she was never led astray. +Benjamin Constant, who knew her well from her earliest years, has +left the following interesting portrait of what may be called her +infantine married life:-- + + "She whom I paint emerged pure and brilliant from that corrupted + atmosphere, which elsewhere withered where it did not actually + corrupt. Infancy was at first her safeguard. Libertinism shrunk + from approaching the asylum of so much innocence. Removed from + the world in a solitude embellished by the arts, she spent her + time in the sweet occupation of those charming and poetical + studies which usually constitute the delight of a more advanced + age. + + "Often, also, surrounded by her young companions, she abandoned + herself to the amusements suited to her tender years. 'Swift as + Atalanta in the race,' she outran all her companions: often, + in playing Hide-and-seek, she bandaged those eyes which were + destined one day to fascinate every beholder. Her look, now + so expressive and penetrating, and which seems to indicate + mysteries of which she herself is unconscious, then shone only + with the animated and playful gaiety of childhood. Her beautiful + hair, which could not be undone without causing emotion, fell + in natural curls on her shoulders. A hearty and prolonged laugh + often burst from these infantine circles, but already you + could perceive in her that fine and rapid observation which + seizes the salient points of ridicule--that sportive raillery + which diverted itself without injuring any one: above all, + that exquisite sense of elegance and propriety, of purity and + taste, that true nobility of mind, which are given only to a few + privileged beings. + + "Nevertheless Madame Recamier emerged occasionally from her + retreat, to go to the theatre or to the public promenades; and + in those places of general resort her rare appearance was quite + an event. Every other object in those immense assemblages was + forgotten: every one precipitated himself upon her steps. The + fortunate cavalier who attended her could scarcely make his way + through the crowds which she collected: her steps were at every + instant impeded by the spectators who crowded around her. She + enjoyed that success with the gaiety of an infant combined with + the timidity of a young woman; but the gracious dignity which + at home restrained the overflowing gaiety of her companions, + inspired respect in public in the admiring crowd with which she + was constantly environed. You would say that her air imposed + restraint equally on her companions and on the public. Thus + passed the first years of the married life of Madame Recamier, + between poetical occupation, infantine amusements, and the + triumph of beauty in the world. + + "But her expanding mind and capacious genius soon required other + aliment. The instinctive love of the beautiful with which she + was inspired from her earliest years, made her long for the + society of men distinguished for the reputation of their talents + or genius. M. de La Harpe was one of the first who appreciated + the young woman, around whom were one day to be grouped all + the celebrated characters of her age. The conversation of that + young woman of fifteen had a thousand attractions for a man of + his great acquirements, and whose excessive vanity, with the + habit of conversing with the ablest men in France, had rendered + exceedingly difficult to please. He delighted in being her + guide: he was astonished at the rapidity with which her talent + supplied the want of experience, and comprehended everything + which he revealed to her of the world and of men. This was at + the moment of his celebrated conversion to Christianity. The + Revolution having rendered infidelity all-powerful, scepticism + had lost the merit of being opposed to authority, and those whom + vanity alone had rendered such could in good faith, and without + compromising their reputation, avow their secret belief."--Vol. + ix. 118, 121. + +Of the unbounded devotion which Madame Recamier in a few years came +to inspire in the breasts of the most distinguished men of her day, +abundant proof is furnished in Chateaubriand's Memoirs. To give only +a few examples, among a host of others which might be cited, Marshal +Massena--a roturier by birth, and certainly not inheriting by +descent any of the feelings of chivalry--yet even he asked a ribbon +from Madame Recamier before he set out for the army of Italy, to +take the command in Genoa, in the siege since so celebrated; and, +having obtained it, he wrote to her the following note some weeks +after:-- + + "The charming ribbon given by Madame Recamier has been borne by + General Massena in the battles and the blockades of Genoa: it + has never left him, and been, in every instance, the harbinger + of victory."--Vol. viii. 167. + + "There," as Chateaubriand justly observes "the ancient manners + reappeared athwart the modern manners of which they formed the + base. The gallantry of the noble chevalier shone forth in the + plebeian soldier; the memory of the tournaments and of the + crusades was concealed amidst the blaze of glory with which + modern France has crowned its old victories." + +Lucien Buonaparte, one of her first adorers, addressed her early in +life in these terms:-- + + "Till within these few days, I knew you only by renown. I had + seen you sometimes at church and in the theatres. I knew you + were the most beautiful: a thousand voices repeated it; and + your charms had struck without dazzling me. Why has the peace + rendered me captive? it reigns in our families, but sorrow is in + my heart. + + "I have seen you since: Jove seemed to smile on your steps. + Seated on the edge of a fountain, motionless and dreamy, you + gathered a rose. I addressed you alone: I thought I heard + a sigh. Vain illusion! I soon saw the tranquil front of + indifference seated between us. The passion which devoured me + expressed itself in my words; while yours bore the cruel yet + amiable stamp of infancy and sport. + + "Be severe, I implore you, for pity's sake. Banish me from your + presence. Desire me to withdraw from your enchanting society: + and if I can obey the order, remember only that my heart is for + ever your own; that no one ever reigned over it as Juliette; + and that he will ever live with her, at least in memory."--Vol. + viii. 130. + +"For a man of _sangfroid_," says Chateaubriand, "all that is a +little ridiculous." He is right: it is gallantry without passion +which always appears _fade_ and contemptible. It is vehemence +and sincerity which makes sentiment interesting. The Buonapartes +had nothing chivalrous in their breasts: Lucien's letter is very +different from Massena wearing Madame Recamier's ribbon next his +heart amidst the fire of the Austrian cannon. But Chateaubriand +himself had the true spirit of chivalry in his bosom. He thus +recounts one of the last moments which he spent in 1832, late in +life, with Madame Recamier on the banks of the Lake of Constance:-- + + "We wandered as chance guided our steps, and sat down beside + the lake. From a pavilion in the woods arose a concert of the + harp and the German horns, which ceased as we began to listen + to them. It was a scene in a fairy tale. As the music did not + recommence, I read to Madame Recamier my description of the St + Gothard. She asked me to write something in her pocket-book. + Immediately below the last words of Rousseau, which were there + inscribed, 'Open the windows, that I may again see the light + of the sun,' I wrote, 'What I felt the want of on the Lake of + Lucerne I have found on the Lake of Constance--the charm and the + intelligence of beauty. I no longer wish to die like Rousseau; I + wish, on the contrary, to live long, and behold the sun, if it + is near you that I am to finish my life. May my days expire at + your feet, as the waves of which you hear the murmur.' The azure + light of the setting sun coloured the lake; on the horizon, to + the south, the snowy alps of the Grisons reflected the ruddy + glow; the breeze which swept the waves harmonised with their + ceaseless murmur. We knew not where we were."--Vol. x. 246, 247. + +With the accession of a more Liberal Administration under M. de +Martignac, Chateaubriand was taken into power. In 1822 he was sent +as ambassador to London; in 1823 he was made minister of foreign +affairs, and directed the expedition into Spain in that year, which +had so successful a result; and in 1824 he represented France at the +Congress of Verona. He was again, however, chased from the helm by +the jealousy of the Royalists, whose imbecility was rebuked by his +genius; and it was not till 1828 that he was again taken into power, +and appointed to the embassy at Rome. He was there when the Polignac +Administration was appointed. + +We must hasten to the most brilliant and honourable period of +Chateaubriand's life, that in which he stood almost alone amidst a +nation's defection, and singly opposed the revolutionary torrent +by which nearly all others had been swept away. The spectacle is +at once animating and mournful: animating as evincing of what high +resolves, of what heroic constancy, noble minds are capable even +in the extremity of disaster: mournful, as exhibiting so bright a +contrast to the tergiversation of later times, and suggesting the +mournful reflection that, in these days of economists and material +enjoyment, the days of chivalry are gone for ever. + +It is well known that Chateaubriand was esteemed not only a Liberal, +but an ultra-Liberal, by the extreme Royalist party whom Charles +X. summoned to his councils on his accession to the throne; and +that, in consequence of his disagreement with Polignac and the +leaders of that party, he retired from the ministry, and resigned +his appointment as ambassador at Rome. His consternation was great +on perceiving the extreme measures which the Polignac party were +preparing to carry into execution, and the feeble preparations made +for supporting them by military force, in the midst of a warlike and +excited people. Of his first intelligence of the appointment of the +Polignac Administration by the sovereign whom they were destined so +soon to overthrow, he gives the following account:-- + + "Rumours of a change of Administration had already reached us + at Rome. Well-informed persons had even gone so far as to speak + of Prince Polignac, but I could not credit the reports. At + length the journals arrive; I open them, and my eyes rest on + the official ordinance calling him to the head of the ministry. + I had experienced many vicissitudes of fortune in my journey + through life, but never had I fallen from such an elevation. + My evil destiny had again blown over my chimeras: that breath + of fate had not only destroyed my illusions, but it had swept + away the monarchy. The blow was fearful: for a moment I was in + despair, but my part was soon taken. I felt that I must retire + from power. The post brought me a multitude of letters; all + recommended me to send in my resignation. Even persons to whom I + was almost a stranger thought themselves obliged to counsel me + to retire. I was in secret mortified at the officious interest + thus evinced in my reputation. Thank God, I have never needed + nor waited for counsels when the paths of honour and of interest + lay before me. Falls from station have ever been to me ruin, + for I possessed through life nothing but debts; so that when I + resigned my appointments, I was reduced to live by my wits. In a + word, I resigned a situation of 200,000 francs (£8000) a-year, + and was reduced to nothing; but my choice was not doubtful. Cast + to the winds, said I to myself, 200,000 francs (£8000) a-year + of income, an appointment entirely suited to your taste, a high + and magnificent office, the empire of the fine arts at Rome, the + felicity, in fine, of having at length received the recompense + for your long and laborious struggles. Honour is to be won, + esteem preserved, at no other price."--Vol. ix. 141, 142. + +On arriving at Paris after he had resigned his appointment as +ambassador at Rome, Chateaubriand found that many of the kind +and officious friends who had so strongly urged _him_ to resign, +had themselves quietly accepted appointments under the Polignac +Administration! He withdrew, however, in pursuance of his +resolution, into private life; and in order to avoid the expenses +of Paris, which exceeded what his reduced income could bear, he +retired to Dieppe in June 1830. When there he received the stunning +intelligence of the Ordinances of July. His part was immediately +taken. He returned with the utmost expedition to Paris, resolved +to share the fate of his country whatever it might be, and to +exert himself to the utmost to mitigate the calamities which he +foresaw awaited it. His first step on arriving in the capital was +to write a letter to the King, making a tender of his services to +negotiate with the popular leaders who had got the command in the +capital. The only answer he received was a verbal one, that M. de +Montemart had been appointed to the head of the Ministry, and a +reference to him. But M. de Montemart could not be found; and even +if he had been, affairs had gone too far to admit of any remedy +by individual efforts, how powerful soever. The nation would have +a Revolution with its consequences, and it was doomed to have a +Revolution with its consequences. But although Louis Philippe was +successful, Chateaubriand foresaw that his throne was established +on a rotten foundation: that the _juste milieu_, resting neither on +the attachment of a loyal, nor the passions of a conquering people, +could not be of lasting endurance; and that, in default of all +principles of honour whereon to rest a Government, those of interest +alone remained. He has left the following memorable prophecy of +the fate awaiting a monarchy cradled in treason and fostered by +selfishness:-- + + "Louis Philippe, his Government, the whole of that impossible + and contradictory combination, _will perish in a time more + or less retarded by fortuitous events_, by complications of + interests interior and exterior, by the apathy or corruption of + individuals, by the levity of disposition, the indifference and + want of nerve in characters. But be its duration long or short, + the present dynasty will not exist long enough for the House of + Orleans to strike its roots in the soil of France."--Vol. ix. + 333.[6] + + [6] M. de Chateaubriand died in 1847, before the Revolution of 1848. + +It is not in public documents and actions that the real opinions of +the actors on the stage of public events are to be discerned. It is +their private conversation or correspondence that reveals their real +sentiments; it is there that the mental struggles which preceded +the most decisive steps, and the secret views by which they were +actuated in adopting or rejecting them, are in truth disclosed. In +this view, the following conversation between Chateaubriand and the +Duchess of Orleans, immediately after the triumph of the Barricades, +is peculiarly interesting-- + + "M. Arago spoke to me in the warmest terms of the intellectual + superiority of Madame Adelaide; and the Count Analde de + Montesquieu, having met me one morning at Madame Recamier's, + informed me that the Duke and Duchess of Orleans would be + charmed to see me. I went, accordingly, to the Palais Royal with + the Chevalier d'Honneur of the future queen. I found the Duchess + of Orleans and Madame Adelaide in their private boudoirs. I had + previously had the honour of being presented to the duchess. She + made me sit down near her, and immediately said-- + + "'Ah! M. de Chateaubriand, we are very unfortunate. If all + parties would unite we might perhaps be saved, what think you of + that?' + + "'Madame,' I replied, 'nothing is so easy. Charles X. and the + Dauphin have both abdicated; Henry V. is now king; the Duke + of Orleans is now Lieutenant-general of the kingdom; let him + be Regent during the whole minority of Henry V., and all is + accomplished.' + + "'But, M. de Chateaubriand, the people are extremely agitated; + we should fall into anarchy.' + + "'Madame, may I venture to ask you what is the intention of the + Duke of Orleans? will he accept the throne if it is offered to + him?' + + "The two princesses hesitated to answer. After a short pause the + Duchess of Orleans replied,-- + + "'Consider, M. de Chateaubriand, the disasters which may + ensue--you and all other men of honour require to unite to save + us from a republic. At Rome, M. de Chateaubriand, you might + render us essential service--or even here, if you did not wish + to quit France.' + + "'Madame is not ignorant of my devotion to the young king and to + his mother.' + + "'Ah! M. de Chateaubriand, how well they have rewarded your + fidelity.' + + "'Your Royal Highness would not wish me to give the lie to my + whole life.' + + "'M. de Chateaubriand, you do not know my niece; she is so + inconsiderate, poor Caroline. I will send for the Duke of + Orleans; I hope he may succeed in persuading you better than me.' + + "The princess gave her orders, and in a quarter of an hour + Louis Philippe arrived. He was dressed in disorder, and + looked extremely fatigued. I rose as he entered, and the + Lieutenant-general of the kingdom said,-- + + "'The duchess has doubtless informed you how unfortunate we + are.' And upon that he began a speech on the felicity which + he enjoyed in the country, and the life, in the midst of his + children, which was entirely according to his taste. I seized + the opportunity of a momentary pause to repeat what I had said + to the princess. + + "'Ah!' he exclaimed, 'that is just what I desire. How happy + should I be to become the tutor and support of that infant! I + think exactly as you do, M. de Chateaubriand: to take the Duke + of Bordeaux would unquestionably be the wisest course that could + be adopted. I only fear events are too strong for us.' + + "'Stronger than us, my Lord Duke! Are you not invested with all + powers? Let us hasten to join Henry V. Summon the Chambers and + the army to meet you out of Paris. At the first intelligence of + your departure all that effervescence will subside, and all the + world will seek shelter under your enlightened and protecting + government.' + + "While I yet spoke, I kept my eyes fixed on Louis Philippe. I + saw that my counsels gave him annoyance: I saw written on his + forehead the desire to be king. 'M. de Chateaubriand,' said he, + _without looking me in the face_, 'the thing is not so easy as + you imagine: things do not go as you imagine. A furious mob may + assail the Chambers, and we have, as yet, no military force on + which we can rely for its defence.' + + "The last expression gave me pleasure, because it enabled me + to bring forward a decisive reply. 'I feel the difficulty you + mention, my Lord Duke; but there is a sure mode of obviating + it. If you cannot rejoin Henry V., as I have just proposed, + you may embrace another course. The session is about to open: + on the first proposition made by the deputies, declare that + the Chamber of Deputies has not the power to determine the + form of government for France; that the _whole nation must be + consulted_. Your Royal Highness will thus place yourself at the + head of the popular party: the Republicans, who now constitute + your danger, will laud you to the skies. In the two months which + must elapse before the new legislature can assemble, you can + organise a national guard; all your friends, and the friends + of the young king, will exert themselves in the provinces. Let + the deputies assemble, and let the cause I espouse be publicly + pleaded before them. That cause, favoured in heart by you, + supported by the great majority of the country electors, will + be certain of success. The moment of anarchy being past, you + will have nothing to fear from the violence of the Republicans. + I even think you might win over, by such a course, General + Lafayette and M. Lafitte to your side. What a part for you to + play, my Lord Duke! You will reign fifteen years in the name of + your young pupil; at the expiration of that time, repose will + be a blessing to us all. You will earn the glory, unique in + history, of having had the power to ascend the throne, and of + having left it to the lawful heir. At the same time, you will + have enjoyed the means of educating that heir abreast of the + ideas of his age: you will have rendered him capable of reigning + over France. One of your daughters may aid him to bear the + weight of the crown.' + + "Louis Philippe looked around with a wandering eye and an absent + air. 'I beg your pardon, M. de Chateaubriand,' said he; 'I left + a deputation to converse with you, and I must return to it.' + With these words, he bowed and withdrew. + +The advice thus given at the decisive moment by Chateaubriand +was that of honour and loyalty; it dictated by the spirit of the +chevalier _sans peur et sans reproche_. But it was not that of +immediate or apparent interest; and therefore it was not adopted. +The event has now proved, however, that in this, as in so many +other instances in this world, the path of honour and duty would +have been that of expedience. What Chateaubriand recommended to +Louis Philippe was substantially what Louis Napoleon _did_; and +the result proved that the great majority of the nation, differing +widely from the revolutionary rabble of Paris, was not only +Conservative, but Royalist in its dispositions. Had Louis Philippe +followed this course, and taken only the regency till the majority +of the Duke of Bordeaux, the two branches of the house of Bourbon +would have been cordially united: no discord or jealousies would +have weakened the Royalist party; the national will would have +been decidedly pronounced for the monarchy before it had been +rendered an object of contempt; the Revolution of 1848, with all +its disastrous consequences, would probably have been prevented; +and as the Duke de Bordeaux has no family, the Orleans dynasty, as +the next heirs, would have ascended the throne in the natural order +of succession--and not only without the bar sinister of treason on +their escutcheon, but with a deed of unexampled magnanimity and +honour to illustrate their accession! + +Louis Philippe, bent on the immediate possession of the throne, made +another attempt to gain M. de Chateaubriand; and for this purpose +the Duchess of Orleans and Madame Adelaide again sent for him. + + "Madame Adelaide was present as on the former occasion; and + the duchess now described more specifically the favours with + which the Duke of Orleans proposed to honour me. She dwelt on + what she called my sway over public opinion; the sacrifices I + had made, and the aversion which Charles X. and his family had + always shown to me in spite of my services. She said to me, that + if I would accept the portfolio of foreign affairs, his Royal + Highness would be too happy to replace me in that situation; but + that possibly I would prefer returning to Rome, and that she + would greatly rejoice at that appointment, for the interests of + our holy religion. + + "'Madam,' I answered with some degree of vivacity, 'I see that + his Royal Highness has taken his line; that he has weighed the + consequences; that he is prepared to meet the years of misery + and perils he will have to traverse. I have therefore nothing + to say on that head--I come not here to fail in respect to the + blood of the Bourbons; I owe besides nothing but gratitude + and respect to _Madame_. Leaving apart, then, those great + objections, founded on reason and principle, I pray her Royal + Highness to allow me to explain what personally concerns myself. + + "'She has had the condescension to speak of what she calls + my power over general opinion. Well, if that power is well + founded, on what is it founded? Is it on anything else but the + public esteem: and should I not lose it the moment I changed my + colours? The Duke of Orleans supposes he would in me acquire a + support: instead of that he would gain only a miserable maker + of phrases, whose voice would no longer be listened to--a + renegade, on whom every one would have a right to throw dust + and to spit in his face. To the hesitating words which he could + pronounce in favour of Louis Philippe, they would oppose the + entire volumes he had written in favour of the fallen family. Is + it not I, Madam, who have written the pamphlet of _Buonaparte + and the Bourbons_; the articles on the arrival of Louis XVIII. + at Compiègne; the relation of the Royal Council at Ghent, and + the _History of the Life and Death of the Duke de Berri_? I + know not that I have written a single page where the name of + our ancient kings is not either mentioned or alluded to, and + where they are not environed by the protestations of my love and + fidelity--a thing which marks strength of principle the more + strongly, as _Madame_ knows that, as an individual, I put no + faith in princes. At the thought even of desertion, the colour + mounts to my cheeks. The day after my treachery, I should go to + throw myself into the Seine. I implore _Madame_ to forgive the + vehemence of my language: I am penetrated with her goodness: I + shall ever preserve a profound and grateful remembrance of it; + but she would not wish me to be dishonoured. Pity me, madam, + pity me.'" + + "I was still standing; and bowing, I retired. Mademoiselle de + Orleans, (the Princess Adelaide,) had not yet said anything. + She rose up, and retiring said, '_I do not pity you, M. de + Chateaubriand; I do not pity you_.' I was forcibly struck + with the mournful accent with which she pronounced these + words."--Vol. ix. 361, 362. + +"Pity not me," said the dying Chevalier Bayard to the traitor +Constable de Bourbon; "pity those who fight against their king, +their country, and their oath." The feelings of honour are the same +in all ages. + +We shall close this long line of honourable acts with an extract +from Chateaubriand's noble speech in favour of Henry V., in the +Chamber of Peers, on July 7, 1830. + + "'Charles X. and his sons are dethroned or have abdicated; it + signifies not which. The throne is _not vacant_--after them + comes an infant; will you condemn the innocent? + + "'What blood now cries out against him? Can you say it is + that of his father? That orphan educated in the school of his + country, in attachment to a constitutional throne, and in + the ideas of his age, will become a king in harmony with the + cravings of the future. It is to the guardian of his infancy + that you would first tender the oath to be faithful to it. + Arrived at mature years, he would himself renew it. The king + at this moment, the real king for a time, would be the Duke of + Orleans, the regent of the kingdom; a prince who has lived near + the people, and who knows that the monarchy now can only be a + monarchy of concession and reason. That combination, so natural, + so obvious, appears a main element in reconciliation, and would + save France from the convulsions which are the consequence of + violent changes in a state. + + "'To say that this infant, separated from his masters, would not + have leisure to forget their precepts before becoming a man: to + say that he would remain infatuated by certain dogmas of his + birth, after a long popular education, after the terrible lesson + which has discrowned two kings in two nights: is that reasonable? + + "'It is neither from a sentimental devotion, nor the affection + of a nurse for the cradle of Henry IV., that I plead a cause + where all would turn against me if it triumphed. I am neither + influenced by the ideas of romance nor of chivalry: I do not + desire the crown of martyrdom. I do not believe in the divine + right of kings: I am alive to the power of revolutions, and the + evidence of facts. I do not even invoke the charter: I ascend + to a higher source. I draw my principles from the philosophic + ideas of the age in which my life expires: I propose the Duke of + Bordeaux simply as a necessity preferable to the Duke of Orleans. + + "'You proclaim the sovereignty of force. It is well. _Look + carefully after it: guard it well; for, if it escapes you, + who will pity your lot?_ Such is human nature. The most + enlightened minds are not always raised above the temptations + of success. The _esprits forts_ were the first to invoke the + right of violence; they supported it by all the force of their + talents; and at the moment when the truth of what they said is + demonstrated by the abuse of that force, and its overthrow, + the conquerors seize the weapon they have broken! Dangerous + trophies, which may wound the hand which seized them. + + "'A useless Cassandra, I have fatigued the throne and the + country sufficiently with my disdained predictions: it remains + for me only to seat myself on the remains of the wreck which I + have so often predicted. I recognise in misfortune every power + except that of absolving us from our oaths. I must render my + life uniform: after all I have written, said, and done for the + Bourbons, I should be the basest of the base if I deserted them + when for the third time they bend their steps into exile. + + "'Far from me be the thought of casting the seeds of division + into France: thence it is that I have avoided in my discourse + the language of the passions. If I had the firm conviction that + an infant should be left in the obscure and tranquil ranks of + life, to secure the repose of thirty-three millions of men, I + should have regarded any opinion expressed against the declared + wishes of the age as a crime. I have no such conviction. If I + was entitled to dispose of the crown, I should willingly lay it + at the feet of the Duke of Orleans. But I have no such right. I + see no place vacant but a tomb at St Denis, and not a throne. + + "'Whatever destinies may attend the lieutenant-general of the + kingdom, I shall never be his enemy, if he acts for the good of + his country. I only ask to be allowed to preserve the freedom of + my conscience, and to go and leave my bones where I shall find + independence and repose. I vote against the motion.'"--Vol. ix. + 386-388. + +Chateaubriand was as good as his word. He resigned all his +appointments, even his pension of £600 a-year as Peer of France: he +sold off all his effects, which scarcely paid his debts: he refused +the offer of Charles X. to restore that pension out of the wreck +of that Prince's own fortune: he set out again penniless on the +pilgrimage of life: and till his death, in 1848, supported himself +entirely by his literary talents. + +Such was honour in the olden time. We do not say that it would not +find imitators, on a similar crisis, on this side of the Channel: we +believe it would find many. But this we do say, that it would find +them only among those who are imbued with the ancient ideas, among +whom, whether patrician or plebeian, the spirit of chivalry is not +extinct. It will not be found among the worshippers of mammon, or +the slaves of interest. Woe to the nation by whom such feelings are +classed with the age of the mammoth and the mastodon! It has entered +the gulf of destruction, for it deserves to be destroyed. + + + + +THE GREEN HAND. + +A "SHORT" YARN. + +PART XI. + + +"Well, ma'am," continued our narrator, addressing himself, as usual, +to his matronly relative in the chair, and with the accustomed +catch-word, which was like the knotting together of his interrupted +yarn: "well--it was between a fortnight and three weeks after losing +sight of St Helena, that, being at last fairly in the latitude of +the Cape, the frigate and schooner tacked in company, and stood +close-hauled on a wind to the eastward. By the middle watch that +night, when the moon set, we could make out the long flat top of +Table Mountain heaving in sight off the horizon over against her. +Next day, in fact, we were both of us quietly at anchor outside of +the shipping in Table Bay; Cape Town glittering along on the green +flat amongst the trees to southward, with the hills on each side +of it like some big African lion lying on guard close by; while +Table Mountain hove up, square-shouldered, blue to the left, four +thousand feet high, as bare and steep as a wall, with the rocks and +trees creeping up from the foot, and the wreaths of light cloud +resting halfway, like nothing else but the very breakwater of the +world's end. The sea stretched broad off to north and west, and +a whole fleet of craft lay betwixt us and the land--half of them +Indiamen--amongst which, you may be sure, I kept a pretty sharp +look-out with the glass, to see if the Seringapatam were there still. + +I was soon saved further pains on this head, however, when shortly +afterwards the frigate was beset by a whole squadron of bumboats, +shoving against each other, and squabbling, in all sorts of Nigger +tongues, who should be first: the chief of them being in evident +command of a fat old Dutch Frouw, with an immense blue umbrella +over her, two greasy-looking Hottentot rowers in blankets, and a +round-faced Dutch boy, the picture of herself, steering the boat; as +the old lady made a clear berth for herself, by laying about with +her blue umbrella, till she was close under our quarter, sitting all +the while with the broad round stern of her bright-coloured gown +spread over a couple of beer-barrels, like a peacock's train. In +two minutes more the little fellow was up the side, flourishing a +bundle of papers under the first lieutenant's very nose, and asking +the ship's custom, even whilst the sentries were ordering them all +off. A midshipman took this youth by the cuff of the neck, and +was handing him rather roughly along to the care of the purser's +steward, when I stepped betwixt them; and a bumboat being the best +directory on the point, of course, I soon found the old lady had +had dealings with the Seringapatam, which her bluff-built little +progeny described as a very good ship indeed, all having paid their +bills, except one young officer, who had left a balance standing, +for which he had given a letter to his brother in a ship that was +to come after. As for the Indiaman herself, the Dutch boy said she +had sailed about a week before our arrival, along with two others; +and he was anxious to know if we were the vessel in question. I +accordingly unfolded the open letter, which was addressed,--"Thomas +Spoonbill Simm, Esquire, of His Britannic Majesty's ship Nincompoop, +(or otherwise;") and it ran somehow thus:--"_Hon. East India +Company's ship Seringapatam, Table Bay, September 1, 1816._--My +dear Brother, This is to certify, that I have eaten four dozen and +a half of eggs, supplied by the worthy Vrouw Dulcken, the bearer +of this, whom I can recommend as an old screw, and am due her for +the same the sum of nine shillings and sixpence sterling, which you +will kindly pay her, taking her receipt or mark, unless you are +willing to forfeit our family watch, herewith deposited by me in +the hands of said Mother Dulcken. I may add that, in justice to the +worthy Vrouw, three of the above-mentioned eggs ought to be charged +as _fowls_, which, by the way, I did not consume; and, with love +to all at home, remain your affectionate brother, JOHN SIMM, H. +E. I. C. S.--_P. S._ The watch I have discovered to be pinchbeck, +and it does not go; so that a sad trick must have been originally +played upon our venerated Uncle, from whom it descended. J. S." This +precious epistle was, without doubt, a joke of the fat mid. Simm, +who used to come such rigs over Ford the cadet, and that jumped +overboard one night by mistake out of the Indiaman's quarter-boat, +during the voyage. As for the existence of his brother Thomas, +or the chance of his touching at that port, I set them down with +the coming home of Vanderdecken; though the thought of this young +scamp of a sea-lawyer breakfasting for a fortnight so comfortably, +only a few feet distant from my charmer's state-room, sent me all +abroad again, and right into the Indiaman's decks, by this time far +out of sight of land. Piece of impudent roguery though it was, I +was actually loath to part with the scrawl, which the reefer had +fisted, no doubt, on the lid of his chest--probably with a pipe +in his mouth at the time, it smelt so of tobacco--only seven days +before. I could even see the grin on his fat face as he wrote it +below in the steerage, with his chin up, and his eyes looking down +past his pipe; while the little Dutch boy's round flat frontispiece +glistened as he peered up at me, in the evident notion of my being +the brother expected. In fact, ma'am, I was so soft as to intend +paying the nine-and-sixpence myself, and keeping the letter, when +I was startled to see the old lady herself had contrived to be +hoisted on board amongst her cabbages; and having got wind of the +thing, seemingly, she came waddling towards me to hand over Simm's +watch to boot. In another half minute the letter was being read +aloud in the midst of the whole gun-room officers, amongst roars +of laughter; the honest old Dutchwoman holding aloft the precious +article, and floundering through to find out the rightful owner, as +every one claimed it and offered the nine-and-sixpence; while for my +part I tried first to get down one hatchway, then another, and Lord +Frederick himself came up on the starboard side of the quarterdeck +in the height of the scene. Indeed, I believe it was a joke for +months after in the Hebe, of a night, to say it was "the second +lieutenant's watch;" the sole revenge I had being to leave Mother +Dulcken and her boy to expect the "ship that was coming after." + +A Government boat came aboard in the afternoon, and as soon as it +left us, Lord Frederick took his gig, and steered for a frigate +lying some distance off, which had the harbour flag hoisted at her +main, being the only man-o'-war besides ourselves, and commanded +by a senior captain. Till it got dark I could see the crews of the +nearest merchantmen looking over their bulwarks at us and our prize, +apparently comparing the schooner with the frigate, and speculating +on her character, as she lay a few fathoms off the Hebe's quarter, +both of us rising and falling in turn on the long heave of the +Cape swell from seaward. 'Twas hard to say, in fact, so far as +their hulls went, which was the most beautiful sample of its kind; +though the schooner's French-fashioned sticks and off-hand sort +of rigging, showed rather like jury-gear beside the tall regular +sticks aloft of the Hebe's decks, with all her hamper perfect to +a tee. The Hebe's men very naturally considered their own ship a +model for everything that floated, a sort of a Solomon's temple, in +short; and to hear the merciless way they ran down the Indiamen all +round, would have raised the whole homeward-bound fleet against us; +whereas the schooner was our own, at any rate, and she was spoken of +much in the manner one mentions an unfortunate orphan, as good as +already christened by the name of "the Young Hebe." This our learned +chaplain said was quite improper, and he gave another name in place +of it--the "Aniceta"--which meant, as he observed, the Hebe's +youngest daughter; so the Aniceta she was called, happening to be a +title that went, according to the boatswain, full as sweetly through +the sheave-hole. + +Next day the schooner had landed not only her passengers from St +Helena, but the prisoners also, as we still understood the French +and their Kroomen to be. Not long after that Lord Frederick came +back from Cape Town, looking grave, and went straight down to his +cabin, or "cabins," as his lordship preferred to have it said. The +first lieutenant dined that day with the captain; but they could +scarcely have finished when the "young gentlemen" who had been +as usual from the reefer's mess, came up with a message from the +captain, that his lordship would be glad if I would join the first +lieutenant and himself in a glass of wine. I found them sitting at +the side of the table nearest the open port, with the decanters +between them, and the broad bright bay in full sight to the shore +and the foot of Table Mountain, which rose up blocking the port with +the top of it beyond view; the sounds of the merchantmen clicking at +their heavy windlasses, and hoisting in water-casks, floated slowly +in from every side, while the schooner had hauled on her cable more +abreast of the frigate, leaving the sight clear over the eddy round +her low counter. + +"A lovely piece of workmanship, certainly!" observed Lord Frederick +thoughtfully, as he leant back swinging his eyeglass round his +finger, with the other hand in the breast of his waistcoat, and +looking out at what was seen of the schooner. "And how one might +have improved her spars, too!" said Mr Hall, wistfully. "I should +have recommended longer lower-masts altogether, Lord Frederick, and +a thorough overhaul, I may say, from the combings upwards!" "I would +not have her hull touched for the world, Mr Hall!" said the captain; +"'tis too--excessively provoking, at least! But pass the bottles to +Mr Collins, if you please." I had taken a chair and quietly filled +my glass, wondering what could be the matter, when his lordship +turned to me and said, "Do you know, Mr Collins, this schooner of +ours is likely to be laid up in Chancery, heaven knows how long. The +Admiralty court ashore are doubtful of condemning her, apparently, +and she must either be sent home or to Monte Video or somewhere, +where the master of her claims to belong!" "Indeed, my lord," said +I, setting down my glass, "that is curious." "Curious indeed, sir!" +replied he, biting his lips, "though, after all, we really can +scarce say what she is to be condemned for--only in the meantime I +sail to-morrow for India." "She's French to the backbone, that I'll +swear, Lord Frederick!" I said; "and what's more, she was"----"Ah," +broke in the captain, "I know, I know; but the less we say of +that, in present circumstances, the better! Once get her entangled +with politics, and we may give her up altogether." Lord Frederick +twisted his eyeglass round his forefinger faster than before, still +watching the schooner; the first lieutenant held up his claret +betwixt himself and the light, and I sipped mine. "I tell you what, +gentlemen," exclaimed his lordship suddenly, "I _must_ have that +schooner at any cost!--What is to be done, Mr Hall?" "She'd be of +great service in the China seas, my lord, certainly," said the first +lieutenant, looking thoughtfully into his empty glass; "a perfect +treasure for light service, especially if new sparred and--" I +noticed Lord Frederick glancing sideways at me, as I thought, with a +slight gleam in his eye; and accordingly I suggested that he might +buy her from the Frenchman himself; a very poor idea, no doubt, as +both the captain and first luff seemed to think, and we all three +kept eyeing her doubtfully through the port, without a word. + +At this time the schooner's counter had been slowly sheering toward +the frigate's beam, owing to the ebb-tide, and her holding only by a +single cable, till her stern began to show right opposite the cabin, +I should say not twenty feet off. Lord Frederick put his glass to +his eye, and was peering through it, when he remarked that they had +brought up rather too near, leaving scarce room for the schooner to +swing as she did, earlier than we, so that she would be in danger +of getting foul of the frigate's cables. "The worst of it is, Lord +Frederick," said I, "that in case of a gale from seaward here, she +might have to slip and run upon very short warning, whereas the Hebe +has plenty of ground-tackle to let her ride it out. Considering it +was Table Bay, at this season, he ought to have kept her a clearer +berth for herself, or else have gone well outside!"--"Ah!" said +Lord Frederick quickly, meeting my eye for half a minute, till the +gleam came into his again; and somehow or other mine must have +caught it, though I must say the notion that struck me then all at +once wasn't in my head before. "Do you know, that's well thought +of, Collins!" said his lordship. "You've weathered the Cape before, +by the bye?"--"A dozen times, Lord Frederick," said I; when a +regularly jovial roar of laughter broke fair through the port into +the cabin, from over the schooner's taffrail, as she sheered end-on +to the frigate's quarter, and Lord Frederick leant forward with the +glass screwed into his right eye to see along their decks, which +were covered aft with an awning like the open gable of a tent at a +fair. "Singular!" said he; "by the lord Harry, who or what can that +be Mr Hammond has got there?" Dangling over the French schooner's +taffrail were to be seen the soles of two immense boots, with calves +and knees to match, and a pair of tightish striped trousers worked +up more than half way, 'till you saw the tops of the stockings; +just beyond the knees was the face leaning back in the shade of +the awning and a straw hat together, out of which a huge green +cabbage-leaf hung like a flap over one eye, while the other kept +gazing in a half-closed sleepy sort of way at the sky, and the red +end of a cigar winked and glowed in the midst of the puffs of smoke +lower down. The first lieutenant started up shocked at the sight, +the noble captain of the Hebe sat with his eyeglass fixed, between +amusement and wonder; for my own part, when the voice of this same +prodigy broke all of a sudden on us out of the awning, in a mixture +of stuttering, hiccuping, Yankee drawling, and puffs at the cigar, +'twas all I could do to hold on, with the knowledge of where I was. +"W_a_ll now, general," said the American, as if he were talking +to some one aloft or in the sky, "ye-you're qui-quite wrong--I +ki-kick-calc'late I've fit a deal more be-be-battles than you +have--I re-respect you, Ge-Ge-General Washington; but I ho-ho-hope +you know who--hic--whom I am!" Here Mr Daniel Snout, who was in a +state of beastly intoxication, swayed himself up bodily into the +schooner's taffrail, and sat with his arms folded, his long legs +swinging over the stern, and his head trying to keep steady, as he +scowled solemnly aloft over the frigate's mizen-royal-masthead; +while the third lieutenant, Mr Hammond, and the master's mate he had +aboard with him, could be heard laughing at his back, as if they had +gone mad--Hammond being a wild sprig of an Irishman, who would go +any length for a piece of fun. + +Just then the American's one eye lighted on the side of the frigate, +till it settled lazily on the port of the captain's cabin: first he +seemed to notice Lord Frederick Bury, and then myself, the first +lieutenant having just recovered himself enough to rush toward +the door to get on deck. Daniel himself surveyed me scornfully +for a moment, then with a sort of doubtful frown, and a gravity +that passes me to describe, unless by the look of an old cock +a-drinking--evidently trying to recollect me. "Hallo, mister!" +shouted he suddenly, "you haven't touched those _notions_ of mine, +I hope." With that he made a spring off where he sat, as if to come +towards us--no doubt thinking of the Seringapatam, and the valuables +he had left aboard, without seeing the water between; and a pretty +deep dive Mr Snout would have made of it, into an ebb-tide that +would have swept him under the frigate's bottom, if Mr Hammond and +the midshipman hadn't both sprung forward in time to catch him by +the neck of the coat. There, accordingly, was the Yankee hanging +like a spread eagle over the schooner's taffrail, yelling and +turning round at the same time like a fowl on a spit--the third +lieutenant's and the mate's faces, two pictures of dismay, as they +held on, at finding for the first time where the schooner had shied +them round to, with their two pairs of eyes fair in front of the +captain's eyeglass,--while Mr Hall was singing out like thunder from +the deck above us, "The schooner ahoy--d'ye see where you've got +to, sir; haul ahead on that cable, d'ye hear, you lubbers, and keep +clear of the ship!" + +"Mr Collins," said his lordship quietly to me, as soon as he could +keep his countenance, and looking the sterner for the trouble he +was put to in doing it, "you will get your things and go aboard the +schooner directly--take her in charge, sir, and send Mr Hammond +back here."--"Very well, my lord," said I, waiting in the doorway +for something more, which, from something in Lord Frederick's +look, I had reason to expect, knowing it of old. "I can only spare +you a dozen of the men she has," added he; "but if you choose you +can send ashore at once to pick up a few makeshifts, or anything +you find!"--"Ay, ay, my lord," said I; "the best hand for that +would be Mr Snelling, if I may take him, Lord Frederick?" "Oh, +certainly," was the answer; "and harkye, Collins, you had better +shift your berth a few cable-lengths farther off, or more, if you +please."--"One thing, my lord," said I, stooping down to see through +the port, "I don't much like the heavy ground-swell that begins +to meet the ebb, Lord Frederick; and I fancy it won't be long ere +Table Mountain spread its supper-cloth--in which case I'd consider +it necessary to slip cable and run out at once, though I mightn't +get in again so easily. Am I to find the frigate here again, Lord +Frederick?"--"Deuce take it, man--no!" said his lordship. He turned +his back to hide the evident twinkle of his eye. "Should we part +company, of course you make for the Bay of Bengal! You can't be +sure of the Hebe, short of the Sandheads--and if not there, then +opposite Fort William, at Calcutta."--"Very good, my lord," said I, +and had made my bow to go on deck, when Lord Frederick called me +back. "By the bye," said he hastily, "about that Indiaman of yours, +Collins--she is here, no doubt?" "No, Lord Frederick," answered I, +"I believe she sailed a week ago." "Dear me, the deuce!" exclaimed +he, "why I meant to have sent to-morrow to have your friend Westwood +arrested and brought aboard!" I started at this, on which his +lordship explained that if Westwood got to Bombay, whither the +Seringapatam was bound, the authorities there would have news of the +thing by this time, and could send him overland at once to England, +which would be far worse for him than being carried to Calcutta, +where his uncle the Councillor's interest might do something for +him. "The best thing you can do, Collins," added Lord Frederick, +"if you _are_ obliged to run out to sea, is to look after that +Indiaman! With such a neat thing of a sea-boat under you, you might +do anything you please; so cruise to windward or leeward in chase, +find her out, and take out Westwood bodily--lose him afterwards in +the Hoogley, if you like--carry away those old spars of hers, and +send up new ones--only don't lose the schooner, I beg; so good bye +to you, my dear fellow, lest we should not meet on this side the +Line again!"--"Good bye, my lord!" said I cheerfully, and hurried on +deck, understanding all he wanted as well as if I'd been ordered to +set her jib that moment and heave up anchor. In ten minutes I was +over the frigate's side, and in ten more Hammond was back in her, +with the men who were to leave; while I sent my baggage below, set +the hands to work shifting the schooner's berth, and by sun-down we +were lying beyond hail of the ship, opposite the custom-house, and +a long line of a main street in Cape Town, where we could see the +people, the carriages, and the Dutch bullock-carts passing up and +down; while Table Mountain hove away up off the steep Devil's Hill +and the Lion's Rump, to the long level line a-top, as blue and bare +as an iron monument, and throwing a shadow to the right over the +peaks near at hand. + +Our friend from the United States being by this time in quite an +oblivious condition, the first thing I did was to have him put +quietly into the boat with which Mr Snelling was to go ashore for +fresh hands, and I instructed the reefer to get clear of him anyhow +he liked, if it was only above tide-mark. When they were gone I +walked the schooner's little quarterdeck in the dusk by myself, +till the half moon rose with a ghostly copper-like glare over the +hollow in the Lion's Rump, streaking across the high face of Table +Mountain, and bringing out all its rifts and wrinkles again. The +land-breeze began to blow steadily with a long sighing sweep from +the north-east, meeting the heavy swell that set into the broad +bay; and the schooner, being a light crank little craft, got rather +uneasy; whereas you could see the lights of the frigate heaving and +settling leisurely, less than half a mile off. I had only six or +seven good hands aboard altogether at the time, which, with those +the midshipman had, were barely sufficient to work her in such seas; +so with all I had to do, with the difficulty of getting men in the +circumstances, a long voyage before us, and things that might turn +up, as I hoped, to require a touch of the regular service, why the +very pleasure of having a command made me a good deal anxious. Even +of that I didn't feel sure; and I kept watching Table Mountain, +eager for the least bit of haze to come across the top of it, as +well as sorry I had sent Snelling ashore. "I'd give a hundred pounds +at this moment," thought I, "to have had Bob Jacobs here!" + +As the moon got higher, I could see the swell washing up between the +different merchantmen in sight, into their shadows, and heavy enough +some of them seemed to roll round their cables, betwixt a breeze +and a swell running the contrary ways; first one let go a second +anchor, and then another, to help their heads shoreward; but still +there was no danger, as things went. It wasn't long before I made +out two boats coming from toward the town, round the stern of one of +the ships, the frigate lying betwixt her and us, so that they took +her by the way, and a good deal of hailing seemed to pass between +them. I could even see epaulets glisten over the Hebe's quarter, as +if there was a stir made aboard; after which the boats were plainly +pulling for the schooner. What all this might mean, I couldn't very +well conceive, unless it were either Snelling come back already, or +else some hands Lord Frederick himself had provided before this, as +I saw both boats were full of people. "Forward there!" I sung out, +"hail those boats!"--"Ay, ay, the schooner ahoy!" was the answer, +in a sharp voice from the headmost of them, "from the shore--all +right! Stand by to heave us a line, will ye?" Next came a hail from +Snelling, in our own gig; so I at once gave orders to heave them +a rope and have both boats brought under the gangway, naturally +supposing the sharp little fellow had come some marvellous good +speed in shipping hands. As soon as he jumped on deck, I accordingly +inquired how many men he had brought, when to my great surprise he +informed me there was only one, "a scuffy sort of a swab," as he +expressed it, "who would do for cook!"--"The devil he will, you +young rascal," I broke out. "Hush, sir, for heaven's sake," said he, +making some extraordinary sign which I didn't understand; "it'll all +be right in the end, Mr Collins. Now then, sir," to some one in the +boat alongside, as he carefully handed him the accommodation-ropes, +"here you are--hold on, sir--so-o!" This was a rather youngish +fellow in a huge pilot coat and a glazed cap, with some kind of +uniform inside, and a large breastpin in his shirt, who handed +me a paper the moment he stood firm on deck, without speaking a +word; though, by the light of the deck-lantern, I didn't much like +the look of his foxy sort of face, with the whiskers on it coming +forward from both cheeks to his mouth, nor the glance he gave round +the schooner with his pair of quick sharp little eyes. "Much more +like a custom-house officer than a cook!" thought I, "unless we mean +to have a French one;" but what was my astonishment, on opening +the paper, to find him called "Gilbert Webb, harbour-master's +assistant, hereby authorised by the Admiralty Court, sitting in +Cape Town, to take charge of the doubtful vessel described in her +papers as the 'Ludovico,' belonging to Monte Video--from the officer +commanding the prize crew of his Britannic Majesty's ship Hebe." +My first thought was to have Mr Gilbert Webb pitched over into his +boat again, when Lord Frederick's own signature met my eye at the +bottom of the paper, addressed below to "Lieutenant Collins, of his +Majesty's schooner Aniceta, _at sea_." A wonderfully mysterious +squint from Snelling, behind the officer, was sufficient to clinch +the matter in my own mind, showing that the reefer was as sharp as +a needle: and I handed back the document to the harbour gentleman, +with a "Very well, sir, that will do." "I suppose I'd better have +my men up, Lieutenant Collins?" said he, with a quick pert kind of +accent, which made me set him down at once for a Londoner, while +at the same time he seemed impatient, as I thought, to get the +management. "Why, sir," said I, "I suppose you had." + +Hereupon up mounted four or five decent enough looking +_stevedores_[7]--one or two of whom had rather the air of sailors, +the rest being broad-beamed, short-legged Dutchmen, with trousers +like pillow-slips--followed by a whole string of fourteen or fifteen +Indian Lascars, their bundles in their hands, and an ugly old +_serdug_ at their head; while the lame, broken-down, debauched-like +fellow of a man-o'-warsman, that Snelling had found sitting on +a timberhead ashore, got aboard with our own boat's crew. Our +gangway was chokeful, to my fresh dismay, for to get rid of such a +tagrag-and-bobtail, in case of running to sea, was impossible; even +if they weren't odds against us, here was it likely to get a thick +night, the swell growing under the schooner till she began to yerk +at her anchor, head to wind, like a young filly at a manger; so that +dropping them back into their boat when needful, as I intended at +first, was out of the question for the present. I found from the +harbour officer that the number of hands would all be required with +the morning tide, when his orders were to have the schooner towed +in opposite the Battery Dock, especially as there was much chance +of the wind blowing strong from seaward next day. The swell on the +water, he said, was such that, after putting off, he thought of +going back again till the tide began to turn; if he had not been +encouraged to stick to it and keep on by the midshipman, whom he +fell in with near the quay. This piece of news was the finish to the +rage I felt brewing in me, vexed as I naturally was to give up the +notion of a free cruise, in command of a craft like the schooner; +and, as soon as Mr Webb was comfortable in the cabin, over a tumbler +of stiff grog and some cold beef, I sent for Snelling to my own +cupboard of a state-room. + + [7] Men employed in the stowing of ships' cargoes. + +"You cursed unlucky little imp you!" I burst out, the moment he made +his appearance, "What's the meaning of this, sirrah? eh?"--"What +is it, if you please, sir?" said Snelling, pretending to hold down +his shock-head like a frightened schoolboy, and looking up all +the time both at me and the lamp at once, while he swayed with +the uneasy heave of the deck in such a way as made me grip him by +the arm in a perfect fury, fancying he had got drunk ashore. "You +young blackguard you!" said I, shaking him, "didn't I tell you to +get hands--didn't you know I meant to--to--" "Oh yes, Mr Collins," +gasped the reefer, "I did indeed--you meant to cut and run--I saw +it by your eye, sir, and--don't shake me any more, sir, or you'll +spoil my hair--and I don't deserve it--it's--all right!" And on my +letting him go, the ugly little scamp sunk down on a chair with +his eyes starting from his head, and a leer like a perfect demon +incarnate; but so perfectly laughable it was, not to mention the +air of complete confidence between us that he threw into it, that +I sat down myself, ready to grin at my bad luck. "Well, Mister +Snelling," said I, quietly, "you _are_ a touch beyond me! Let's +have the joke, at least--out with it, man, else another shake may +be--" The reefer pointed with his thumb over his shoulder to the +cabin, shoved his chin forward, and whispered, "Why, sir, I'm only +doubtful whether you could make him third officer--but at any rate, +he'll always be useful at a rope, Mr Collins--won't he, sir?" I gave +Snelling one look, meant to be as grave as an Old Bailey chaplain's, +but it wouldn't do--my conscience wouldn't stand it--in fact the +very self-same notion seemed to me to have been creeping into my +mind. "You--young--rascal!" was all I could manage to say, before +making bolt to go on deck. "By the by, Mister Snelling," said I, +turning and looking down from the hatchway, "you must want a glass +of grog--tell the boy to let you have some--and go and keep the +officer company, sir." + +By this time it was raining hard, the half-moon coming out at +moments and shining through it with a sudden sharp gleam, in some +gust of the wind off the land--showing the swell in as far as the +wet white custom-house and the bare quays, the ships with their +hazy lights all hither and thither, while Table Mountain was to be +seen now and then peering half over the mist, first one corner and +then another, of a colour like dead ashes. One time I looked down +toward the dusky little cabin, where the midshipman, quite in his +element, was sitting with the harbour officer, the lamp jerking and +making wild swings betwixt them, while Snelling evidently egged on +his companion to drink; then I gave a glance seaward, where there +was nothing but a glimmer of rain and spray along the dark hollows +of the water. I couldn't make up my mind, all I could do--it was +too barefaced a thing to slip from the roadstead with a breeze +blowing off-shore; but the worst of it was that I didn't feel easy +at the idea of parting with an anchor in the circumstances, not +to say carrying off the Government people, unless forced to it. I +accordingly went below to mix myself a stiffener, and found the +officer a cool head, for, in spite of all Snelling could do, the +reefer himself had got provoked, whereas the sharp Mr Webb was +only a little brisker than before. "A rough sort of night," said +I, nodding to him, as I knocked the water out of my cap. "Well, +it seems," said he, free and easy. "S'pose I go on deck then, +gentlemen--I've refreshed, I assure you, so you needn't trouble +about this 'ere schooner no farther--glad to get quit of it and turn +in, I desay, lieutenant?"--"No trouble in the world, Mr Webb," said +I, going on with my mixture, "far from it; but sit down a minute, +pray sir,--Mr Snelling here will take charge of the deck for us in +the meantime;" and Snelling vanished at once, Mr Webb apparently +flattered at my wishing his company. "Will that cable of yours +hold, think ye, Lieutenant Collins?" asked he, filling up another +glass. "Why," said I, almost laughing, "to tell you the truth, +I begin to feel devilish doubtful of it." "What!" broke out the +harbour officer, starting up, "then I must 'ave another put down +immediately: why, what's the effect, sir--we'll be carried out to +sea!" "You said it exactly, Mr Webb," I said "'twould have been much +worse, I suppose, if we were driven ashore, though! Now look you, +if I were to let go a second anchor at present, I couldn't light +upon a better plan either to break her back, or lose both anchors in +the end--from the difference of strain on the two cables, with this +ground-swell. The fact is, my good fellow, you're evidently not fit +to take charge at present." "D--n me, lieutenant!" said he, looking +fierce and foolish at the same time, "here's strange lang'age to a +Gov'ment officer, sir--I hask the meanin' off it _at_ once, mister!" +"But I depend a good deal on your knowledge of Table Bay weather," +I continued, leaning back with my weather eye screwed to bear upon +him. "D'ye think this wind likely to moderate soon, sir? come +now."--"No," replied he sulkily: "I'm sure it won't--and to-morrow +it's certain to blow back ten times worse." "Then, Mr Webb," said +I, rising, "you oughtn't to have come aboard to-night; as the short +and the long of it is, I shall get the schooner an offing the first +possible moment!" The officer stared at me in a bewildered manner; +and as for the schooner, she seemed to be bolting and pitching in +a way worse than before, with now and then a plunge of the swell +on her broadside as if she had been under weigh. Suddenly Snelling +lifted the skylight frame and screamed down into the cabin, "Mr +Collins, Mr Collins! she's been dragging her anchor for the last ten +minutes, sir!" + +I sprang on deck at two bounds--the schooner had somehow or other +got her anchor out of hold at the time, the cable as taut as a +fiddle-string. It was quite dark aloft, and not a vestige of Table +Mountain to be seen, though the moonshine, low down to westward, +brought out two or three tracks of light along the stretch of water, +and you saw the lights in the ships slowly sweeping past. Where we +happened to be, it blew two ways at once, as is often the case in +Table Bay, round the bluffs of the mountain, and as soon as she +brought up again with a surge at the windlass, the heave of a long +swell took her right on the quarter, lifting her in to her anchor +again with a slack of the hawser, at which every second man sung out +to "hold on!" Over she went to port, a sea washing up the starboard +side, and throwing a few dozen bucketfuls at once fair into the +companion, where our friend the harbour officer was sticking at the +time; so down plumped Mr Webb along with it, and the booby hatch +was shoved close after him, while the poor devils of Lascars were +huddled together as wet as swabs in the lee of the caboose forward. +"A hand to the wheel!" shouted I, as soon as I recovered myself; +when to my great surprise I saw Snelling's new hand, poor creature +as I'd thought him, standing with a spoke in each fist, as cool and +steady as possible, and his eye fixed on me in the true knowing way +which I felt could be trusted to. "Jib there!" I sung out, "see all +clear to run up a few hanks of the jib--stand by to cut the cable at +the bitts!"--"Ay, ay, sir," answered Snelling, who was working away +with the harbour men, his bare head soaked, and altogether more like +an imp than a young gentleman of the navy--"All's clear, sir." + +Five minutes I dare say we stood, every one in the same position, +while I waited for a good moment in the run of the swell, looking +into the binnacle: till she hung slack, as it were, in a wide +seething trough of the sea, when I signed to the man behind me to +put the helm gradually to starboard. I glanced at the fellow again, +caught his sharp weatherly eye once more--then putting both hands to +my mouth I sung out to bowse on the jib halliards. "Now--cut--the +cable!" shouted I, springing forward in my anxiety. The schooner +rose away from her anchor on the heavy roll of the sea; I saw two +quick strokes of the axe on the instant, and she was spinning head +off from the wind, heeling over betwixt the force of it and the +ground-swell together, while the mass of black water was washing +bodily away with us; the new helmsman showing down below me as he +leant to the wheel, like somebody at the foot of a slide. If he +hadn't helped her at the moment with a back turn of the spokes to +port, t'would have been all up with us. As it was, the schooner fell +off gallantly in his hands, with a sliding surge into the lee of +the next swell, that buried her sharp bows in the green sea, till +it foamed about our very shoulders as we hung on like grim death +to the weather bulwark. She was just shaking herself free, and +rising like a buoy over the broad tops of the waves, when Snelling, +myself, and two or three of the men, staggered down to her mainmast +to swig up the throat halliards, letting her feel a little of the +boom mainsail; and we had scarce belayed, as the last glimpse of the +frigate's lights was caught astern of us, heaving and setting, as +she rode with her two bower anchors down; we had driven past close +enough to have heard the creak of her hamper aloft. After that, I +had the fore-stay-sail set on her, then the reefed mainsail, and the +lively schooner yielded to the long rolling seas so well, as very +soon to make her own weather of it--especially since, clear of the +high land about Table Bay, it was blowing only a strong breeze, and +the more I began to feel master of her, the more inclined I was to +let her show her good qualities. Such a craft I never had had the +full management of before in my life; and you may easily fancy how +I felt at dividing the hands into the two watches, giving little +Snelling command of one, as first mate, and picking out our men in +turn. I looked round amongst mine, rather at a loss for one to make +second mate for the cruise, though there were three prime enough +man-o'-warsmen, and I had chosen one of the Government officer's +gang for his activity. As for the Lascars, we slumped in half of +the number to each of us, for make-weights--when Snelling's fresh +hand, who had fallen to my share, caught my eye again as he stood +at the wheel. Every half spoke he gave the schooner told; she was +topping the heavy seas as they rose, and taking them just where they +melted one to the other, with a long floating cleave, that carried +her counter fairly free of the after-run, though nearly right before +the wind: the main-boom had been guyed over to the lee-quarter, till +a third of the sail hung clear of her hull, and the breeze swept +into the hollow of it, thick with spray. The light from the little +binnacle shone up distinctly on the man's face, and with all the +desperate, used-up, marbled sort of look of it, like one getting +the better of a long spree ashore, I thought there was something +uncommonly promising about him, not to say greatly above the run of +foremast men. The wet, the wind, and the work he was at, took off +the seediness of his clothes; even the old rag of a handkerchief +round his hairy neck had got a gloss to it, and he stood handling +the wheel with a strange mixture of recklessness and care, as he +glanced from the compass to the gaff of the mainsail against the +scud, and down again. The very contrast between the man's manner +and his outward rig was sufficient to strike one, though plenty of +seamen are to be found in the like state ashore: but what fixed me +to him above all, was the expression in those two keen, searching, +_living_ eyes of his, when they once or twice met mine on their +way from aloft to the compass-boxes. 'Twas as if they'd woke up +since he came aboard out of a sleepy, maudlin condition, with the +"blue-devils" or scarce fully out of 'em; like a sick man's in the +lull of a fever, suddenly seen watching you out of the dusk of the +bed, when one happens to glance up from the nurse's seat. + +"What's your name, my man?" asked I, stepping aft to the binnacle. +"My name is Jones, sir," said he readily. "And your first name?" +I said. "Jack," was the answer, in an off-hand way, with a hitch +of one shoulder, and a weather-spoke to the wheel; spoken in an +accent you'd have expected more in a West End drawing-room than +from a common sailor. "Ah," said I, sharply, "Jack Jones? I wonder +how many Jack Joneses there are afloat! An able seaman, I think, +Jones?"--"Why sir," replied the man, "I never rate myself, sir--'tis +all one to me, able, ordinary, landsman, or boy--I carry no papers, +and leave my betters to rate me." "Where were you last, my man?" +I asked; whereupon I met such a cool, steady, deep look out of +the fellow's strange light-coloured eyes, bloodshot as they were +with drinking, that I felt almost our very two souls jostle in it: +as much as to say, To all eternity fathom me if ye can! "Well, I +forget where, sir," said he, lowering his look to the compass-box +again: "always the way with me, after a trip, a cruise, a voyage, or +whatever it may be. I've got--ha!" and he yielded his body coolly +to a jerk of the schooner's wheel. "A sweet craft this, sir, but +a little ticklish!" "You've got what?" said I, not unwilling to +wear out the time. "I've got--no memory!" Still there was somewhat +so gloomy and mournful in the next glance aloft, I don't know how +it was, but I felt inclined to offer him a mate's place on trial, +and so I hinted, if he knew half as well how to handle a craft as +he did of steering her. To my own surprise, Jones's wonder didn't +seem to be roused at the notion, except that he gave me another +quick glance from head to foot, with a queer smile that struck me +as if I were being questioned, instead of _him_; then he looked +down over his own outfit, judging by which you'd have said he'd +been shipwrecked. "Well," said I, "I daresay you've been hard put +to it, somehow, Jones,--so as soon as you leave the wheel, you can +go below to the steward, and get a seagoing suit of my own, till we +see Calcutta, when your mate's wages will set you all right again." +The man touched his battered old straw hat; but I noticed his eyes +gleam for a moment by the binnacle light, and a strange twitch run +round his mouth at the mention of the mate's wages: the only way I +could account for it at the time being his late hard-up condition; +and nothing to my mind was more deucedly pitiable, than to see the +thought of a few paltry additional rupees light up a head like that, +with the glistening sort of expression of a miser, as I fancied. +The man had a head on him, in fact, when you eyed him, fit for a +gentleman's shoulders, or more--his hair and his whiskers curly and +dark, draggled though they were with the rain, not to say Cape Town +mud--while the wearing away of the hair about the temples, and the +red grog-streaks in the veins of his face, made him no doubt a dozen +years older to appearance than he was. For my part I was quite +convinced already, this same Jack Jones hadn't been sent out a cabin +boy; there was not only a touch of high blood in him at bottom, but +I'd have sworn he had been some time or other in the place of a +gentleman, afloat or ashore, though plainly now "going to the devil." + +Meanwhile the breaking look of the clouds away on our larboard bow +showed it wasn't far off dawn; so, sending another hand to the +wheel, and finding a snug spot under a stern-grating for a snooze +on deck, I told Jones to begin with taking charge of the deck for +me. "One thing, sir," said he, touching his hat again, as I lay +down, "I've only shipped for the outward voyage, and leave at the +first port."--"Why, what the deuce!" said I, lifting my head; "what +do you mean to do there, eh?" "I--I want to go ashore," answered +he, eagerly; "ay, if we're years on the cruise, so much the better, +sir,--but so soon as she drops anchor off Calcutta, I'm my own +master?"--"Have your own way, then," said I; "at any rate I'll try +you in the meantime,--so Mister Jones, let's see how you mind the +schooner till eight bells!" Whereupon I turned myself over to sleep, +and it was as broad daylight as we had any likelihood of about the +Cape, when I woke. + +It still blew a stiff breeze, but the waves rose with a length and +a breadth in them you find in no other sea; deep-blue sparkling +hills of water, with green gleams about the crests, of which every +single wave had a hundred or so; and a long seething, simmering, +glassy hollow of a still valley between, where the flecks of foam +slid away glittering out of the shadow. But, Lord! it was glorious +to feel the schooner rising quietly in the trough, with the mount +of a wave, to the very ridge of it; then with a creak of all her +timbers and bulk-heads below, a slight shake to windward, and a +yerk at her bows, lean over to leeward again and go hissing through +the breast of a huge sea, till you thought she'd go down into it; +while there she was, however, lifting head up, with a swift flash +of her cutwater, on the cross half wave that joined every first and +third one--"billow" and "sea," as you may say. The breeze having +drawn more easterly toward morning, Jones had braced her more upon +a wind, with reefed main and foresails, and fore-staysail set, +which brought out the Aniceta's weatherly qualities to a marvel; +as notwithstanding almost a head-wind and a swelling sea, she went +nearly as fast as the frigate would have done before the breeze, and +not a sign of the land was to be seen from her crosstrees. + +It was not till the afternoon, when the midshipman and I had both +been busy together seeing various things done about the rigging, +as well as having preventer-braces and guys clapped on the booms +and gaffs, that we had time to look about us; the schooner still +driving along with the breeze strong abeam, and a floating plunge +from one wide dark-blue sea to another, as if they handed her +onward. Jones had got himself made decent below, as I told him, +till what with different clothes and a shave together, besides +refreshment from sea weather, he was quite a different man to look +at. Even Snelling owned to his sailor-like appearance, though +rather surprised at my notion of making him a mate; while as for +the men, they didn't know but he had come aboard as such, and to +tell the truth, he was having the mainstaysail got up and ready to +bend at the time, like one accustomed to give orders. By this time +I remembered the harbour officer, Webb, whom we'd carried off so +unceremoniously, and found he was still in his "bunk" below, half +sulky and half sick, consoling himself with brandy and water till +we should get into Table Bay again, as he said. "Only put him into +my watch, Mr Collins," said Snelling gravely, "and I'll work him +up, sir." The reefer himself, in fact, had all of a sudden turned +out in a laughably dignified style, to meet his new post--in full +midshipman's rig, dirk and all, with his cocked hat, which I sent +him down immediately to change; but he had brushed up his mop of +hair, and begun to cultivate the down on his upper lip; while +being a deep-shouldered, square-built, short-armed little fellow, +as muscular as a monkey, you'd have thought from the back of his +coat he was a man cut shorter, and for his face, he had contrived +to put such a sour effect into it--meant for great experience, no +doubt--that it was only by his eyes one saw he was a boy of sixteen +or so; and _they_ were brimful of wild glee, as he jumped about +wherever he was needed, doing the work of a couple of ordinary men, +and actually delighted when a spray came over the weather bulwarks +on top of him, seeing that, instead of the frigate, she was "our +schooner" that did it. + +"I think she walks, Mr Collins!" observed Snelling, holding up +his head stiffly, and looking aloft as we went aft, after shaking +ourselves from one of these same sprays. "No denying that, Mr +Snelling," said I as gravely; "I only wish your fond parents +could see you just now, first mate of such a smart craft, Mister +Snelling!" His father was a country baronet, who had sent him off to +sea with an allowance--I daresay because his looks were no ornament, +and there were plenty more coming; though Snelling always pretended +his worthy progenitor was an old man. "Fond be blowed!" said he, +starting; "I just see him at this moment at the foot of that blessed +old mahogany, proposing my health before the ladies go, and--" Here +the schooner rose on a sharp, short wave, making a plunge through it +that sent the helmsman swinging to the lee-side of the wheel, while +a sea washed up over her forecastle, and away aft with the tubs, +buckets, and spars, knocking everybody right and left. Snelling +and I held on by the weather main-rigging with our feet in a bath, +till she lifted bodily through it, careering to her lee-gunnel. "By +George, though!" broke out the reefer, smacking his lips as we drew +breath, "I wish he _did_ see me--wouldn't it cheer his declining +years, when I'd got to hand the governor carefully below! And +such a rough night as we're going to have of it, too, sir!" "You +unfilial young dog!" said I; "but so I'm afraid we shall--and no +joke either!" Jones was standing near us, watching the looks of the +weather with evident uneasiness, and I asked him what he thought of +it. "In my opinion, sir," said he, "you'll have some pretty sudden +shift of wind ere long, of a kind I have seen more than once off the +Cape before--and that as furious as a south-easter ordinarily is +hereabouts. Look away yonder, sir!" + +It had got to a clear, dry, north-easterly gale, that shook our +canvass every time she lifted, singing through the ropes, and bitter +cold. Long and heavy as the roll of the sea was, the sky was as +keen and clear as glass all round about and aloft, save the mist +kicked up by the spray off a wave here and there. If a rag of white +cloud appeared, it was blown away, and you saw the black wrinkled +side of one wave at a time, a mile wide, you'd have said, freckled +all over with spots of foam, and its ridge heaving against the eye +of the blast. The waves had begun to break shorter. The schooner, +buoyant as she was, and sharp as a dolphin, pitched and rolled at +times like mad, and the men forward were standing by to let go the +fore-halliards, throat and peak, to ease her a little: when Jones +pointed out the bank of gray cloud ahead of us, scarce to be seen +through the troughs of the water, except when she lifted well upon +a swell of sea. The sun going down in a wild red glare to leeward +of us, threw a terrible glitter across the huge slant of one single +wave that rose stretching away far and wide from her very bow, then +brought out the sulky wrinkled blue in it; the hissing green crests +curled over to the very sunset, as it were, while we sunk slowly +into the long dark lulling trough, and saw the broken shaft of a +rainbow stand glimmering for a moment or two into a black hollow +right ahead, when the gale drove it back upon us like an arrow, as +the schooner urged through the breast of the next wave. I looked +from Snelling to the new mate, who still held on by a belaying-pin +and watched the clouds, giving me back a glance that showed he +thought the matter more serious than ordinary. "The sooner we strip +her to the storm-staysails," said I quickly, as we fell into the +trough again, "the better, I think. If it blows harder, we must +lie-to with her at once." My eye was anxiously fixed on Jones, for +large as the schooner was, between two and three hundred tons, yet +no craft in the world is so nice to bring to the wind in a gale, +with a heavy sea running. Scudding before it might have done for +the frigate, with her full bows, and spars high enough to keep her +main-topsail full in spite of the troughs; but even that would have +taken us out of our course after the Indiaman. Besides that, to tell +the truth, I didn't sufficiently understand fore-and-aft rigged +craft in all weathers yet, to be quite sure of what I did at a pinch +like the present. "Yes, yes, sir," answered he; "but if you'll take +an older man's advice, before that you'll wear her round on the +other tack to it. We've the worst to come, or else I'm mistaken, +sir."--"You're accustomed to schooners?" asked I firmly, and gazing +him in the face. I saw his lips open in the sweep of the wind +through our after-rigging, and he made a sign with his hand, while a +gnawing sort of spasm, as it were, shot through the muscles of his +jaw, and for a moment he gave me a devilishly fierce, keen glance, +almost a glare, from under his strong straight eyebrows--then turned +away. "Take the trumpet then, Mr Jones," said I, singing out into +his ear; "I'll leave her to you, sir. Mr Snelling, let's see the +hatches all fast!" And we scrambled along by the belaying-pins. + +"Are you all ready fore and aft?" came Jones's voice like thunder +in the next dip she made, and he leapt up bareheaded on the breech +of one of the small carronades aft, holding on with one hand by the +weather main-shrouds, and watching the run of the waves as they +glimmered off our lee-beam into the dusk, for full five minutes. +I had hold of a rope near him, and his eye was as steady as if he +were picking out hills in a view. I had full confidence in the +man; but I must say it was a nervous moment to me, when I saw him +lift the trumpet to his mouth--and furiously as the wind shook +the schooner, you heard his hoarse cry, "Put your helm up--slack +off the mainsheet--brail up the mainsail--ease down the weather +boom-guy--main-staysail sheet--" And the rest was lost in the +wild shriek of the north-east gale. We were hard at it, however, +staggering as we hauled and held on, even to the poor half-drowned, +terrified Lascars, whom the midshipman had roused out of the caboose +and long-boat, shoving the ropes into their leathery hands. But I +knew little else till I saw the schooner had payed off before the +wind, shearing with a hiss like red-hot iron right through the +ridge, betwixt two tremendous combing waves. It swelled green over +her larboard bulwark as she heeled over, and she gave a heavy dead +lurch with it, as if she would let the next sea break aboard. "Now! +now!" shouted Jones, at a pitch of voice like no earthly sound; "aft +the mainsheet, for your lives!" He jumped to the wheel himself, at +a single bound. We were in two floundering heaps, as we dragged at +the mainboom aft, and the head-sheets on the forecastle, while she +came trembling up in the long bight of the sea, and took the gale +steadily before her other beam. It was blowing harder than ever; and +the awful "scud" of the sea rolled her bodily away, as she met it +with her weather-bow, washing white over the headrail, with spray +from cathead to bowsprit; the gale heaving her down on the lee-beam, +till she plunged to the brim on that side, at every forward pitch, +so that all hands on deck had to keep crowded together aft. Still +it was keen starlight overhead, the gale dry, though it was bitter +cold, and the seas long and pretty regular. The schooner behaved +wonderfully, being as tight as a bottle; and at the same time we +were not only lying our course either for the Mozambique or Indian +Ocean, but instead of running farther into the gale, as before, +and getting more into the wild Cape latitudes, why, at present she +tended to clear out of them. I accordingly agreed with Jones to hold +on with everything as long as possible, in spite of the way she was +sometimes flung off with the crest of a wave, as it were, making a +clear dive with her nose under water through a white seething sea +that seemed to swell round the whole horizon: the black bank of +cloud off our weather-beam towered like icebergs against the cold +green sky to south-east, the stars glittering and twinkling over it, +with little hazy rings round them, after a fashion that one of us +liked no more than the other. + +About midnight, we had got everything off her to the two small +storm-staysails, main and fore, the wind blowing great guns, and +the half moon shining right over the long bank, as if the back of +it were dead-white; while betwixt it and the washing glimmer of +moonlight half-way, you'd have thought the black heave of the ridges +vanished into a bulk of shadow ten times blacker, save for the heads +of spray tossing dimly over in it here and there. All at once, in +the very height of the gale, as the black floating clouds from the +bank began to cross over the gray scud flying fast aloft, a blue +flash of lightning shot zig-zag into the very comb of a wave ahead +of us, then came the clap of thunder, loud enough to be heard above +the wind, and in half a minute there was a sudden lull. You saw +the fleecy rags of scud actually settling together under the dark +vapour moving above them, and heard nothing but the vast washing +welter of the billows rising and seething for miles round, as if +the world were water, while the schooner rolled helplessly away, +with her storm-staysails flapping, into the trough. The midshipman +almost gasped as he looked to me--not from fear, but as much as to +say, "What next?" Our strange mate stood against the fife-rail of +the mainmast, apparently too intent on the sky and sea for speaking. +For my own part, I let go of my belaying pin, and half tumbled to +the wheel, almost knocking the sailor down in my haste to put the +helm hard up--for I saw how the blast was to come, fairly before the +beam, upon us. "Hard a-starboard with it!" shouted I; "haul down +the main-staysail there--let her fall off as she rises!" The last +words were never heard, for next moment there was another flash of +lightning, this time a blaze all round into the troughs of the sea; +I saw a body of mist coming down upon us from south-east, through +which the gale struck her on the starboard beam, having suddenly +shifted eight points or so. The heavy rolling swell from north-east +was close aboard, and as soon as I knew what I was about, here she +was leaning over to the full tremendous force of the storm, without +power to surge ahead, though struggling to rise like a cart-horse +down on his knees with a load uphill of him. 'Twas by instinct, +as they say, I found myself scrambling along to her weather +main-channels, where I managed to get out on the side, slippery as +it was, and drenched with the blinding showers of spray. I had got +my knife at work, cutting the lanyards of the shrouds to let the +mainmast go, when I saw Snelling creep after me, like a fearless +little fellow as he was, dirk in hand; although what was come of +Jones I couldn't see, unless he had lost heart and skulked. All at +once, to my great joy, the main-staysail blew inway to leeward out +of the bolt-ropes, like a scrap of paper, the main-topmast crashed +at the cap and went alongside, when the schooner righted to her +keel, with a wild bolt forward through the whole width of an immense +wave--one of the "third waves" it was, commonly the last and the +hugest in a single roll of the sea of the Cape, before you sink into +a long gliding valley, with a sort of a lull in it. The scene was +so terrible at the moment, though we bore up for full half a minute +to the fair steady stroke of the awful gale, nothing but a yeast +of mist, scud, and darkness ahead, the spray torn off the ridge of +the wave and flying with us, while the triple run of the heavy seas +astern was in danger of sweeping her decks from over the poop--that +I felt we must try lying-to with her at once. Indeed, Snelling and +I hardly knew whether we were holding on or not, as we were half +washed inboard and half crawled round the rigging; but Jones had +already seized the exact point, when she sank in the hollow, to have +the helm eased down to leeward. Meanwhile he had got the reefed +foresail balanced and set, with the sheet hauled aft beforehand--a +tackle hooked on to the clue, and bowsed amidships--everything else +was off her; and with this sail she came slowly up close to the +wind on the slant of the next wave, lying-to nearly head toward the +force of the sea, as her helm was kept fast, two or three points +to leeward. I never had seen a craft of the kind hove-to in a gale +before, and a very nice matter it is, too. We drew breath, scarce +able to credit our eyes, while the schooner rode apparently safe on +a sea rolling mountain-high; rising and falling off from the breasts +to the sides of the waves, so far as leeway went, and forging ahead +a little at the same time through the fierce spray that showered out +of the dark over her weather-bow. + +Cape weather as bad I had seen before, but always in good-sized +ships; and I owned to Snelling I would rather have handled any one +of them, even with a lee-shore near, ten times over, than this +schooner of ours in the present case. However, none of us were in +any mood for speaking at the time, let alone the waste of breath it +was. The best thing we had to do, after getting somewhat satisfied +of her weathering it this way, was to have the grog served out +to the men, swig off a stiff pannikin one's self, and make one's +self as comfortable as possible with his pea-coat in the lee of +something. The sight of the sea ridging up with a dim glimmer +against the dark, kept your eye fixed to it: first you thought +it would burst right aboard, crash down upon the decks; then she +lifted with it, swelling broad under her, while the long steady +sweep of the gale drove just over the bulwarks with a deep moan: +for half a minute, perhaps, a shivering lull, when you heard the +bulkheads and timbers creak and strain below from stem to stern, +and the bilge-water yearning, as it were, to the water outside. +Then, again, it was a howl and a shriek, a wide plunge of sea bore +up her weather-bow, and the moment ere she came fairly to, one +felt as if the schooner were going to pitch God knows where. Her +whole bulwarks shook and shivered, the wind found out every chink +in them, whistling round every different rope it split upon, while +all the time, the loose wet dreary spars behind the long-boat kept +slatting and clattering against each other in the lashings, like +planks in a woodyard of a November night. This was the way we stuck +till the morning watch showed it all in a drizzling, struggling +sort of half light, blowing as hard as ever, the Cape seas rolling +and heaving mountain-high, of a pale yesty hue, far and wide to the +scud; the spray drifting from the crests, and washing over her bare +forecastle, with now and then the white wings of a huge albatross to +be seen aslant to windward, riding on the breast of a long wave down +into the trough. + +Well, the whole blessed day did this sort of thing continue, +only varied by now and then a huger sea than ordinary lifting +close aboard of us, and we being hove up to get a glimpse of the +long glaring streak of horizon through the troughs of the waves: +sometimes an unluckier splash than usual over the bow and through +the forechains, that made us look sharp lest the canvass of the +foresail should go, or the schooner broach end-on to the sea. +Otherwise, all we had to do was to watch the binnacle, hold on with +one hand to a rope, and with the other to our caps; or turn out and +in with each other down the booby-hatch for a snatch of sleep, and +a bit of biscuit and cold beef, with a glass of grog. Mr Webb, the +harbour officer, was to be seen below in his berth all this time, +lying as peaceable as a child--whether he was dead sick, or only +confoundedly afraid, I didn't know; but I must say I felt for the +poor fellow when I heard him ask Snelling, in a weak voice, if he +would get somebody to stand off the bull's-eye in the deck over +his berth, as it always made him think there was a new hurricane +coming on. "D--n it, you low skulking hound!" said the reefer, who +had wonderfully little pity in his make, "it can't be worse--what +d'ye want light for, eh?" "Only to see the opposite wall," said +Webb, meekly; "do, sir--oh now!" "Oh, you lubber ye!" said Snelling, +"don't you know a bulkhead from a wall yet? If you'd come on deck to +bear a hand like others, you wouldn't need light; and _I_ thought +you might do for a mate aboard, too--pah, you scum!" "Mr Snelling," +said I sharply, as he came through the cabin, "a worm will turn when +it's trod upon, and so you may find yet, sir!" "Well, Mr Collins," +said he, as confidentially as if I hadn't meant to give him a set +down, "I don't like the fellow's eye. I'll look after him, sir!" +Not to mention the young rogue's power of face, which was beyond +brass, he had a way of seeing you in two places at once with that +upward squint of his, as if his eyes were the points of a pair of +compasses, that made the officers of the Hebe always send him to the +masthead directly, for fear it should take the frown out of them. In +fact, when Snelling's twinkling weather-eye lighted on one's neck, +without the other, you almost felt it tickle you, and as usual I +turned away with a "pshaw!" + +On the second morning, the gale at last began to break, shifting +southward; on which, as soon as the sea ran a little easier, I +had the helm cautiously put up at a favourable moment, the reefed +mainsail, fore-topmast-staysail, and square fore-topsail set as +she got before the wind, and away the schooner went; rising on the +wide deep-blue swells with a long roll in them, then shearing ahead +through their breasts, wrinkled and seething pale-green, till she +sank with the fall of the wave--the stump of her aftermast standing, +and the fore one shortened by the to'gallant-mast. You may easily +believe there was no one aboard more eager to get clear of this +weather than myself; as in ordinary circumstances, with a craft like +this, in two or three days more we might have been in a high enough +latitude to begin looking out for the Indiaman. For my part, I can't +deny that the wish for having Tom Westwood safe out of harm's way, +and with me in the schooner, strong as it was, played second to +the notion of seeing sweet Violet Hyde in any way again, if it was +only the last time before she went out of reach altogether; for her +getting amongst East India ways of doing, high-flying civilians and +soldiers, shows, and sights, either in Calcutta or up-country, was +equal to anything else, in my mind. Still, we had six or seven days +longer of the heavy seas and hard gales, before north-easting enough +could be made to take us beyond the Cape winter, just then coming +on, and which the Seringapatam had very likely escaped by two or +three days, so that she would have a considerable start of us. + +By this time we were standing well up for the Mozambique Channel, +which I had heard the Indiamen intended to take in company; a +piece of information that made me the more anxious to overtake +the Seringapatam, at latest, by the time they reached open water +again, where, being the only ship from Bombay, she would no doubt +part from her consorts. We had a cruiser that year, as I knew, in +the Mozambique, where there were some rumours of pirates after the +war, so that in case of her happening to speak the Seringapatam +close, and having got any word of Westwood's affair, he ran a chance +of being picked off. However, that wasn't by any means the thing +that troubled me most: somehow or other, whenever the picture of +Violet's face brought the Indiaman's decks clear into my mind, with +all about her, I couldn't get rid of the notion that some ill-luck +would come across that ship before she got into port. If any pirate +craft were to dodge the whole bevy of Indiamen up the head of the +channel, as was pretty sure to be the case, he would probably wait +for some signs of separating, and be down upon a single one not long +after she cleared the Leychelles islands, where a lonely enough +stretch of the Indian Ocean spreads in. The more I entered upon the +thought of it, the more unsufferable it got; especially one day in +the mouth of the Mozambique, when it fell a dead calm with a heavy +up-and-down swell, fit to roll the sticks out of her; the high blue +land of Madagascar being in sight, sometimes to starboard, sometimes +to port, then astern, and the clear horizon lying away north-west, +dark with a breeze from round the coast. As the hot sun blazed out +above us, and the blue water came plunge up over the rail, blazing +and flashing, first one side dipped, then the other, I could fancy +the passengers on the Indiaman's poop in a light breeze with a +suspicious lateen-rigged sail creeping up on her quarter. I thought +I saw Violet Hyde's eyes sparkle against the glare of light, and +her lips parting to speak--till I actually stamped on the deck, my +fists clenched, and I made three strides to the very taffrail of the +schooner. All at once I met my second mate's eye coolly fixed on +me, which brought me to my senses in a moment, the more so as there +was something about this man Jones I couldn't make out, and I had +made up my mind to keep a sharp eye on him; though the fact was, it +annoyed me most to feel him seeing into _me_, as it were, without +troubling himself. "We shall have the breeze before long, sir, round +Cape Mary yonder," said he, stepping forward. "So I expect, myself, +Mr Jones," said I, "though you evidently know the coast better +than I do." With that I gave him a careless side-look, but to all +appearance there was nothing particular in his, as he told me he had +seen it two or three times before. + +With the evening we were once more running sharp on a wind up +channel; and when she did get her own way in a good breeze, the +schooner's qualities came out. 'Twas a perfect luxury to look over +the side and see the bubbles pass, her sharp bows sliding through it +like a knife, she eating into the wind all the time in a way none +but a fore-and-aft clipper could hope to do, with a glassy blue +ripple sent back from her weather-bow as far as the forechains: then +to wake of a morning and feel her bounding under you with a roll +up to windward, while the water gushed through and through below +the keel, and ran yearning and toppling away back along the outer +timbers into her boiling wake, working with the moving rudder. And +our man-o'-warsmen were quite delighted with the Young Hebe, as +they still called her. Snelling was in his element while we were +having the new spars sent up aloft--a set of longer sticks than +before--till she had twice the air, as well as a knowing rake aft. +Next thing was to get the long-brass nine-pounder amidships from +under the boat, where the Frenchmen had kept it, besides which we +found another in her hold; so that, added to six small carronades +already on deck, we made a pretty show. Meanwhile, for my own +part, I kept cracking on with every stitch of canvass that could +be clapped upon the spars, including studding-sails. Jones himself +didn't know better than I did by this time how to handle the craft, +schooner though she was, in the way of making her use what weather +we had to the best purpose. Variable as it proved, too, I was aware +the Indiamen would have pretty much the same now as we had; so that, +on going aloft with the glass, as I did every watch in the day, I +soon began each time expecting one or other of them to heave in +sight. + +As for the five hands from Cape Town, they seemed to have fallen +in cheerfully enough with our own; and as soon as the fine weather +came, the gang of Lascars were set to duty like the rest. Snelling +would have them even trained to work the guns; although, if it blew +at all hard, not one could be got to go aloft except their old +_serang_, and the _tindal_, his mate. What surprised me most was +the harbour officer himself at last asking, as Mr Snelling told +me, to be put in a watch; but as the midshipman said there was no +doubt Webb had made a voyage or two before, somewhere or other, I +agreed to it at once. "I'm not sure, sir," added the midshipman, +with one of his doubtful double looks, "but the gentleman may have +seen blue-water the first time at Government expense, and not in +the service either--he don't look fore and aft enough, Mr Collins, +harbour officer though he be; but never mind, sir, I'll see after +him!"--"Pooh," said I, laughing; "if he does turn to, Mr Snelling, +it shan't be in the watch _you_ have to do with! Hand him over to Mr +Jones." By this time I had changed the mid into my own watch, and +given Jones charge of the other--so to him the harbour officer went. + +The main character aboard of us, to me at any rate, was this Jones +himself. The fact was, at first I had my doubts of him altogether, +partly owing to the queer way we got hold of him, partly on account +of his getting the upper hand so much through chance, in the +tremendous weather we had at the outset, till I wasn't sure but it +might come into the fellow's head of itself, to be upon some drift +or other that might cost me trouble, as things stood. However, I no +sooner felt where I was, and got the craft under my own spoke, than +I came to set him down for nothing but one of those strange hands +you fall in with at sea sometimes, always sailing with a "purser's +name," a regular wonder of a shipmate, and serving to quote every +voyage after, by way of a clincher on all hard points, not to say +an oracle one can't get beyond, and can't flow sky-high enough. To +tell the truth, though, Jones was as thorough a seaman as ever I met +with--never at a loss, never wanting on any hand; whether it was +the little niceties we stood in need of for setting the schooner's +rigging all right again, which none but a blue-water long-voyage +sailor can touch, or, what comes to be still better in tropical +latitudes, a cool head and a quick hold, with full experience for +all sorts of weather, 'twas much the same to him. He was all over +like iron, too, never seeming to stand in need of sleep, and seeing +like a hawk. At any hour I came on deck in his watch, there was +Jones, all awake and ready, till hearing him walk the planks over my +head of a fine night made me at times keep my eyes open, listening +to it and the wash of the water together. I fancied there was +something restless in it, like the sea, with now and then an uneven +sort of a start; and at last it would come to full stop, that gave +me the notion of how he was standing quiet in the same spot; whether +he was looking aloft, or thinking, or leaning over the side, or what +he was going to do, troubled me wonderfully. The only want in his +seamanship I noticed, he evidently wasn't used to handle a large +ship; but craft of some kind I was pretty sure he had commanded in +the course of his life. As for taking observations, he could do it +better than I could then; while the knowledge he had on different +heads, that came out by chance, made you think more of a Cambridge +graduate than a common sailor, such as he had shipped for with us. +The strangest part of all about him, though, was what I couldn't +well name, not to this day: 'twas more grained in his manner, and +the ring of his voice at particular moments, as well as his walk, +though these were the smart seaman's no less; but one couldn't help +thinking of a man that had known the world ashore some time or +other, in a different enough station from now--ay, and in a way to +bring out softer lines in his face than reefing topsails or seeing +the main-tack ridden down would do. The nearest I could come to +calling it, far apart as the two men stood, was to fancy he reminded +me of Lord Frederick Bury himself; especially when he looked all +of a sudden to the horizon in that wide, vacant kind of fashion, +as if he expected it farther off than it was: only Jones's face +was twice the age, like a man's that had had double the passions +in it at the outset, and given them full swing since then; with a +sleeping devil in his eye yet, besides, as I thought, which only +wanted somewhat to rouse it. Only for that, I had a sort of leaning +to Jones myself; but, as it was, I caught myself wishing, over and +over, for something to make us fall regularly foul of each other, +and get rid of this confounded doubtful state. One hitch of a word +to take hold of, and, by Jove! I felt all the blood in my body would +boil out in me to find how we stood, and show it; but nothing of the +kind did Jones let pass--and as close as the sea itself he was in +regard to his past life. As for the men from the frigate, at least, +they seemingly looked on him with no great fondness, and a good deal +of respect, in spite of themselves, for his seamanship; whereas, +if he had been left in the forepeak in place of the cabin, I've no +doubt in a short time it would have been no man but Jones. You light +now and then upon a man afloat, indeed, that his shipmates hold off +from, as healthy dogs do from a mad one; and you saw they had some +sort of an inkling of the gloomy close nature Jones had in him, by +the way they obeyed his orders. Webb's three Cape Dutchmen seemed +to have a notion he was some being with mysterious powers, while +the Lascars ran crouching at his very word--some of them being, as +I found, Malays, and the rest Mussulmen from Chittagong; but Jones +could send them about in their own language, Dutchmen and all--a +part of the matter which did not tend to keep me less careful over +him. Still I observed, since his coming aboard, that Jones never +once touched liquor, which had plainly enough been his ruin ashore; +whether on account of meaning to pull up once for all and mend, or +only to have a wilder bout at next port, or else to keep himself +steady for aught that might turn up, I couldn't settle in my own +mind. Though deucedly doubtful of its being the first, the very idea +of it made one feel for the man; and, in case of his doing well, I +had no small hopes of something in the upshot to save a real sailor +like him from going to the devil altogether, as he seemed doing. + +Now, after our getting clear of the rough Cape weather, and the +dead-lights being taken out of the stern-windows, I had given a +look, for the first time, into the schooner's after-cabins, which +were pretty much as the people she belonged to before had left +them, except for the rough work the gale had played. There were +two of them, one opening into the other; and I must say it was a +melancholy sight to meet the bright sunlight streaming into them +from off the water astern, with all the little matters either just +as if the owners were still inside, or else tumbled about at sixes +and sevens. One drawer, in particular, had come out of a table, +scattering what was in it on the deck: there was a half open letter +in a woman's hand, all French, and showing a lock of hair, with +a broken diamond cross of the French Legion of Honour, besides a +sort of paper-book full of writing, and two printed ones bound in +morocco. I picked up the letter and the cross, put them in again, +and shoved the drawer back to its place, though I brought the books +away with me to have a glance over. What struck me most, though, was +a plaster figure of the French emperor himself, standing fastened on +a shelf, with one hand in the breast of his great coat, and looking +calmly out of the white sightless eyes; while right opposite hung +a sort of curtain which you'd have thought they were fixed upon. +When I hauled it aside, I started--there, on a shelf to match the +other, was a beautiful smiling child's head to the shoulders, of +pure white marble, as if it leant off the bulkhead like a cherub +out of the clouds. Spite of all, however, the touch of likeness it +had to the head I got such a glimpse of at Longwood, even when the +hot sunlight showed it in my spy-glass so pale and terrible, was +sufficient to tell me what _this_ was,--Napoleon's own little son, +in fact, who was made king of Rome, as I remembered hearing at the +time. The thought of the schooner's strange French captain, and his +desperate scheme, came back on me so strong, joined to what I saw he +had an eye to in fitting out his cabins, that, for my own part, I +hadn't the heart to use them myself, and at first sight ordered the +dead-lights to be shipped again, and the door locked. + +'Twas a good many days after this, of course, and we had made a +pretty fast run up the Mozambique, in spite of the sharp navigation +required, sighting nothing larger than the native and Arab craft to +be seen thereabouts; we were beginning to clear out from amongst +the clusters of islands and shoals at the channel head, when two +large sail were made in open water to nor'-eastward. Next morning +by daybreak we were to windward of the weathermost,--a fine large +Indiaman she was, crowding a perfect tower of canvass. Shortly +after, however, the schooner was within hail, slipping easily down +upon her quarter, which seemed to give them a little uneasiness, +plenty of troops as she seemed to have on board, and looming like a +frigate. After some showing of keeping on, and apparently putting +faith in the man-o'-war pennant I hoisted, she hove into the wind, +when we found she was the Company's ship Warringford, and the other +the something Castle, I forget which, both for Calcutta. The next +thing, as soon as they found we were tender to his Majesty's frigate +Hebe, was to ask after the Seringapatam; on which I was told she was +three or four days sail ahead with the Mandarin, bound to China, +neither of them having put in at Johanna Island to refresh. I was +just ready to put our helm up again and bid good-bye, when the +tiffin gong could be heard sounding on the Indiaman's quarterdeck, +and the old white-haired captain politely asked me if I wouldn't +come aboard with one or two of my officers to lunch. Mr Snelling +gave me a wistful glance--there were a dozen pretty faces admiring +our schooner out of the long white awnings: but even if the notion +of bringing up Snelling himself as my first officer hadn't been +too much for me, not to speak of either Jones or Webb, why the +very thoughts that everything I saw recalled to me, made me the +more eager to get in sight of the Seringapatam. "Thank you, sir," +answered I. "No--I must be off after the Bombay ship."--"Ah," hailed +the old captain, "some of your Admiral's post-bags, I suppose. Well, +keep as much northing as you can, sir, and I daresay you'll find her +parted company. She's got a jury fore topmast up, for one she lost +a week ago; so you can't mistake her for the Mandarin, with a good +glass."--"Have you noticed any suspicious craft lately, sir?" asked +I. "Why, to tell you the truth, lieutenant," sang out he, looking +down off the high bulwarks at our long nine-pounders and the knot of +Lascars, "none more so than we thought _you_, at first, sir!" The +cadets on the poop roared with laughter, and an old lady with two +daughters seemed to eye Snelling doubtfully through an opera-glass, +as the reefer ogled both of them at once. "By the bye," sang out the +captain of the Indiaman to me again, "I fancy the passengers in that +ship must have got somehow uncomfortable--one of our Bengal grandees +aboard of her wanted a berth to Calcutta with us, 'tother day in the +Mozambique; but we're too full already!"--"Indeed, sir?" said I; but +the schooner's mainboom was jibbing over, and with two or three more +hails, wishing them a good voyage, and so on, away we slipped past +their weather-bow. The Warringford got under weigh at her leisure, +and in an hour or two her topsails were down to leeward of us. On +I cracked with square and studding-sails to the quartering breeze, +till the schooner's light hull jumped to it, and aloft she was all +hung out of a side, like a dairyman's daughter carrying milk; with +the pace she went at I could almost say to an hour when we should +overhaul the chase. + +Still, after two or three days of the trade-wind, well out in the +Indian Ocean, and not a spot to be seen, we had got so far up the +Line as to make me sure we had overrun her. Accordingly the schooner +was hauled sharp on a wind to cruise slowly down across what must +be the Indiaman's track, judging as we could to a nicety, with a +knowledge of the weather we had had. For my part I was so certain +of sighting her soon, that I ordered the after-cabins to be set to +rights, seeing a notion had taken hold of me of actually offering +them to Sir Charles Hyde for the voyage to Calcutta--Fancy the +thought! 'Twas too good to be likely; but Violet herself actually +being in that little after-cabin and sleeping in it--the lively +schooner heading away alone for India, and they and Westwood the +sole passengers aboard--why, the idea of it was fit to drive me +crazy with impatience. + +Well, one fine night, after being on deck all day, and the whole +night before, almost, I had turned in to my cot to sleep. From +where I lay I could see the moonshine off the water through the +stern-light in that after-cabin, by the half-open door. I felt +the schooner going easily through the water, with a rise and +fall from the heave of the long Line-swell; so close my eyes I +couldn't, especially as the midshipman could be heard snoring on +the other side like the very deuce. Accordingly I turned out into +the after-cabin, and got hold of one of the Frenchman's volumes to +read, when, lo and behold, I found it was neither more nor less +than Greek, all I knew being the sight of it. Next I commenced +overhauling the bundle of handwriting, which I took at first for +a French log of the schooner's voyage, and sat down on the locker +to have a spell at it. So much as I could make out, in spite of +the queer outlandish turn the letters had, and the quirks of the +unnatural sort of language, it was curious enough--a regular story, +in fact, about his own life, the war, and Buonaparte himself. At +another time I'd have given a good deal to go through with it at odd +hours--and a strange affair I found it was some time afterwards; +but meanwhile I had only seen at the beginning that his name was +_Le Compte Victor l'Allemand, Capitaine de la Marine Française_, +and made out at the end how there was some scheme of his beyond +what I knew before, to be carried out in India,--when it struck me +there was no one on the quarterdeck above. I listened for a minute +through the stern-window, and thought I heard some one speaking over +the schooner's lee-quarter, as she surged along; so slipping on a +jacket and cap, I went on deck at once. + +It was middle watch at the time; but as soon as I came up I saw all +was quiet--Webb near the gangway talking to the old Lascar serang, +and breaking the English wonderfully betwixt them; while the Lascars +of the watch were sitting like tailors in a ring on the forecastle +planks, each waiting for his turn of one cocoa-nut hookah, that kept +hubble-bubbling away gravely under the smoker's nose, as he took a +long suck at it, while the red cinder in the bowl lighted up his +leathery Hindoo face and mustache like a firefly in the root of a +banian, till he handed it, without even a wipe, to his neighbour. +These fellows had begun to get much livelier as we made the tropics; +and this same serang of theirs had put out his horns once or twice +to Snelling lately, though he drew them in again the moment he saw +me--a sulky old knotty-faced, yellow-eyed devil I thought him at any +rate, while his dish-cloth of a turban, his long blue gown and red +trousers, reminded you at sea in a gale of a dancing dervish. The +day we spoke the Indiaman, in fact, I noticed there was something in +the wind for a minute or two with him and his gang, which put it in +my head at first to offer them to the captain for a couple of good +English hands; and as I passed him and Webb this time, the serang +stopped his talk, and sidled off. + +However, a beautiful night it was, as ever eye looked upon even in +the blue Indian Ocean: the heavens cloudless, the full round moon +shining high off our weather-beam again, the stars drawn up into her +bright light, as it were, trembling through the films of it like +dew-drops in gossamer of a summer morning: you saw the sea meet the +sky on every hand, without a speck on the clear line of horizon, +through the squares of our ratlins and betwixt the schooner's two +long fore-and-aft booms. A pretty strongish breeze we had, too, +blowing from east to west with a sweep through the emptiness aloft, +and a wrinkling ripple over the long gentle swells, as deep in the +hue as if fresh dye came from the bottom, and crisping into a small +sparkle of foam wherever they caught it full. Something pleasant, +one couldn't say what, was in the air; and every sheet being hauled +taut to hold wind, the slant gush of it before her beam drove her +slipping ahead toward the quarter it came from, with a dip down +and a saucy lift of her jibs again, as if she were half balanced +amidships, but little noise about it. I took a squint aloft and an +overhaul all round, and nothing was to be seen. The size of the sky +through the moonlight looked awful, as it were, and the strength +of the breeze seemed to send a heavenly blue deep into the western +quarter, till you saw a star in it. The night was so lovely, in +fact, it somehow made one think of one's mother, and old times, +when you used to say your prayers. Still I couldn't see the mate of +the watch on the weather quarterdeck, which surprised the more in +Jones's case, since he was always ready for me when I came up; and, +to tell the truth, I shouldn't have been sorry to catch him napping +for once, only to show he was like men in common. I walked aft by +the weather side of the large mainsail, accordingly, till I saw him +leaning with his head over the lee-bulwark, and heard him again, as +I thought, apparently speaking to some one down the schooner's side; +upon which I stepped across. Jones's back was to me as I looked over +too; but owing to what he was busy with, I suppose, and the wash +of the water, which was louder there than inboard, while you heard +the plash from her bows every time she forged, he evidently didn't +hear me. You may fancy my wonder to find he was reading loud out +to himself from the other of the Frenchman's volumes, which I had +no doubt left in the dining-cabin--the book open in both hands--he +giving it forth in long staves, with a break between--and regular +Greek it was, too: you'd have thought he timed them to the plash +alongside; and I must say, as every string of long-tailed words +flowed together like one, in Jones's deep voice, and the swell rose +once or twice with its foam-bells near his very hands, I almost +fancied I made a meaning of them--each like a wave, as it were, +sweeping to a crest, and breaking. The gusto the man showed in it +you can't conceive; and, what was more, I had no doubt he understood +the sense of it, for all of a sudden, after twenty staves or so of +the kind, he stopped.[8] "There!" said he, "there, old Homer--women, +wine, and adventure--what could the devil ask more, blind old +prater, with a sound in you like the sea? Ay, wash, wash, wash +away, lying old blue-water, you cant wash _it_ out--and wine--no, +not the strongest rum in Cape Town--can wash _you_ out!" With that +Jones laid his head on his arms, with the book still in one hand, +muttering to himself, and I listened in spite of me. "Still it +rouses the old times in me!" said he. "Here comes this book across +me, too. Ay, ay, and the Rector fancied, sitting teaching me Greek +out of old wild Homer all week day--and--and his girl slipping out +and in--'twould do to don the cassock of a Sunday and preach out of +the pulpit against the world, the devil, and the flesh--then warn me +against the sea--ha!" The laugh that came from him at that moment +was more like a dog than a human being; but on he went muttering +"Women, wine, and adventure, said ye, old Greek, and a goddess +too; still he _was_ a good old man the Rector--no guile nor evil +in him, with his books in the cases yonder, and the church-spire +seen through the window over the garden, and his wife with--ah, +the less of that. 'Twas in me, though, and all the blood--and in +_her_ dark eyes, too, Mary, though she was! Damnation!" he broke +out again, after a bit, as if he'd been arguing it with something +under the side, "I didn't take her the first time I came home--nor +the second--but--but--ay, I came _back_! Oh that parting-stile, in +sight of the sea--and that packet-ship--but oh God! that night, that +night with the schooner forging ahead through the blue--blue--" And +he stopped with a groan that shook him as he leant over. "Hellish, +hellish by God!" he said, suddenly standing upright and looking +straight aloft, with his bare head and face to the wide empty sky, +and the moonlight tipping the hair on his forehead, from over the +high shadow on the lee-side of the mainsail, where it glistened +along the gaff. "She was pure to the last!" I heard him say, though +I had walked to the other side of the boom; "ay, though I rot to +perdition for it!--Down, old fiend!" as he lifted his one hand with +the book, and drove it alongside, seemingly watching it settle away +astern. + + [8] Looking into Homer's _Iliad_ here for a passage to correspond + with the account given by the naval man, one is somewhat at a loss; + but at the end of the second book of the _Odyssey_ there occur lines + which might not improbably have been those recited. They are such + as might well, in the original, excite longings after sea-life, and + revive feelings of the kind most natural to the seafaring character, + apparently known to Captain Collins only as "Jones." Will the + readers of Maga accept, illustratively, of a rough translation?-- + + Then to Telemachus glided on board divinest Athenè, + Where on the poop she sat, and near her Telemachus rested. + Then were the moorings loosed by the mariners coming aboard her, + Joyous coming on board, and seated apart on the benches. + A fair westerly breeze by the blue-eyed goddess was wafted, + Cheerfully rippling along, and over the deep-coloured ocean. + Now to his shipmates shouted Telemachus, while to the oar-blades + Leapt the impatient surge, till each at his order obeying, + Stepped they the pine-mast then in the mast-hole ready amidships, + Firmly staying it both ways down; and next by the well-twisted + hide-thongs, Snowily spreading abroad, the sails drew fluttering + downward. And in the sail-breast blew the bellying wind with a + murmur, The purple wave hissed from the prow of the bark in its + motion; Into the riotous wave she plunged, pursuing her voyage. + But when their oars they drew back to the galley securely,-- The + swift, dark-sided bark, as she full on her journey exulted-- + Then to her foaming beak they brought the o'er-bubbling goblet + Of red-hued wine, and poured out on her head a libation To the + immortal gods, that dwell in the sky and in ocean, But to the + blue-eyed daughter of Jupiter mostly, Athené. All night then + they sailed, till the morning rose on their voyage. + +Now I had heard nothing from Jones that I couldn't have fancied +before, and there was even a humour to my mind in the notion of +clapping it all on old Homer, if Homer it was, and heaving him +overboard with such a confoundedly complimentary burial-service. But +some of the words that dropped from him shot through one's veins +like icicles: and now there was something fearful in the sight of +him standing straight again, with a look right into the heavens, +as if he'd have searched them up and up--in that lovely night too, +spread far and wide--the very rays of the moonlight sparkled down +the weather side of the sail I was on, trembling on the leech-ropes +and brails as they swayed, and into the hollows they made in the +belly of the taut canvass: the long shining spot of it wavered +and settled on the same two planks of the quarterdeck, beyond the +shadow of the bulwark from the moon's eye, fast as the schooner +moved through the water, and it was like a hand laid upon her, +with the air and wind stretching between. Of a sudden I saw Jones +wheel slowly round where he stood, like a man turned about by main +strength, with his eyes fixed aloft, and his one arm raising from +the shoulder till his forefinger pointed to something, as I thought, +about the fore-to'gallant sail. His face was like ashes, his eye +glaring, and I sprang across to him under the main-boom. "See!" said +he, never turning his head, and the words hissed betwixt his teeth, +"look at that!" + +"For heaven's sake, _what_, Mr Jones?" said I. "_Her--her_," was +his answer, "coming against the wind--dead fore-and-aft in the +shade of the sails!" On the lee-sides of them the high boom-sails +made a sort of a thin shadow against the moonshine off the other +beam, which came glimpsing through between them out of a world of +air to the south-east, with a double of it flickering alongside +on the water as it heaved past to leeward; and whether it was +fancy, or whether it was but the reflection aloft from below, I +thought, as I followed Jones's finger, I saw something like the +shape of a woman's dress floating close in with the bonnet of the +foretopmast-staysail, from the dusk it made to the breast of the +fore-topsail, and even across the gush of white light under the +yard--long and straight, as it were, like a thing lifted dripping +out of water, and going, as he said, right against the schooner's +course. "Now in the foresail!" whispered Jones, his eye moving as +on a pivot, and a thrill ran through me at the notion, for I made +out one single moment what I thought a face against the sky at the +gaff-end, white as death, shooting aft toward the mainsail,--though +next instant I saw it was but a block silvered by the moon as the +schooner lifted. "Now the mainsail!" said he huskily, "and now--now, +by the heavens--rising--rising to the gaff-topsail--away! Oh Christ! +_Mary!_" + +He was leaning aft toward the width of the sky, with both hands +clutched together before him, shuddering all over. For the first +minute my own blood crept, I must say; but directly after I touched +him on the shoulder. "This is strange, Mr Jones," said I, "what's +the matter?" "Once in the Bermudas!" said he, still wildly, "once +in the Pacific--and now! Does the sea give up its dead, though, +think ye?"--"You've a strong fancy, Mr Jones, that's all," I said, +sternly. "Fancy!" said he, though beginning to get the better of +himself; "did ye ever fancy a face looking down--down at you in the +utterest scorn--down sideways off the shoulder of the garment, as +it sticks wet into every outline like life? All the time gliding on +the other way, too, and the eyes like two stars a thousand miles +away beyond, as kind as angels'--neither wind nor sea can stop it, +till suddenly it rises to the very cope of heaven--still looking +scornfully down at you!--No, sir, fancy it _you_ couldn't!" The +glance he gave me was somehow or other such as I couldn't altogether +stomach from the fellow, and he was turning to the side when I said +quietly, "No, nor Homer either, I daresay!" Jones started and made a +step towards me. "You heard me a little ago!" rapped out he, eyeing +me. "Yes," I said; "by Jove! who could help being curious to hear a +sailor spout Greek as you were doing, Mr Jones?" + +"The fact is, Mr Collins," answered he, changing his tone, "I +was well brought up--the more shame to me for bringing myself to +what you saw me. I had a sister drowned, too, on her passage to +America one voyage, when I was mate of the ship myself. No wonder +it keeps my nerves shaking sometimes, when I've had too long +about shore."--"Well, well, Jones," said I, rather softening, +"you've proved yourself a first-rate seaman, and I've got nothing +to complain of--but I tell You fairly I had my doubts of you! So +you'll remember you're under the Articles of War aboard here, sir," +added I, "which as long as I have this schooner under hand, I'll +be hanged if I don't carry out!" All at once the thought struck me +a little inconveniently, of my carrying off Webb and his people, +and I fancied Jones's quick eye wandered to the Lascars forward. +"I know it, sir," said he, looking me steadily in the face; "and +what's more, Mr Collins, at any rate I couldn't forget you picked me +out, confounded low as I looked, to come aft here! 'Tis not every +captain afloat that has such a good eye for a seaman, as _I_ know!" +"Oh well, no more about it," I said, walking forward on the weather +side, and leaving him on the lee one as distinctly as Lord Frederick +Bury could have done to myself in the frigate. Jones no doubt +thought I didn't notice the slight wrinkle that gathered round his +lee-eye when he gave me this touch of butter at the end; but I put +it down for nothing more, gammon though it was. + +It was near the end of the watch, the moon beginning to set, while +it still wanted three hours of daybreak in those latitudes, when +the look-out on the top-gallant-yard, who was stationed there in +man-o'-war cruising fashion, reported a sail to windward. Just then +the midshipman came on deck to his watch, wonderfully early for him +indeed: and on my remarking it was probably the Indiaman at last, +Jones himself went aloft with the night-glass to make her out. "Mr +Snelling," said I, "see the hands on deck ready for going about." +Next minute I saw him rousing up the rest of the Lascars, who slept +watch and watch on the forecastle. Only five or six of the Hebe's +men were up; and all of them, save the man at the wheel, ran aloft +to rig out stunsail-booms to windward, as soon as the schooner was +fairly on the starboard tack, standing to nor'-eastward. Suddenly +I saw a scuffle between the midshipman, and the tindal,[9] a stout +dark-faced young Bengalee, with a jaunty scull-cap and frock, whom +Snelling had probably helped along with a touch of a rope's end; +and in a moment two or three more of them were upon him; while the +reefer drew his dirk, and sung out to me, scarce before I was with +him, the Lascars rolling into the lee-scuppers at two kicks of my +foot. Webb and three of the men from Cape Town were hoisting a +stunsail at the time, the smart man-o'-war'smen aloft singing out to +them to bear a hand. What with the noise of the sail flapping, and +its being betwixt my own men and the deck, they could know nothing +of the matter; and the Lascars let go the halliards in a body, +making a rush at Snelling and myself with everything they could pick +up in the shape of a spar. + + [9] Lascar boatswain's mate. + +This would have been nothing, as in two or three minutes more the +men would have been down, and the cocoa-faced rascals dodged every +way from the handspike I got hold of; but I just caught a glimpse +on one side of the sly old serang shoving on the fire-scuttle to +keep down the watch below; and on the other, of Webb looking round +him, evidently to see how matters stood. Two Dutchmen seized the +first sailor that came down the rigging, by the legs, and I saw +the affair must be finished at once, it had so much the look of a +regular plot on Webb's part, if Jones wasn't concerned in it too. +I made one spring upon my Cape Town gentleman, and took him by the +throat with one hand, while I hit the biggest Dutchman full behind +the ear, felling him to the deck; on which the man-o'-war's man +grappled his watchmate, and Webb was struggling with me sufficiently +to keep both my hands full, when I had a pleasant inkling of a Malay +Lascar slipping toward my back with a bare kreese in his fist. I +just looked over my shoulder at his black eyes twinkling devilishly +before he sprang, when some one came sliding fair down from the +fore-top-mast-head by a backstay, and pitched in a twinkling on +top of his head--a thing enough to break the neck of a monument. +Directly after, I saw Jones himself hitting right and left with +his night-glass, from the moonlight to the shadow of the foresail, +while Snelling tumbled over a Lascar at every slap, standing up +in boxer style. By the time the rest of the men came down all was +settled--the Dutchmen sulking against the bulwarks, and Webb gasping +after I let him go. "Boatswain," said I to one of the sailors, "clap +that man in irons below. Mr Snelling, see the watch called, sir." "I +'ad the law with me," said Webb gloomily. "You plotted it then, Mr +Webb?" I said. "Didn't you carry us off illegally?" said he. "I only +meant to recover the vessel--upon my honour, nothing more, sir; and +if you're 'ard with me, you'll have to answer for it, I assure you!" +Here he looked round to Jones in a strange way, as I fancied for a +moment; but Jones turned on his heel with a sneer. "Why, Mr Webb," +answered I, "you lost that tack by offering yourself in a watch, +which makes the thing neither more nor less than mutiny--so take him +below, do ye hear, bo'sun!" And down he went. + +"Now, Mr Jones," said I, as soon as all hands were on deck, "you'll +be so good as have half of these Lascars seized to the rigging here, +one after the other, and see a good dozen given to each of their +backs; then these two Dutchmen, each three dozen--then pipe down +the watch, sir." Jones glanced at me, then at the fellows, then +at me again. I thought he hung aback for an instant; but do it I +was determined he should, for a reason I had; and I gave him back +the look steady as stone. "Ay, ay, sir," said he at last, touching +his hat. I walked aft to the capstan, and stood there till every +mother's son of them had got his share, the Lascars wriggling and +howling on the deck after it, and the Dutchmen twisting their backs +as they walked off. 'Twas the first time I did that part of duty in +command; and I felt, in the circumstances, I was in for carrying it +out with a taut hand. + +By this time the moon was setting, and in the dusk we lost sight +of the sail to windward; but as we were heading well up to weather +upon her, and going at least ten knots, I turned in below for a +little, leaving the midshipman. Accordingly, it wasn't very long +before Snelling called me in broad daylight. "She's a large ship, +Mr Collins," said he, "standing under all sail on a wind. I hope to +goodness, sir, it's that confounded Indiaman at last!" I hurried on +deck, took the glass aloft, and soon made out the jury-foretop-mast +shorter than the main, as the old captain mentioned. Accordingly it +was with somewhat of a flutter in me I came down again, watching the +schooner's trim below and aloft, to see if I couldn't take an hour +or so off the time betwixt that and once more setting eyes on the +Judge's daughter. + + + + +THE JEW BILL. + + +The period at which this obnoxious measure has been brought forward, +limits our present remarks to a few paragraphs. But we have so long +fought for the Constitution, that We cannot suffer the month to +pass without reprobating an intrigue, which we cannot but regard +as most dangerous to the Empire. We are no bigots,--we demand +no surrender of the rights of opinion,--we force no man to our +altars,--we forbid no man's access to his own; but to avert public +evil is a duty of every subject,--to strip hypocrisy is clearly an +act of justice,--and to protect religion is only an act of supreme +necessity. We solemnly believe, that to bring the Jew into the +Parliament of England, would be at once injury to the Constitution, +a peril to public principle, and an insult to Christianity. + +The attempt was made last year, and was defeated. It is now to +be renewed, without the slightest additional ground, and the +battle will have to be fought over again. Must we not ask, is this +experiment to be again made on public patience? Is it meant to +tell the people of England, that what common sense rejects, is to +be forced on general weariness; that what manly principle repels, +is to be gained by vulgar perseverance; and that which public +judgement denounces, is to be made law by the united effect of +disgust and disdain producing indifference? We trust that the common +sense of England will speak such a language to the Legislature, +as to extinguish the _prestige_ that obstinacy in the wrong is +more effective than honesty in the right; that to be sickened of a +struggle, is a legitimate reason for abandoning the contest; and +that a great nation can be yawned out of the greatest interests in +the world. + +The first question of all is, Can this admission of the Jew into +a Christian legislature be compatible with the character of a +Christian constitution? If we live in bad times, with the evidence +of bad practices in important positions, and with a powerful +propensity among influential classes to sacrifice everything to +the moment, this consciousness should only be a stronger claim on +the vigilance of honest men. However strangely it may sound in +some ears, England is still a Christian country: however some may +doubt, the country still demands a Christian legislature; and, +notwithstanding all opinions on the subject, we believe that to +worship God and Mammon is still as impossible as it was pronounced +to be eighteen hundred years ago. We believe that it is only by +national virtue that nations can retain the divine protection; that +zeal for the divine honour is the supreme source of virtue; and +that to sacrifice the honour of God to any earthly purpose, is only +to bring divine desertion on a people. Must we not ask, is there +any national demand, national necessity, or religious principle, +connected with giving legislative power, at this time, to the Jew? + +Where is the national demand? If the Jew, in some instances, is +rich, is mere money to be the qualification for giving legislative +power? In the simplest point of view, must we not demand ability, +personal honour, a personal interest in the country, and a personal +evidence that the trustee will never betray or abandon his trust? +But what is the Jew? He has _no_ country. By being equally a +member of all countries, he is equally an alien in all; beyond the +casual connexion of trade, he has no connexion with any kingdom +of earth: his only country is his counting-house,--his only city +is the Exchange. His world consists in his traffic; and if any +calamity should fall on one of those kingdoms where he keeps his +counting-house, he transfers himself, like a Bill of Exchange, to +the next; and in whatever land is equally at home. The Jew gives +no pledge to any country; he is no possessor of land, no leader of +science, no professor of the liberal pursuits, no manufacturer, no +merchant, no sailor, no soldier; as if some irresistible destination +prohibited him from ever finally settling in any land, his property +is always ready to take wing. Must we not ask, Is this fugitive the +man who has a right to share the privileges of the Englishman, +bound, as we are, to the soil by nature, and bound to its defence +and prosperity by the indissoluble obligation of nature? + +In a political point of view, what security could we have for +confiding in the Jew,--for intrusting our finances, our liberties, +our councils, the guardianship of our country, to the Jew? The +especial and perpetual object of his existence is money. Now, +while every man knows that money is the great corrupter of the +human mind, that, except in minds fully fortified by principle, it +overwhelms all other objects, and that, in all the convulsions of +the greatest war of Europe--the war of the French Revolution--the +secrets of every Continental cabinet were at the mercy of the purse; +do we desire to see this supremacy extended? Do we desire to see +the principles of fraud and falsehood made a regular material in +the market of public transactions, and lucre exalted into the sole +object of existence? + +As to the practical effect of bringing the tribe of the money-dealer +into Parliament, would any man, in the exercise of his experience, +wish to see the finances of England in the hands of any Jew in +existence? And let no man pretend that this conception is imaginary. +Place a Jew in Parliament, giving him the power of making a party; +give him the opportunity of working on the impulses, habits, or +necessities of men; and in twelve months you may see him anything +he desires,--even Chancellor of the Exchequer. But he is a man of +honour; he will not sell the secrets of Council; he will not copy a +despatch for the benefit of his partners; he will not raise or sink +the stocks, though every movement may add a million to the coffers +of his partnership. We hope not; but can we run the risk? But the +fact is, that he is a man not to be judged of by the feelings of +any other in the world; he differs from all other men. What is +patriotism to the Jew? He knows nothing of it. Who ever heard of the +Jew taking any part in those noble struggles which have saved the +honour or secured the rights of any nation on earth? His business +is gain, and it is the only business that he ever follows; from the +man with ten firms and five hundred clerks, with a counting-house in +every village from the Rhine to the Neva, down to the seller of old +clothes, and the pedlar in dilapidated slippers, who ever heard of a +Jew thinking of anything but to make money? + +But the view which must supersede all others, is the aspect of the +measure as it relates to religion. Great Britain is certainly, +on the whole, a religious country: it perhaps contains more true +religion than all the earth besides; but its fault is, that, though +reverent in the church, it does not sufficiently carry its reverence +into the course of common life. If this were done, there would be +no difficulties in public opinion. It is in no superstition that +we say, the only question to be asked on any doubtful course of +action is, "Will it please God? Is it for the honour of God?" This +is what the Scripture calls "walking with God," and describes as +the essential character of virtue. But the majority of mankind add +to those questions, Will it benefit myself? The statesman asks, +Shall I lose power by it?--the merchant, Shall I lose profit?--the +tradesman, Shall I lose custom? And this question is the master-key +to the diversities of opinion on points which, to the unbiassed +mind, are as clear as the sun. + +Let us put the matter in a more every-day point of view. Let us +suppose the question asked, Would you take for your friend a man +who denied your God, who scoffed at your religion, and who declared +yourself a dupe or a deceiver? Yet all this the Jew does openly +by the profession of his own creed. Can you conceive it for the +honour of your Redeemer, to give this man your confidence in the +highest form in which it can be given by a subject? Or can you +bring yourself to believe that you are doing your duty to Christ +in declaring by your conduct, that to be hostile to Him makes no +imaginable difference in your estimate of the character of any man? + +On those points it is wholly impossible that there can be any doubt +whatever. The enemy of Christ cannot, without a crime, be favoured, +still less patronised and promoted, by the friend of Christ. Now, +this feeling is neither prejudice nor persecution: it merely takes +the words of the Jew himself; and it would not force him, by the +slightest personal injury, to change the slightest of his opinions. +It is merely the conduct which all who were unbiassed by gain, or +unperverted by personal objects, would follow in any common act of +life. To give power to the Jew, from the motives of pelf, or party, +or through indifference, is criminal; and it is against this crime +that we protest, and that we desire to guard our fellow Christian. + +We must now rapidly pass through the leading points of the question. +The Jew is a "condemned man." More than three thousand years ago, +Moses, in pronouncing the future history of the people, declared +that a teacher should finally be sent to their nation, like himself, +a man; and mingling as such among men, to give them a law, not in +clouds and thunders as at Sinai, nor written in tables of stone, nor +fixed in stern ordinances, but written in the heart, and acting by +the understanding: and that, if they rejected him, they should be +made nationally to answer the national crime to the Almighty. Him +they rejected, and the rejection has been answered by national ruin. +The prophecy is before the eye of the world; the fulfilment is also +before the eye of the world. + +The Jew is an undone being, if there be truth in the words of +inspiration. "He that believeth in the Son hath everlasting life; +and he that believeth not the Son, _shall not see life_; but the +_wrath of God_ abideth on him." (John iii. 35, 36.) What right have +we to dispense with such words? The declaration is unequivocal; +and if there be a compassionate allowance for the barbarian, who +has no Bible and whom the gospel has never reached, what allowance +can there be for the Jew, possessing the Bible and living in the +sound of the gospel? But this language is not alone. We have the +declaration of ruin constantly expressed or implied, "Who is a liar, +but he that _denieth that Jesus is the Christ_? Whosoever _denieth +the Son_, the same _hath not the Father_." (1 John ii. 22) + +Are those deniers the men whom the Christian is to take into +the very centre of his political favouritism? Are the brands of +Scripture on the national forehead to be scorned by a people +professing obedience to the Divine will? Can human conception supply +a stronger proof of the reality of those brands than the condition +of the Jews ever since their first fulfilment, in the fall of +Jerusalem--the terrible reply to their own anathema, "His blood be +on us, and on our children." + +What is the state of the Jew himself with respect to sacred things? +Nothing but ignorance can speak of the _religion_ of the Jew. So far +as belongs to worship, he has _none_. Sacrifice, the solemnisation +of the three great festivals, the whole ceremonial of the temple, +were _essential_ to Judaism. The Jew cannot perform a single public +ceremonial of his religion. Sacrifice was supremely essential for +nearly the atonement of every fault of man; but it could be offered +only in the Temple. The Temple is gone. What now becomes of his +atonement? + +A weak attempt is made to answer this tremendous question, by +referring to the condition of the Jews in Babylon. But what +comparison can exist between a captivity prophetically limited to +years not exceeding a single life, passed under the protection of +kings, and under the guardianship of the most illustrious man of +Asia, the prophet Daniel, cheered by prophecy and miracle, and +certain of return, and the eighteen hundred years' banishment of +the Jew? What comparison between the temporary suspension of the +national worship, and the undefined and hopeless duration which +seems to lie before the Jewish exile; and which, when it shall close +at last, will extinguish his Judiasm, will show him his folly only +by stripping the superstition of the Rabbi and the Talmud from his +eyes, and will awake him at once to the extent of his error, to the +exercise of his understanding, and to the worship of Christianity? + +After considerations of this order, all others must be almost +trivial. But the common declamation on the _natural right_ of the +Jew to be represented in Parliament is verbiage. But the Jew is +actually represented, as much as a multitude of other interests of +superior importance are represented. Are the fifteen thousand clergy +of the Church of England (a body worth all the Jews on the globe) +personally represented? Are the millions of England under twenty-one +represented? One might thus go through the great industrious classes +of England, and find that, out of twenty millions, there are not +one million electors. And what claim have a class--who come to this +country only to make money, and who make nothing but money, and who, +if they could make more money anywhere else on the earth, would go +there to-morrow--to an equality of right with the manly, honest, and +attached son of England, every day of whose life adds something to +the comfort or the credit of the community? + +The whole and sole claim of the Jew is, that some of his party are +rich. How they have made their riches, or how they spend them, +is beneath us to inquire. But what are their national evidences, +even of wealth, it might be difficult to discover. They exhibit no +fruits here, nor anywhere. It has been often asked, with genuine +astonishment, what signs of national liberality have ever been +given by Jewish wealth in the world? What contribution does it +make, or has it ever made, to the arts that decorate life, to the +literature that enlightens it, or to those bold and commanding +services by which nations are raised or restored? Where are the +picture galleries, or the great libraries, the great institutions, +erected by the wealth of the Jew? As to the genius which endows +mankind, for generations to come, with noble inventions, or leaves +its name behind in a track of glory to posterity, who ever heard of +it among the Jews? Shopkeepers of London have planted its vicinity +with great establishments, castles of charity, magnificent monuments +of practical religion, to which all the works of Jewish bounty are +molehills. The Jews have an hospital and a few schools,--and there +the efflux of liberality stops, the stream stagnates, the river +becomes a pond, and the pond dries away. + +It is remarkable, and may be a punitive consequence, that there +is nothing so fugitive as the wealth of the Jew. There is perhaps +no hereditary example of Jewish wealth in the world. In England +we have seen opulent firms, but they have never had the principle +of permanency. Supposed to be boundlessly wealthy, a blight came, +and every leaf dropt off. One powerful firm now lords it over the +loan-market of Europe. We have no desire to anticipate the future; +but what has become of all its predecessors in this country? or what +memorial have they all left, to make us regret their vanishing, or +remember their existence? + +Of the sudden passion with which Ministers have snatched the +Israelite to their bosom, we shall leave the explanation until +their day of penitence. As poverty makes man submit to strange +companionship, political necessity may make a Whig Cabinet stoop to +the embrace of the Jew. The resource is desperate, but the exigency +must be equally so. We hail the omen,--the grasp at straws shows +nothing but the exhaustion of the swimmer. + +On one point more alone we shall touch. It is of a graver kind. +It has been the source of a kind of ignorant consideration for +the Jews, that prophecy speaks of their future restoration. But, +as _Jews_ they will _never_ be restored. In the last days some +powerful influence of the Holy Spirit will impel the surviving Jews +to solicit an admission into Christianity. How many or how few will +survive the predicted universal convulsion of these days, is not for +man to tell; the terrible, or the splendid, catastrophes of those +times are still hidden; but no Jew well ever dwell in the presence +of the patriarchs, but as a "new creature"--a being cleared from the +prejudices of his exiled fathers, and by supernatural interposition +purified from the unbelief, to be rescued from the ruin, of his +stiff-necked people. + +The measure must be thrown out by the awakened power of public +opinion. We must not indulge our indolence in relying on the House +of Lords. They _may_ do their duty, but _we must do ours_. The Jew +_must not_ enter the Christian Legislature. + + + + +THE PICTURES OF THE SEASON. + + +The taste for pictorial art, if its progress may be measured by +the opportunity afforded for its gratification, is decidedly upon +the increase in this country. In London, especially, pictures of +one class or other form, each successive year, a larger and more +important item in the sum of public amusements. During the present +season of 1850 there have been open, at one time, four exhibitions +consisting chiefly of oil paintings, two numerous collections of +water-colour drawings, and panoramas and dioramas in unprecedented +number and of unusual excellence. These last, although pertaining +to a lower walk of art, have strong claims on consideration for +their scenic truthfulness and artistic skill, and are fairly to +be included in an estimate of the state of public feeling for the +pictorial. The four first exhibitions alone comprise upwards of +three thousand works of art, now for the first time submitted to +public inspection. As usual, the exhibition of the Royal Academy +is the most important and deserving of attention. Numerically, the +Society of British Artists claims the next place; but in point of +interest it must yield precedence to the British Institution, now +for some weeks closed, and also to the exhibition of an association +of artists which has installed itself, upon a novel principle, +and under the title of the National Institution, in a building +constructed for its accommodation, and known as the Portland +Gallery. It were for some reasons desirable--it certainly would +be favourable to the comparative appreciation of merit--that, as +at Paris, the whole of the annual harvest of pictures should be +collected in one edifice, subject, of course, to such previous +examination by a competent and impartial council, as should exclude +those works unworthy of exhibition. But such a system, however +pleasant it might be found by the public, could hardly be made +agreeable to the artists. The most indulgent censorship, excluding +none but the veriest daubs--nay, even the plan of open doors to +all comers, which has lately clothed a portion of the walls of the +Republican Louvre with canvass spoiled by ignorance and presumption, +would fail to satisfy artists and their friends. In London, as in +Paris under the old system, it is less the question of admission +than the placing of the pictures that is the source of discontent. +The excluded conceal their discomfiture; the misplaced grumble +loudly, and not always without reason, especially as regards the +Academy exhibition. The fault may be more in the rooms that contain, +than in the men who place the pictures. Of course everybody whose +work gets into the Octagon Room feels aggrieved, although it is +evident that, as long as that ridiculous nook is used to contain +pictures, some unlucky artists must fill it. The good places in +the other rooms--limited as is the extent of these compared to +the large number of pictures annually exhibited in them--cannot +be very numerous, although they may be multiplied by the exercise +of judgment, and by impartial attention to the requirements of +each picture as regards light and elevation. The best possible +arrangement, however, will fail to please everybody, and the +persons to whom falls the difficult task of distributing a thousand +or fifteen hundred pictures over the walls of a suite of rooms +inadequate to their proper accommodation, must be prepared to endure +some obloquy, and esteem themselves fortunate if the public acquit +them of flagrant partiality or negligence. It is not our purpose +to dilate on this oft-mooted and still vexed question. We have no +polemical intention in the present paper, in which we shall not have +too much space to note down a few of the thoughts that suggested +themselves to us during our morning wanderings amongst the throng of +pictures in four exhibitions. + +The great event of the artist's year, the opening of the Exhibition +of the Royal Academy, is of course the signal for a Babel of +opinions. The question which on all sides is heard: What sort of +Exhibition is this? obtains the most conflicting replies. People +are too apt to trust to their first impressions, and to indulge in +sweeping censure or excessive encomium. We have heard this year's +exhibition set down by some as first-rate, by others as exceedingly +poor. Our own opinion, after careful examination and consideration, +is, that it has rather less than the average amount of merit. +This we believe to be also the opinion of the majority of those +most competent to judge. There is certainly an unusually small +number of pictures of striking excellence; nor is this atoned for +by any marked improvement in those artists whose works can claim +but a second rank. One circumstance unfavourable to the interest +of the exhibition is the uncommonly large number of portraits, +the majority of which are not very admirable either in subject or +execution. The impression, as one walks through the rooms, is, +that an extraordinary number of ugly or uninteresting persons have +got themselves painted by careless or indifferent artists. Of +landscapes there seem to be fewer than usual--certainly fewer good +ones. Some of the best of this class of painters have contributed +to other exhibitions. On the other hand, historical, scriptural, +and dramatic subjects are numerous, but not in many cases have they +been treated with very great success. One of the foremost pictures +in the Exhibition--certainly the one about which most curiosity +has been excited--is Edwin Landseer's _Dialogue at Waterloo_. We +are unfeigned admirers of Mr Landseer's genius, but we do not +think this one of his happiest efforts. There is much fashion in +these matters; people are very apt to be led away by a name, and +to fall into ecstasies before a picture simply because it is by a +great painter. We believe it impossible for Edwin Landseer to paint +anything that shall not have great merit, but he is certainly most +felicitous when confining himself to what is strictly speaking his +own style. We do not think him successful as a portrait painter. +His Marchioness of Douro does less than justice to the beautiful +original. As to the Duke of Wellington, it is a failure; especially +if, as we are assured, it is intended to be his portrait as he +now is. We certainly cannot admire the burly figure and swarthy +complexion of Mr Landseer's Duke, which gives us the idea of a +younger and more robust man than him it is intended to represent. +We should be disposed to object to the strained appearance of the +downward-pointing hand; but the gesture is said to be one habitual +to the original, and of course the painter was right to preserve +character, even at the cost of grace. The less prominent portion of +the picture is the most to our taste--the peasants and child, the +dogs and game, and the plough horses with their old driver. We are +not quite clear as to what it all means; some of the objects seeming +rather to have been dragged in than naturally to have come thither; +the tablecloth spread in the ploughed field appearing rather out +of character, and the left-hand corner of the picture having +altogether somewhat of a crowded aspect: but these are trifles not +worth dwelling upon. The painting is evidently unfinished. The +subject of Mr Landseer's second picture, a shepherd digging the +stragglers from his flock out of a snow-drift, is of less interest +than that of his larger work; but, in an artistic point of view, it +claims higher praise. His snow is admirable, the tender gray tints +are full of light, and distributed with surpassing skill; and the +earnest laborious face of the delving peasant is very vigorous and +characteristic. Mr Landseer is so accurate an observer of brute +nature that it is with extreme caution we venture to criticise his +animals, but we must say that the wool of his sheep in this painting +has a hard and cork-like look. Upon the whole it is a question with +us, when we revert to some of this artist's former productions, +whether he is painting as carefully as he used to do. Looking at +his Waterloo Dialogue, we say no; but an affirmative starts to our +lips when we examine his last and smallest picture in this year's +Exhibition, Lady Murchison's dog. With this the most fastidious +would be troubled to find fault. It is a gem of admirable finish. +If Mr Landseer's power of drawing, in the grander contours of his +designs, were equal to the skill he displays in the details, he +would leave nothing to desire. + +Mr Maclise has two pictures in this exhibition. There is scarcely +an English artist living concerning whom we are more embarrassed +to make up our minds, than concerning the painter of _The Spirit +of Justice_ and _The Gross of Green Spectacles_. His merits and +defects are alike very great, and unfortunately he delays to amend +the latter--if indeed it be in his power so to do. His first-named +and larger picture, whilst it contains much to admire, leaves a +great deal to be desired. To us it is a vexatious performance. +We cannot look at it without admitting it to be the work of no +ordinary artist, and we feel the more annoyed at the mannerism that +detracts from its merit. Mr Maclise has fertility of invention +and power of design, but there is a deficiency of true artistical +feeling in his execution. We cannot coincide, besides, with the +notion which he, in common with many others, seems to entertain, +that fresco painting precludes chiaroscuro. In _The Spirit of +Justice_ there are some good faces; but there are more that are +unnecessarily ugly, and several of faulty expression. Justice has +a fine countenance and altogether pleases us well. The widow's +face is hard and unflesh-like; the accuser, who drags the murderer +before the tribunal, and displays a bloody dagger as evidence of +guilt, and the free citizen who unrolls the charter of liberty, are +anything but admirable. The accuser looks more like an informer +than an avenger. Nothing can be more unfavourable to the face than +the sort of scrubby, colourless, thinly-sown stubble with which his +chin is provided, as a contrast, we presume, with the dark hirsute +countenance of the criminal, who, deducting the beard, might pass +for a portrait of Mr Macready, of one of whose favourite attitudes +the position of the head and shoulders particularly reminds us. With +all its defects, however, this is by far the best of Mr Maclise's +two pieces. _The Gross of Spectacles_ we consider a failure. It is +a gross of spectacles, and little besides. The first thing that +catches the eye is Moses' unlucky bargain. There they are, the +twelve dozen, in green cases and with plated rims. We submit that +the first thing which _should_ attract the eye is the countenances +of the actors in the scene. Owing to their tameness of expression, +these, which should be prominent, are almost subordinate to the +inanimate details of the apartment. Unimportant as it is, we are +inclined to prefer the recess, and the peep through the window, to +any other part of the picture. There is an airiness and transparency +in that corner of the canvass, which we in vain seek elsewhere. The +general effect is very hard. The hair of Moses and the little boy is +as unlike hair as it well can be: we remember to have seen something +very like it upon a tea-tray. These are technical objections. But Mr +Maclise may rely upon it that he lacks the keen perception of humour +indispensable to the artist who would illustrate Goldsmith. + +Amongst the scriptural and mythological paintings, those of Mr +Patten and Mr F. R. Pickersgill attract at least as much notice as +they deserve. Besides portraits, Mr Patten has contributed three +pictures. His _Susannah and the Elders_ is remarkable as being the +most decidedly indecent picture exhibited this year. The subject +is not a very pleasing one, and, to our thinking, has been painted +quite often enough. But this is not the question. Mr Patten has +put his version of it out of the pale of propriety by his mode of +handling it. There is nothing classical in his treatment, nothing +to redeem or elevate the nudity and associations of the subject. +His Susannah is simply a naked English girl, with a pretty face, an +immaculate cuticle, and something exceedingly voluptuous in the form +and arrangement of her limbs. There is no novelty of conception in +the picture, nor any particular merit except the colouring, which +is good, but not equal to that in No. 446, _Bacchus discovering the +Use of the Grape_. This is a pleasanter subject, cleverly treated, +displaying more originality and much better taste. The flesh-tints +are capital, and the picture altogether does credit to the painter. +_Venus and Cupid_, by the same artist, is chiefly remarkable for +a plaster-of-Paris dove of an extraordinarily brilliant and very +unnatural effect. As to Mr F. R. Pickersgill, we should like his +pictures better if he would not imitate poor Etty, whose memory, +be it parenthetically observed, has been little regarded by those +who have exhibited that most coarse and unpleasant picture, _The +Toilet_, No. 276, a specimen of the deceased artist's worst manner. +Mr Pickersgill's _Samson Betrayed_ is, there is no denying it, a +very unsatisfactory composition. His red-haired Dalilah is graceless +and characterless. Samson, recumbent in an attitude in which no man +ever slept soundly, seems prevented only by a miracle from slipping +off her knees. Two girls, instead of getting to a safe distance, are +hugging each other in terror within reach of the giant's arm. There +is scarcely an attitude in the picture that is not strained. In the +conception there is an utter want of novelty of circumstance. The +whole picture is deficient in originality. The eye wanders over it, +seeking some feature of special interest or striking beauty whereon +to dwell, and finds none. Mr Pickersgill has good qualities, but +the spark of fancy and genius which alone can complete the great +painter, is, we fear, wanting in his composition. + +We turn with pleasure to Leslie's pictures. Were we disposed to find +fault with this very agreeable artist, our objections could only +be technical. With want of imagination, and feeling for beauty, +none can tax him. Two of his three pictures contain the sweetest +female faces in this exhibition. How admirably has he interpreted +Shakspeare's description of Beatrice stealing to the woodbine bower, +to play the eavesdropper on Hero and Ursula. + + "Look where Beatrice, like a lapwing, runs + Close by the ground." + +The painter has exactly rendered the poet's graceful idea. As she +glides along, we seem to detect the slight flutter and palpitation +attendant on the clandestine movement. Expression and attitude are +alike charming. Sophia Western deserves even higher praise. She +is indeed a lovely creature. Tom Jones bids her behold herself in +the mirror, and say whether such a face and form do not guarantee +his fidelity. It is altogether a most agreeable composition; and +if we have any fault to find, it is with the face of the enamoured +foundling, which wants refinement, and has a sort of overgrown +schoolboy's ruddy fulness. Katherine of Arragon beseeching Capucius +to convey to Henry VIII. her last recommendation of her daughter +and servants to his goodness, is the most important of Mr Leslie's +pictures; and although by many it will not be deemed the most +attractive, none can deny it great merit and interest. The suffering +countenance of Katherine, and the tearful faces of her attendants, +are full of expression. The ambassador is rather tame, and one +scarcely recognises in his face or bearing the energy with which he +vows to do the bidding of the unhappy queen. + +Mr Eastlake has one scriptural and one historical picture in this +year's exhibition. A passage from Sismondi, telling the escape of +an Italian noble and his wife from the persecution of the Duke of +Milan, has suggested the latter, which is painted for the Vernon +Gallery. There is some good expression in the faces in this picture, +which has more interest and novelty than its companion _The Good +Samaritan_, and also greater vigour. Both show the hand of the +experienced and skilful artist, although perhaps neither can be +classed amongst the best things he has produced. We should gladly +see a little more nerve in Mr Eastlake's style, and this we think +might be advantageously combined with his beautiful transparency of +colouring, and other excellent qualities as a painter. There is no +diminution in the purity of style and thought which has always been +one of his finest characteristics. + +Mr Frith is an improving artist. There is humour and progress in +No. 543, a scene from Goldsmith's _Good-natured Man_. _Mr Honeywood +introduces the bailiffs to Miss Richland as his friends._ He must +beware, however, of running into caricature in subjects of this +kind. The bailiffs are perhaps a little overdone. Miss Richland +has a very pretty face, but she looks more like a _soubrette_ or +smart actress than a woman of fashion. Mr Frith's other picture, +Sancho proving to the duchess that Don Quixote is at the bottom +of the table, is well painted, and, in a technical point of +view, it must be spoken of with respect. He has not been quite so +successful as we should have expected in the expression of the +faces,--that of the duke excepted, which is a good and thoroughly +Spanish countenance, with its habitual gravity disturbed by Sancho's +quaint humour and his master's manifest distress. But painting +ladies is not Mr Frith's forte. His duchess is pretty, but there +is a want of aristocratic distinction in her face and bearing; and +as to the ladies grouped behind her chair, they are cookmaids in +masquerade. Very few living artists, besides Leslie, should venture +upon Sancho. We will not say that Mr Frith is not one of those few, +but his delineation of the shrewd esquire, although very humorous, +is rather coarse, and he has made him ragged and filthy to an +unnecessary degree. The vexation and embarrassment of Don Quixote +are ludicrously portrayed. + +Four very small, very unpretending pictures by Thomas Webster, R.A., +must be sought for, but, when found, cannot fail to be admired. They +are a feature, and a very charming one, of this year's Exhibition. +High finish and truth to nature are their chief characteristics. +Mr Webster is getting quite into the Ostade manner. His colouring, +too, is admirable. No. 54 is a boy in a chimney corner, supping +pottage, with an old woman knitting opposite to him. Both faces are +excellent, and full of character. _A Cherry Seller_ is a perfect +_bijou_--the woman weighing out the fruit; the boys, looking on with +eager eyes and watering mouths; the fruit itself, with its Dutch +nicety of finish:--altogether it is a most desirable picture, such +as one can hardly pass, even for the twentieth time, without pausing +for another view. _A Peasant's Home_ is upon the whole too gray, +and perhaps the least attractive of the four; but in the _Farmhouse +Kitchen_ are a couple of figures, a farmer and his dame, than which +nothing can be better, either in colour or expression. Mr Webster +shows great taste and judgment in adhering to a pleasing simplicity, +without ever falling into quaintness or affectation. And it is a +study for a young artist to observe the skill with which he throws +his lights, and the transparency and absence of _paintyness_ (to +borrow a term from the studio) which characterise his pictures. + +Mr Solomon Hart's _Kitchen Interior at Mayfield_ will not do after +Webster. This, however, is one of the least important of his six +pictures, which comprise two other interiors, two heads, and a +Jewish festival. This last is perhaps the best picture he has +painted. The MSS. of the Pentateuch are being carried round the +synagogue at Leghorn, amidst chanting of hymns. There is a strong +devotional character in many of the faces; and, as a work of art, +the picture is more than respectable. The interest of the subject is +a question of taste. For us, we confess, it possesses very little +attraction; and the Jewish physiognomy, so strongly marked as it +is in all the occupants of the synagogue, is, to our thinking, +incompatible with beauty. We do not much admire either _A Virtuoso +or Arnolfo di Lapo_. The latter is the best of the two: the former, +carefully painted, is merely an ordinary-looking Jew. + +What can we say of Mr Turner? Perhaps we had better content +ourselves with mentioning that he has four pictures in the +Exhibition, all in his latest manner, all illustrative of that +far-famed, but, unfortunately, unpublished poem, _The Fallacies of +Hope_, and all proving the fallacy of the hope we annually cherish +that he will abjure his eccentricities, and revert to the style +which justly gained him his high reputation. It were absurd of us +to attempt to criticise his present productions, for to us they are +unintelligible; and, judging from the extremely puzzled looks we see +fixed upon them, we suspect that not many of those who pause for +their examination are more successful than ourselves in deciphering +their meaning, and in appreciating the beauties which a few stanch +adherents pretend to discover in those strange compounds of red, +white, and yellow. What if Mr Turner were to seek his inspirations +elsewhere than in the aforesaid MS.? Can it be that the poet's +halting verse influences the painter's vagaries? From the specimens +afforded us, we are not inclined to think highly of _The Fallacies_ +_of Hope_. Take the following, _exempli gratiâ_:-- + + "Beneath the morning mist + Mercury waited to tell him of his neglected fleet." + +And this-- + + "Fallacious Hope beneath the moon's pale crescent shone, + Dido listened to Troy being lost and won." + +Enough of such poetry, and enough, as far as we are concerned, of a +great painter's unfortunate aberrations. + +Apropos of aberrations, we have a word to say, which may as well be +said here as elsewhere. Affectation, however, is a more suitable +word for the mountebank proceedings of a small number of artists, +who, stimulated by their own conceit, and by the applause of a few +foolish persons, are endeavouring to set up a school of their own. +We allude, to the pre-Raphaelites. Let not Messrs Millais, Hunt, +Rosetti, & Co. suppose, because we give them an early place in this +imperfect review of the exhibitions, that we concede to them an +undue importance. As to admiration, we shall presently make them +aware how far we entertain that feeling towards them. Meanwhile, +let them not plume themselves on a place amongst men of genius. +Just as well might they experience an exaltation of their horns, +because their absurd and pretentious productions get casually +hung next to pictures by Landseer or Webster. It appears they +have got into their wise heads certain notions that the ideal of +expression is to be found in the works of the artists who flourished +previously to Raphael. And they have accordingly set to work to +imitate those early masters, not only in the earnestness of purpose +visible in their productions, but in their errors, crudities, and +imperfections--renouncing, in fact, the progress that since then +has been made; rejecting the experience of centuries, to revert for +models, not to art in its prime, but to art in its uncultivated +infancy. And a nice business they make of it. Regardless of anatomy +and drawing, they delight in ugliness and revel in diseased aspects. +Mr Dante Rosetti, one of the high-priests of this retrograde school, +exhibits at the Portland Gallery. Messrs Millais and Hunt favour the +saloons of the Academy. Ricketty children, emaciation and deformity +constitute their chief stock in trade. They apparently select bad +models, and then exaggerate their badness till it is out of all +nature. We can hardly imagine anything more ugly, graceless, and +unpleasant than Mr Millais' picture of Christ in the carpenter's +shop. Such a collection of splay feet, puffed joints, and misshapen +limbs was assuredly never before made within so small a compass. We +have great difficulty in believing a report that this unpleasing and +atrociously affected picture has found a purchaser at a high price. +Another specimen, from the same brush, inspires rather laughter than +disgust. A Ferdinand of most ignoble physiognomy is being lured by a +pea-green monster intended for Ariel; whilst a row of sprites, such +as it takes a Millais to devise, watch the operation with turquoise +eyes. It would occupy more room than the thing is worth to expose +all the absurdity and impertinence of this work. Mr Hunt's picture +of a Christian Missionary sheltered from Druid pursuit is in as +ridiculous taste as any of the group. + +From such monstrosities it is a relief to turn to Mr Frank +Stone's graceful creations. He also has taken a subject from the +second scene in the _Tempest_, No. 342, Miranda's first sight of +Ferdinand. Compared with Mr Millais' Ferdinand, that of Mr Stone +is a demigod. Estimated by its intrinsic merits, it strikes us +as a little theatrical--rather too much of the stage-player in +the air and attitude. Miranda has a sweet and youthful face; +Prospero is too young, and does not look his part. This is not +one of Mr Stone's happiest efforts, but it is a nice picture, and +we prefer it to his other in the same exhibition, _The Gardener's +Daughter_, a young lady attitudinising under a rose-tree, with a +pair of admiring swains in the distance. This artist is too apt +to give his male lovers a sickly look, as if their love disagreed +with them. The best picture he has shown this year is one in the +British Institution--_Sympathy_--two very pretty maidens, with an +expression of pleasing sentiment in their faces. Barring a little +occasional mannerism, Mr Stone is a very delightful painter; and in +our opinion, if he had had his deserts, he would some time since +have been a member of the Academy. Were it not invidious, we could +cite a few, who write _Associate_ after their names, who have less +claim than he has to that honorary distinction. Mr Stone has a great +deal of fancy, a fine feeling for the beautiful, and we are indebted +to him for many charming compositions and lovely female faces. And +certainly if popularity be a test of merit, which we admit is not +always the case, he ought years ago to have figured in the list of +Academicians. + +That very conscientious and careful artist, Mr Charles Landseer, +has a pretty and well-painted _Girl in a Hop-garden_, and a larger +and still better picture--perhaps the best he has for some years +produced--of _Æsop_, surrounded by several of the animals celebrated +in his fables. There is a great deal of quiet humour and nice +finish in this picture: the figure and face of the hump-backed +fabulist, and those of a girl, who seems admiringly to listen to +his allegorical wisdom, are exceedingly good. Mr Dyce has only one +picture, and really that had been as well away. An ugly Jacob is +protruding his lips to kiss a vulgar Rachel. The colouring is hard +and bad, and there is a pervading gray tint which is not natural. +We hope Mr Dyce, R.A., can do better things than this. We prefer +Mr Cope's _King Lear_, which has considerable merit. There is fine +expression in the old monarch's head. Cordelia pleases us less; +and perhaps, upon the whole, the best figures in the picture are +those of the musicians and singers. There is a something in this +painting that reminds us of Maclise. Of Mr Cope's other pictures, +_Milton's Dream_ has a nice tone of colour; and the two sketches +for fresco of Prince Henry's submission to Judge Gascoigne, and +the Black Prince receiving the order of the Garter, are spirited +and good. Mr Redgrave's principal picture is No. 233. _The Marquis +having chosen patient Griselda for his wife, causes the court ladies +to dress her in her father's cottage._ Griselda has a pretty face, +and sits in an easy, graceful attitude: the ladies are coarse, +and the expression of scorn upon their countenances is theatrical +and affected. The heads of some of them are too big, and out of +proportion with their bodies. _The Child's Prayer_, by the same +artist, is a pleasing picture; well painted, particularly the +woman's head and hand, which latter has a look of Rubens. Mr E. M. +Ward has two pictures of very different subjects. _Isaac Walton +Angling_ hardly claims any particular notice; _James II. receiving +the News of the Landing of the Prince of Orange in 1688_, has more +pretension and greater merit. It certainly contains good painting: +the grouping of the figures and the expression of some of the faces +are also praiseworthy; but yet it hardly satisfies us. The queen's +face and attitude, as she advances, already sympathising with the +agitation visible on his countenance, to her husband's side, are +very charming. James's physiognomy is almost too much discomposed +to accord with the passage from Dalrymple quoted by Mr Ward. And +it strikes us, although this may seem hypercritical, that there +is something ludicrous in the eternal suspension in the air of +the letter that he has just allowed to escape from his fingers. +Upon the whole, however, this is a clever picture, and, as far as +we had opportunity of observing, it attracts a very full share of +public attention; although that is no criterion of merit, so large +a proportion of the loungers through an exhibition being more +readily attracted by a piquant subject than by artistical skill. And +probably no subjects are more generally popular than those that may +be styled the homely-historical; scenes in the private apartments of +royalty; the personal adventures and perils of princes, whether in +the palace or the prison--on the steps of the throne or the verge +of the scaffold. There is a fair sprinkling of such pictures in the +four exhibitions now under notice; and as we have no pretension +to be otherwise than exceedingly desultory in this article, whose +limits, and the heterogeneous subject, preclude our being otherwise, +we will at once dispose of such of them as deserve notice, and have +not already received it, commencing, in order of catalogue, with +Delaroche's picture of _Cromwell looking at the dead body of +Charles I._ This is a picture concerning which the most conflicting +opinions have been uttered. It has received fulsome praise and +unwarranted abuse. Some have lauded it as perfection merely because +it is by Paul Delaroche; others have decried it with a virulence +and injustice warranting the suspicion that some envious brother +of the brush had temporarily abandoned the palette for the pen, +and applied himself to slander merit he himself was hopeless of +equalling. We are aware but of two valid objections that can fairly +be made to the picture. The subject is certainly ghastly and horrid; +but, on the other hand, it has been rendered as little so as +possible by the consummate skill and good taste of its treatment. +And none, we think, but the very fastidious, will dwell upon this +point. The other objection (technical only) is to the coppery tone +of colouring of certain parts of the picture, particularly of the +flesh. This premised, we are aware of little else that can fairly be +alleged against this very fine picture. The countenance of Cromwell +certainly does not agree with the most authentic portraits that +have been handed down to us, or with the written and traditional +accounts of his features. The artist has idealised his hero--has +abridged his nose, increased his under jaw, and thrown nearly the +whole expression of the face into and around the mouth. M. Delaroche +having taken such liberties, we ought to be particularly grateful to +him that he has not gone farther, and, in aiming at a great effect, +fallen into exaggeration. Out of twenty French artists, nineteen, +we suspect, would have given us, with the strong and dangerous +temptation of so striking a subject, an unpleasant caricature. +It has been objected that the face is deficient in character +and expression, and would perfectly suit any one of Cromwell's +Ironsides, who through curiosity should have lifted the lid of the +deceased monarch's coffin. It is, to our thinking, an evidence of +skill on the part of the painter thus to have left the expression +doubtful--a matter of speculation to the beholder. We interpret it +as merely meditative. Any emotion it includes is one of exultation +at the great and important step the Usurper has made in his upward +progress. Of pity or remorse there is no trace. + +The next picture in the Exhibition of the Academy, of the class +at present under notice, that particularly caught our eye, is No. +491, _The Burial of the two sons of Edward IV. in the Tower_, by +Mr Cross, whose painting of Richard Coeur-de-Lion, exhibited at +Westminster Hall, will be remembered by many of our readers. The +present picture does not redeem the promise of its predecessor. +It has a washy, fresco-like look, and a great want of light and +shade, which is the more striking because the subject is one +particularly favourable to the display of a Rembrandt-like vigour +in that respect. The arrangement of the dead bodies is very bad, +and they have an emaciated look which was quite uncalled for. On +the other hand, the faces of two of the murderers, (one sustains +the stone beneath which the grave is dug, and the other grasps the +arm of one of the children,) and that of the turnkey, are very +expressive. The chief of the gang and the grave-digger are rather +strained and theatrical. Upon the whole, the picture disappoints us +much. A report, however, has reached us, that it was painted under +the disadvantage of ill health, so we will hope that Mr Cross may +yet do better things. No. 569, _The Abdication of Mary Queen of +Scots at Lochleven Castle_, by J. Severn, is a very tame affair. +And we do not greatly admire Mr Lucy's _Parting of Charles I. with +his Children_. The subject has been better treated before. But +we delight in Mr Joy's conception of Cromwell coveting, and yet +daring not to grasp, the crown of England. A bilious misanthrope, +with flabby cheeks and lacklustre eye, is seated beside a table on +which stands the crown, whose covering he has partly withdrawn. +The notion is amusingly matter-of-fact. Does Mr Joy really suppose +that such a man as Cromwell could find enjoyment in the deliberate +physical contemplation of the jewelled bauble--the substantial +crown--the mere emblem of the dignity and sway for which he +thirsted? We cannot compliment this artist on either the conceit or +the execution. We prefer his picture in the British Institution, +although that is not very remarkable. The subject is the interview +between James IV. of Scotland and the outlaw Murray on the banks +of Yarrow. In this Exhibition we find another Cromwell, of a very +different cast from the one just referred to. The Lord Protector +of England dictates to John Milton his celebrated despatch in +favour of the persecuted Piedmontese Protestants. Here there +is a fire and energy mingled with the coarseness of Cromwell's +physiognomy, which gives the character of the man as we read of +him and believe him to have been. Milton's face wears a look of +gentle enthusiasm and approval, as he admiringly weighs the words +that fall from the lips of his great patron. In his eyes there is +a sort of haziness that seems to foreshadow the darkness which +later is to come over him. The picture does great credit to a very +rising artist, Mr F. Newenham, who also exhibits a painting at the +Portland Gallery, which we like quite as well as his Cromwell. +The subject, _The Princes in the Tower_, is not a very new one, +but there is imagination and novelty in its treatment. It is just +the same point of time that Delaroche has chosen in his painting +of this subject, but there is nothing like an imitation of the +great Frenchman. Here the younger child still sleeps, whilst the +elder, a princely-looking lad, roused by the noise at the door, +gazes anxiously, rather than fearfully, at the shadow cast upon the +wall by a hand bearing a lantern. The picture is suggestive and +interesting, and in an artistic point of view, also, it merits high +praise. In this Portland Gallery (which we may observe, by the way, +is most excellently constructed and lighted for the advantageous +exhibition of works of art) is a painting by Mr Claxton, _Marie +Antoinette with her Children, escaping by the Secret Door from her +apartment in Versailles, when the palace was attached by the mob_, +which we mention rather on account of the interest of the subject +than of its merits as a work of art, these being but of a negative +description. Marie Antoinette, dressed rather like a fashionable of +the year 1850, is accompanied by a terrified lady, who looks back +at the door, half-masked by smoke, through whose broken pannel the +bayonets of the rebels cross with those of the loyal grenadiers. +Another picture from French history, but selected from a much +remoter period, is that of _The Excommunication of Robert, King of +France, and his Queen Bertha_, (No. 159 in the Portland Gallery.) +which Mr Desanges has executed with some skill. The king, having +married his cousin in defiance of the Pope, but with the sanction of +three prelates of his kingdom, incurs the pontifical anathema, in +common with the prelates and royal family. In the picture, the fiat +has just been pronounced, and the extinction of their torches by the +officiating priests symbolically completes their mission. + +This is not one of Mr Clarkson Stanfield's best years. We prefer +this careful and able artist on a grander scale than that of the +comparatively small pictures he this year exhibits. Nor do we +think he has been particularly happy in his choice of subjects. +His scene from Macbeth, viewed as a landscape--for we do not take +into account the figures, which are insignificant, and might as +well have been left out--is a good picture, but not in his happiest +taste. We prefer his _Scene on the Maas_, and his _Bay of Baiæ_, +which are both excellent. No. 288, _Near Foria_, is not a very good +subject. But Mr Stanfield is a pleasant, natural painter, quite +free from affectation, and a most excellent representative of the +English school. Mr Roberts is another favourite of ours. Belgium and +the East, Egyptian temples and Catholic shrines, furnish subjects +for his seven pictures. What we particularly like in him is the +strong impression of correctness and fidelity conveyed by his +representations of distant scenes. Without having seen the places, +one feels convinced of the accuracy of his delineations, and that he +gives the real effect of the objects depicted--just as, in certain +portraits, one feels certain of the resemblance without knowing the +original. The subjects of his pictures this year do not demand +any detailed criticism, and his good qualities are so universally +appreciated as to render general commendation superfluous. + +Before passing on to landscapes and portraits we will glance at a +few pictures of various classes, which happen to have attracted +our attention, and which deserve better or worse than to be left +unnoticed. Diving into the gloom of the Octagon, we are struck by +the very remarkable merit of two pictures, which ought never to +have been placed there. Only by kneeling or sitting upon the ground +is it possible to examine Mr Van Schendel's poacher detected, +No. 633, _Un Braconnier au moment qu'on vient le prendre_. Of +ordinary visitors to the Exhibition, not one in five will notice +the existence of the picture--not one in twenty, probably, will go +through the painful contortions requisite to get even a bad view of +it. Very few, if any, critics will have sought it out or written a +comment on it. Yet this is a picture on which greater talent and +labour have been expended than on dozens that hang in conspicuous +places and good lights. A dark picture, too--a night scene--it +required a strong light; and it was most unjust to put it thus in +the very darkest nook, and in the lowest range of the whole Academy. +For hospitality's sake to a foreigner, this excellent painting +should have been differently placed. The only other picture which +we noticed in the Octagon--there may be others of great merit, but +we never have patience to linger long in the gloomy closet--is No. +586, _Flowers and Fruit_, by T. Groenland--an artist far superior to +Lance, who seems to us to fall off instead of improving. Fruit and +flower pieces are things that few people care much to look at--and, +for our part, we confess that we seldom afford them more than a +very cursory glance; but our attention was seriously and pleasingly +arrested by both of those exhibited this year by Mr Groenland, +remarkable, as they are, not only for the accuracy with which he +imitates the texture of the different fruits--whether pulpiness, +bloom, or transparency be their chief characteristic--and for the +admirable delicacy of his flower-painting, but also for his skill +in elevating and giving interest to the walk of art he has chosen. +This is strikingly the case in No. 1254, apropos of which we have +another piece of injustice or carelessness--let them call it which +they like--to notice on the part of the Hanging Committee. Of all +the seven rooms of the Academy, not one is so little visited as that +which, in the catalogue, is headed Architecture. Accordingly, the +hangmen have placed at one end of it five as pleasing pictures--each +in its own style--as any in the Exhibition. Here we have the _Vierge +Route du Simplon_, a charming airy landscape by Harding; _Esther_, +by O'Neil, one of the best, perhaps, he ever did; _The Port of +Marseilles_, by E. W. Cooke, very like and very well painted, with +excellent water; _A Winter Evening_, by H. Horsley, a most clever +piece of snow scenery, with a cold look that makes one shiver, and +a capital effect of setting sun through an archway; and, last in +our enumeration, but not in merit, Mr Groenland's second fruit and +flower piece, with a landscape background, a gorgeous and life-like +peacock, a flush of rhododendrons, and painstaking and talent in +every leaf and flower. Another picture in the same vicinity, by W. +Fisher, _The Coulin_, a subject taken from Moore's melodies, is +rather affected, but by no means destitute of merit. + +Mr Martin's picture, _The Last Man_, is far from one of his +best. The subject is unpleasing, and there is a decided fault of +perspective; the human corpses and carcasses of strange beasts, in +the foreground, being much too small in proportion with the figure +of the man, who stands on an elevation which is doubtless intended +to be much in advance of, but which in reality is almost on a line +with, the spot where they are spread pellmell in grisly confusion. +Mr Hannah's _Lady Northumberland and Lady Percy dissuading the Earl +from joining the wars against Henry IV._ is oddly coloured, and +acquires a cold, insipid look from the profusion of blue and gray; +but it is a good and clever picture. A similar class of subject has +been selected by Mr T. J. Barker, from Professor Aytoun's ballad +of _Edinburgh after Flodden_. Randolph Murray, bearing news of the +defeat, is the centre of a throng anxious even to agony. + + "Why art thou alone, unfollowed? + Is it weal, or is it woe?" + +Perched up as this picture is above the door in the West Room, it +is difficult to arrive at a correct appreciation of it. As far as +we could distinguish, it is not without merit, and the expression +of exhaustion in the figure of Murray is pretty well rendered; but +altogether it is hardly worthy of the nervous and admirable verse +it is intended to illustrate. Mr Armitage's _Aholibah_ has a good +deal of pretension, but we cannot compliment him on it in any one +respect. In the first place the subject is disgusting, and shows +wretched taste in the artist who would select it. Then the face of +Aholibah is ugly and repulsive, and the expression coarse in the +extreme: the drawing of the limbs under the drapery is faulty, and +the gazelles are out of place and out of perspective. Mr Armitage +can do better than this. We prefer his picture in the Portland +Gallery, of Samson tying firebrands to the foxes' tails for the +destruction of the Philistine crops; although the face is a great +deal too black, and we cannot understand why Samson should allow a +fox to bite into the muscle of his thigh, as one of those in his +grasp appears to do. Why does Mr Armitage persist in his French +style of painting? It is quite a mistake. Let him be natural, and +rely upon his own taste and judgment, and we think he may do better +things. + +Mr Hook's _Dream of Venice_, a clever imitation of Paul Veronese, +is a very pleasant picture. Mr F. Williams' _Holy Maiden_ is a +pretty head, full of sentiment. We are glad to see such good promise +given by Mr Leslie, junior, in a very humorous picture entitled _A +Sailor's Yarn_. A thoroughbred and unmistakeable Cockney greedily +listens to some astounding narrative, whilst, behind the credulous +landsman, a second sailor grins admiration of his messmate, and +contempt for the "green hand." _The Young Student_, by W. Gush, is +a very nice picture of a youthful painter, with an artist's eye and +a pleasing Vandykish contour of face, and with carefully painted +hands. One of the most comical pictures in the Exhibition is a wild +boar by Wolf. The bristly forest-ranger is making its way through +the deep snow, leaving a long furrow behind it, along which it has +apparently been nuzzling for provender, for its snout is garnished +with the snow, which, combined with the sudden fore-shortening of +the body, produces a ludicrous effect. No. 121, _Autumn--Wounded +Woodcock_, from the same hand, has mellow and natural tints. + +We have kept back, almost to the last, one of our chief favourites +in the Exhibition of the Royal Academy. Mr Sidney Cooper is in +great force this year. He has six pictures; four of them all his +own, two painted in conjunction with Mr F. R. Lee, R.A. With all +respect for this artist, to whose landscapes we shall refer in +their place, we prefer Cooper alone to Cooper in partnership. The +two styles do not blend well, nor does Lee put his best landscapes +into Cooper's cattle-pieces. Take the first of their pictures--No. +23--_Cattle crossing a Ford_. As a whole it is agreeable--and +the cattle, we need hardly say, are worthy of the best English +cattle-painter of the day; but the landscape is feeble. In No. 298, +_The Watering-place_, the rather heavy paint of the foliage gives a +thin washy look to the foreground. We advise Messrs Lee and Cooper +to hang their pictures side by side, if they will, as excellent +specimens of their respective walks of art, but not to associate +themselves on the same canvass. People find fault with the landscape +part of Cooper's pictures; but it is in good keeping with the rest, +and moreover he improves in that respect, as in others. We will +instance No. 278, _A Mountain Group--Evening_, some charming goats, +where the background, bathed in soft light, harmonises admirably +with the more prominent parts of the picture. No. 454, _A Group on +the Welsh Mountains_, is most delicately finished, quite a gem; +and _Fordwick Meadows--Sunset_, in a somewhat broader style, is +equally excellent. Mr Cooper's is a class of art which strongly +appeals to the domestic and rural tastes of Englishmen. He excels +in it, and need fear no competitors, although several artists this +year exhibit cattle-landscapes of some merit. And here we should +perhaps say a word about Mr Ansdell, who has put some Brobdignagian +sheep into a landscape by Mr Creswick, (British Institution, No. +123, _Southdowns_,) and who has rather a pretty thing in the same +exhibition--No. 40, _The Regretted Companion_--an old hawker +perplexed and mournful beside the body of his dead ass. We would +gladly see this artist cease to imitate Landseer. He sacrifices his +originality without succeeding in catching the best points of his +model. + +Nos. 80, 405, 407 in the catalogue of the Academy, are Mr Lee's +landscapes--uncombined with Cooper's cattle. The second, _A Calm +Morning_, is the one we prefer; and a very charming picture of +repose it is. Mr Creswick is the next upon our list. His cold +unnatural grayness of colouring greatly detracts from the merit of +his pictures. We are quite aware that the same reproach has been +repeatedly addressed to him, and we should hardly have referred +to a fault which hitherto he has either obstinately clung to, or +been unable to correct, did not one of his pictures in the Academy +this year give us hopes that he is on the verge of a change. No. +542, _A Forest Farm_, is the best picture of Creswick's, in point +of colouring, that we remember to have seen. The _slaty_ look is +replaced by an agreeable transparency. No. 289, _In the Forest_, +is also warmer than usual. The others are in the old style. Mr +Linnell is more to our taste, although we cannot approve his _Christ +and the Woman of Samaria at Jacob's Well_. In the first place the +colour seems unnatural, altogether too brown; at the same time it +is just possible nature may assume that extraordinarily russet +tint in Samaria--a country to which our travels have not extended. +But we can more confidently object to the figure of the Saviour as +altogether unpleasant, with a harsh darkly-bearded face, devoid +alike of resemblance to the received type, and of any divine +expression whatever. Mr Linnell is a landscape-painter, and should +not attempt sacred subjects or portraits, things which are quite +out of his line. No. 395, _Crossing the Brook_, is of a better tone +of colour; and the same artist has two other pictures, of about +his usual average of merit, in the British Institution. The chief +fault with which we tax Mr Linnell, (whilst freely admitting his +great talent,) and one which may also be imputed to Mr Creswick, +and to other clever landscape-painters of the present day, is +the undeviating smallness of their touch, which gives, to use a +colloquialism, a niggled look to their pictures. Hobbima, and +Ruysdael, and others of that class--in whose footsteps we presume +no living landscape-painter is too proud to tread--avoided this +fault, and proportioned the fulness of their touch to the size of +their picture. We may select an example of what we mean from the +works of an able and industrious artist, who figures advantageously +this year in all four exhibitions, and who, in most instances, is +very free from the defect we refer to. Mr Sidney Percy's _Woodland +River_, No. 207, in the Portland Gallery, is a good picture, but to +our thinking the touch is too small for the size. Mr Percy, however, +is a man of talent and a rising painter. In the same gallery we call +attention, as to one of the best landscapes exhibited this year, +to his No. 277, _Welsh Mountains_. There is an effect of aërial +perspective in this picture, especially in the grass valley, on +the spectator's left hand, which deserves the very highest praise. +Several others of his eighteen pictures for 1850 deserve much +commendation; but we can only point out No. 576, in the Academy, _A +Limpid Pool_, and 394, _A Quiet Vale_, in the British Artists'. The +water in the last is very good,--otherwise it is hardly one of his +best. We would have Mr Percy to beware of hardness of treatment, +the fault to which he is most prone. His lines are apt to be too +sharply defined, especially his distant outlines. He should guard +himself against this defect, and with care he may expect to attain +great eminence as a landscape-painter. If we mistake not, he is +one of a talented family, which also comprises Messrs Boddington +and Gilbert, and several artists of the name of Williams, all of +whom, we believe, devote themselves chiefly, if not exclusively, +to landscape-painting, and either by identity of name or affinity +of style, form a most puzzling group for conscientious critics, +desirous, like ourselves, to sort their works and fairly distribute +praise. We can mention but a few of their pictures, taken, nearly +at random, from amongst a number we have marked as of merit or +promise. In the Academy, 344, _A Valley Lane_, by A. W. Williams, is +a charming subject, excellently treated. In the Portland Gallery, +where many good landscapes are to be found, most of them by this +family, we were particularly attracted by No. 41, _Noon_, also by +A. W. Williams, and by No. 65, _Medmenham Abbey--Evening_, by G. A. +Williams. No. 161, _A Showery Afternoon in Sussex_, by A. Gilbert, +is remarkable as an example of the admirable effect he knows how +to produce by the judicious and little-understood application of +the various gradations between opacity and perfect transparency of +colour. Mr Boddington has two nice pictures in the Academy. + +We cannot compliment Mr F. Danby on either of the two specimens +of his art that he this year displays. We find it impossible to +comprehend his colouring. That of _A Golden Moment_ (British +Institution) is surely unnatural. Certainly it is a very rare effect +of sunset; and the background is too bright to be consistent with +the sombre foreground. If we turn to his picture in the Academy, +_Spring_, we are no better pleased. That sort of dusky glow is quite +an exaggeration of nature. Of Mr Witherington's four pictures, we +prefer _Coniston Lake_ and _The Mountain Road_. Mr Hering's _Porto +Fesano_ (British Institution) is a pleasing picture, and improves +on examination; and there is a great deal of light and some pretty +colour in the same artist's _Ruins of Rome_ in the Academy. Mr J. +Peel has rather a pretty _Canal view_ in the Portland Gallery, in +which, oddly enough, he has thrown the shadow of a tree the wrong +way; and in the same exhibition Mrs Oliver has a bit of Welsh +scenery which is pretty in spite of its finical touch. Of Mr Linton, +who has pictures both in the Academy and British Institution, we +cannot but speak with respect, recognising the ability of his works, +the study they evince, and his close observation of the aspect of +places. But they are quite for distant effect; on near approach they +look rough and granitic, and are not a very pleasing or popular +class of pictures. + +We beg Mr Boxall not to think we have forgotten him. We were +desirous to commence the brief paragraph we can afford to portraits, +by praising his _Geraldine_, an undraped fancy portrait, which shows +a capital feeling for colour, and is perhaps the best specimen of +flesh-painting in the Exhibition. It wants finish; but even without +that it is nearly the first thing that attracts the eye when we +glance at that side of the Middle Room. There is good colour also in +the same artist's portrait of Mr Cubitt. + +Proceeding, with this exception, in numerical rotation, we notice +No. 6, _The Hon. Caroline Dawson_, by Dubufe. The arms are rather +flat, but it is a nice portrait, well painted, and infinitely +superior to the same artist's picture in the British Institution--a +French grisette with a Jewish face and an ugly mouth, holding a +rose; the motto "Wither one rose and let the other flourish,"--a +poor conceit and very indifferently executed. No. 52 is Mr Francis +Grant's, the first, but not the best, of seven which he exhibits. Mr +Grant is getting very careless. Such hands and clothes as he gives +his sitters are really not allowable. The only carefully finished +portrait he exhibits this year is that of Lady Elizabeth Wells, +after which that of Miss Grant is perhaps the best. The Countess +Bruce has an odd sort of resemblance, in the attitude or something, +to the same painter's picture of Mr Sidney Herbert. The Duke of +Devonshire looks vulgar. Viscount Hardinge is feeble, for Grant, +who can do so much better. We urge this artist to take a little +more pains, or his high reputation will dwindle. His portrait of +Sir George Grey, now on view at Colnaghi's, is another example of +carelessness. The face is the only finished part. Mr Watson Gordon +understands the portrait-painter's vocation after a different +fashion, and is most conscientious in his practice. Apart from their +striking resemblance, his portraits are admirable as carefully +finished works of art. His sitters this year have been, upon the +whole, less suited to make interesting or pleasing pictures than +several of the persons who have sat to Mr Grant; but Watson Gordon +has done his work far more carefully. Perhaps the best of his three +portraits is that of a lady, No. 137. The child in the same picture +pleases us rather less. No. 175, Daniel Vere, Esq. of Stonebyres, is +a striking likeness of that gentleman; and nothing can be better, +in all respects, than the portrait of the Lord Justice-General of +Scotland. Mr Buckner is, we are sorry to say, retrograding sadly. +He rose very suddenly into public favour, and if he does not take +care, he will rapidly decline. His portrait of Miss Lane Fox is +perhaps his best this year. Rachel is flattered. Lady Alfred Paget +is badly coloured, and looks in an incipient stage of blue cholera. +We do not like Mr Pickersgill's portraits this year. For those who +do, there are seven in the Exhibition, besides an ugly thing called +Nourmahal. Mr G. F. Watts has painted Miss Virginia Pattle. It is +one of the most affected pictures in the whole Exhibition. The young +lady is perched on a platform, her figure standing out against the +blue sky, and her feet completely hidden under her dress, which +latter circumstance gives her an unsteady appearance, and inspires +dread lest she should be blown from her elevation. The flesh is very +pasty, and the general effect of the picture jejune in the extreme. +No. 282, _The Duke of Aumale_, is by V. Mottez, and presents a +singular combination or monotony of colour, the artist having +seemingly carefully avoided all tints that would give warmth to his +picture. With the exception of the insipidly fair countenance of +the Duke, the painting is nearly all blue. It is not a disagreeable +picture, and it perhaps gains on repeated examination; but one +cannot get rid of an unpleasant impression of coldness. Placed next +to Boxall's Geraldine, the flesh looks like chalk. That coarse +but clever painter Knight has eight portraits, including several +celebrities of one kind or other--Buckstone the comedian, Keate +the surgeon, Sir J. Duke the mayor, Cooper the cattle-painter, and +Mrs Fitzwilliam the actress. The picture of Sir J. Duke (who is +represented in all the glory of civic office) is well put together; +Cooper is laughably like; Mrs Fitzwilliam is perhaps as delicate a +female portrait as Knight ever painted--which is not saying much +for the others. Mr Say's portrait of Guizot is softened down and +idealised till the character of the man is lost. In the Portland +Gallery, No. 1 and No. 70 are by an artist whose historical pictures +we have already commended, Mr Newenham. The first is a full length, +size of life, of Mr Ross, the engineer; the other, Mrs Gall, is +a sweet female countenance. Both are very good; but Mr Newenham +is always particularly successful--indeed we can call to mind no +living painter who is more so--in his portraits of ladies. Whilst +avoiding flattery, he still invariably paints pleasing as well as +correct likenesses. Such at least is the case with all those of +his lady-portraits we have had opportunities of comparing with the +models. Middleton has some nice portraits in this exhibition, and Mr +J. Lucas shows a pleasing one of a young lad. And one of the most +lifelike and speaking portraits exhibited this year is No. 286, +by R. S. Lauder, the likeness of our old friend and much-esteemed +contributor, the Rev. James White. A more exact resemblance we never +saw. + +We have not counted them, but we are informed, and have no +difficulty in believing, that there are 450 portraits (or +thereabouts) in this the eighty-second exhibition of the Royal +Academy. A very large number, out of 1456 works of art. Adding +the portraits in the three other exhibitions, we attain a total +of which, even after deducting drawings and miniatures, it +is impossible for us to notice one fourth-part. And we must +particularly remark, with respect to portraits and landscapes, what +also applies in a less degree to the less numerous classes of +pictures, that we have unavoidably--on account of our limited space +to deal with so compendious a subject, and also because we would +not reduce this article to a mere catalogue--omitted notice of many +artists and pictures whose claims are undoubted to mention more or +less honourable; as we have also forborne, for the same reason, and +much more willingly, certain censures which we should have been +justified in inflicting. Concerning portraits, however, we would +gladly have been rather more diffuse, had we not still to take some +notice, within the compass of a very few pages, of those exhibitions +to which as yet we have done little more than incidentally refer. + +The restoration to the galleries of purchasers and studios of +painters, of the five hundred pictures exhibited this year by the +British Institution, diminishes the interest now attaching to that +exhibition, and induces us to be tolerably brief in our notice of +some of its leading features. No. 52, _The Post Office_, by F. +Goodall, is a pretty picture enough, but displays no genius, and the +subject suggests a comparison with Wilkie, which is not favourable. +Mr Bullock's _Venus and Cupid_, No. 124, is about as sickly a piece +of blue and pink as we remember to have seen. Mr Sant's _Rivals_ +gives the impression of a copy from the lid of a French plum-box. We +have surely seen the Frenchified group in some engraving of Louis +XV's times. Mr Woolmer's _Syrens_ displays some imagination, but the +colouring is very bad. The sky is exaggerated, and the water seems +to have flowed from a cesspool, suggesting unsavoury ideas of the +extent of its contamination by the dead bodies that float upon it. +It is a picture, nevertheless, that one is apt to look at twice. T. +Clark's _The Horses of Rhesus captured by Ulysses and Diomed_, has +plenty of faults, certainly, but it has also boldness and spirit, +and makes us think the painter may hereafter do better things. No. +205, _Lance reproving his Dog_--left unfinished by the late Sir +A. W. Callcott, and completed by J. Callcott Horsley--includes a +pretty bit of landscape, and the dog is not bad; but, as a whole, +the picture does not strike us as remarkable. No. 231, _A French +Fishing Girl_, by T. K. Fairless, is a nice bit of colouring, very +fresh and judicious; and R. M'Innes's _Detaining a Customer_, tells +its story well, and is of careful finish, but insipid colouring. +Lady Macbeth, by T. F. Dicksee, is repulsive and unnatural; not the +murderess Shakspeare conceived and Siddons acted, but a saucer-eyed +maniac standing under a gas-lamp. No. 290, _Our Saviour after the +Temptation_, is by Sir George Hayter, who has bestowed great pains +without producing, as a whole, a very satisfactory result. The +picture has certainly good points, but it speaks against its general +excellence that we are driven to praise details. All the hands +are particularly well done--Sir George's experience as a portrait +painter having here availed him. The colouring of Christ's dress is +good, but generally there is an abuse of yellow in the picture. The +angels have no backs to their heads, but this phrenological defect +is perhaps intentional, to convey the artist's notion of an angel by +indicating the absence of gross passions. G. Cole's _Don Quixote and +Sancho Panza in Pedro's hut_ is humorous, but quite a caricature. +The painter seems to have studied to establish a resemblance +between the men and their respective beasts. Another laughable +picture is Mrs C. Smith's _Irish Piper_, whose companion _The +Irish Card-cutter_ is No. 206 in the British Artists'. As works of +art, they have little merit, but one cannot help acknowledging and +laughing at the vulgar humour and truth to nature they both contain. +Mr Selous' _The First Impression_, Gutemberg showing to his wife +his first experiment in printing from movable types, is perhaps the +best picture in the South Room. There is an air of nature about Mr +W. Wyld's _Smugglers' halt in the Sierra Morena_; but the figures, +although well grouped, are on too small a scale for much interest, +and the landscape lacks attraction. Our old friend George Cruikshank +gives full scope to his rich humour in No. 100, _Sancho's surprise +on seeing the Squire of the Wood's Nose_; and 455, _Disturbing the +Congregation_. This last is inimitable--brimful of fun. A charity +boy has let his peg-top fall during service, and the awful clatter +upon the church pavement draws all eyes in the direction of the +delinquent. This is a picture that must be seen, not described; +but our readers will imagine all the fun Cruikshank would make of +such a subject--the terrified face of the culprit, in vain affecting +unconsciousness, and the awful countenance of the beadle. We must +say a word of Mr J. F. Herring's _A Farmyard_, which contains some +good horses; but he has huddled his objects too much together, his +colouring is very opaque, and there is a want of air and perspective +in the picture. There is the same defect of thick colour in Mr H. +Jutsum's pretty composition, _Evening--coming home to the Farm_. + +We have already mentioned several pictures in the Portland Gallery, +including a portrait by Mr R. S. Lauder, (the president of this +new society,) which is perhaps the best, although one of the most +unpretending, of the seven pictures he exhibits. We do not discern +any very great merit in two carefully painted illustrations of +Quentin Durward. We should like to know on what authority Mr Lauder +makes a tall, large-limbed man of Louis XI., and how he intends to +get him and the raw-boned Scot through the door in No. 166, without +a most unkingly deviation from the perpendicular. There is here a +fault of perspective. And Mr Lauder should beware of repetition. +We remember the lady behind the tapestry in No. 45, in at least +a dozen of his pictures. This, however, is the best of the pair, +and there is good painting in it. His most important picture this +year is that of _Christ appearing to two of his Disciples on the +way to Emmaus_. This is certainly a fine work, although there is +much opposition of opinion respecting it. There is undoubtedly a +fine sentiment in the colouring, which is peculiarly applicable to +the subject. Mr M'Ian is in great force here, with no less than +ten pictures. We like this artist for the character and energy he +infuses into his productions. His most attractive picture this +year is No. 55, _Here's his health in Water!_ thus explained--"A +Highland gentleman of 1715, in Carlisle prison, the day previous to +his execution, receiving the last visit of his mother, wife, and +children, and instilling into his son--the future Highland gentleman +of 1745--the principles of loyalty." The face of the condemned +Highlander is full of vigour and determination, as is also that of +his mother, a resolute old lady, who seems to confirm his precepts +to her grandchild. The countenances of the sorrowing wife and of +the little girl, whose attention is distracted by the opening of +the prison door, are natural and pleasing. The boy, a sturdy scion +of the old stock, drinks King James's health out of the prison-mug +of water. We will not omit to praise Mrs M'Ian's very well-painted +picture of _Captivity and Liberty_--gipsies in prison, with swallows +twittering in the loophole that affords them light. There is a +nice feeling about this picture, which includes a handsome gipsy +face; it is careful in its details, and very effective in point of +chiaroscuro. No. 251, _A Jealous Man, disguised as a Priest, hears +the confession of his Wife_, is a subject (from the _Decameron_) +of which more might have been made than there has been by Mr D. W. +Deane. The countenances lack decided expression. Several artists +have this year painted scenes from the _Tempest_, and Mr A. Fussell +is one of the number. It were to be wished he had abstained. His +picture of _Caliban, Ariel, and his fellows_, is very bad indeed. +He should be less ambitious in his subjects, or at least less +fantastical in their treatment. It is unintelligible to us how +this picture illustrates the passage quoted. Nos. 264-5 are Mr H. +Barraud's pictures:--_Lord have mercy upon us_, and _We praise +thee, O God!_ the engravings of which have for some time past been +in every shop-window. We are really at a loss to comprehend the +_engouement_ for these pictures, which seem to us as deficient in +real sentiment as they are feeble in execution. They are pretty +enough, certainly, but that is all the praise we are disposed to +accord them. There is no great beauty in the faces; and one of the +boys (on the spectator's right hand) is a mere lout, without any +expression whatever. The Messrs Barraud have a great many pictures +in this exhibition--amongst others, No. 199, _The Curfew_, their +joint production, which is pretty, but in respect to which it +strikes us that they have read Gray's poem wrong, for the light +in their picture is not that of parting day, but of approaching +sunset. Mr Rayner's _Beauchamp Chapel, Warwick_, is a good picture; +Mr Niemann's _Kenilworth from the Tilt-yard_, and _Landscape_, No. +72, also deserve praise; Mr Dighton is very effective in some of +his landscapes and studies. Upon the whole, this young exhibition +promises well. + +Driven to our utmost limits, we must conclude, without further +mention than we have already here and there made of the Society of +British Artists in Suffolk Street; and we do so with the less regret +because that gallery contains but a small proportion of pictures +of merit. Mr Anthony contributes a very large number of his odd +paintings, some of which are rather effective at a distance; but it +is not a style we admire. Finally, we have with pleasure noticed, +during our many rambles through the different galleries, that the +public not only visit but buy; and we trust that the year 1850 will +prove profitable and satisfactory to British artists, in the same +proportion that it undoubtedly is creditable to their industry, +and, upon the whole, highly honourable to their talents. One word +more we will say at parting. In this article we have written down +opinions, formed neither hastily nor partially, of whose soundness, +although critics will always differ, we venture to feel pretty +confident. We have applied ourselves to point out merits rather +than defects, and to distribute praise in preference to blame; but +we should have failed in our duty to ourselves and the public, had +we altogether abstained from the latter. We well know, however, the +many difficulties and discouragements that beset the path of the +painter. And it would be matter for sincere regret to us, if, in the +freedom of our remarks, we had unwittingly hurt the feelings of any +man who is honestly and earnestly striving in the pursuit of a very +difficult art--although his success may as yet be incommensurate +with his industry and zeal. + + + + +THE YEAR OF SORROW.--IRELAND--1849. + +SPRING SONG. + + + Once more, through God's high will and grace, + Of Hours that each its task fulfils, + Heart-healing Spring resumes its place;-- + The valley throngs and scales the hills, + + In vain. From earth's deep heart o'ercharged, + The exulting life runs o'er in flowers;-- + The slave unfed is unenlarged: + In darkness sleep a nation's powers. + + Who knows not Spring? Who doubts, when blows + Her breath, that Spring is come indeed? + The swallow doubts not; nor the rose + That stirs, but wakes not, nor the weed. + + I feel her near, but see her not, + For those with pain-uplifted eyes + Fall back repulsed; and vapours blot + The vision of the earth and skies. + + I see her not; I feel her near, + As, charioted in mildest airs, + She sails through yon empyreal sphere, + And in her arms and bosom bears + + That urn of flowers and lustral dews, + Whose sacred balm, o'er all things shed, + Revives the weak, the old renews, + And crowns with votive wreaths the dead. + + Once more the cuckoo's call I hear; + I know, in many a glen profound, + The earliest violets of the year + Rise up like water from the ground. + + The thorn I know once more is white; + And, far down many a forest dale, + The anemones in dubious light + Are trembling like a bridal veil. + + By streams released that singing flow + From craggy shelf through sylvan glades, + The pale narcissus, well I know, + Smiles hour by hour on greener shades. + + The honeyed cowslip tufts once more + The golden slopes;--with gradual ray + The primrose stars the rock, and o'er + The wood-path strews its milky way. + + --From ruined huts and holes come forth + Old men, and look upon the sky! + The Power Divine is on the earth:-- + Give thanks to God before ye die! + + And ye, O children worn and weak, + Who care no more with flowers to play, + Lean on the grass your cold, thin cheek, + And those slight hands, and whispering, say, + + "Stern Mother of a race unblest-- + In promise kindly, cold in deed; + Take back, O Earth, into thy breast, + The children whom thou wilt not feed." + + + + +IRELAND--1849. + +AUTUMNAL DIRGE. + + + Then die, thou Year--thy work is done: + The work ill done is done at last. + Far off, beyond that sinking sun, + Which sets in blood, I hear the blast + + That sings thy dirge, and says--"Ascend, + And answer make amid thy peers, + (Since all things here must have an end,) + Thou latest of the famine years!" + + I join that voice. No joy have I + In all thy purple and thy gold, + Nor in the nine-fold harmony + From forest on to forest rolled: + + Nor in that stormy western fire, + Which burns on ocean's gloomy bed, + And hurls, as from a funeral pyre, + A glare that strikes the mountain's head; + + And writes on low-hung clouds its lines + Of cyphered flame, with hurrying hand; + And flings amid the topmost pines + That crown the steep, a burning brand. + + Make answer, Year, for all they dead, + Who found not rest in hallowed earth, + The widowed wife, the father fled, + The babe age-stricken from his birth. + + Make answer, Year, for virtue lost; + For Faith, that vanquished fraud and force, + Now waning like a noontide ghost; + Affections poisoned at their source: + + The labourer spurned his lying spade; + The yeoman spurned his useless plough; + The pauper spurned the unwholesome aid, + Obtruded once, exhausted now. + + The weaver wove till all was dark, + And, long ere morning, bent and bowed + Above his work with fingers stark; + And made, nor knew he made, a shroud. + + The roof-trees fall of hut and hall, + I hear them fall, and falling cry-- + "One fate for each, one fate for all; + So wills the Law that willed a lie." + + Dread power of Man! what spread the waste + In circles, hour by hour more wide, + And would not let the past be past?-- + The Law that promised much, and lied. + + Dread power of God! whom mortal years + Nor touch, nor tempt; who sitt'st sublime + In night of night,--O bid thy spheres + Resound at last a funeral chime. + + Call up, at last, the afflicted Race + Whom Man not God abolished. Sore, + For centuries, their strife: the place + That knew them once shall know no more. + + + + +IRELAND--1849. + +WINTER DIRGE. + + + Fall, Snow, and cease not! Flake by flake + The decent winding-sheet compose: + Thy task is just and pious; make + An end of blasphemies and woes. + + Fall flake by flake: by thee alone, + Last friend, the sleeping draught is given: + Kind nurse, by thee the couch is strewn, + The couch whose covering is from heaven. + + Descend and clasp the mountain's crest; + Possess wide plain and valley deep:-- + This night, in thy maternal breast + Forsaken myriads die in sleep. + + Lo! from the starry Temple gates + Death rides, and bears the flag of peace: + The combatants he separates; + He bids the wrath of ages cease. + + Descend, benignant Power! But O, + Ye torrents, shake no more the vale; + Dark streams, in silence seaward flow; + Thou rising storm, remit thy wail. + + Shake not, to-night, the cliffs of Moher, + Or Brandon's base, rough sea! Thou Isle, + The Rite proceeds:--from shore to shore + Hold in thy gathered breath the while. + + Fall, snow! in stillness fall, like dew + On temple roof, and cedar's fan; + And mould thyself on pine and yew, + And on the awful face of man. + + Without a sound, without a stir, + In streets and wolds, on rock and mound, + O omnipresent comforter, + By thee, this night, the lost are found. + + On quaking moor, and mountain moss, + With eyes upstaring at the sky, + And arms extended like a cross, + The long-expectant sufferers lie. + + Bend o'er them, white-robed Acolyte! + Put forth thine hand from cloud and mist, + And minister the last sad rite, + Where altar there is none, nor priest. + + Touch thou the gates of soul and sense: + Touch darkening eyes and dying ears; + Touch stiffening hand and feet, and thence + Remove the trace of sin and tears. + + And ere thou seal those filmed eyes, + Into God's urn thy fingers dip, + And lay, 'mid eucharistic sighs, + The sacred wafer on the lip. + + This night the Absolver issues forth: + This night the Eternal Victim bleeds-- + O winds and woods--O heaven and earth! + Be still this night. The Rite proceeds. + + + + +LONDON AND EDINBURGH CHESS MATCH. + + +If we pique ourselves on anything, it is on our invincible +good-nature. We are as slow to be roused as a brown bear in the +midst of its winter sleep; and, if we were let alone, we very much +doubt whether, by any conceivable exertion, we could work ourselves +into a downright passion. But, somehow or other, it constantly +happens that people of a less tranquil mood step in to deprive +us of the enjoyment of our untroubled repose. At one time some +worthy fellow entreats us to take up the public cudgel and belabour +a blatant Economist. At another, we are pathetically besought +to administer due castigation to some literary sinner who has +transgressed the first principles of decency, morality, and taste. +One friend implores us, with tears in his eyes, to take up the case +of the oppressed and injured washerwomen: a second puts a tomahawk +into our hand, and benevolently suggests the severment of the skull +of a charlatan: a third writes to us regarding a rowing match, in +which he opines gross injustice has been done by the umpire to +the Buffs, and he fervently prays for our powerful assistance in +vindicating the honour of the Blues. + +In all national questions, it seems to be expected that we are to +act with the devotion of a knight-errant. Whenever Scotland is +assailed, the general impression is that we are bound to stand +forth, and incontinently give battle to the enemy: and we believe +it will be admitted that we have done so before now with no +inconsiderable effect. It so happens that, at the present juncture, +several of our most esteemed compatriots, feeling themselves deeply +aggrieved by the _outrecuidance_ of the Southron, have laid the +story of their wrongs before us; and, after a deliberate review of +the whole circumstances of the case, we feel ourselves compelled to +come forward in behalf of our countrymen. Let no man venture to say +that Chess is an ignoble subject. It is, if properly considered, as +recondite a science as mathematics. Kings, conquerors, and sages +have not thought it beneath them to ponder over the chequered board; +and it may be that the noble game has contributed in no light degree +to the success of their most triumphant efforts. We know of no +absorption more complete than that which possesses the mind of a +true votary of chess. Watch him as he is contemplating his moves, +and his countenance is a perfect study for the physiognomist. He +may not perhaps be the most agreeable of companions, but we cannot +expect loquacity from men of high intellect whilst engaged in +deepest rumination. + +Let us, however, dispense as much as possible with preface, and +come to the actual offence which has induced us to take up our +pen in vindication of the national honour. Our attention has been +called to what is undoubtedly a departure from the fair and liberal +spirit which ought to actuate antagonists--in short, by an attempt +to deprive the Edinburgh Chess Club of laurels which were fairly +and honourably won. It is all very well for men who have been +beaten to apply salves to their wounded vanity, and to persuade +themselves that they have failed rather through misfortune than +from any deficiency of skill. Napoleon used to amuse himself at +St Helena by demonstrating that he _ought_ to have won the battle +of Waterloo--a position in which, we doubt not, Count Montholon +and General Bertrand entirely concurred, though, after a certain +time, they must have been tolerably sick of the subject. But these +affirmations of the Emperor did not serve the purpose of reinstating +him on the throne of France; and, in like manner, opine that the +writers who, at this time of day, are, applying themselves to the +task of persuading the public that the great match at chess between +Edinburgh and London, which was won by Edinburgh in 1828, ought to +have terminated otherwise, are losing their labour, and, moreover, +placing themselves in a very ridiculous position. + +We like to see a man take a beating in good part. The Southron +may come here and vanquish us at cricket, and we shall submit to +be bowled or caught out with the utmost equanimity--no member of +the Grange Club will retire to the cloister in consequence. He may +extinguish our renown at rackets, or even soar considerably above +our mark in the altitude of the flying-leap. We shall not cavil at +the result, should some Southron Robin Hood defeat the Queen's Body +Guard in the toxophilite competition which is about to take place in +this city. We shall not be jealous if the stranger beats us; and if, +in return, we should extinguish him utterly at golf or throwing the +hammer, we promise to crow as mildly as the plenitude of our lungs +will permit. But we have no idea of pushing complaisance to such an +extraordinary point, as to permit our real victories to be perverted +and annulled at the hands of a defeated adversary. Hector _might_ +have beaten Achilles, but he did not; and the mere fact of a remote +possibility having once existed, will not justify us in giving the +lie to Homer. We make every allowance for testiness; still we cannot +help thinking it extraordinary that those feelings of mortification, +which might perhaps have been excusable in the defeated party at +the moment of the antagonist's triumph, should manifest themselves +as strongly as ever nearly a quarter of a century after the +contest--and that, too, in persons who took no actual share in it, +and are comparatively strangers to the views and opinions of those +really concerned. + +English chess-players have the command of all the chess-periodicals, +which emanate chiefly, if not exclusively, from the London press; +and which have, for many years back, been made the vehicles of +repeated observations intended to depreciate the triumph of +Scotland. Of late these have been even more than usually frequent. +And within the last year, the _Quarterly Review_, which, like the +trunk of an elephant, is as ready to pick up a pin as to uproot a +tree, has opened its pages for remarks on the chess match, conceived +in no very handsome spirit towards the Scotch champions. This we +do not consider to be justifiable conduct on the part of our bulky +contemporary. In the accomplished editor--himself a Scot--it is +in direct antagonism to the principles of Richie, the servitor of +Nigel, who made so vigorous a stand for the credit of the Water of +Leith; and we regret to observe so palpable a falling off from the +fervid patriotism of the Moniplies. The uniform burden of the song +is, that the event of the match was determined by an accident,--or +by what they reckon as nearly equivalent to an accident--an +oversight upon the part of the London Club, to which the best of +players are liable, and which in this instance is said to have been +rather ungenerously taken advantage of by Edinburgh. The Scottish +players have hitherto said very little upon the subject, contenting +themselves with a short but perfectly satisfactory answer, made +immediately after the termination of the match, to some observations +of Mr Lewis, in which, while they conclusively disposed of his views +and inferences, they at the same time stated, that they were "far +from begrudging to the London Club the usual consolation of a beaten +adversary--of going back upon a game, and showing that, if they had +played otherwise at a particular point, they could have won the +game." The constant reiteration of the English statement, however, +is calculated to produce an erroneous impression in the minds of +those not acquainted with the merits of the question. + +The London and Edinburgh chess match, which was played by +correspondence, was begun in the year 1824. It was the result of a +challenge given by the Edinburgh Club, which was then only in its +infancy. The terms agreed on were, that the match should consist +of three won games; and that, in case of any game being drawn, a +new one, begun by the same opener, should take its place. The match +commenced on 23d April 1824. Two games were opened simultaneously. +The first game was opened by the Edinburgh Club; and in sending +their first answering move, the London Club also sent the first move +of the second game. The first game, which consisted of 35 moves, +was, on 14th December 1824, declared to be drawn. The second, which +consisted of 52 moves, was resigned by the London Club on 23d +February 1825. The third game--opened by the Edinburgh Club in place +of the first game, which had been drawn--was begun on 20th December +1824; it consisted of 99 moves, and was drawn on 18th March 1828. +The fourth game, begun by the Edinburgh Club, on 26th February 1825, +was resigned by them on 15th September 1826, at the 55th move. The +fifth game, begun by the Edinburgh Club, on 6th October 1826, was +resigned by the London Club on 31st July 1828, at the 60th move--and +this determined the match in favour of Edinburgh. + +The simple statement of these details is sufficient altogether to +exclude the idea that the result of the match was a mere accident, +where manifestly inferior players profited by the unfortunate +blunder of their superior antagonists. Though the Edinburgh Club +had lost, instead of gaining, two out of the three games, it would +still have been in vain to maintain that the play in the match +showed them to be unquestionably inferior. The contest was a long +and severe one. When the fifth and deciding game was proceeding, +each party had gained one game, and there had been two drawn games, +both of which were keenly disputed, without the least advantage in +favour of London at any point of either; while, on the other hand, +in the third game, Edinburgh had obtained an advantage, though +not sufficient to enable them to checkmate their adversaries. It +has never been pretended, by the most unscrupulous partisan of +England, that the winning of the fifth game was ascribable to an +oversight. On the contrary, their chess writers have, with most +becoming fairness and candour, always referred to it as an instance +of admirable play on the part of Edinburgh; and members of the +London committee, who shortly after happened to visit Edinburgh, +acknowledged that their committee were quite unable to discover the +object of particular moves, the effect of which had been previously +calculated, and reduced to demonstration by the Edinburgh players. +Is there, in all this, such evidence of overwhelming superiority on +the part of the English players, that their losing the match _must_ +have been an accident? + +But it is time to inquire a little more minutely into the so-called +blunder, which the Englishmen say was the cause of their defeat. And +here it is but fair to give their statement in their own words. The +_Quarterly_ reviewer says-- + + "Perhaps the most remarkable instance on record of a strict + enforcement of the tenor of chess law occurred in the celebrated + match, by correspondence, between the London and Edinburgh + Clubs. At the 27th move of the second game, the London Club + threw a rook away. How they did so, Mr Lewis explains in the + following words:--'The 26th, 27th, and 28th moves were sent on + the same day to the Edinburgh Club. This was done to save time. + It so happened that the secretary, whose duty it was to write + the letters, had an engagement which compelled him to leave the + Club two hours earlier than usual--the letter was therefore + posted at three instead of five o'clock. In the mean time, one + of the members discovered that the 2d move (the 27th) had not + been sufficiently examined.[10] An application was immediately + made at the Post-office for the letter, which was refused. In + consequence, a second letter was transmitted by the same post to + the Edinburgh Club, retracting the 2d and 3d moves, and abiding + only by the first. The Edinburgh Club, in answer, gave it as + their decided opinion that the London Club were bound by their + letter, and that no move could be retracted: they therefore + insisted on the moves being played. The London Club conceded the + point, though they differed in opinion.' + + "We cannot but think, under all the circumstances, the Edinburgh + Club were to blame. What rendered the mishap more vexatious to + the Londoners was, that whereas they had a won game before, they + now barely lost it, and thereby the match, which the winning + of this game would have decided in their favour. There can be + little doubt that the London Club (then comprising Messrs Lewis, + Fraser, and Cochrane) was the strongest of the two. On the part + of Edinburgh, we believe the lion's share of the work fell to + the late Mr Donaldson." + + + [10] It is of importance to keep in view that it never was asserted + that the _first_ move, the 26th, had not been sufficiently examined; + and it will be immediately seen that that move was adhered to, no + attempt being made to recall it. The truth is, that the London Club + could not have played a better move than their 27th. Their mistake, + as was first discovered by the Edinburgh Club, was in the 26th move, + the one adhered to _after examination_. + +In the remarks on the London and Amsterdam match, in Mr Staunton's +periodical, (the _Chess-Player's Chronicle_,) for February 1850, +there is the following passage:-- + + "If the relative skill of the competitors engaged on each side + were to be the gauge by which to estimate the probable result of + a contest like this, it would have been easy to predict to which + party victory would incline; and we should have wondered at the + daring gallantry that prompted the little band of Hollanders to + challenge the leviathans of London. Experience, however, has + shown that, in a match of chess by correspondence, the battle + is not always to the strong, and that foresight and profound + calculation are of infinitely less account, when the men may be + moved experimentally, than they are in ordinary chess, where + conclusions must be tried by the head, and not by the hand. Of + this, indeed, the archives of the London Club afford a memorable + instance. In March 1824, a proposal was made to this Club by the + Club at Edinburgh, to play a match at chess by correspondence + for a silver cup; the match to consist of three games, + (irrespective of drawn games;) two games to be played together, + and the winner of the first game to have the move in the third. + The London Club at this period was in the pride and plenitude + of its strength, and the committee appointed to conduct the + match comprised every name of note among the chess-players of + the metropolis. The Edinburgh Chess-Club, on the other hand, was + composed of amateurs comparatively unknown and inexperienced, + and possessed one player only--the late Mr Donaldson--capable of + making anything like a stand 'over the board' with any of the + London chiefs. In an ordinary contest, indeed, over the board, + it was the old odds of Lombard Street to a China orange! Maugre + all the advantages of superior skill and practice, however, + the Londoners lost the battle, and lost it by a blunder as + ridiculous as it was vexatious, at the very moment, too, when + the game was in their hands." + +The general remarks on playing by correspondence in this last +passage are evidently made to furnish a pretence for introducing the +notice of the London and Edinburgh match; and they share the fate of +all such forced work. They are absolute nonsense. The probability +that a decidedly superior will overcome an inferior player, is not +at all diminished by the circumstance that the match is played by +correspondence. On the contrary, we should rather be inclined to +say that the chance of an inferior player's escape in a single +game or so is almost extinguished where the match is played by +correspondence; because the time given for deliberation increases +the improbability of his antagonist's erring from carelessness, or +not taking in the whole position of the game, which sometimes occurs +in playing over the board. But there is an inconsequence in the +whole argument which surprises us to find in anything sanctioned +by a person of Mr Staunton's unquestionable powers of mind. The +loss of the match by London is not to be wondered at, it is said, +because it was a match by correspondence; and the immediate cause +of their losing it was the commission of a ridiculous and vexatious +blunder! To make this anything like logic, it would be necessary to +hold that ridiculous and vexatious blunders are more likely to be +committed when the player has time and opportunity to consider his +moves, and to make experiments upon their effect, than where he is +under the necessity of moving at once in presence of an adversary, +and possibly of spectators, apt to get impatient at long delay. It +is plain that the game's being played by correspondence was the +very circumstance calculated to render the London Club's particular +excuse for losing all the more untenable. + +It is quite true, however, that at a particular stage of the game +opened by the London Club, (being one of the two games with which +the match commenced,) the London Club might have won the game, by +playing other moves than they did. This may be said of every game; +but it is as unusual as it is unhandsome for the unsuccessful party, +merely because he has missed such an opportunity of winning, to +refuse all credit to his adversary for afterwards defeating him. In +the third game, which was drawn, the Edinburgh Club would have won +if they had played a different 51st move from that which they did. +But this did not lead them to make depreciatory remarks about their +antagonists: all that their report bears on this point is, that the +London Club "conducted a difficult defence with great skill and +dexterity, and finally succeeded in drawing the game." + +Further, the remarks above quoted are calculated to produce an +erroneous idea respecting the situation and conduct of the two +clubs in the second game. The sophistry consists in mixing up two +entirely separate and unconnected things. In this same game in which +the London Club failed to observe that they had a winning position, +they applied to have two of their moves recalled after they were +despatched, and the Edinburgh committee refused their request. Now +the obvious tendency of all that the English writers say upon the +subject is to create the impression that if the London Club had been +allowed to recall these two moves, they would have retained their +winning position. This is plainly the only construction that the +passage in the _Quarterly Review_ is capable of bearing. It is the +only construction which would justify his remarks, or make them at +all intelligible. But it is quite incorrect. The only moves which +the London committee wished to recall were the 27th and 28th; but +they have never attempted to show that if they had been allowed to +do so, they could have won the game. It has been demonstrated, over +and over again, that they could not. In fact, the moves they wished +to recall were as good as any others then in their power. They might +have drawn the game if these moves had been played; and they could +have done no more had they been allowed to recall them. This matter +was set at rest while the match was still pending, by a proposal +which emanated from the Edinburgh Club. When the Londoners lost the +game, Mr Lewis insinuated, though he did not expressly state, that +if they had not been held to the 27th and 28th moves, they would +have won the game. A member of the Edinburgh Club then offered to +play a back-game with any one or more of the London Club, in which +the London players were to be allowed a new 27th move instead of +the one they had made, and wished to recall; and also another +back-game in which the Edinburgh player was to take the London side +_at an earlier stage of the game_, with the view of showing that, +by playing differently, the London Club might have won it. This +proposal was under consideration of the London Club _for several +weeks_, during which they satisfied themselves that the recall of +the 27th and 28th moves would be of no use, and, accordingly, it was +declined. It is surely not very uncharitable to surmise that it was +during this period, and on the suggestion of their opponents, that +they discovered that the error was not in the 27th move which they +had proposed to recall, but in the 26th, which they had examined and +adhered to. In his first publication of the games, Mr Lewis gives +no back-game on this 26th move; and it is believed that no member +of the London Club was aware, till the game was finished, that by +playing differently at the 26th move they might have won it. But Mr +Lewis admits that the game could not be won by a mere alteration +of the 27th or 28th move; and any one who says that it could, is +either speaking in ignorance of the subject, or is making a wilful +misrepresentation. The likelihood of the remarks of the English +writers producing an erroneous impression arises from their mixing +up these two separate and distinct things: 1st, that at a previous +stage of the game, the London Club had a winning position which they +did not discover, and failed to avail themselves of; and, 2d, that +the Edinburgh Club would not allow them to retract the 27th and +28th moves. These two facts have no longer any possible connection +with each other when it is known that, at the 27th move, the London +Club had ceased to have a winning position, and that the recall +of that move would have been of no use to them. The failure, at a +previous stage of the game, to maintain the winning position which +they had, is simply one among several illustrations which occurred +in the match, of the truth that the London Club, "in the pride and +plenitude of its strength," did not always play as well as it was +possible to have done. How such things show that superiority on +the part of London, which they are brought forward to establish, we +confess ourselves unable to understand, unless we were to adopt the +principle of the _Chess-Players' Chronicle_, that it is the best +players who are most likely to commit errors in conducting a match +by correspondence!! + +It seems to be a source of melancholy consolation to the English +players, that their Club committed a "ridiculous and vexatious +blunder." We are sorry that, in our strict regard for truth, we must +deprive them even of that comfort. The losing of the disputed game +was not a ridiculous blunder, however vexatious. On the contrary, +the series of moves by which they lost the chance of winning, was +at first a very promising attack, and had the additional temptation +of appearing brilliant and enterprising. If any chess-player will +set up the men at the 27th move of the London Club, or glance at +the diagram given in Mr Staunton's periodical for May 1850, he will +see that nothing but the utmost skill and caution on the part of +Edinburgh could have successfully warded off the attack. The London +Club had not contemplated the defence which they met with; and if, +in these circumstances, they were seduced into an ingenious but +unsound attack, it may be conceded that they manifested want of +circumspection, an important qualification in a chess-player; but +they cannot be accused of committing a ridiculous blunder. They +talk of having "thrown away" a rook. They did no such thing. The +rook was played not by mistake, but for the very purpose of being +taken in the course of their dashing but unsuccessful attack. And in +Mr Lewis's analyses, it will be found that many of his methods of +winning, at previous stages of the game, involve this very sacrifice +of the rook. + +The refusal of the Edinburgh Club to allow the recall of the 27th +and 28th moves loses all its importance when it is known that it did +not affect the fate of the game. But we should in any circumstances +be sorry to believe that, in so refusing, they had done what +deserved the censure bestowed on them by the _Quarterly_ reviewer. +In considering the propriety of their conduct, there are only two +lights in which the request may be viewed. They were either asked +to do what the London Club had a right to demand, or they were +asked to grant a favour to the London Club. We do not know that the +former view is supported by any of the English writers. Even the +_Quarterly_ reviewer does not say that the London Club had a _right_ +to recall the moves; and on this question of right it appears to +us that there cannot be the least shadow of a doubt. The letter +containing the moves was despatched to the Post-office. It was held +by the Post-office for the party to whom it was addressed, and was +entirely beyond the control of the party sending it. The piece, +in every sense, was therefore "let go" by the player; and the 8th +Article of Sarratt's laws of chess, by which it was agreed that the +games should be played, provides that "as long as a player holds +a piece, he is at liberty to play it where he chooses; but when +he has _let it go_, he cannot recall his move." Accordingly, the +London Club never attempted to contest the question of right. They +stated that they had "no hesitation in acceding to the Edinburgh +Committee's construction," and adhering to the moves. In fact, the +construction put on the point by the Edinburgh Club was not only +assented to by the London players at the time, but several members +of the committee admitted afterwards, that it was unquestionably the +right way of dealing with the case, and no member of the London Club +ever hinted a complaint on the subject, except what was insinuated +by Mr Lewis in the publication referred to. + +Were the Edinburgh Club "_to blame_" for not granting the favour +which was asked of them? On this question we think there is quite +as little doubt as the other. We have a strong and decided opinion +as to the necessity of strict play in _all_ games. It is the only +fair and rational system; for once allow indulgence, and it is +impossible to fix the limit at which it should stop. But we think +that the remark applies with peculiar force to the game of chess, +in which rigour is absolutely essential to the acquisition of the +habits fitted for the proper playing of the game. Above all, in an +important match at chess, anything but the strict game is entirely +out of the question. A high-spirited antagonist will scorn to ask +a favour, or even to grumble about the commission of a blunder. +He submits in silence, and plays on in the hope of retrieving his +fault by redoubled care and attention. If, on the other hand, he +were to be expected to grant favours to his blundering antagonist, +it is plain that his very good qualities would be turned to his +disadvantage in the match. The Edinburgh Club played in the belief +that the rules of the game were to apply with equal strictness to +both parties; and though there was more than one instance in which +they would have been glad to recall a move, they never proposed +this, or even spoke of the occasions for it, except in answer to Mr +Lewis's observations on the proposed recall of the 27th move. In +the very game in which this move was made, the Edinburgh committee +had at a _previous_ point in the game made a move which they +discovered to be unsound, or at least doubtful. Their report bears +that "application was made to the Post-office to have the letter +containing it restored, but without effect. Finding this to be the +case, the letter was looked upon as delivered, the Post-office being +regarded as holding it, not on behalf of the Club from which it had +been sent, but on behalf of the Club to which it was addressed; +and therefore no attempt was made to countermand the move, by +transmitting another letter by the same post. The 8th article of +the laws was considered to be too clear and explicit to warrant a +recall." This conduct of the Edinburgh Club appears to us the manly +and proper way of dealing with such a circumstance, and infinitely +better than trying to make it the foundation of a complaint of +rigorous procedure on the part of their opponents. + +The same thing happened again to the Edinburgh Club in the fourth +game. In consequence of having put up the game erroneously, they +sent an impossible move--that is to say, they directed a Knight to +be moved to a square already occupied by their King. They discovered +the mistake before the letter had left Edinburgh, but considered +themselves as having incurred the penalty of playing an impossible +move, which was, in the option of their adversary, either to move +the Knight to some other square, or to move their King. Of these +two, the move of the _King_ was infinitely the better play, and +therefore, in order to save time, a note was written on the outside +of the letter explaining the mistake, and stating that the Edinburgh +committee held themselves bound to move the _Knight_, which it was +presumed the London Club would enforce, as the more severe penalty. +The London Club did so; and yet Mr Lewis, in his notes to this +game, rather disingenuously, as it appears to us, represented the +London Club as having yielded an advantage to their antagonists, in +accepting the move of the Knight. This merely accidental blunder, on +the part of the Edinburgh Club, was one cause of their loss of the +fourth game. + +Seeing that the Edinburgh Club thus on all occasions subjected +themselves to the most rigorous interpretation of the rules of the +game, we cannot hold the _Quarterly Review_ as justified in saying +that they were "to blame" in not allowing the London Club to retract +a move. But we appeal from the _Quarterly_ reviewer as a partisan of +England, to the _Quarterly_ reviewer, as an impartial enunciator of +general propositions respecting the game of chess. Hear what he says +about the absurdity of giving back moves:-- + + "Another advantage has arisen from the multiplication of clubs, + and consequent publication of accurate rules--viz., that the + strict game is now played, instead of those courteous surrenders + of advantages offered by a heedless adversary, which used often + to make winners of those who had received back two or three + leading pieces in the course of the game. These were a source + of endless unpleasant discussions, besides being in themselves + an absurdity. We confess we have no notion of rewarding an + opponent for his oversights. We would show him as little mercy + as Mr Smith O'Brien would to Lord Clarendon. Nay, we should be + moved hereto by a consideration of his benefit as well as our + own--for why should we teach him vacillation and heedlessness?" + +Again, among a portentous list of narrow-minded delusions, he gives +as "Delusion the Fifth-- + + "'That it is illiberal to play the strict game.' To this we can + only reply, that other methods are but a miserable imitation. + People talk of the hardship of 'losing a game by an oversight,' + and so on. It is much harder to arrive at nothing but + 'conclusions inconclusive,' and to have the game terminate in + an Irish discussion which of the two parties made the greatest + blunders." + +We agree in every word of this; and we only wonder that so sound a +reasoner should himself fall under the delusion which he exposes--so +severe a censor should commit the very offence which he condemns. + +On the whole, as regards the proposed recall of the 27th and 28th +moves of the second game, we think these three propositions are +conclusively established, 1. That neither according to the rules +of the game, nor upon any other principle which does or ought to +regulate the playing of matches, were the London Club entitled to +have their proposal acceded to. 2. That though it had been acceded +to, and these moves had been allowed to be recalled, the London +Club could not have bettered their situation, as the opportunity of +winning was already irretrievably lost in consequence of the 26th +move, which was not asked to be recalled, but, on the contrary, +was expressly adhered to. 3. That the impression which English +chess-players have so industriously attempted to create, that the +refusal on the part of Edinburgh to allow the 27th and 28th moves +to be recalled was what prevented the London Club from winning the +game, can only exist through a confusion between these moves and the +previous one, which the London Club had adhered to after a renewed +examination, not having even then discovered that it was unsound. + +Before leaving the second game, we have this last additional remark +to make about it, that it is one of the erroneous assumptions and +inferences of the English writers, that the winning of that game +would have decided the match in their favour. It was the first won +game; and though it is true that the London Club _subsequently_ +won the fourth game, which was the successor of the second, it +is also the fact that the fourth game, which was opened by the +Edinburgh Club, would not have been played if the second had +been won by London, who in that case would have had the opening +of the fourth. We do not mean to say that having to open was a +disadvantage. All we assert is, that, in point of fact, the game, +which the Edinburgh Club lost partly through a mistake in setting +up the men, and through another blunder, not very different in its +character, would not have been played at all if London had won the +second game. Besides, the fourth game would, in other respects, have +been played under very different circumstances. The opening of the +second game by the London Club was one which none of the Edinburgh +players had ever seen before, though, from this match, it now goes +by the name of the Scotch opening. They believed, however, from +their consideration of the second game, that the London Club had +not availed themselves of all the capabilities of the opening, and +they thought it would be a spirited thing to return it upon their +antagonists. This they did in the _third_ game. The event rewarded +their enterprising conduct. They gained a decided advantage; and +during the greater part of the _fourth_ game they believed that it +would never require to be finished, as they thought that by winning +the _third_ game they would gain the match. This accounts for the +carelessness with which they played the fourth game, though we +think nothing can excuse carelessness in playing chess. They were +ultimately disappointed in their expectation of gaining the third +game, as the London Club succeeded in drawing it; and this rendered +a fifth game necessary. + +Down to the fifth game it appears plain enough, from the above +examination, that the Edinburgh Club had maintained, at the very +least, an equal position to their antagonists. The first game had +been drawn, with no advantage at any stage of it, in favour of +either party. The second had been won by Edinburgh, but was subject +to the observation that, at one point, London might have won had +they played as well as they _afterwards_ discovered they might +have done. The third game was drawn: but the advantage throughout +had been in favour of Edinburgh, though not sufficiently so for +winning; and, as was the case with London in the previous game, +Edinburgh failed to perceive that by moving differently at a certain +point, they would have been victorious. The fourth game was lost by +Edinburgh, partly through an accidental and what may be called a +mechanical blunder, and partly through another piece of carelessness +of a similar character. After a contest thus maintained down to the +commencement of the fifth game, it is beyond all question that the +palm of superiority, in point of play, must rest with the victor +in that game. And it was a game worthy to determine that question +as well as the match. The Edinburgh Club had again returned upon +their antagonists their own opening. In order to secure scope for +the action of their pieces, they showed considerable intrepidity +in disregarding the ordinary rules against doubled and isolated +pawns; and so admirably had they analysed the game, that for a +great many moves they knew that victory was certain, though all the +while the London Club, according to the confession of some of their +own members, were blind to the fate that was awaiting them; and +believed, on the contrary, that the game was in their own hands. +This fifth game will long be remembered by chess players as one +of the most remarkable in the annals of chess; and appears to us +conclusive, so far as regards the internal evidence derived from the +games themselves, that the superiority, in point of play, lay with +the Edinburgh Club, and that their winning the match was not a mere +accident. + +It may be that there are other data for determining the relative +superiority of the two Clubs; but we cannot admit the correctness +of any of those mentioned by the _Quarterly_ reviewer or Mr +Staunton. It is true, as these gentlemen say, that the Edinburgh +Club was comparatively inexperienced. It had only been instituted +in 1822, and the match was begun in 1824. It comprehended, almost +exclusively, professional gentlemen actively engaged in business, +who had not, generally speaking, much leisure or opportunity for +seeking antagonists out of their own little circle of chess-players +at home. On the other hand, it cannot be disputed that there is +to be found in the metropolis of England, in greater abundance +than anywhere else, that combination of leisure with intellectual +power, which gives the promise of good chess-playing. But these +circumstances do not lead our minds to the conclusion to which Mr +Staunton and the _Quarterly_ reviewer have come, that the winning of +the match by the Edinburgh Club was an accident. We should rather +be inclined to hold, considering the character of the contest as +explained by us above, that they are a proof of the greater natural +chess-playing capacity of the members of the Club which won the +match under such disadvantages. Again, Mr Staunton asks where are +the previous exploits to which the Edinburgh players could point, +such as those that the members of the London Club had performed? The +answer is, None. They never had, and never sought the opportunity +of performing any great chess exploit, except beating the London +Club. But in so doing they made their own all the previous victories +of the London Club. The event showed that they might, without +presumption, have expressed the sentiment of Prince Henry-- + + "Percy is but my factor, good, my lord, + To engross up glorious deeds on my behalf; + And I will call him to so strict account, + That he shall render every glory up. + + * * * * * + + And all the budding honours on his crest + I'd crop to make a garland for my head." + +With which valorous quotation we draw our remarks to a close, +submitting that the members of the Edinburgh Club are bound to +invite us to a special sitting at a board, which shall be garnished +with some other material more soft and digestible than chessmen. + + + + +THE INDUSTRY OF THE PEOPLE. + + +The dismal efforts of the Free-trading party to maintain the credit +of their unnatural and mischievous scheme, afford the surest +indication of their own consciousness that they have committed a +grievous error. In their attempts to make head against the symptoms +of reaction which are everywhere apparent in the public mind, they +exhibit no unity of purpose; they are not agreed even as to the +facts from which their arguments should be drawn. A few months ago, +we were told that the whole country was in a state of the greatest +prosperity. The existence of agricultural distress was denied; the +shipping interest was said to be in the most healthy and flourishing +condition; the manufacturers had so many orders that their ability +to execute was impeded; wages were rising--pauperism decreasing--in +short, no one could recall to memory times of more general +happiness and content. Such was the picture drawn by Ministerial +limners, no further back than the opening of the present session +of Parliament, and it is very much to be regretted that it should +so soon have vanished like a dissolving view. Down to the present +moment, we have been unable to discover the motive for so monstrous +a fiction. Nobody believed it: nobody could believe it, for it +ran counter to every man's knowledge of his own affairs, and his +opinion as to those of his neighbour. The agriculturists declared +it to be a falsehood in so far as they were concerned--so did the +ship-owners--so did the shopkeepers--so did the manufacturers, whose +circulars acknowledged depression for the present, and held out +little hope for the future. The Ministerial averment answered no +purpose, save to excite a general burst of disapprobation. Conceived +in fraud, it was abandoned with cowardice. A lower tone was assumed. +Distress was admitted--but only to a certain extent; and we may +remark that such admissions are peculiarly convenient and innocuous +to those who make them, inasmuch as the actual degree or prevalence +of the suffering must still remain matter of debate. Indeed, no +statistics, however ingenious or elaborated, can furnish data for +determining so delicate a point. But to account for the existence +of distress, even in a mitigated form, was no easy task for those +who were resolved, at all hazards, to exclude the operation of free +trade. Their prosperity balance-sheet stood awkwardly in the way. +Pluming themselves upon increased exports, and a larger foreign +trade than had been driven for some years, they were compelled to +assign some reason for the remarkable depression at home. The old +shift of railway calls would no longer suit their purpose. Sir +Robert Peel, regardless of a certain personal passage of his life +connected with the opening of the Trent Valley, was exceedingly fond +of turning out that scape-goat into the wilderness; but the time +had gone by; the calls were paid up or suspended; and it was no +longer possible for effrontery to maintain that the great mass of +the consumers of these kingdoms had been materially injured by their +imprudent dalliance with scrip. There was no tightness in the money +market; no external cause to interfere with the successful operation +of industry, capital, or enterprise. Yet still there was distress; +and, what was more remarkable, the complaint was universal. The +value of produce had fallen, effecting thereby a corresponding +decline in rents, and every kind of uncertain profit. Employment +grew scarcer every day, whilst the number of applicants increased. +The burden of taxation, however, still remained undiminished. The +creditor could still exact the stipulated amount of money from his +debtor, without deduction, although the labour of the debtor was +reduced in point of value by at least a third. Such were, and are, +the leading phenomena, to account for which the ingenuity of the +Free-traders has been exercised. + +They have, we are bound to say, cut an exceedingly sorry figure +in explanation. They have got in their mouths a few cant phrases, +which, when assailed, they repeat over and over again, without the +slightest reference to their meaning. One of these, and perhaps the +most favourite, refers to the "transition state"--a peculiar phase +of suffering, which they maintain to be the necessary consequence of +every considerable change in the fiscal regulations of the empire. +This "transition state," in politics, would appear to correspond to +that which, in medicine, was favoured by Mr St John Long. In order +to become better, it is necessary to make the patient, in the first +instance, materially worse--to inflict artificial wounds and promote +suppuration, in the hope that these may afterwards be healed. It is +rather remarkable that none of our political doctors have as yet +ventured to specify the nature of the curatory process. They leave +us woefully in the dark as to the means which are to be adopted for +remedying the evil; and they obstinately refuse to predict what +kind of state is to follow upon this of transition. In truth, they +are utterly at sea. They cannot shut their eyes to the extent of +the mischief which they have wrought; they cannot find or invent an +extraneous excuse, which will avail them, in the opinion even of the +loosest thinker, to maintain the delusion that the present distress +and stagnation are attributable to any other cause than that of low +prices, occasioned by foreign competition; and they are attempting +to conceal their chagrin and disappointment at the disastrous issue +of their experiment under the cover of general terms and vague +ambiguous phrases--a rhetorical expedient which is not likely to +have much weight with those who have been made the victims of their +rashness or vacillation. + +Latterly, indeed, some portions of the public press have shown +symptoms of being more specific, and very glad should we be if +Ministers would follow that example. We are told that present +prices are merely exceptional, and that they must shortly improve. +The mere adoption of this argument shows that such writers dissent +from the doctrine that cheapness is an unqualified blessing--that +they still believe in their hearts that it is impossible altogether +to separate the interests of the producer and the consumer--and +that they are still alive to the fundamental political axiom, +that the wealth of a country depends mainly upon the value of its +produce. Were it otherwise, they would be supporters of the most +astounding paradox that was ever advanced. The price of the loaf +must rise correspondingly with that of the quarter of wheat: beef +and mutton are sold by the stone or by the pound, in proportion to +the market value of the living animal. If wheat were to rise to +56s., which is said to be the average cost of its production in +this country, bread would become so much dearer, and, in that case, +the working-man could be no better off than he was before the corn +laws were repealed. We have heard it said, and we firmly believe +it to be the case, that many of the public men, of both parties, +who voted with Sir Robert Peel, did so under the full conviction +that there could be no material decline--that they were misled by +the onesided, imperfect, and fallacious reports as to the state, +quality, and extent of the Continental harvests, which were laid +before Parliament--and that they never would have consented to such +a measure, had they foreseen the results which are now unhappily +before us. We gather this, not merely from rumour, but from the +tenor of the speeches delivered in the House of Commons in 1846. Sir +James Graham and Lord John Russell both treated as visionary the +notion of any material decline--Lord Palmerston went further; and +we think it useful to lay before our readers the following excerpt +from his speech, delivered on the occasion of the second reading +of the Corn Importation Bill. Referring to the surplus quantity of +Continental grain, he said-- + + "The surplus quantity now, or from time to time in existence, + is merely the superfluity of abundant seasons held for a + time in store to meet the alternate deficiency of bad years. + Till the bad years come, that corn is cheap, because it is a + supply exceeding the demand; but the moment we go into the + foreign market as buyers, to purchase up this surplus, _prices + abroad will rise_. Not only will the British demand, as a + new competition with foreign demand, naturally cause a rise + of prices, but our own merchants will compete against each + other, until, by a rise of prices abroad, the profit of their + importations shall have been brought down to the usual rate of + mercantile profit upon capital employed in other ways. There + is, therefore, very little probability that the importation of + the existing surplus quantity of corn in foreign markets will + materially lower prices in this country." + +We have nothing to say to the arguments of the noble +Viscount--however singular these may appear to persons of ordinary +understanding--we merely refer to his conclusion, which we think +is plain enough, to the effect that free importations could not +materially lower prices. Nay, we could extract from the speeches of +Sir Robert Peel himself, passages which would go far to show that he +entertained the same opinion, notwithstanding the extreme wariness +which he exhibited when challenged by Lord George Bentinck to state +his views as to the probable effects of the change on the value of +agricultural produce. Well, then, if this be the case--if there was +actually a strong conviction in the minds of the leading men who +supported the repeal of the corn laws that the expressed fears of +the agricultural party were unfounded--are we not entitled now to +require that the question should be brought to a very narrow issue +indeed? So far as experience has gone, our calculations have proved +right--theirs entirely wrong. We maintained that, in consequence of +the removal of protective duties, the price of grain in this country +would decline to a point far below the cost of production; they +averred that nothing of the kind would happen. Nearly a year and +a half has elapsed since the new system came into full operation, +and the general averages of wheat throughout the country have +fallen, and have remained for many months below 40s. per quarter. In +spite of the accurate and veracious information of writers in the +_Economist_ and other Ministerial prints, who have been assuring +us, for a long period of time, that the whole available supplies of +grain have been pumped out of the Continent, importations continue +undiminished. In May 1850 we receive from abroad the equivalent +of a million quarters of grain; France pours in her flour, to the +panic even of our millers; and, instead of diminution, there are +unmistakeable symptoms of a greater deluge than before. Now, if the +Free-traders, in or out of Parliament, are honest in their views--as +many of them, we believe, undoubtedly are--they are bound to tell us +how far and how long they intend this experiment to last? Of course, +if it is no experiment at all, but an absolute rigorous finality, +there is no need of entering into discussion. If everything is to be +sacrificed for cheapness, let cheapness be the rule; only do not let +us behold the anomaly of the advocates of that system prophesying +a rise of prices as a general boon to the country. If otherwise, +surely some tangible period should be assigned for the endurance +of this _experimentum crucis_. We entirely coincide with Lord John +Russell in his dislike to vacillating legislation, and we have no +wish whatever to precipitate matters. We think it preferable, in +every way, that the eyes of the country should be opened to a sense +of its true condition by a process which, to be effectual, cannot +be otherwise than painful. But we are greatly apprehensive of the +consequences which may arise ere long, from the obstinate refusal +of Ministers to give the slightest indication of their intentions, +supposing that the present prices shall continue; or to indicate +what relief, if any, can be given to the industry of the nation. + +As to the permanent nature of the fall under the operation of +the present law, we entertain not the slightest doubt. There is +no one symptom visible of its abatement; on the contrary, the +experience of each succeeding month tends to fortify our previous +impressions. The decline in the value of cattle is as great as in +that of cereal produce. We have already, in a former paper, had +occasion to state the extent of that fall down to the commencement +of the present year: the accounts received of the state of the +Dumbarton market, held in the beginning of June, are still more +disastrous than before. Throughout a large portion of the Scottish +Highlands--we do not know, indeed, whether we are entitled to make +any exception--black cattle, the staple of the country, will not +pay the expense of rearing. The enormous importation of provisions +from America is annihilating this branch of produce, with what +compensating benefit to the nation at large, it would be difficult +for an economist to explain. + +This is a state of matters which cannot continue long without +manifest danger even to the tranquillity of the country. It is quite +plain that, at present rates, agriculture cannot be carried on as +heretofore in Great Britain. The farmer has been the first sufferer; +the turn of the landowner is approaching. Let us illustrate this +shortly. There must be, on an average of ordinary years, a certain +price at which wheat can be grown remuneratively in this country. +Sir Robert Peel, no mean authority on the subject, has indicated his +opinion that such price may be stated at or about 56s. per quarter. +Mr James Wilson, rating it somewhat lower, fixes it at 52s. 2d. Let +us suppose, that wheat for the future shall average over England +39s. per quarter, and that the produce of the acre is twenty-four +bushels, the loss on each acre of wheat hereafter raised will be, +according to Sir Robert Peel, £2, 11s.--according to Mr Wilson, £1, +19s. 6d. What deduction of rent can meet such a depreciation as +this? Excluding Middlesex, which is clearly exceptional, the highest +rented county of England, Leicester, is estimated at £1, 14s. 10d. +per acre; Warwickshire, at £1, 11s. 6d.; and Lincolnshire at £1, 8s. +Haddington and Fife, the highest rented counties of Scotland, are +estimated at £1, 5s. 6d. per acre. This of course includes much land +of an inferior description; but we believe that, for the best arable +land, an average rent of 40s. per acre may be assumed. In that case, +supposing the whole rent to be given up, the farmer would still be a +loser by cultivation, if Sir Robert Peel is correct in his figures. + +Without presuming to offer an opinion as to the accuracy of +either of the calculations submitted by these two Free-trading +authorities, we think it is plain that the more favourable of them, +taken in connection with present prices, is appalling enough to +the agriculturist, whether he be landlord or tenant. We shall see, +probably in a month or two, whether it is likely that even these +prices can be maintained. We are clearly of opinion that the price +of corn in this country must fall to the level of the cheapest +market from which we can derive any considerable supplies; and in +that case it is quite as likely that we may see wheat quoted at 32s. +or 33s., as at 39s. or 40s. But the matter for our consideration is, +that, ever since the repeal of the corn laws, the market price of +grain has been greatly below the cost of its production; and that +there are no symptoms of any amendment, but obviously the reverse. + +The inevitable result of the continuance of such a state of +matters is too clear to admit of argument. The land must go out +of cultivation. The process may be slow, but it will be sure. It +may, doubtless, be retarded by remissions of rent not sufficient +to cover the farmer's losses, but great enough to induce him to +renew his efforts for another year with the like miserable result; +until at length the tiller of the soil is made bankrupt, and the +landowner occupies his place. We can hardly trust ourselves to +depict the effect of such a social revolution. All the misery which +has been already felt--and that is far greater than our rulers will +permit themselves to believe--would be as nothing compared with the +calamitous consummation of Free Trade. + +Yet it is towards that point that we are rapidly tending. Some +of the fierce and more plain-spoken Radical journals are so far +from contradicting our views, that they openly rejoice in the +havoc which has been already made, and in the wider ruin which is +impending. They say plainly, looking to the funds, that they see +no method of escaping from the domination of the moneyed interest, +except through the prostration of the landlords. Their meaning +is quite distinct and undisguised. They want to get rid of the +national debt, by reducing the value of produce so low, that the +usual amount of taxation cannot possibly be levied; and their +scheme, however nefarious, is by no means devoid of plausibility. +There can be no doubt that the Currency Act of 1819 has operated +most injuriously upon the industry of the nation, by enhancing the +value of the claims of the creditor; and that these claims, along +with the necessary expenses of government, must be paid, _ante +omnia_, from the industrial produce of the year. The cheapening +process, therefore, is one directly antagonistic to the maintenance +of taxation. The anomaly in legislation of forcibly reducing the +value of produce, and yet maintaining stringently an artificial +standard of taxation, has been reserved for our times; yet, strange +to say, though its effects are visible and confessed, few persons +have courage or patience enough to grapple with the difficulty. +Free Trade and a Fettered Currency are things that cannot possibly +co-exist for any length of time; and our sole surprise is, that any +statesman could be shortsighted enough to attempt to reconcile them. +Taken singly, either of them is a great evil to a country situated +like ours--taken together, they become absolutely intolerable. But +we have no wish, at the present time, to depart from the point +before us. We are merely taking the evidence of adversaries, to +show that our views as to the position and prospects of the great +productive classes of Britain are so far from exaggerated that they +are acknowledged by the most strenuous advocates of Free Trade. The +fundholder, nevertheless, may derive a useful lesson from these +financial hints, which indicate an ulterior purpose. + +Such is the state of the agricultural interest throughout the +three Kingdoms at this moment, and such are the prospects before +us. The evidence, albeit not taken before a committee of either +House of Parliament, is too unanimous to admit of a doubt; county +after county, district after district, parish after parish +throughout England, have testified to their melancholy condition. +The _Times_ may talk of mendicity, and the _Economist_ may trump +up figures to show that the farmers ought to be making a profit +even at present prices; but neither irony nor fiction can avail to +discredit or pervert facts so well authenticated as these. Of these +facts parliament is fully cognisant--not only from the individual +knowledge of members as to what is passing abroad--not only from the +sentiments expressed at many hundred meetings, independent of the +great demonstrations lately made at London and Liverpool--but from +the petitions which have been presented to both Houses, praying for +a reversal of that policy which has proved so detrimental to the +interests of a large section of her Majesty's subjects. Yet still +Parliament is silent, and the first Minister of the Crown refuses to +sanction that appeal to the country, which the exigency of the case +would seem to require, and which has been resorted to on occasions +far less peremptory and pressing than this. + +Let us not be misunderstood. Our wish simply is to record the fact +of such silence and refusal,--not to be rash in censure. We cannot, +and do not forget the peculiar circumstances connected with the +last general election--the political tergiversation which preceded +it, the hopes and expectations which were then entertained by +many, as to the working of the new system,--or the disorganisation +of parties. Even the most strenuous opponents of the Free-Trade +measures, since these had passed into a law, however iniquitously +carried, were desirous that the experiment should have a fair trial, +and that it should not be impeded in its progress, so long as, by +the most liberal construction, it could be held to justify the +anticipations of its authors. Many names of great weight, influence, +and authority were found among the roll of those who consented to +the new measures; and it was most natural that, throughout the +country, a number of persons should be found willing to surrender +their own judgment upon a matter yet untried, which had received +so creditable a sanction. Therefore it was that the majority of +members returned to the present House of Commons were Free-traders, +bound to the system by the double ties of previous conviction and of +pledge; and though recent elections, as well as the alarming posture +of affairs, have contributed materially to alter the position of +the two great parties in the House, it would be unreasonable as yet +to look for a change, in a body so constituted, at least to that +extent which a reversal of the adopted policy must imply. + +Neither can we rationally expect, that Lord John Russell will be +forward to recognise a failure, where he confidently anticipated a +triumph. We believe him to have been, far more than Sir Robert Peel, +the dupe of those random assertions and presumptuous calculations +which were thrust forward by men utterly unfit, from their previous +habits and education, to pronounce an opinion upon subjects of such +magnitude and intricacy. We should not be surprised if, even now, +his Lordship had some lingering kind of faith in the prophecies of +the member for Westbury. Men are slow to believe that the ground +is crumbling from below their feet; that the political scaffolding +which they assisted to rear has been pitched in a marshy quagmire. +Self love, and that kind of pride which is so nearly allied to +conceit that it often assumes the form of obstinacy, stand woefully +in the way of recantation; and moreover in the present instance +to recant is equivalent to resign. We remember well the profound +and sagacious remark of Sir Walter Scott, that "the miscarriage +of his experiment no more converts the political speculator, than +the explosion of a retort undeceives an alchymist." Lord John +Russell in all probability is not yet prepared, from conviction, +to revise his opinions on a question in which he is so deeply +committed. He has a majority in the House of Commons, and, according +to the forms of the constitution, so long as he can command that +majority, he is entitled to persevere. It is well that our friends, +whatever pressing cause they may have for their impatience, should +remember these things; and not be too forward in pressing wholesale +accusations, either against a Parliament chosen under such peculiar +circumstances, or a Minister who is simply adhering to the course +long since avowed by himself, and acted on by his immediate +predecessor. We may regret, and many of us do unquestionably most +bitterly feel, the anomalous position in which we are placed. A +more cruel, a more galling thought can hardly be imagined than the +conviction which is very general abroad, and which is also ours, +that the present Parliament does not represent the feelings or the +desires of the people; that it is not consulting their welfare or +protecting their interests; and that the duration of that Parliament +alone prevents a vigorous and successful effort in the cause of +British industry. Yet still, while we feel all this, let us not +be unjust to others. We cannot coerce opinion. We cannot force +honourable members at once to retrace their steps, or to give the +lie to their acknowledged pledges. We cannot complain of open wrong +if Ministers decline to accept our voices, in lieu of the voices +of those whom we formerly sent as representatives. Their answer +and vindication lies in the fact of their Parliamentary majority. +Why Parliament should thus be placed in direct antagonism to the +country, is a very different question. We need not go far in search +of the reason. It is the direct consequence of that policy which Sir +Robert Peel thought fit to adopt, not with regard to the abstract +measures of Free Trade, but for the carrying of these measures +into effect, without an appeal to the country, and by means which +proved how closely deceit is allied to tyranny. Upon his head, +if not the whole, at least the primary responsibility rests. He +has accepted it, and let it abide with him. And let no man affirm +that, in saying this, we are prolonging any rancorous feeling, or +seeking to rub a sore which by this time should be wellnigh healed. +The time for indignation and anger, if injury coupled with perfidy +can ever provoke such sentiments, is not yet past; it is now in +its fullest force. Had Sir Robert Peel acted as he ought to have +done--had he played the part of a British statesman, sincerely +desirous that in a matter of such magnitude the will of the country +should be respected--the present Parliament, whatever might have +been its decision as to Free Trade or Protection, would at least +have represented the wishes of the electoral body; and if subsequent +events had shown that these wishes were more sanguine than wise, the +error would have been a national one, and no weight of individual +responsibility would have been incurred. As it is, we are not only +justified, but we are performing our duty, in indicating the real +and sole originator of our present difficulties; and without wishing +in any degree to trench upon his secret sources of consolation, +we can hardly imagine that he will derive much comfort from the +knowledge, that his tortuous policy has deprived the people in the +hour of need of their best constitutional privilege and shield--the +sympathy and co-operation of that House which is emphatically their +own, and which, to the great detriment of the state, must lose its +moral power the moment that it ceases to represent the will, and to +protect the interests of the Commons. + +We are well aware that such reflections as these can bring but sorry +comfort to the farmers. Their situation is one of unparalleled +hardship, unrelieved by any consideration which can make the case of +other sufferers more tolerable. We fully admit the vast extent of +the powers which, since the Great Revolution, are held to be vested +in Parliaments. We cannot gainsay the doctrine that these powers +may, on occasion, be exerted to the uttermost; but we say, after +the most careful and thoughtful deliberation, that the proceedings +of the legislature with regard to the farmers of Great Britain are +irreconcilable with the principles of justice, with the sacred +laws of morality, which no legislative resolutions can abrogate +or annul. The farmers are entitled to maintain that, in so far as +regards them, the public faith has been broken. Such of them as +hold leases had a distinct and unqualified guarantee given to them +by the protective laws; and the allegation that the substitution +of the sliding-scale for a fixed duty acted as a release for all +former Parliamentary engagements, is a quibble so mean and wretched +that the basest attorney would be ashamed to use it as a plea. The +whole of the farmers' fixed and floating capital, estimated at +the enormous sum of five hundred millions sterling, has been laid +out on the faith of Protection; and yet when that Protection was +furtively and treacherously withdrawn, no measure was introduced for +the purpose of relieving them from engagements contracted under the +older system, which were obviously incompatible with the lowered +prices established by the formidable change. The public, we are +afraid, are not aware of the extent of that depreciation which is +still going on, _and which already exceeds the whole annual value +of the manufacturing productions of Great Britain_. We borrow the +following table from a late pamphlet by Mr Macqueen entitled, +"Statistics of Agriculture, Manufactures, and Commerce, drawn up +from Official and Authentic Documents;" and having tested it by +every means in our power, we have no hesitation in adopting it. It +is, in truth, a fearful commentary on the rashness and folly of our +rulers. + + +COMPARATIVE VALUES OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE. + + Protective Depreciation. Value 1850. + value. + Grains, potatoes, &c., £237,543,750 £80,764,875 £156,778,875 + Straw, 100,700,000 30,210,000 70,490,000 + Green crops, pasture, &c., 222,404,786 66,721,435 155,683,351 + Sundries, 8,500,000 2,125,000 6,375,000 + Wool, British, 15,400,000 1,540,000 13,860,000 + ------------ ------------ ------------ + £584,518,536 £181,361,310 £403,187,226 + +But this is not all. We have still to deal with the depreciation or +diminished value of the farmers' fixed capital, invested in live +stock, &c., which at the rate of 25 per cent, (a most moderate +calculation, and below the mark in so far as Scotland is concerned,) +shows a loss on £504,833,730 of £126,208,432 _additional_! + +We put forward the case of the farmers thus prominently, because, +in addition to the great public wrong which has been done to them, +they have serious reason to complain of the general apathy of the +landlords. We do not allude to the part which the landowners took in +1846. We believe that the majority of them were sincerely disgusted +by the conduct of the men who had climbed into office on their +shoulders; and that they loathed and despised in their hearts the +treachery of which they were made the tools. We know, moreover, that +a great many of them abstained from taking part in the election of +1847, not being able to see their way through the political chaos +in which we were then involved, and having, naturally enough, lost +confidence in the probity of public men, and despairing of the +remodelment of a strong constitutional party. Such things were, +perhaps, inevitable; and it may be argued with much show of reason, +that no better line of conduct was open to the landlords, and that +they did wisely in reserving themselves for a more favourable +opportunity, when experience, that stern and unfailing monitor, +should have exposed to the Free-traders the falsity of their wild +expectations. But it is impossible for them now to plead that the +opportunity has not arrived. The experiment has been made, and has +failed--failed utterly and entirely, if the practical refutation of +the views advanced by all its leading advocates is to be considered +as equivalent to failure. The current of reaction has set in +strong and steady, not only in the counties, but in the towns; not +only among those who, from their position, must be the earliest +sufferers, but among those who are connected with the trade and +general commerce of Britain. The disorganised party has rallied +and is reformed under leaders of great talent, tried skill, and +most assured loyalty and honour. How is it that, in this posture +of affairs, any considerable section of the landlords is still +hanging back? Why is it that they do not place themselves, as is +their duty, at the head of their tenantry, and enforce and encourage +those appeals to public justice, and to public policy, which are +now making themselves heard in every quarter of the kingdom? We +confess that we are at a loss to know why any apathy should be +shown. The conduct of the tenantry towards the landlords has been +generous and considerate in the extreme. They were invited, in no +equivocal terms, to join their cause with that of the Free-traders +and financial reformers; and they were promised, in that event, +the cordial assistance of the latter towards the adjustment of +their rents, and the equalisation of their public burdens. We +venture not an opinion whether such promise was ever intended to +be kept. Still it was made; and no effort was left untried to +convince the farmers that their cause was separate and apart from +that of the owners of the land. Their refusal to enter into that +unholy alliance was most honourable to the body of the tenantry, +and entitles them, at the hands of the proprietors, to look not +only for consideration and sympathy, but for the most active and +energetic support. Very ill indeed shall we augur of the spirit and +patriotism of the gentlemen of England, if they longer abstain from +identifying themselves universally with a movement which is not +only a national one, in the strictest sense of the word, but upon +which depends the maintenance of their own interests and order. +Surely they cannot have been so dull or so deaf to what is passing +around them, as not to be aware that they were especially marked out +as the victims of the Manchester confederacy! These are not times +in which any man can afford to be apathetic, nor will any trivial +excuse for languor or indifference be accepted. Exalted position, +high character, the reputation for princely generosity, and the +best of private reputations, will be no apology for inactivity in a +crisis so momentous as this. Organisation, union, and energy are at +all times the chief means for insuring success; and we trust that, +henceforward, there may be less timidity shown by those who ought +to take the foremost rank in a contest of such importance, and who +cannot abstain longer from doing so without forfeiting their claim +to that regard which has hitherto been readily accorded them. + +It will be observed that, as yet, we have put the case for +Protection upon very narrow grounds. We have shown that, so far +as the agricultural body is concerned, Free Trade has proved most +injurious, and that it cannot be persisted in without bringing +downright ruin to that section of the community. If we had nothing +more to advance than this, still we should be entitled to maintain +that enough has been adduced to show the necessity of retracing +our steps. The annihilation of such an important body as the +agriculturists of Britain, implies of itself a revolution as great +as ever was effected in the world; and to that, assuredly, if the +agriculturists stood alone, they would not tamely submit. When Mr +Cobden or his satellites addressed the people of Manchester, through +their League circulars, to the following effect, "If the Americans +will only put down their monopolising manufacturers, and we put down +our monopolising landowners here, when our election time comes, we +will lay the Mississippi valley alongside of Manchester, and we +will have a glorious trade then!"--and again, "Our doctrine is, let +the working man ply his hammer, or his spindle, or his shuttle, and +let the Kentucky or the Illinois farmer, by driving his plough in +the richest land on the surface of the earth, feed this mechanic +or this weaver, and let him send home his produce in exchange for +the products of our operatives and artisans"--they seem to have +forgotten the temper and mould of the men with whom they proposed +to deal so summarily. It is not quite so easy to expatriate three +millions of able-bodied men; nor do we opine that a power morally +or physically adequate to the task of such removal exists in the +manufacturing districts. But, in reality, of all idle talk that ever +issued from the lips or the pen of an inflated demagogue, this is +the silliest and the worst. It presupposes an amount of ignorance +on the part of his audience anything but flattering to the calibre +of the Manchester intellect: indeed we hardly know which is most +to be admired--its intense and transparent folly or its astounding +audacity. The home trade is a thing altogether kept out of account +in the foregoing splendid vision of a calico millennium. Mr Cobden, +it will be seen, contemplates no home consumption, except in so far +as the operative may provide himself with his own shirtings. The +whole production of Britain is to be limited to manufactures; the +whole supplies are to be derived from the hands of the reciprocating +foreigner! + +There does not exist in this great and populous country any one +class the labour of which can be restricted, or the profits +curtailed, without an injurious result to the interests of the whole +community. This is not simply a maxim of political economy; it is +a distinct physical fact, which no ingenuity can controvert. Yet, +strange to say, our rulers have acted, and are acting, with regard +to by far the most important class of the country, as if no such +fact were known; and they now profess to be amazed at its speedy +and inevitable consequence. That agricultural distress must react +upon the manufacturer, the trader, shopkeeper, and artisan, is as +necessary a consequence as is a failure in the supply of water +after a long-continued drought. If our taxation is artificial, and +our national establishments costly, it must not be forgotten that +our private expenditure is generally on the same scale. We consume +within the country a far greater amount of manufactures than we can +ever hope to export, and the only limit to that consumption is the +power of purchase. The profits of the landowner, which depend upon +the value of produce, do not constitute a fund which is removed +from public circulation. On the contrary, these profits furnish +the means of labour and employment to the greater portion of the +industrious classes, who otherwise would have no resource; and if +they are violently curtailed, it must needs follow that a large +amount of employment is withdrawn. That is precisely our case at the +present moment. By the admission of foreign produce, which is in +fact foreign labour, the value of agricultural production in this +country has fallen very nearly thirty per cent, and the consequence +is a greatly diminished expenditure, and a slackening of employment +grievously felt by those who are supported by manual labour. How, +indeed, is it possible that it can be otherwise? A very little +thought must convince every one that all incomes in Britain must +depend upon the amount and value of the national production, and +that, by reducing and lowering that, a direct attack is made upon +the profits of every kind of labour. It is singular that consequence +so plain should ever have been overlooked; still more singular that +statesmen should have been found to maintain an opposite theory. The +only explanation we can suggest as to this singular departure from +the leading principles of economical science is, that of late years +Ministers have habitually consulted the interests of the capitalists +rather than those of the people. Sir Robert Peel has invariably +shown himself a capitalist legislator. At the outset of his career, +and while under the Israelitish guidance of Ricardo, he succeeded +in carrying those Currency measures which increased by nearly +one-third the weight of the national obligations. Later in life we +find him engaged in measures of arbitrary bank restriction, thereby +occasioning commercial panics, and securing another rich harvest +for the moneyed class. His tariffs and Free-trade measures exhibit +precisely the same tendency. They are all constructed with a view +to cheapness, or, what is the same thing, to the diminution of the +value of labour, so that the fortune of the capitalist or fundholder +is now virtually doubled: while the industrious classes, with a +lowered rate of wage, are compelled to undergo the additional evil +of unrestricted foreign competition. + +Let us now, for a brief space, proceed to consider the internal +adjustment of the strength and industry of Britain. It is a +subject well worthy of study, especially at the present moment, +when a general feeling of perplexity prevails, and when those who +unfortunately gave ear to the specious representations of the +Free-traders are convinced of their error, but are yet in doubt +whether it be possible to retrace our steps. It is a subject, +moreover, upon which we are bound to enter, seeing that official +cunning has been used to conceal the real posture of affairs in this +country, and, by undervaluing the magnitude of some interests, to +give a factitious and altogether imaginary importance to others. +We trust that we shall be able to show, to the satisfaction of +our readers, the gross extent to which this kind of delusion and +imposture has been carried. + +Upon no subject whatever are more erroneous impressions entertained, +than upon the relative importance and strength of the two great +classes of the country. Of late it has been quietly assumed that +the manufacturers are infinitely superior to the agriculturists, +not only in point of numbers, but in respect of capital employed or +available; and many people have been puzzled to understand why, if +this should be the case, such vehement opposition should be made to +any proposal for readjusting the direct and local taxation, which +confessedly weighs most heavily upon the proprietors and occupiers +of the land. We have been told, in as many words, that henceforward +the voice of the towns is to dictate the policy of Britain--that the +agriculturists are a worn-out class, scarce worth preserving--and +the most influential of the Free-trade journals has not hesitated to +recommend a wholesale emigration to the Antipodes, or any portion of +the surface of the globe where corn can be cultivated cheaper than +in England. We have been not only taunted, but threatened, whenever +we presumed to expostulate. Reference was made to certain "masses," +who were ready to rise in defence of perennial cheapness; and Mr +Cobden has warned us not to provoke the exercise of that power +which is vested in himself, as dictator of the democracy. In short, +we have been given to understand that, if protection to native +industry, in any shape, should be re-introduced--which only can be +done by the will and legitimate sanction of Parliament--physical +force shall not be wanting on the other side. + +The use of such language argues great ignorance of the national +temper. We have heard a good deal lately of what is termed the +dogged Anglo-Saxon spirit, the main characteristic of which we +take to be its decided antagonism to bullying, and its inveterate +hatred of coercion. It is too much to expect that a controversy +such as this should be conducted without some asperity of +language, and therefore we make no clamorous complaint when Mr +Cobden, or his friends, think proper to designate the British +agriculturists as "ignorant clodpoles" and "horse-shoe idiots," or +the landed proprietors as "a selfish and degraded faction," or the +Protectionist press as the "hireling tools of oppression." These +are very old and very harmless terms of rhetoric, and we are not +sure that we can claim entire vindication from the charge of having +retorted with tolerable energy. The real danger begins when men +step beyond constitutional limits, and advocate resistance to the +legislature by appealing to the passions, as they have pandered to +the prejudices, of the mob. + +Having premised so much, we think no one can misinterpret our +motives, if we set ourselves seriously to the task of refuting +a great fallacy which has been hatched and propagated by the +Free-traders. It is one so monstrous in itself that we hardly could +have supposed that any man, who had reflected for a moment on the +subject, could have yielded to the delusion: nevertheless, we +believe it to be most common, and it has been over and over again +repeated at public meetings, until it has lost its quality as an +assertion, and been treated as a recognised fact. It is within the +recollection of all of us, that, both within the walls of Parliament +and at the great outward gatherings of the League, the superiority +of the manufacturing over the agricultural interest of Great Britain +was broadly asserted, and assumed as the basis of the leading +argument of the Free-traders. Sir Robert Peel expressly adopted +this view in 1846, while advocating the repeal of the policy, which +he had hitherto professed to support; we say, _professed_, because +no man now doubts--indeed, it is fairly admitted by himself, with +something like a sneer of triumph--that for many years he had +been practising a deliberate imposture on the public. This view +necessarily must have had some foundation on authority, if not on +fact; and we can trace that authority to a statistical writer, Mr +Porter, on whose accuracy, and method of dealing with figures, far +too much reliance has been placed by statesmen high in office. + +In dealing with the census of 1841, and compiling his tables with +a view to show the relative occupations of the people, Mr Porter +has adopted the ingenious plan of massing commerce, trade, and +manufactures together, and exhibiting the aggregate of these in +contradistinction to the purely agricultural interest! At page 55 +of the last edition of his _Progress of the Nation_ we find this +statement--"The following more elaborate table of the occupations of +the population of Great Britain, as ascertained in 1841, his been +compiled from the Reports of the Census Commissioners. _It affords +the best abstract_ that has hitherto been attainable upon this +important branch of political arithmetic." + +We turn to the table indicated in this modest passage, and we find +the following results for Great Britain alone:-- + + Persons engaged in commerce,} + trade, and manufacture, } 3,092,787 + + Agriculture, 1,490,785 + + Labour not agricultural, 758,495 + +This, of course, is exclusive of the army, navy, learned +professions, domestic servants, and various other employments, +besides women and children. In another table, Mr Porter, estimating +the male population of Great Britain, (excluding Ireland,) who were +then upwards of twenty years of age, at 4,761,091, divides them +thus:-- + + Agriculture, 1,198,156 + Trade, manufactures, &c., 2,125,496 + Other classes, 1,437,439 + --------- + 4,761,091 + +If, as Mr Spackman most properly observes in his excellent work, +the _Analysis of the Occupations of the People_, one of the +principal objects of taking the census is to trace the relative +degree of dependence of one class upon another, how can this be +done if all the trade and commerce of the country is to be mixed up +with manufactures? "Mr Porter would have us to consider trade and +commerce, _and manufactures_ as synonymous terms, and that together +they only form one class; and he seems to be so thoroughly haunted +with the numerical weakness of the manufacturing interest, that +his fear of its being discovered peeps out in every paragraph; and, +by mixing them up in every table in which they are mentioned in his +book, with those engaged in trade and commerce, he has effectually +succeeded in his object." + +As we propose to lay before our readers the results of Mr Spackman, +it may be proper shortly to state the principles which have guided +him in his classification of the official returns. He recognises +but two great classes of the community engaged in the production +of wealth, and upon these he justly considers the whole of the +remainder to be dependent. The following extract from his preface +will sufficiently explain his view:-- + + "Of the number of persons actually employed by the + agriculturists and manufacturers, no difference of opinion can + exist, as we have adopted the Government classification in + every instance, and copied the figures given in the returns. We + believe this classification to be correct in principle, and but + slightly erroneous in details. + + "Political economists may exercise their ingenuity by calling in + question this classification, but we believe it is the only one + that accurately traces the dependence of an individual on the + one or the other interest; and, as this is the primary object + of all such matters, if it attains this end, it is sufficient + for all purposes. By the landed interest we mean not only + the proprietors of the soil, but all that are engaged in its + cultivation, and all the interests that are dependent on and + supported by both landlord and tenant. An agriculturist is one + who grows the raw material. The manufacturer changes the fabric + from cotton into calico, flax into linen, wool into cloth, raw + into manufactured silk, mineral ores into various combinations + of metals, and the skin of an animal into leather. + + "All besides the agriculturists and the manufacturers are + auxiliaries, not principals. Thus the handicraftsman alters the + form, but not the substance, and adapts the article to the use + of the consumer,--so the miller, baker, and butcher; the tailor, + milliner, and shoemaker. + + "There is also a very numerous class, who neither produce, + manufacture, nor alter the shape or substance of an article, + and these are called merchants, if they buy and sell in a + wholesale manner, or shopkeepers and retail dealers if they sell + by retail. The business of these is to distribute all articles + imported from abroad or produced at home, through every city, + town, and village, in the United Kingdom; and the Government + definition of all these auxiliaries is 'engaged in trade and + commerce.' + + "The dependence of any particular class engaged in trade and + commerce, or in handicraft, is not upon the party who produces, + alters, or supplies the article, but on the individual who + consumes it; and if there is any tax whatever on the raw + material, or on anything used in its manufacture, adaptation, or + distribution, it is on him that all and every item of such tax, + together with all profits and charges, must ultimately fall. + + "Inasmuch, however, as there is no wealth in this country of any + amount, but what has been derived either from agriculture or + manufactures, nor any of which the value is not determined by + the success of these, so again this consumer, whatever his rank + or position in society may be, is mainly dependent on them. The + rental of land, the income from houses, or investments in the + public funds, are merely the representatives of so much labour; + and the means necessary to pay them are principally drawn from + either agriculture or manufactures. + + "Our annual creation of wealth may be thus stated:-- + + Agriculture, £250,000,000 + + Manufactures, deducting the } + value of the raw material, } 127,000,000 + + Money interest, 37,000,000 + + Colonial interest, 18,000,000 + + Foreign commerce, (including } + shipping interest,) 10 per } 15,000,000 + cent on amount of exports } + and imports,} + + Fisheries, 3,000,000 + ------------ + £450,000,000" + ------------ + +_And from one or other of these does every individual in the land +derive his income or means of support._ The Peer of the realm, +the landed proprietor, the Government annuitant, the clergyman, +the medical and the legal adviser, with the banker, merchant, +dealer, and handicraftsman of every class and kind,--derive what +is necessary to support their state and condition, and their daily +sustenance, from these spring-heads of national wealth. This is the +substance of the nation, and what we call money consists merely +of the counters we use to denote and measure the value of this +substance as it passes from one to another. + + "To do equal justice to all classes, the legislation of a + country ought, therefore, to keep steadily in view their + relative importance, not only as regards numbers, but also their + powers of production, and the proportion which they severally + bear of the national burdens. Unless this is the governing + principle, it strikes at the root of their prosperity, and the + injury inflicted on a class is evinced in the gradual decay of + the whole community." + +Acting upon these distinct, and, we submit, perfectly sound +principles, Mr Spackman has compiled his tables in the following +manner. The Government returns are quite explicit as to the number +of those engaged directly in agriculture and in manufactures. Mr +Spackman takes each county separately; and having set down the +relative numbers of each class, he divides the remainder of the +population between these according to their proportion. For example, +let us instance his table of the county of Lanark, which is the +great seat of Scottish manufactures. We find, from the official +returns, that the following numbers are directly engaged:-- + + In Agriculture, 13,169 + In Manufactures of all kinds, 61,378 + +The residue of the population being 352,425, he divides in the same +proportion, and thus gives us as a result:-- + + Engaged in Agriculture, 13,169 + Dependent on, 62,257 + ------ 75,426 + Engaged in Manufactures, 61,378 + Dependent on, 290,168 + ------- 351,546 + ------- + Total of county, 426,972 + +In the same way, by estimating the population of Perthshire directly +employed in agriculture and manufactures, Mr Spackman forms his +table thus,-- + + Engaged in Agriculture, 16,302 + Dependent on, 64,233 + ------ 80,535 + Engaged in Manufactures, 11,509 + Dependent on, 45,346 + ------ 56,855 + ------ + Total of County, 137,390 + +The grand result for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland +is as follows:-- + + Engaged in, and dependent on + agriculture, 18,734,468 + Engaged in, and dependent on + manufactures, 8,091,621 + ---------- + Population, exclusive of those + travelling on night of census, 26,826,089 + +Lest it should be said that Mr Spackman has acted upon any wrong +principle in framing these tables--for we know by experience that +a certain class of political economists can see no virtue in any +figures which are not of their own construction--let us turn to +the Government reports, and extract from them the number of males +_directly_ employed in the two great branches of production. + + +AGRICULTURE. + + Farmers and Graziers, 737,206 + Agricultural Labourers, 2,312,388 + Gardeners, Nurserymen, &c. 60,767 + All others, 9,196 + --------- + Total Males, 3,118,557 + + +MANUFACTURES. + + Above 20, 717,780 + Under 20, 168,964 + -------- + Total Males, 886,744 + +"It will thus be seen," says Mr Spackman, "that the farmers and +graziers alone, as a body, are more in number than all the males +above twenty years of age employed in manufactures, and only 150,000 +short of the whole number of males of all ages so employed. If we +add the two and a quarter millions of labourers which these farmers +and graziers give employment to, the _male_ population employed in +agriculture are nearly as four to one compared with those employed +in manufactures. The same remark will also apply as to age: those +above twenty are four to one; those under twenty are nearly two to +one." + +We put forward these statements with no other view than to exhibit +to our readers the national importance of that agricultural interest +which has been so bitterly assailed, and which is threatened still +by a heavier accession of calamity. If the bastard system of Free +Trade is to be considered according to its influence on the welfare +of the majority of the people of Britain, there can be no doubt to +which side the vast preponderance belongs. The "horse-shoe idiots," +though dull in intellect, are numerous in the flesh to an extent of +which, perhaps, even Mr Cobden was little aware. It is quite true +that the extended area over which they are disposed does not afford +them the same means of combination which are within the reach of the +inhabitants of the factories. The agriculturalists have no wish to +interfere with their neighbours' livelihood, and little inclination +to move at the bidding of mercenary demagogues. They seldom speak +until suffering or a sense of injustice compels them to appeal +to the legislature: and their unwillingness to join in agitation +has, ere now, been made subject of taunt against them. Were it +otherwise, we should not attach one half the importance which we do +to the movement which is visible all over the face of agricultural +England--a movement which the advocates of Free Trade may affect to +despise, but which, in reality, has struck them with consternation. +And no wonder that the movement should have been made. Let us pass +from the mere numerical consideration, and look to the extent of +property which is embarked on the one side and on the other. + +We have already stated the annual value of the agricultural +production of these kingdoms to be £250,000,000, whilst that of +manufactures is little more than £127,000,000. To this latter sum +we must add about £50,000,000, being the estimated cost of the raw +material, if we wish to calculate from the exports the importance +of the home market compared with that which is to be found abroad. +For example, if the declared value of the exports shall amount to +69 millions, we are entitled to assume that about 117 millions are +consumed at home in a year of ordinary prosperity. This, of course, +is no more than an approximation to the truth, but it is the nearest +which can be made from such documents, reports, and returns, as are +accessible to the statist. Let us take Mr Spackman's estimate of +the capital employed, referring our readers for the details to his +exceedingly interesting work. + + +AGRICULTURAL CAPITAL. + + Value of the Land, at 25 years' purchase of the annual rental of + Great Britain and Ireland, amounting, to £58,753,615 £1,500,000,000 + + Farmers' capital, employed in the cultivation of the soil, independent + of the stock on hand, at all times, of cattle, grain, &c., £5 to + £6 per acre on 46,522,970 acres, about 250,000,000 + + Stock in hand-- + About 7,500,000 head of cattle, } + " 31,000,000 sheep and lambs, } + " 1,500,000 horses, } 250,000,000 + " £50,000,000 value of timber, } + } + On an average, three months stock of grain, seeds, + hay, and other produce always on hand, } + ------------- + Estimated agricultural capital £2,000,000,000 + ------------- + +MANUFACTURING CAPITAL. + + In Cotton, £24,500,000 + " Woollen, 16,500,000 + " Linen, 7,000,000 + " Silk, 4,000,000 + " Lace, 2,000,000 + " Hose, 1,000,000 + All others, 23,000,000 + ----------- + Estimated manufacturing capital, £78,000,000 + ----------- + +The first reflection which must come home to the mind of every one +who considers these tables, is the astounding audacity of those who +have characterised the landlords as a grasping and rapacious class. +Singular, nay, almost incredible as it may appear, the annual value +of the production of manufactures is nearly double the amount of the +whole capital invested. This fact sufficiently explains the manner +in which so many colossal fortunes have been realised, while it +also suggests very painful reflections as to the condition of the +operatives who are the creators of all this wealth. But what are +we to think of the conduct of the men who, not content with such +enormous returns, have leagued together to swell them to a greater +amount, by demanding the free importation of foreign produce, under +the pretext that the people were oppressed by the continuance of a +system which gave remunerative prices, continuous employment, and +the means of livelihood to two-thirds of their aggregate number? +We acquit many of the leading and most respectable manufacturers +from being participators in any such scheme. Those connected with +the home trade have very generally been opposed to the application +of the Free-trade doctrines, the leading advocates of which were +comprised of men who manufactured solely for exportation, and whose +goods were neither intended nor adapted for British consumption. +It was for the exclusive benefit, as at the instigation of the +latter, that the Corn Laws were repealed. Few can be sorry--we +confess we are not--that even they have been disappointed in their +expectations. No tariffs have been relaxed in consequence of the +ill-omened surrender; on the contrary, the Continental states, +as well as the Americans, are protecting their own manufactures +with increased vigilance; whilst, on the other hand, they are +availing themselves of our folly, by deluging our market with their +agricultural produce, securing by these means the double advantage +of promoting both branches of industry. Never was there a vainer +notion than the chimera that other states would abandon their rising +manufactures to reciprocate with Great Britain, when that haughty +power had deliberately deprived herself of the means of enforcing +reciprocity. _The countries from which we import the largest amount +of grain are not the countries which take the largest amount of our +manufactures._ Even if the case were otherwise, we maintain that we +should be heavy losers, and in no way gainers, by the transaction. +Nationally, this is so clear that we need not waste words by arguing +the point; but we go further and say that, even had other states +reciprocated, the manufacturers, as a body, could not have been +gainers by Free Trade, unless the relative proportions between the +amount of home and foreign consumption had been entirely changed. +For, so long as two-thirds of our whole manufactures are annually +consumed in Britain, the condition of the consumers there, and their +power of purchase, must be a matter of greater importance to the +manufacturer than that of consumers abroad. The interest of the +shopkeepers and of the artisans is almost entirely bound up with the +home trade; and nothing can be more suicidal to the traders than +to give any countenance to a system which strikes at the amount of +their profits, by crippling the means of their customers. + +Were our object merely to show the glaring injustice which has +been done to the landed interest, we could proceed much further in +disentangling details from the confusion into which they have been +purposely thrown, by such statistical writers as Mr Porter. But we +apprehend that, in the present temper of the nation, there is little +occasion for this. Men of all classes have had that opportunity +which experience can alone give, of testing in their own individual +case the advantages which were so confidently predicted by those +who advocated the commercial change. Those who have benefited by it +will, of course, remain Free traders. We are not unreasonable enough +to expect that they will abandon that policy which is profitable to +themselves, even though they should be convinced that it has proved +the reverse of profitable to others. But we can conscientiously say, +that we are acquainted with very few such persons. In the country +they do not exist: in the towns, we hear of nothing except continued +and weary depression. Almost every day fresh complaints of want of +employment are thrust upon us. Establishments are reduced, because +those who were considered wealthy, and those whose wealth depended +upon produce, have no longer the means to support them as before: +even professional incomes are declining: and no one ventures now +to indulge in that expenditure which, four or five years ago, gave +an impulse to the industry of the people. All this we believe to +be acknowledged, and we have heard it from the lips of many whose +political creed is quite at variance with our own. + +Most important testimony to the same effect was borne, at the +recent meeting in Liverpool, by gentlemen who, from profession and +connection, belong to the mercantile and trading classes of the +community. It is no vague apprehension of coming evil, no slight +or ephemeral touch of distress, which has elicited declarations of +opinion so strong as were there expressed. The urgency of the case +is felt and acknowledged; and ere long we have not the slightest +doubt that demonstrations of similar magnitude and importance will +take place in other of the English towns. + +From what we have already said, it will be gathered that we +recommend no hasty or precipitate movement. Our strength lies +in the justice of our cause, and in the palpable failure of the +measures against which we have emphatically protested. This is not +a question of mere sentiment, regarding which men can long continue +to maintain divided opinions. It is a practical question, affecting +not only the general welfare of the kingdom, but the property and +means of every man who lives and thrives through his industry. It is +essentially a labour question, and, as such, it cannot long remain +without receiving a distinct solution. In the mean time, however, +it is our duty to make preparation for the change which may arrive +at no distant period. The various Protection societies which are +everywhere organised, offer to those who condemn the present line of +policy the best opportunity of concentrating their efforts, and of +contributing to the ultimate triumph of the cause. These societies +must be supported, for, under existing circumstances, they are +of the utmost value. They present a ready channel through which +the wishes and situation of the people can be communicated to the +legislature or the throne; they establish and preserve communication +between neighbouring districts; and they supply useful information, +and disseminate sound principles, in quarters where good political +knowledge is most especially required. We trust that no one who +entertains opinions similar to our own, and who is deeply impressed +with the necessity of a return to the just system of Protection, +will be backward in lending his aid to these institutions. From the +peculiar position of the agricultural party, such combinations are +absolutely necessary, in order to arrive at a just estimate of our +strength, and the true sentiments of the nation. Private efforts, +however energetically made, are ineffectual in compassion with this +system of union and of order; and although we know that agitation +is in itself a thing distasteful to many, the emergency of the case +is such that we are imperatively bound to adopt all legitimate +means for the furtherance of our object. It may be that under no +circumstances whatever can redress be obtained from the present +Parliament. We have already adverted to the peculiar causes which +would seem to render such an expectation at best a forlorn hope; +yet still that furnishes no reason for relaxing in our efforts. The +Whig Ministry--by the confession of men of all parties--has a most +precarious tenure of office. Already the House of Peers has passed +its gravest censure upon the course of foreign policy which has been +pursued--a course of which it is difficult to say whether its most +prominent feature is culpable recklessness or glaring dishonesty. We +do not know what may be the decision of the House of Commons upon +a point of such importance, or whether unscrupulous influence, and +the dread of a dissolution, may not overcome the dictates of honour +and the force of private judgement in the more popular assembly. +But, whatever may be the fiat of the Commons, this at least is +clear, that a severe blow has been given to the stability of the +Whig Government. Beyond the walls of Parliament they have hardly +any support upon a question which threatens to involve us in direct +hostility with France; and nothing could have more effectually +damaged them, even in this wretched business, than the acerbity of +the tone assumed by Lord John Russell with regard to the European +powers, who are most justly incensed at the paltering and bad faith +of the political incendiary who, to the misfortune of this country, +has been intrusted with the management of foreign affairs. Neither +the honour nor the interests of Britain are safe in such hands. +Therefore we say to the men of the Country Party--Be prepared to +act, for no one can tell how soon the moment for action may arrive. +Ours is a great cause, and it must not be imperilled by slothfulness +or inactivity at a crisis which requires the exertion of all our +energies, and the combination of all our powers. Let us but be true +to ourselves, and ultimate success is certain. Delusions may for a +time have taken hold of the public mind; but the endurance of all +delusions is short, and the mist is rapidly dissipating. Let any man +compare the state of public feeling as it exists now, with what it +was but twelve months ago, and he cannot fail to be impressed with +the amazing rapidity of the change. And yet, why should he wonder at +it? The industry of the nation is at stake, and what marvel that the +people should demand their own? + +That cheapness of itself is no blessing, even our opponents admit +in the arguments which they try to direct against us. Read their +accounts of the squalidness and poverty which prevail in the +larger towns--the testimony which has been laboriously collected +as to the lamentable fall of wages, and the diminished profits of +thousands employed in the lower kinds of handicraft. Undoubtedly +competition among themselves has contributed to this state of +matters; but in no degree at all commensurate to the great decline +which has taken place since we commenced the ruinous system of +reducing customs duties. Mr Joseph Hume once ventured to maintain, +in the House of Commons, "that England might exist and prosper as +a purely manufacturing and commercial country, if it did not grow +a single bushel of corn,--if, in exchange for its manufactures and +minerals, it imported from the cheap corn-producing countries every +quarter of wheat required in this country!" How far that statement +is compatible with the ascertained sources of the national wealth, +we leave our readers to decide. This much, however, we shall say, +that England, so situated, would be a very different country from +that which we have known; and that the wildernesses of the West +would offer a place of abode infinitely preferable to that which we +could enjoy here under the gentle sway of the Millocrats, and the +enlightened legislation of the Economists. + + +_Printed by William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh._ + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's note: + +Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. +Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as +printed. + +Mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where +the missing quote should be placed. + +The cover for the eBook version of this book was created by the +transcriber and is placed in the public domain. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume +68, No. 417, July, 1850, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44338 *** |