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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 18:39:55 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 18:39:55 -0700 |
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diff --git a/44361-h/44361-h.htm b/44361-h/44361-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c3fa73d --- /dev/null +++ b/44361-h/44361-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,16160 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 70, No. 431 September 1851, by Various. + </title> + <link rel="coverpage" href="images/coverpage.jpg"/> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .51em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .49em; + text-indent: 1em; +} + +.noind {text-indent: 0em;} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +hr.tb {width: 25%;} +hr.chap {width: 45%} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + font-style: normal; + text-align: right; +} /* page numbers */ + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.right {text-align: right;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.space-above { margin-top: 3em; } + +.sig { text-align: right; margin-right: 5%; } + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.bord img { padding: 1px; border: 2px solid black; } + + +/* Footnotes */ + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: 55%; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +/* Poetry */ +.poem { + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + text-align: left; +} + +.poem br {display: none;} + +.poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + +.poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +.poem span.i1 {display: block; margin-left: 0.5em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +.poem span.i12 {display: block; margin-left: 6em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +.poem span.i18 {display: block; margin-left: 9em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + +@media handheld +{ + .poetry + { + display: block; + margin-left: 1.5em; + } +} + +/* Transcriber's notes */ +.tn {background-color: #E6E6FA; + color: black; + font-size:smaller; + border: dashed 1px; + padding:0.5em; + margin-bottom:5em; + font-family:sans-serif, serif; } + + </style> + </head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44361 ***</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + + + + +<h1>BLACKWOOD'S<br /> + +EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.</h1> + +<p class="center"> +<span class="smcap">No. CCCCXXXI.</span> SEPTEMBER, 1851. <span class="smcap">Vol. LXX.</span><br /> +</p> + + + + +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="contents"> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Campaign in Taka</span>,</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_251">251</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">My Novel; or, Varieties in English Life. Part XIII</span>,</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_275">275</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Disfranchisement of the Boroughs</span>,</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_296">296</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Paris in 1851.</span>—(<em>Continued</em>,)</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_310">310</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Mr Ruskin's Works</span>,</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_326">326</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Portuguese Politics</span>,</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_349">349</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Congress and the Agapedome.—A Tale of Peace and Love</span>,</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_359">359</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p class="center space-above">————</p> + +<p class="center space-above"><big>EDINBURGH:</big></p> + +<p class="center">WILLIAM BLACKWOOD & SONS, 45 GEORGE STREET;<br /> +AND 37 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.</p> + +<p class="center"><em>To whom all communications (post paid) must be addressed.</em></p> + +<p class="center">SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.</p> + +<p class="center">———</p> +<p class="center"><small>PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH.</small></p> + + +<hr class="chap" /> + + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251"> </a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>BLACKWOOD'S<br /> + +EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.</h2> + +<p class="center"> +<span class="smcap">No. CCCCXXXI.</span> SEPTEMBER, 1851. <span class="smcap">Vol. LXX.</span><br /> +</p> + + + + +<h2><br />A CAMPAIGN IN TAKA.</h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p><cite>Feldzug von Sennaar nach Taka, Basa, und Beni-Amer, mit besonderem Hinblick +auf die Völker von Bellad-Sudan.</cite>—[Campaign from Sennaar to Taka, Basa, and +Beni-Amer; with a particular Glance at the Nations of Bellad-Sudan.]—<span class="smcap">Von Ferdinand +Werne.</span> Stuttgart: Königl. Hofbuchdruckerei. London: Williams and +Norgate. 1851.</p></blockquote> + + +<p>Africa, the least explored division +of the globe's surface, and the best +field for travellers of bold and enterprising +character, has been the scene +of three of the most remarkable books +of their class that have appeared +within the last ten years. We refer +to Major Harris's narrative of his +Ethiopian expedition—to the marvellous +adventures of that modern Nimrod, +Mr Gordon Cumming—to Mr +Ferdinand Werne's strange and exciting +account of his voyage up the +White Nile. In our review of the +last-named interesting and valuable +work,<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> we mentioned that Mr Werne, +previously to his expedition up the +Nile, had been for several months in +the Taka country, a region previously +untrodden by Europeans, with an +army commanded by Achmet Bascha, +governor-general of the Egyptian province +of Bellad-Sudan, who was operating +against refractory tributaries. +He has just published an account of +this campaign, which afforded him, +however, little opportunity of expatiating +on well-contested battles, +signal victories, or feats of heroic +valour. On the other hand, his +narrative abounds in striking incidents, +in curious details of tribes +and localities that have never before +been described, and in perils and +hardships not the less real and painful +that they proceeded from no +efforts of a resolute and formidable +foe, but from the effects of a pernicious +climate, and the caprice and +negligence of a wilful and indolent +commander.</p> + +<p>It was early in 1840, and Mr Werne +and his youngest brother Joseph had +been resident for a whole year at +Chartum, chief town of the province +of Sudan, in the country of Sennaar. +Chartum, it will be remembered by +the readers of the "Expedition for +the Discovery of the Sources of the +White Nile," is situated at the confluence +of the White and Blue streams, +which, there uniting, flow northwards +through Nubia and Egypt Proper to +Cairo and the Mediterranean; and at +Chartum it was that the two Wernes +had beheld, in the previous November, +the departure of the first expedition +up Nile, which they were forbidden +to join, and which met with +little success. The elder Werne,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span> +whose portrait—that of a very determined-looking +man, bearded, and in +Oriental costume—is appended to the +present volume, appears to have been +adventurous and a rambler from his +youth upwards. In 1822 he had +served in Greece, and had now been +for many years in Eastern lands. +Joseph Werne, his youngest and favourite +brother, had come to Egypt +at his instigation, after taking at Berlin +his degree as Doctor of Medicine, +to study, before commencing practice, +some of the extraordinary diseases +indigenous in that noxious climate. +Unfortunately, as recorded in Mr +Werne's former work, this promising +young man, who seems to have possessed +in no small degree the enterprise, +perseverance, and fortitude so +remarkable in his brother, ultimately +fell a victim to one of those fatal maladies +whose investigation was the +principal motive of his visit to Africa. +The first meeting in Egypt of the two +brothers was at Cairo; and of it a +characteristic account is given by the +elder, an impetuous, we might almost +say a pugnacious man, tolerably +prompt to take offence, and upon +whom, as he himself says at page 67, +the Egyptian climate had a violently +irritating effect.</p> + +<p>"Our meeting, at Guerra's tavern +in Cairo, was so far remarkable, that +my brother knew me immediately, +whilst I took him for some impertinent +Frenchman, disposed to make +game of me, inasmuch as he, in the +petulance of his joy, fixed his eyes +upon me, measuring me from top to +toe, and then laughed at the fury +with which I rushed upon him, to +call him to an account, and, if necessary, +to have him out. We had not +seen each other for eight years, during +which he had grown into a man, +and, moreover, his countenance had +undergone a change, for, by a terrible +cut, received in a duel, the muscle of +risibility had been divided on one +side, and the poor fellow could laugh +only with half his face. In the first +overpowering joy of our meeting in +this distant quarter of the globe, we +could not get the wine over our +tongues, often as my Swiss friend De +Salis (over whose cheeks the tears +were chasing each other) and other +acquaintances struck their glasses +against ours, encouraging us to drink.... +I now abandoned the hamlet +of Tura—situated in the desert, but +near the Nile, about three leagues +above Cairo, and whither I had +retreated to do penance and to work +at my travels—as well as my good +friend Dr Schledehaus of Osnabruck, +(then holding an appointment at the +military school, now director of the +marine hospital of Alexandria,) with +whom my brother had studied at +Bonn, and I hired a little house in +the Esbekie Square in Cairo. After +half an hour's examination, Joseph +was appointed surgeon-major, with +the rank of a Sakulagassi or captain, +in the central hospital of Kasr-el-Ain, +with a thousand piastres a +month, and rations for a horse and +four servants. Our views constantly +directed to the interior of Africa, we +suffered a few months to glide by in +the old city of the Khalifs, dwelling +together in delightful brotherly harmony. +But our thirst for travelling +was unslaked; to it I had sacrificed +my appointment as chancellor of the +Prussian Consulate at Alexandria; +Joseph received his nomination as +regimental surgeon to the 1st regiment +in Sennaar, including that of +physician to the central hospital at +Chartum. Our friends were concerned +for us on account of the +dangerous climate, but, nevertheless, +we sailed with good courage up the +Nile, happy to escape from the noise +of the city, and to be on our way to +new scenes."</p> + +<p>A stroke of the sun, received near +the cataract of Ariman in Upper +Nubia, and followed by ten days' +delirium, soon convinced the younger +Werne that his friends' anxiety on +his behalf was not groundless. During +the whole of their twelvemonth's +stay at Chartum, they were mercilessly +persecuted by intermittent +fever, there most malignant, and +under whose torturing and lowering +attacks their sole consolation was +that, as they never chanced both to +be ill together, they were able +alternately to nurse each other. At +last, fearing that body or mind would +succumb to these reiterated fever-fits, +and the first expedition up the +White Nile having, to their great +disgust and disappointment, sailed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span> +without them, they made up their +minds to quit for ever the pestiferous +Chartum and the burning steppes of +Bellad-Sudan. Whilst preparing for +departure, they received a visit from +the chief Cadi, who told them, over +a glass of cardinal—administered by +Dr Werne as medicine, to evade his +Mahomedan scruples—that Effendina +(Excellency) Achmet Bascha was +well pleased with the brotherly love +they manifested, taking care of each +other in sickness, and that they would +do well to pay their respects occasionally +at the Divan. This communication +was almost immediately +followed by the arrival at Chartum of +Dr Gand, physician to Abbas Bascha. +This gentleman had been a comrade +of Ferdinand Werne's in Greece, and +he recommended the two brothers to +Achmet, with whom he was intimate, +in true Oriental style, as men of universal +genius and perfect integrity, to +whom he might intrust both his body +and his soul. The consequence of this +liberal encomium was, that Achmet +fixed his eyes upon them to accompany +him, in the capacity of confidential +advisers, upon a projected campaign. +Informed of this plan and of the +advantages it included, the Wernes +joyfully abandoned their proposed +departure. Joseph was to be made +house-physician to Achmet and his +harem, as well as medical inspector +of the whole province, in place of +Soliman Effendi, (the renegade Baron +di Pasquali of Palermo,) a notorious +poisoner, in whose hands the Bascha +did not consider himself safe. Ferdinand +Werne, who had held the rank of +captain in Greece, was made <i>bimbaschi</i> +or major, and was attached, as +engineer, to Achmet's person, with +good pay and many privileges. "At +a later period he would have made +me bey, if I—not on his account, +for he was an enlightened Circassian, +but on that of the Turkish jackasses—would +have turned Mussulman. I +laughed at this, and he said no more +about it." Delighted to have secured +the services of the two Germans, +Achmet ordered it to be reported +to his father-in-law, Mehemet Ali, +for his approval, and took counsel +with his new officers concerning the +approaching campaign. Turk-like, +he proposed commencing it in the +rainy season. Mr Werne opposed +this as likely to cost him half his +army, the soldiers being exceedingly +susceptible to rain, and advised the +erection of blockhouses at certain +points along the line of march where +springs were to be found, to secure +water for the troops. The Bascha +thought this rather a roundabout +mode of proceeding, held his men's +lives very cheap, and boasted of his +seven hundred dromedaries, every one +of which, in case of need, could carry +three soldiers. His counsellors were +dismissed, with injunctions to secresy, +and on their return home they found +at their door, as a present from the +Bascha, two beautiful dromedaries, +tall, powerful, ready saddled for a +march, and particularly adapted for a +campaign, inasmuch as they started +not when muskets were fired between +their ears. A few days later, Mr +Werne was sent for by Achmet, who, +when the customary coffee had been +taken, dismissed his attendants by a +sign, and informed him, with a gloomy +countenance, that the people of Taka +refused to pay their <i>tulba</i>, or tribute. +His predecessor, Churdschid Bascha, +having marched into that country, +had been totally defeated in a <i>chaaba</i>, +or tract of forest. Since that time, +Achmet mournfully declared, the +tribes had not paid a single piastre, +and he found himself grievously in +want of money. So, instead of marching +south-westward to Darfour, as he +had intended, he would move north-eastward +to Taka, chastise the stubborn +insolvents, and replenish the +coffers of the state. "Come with +me," said he, to Mr Werne; "upon +the march we shall all recover our +health," (he also suffered from frequent +and violent attacks of fever;) +"yonder are water and forests, as in +Germany and Circassia, and very +high mountains." It mattered little +to so restless and rambling a spirit as +Mr Ferdinand Werne whether his +route lay inland towards the Mountains +of the Moon, or coastwards to +the Red Sea. His brother was again +sick, and spoke of leaving the country; +but Mr Werne cheered him up, +pointed out to him upon the map an +imaginary duchy which he was to +conquer in the approaching war, and +revived an old plan of going to settle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span> +at Bagdad, there to practise as physician +and apothecary. "We resolved, +therefore, to take our passports with +us, so that, if we chose, we might +embark on the Red Sea. By this +time I had seen through the Bascha, +and I resolved to communicate to him +an idea which I often, in the interest +of these oppressed tribes, had revolved +in my mind, namely, that he should +place himself at their head, and renounce +obedience to the Egyptian +vampire. I did subsequently speak +to him of the plan, and it might have +been well and permanently carried +out, had he not, instead of striving to +win the confidence of the chiefs, +tyrannised over them in every possible +manner. Gold and regiments! +was his motto."</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the influential Dr Gand +had fallen seriously ill, and was so +afflicted with the irritability already +referred to as a consequence of the +climate, that no one could go near +him but the two Wernes. He neglected +Joseph's good advice to quit +Chartum at once, put it off till it was +too late, and died on his journey +northwards. His body lay buried for +a whole year in the sand of the desert; +then his family, who were going to +France, dug it up to take with them. +Always a very thin man, little more +than skin and bone, the burning sand +had preserved him like a mummy. +There was no change in his appearance; +not a hair gone from his mustaches. +Strange is the confusion and +alternation of life and death in that +ardent and unwholesome land of +Nubia. To-day in full health, to-morrow +prostrate with fever, from +which you recover only to be again +attacked. Dead, in twenty-four +hours or less corruption is busy on +the corpse; bury it promptly in the +sand, and in twelve months you may +disinter it, perfect as if embalmed. +At Chartum, the very focus of disease, +death, it might be thought, is +sufficiently supplied by fever to need +no other purveyors. Nevertheless +poisoning seems a pretty common +practice there. Life in Chartum is +altogether, by Mr Werne's account, +a most curious thing. During the +preparations for the campaign, a +Wurtemberg prince, Duke Paul William +of Mergentheim, arrived in the +place, and was received with much +pomp. "For the first time I saw the +Bascha sit upon a chair; he was in +full uniform, a red jacket adorned +with gold, a great diamond crescent, +and three brilliant stars upon his left +breast, his sabre by his side." The +prince, a fat good-humoured German, +was considerably impressed by the +state displayed, and left the presence +with many obeisances. The next +day he dined with the Bascha, whom +he and the Wernes hoped to see +squatted on the ground, and feeding +with his fingers. They were disappointed; +the table was arranged in +European fashion; wine of various +kinds was there, especially champagne, +(which the servants, notwithstanding +Werne's remonstrances, insisted +on shaking before opening, and +which consequently flew about the +room in foaming fountains;) bumper-toasts +were drunk; and the whole +party, Franks and Turks, seem to +have gradually risen into a glorious +state of intoxication, during which +they vowed eternal friendship to each +other in all imaginable tongues; and +the German prince declared he would +make the campaign to Taka with the +Bascha, draw out the plan, and overwhelm +the enemy. This jovial meeting +was followed by a quieter entertainment +given by the Wernes to the +prince, who declared he was travelling +as a private gentleman, and +wished to be treated accordingly; +and then Soliman Effendi, the Sicilian +renegade, made a respectful application +for permission to invite the +"<i lang="it" xml:lang="it">Altezza Tedesca</i>," for whom he had +conceived a great liking. A passage +from Mr Werne is here worth quoting, +as showing the state of society at +Chartum. "I communicated the +invitation, with the remark that the +Sicilian was notorious for his poisonings, +but that I had less fear on his +highness' account than on that of my +brother, who was already designated +to replace him in his post. The +prince did not heed the danger; +moreover, I had put myself on a +peculiar footing with Soliman Effendi, +and now told him plainly that he had +better keep his vindictive manœuvres +for others than us, for that my brother +and I should go to dinner with loaded +pistols in our pockets, and would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span> +shoot him through the head (<i lang="it" xml:lang="it">brucciare +il cervello</i>) if one of us three felt as +much as a belly-ache at his table. +The dinner was served in the German +fashion; all the guests came, except +Vaissière (formerly a French captain, +now a slave-dealer, with the cross of +the legion of honour.) He would not +trust Soliman, who was believed to +have poisoned a favourite female-slave +of his after a dispute they had +about money matters. The dinner +went off merrily and well. The duke +changed his mind about going to Taka, +but promised to join in the campaign +on his return from Fàszogl, and bade +me promise the Bascha in his name +a crocodile-rifle and a hundred bottles +of champagne."</p> + +<p>Long and costly were the preparations +for the march; the more so that +Mr Werne and his brother, who saw +gleaming in the distance the golden +cupolas of Bagdad, desired to take all +their baggage with them, and also +sufficient stores for the campaign—not +implicitly trusting to the Bascha's +promise that his kitchen and table +should be always at their service. +Ten camels were needed to carry the +brothers' baggage. One of their +greatest troubles was to know how to +dispose of their collection of beasts +and birds. "The young maneless +lion, our greatest joy, was dead—Soliman +Effendi, who was afraid of +him, having dared to poison him, as +I learned, after the renegade's death, +from one of our own people." But of +birds there were a host; eagles, vultures, +king-cranes, (<i>grus pavonina</i>, +Linn.;) a snake-killing secretary, with +his beautiful eagle head, long tail, and +heron legs; strange varieties of water-fowl, +many of which had been shot, +but had had the pellets extracted and +the wounds healed by the skill of Dr +Werne; and last, but most beloved, +"a pet black horn-bird, (<i>buceros +abyss.</i> L.,) who hopped up to us when +we called out 'Jack!'—who picked up +with his long curved beak the pieces of +meat that were thrown to him, tossed +them into the air and caught them +again, (whereat the Prince of Wurtemberg +laughed till he held his sides,) +because nature has provided him with +too short a tongue; but who did not +despise frogs and lizards, and who +called us at daybreak with his persevering +'<em>Hum, hum</em>,' until we roused +ourselves and answered 'Jack.'" +Their anxiety on account of their +aviary was relieved by the Bascha's +wife, who condescendingly offered to +take charge of it during their absence. +Mehemet Ali's daughter suffered +dreadfully from ennui in dull, unwholesome +Chartum, and reckoned +on the birds and beasts as pastime +and diversion. Thus, little by little, +difficulties were overcome, and all +was made ready for the march. A +Bolognese doctor of medicine, named +Bellotti, and Dumont, a French apothecary, +arrived at Chartum. They +belonged to an Egyptian regiment, +and must accompany it on the <i>chasua</i>.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> +Troops assembled in and around +Chartum, the greater part of whose +garrison, destined also to share in the +campaign, were boated over to the +right bank of the Blue Nile. Thence +they were to march northwards to +Damer—once a town, now a village +amidst ruins—situated about three +leagues above the place where the +Atbara, a river that rises in Abyssinia, +and flows north-westward through +Sennaar, falls into the Nile. There +the line of march changed its direction +to the right, and took a tolerably +straight route, but inclining a little to +the south, in the direction of the Red +Sea. The Bascha went by water +down the Nile the greater part of the +way to Damer, and was of course +attended by his physician. Mr Werne, +finding himself unwell, followed his +example, sending their twelve camels +by land, and accompanied by Bellotti, +Dumont, and a Savoyard merchant +from Chartum, Bruno Rollet by name. +There was great difficulty in getting +a vessel, all having been taken for the +transport of provisions and military<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span> +stores; but at last one was discovered, +sunk by its owner to save it from the +commissariat, and after eleven days +of sickness, suffering, and peril—during +which Mr Werne, when burning +with fever, had been compelled to +jump overboard to push the heavy +laden boat off the reef on which the +stupid Rëis had run it—the party +rejoined headquarters. There Mr +Werne was kindly received by Achmet, +and most joyfully by his brother. +Long and dolorous was the tale Dr +Joseph had to tell of his sufferings +with the wild-riding Bascha. Three +days before reaching Damer, that impatient +chieftain left his ship and +ordered out the dromedaries. The +Berlin doctor of medicine felt his heart +sink within him; he had never yet +ascended a dromedary's saddle, and the +desperate riding of the Bascha made +his own Turkish retinue fear to follow +him. His forebodings were well-founded. +Two hours' rough trot shook +up his interior to such an extent, and +so stripped his exterior of skin, that +he was compelled to dismount and lie +down upon some brushwood near the +Nile, exposed to the burning sun, and +with a compassionate Bedouin for sole +attendant, until the servants and +baggage came up. Headache, vomiting, +terrible heat and parching thirst—for +he had no drinking vessel, and +the Bedouin would not leave him—were +his portion the whole day, followed +by fever and delirium during +the night. At two o'clock the next +day (the hottest time) the Bascha +was again in the saddle, as if desirous +to try to the utmost his own endurance +and that of his suite. By this +time the doctor had come up with +him, (having felt himself better in the +morning,) after a six hours' ride, and +terrible loss of leather, the blood running +down into his stockings. Partly +on his dromedary, partly on foot, he +managed to follow his leader through +this second day's march, at the cost +of another night's fever, but in the +morning he was so weak that he was +obliged to take boat and complete his +journey to Damer by water. Of more +slender frame and delicate complexion +than his brother, the poor doctor was +evidently ill-adapted for roughing it +in African deserts, although his pluck +and fortitude went far towards supplying +his physical deficiencies. Most +painful are the accounts of his constantly +recurring sufferings during +that arduous expedition; and one +cannot but admire and wonder at the +zeal for science, or ardent thirst for +novelty, that supported him, and +induced him to persevere in the teeth +of such hardship and ill-health. At +Damer he purchased a small dromedary +of easy paces, and left the +Bascha's rough-trotting gift for his +brother's riding.</p> + +<p>At three in the afternoon of the +20th March, a cannon-shot gave the +signal for departure. The Wernes' +water-skins were already filled and +their baggage packed; in an instant +their tents were struck and camels +loaded; with baggage and servants +they took their place at the head of +the column and rode up to the Bascha, +who was halted to the east of Damer, +with his beautiful horses and dromedaries +standing saddled behind him. +He complained of the great disorder +in the camp, but consoled himself +with the reflection that things would +go better by-and-by. "It was truly +a motley scene," says Mr Werne. +"The Turkish cavalry in their national +costume of many colours, with +yellow and green banners and small +kettle-drums; the Schaïgië and Mograbin +horsemen; Bedouins on horseback, +on camels, and on foot; the +Schechs and Moluks (little king) with +their armour-bearers behind them on +the dromedaries, carrying pikes and +lances, straight swords and leather +shields; the countless donkeys and +camels—the former led by a great +portion of the infantry, to ride in +turn—drums and an ear-splitting +band of music, The Chabir (caravan-leader) +was seen in the distance +mounted on his dromedary, and armed +with a lance and round shield; the +Bascha bestrode his horse, and we +accompanied him in that direction, +whilst gradually, and in picturesque +disorder, the detachments emerged +from the monstrous confusion and followed +us. The artillery consisted of +two field-pieces, drawn by camels, +which the Bascha had had broken to +the work, that in the desert they +might relieve the customary team of +mules.</p> + +<p>"Abd-el-Kader, the jovial Topschi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span> +Baschi, (chief of the artillery,) commanded +them, and rode a mule. The +Turks, (that is to say, chiefly Circassians, +Kurds, and Arnauts or Albanians,) +who shortly before could hardly +put one leg before the other, seemed +transformed into new men, as they +once more found themselves at home +in their saddles. They galloped +round the Bascha like madmen, riding +their horses as mercilessly as if they +had been drunk with opium. This +was a sort of honorary demonstration, +intended to indicate to their chief their +untameable valour. The road led +through the desert, and was tolerably +well beaten. Towards evening +the Bascha rode forwards with the +Chabir. We did not follow, for I +felt myself unwell. It was dark +night when we reached the left bank +of the Atbara, where we threw +ourselves down amongst the bushes, +and went to sleep, without taking +supper."</p> + +<p>The campaign might now be said +to be beginning; at least the army +was close upon tribes whose disposition, +if not avowedly hostile, was very +equivocal, and the Bascha placed a +picket of forty men at the only ford +over the Atbara, a clear stream of +tolerable depth, and with lofty banks, +covered with rich grass, with mimosas +and lofty fruit-laden palm-trees. The +next day's march was a severe one—ten +hours without a halt—and was +attended, after nightfall, with some +danger, arising partly from the route +lying through trees with barbed +thorns, strong enough to tear the +clothes off men's bodies and the eyes +out of their heads, and partly from the +crowding and pressure in the disorderly +column during its progress +amongst holes and chasms occasioned +by the overflowing of the river. Upon +halting, at midnight, a fire was +lighted for the Bascha, and one of his +attendants brought coffee to Mr +Werne; but he, sick and weary, rejected +it, and would have preferred, +he says, so thoroughly exhausted did +he feel, a nap under a bush to a supper +upon a roasted angel. They were +still ascending the bank of the Atbara, +a winding stream, with wildly beautiful +tree-fringed banks, containing +few fish, but giving shelter, in its +deep places, to the crocodile and hippopotamus. +From the clefts of its +sandstone bed, then partially exposed +by the decline of the waters, sprang +a lovely species of willow, with beautiful +green foliage and white umbelliferous +flowers, having a perfume surpassing +that of jasmine. The Wernes +would gladly, have explored the +neighbourhood; but the tremendous +heat, and a warm wind which played +round their temples with a sickening +effect, drove them into camp. Gunfire +was at noon upon that day; but +it was Mr Werne's turn to be on the +sick-list. Suddenly he felt himself so +ill, that it was with a sort of despairing +horror he saw the tent struck from +over him, loaded upon a camel, and +driven off. In vain he endeavoured +to rise; the sun seemed to dart coals +of fire upon his head. His brother and +servant carried him into the shadow +of a neighbouring palm-tree, and he +sank half-dead upon the glowing sand. +It would suffice to abide there during +the heat of the day, as they thought, +but instead of that, they were compelled +to remain till next morning, +Werne suffering terribly from dysentery. +"Never in my life," he says, +"did I more ardently long for the setting +of the sun than on that day; even +its last rays exercised the same painful +power on my hair, which seemed to +be in a sort of electric connection +with just as many sunbeams, and to +bristle up upon my head. And no +sooner had the luminary which inspired +me with such horror sunk below +the horizon, than I felt myself +better, and was able to get on my +legs and crawl slowly about. Some +good-natured Arab shepherd-lads approached +our fire, pitied me, and +brought me milk and durra-bread. +It was a lovely evening; the full moon +was reflected in the Atbara, as were +also the dark crowns of the palm-trees, +wild geese shrieked around us; +otherwise the stillness was unbroken, +save at intervals by the cooing of +doves. There is something beautiful +in sleeping in the open air, when +weather and climate are suitable. +We awoke before sunrise, comforted, +and got upon our dromedaries; but +after a couple of hours' ride we mistrusted +the sun, and halted with some +wandering Arabs belonging to the +Kabyle of the Kammarabs. We<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span> +were hospitably received, and regaled +with milk and bread."<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> + +<p>When our two Germans rejoined +headquarters, after four days' absence, +they found Achmet Bascha seated in +the shade upon the ground in front of +his tent, much burned by the sun, and +looking fagged and suffering—as well +he might be after the heat and exposure +he had voluntarily undergone. +Nothing could cure him, however, at +least as yet, of his fancy for marching +in the heat of the day. Although +obstinate and despotic, the Bascha +was evidently a dashing sort of fellow, +well calculated to win the respect and +admiration of his wild and heterogeneous +army. Weary as were the +two Wernes, (they reached the camp +at noon,) at two o'clock they had to +be again in the saddle. "A number +of gazelles were started; the Bascha +seized a gun and dashed after them +upon his Arabian stallion, almost the +whole of the cavalry scouring after +him like a wild mob, and we ourselves +riding a sharp trot to witness the +chase. We thought he had fallen +from his horse, so suddenly did he +swing himself from saddle to ground, +killing three gazelles with three shots, +of which animals we consumed a considerable +portion roasted for that +night's supper." The river here +widened, and crocodiles showed themselves +upon the opposite shore. The +day was terribly warm; the poor +medico was ill again, suffering grievously +from his head, and complaining +of <em>his hair being so hot</em>; and as the +Salamander Bascha persisted in marching +under a sun which, through the +canvass of the tents, heated sabres +and musket-barrels till it was scarcely +possible to grasp them, the brothers +again lingered behind and followed in +the cool of the evening, Joseph being +mounted upon an easy-going mule +lent him by Topschi Baschi, the good-humoured +but dissolute captain of +the guns. They were now divided +but by the river's breadth from the +hostile tribe of the Haddenda, and +might at any moment be assailed; +so two hours after sunset a halt was +called and numerous camp-fires were +lighted, producing a most picturesque +effect amongst the trees, and by their +illumination of the diversified costumes +of the soldiery, and attracting +a whole regiment of scorpions, "some +of them remarkably fine specimens," +says Mr Werne, who looks upon these +unpleasant fireside companions with a +scientific eye, "a finger and a half +long, of a light colour, half of the tail +of a brown black and covered with +hair." It is a thousand pities that +the adventurous Mrs Ida Pfeiffer did +not accompany Mr Werne upon this +expedition. She would have had the +finest possible opportunities of curing +herself of the prejudice which it will +be remembered she was so weak as +to entertain against the scorpion +tribe. These pleasant reptiles were +as plentiful all along Mr Werne's line +of march as are cockchafers on a +summer evening in an English oak-copse. +Their visitations were pleasantly +varied by those of snakes of +all sizes, and of various degrees of +venom. "At last," says Mr Werne, +"one gets somewhat indifferent about +scorpions and other wild animals." +He had greater difficulty in accustoming +himself to the sociable habits of +the snakes, who used to glide about +amongst tents and baggage, and by +whom, in the course of the expedition, +a great number of persons were +bitten. On the 12th April "Mohammed +Ladham sent us a remarkable +scorpion—pity that it is so much +injured—almost two fingers long, +black-brown, tail and feet covered +with prickly hair, claws as large as +those of a small crab.... We +had laid us down under a green tree +beside a cotton plantation, whilst our +servants unloaded the camels and +pitched the tents, when a snake, six<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span> +feet long, darted from under our carpet, +passed over my leg, and close +before my brother's face. But we +were so exhausted that we lay still, +and some time afterwards the snake +was brought to us, one of Schech +Defalla's people having killed it." +About noon next day a similar snake +sprang out of the said Defalla's own +tent; it was killed also, and found to +measure six feet two inches. The +soldiers perceiving that the German +physician and his brother were curious +in the matter of reptiles, brought +them masses of serpents; but they +had got a notion that the flesh was +the part coveted (not the skin) to +make medicine, and most of the specimens +were so defaced as to be valueless. +Early in May "some soldiers +assured us they had seen in the +thicket a serpent twenty feet long, +and as thick as a man's leg; probably +a species of boa—a pity that they +could not kill it. The great number +of serpents with dangerous bites +makes our bivouac very unsafe, and +we cannot encamp with any feeling +of security near bushes or amongst +brushwood; the prick of a blade of +straw, the sting of the smallest +insect, causes a hasty movement, for +one immediately fancies it is a snake +or scorpion; and when out shooting, +one's <em>second</em> glance is for the game, +one's <em>first</em> on the ground at his feet, +for fear of trampling and irritating +some venomous reptile." As we proceed +through the volume we shall +come to other accounts of beasts and +reptiles, so remarkable as really +almost to reconcile us to the possibility +of some of the zoological marvels +narrated by the Yankee Doctor +Mayo in his rhapsody of Kaloolah.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> +For the present we must revert to +the business of this curiously-conducted +campaign. As the army +advanced, various chiefs presented +themselves, with retinues more or +less numerous. The first of these +was the Grand-Shech Mohammed +Defalla, already named, who came +up, with a great following, on the +28th March. He was a man of +herculean frame; and assuredly such +was very necessary to enable him to +endure in that climate the weight of +his defensive arms. He wore a +double shirt of mail over a quilted +doublet, arm-plates and beautifully +wrought steel gauntlets; his casque +fitted like a shell to the upper part of +his head, and had in front, in lieu of +a visor, an iron bar coming down +over the nose—behind, for the protection +of the nape, a fringe composed +of small rings. His straight-bladed +sword had a golden hilt. The whole +equipment, which seems to correspond +very closely with that of some +of the Sikhs or other warlike Indian +tribes, proceeded from India, and +Defalla had forty or fifty such suits +of arms. About the same time with +him, arrived two Schechs from the +refractory land of Taka, tall handsome +men; whilst, from the environs +of the neighbouring town of Gos-Rajeb, +a number of people rode out on +dromedaries to meet the Bascha, their +hair quite white with camel-fat, which +melted in the sun and streamed over +their backs. Gos-Rajeb, situated at +about a quarter of a mile from the +left bank of the Atbara, consists of +some two hundred <i>tokul</i> (huts) and +clay-built houses, and in those parts +is considered an important commercial +depot, Indian goods being transported +thither on camels from the +port of Souakim, on the Red Sea. +The inhabitants are of various tribes, +more of them red than black or brown; +but few were visible, many having +fled at the approach of Achmet's +army, which passed the town in imposing +array—the infantry in double +column in the centre, the Turkish +cavalry on the right, the Schaïgiës and +Mograbins on the left, the artillery, +with kettledrums, cymbals, and other +music, in the van—marched through +the Atbara, there very shallow, and +encamped on the right bank, in a +stony and almost treeless plain, at +the foot of two rocky hills. The +Bascha ordered the Shech of Gos-Rajeb +to act as guide to the Wernes +in their examination of the vicinity, +and to afford them all the information +in his power. The most remarkable +spot to which he conducted them +was to the site of an ancient city, +which once, according to tradition, +had been as large as Cairo, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span> +inhabited by Christians. The date +of its existence must be very remote, +for the ground was smooth, +and the sole trace of buildings +consisted in a few heaps of broken +bricks. There were indications of a +terrible conflagration, the bricks in +one place being melted together into +a black glazed mass. Mr Werne +could trace nothing satisfactory with +respect to former Christian occupants, +and seems disposed to think that +Burckhardt, who speaks of Christian +monuments at that spot, (in the neighbourhood +of the hill of Herrerem,) +may have been misled by certain +peculiarly formed rocks.</p> + +<p>The most renowned chief of the +mutinous tribes of Taka, the conqueror +of the Turks under Churdschid +Bascha, was Mohammed Din, Grand-Schech +of the Haddenda. This personage, +awed by the approach of +Achmet's formidable force, sent his +son to the advancing Bascha, as a +hostage for his loyalty and submission. +Achmet sent the young +man back to his father as bearer +of his commands. The next day +the army crossed the frontier of +Taka, which is not very exactly defined, +left the Atbara in their rear, +and, moving still eastwards, beheld +before them, in the far distance, the +blue mountains of Abyssinia. The +Bascha's suite was now swelled by +the arrival of numerous Schechs, great +and small, with their esquires and attendants. +The route lay through a +thick forest, interwoven with creeping +plants and underwood, and with +thorny mimosas, which grew to a +great height. The path was narrow, +the confusion of the march inconceivably +great and perilous, and if the +enemy had made a vigorous attack +with their javelins, which they are +skilled in throwing, the army must +have endured great loss, with scarcely +a possibility of inflicting any. At last +the scattered column reached an open +space, covered with grass, and intersected +with deep narrow rills of +water. The Bascha, who had outstripped +his troops, was comfortably +encamped, heedless of their fate, +whilst they continued for a long time +to emerge in broken parties from the +wood. Mr Werne's good opinion of +his generalship had been already much +impaired, and this example of true +Turkish indolence, and of the absence +of any sort of military dispositions +under such critical circumstances, +completely destroyed it. The next +day there was some appearance of +establishing camp-guards, and of taking +due precautions against the fierce +and numerous foe, who on former +occasions had thrice defeated Turkish +armies, and from whom an attack might +at any moment be expected. In the +afternoon an alarm was given; the +Bascha, a good soldier, although a +bad general, was in the saddle in an +instant, and gallopping to the spot, +followed by all his cavalry, whilst the +infantry rushed confusedly in the +same direction. The uproar had +arisen, however, not from Arab assailants, +but from some soldiers who +had discovered extensive corn magazines—<em>silos</em>, +as they are called in Algeria—holes +in the ground, filled with +grain, and carefully covered over. +By the Bascha's permission, the soldiers +helped themselves from these +abundant granaries, and thus the +army found itself provided with corn +for the next two months. In the +course of the disorderly distribution, +or rather scramble, occurred a little +fight between the Schaïgië, a quarrelsome +set of irregulars, and some of +the Turks. Nothing could be worse +than the discipline of Achmet's host. +The Schaïgiës were active and daring +horsemen, and were the first to draw +blood in the campaign, in a skirmish +upon the following day with some +ambushed Arabs. The neighbouring +woods swarmed with these javelin-bearing +gentry, although they lay +close, and rarely showed themselves, +save when they could inflict injury +at small risk. Mr Werne began to +doubt the possibility of any extensive +or effectual operations against +these wild and wandering tribes, +who, on the approach of the army, +loaded their goods on camels, and +fled into the <i>Chaaba</i>, or forest district, +whither it was impossible to +follow them. Where was the Bascha +to find money and food for the support +of his numerous army?—where +was he to quarter it during the dangerous +<i>Chariff</i>, or rainy season? He +was very reserved as to his plans; +probably, according to Mr Werne,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span> +because he had none. The Schechs +who had joined and marched with +him could hardly be depended upon, +when it was borne in mind that they, +formerly the independent rulers of a +free people, had been despoiled of +their power and privileges, and were +now the ill-used vassals of the haughty +and stupid Turks, who overwhelmed +them with imposts, treated them contemptuously, +and even subjected them +to the bastinado. "Mohammed Din, +seeing the hard lot of these gentlemen, +seems disposed to preserve his +freedom as long as possible, or to sell +it as dearly as may be. Should it +come to a war, there is, upon our side, +a total want of efficient leaders, at +any rate if we except the Bascha. +Abdin Aga, chief of the Turkish cavalry, +a bloated Arnaut; Sorop Effendi, +a model of stupidity and covetousness; +Hassan Effendi Bimbaschi, +a quiet sot; Soliman Aga, greedy, +and without the slightest education of +any kind; Hassan Effendi of Sennaar, +a Turk in the true sense of the word +(these four are infantry commanders); +Mohammed Ladjam, a good-natured +but inexperienced fellow, chief of the +Mograbin cavalry: amongst all these +officers, the only difference is, that +each is more ignorant than his neighbour. +With such leaders, what can +be expected from an army that, for +the most part, knows no discipline—the +Schaïgiës, for instance, doing just +what they please, and being in a fair +way to corrupt all the rest—and that +is encumbered with an endless train +of dangerous rabble, idlers, slaves, +and women of pleasure, serving as +a burthen and hindrance? Let us +console ourselves with the <i>Allah +kerim!</i> (God is merciful.)" Mr +Werne had not long to wait for a +specimen of Turkish military skill. +On the night of the 7th April he was +watching in his tent beside his grievously +sick brother, when there suddenly +arose an uproar in the camp, +followed by firing. "I remained by +our tent, for my brother was scarcely +able to stir, and the infantry also +remained quiet, trusting to their +mounted comrades. But when I saw +Bimbaschi Hassan Effendi lead a +company past us, and madly begin to +fire over the powder-waggons, as if +these were meant to serve as barricades +against the hostile lances, I +ran up to him with my sabre drawn, +and threatened him with the Bascha, +as well as with the weapon, whereupon +he came to his senses, and +begged me not to betray him. The +whole proved to be mere noise, but +the harassed Bascha was again up +and active. He seemed to make no +use of his aides-de-camp, and only +his own presence could inspire his +troops with courage. Some of the +enemy were killed, and there were +many tracks of blood leading into the +wood, although the firing had been at +random in the darkness. As a specimen +of the tactics of our Napoleon-worshipping +Bascha, he allowed the +wells, which were at two hundred +yards from camp, to remain unguarded +at night, so that they might +easily have been filled up by the +enemy. Truly fortunate was it that +there were no great stones in the +neighbourhood to choke them up, for +we were totally without implements +wherewith to have cleared them out +again." Luckily for this most careless +general and helpless army, the +Arabs neglected to profit by their +shortcomings, and on the 14th April, +after many negotiations, the renowned +Mohammed Din himself, awed, we +must suppose, by the numerical +strength of Achmet's troops, and +over-estimating their real value, committed +the fatal blunder of presenting +himself in the Turkish camp. Great +was the curiosity to see this redoubted +chief, who alighted at Schech Defalla's +tent, into which the soldiers impudently +crowded, to get a view of the +man before whom many of them had +formerly trembled and fled. "Mohammed +Din is of middle stature, +and of a black-brown colour, like all +his people; his countenance at first +says little, but, on longer inspection, +its expression is one of great +cunning; his bald head is bare; his +dress Arabian, with drawers of a fiery +red colour. His retinue consists, +without exception, of most ill-looking +fellows, on whose countenances Nature +seems to have done her best to +express the faithless character attributed +to the Haddenda. They are +all above the middle height, and +armed with shields and lances, or +swords." Next morning Mr Werne<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span> +saw the Bascha seated on his <i>angarèb</i>, +(a sort of bedstead, composed of +plaited strips of camel-hide, which, +upon the march, served as a throne,) +with a number of Shechs squatted +upon the ground on either side of +him, amongst them Mohammed Din, +looking humbled, and as if half-repentant +of his rash step. The Bascha +appeared disposed to let him feel that +he was now no better than a caged +lion, whose claws the captor can cut +at will. He showed him, however, +marks of favour, gave him a red +shawl for a turban, and a purple +mantle with gold tassels, but no +sabre, which Mr Werne thought a +bad omen. The Schech was suffered +to go to and fro between the camp +and his own people, but under certain +control—now with an escort of +Schaïgiës, then leaving his son as +hostage. He sent in some cattle and +sheep as a present, and promised to +bring the tribute due; this he failed +to do, and a time was fixed to him +and the other Shechs within which to +pay up arrears. Notwithstanding the +subjection of their chief, the Arabs +continued their predatory practices, +stealing camels from the camp, or +taking them by force from the grooms +who drove them out to pasture.</p> + +<p>Mr Werne's book is a journal, +written daily during the campaign +but, owing to the long interval between +its writing and publication, he +has found it necessary to make frequent +parenthetical additions, corrective +or explanatory. Towards the +end of April, during great sickness in +camp, he writes as follows:—"My +brother's medical observations and +experiments begin to excite in me a +strong interest. He has promised me +that he will keep a medical journal; +but he must first get into better health, +for now it is always with sickening +disgust that he returns from visiting +his patients; he complains of the insupportable +effluvia from these people, +sinks upon his <i>angarèb</i> with depression +depicted in his features, and falls +asleep with open eyes, so that I often +feel quite uneasy." Then comes the +parenthesis of ten years' later date. +"Subsequently, when I had joined the +expedition for the navigation of the +White Nile, he wrote to me from the +camp of Kàssela-el-Lus to Chartum, +that, with great diligence and industry, +he had written some valuable +papers on African diseases, and was +inconsolable at having lost them. He +had been for ten days dangerously +ill, had missed me sadly, and, in a fit +of delirium, when his servant asked +him for paper to light the fire, had +handed him his manuscript, which the +stupid fellow had forthwith burned. +At the same time, he lamented that, +during his illness, our little menagerie +had been starved to death. The +Bascha had been to see him, and by +his order Topschi Baschi had taken +charge of his money, that he might not +be robbed, giving the servants what +was needful for their keep, and for the +purchase of flesh for the animals. The +servants had drunk the money intended +for the beasts' food. When my +brother recovered his health, he had +the <em>fagged</em>, (a sort of lynx,) which had +held out longest, and was only just +dead, cut open, and so convinced himself +that it had died of hunger. The +annoyance one has to endure from +these people is beyond conception, +and the very mildest-tempered man—as, +for instance, my late brother—is +compelled at times to make use of the +whip."</p> + +<p>Whilst Mohammed Din and the +other Shechs, accompanied by detachments +of Turkish troops, intended +partly to support them in their demands, +and partly to reconnoitre the +country, endeavoured to get together +the stipulated tribute, the army remained +stationary. But repose did +not entail monotony; strange incidents +were of daily occurrence in this singular +camp. The Wernes, always +anxious for the increase of their cabinet +of stuffed birds and beasts, sent +their huntsman Abdallah with one of +the detachments, remaining themselves, +for the present at least, at headquarters, +to collect whatever might +come in their way. The commander +of the Mograbins sent them an antelope +as big as a donkey, having legs +like a cow, and black twisted horns. +From the natives little was to be +obtained. They were very shy and +ill-disposed, and could not be prevailed +upon, even by tenfold payment, +to supply the things most abundant +with them, as for instance milk and +honey. In hopes of alluring and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span> +conciliating them, the Bascha ordered +those traders who had accompanied +the army to establish a bazaar outside +the fence enclosing the camp. The +little mirrors that were there sold +proved a great attraction. The Arabs +would sit for whole days looking in +them, and pulling faces. But no +amount of reflection could render them +amicable or honest: they continued to +steal camels and asses whenever they +could, and one of them caught a +Schaigie's horse, led him up to the +camp, and stabbed him to death. So +great was the hatred of these tribes to +their oppressors—a hatred which +would have shown itself by graver +aggressions, but for Achmet's large +force, and above all, for their dread +of firearms. Within the camp there +was wild work enough at times. The +good-hearted, hot-headed Werne was +horribly scandalised by the ill-treatment +of the slaves. Dumont, the +French apothecary, had a poor lad +named Amber, a mere boy, willing +and industrious, whom he continually +beat and kicked, until at last Mr +Werne challenged him to a duel with +sabres, and threatened to take away +the slave, which he, as a Frenchman, +had no legal right to possess. But +this was nothing compared to the +cruelties practised by other Europeans, +and especially at Chartum by +one Vigoureux, (a French corporal +who had served under Napoleon, and +was now adjutant of an Egyptian +battalion,) and his wife, upon a poor +black girl, only ten years of age, +whom they first barbarously flogged, +and then tied to a post, with her +bleeding back exposed to the broiling +sun. Informed of this atrocity by his +brother, who had witnessed it, Mr +Werne sprang from his sickbed, and +flew to the rescue, armed with his +sabre, and with a well-known iron +stick, ten pounds in weight, which +had earned him the nickname of Abu-Nabut, +or Father of the Stick. A +distant view of his incensed countenance +sufficed, and the Frenchman, +cowardly as cruel, hastened to release +his victim, and to humble himself +before her humane champion. Concerning +this corporal and his dame, +whom he had been to France to fetch, +and who was brought to bed on camel-back, +under a burning sun, in the +midst of the desert, some curious +reminiscences are set down in the +<cite>Feldzug</cite>, as are also some diverting +details of the improprieties of the dissipated +gunner Topschi Baschi, who, +on the 1st May, brought dancing-girls +into the hut occupied by the two +Germans, and assembled a mob round +it by the indecorous nature of his +proceedings. Regulations for the internal +order and security of the camp +were unheard of. After a time, tents +were pitched over the ammunition; a +ditch was dug around it, and strict +orders were given to light no fire in its +vicinity. All fires, too, by command +of the Bascha, were to be extinguished +when the evening gun was fired. For +a short time the orders were obeyed; +then they were forgotten; fires were +seen blazing late at night, and within +fifteen paces of the powder. Nothing +but the bastinado could give memory +to these reckless fatalists. "I have +often met ships upon the Nile, so laden +with straw that there was scarcely +room for the sailors to work the vessel. +No matter for that; in the midst of +the straw a mighty kitchen-fire was +merrily blazing."</p> + +<p>On the 6th of May, the two Wernes +mounted their dromedaries and set off, +attended by one servant, and with a +guide provided by Mohammed Defalla, +for the village of El Soffra, at a distance +of two and a half leagues, where +they expected to find Mohammed Din +and a large assemblage of his tribe. +It was rather a daring thing to advance +thus unescorted into the land +of the treacherous Haddendas, and the +Bascha gave his consent unwillingly; +but Mussa, (Moses,) the Din's only +son, was hostage in the camp, and +they deemed themselves safer alone +than with the half company of soldiers +Achmet wanted to send with them. +Their route lay due east, at first through +fields of <i>durra</i>, (a sort of grain,) +afterwards through forests of saplings. +The natives they met greeted +them courteously, and they reached +El Soffra without molestation, but +there learned, to their considerable +annoyance, that Mohammed Din +had gone two leagues and a half +farther, to the camp of his nephew +Shech Mussa, at Mitkenàb. So, after +a short pause, they again mounted +their camels, and rode off, loaded with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span> +maledictions by the Arabs, because +they would not remain and supply +them with medicine, although the same +Arabs refused to requite the drugs +with so much as a cup of milk. They +rode for more than half an hour before +emerging from the straggling village, +which was composed of wretched huts +made of palm-mats, having an earthen +cooking-vessel, a leathern water-bottle, +and two stones for bruising corn, +for sole furniture. The scanty dress +of the people—some of the men had +nothing but a leathern apron round +their hips, and a sheep-skin, with the +wool inwards, over their shoulders—their +long hair and wild countenances, +gave them the appearance of thorough +savages. In the middle of every village +was an open place, where the +children played stark naked in the +burning sun, their colour and their +extraordinarily nimble movements +combining, says Mr Werne, to give +them the appearance of a troop of +young imps. Infants, which in Europe +would lie helpless in the cradle, are +there seen rolling in the sand, with none +to mind them, and playing with the +young goats and other domestic +animals. In that torrid climate, the +development of the human frame is +wonderfully rapid. Those women of +whom the travellers caught a sight in +this large village, which consisted of +upwards of two thousand huts and +tents, were nearly all old and ugly. +The young ones, when they by chance +encountered the strangers, covered +their faces, and ran away. On the +road to Mitkenàb, however, some +young and rather handsome girls +showed themselves. "They all looked +at us with great wonder," says Mr +Werne, "and took us for Turks, for +we are the first Franks who have come +into this country."</p> + +<p>Mitkenàb, pleasantly situated +amongst lofty trees, seemed to invite +the wanderers to cool shelter from +the mid-day sun. They were parched +with thirst when they entered it, but +not one of the inquisitive Arabs who +crowded around them would attend to +their request for a draught of milk or +water. Here, however, was Mohammed +Din, and with him a party of +Schaïgiës under Melek Mahmud, +whom they found encamped under a +great old tree, with his fifty horsemen +around him. After they had +taken some refreshment, the Din +came to pay them a visit. He refused +to take the place offered him on an +<i>angarèb</i>, but sat down upon the +ground, giving them to understand, +with a sneering smile, that <em>that</em> +was now the proper place for him. +"We had excellent opportunity to +examine the physiognomy of this +Schech, who is venerated like a +demigod by all the Arabs between +the Atbara and the Red Sea. 'He +is a brave man,' they say, 'full of +courage; there is no other like him!' +His face is fat and round, with small +grey-brown, piercing, treacherous-looking +eyes, expressing both the +cunning and the obstinacy of his +character; his nose is well-proportioned +and slightly flattened; his +small mouth constantly wears a +satirical scornful smile. But for this +expression and his thievish glance, +his bald crown and well-fed middle-sized +person would become a monk's +hood. He goes with his head bare, +wears a white cotton shirt and <em>ferda</em>, +and sandals on his feet.... We +told him that he was well known to +the Franks as a great hero; he shook +his head and said that on the salt +lake, at Souakim, he had seen great +ships with cannon, but that he did +not wish the help of the Inglèb (English;) +then he said something else, +which was not translated to us. I +incautiously asked him, how numerous +his nation was. 'Count the trees,' +he replied, glancing ironically around +him; (a poll-tax constituted a portion +of the tribute.) Conversation through +an interpreter was so wearisome that +we soon took our leave." At Mitkenàb +they were upon the borders of +the great forest (Chaaba) that extends +from the banks of the Atbara to the +shores of the Red Sea. It contains +comparatively few lofty trees—most +of these getting uprooted by hurricanes, +when the rainy season has +softened the ground round their roots—but +a vast deal of thicket and dense +brushwood, affording shelter to legions +of wild beasts; innumerable herds of +elephants, rhinoceroses, lions, tigers, +giraffes, various inferior beasts, and +multitudes of serpents of the most +venomous description. For fear of +these unpleasant neighbours, no Arab<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span> +at Mitkenàb quits his dwelling after +nightfall. "When we returned to +the wells, a little before sundown, we +found all the Schaïgiës on the move, +to take up their quarters in an enclosure +outside the village, partly on +account of the beasts of prey, especially +the lions, which come down to +drink of a night, partly for safety +from the unfriendly Arabs. We went +with them and encamped with Mammud +in the middle of the enclosure. +We slept soundly the night through, +only once aroused by the hoarse cries +of the hyenas, which were sneaking +about the village, setting all the +dogs barking. To insure our safety, +Mohammed Din himself slept at our +door—so well-disposed were his +people towards us." A rumour had +gained credit amongst the Arabs, that +the two mysterious strangers were, +sent by Achmet to reconnoitre the +country for the Bascha's own advance; +and so incensed were they at this, +that, although their beloved chief's +son was a hostage in the Turkish +camp, it was only by taking bypaths, +under guidance of a young +relative of Schech Mussa's, that the +Wernes were able to regain their +camp in safety. A few days after +their return they were both attacked +by bad fever, which for some time +prevented them from writing. They +lost their reckoning, and thenceforward +the journal is continued without +dates.</p> + +<p>The Bascha grew weary of life in +camp, and pined after action. In vain +did the Schaïgiës toss the djereed, and +go through irregular tournaments and +sham fights for his diversion; in vain +did he rattle the dice with Topschi +Baschi; vain were the blandishments +of an Abyssinian beauty whom he +had quartered in a hut surrounded +with a high fence, and for whose +amusement he not unfrequently had +nocturnal serenades performed by the +band of the 8th regiment; to which +brassy and inharmonious challenge +the six thousand donkeys assembled +in camp never failed to respond by an +ear-splitting bray, whilst the numerous +camels bellowed a bass: despite all +these amusements, the Bascha suffered +from ennui. He was furious when +he saw how slowly and scantily came +in the tribute for which he had made +this long halt. Some three hundred +cows were all that had yet been delivered; +a ridiculously small number +contrasted with the vast herds possessed +by those tribes. Achmet foamed +with rage at this ungrateful return +for his patience and consideration. +He reproached the Schechs who were +with him, and sent for Mohammed +Din, Shech Mussa, and the two +Shechs of Mitkenàb. Although their +people, foreboding evil, endeavoured to +dissuade them from obedience, they +all four came and were forthwith put +in irons and chained together. With +all his cunning Mohammed Din had +fallen into the snare. His plan had +been, so Mr Werne believes, to cajole +and detain the Turks by fair words +and promises until the rainy season, +when hunger and sickness would have +proved his best allies. The Bascha +had been beforehand with him, and +the old marauder might now repent at +leisure that he had not trusted to his +impenetrable forests and to the javelins +of his people, rather than to the word +of a Turk. On the day of his arrest +the usual evening gun was loaded +with canister, and fired into the +woods in the direction of the Haddendas, +the sound of cannon inspiring +the Arab and negro tribes with a +panic fear. Firearms—to them incomprehensible +weapons—have served +more than anything else to daunt +their courage. "When the Turks +attacked a large and populous mountain +near Faszogl, the blacks sent out +spies to see how strong was the foe, +and how armed. The spies came +back laughing, and reported that +there was no great number of men; +that their sole arms were shining sticks +upon their shoulders, and that they +had neither swords, lances, nor shields. +The poor fellows soon found how +terrible an effect had the sticks they +deemed so harmless. As they could +not understand how it was that small +pieces of lead should wound and kill, +a belief got abroad amongst them, +that the Afrite, Scheitàn, (the devil or +evil spirit,) dwelt in the musket-barrels. +With this conviction, a +negro, grasping a soldier's musket, +put his hand over the mouth of the +barrel, that the afrite might not get +out. The soldier pulled the trigger, +and the leaden devil pierced the poor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span> +black's hand and breast. After an +action, a negro collected the muskets +of six or seven slain soldiers, and joyfully +carried them home, there to +forge them into lances in the presence +of a party of his friends. But it +happened that some of them were +loaded, and soon getting heated in +the fire, they went off, scattering +death and destruction around them." +Most of the people in Taka run from +the mere report of a musket, but the +Arabs of Hedjàs, a mountainous +district near the Red Sea, possess +firearms, and are slow but very good +shots.</p> + +<p>In the way of tribute, nothing was +gained by the imprisonment of Mahommed +Din and his companions. +No more contributions came in, and +not an Arab showed himself upon +the market-place outside the camp. +Mohammed Din asked why his captors +did not kill rather than confine +him; he preferred death to captivity, +and keeping him prisoner would lead, +he said, to no result. The Arab +chiefs in camp did not conceal their +disgust at the Bascha's treatment of +their Grand-Shech, and taxed Achmet +with having broken his word, since +he had given him the Amàhn—promise +of pardon. Any possibility of +conciliating the Arabs was destroyed +by the step that had been taken. At +night they swarmed round the camp, +shrieking their war-cry. The utmost +vigilance was necessary; a third of +the infantry was under arms all night, +the consequent fatigue increasing the +amount of sickness. The general +aspect of things was anything but +cheering. The Wernes had their +private causes of annoyance. Six of +their camels, including the two excellent +dromedaries given to them by the +Bascha before quitting Chartum, were +stolen whilst their camel-driver slept, +and could not be recovered. They +were compelled to buy others, and +Mr Werne complains bitterly of the +heavy expenses of the campaign—expenses +greatly augmented by the +sloth and dishonesty of their servants. +The camel-driver, fearing to face his +justly-incensed employers, disappeared +and was no more heard of. Upon +this and other occasions, Mr Werne +was struck by the extraordinary skill +of the Turks in tracing animals and +men by their footsteps. In this manner +his servants tracked his camels to an +Arab village, although the road had +been trampled by hundreds of beasts +of the same sort. "If these people +have once seen the footprint of a man, +camel, horse, or ass, they are sure to +recognise it amongst thousands of +such impressions, and will follow the +trail any distance, so long as the +ground is tolerably favourable, and +wind or rain has not obliterated the +marks. In cases of loss, people send +for a man who makes this kind of +search his profession; they show him +a footprint of the lost animal, and +immediately, without asking any +other indication, he follows the track +through the streets of a town, daily +trodden by thousands, and seldom +falls to hunt out the game. He does +not proceed slowly, or stoop to examine +the ground, but his sharp eye +follows the trail at a run. We ourselves +saw the footstep of a runaway +slave shown to one of these men, who +caught the fugitive at the distance of +three days' journey from that spot. +My brother once went out of the +Bascha's house at Chartum, to visit a +patient who lived far off in the town. +He had been gone an hour when the +Bascha desired to see him, and the +tschansch (orderly) traced him at +once by his footmarks on the unpaved +streets in which crowds had left +similar signs. When, in consequence +of my sickness, we lingered for some +days on the Atbara, and then marched +to overtake the army, the Schaïgiës +who escorted us detected, amidst the +hoof-marks of the seven or eight +thousand donkeys accompanying the +troops, those of a particular jackass +belonging to one of their friends, and +the event proved that they were +right." Mr Werne fills his journal, +during his long sojourn in camp, with +a great deal of curious information +concerning the habits and peculiarities +of both Turks and Arabs, as well as +with the interesting results of his +observations on the brute creation. +The soldiers continued to bring to +him and his brother all manner of +animals and reptiles—frogs, whole +coils of snakes, and chameleons, which +there abound, but whose changes of +colour Mr Werne found to be much less +numerous than is commonly believed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span> +For two months he watched the +variations of hue of these curious +lizards, and found them limited to +different shades of grey and green, +with yellow stripes and spots. He +made a great pet of a young wild cat, +which was perfectly tame, and extraordinarily +handsome. Its colour was +grey, beautifully spotted with black, +like a panther; its head was smaller +and more pointed than that of European +cats; its ears, of unusual size, +were black, with white stripes. +Many of the people in camp took it +to be a young tiger, but the natives +called it a <em>fagged</em>, and said it was a +sort of cat, in which Mr Werne +agreed with them. "Its companion +and playfellow is a rat, about the +size of a squirrel, with a long silvery +tail, which, when angry, it swells out, +and sets up over its back. This poor +little beast was brought to us with +two broken legs, and we gave it to +the cat, thinking it was near death. +But the cat, not recognising her +natural prey—and moreover feeling +the want of a companion—and the +rat, tamed by pain and cured by +splints, became inseparable friends, +ate together, and slept arm in arm. +The rat, which was not ugly like our +house rats, but was rather to be considered +handsome, by reason of its +long frizzled tail, never made use of +its liberty to escape." Notwithstanding +the numerous devices put in practice +by the Wernes to pass their +time, it at last began to hang heavy, +and their pipes were almost their sole +resource and consolation. Smoking +is little customary in Egypt, except +amongst the Turks and Arabs. The +Mograbins prefer chewing. The blacks +of the Gesira make a concentrated +infusion of this weed, which they call +<em>bucca</em>; take a mouthful of it, and roll +the savoury liquor round their teeth +for a quarter of an hour before ejecting +it. They are so addicted to this +practice, that they invite their friends +to "bucca" as Europeans do to +dinner. The vessel containing the +tobacco juice makes the round of the +party, and a profound silence ensues, +broken only by the harmonious gurgle +of the delectable fluid. Conversation +is carried on by signs.</p> + +<p>"We shall march to-morrow," had +long been the daily assurance of those +wiseacres, to be found in every army, +who always know what the general +means to do better than the general +himself. At last the much-desired +order was issued—of course when +everybody least expected it—and, +after a night of bustle and confusion, +the army got into motion, in its usual +disorderly array. Its destination was +a mountain called Kassela-el-Lus, in +the heart of the Taka country, whither +the Bascha had sent stores of grain, +and where he proposed passing the +rainy season and founding a new +town. The distance was about fourteen +hours' march. The route led +south-eastwards, at first through a +level country, covered with boundless +fields of tall <em>durra</em>. At the horizon, +like a great blue cloud, rose the +mountain of Kassela, a blessed sight +to eyes that had long been weary of +the monotonous level country. After +a while the army got out of the durra-fields, +and proceeded over a large +plain scantily overgrown with grass, +observing a certain degree of military +order and discipline, in anticipation +of an attempt, on the part of the +angry Arabs, to rescue Mohammed +Din and his companions in captivity. +Numerous hares and jackals were +started and ridden down. Even +gazelles, swift as they are, were sometimes +overtaken by the excellent +Turkish horses. Presently the grass +grew thicker and tall enough to conceal +a small donkey, and they came +to wooded tracts and jungles, and +upon marks of elephants and other +wild beasts. The foot-prints of the +elephants, in places where the ground +had been slightly softened by the +rain, were often a foot deep, and from +a foot and a half to two feet in length +and breadth. Mr Werne regrets not +obtaining a view of one of these giant +brutes. The two-horned rhinoceros +is also common in that region, and is +said to be of extraordinary ferocity +in its attacks upon men and beasts, +and not unfrequently to come off conqueror +in single combat with the elephant. +"Suddenly the little Schaïgiës +cavalry set up a great shouting, and +every one handled his arms, anticipating +an attack from the Arabs. +But soon the cry of 'Asset! Asset!' +(lion) was heard, and we gazed eagerly +on every side, curious for the lion's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span> +appearance. The Bascha had already +warned his chase-loving cavalry, +under penalty of a thousand blows, not +to quit their ranks on the appearance +of wild beasts, for in that broken +ground he feared disorder in the army +and an attack from the enemy. I +and my brother were at that moment +with Melek Mahmud at the outward +extremity of the left wing; suddenly +a tolerably large lioness trotted out of +a thicket beside us, not a hundred +paces off. She seemed quite fearless, +for she did not quicken her pace at +sight of the army. The next minute +a monstrous lion showed himself at +the same spot, roaring frightfully, and +apparently in great fury; his motions +were still slower than those of his +female; now and then he stood still +to look at us, and after coming to +within sixty or seventy paces—we all +standing with our guns cocked, ready +to receive him—he gave us a parting +scowl, and darted away, with great +bounds, in the track of his wife. In +a moment both had disappeared." +Soon after this encounter, which +startled and delighted Dr Werne, and +made his brother's little dromedary +dance with alarm, they reached the +banks of the great <i>gohr</i>, (the bed of +a river, filled only in the rainy season,) +known as El Gasch, which +intersects the countries of Taka and +Basa. With very little daring and +still less risk, the Haddendas, who +are said to muster eighty thousand +fighting men, might have annihilated +the Bascha's army, as it wound its +toilsome way for nearly a league +along the dry water-course, (whose +high banks were crowned with trees +and thick bushes,) the camels stumbling +and occasionally breaking their +legs in the deep holes left by the feet +of the elephants, where the cavalry +could not have acted, and where +every javelin must have told upon +the disorderly groups of weary infantry. +The Arabs either feared the +firearms, or dreaded lest their attack +should be the signal for the +instant slaughter of their Grand-Shech, +who rode, in the midst of the +infantry, upon a donkey, which had +been given him out of consideration +for his age, whilst the three other +prisoners were cruelly forced to perform +the whole march on foot, with +heavy chains on their necks and feet, +and exposed to the jibes of the +pitiless soldiery. On quitting the +Gohr, the march was through trees +and brushwood, and then through a +sort of labyrinthine swamp, where +horses and camels stumbled at every +step, and where the Arabs again had +a glorious opportunity, which they +again neglected, of giving Achmet +such a lesson as they had given to his +predecessor in the Baschalik. The +army now entered the country of the +Hallengas, and a six days' halt succeeded +to their long and painful +march.</p> + +<p>It would be of very little interest +to trace the military operations of +Achmet Bascha, which were altogether +of the most contemptible +description—consisting in the <i>chasuas</i>, +or razzias already noticed, sudden +and secret expeditions of bodies of +armed men against defenceless tribes, +whom they despoiled of their cattle +and women. From his camp at the +foot of Kassela-el-Lus, the Bascha +directed many of these marauding +parties, remaining himself safely in a +large hut, which Mr Werne had had +constructed for him, and usually +cheating the men and officers, who had +borne the fatigue and run the risk, +out of their promised share of the +booty. Sometimes the unfortunate +natives, driven to the wall and rendered +desperate by the cruelties of +their oppressors, found courage for a +stout resistance.</p> + +<p>"An expedition took place to the +mountains of Basa, and the troops +brought back a large number of +prisoners of both sexes. The men +were almost all wounded, and showed +great fortitude under the painful +operation of extracting the balls. +Even the Turks confessed that these +mountaineers had made a gallant +defence with lances and stones. Of +our soldiers several had musket-shot +wounds, inflicted by their comrades' +disorderly fire. The Turks asserted +that the Mograbins and Schaïgiës +sometimes fired intentionally at the +soldiers, to drive them from their +booty. It was a piteous sight to see +the prisoners—especially the women +and children—brought into camp +bound upon camels, and with despair +in their countenances. Before they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span> +were sold or allotted, they were taken +near the tent of Topschi Baschi, +where a fire was kept burning, and +were all, even to the smallest children, +branded on the shoulder with a red-hot +iron in the form of a star. +When their moans and lamentations +reached our hut, we took our +guns and hastened away out shooting +with three servants. These, notwithstanding +our exhortations, would +ramble from us, and we had got +exceedingly angry with them for so +doing, when suddenly we heard three +shots, and proceeded in that direction, +thinking it was they who had +fired. Instead of them, we found +three soldiers, lying upon the +ground, bathed in their blood and +terribly torn. Two were already +dead, and the third, whose whole +belly was ripped up, told us they had +been attacked by a lion. The three +shots brought up our servants, whom +we made carry the survivor into camp, +although my brother entertained +slight hopes of saving him. The +Bascha no sooner heard of the incident +than he got on horseback with +Soliman Kaschef and his people, to +hunt the lion, and I accompanied him +with my huntsman Sale, a bold fellow, +who afterwards went with me up the +White Nile. On reaching the spot +where the lion had been, the Turks +galloped off to seek him, and I and +Sale alone remained behind. Suddenly +I heard a heavy trampling, and +a crashing amongst the bushes, and I +saw close beside me an elephant with +its calf. Sale, who was at some distance, +and had just shot a parrot, +called out to know if he should fire at +the elephant, which I loudly forbade +him to do. The beast broke its way +through the brushwood just at hand. +I saw its high back, and took up a +safe position amongst several palm-trees, +which all grew from one root, +and were so close together that the +elephant could not get at me. Sale +was already up a tree, and told me +the elephant had turned round, and +was going back into the chaaba. The +brute seemed angry or anxious about +its young one, for we found the +ground dug up for a long distance by +its tusk as by a plough. Some shots +were fired, and we thought the Bascha +and his horsemen were on the track +of the lion, but they had seen the elephant, +and formed a circle round it. +A messenger galloped into camp, +and in a twinkling the Arnaut Abdin +Bey came up with part of his people. +The elephant, assailed on all sides by +a rain of bullets, charged first one +horseman, then another; they delivered +their fire and galloped off. +The eyes were the point chiefly aimed +at, and it soon was evident that he +was blinded by the bullets, for when +pursuing his foes he ran against the +trees, the shock of his unwieldy mass +shaking the fruit from the palms. +The horsemen dismounted and +formed a smaller circle around him. +He must already have received some +hundred bullets, and the ground over +which he staggered was dyed red, +when the Bascha crept quite near +him, knelt down and sent a shot into +his left eye, whereupon the colossus +sank down upon his hinder end and +died. Nothing was to be seen of the +calf or of the lion, but a few days +later a large male lion was killed by +Soliman Kaschef's men, close to camp, +where we often in the night-time +heard the roaring of those brutes."</p> + +<p>Just about this time bad news +reached the Wernes. Their huntsman +Abdallah, to whom they were +much attached by reason of his gallantry +and fidelity, had gone a long +time before to the country of the Beni-Amers, +eastward from Taka, in company +of a Schaïgië chief, mounted +on one of their best camels, armed +with a double-barrelled gun, and provided +with a considerable sum of +money for the purchase of giraffes. +On his way back to his employers, +with a valuable collection of stuffed +birds and other curiosities, he was +barbarously murdered, when travelling, +unescorted, through the Hallenga +country, and plundered of all his baggage. +Sale, who went to identify his +friend's mutilated corpse, attributed +the crime to the Hallengas. Mr +Werne was disposed to suspect Mohammed +Ehle, a great villain, whom +the Bascha at times employed as a +secret stabber and assassin. This +Ehle had been appointed Schech of +the Hallengas by the Divan, in lieu +of the rightful Schech, who had refused +submission to the Turks. Three +nephews of Mohammed Din (one of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span> +them the same youth who had escorted +the Wernes safely back to camp +when they were in peril of their +lives in the Haddenda country) came +to visit their unfortunate relative, who +was still a prisoner, cruelly treated, +lying upon the damp earth, chained to +two posts, and awaiting with fortitude +the cruel death by impalement with +which the Bascha threatened him. +Achmet received the young men very +coldly, and towards evening they set +out, greatly depressed by their uncle's +sad condition, upon their return homewards. +Early next morning the +Wernes, when out shooting, found +the dead bodies of their three friends. +They had been set upon and slain +after a gallant defence, as was testified +by their bloody lances, and by +other signs of a severe struggle. The +birds of prey had already picked out +their eyes, and their corpses presented +a frightful spectacle. The Wernes, +convinced that this assassination had +taken place by the Bascha's order, +loaded the bodies on a camel, took +them to Achmet, and preferred an +accusation against the Hallengas for +this shameful breach of hospitality. +The Bascha's indifference confirmed +their suspicions. He testified no indignation, +but there was great excitement +amongst his officers; and when +they left the Divan, Mr Werne violently +reproached Mohammed Ehle, +whom he was well assured was the +murderer, and who endured his anger +in silence. "The Albanian Abdin +Bey was so enraged that he was only +withheld by the united persuasions of +the other officers from mounting his +horse and charging Mohammed Ehle +with his wild Albanians, the consequence +of which would inevitably +have been a general mutiny against +the Bascha, for the soldiers had long +been murmuring at their bad food and +ill treatment." The last hundred +pages of Mr Werne's very closely +printed and compendious volume +abound in instances of the Bascha's +treachery and cruelty, and of the retaliation +exercised by the Arabs. On +one occasion a party of fifty Turkish +cavalry were murdered by the Haddendas, +who had invited them to a +feast. The town of Gos-Rajeb was +burned, twenty of the merchants there +resident were killed, and the corn, +stored there for the use of the army +on its homeward march, was plundered. +The Bascha had a long-cherished +plan of cutting off the supply of +water from the country of the +Haddendas. This was to be done by +damming up the Gohr-el-Gasch, and +diverting the abundant stream which, +in the rainy season, rushed along its +deep gully, overflowing the tall +banks and fertilising fields and forests. +As the Bascha's engineer and confidential +adviser, Mr Werne was +compelled to direct this work. By the +labour of thousands of men, extensive +embankments were made, and the +Haddendas began to feel the want of +water, which had come down from +the Abyssinian mountains, and already +stood eight feet deep in the +Gohr. Mr Werne repented his share +in the cruel work, and purposely +abstained from pressing the formation +of a canal which was to carry off the +superfluous water to the Atbara, there +about three leagues distant from the +Gohr. And one morning he was +awakened by a great uproar in the +camp, and by the shouts of the Bascha, +who was on horseback before his +hut, and he found that a party of Haddendas +had thrashed a picket and +made an opening in the dykes, which +was the deathblow to Achmet's magnificent +project of extracting an exorbitant +tribute from Mohammed Din's +tribe as the price of the supply of +water essential to their very existence. +The sole results of the cruel +attempt were a fever to the Bascha, +who had got wet, and the sickness of +half the army, who had been compelled +to work like galley-slaves under +a burning sun and upon bad rations. +The vicinity of Kassela is rich in +curious birds and beasts. The mountain +itself swarms with apes, and Mr +Werne frequently saw groups of two +or three hundred of them seated upon +the cliffs. They are about the size +of a large dog, with dark brown hair +and hideous countenances. Awful +was the screaming and howling they +set up of a night, when they received +the unwelcome visit of some hungry +leopard or prowling panther. Once +the Wernes went out with their guns +for a day's sport amongst the monkeys, +but were soon glad to beat a retreat +under a tremendous shower of stones.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span> +Hassan, a Turk, who purveyed the +brothers with hares, gazelles, and +other savoury morsels, and who was +a very good shot, promised to bring +in—of course for good payment—not +only a male and female monkey, but +a whole camel-load if desired. He +started off with this object, but did +not again show himself for some days, +and tried to sneak out of the Wernes' +way when they at last met him in the +bazaar. He had a hole in his head, +and his shoulder badly hurt, and declared +he would have nothing more +to say to those <em>transformed men</em> upon +the mountain. Mr Werne was very +desirous to catch a monkey alive, but +was unsuccessful, and Mohammed +Ehle refused to sell a tame one which +he owned, and which usually sat upon +his hut. Mr Werne thinks them a +variety of the Chimpanzee. They +fight amongst themselves with sticks, +and defend themselves fiercely with +stones against the attacks of men. +Upon the whole the Wernes were +highly fortunate in collecting zoological +and ornithological specimens, of +which they subsequently sent a large +number, stuffed, to the Berlin museum. +They also secured several birds and +animals alive; amongst these a young +lion and a civet cat. Regarding reptiles +they were very curious, and nothing of +that kind was too long or too large +for them. As Ferdinand Werne was +sitting one day upon his dromedary, in +company with the Bascha, on the left +bank of the Gasch, the animals shied +at a large serpent which suddenly +darted by. The Bascha ordered the +men who were working at the dykes +to capture it, which they at once proceeded +to do, as unconcernedly as an +English haymaker would assail a +hedge snake. "Pursued by several +men, the serpent plunged into the +water, out of which it then boldly +reared its head, and confronted an +Arab who had jumped in after it, +armed with a <i>hassaie</i>. With extraordinary +skill and daring the Arab +approached it, his club uplifted, and +struck it over the head, so that the +serpent fell down stunned and writhing +mightily; whereupon another +Arab came up with a cord; the club-bearer, +without further ceremony, +griped the reptile by the throat, just +below the head; the noose was made +fast, and the pair of them dragged +their prize on shore. There it lay for +a moment motionless, and we contemplated +the terribly beautiful creature, +which was more than eleven +feet long and half-a-foot in diameter. +But when they began to drag it away, +by which the skin would of course be +completely spoiled, orders were given +to <em>carry</em> it to camp. A jacket was +tied over its head, and three men set +to work to get it upon their shoulders; +but the serpent made such violent +convulsive movements that all three +fell to the ground with it, and the +same thing occurred again when +several others had gone to their +assistance. I accompanied them into +camp, drove a big nail into the foremost +great beam of our <i>recuba</i>, (hut,) +and had the monster suspended from +it. He hung down quite limp, as did +also several other snakes, which were +still alive, and which our servants had +suspended inside our hut, intending +to skin them the next morning, as +it was now nearly dark. In the +night I felt a most uncomfortable +sensation. One of the snakes, which +was hung up at the head of my +bed, had smeared his cold tail over +my face. But I sprang to my feet in +real alarm, and thought I had been +struck over the shin with a club, when +the big serpent, now in the death +agony, gave me a wipe with its tail +through the open door, in front of +which our servants were squatted, +telling each other ghost stories of +snake-kings and the like.... +They called this serpent <i>assala</i>, which, +however, is a name they give to all +large serpents. Soon afterwards we +caught another, as thick, but only +nine feet long, and with a short tail, +like the <i>Vipera cerastes</i>; and this was +said to be of that breed of short, thick +snakes which can devour a man." In +the mountains of Basa, two days' +journey from the Gohr-el-Gasch, and +on the road thither, snakes are said +to exist, of no great length, but as +thick as a crocodile, and which can +conveniently swallow a man; and +instances were related to Mr Werne +of these monsters having swallowed +persons when they lay sleeping on +their angarèbs. Sometimes the victims +had been rescued <em>when only half +gorged</em>! Of course travellers hear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span> +strange stories, and some of those +related by Mr Werne are tolerably +astounding; but these are derived +from his Turkish, Egyptian, or Arabian +acquaintances, and there is no +appearance of exaggeration or romancing +in anything which he narrates as +having occurred to or been witnessed +by himself. A wild tradition was +told him of a country called Bellad-el-Kelb, +which signifies the Country +of Dogs, where the women were in all +respects human, but where the men +had faces like dogs, claws on their feet, +and tails like monkeys. They could +not speak, but carried on conversation +by wagging their tails. This ludicrous +account appeared explicable by +the fact, that the men of Bellad-el-Kelb +are great robbers, living by +plunder, and, like fierce and hungry +dogs, never relinquishing their prey.</p> + +<p>The Hallengas, amongst whom the +expedition now found itself, were far +more frank and friendly, and much +less wild, than the Haddendas and +some other tribes, and they might +probably have been converted into +useful allies by a less cruel and capricious +invader than the Bascha. But +conciliation was no part of his scheme; +if he one day caressed a tribe or a +chief, it was only to betray them the +next. Mr Werne was on good terms +with some of the Hallenga sheiks, and +went to visit the village of Hauathi, +about three miles from camp, to see +the birds of paradise which abounded +there. On his road he saw from afar +a great tree covered with those beautiful +birds, and which glistened in the +sunshine with all the colours of the +rainbow. Some days later he and +his brother went to drink <i>merissa</i>, a +slightly intoxicating liquor, with one +of the Fakis or priests of the country. +The two Germans got very jovial, +drinking to each other, student-fashion; +and the faki, attempting to +keep pace with them, got crying-drunk, +and disclosed a well-matured +plan for blowing up their powder-magazine. +The ammunition had been +stored in the village of Kadmin, which +was a holy village, entirely inhabited +by fakis. The Bascha had made sure +that none of the natives would risk +blowing up these holy men, even for +the sake of destroying his ammunition, +and he was unwilling to keep so +large a quantity of powder amidst +his numerous camp-fires and reckless +soldiery. But the fakis had +made their arrangements. On a certain +night they were to depart, carrying +away all their property into the +great caverns of Mount Kassela, and +fire was to be applied to the house +that held the powder. Had the plot +succeeded, the whole army was lost, +isolated as it was in the midst of +unfriendly tribes, embittered by its +excesses, and by the aggressions and +treachery of its chief, and who, stimulated +by their priests, would in all +probability have exterminated it to +the last man, when it no longer had +cartridges for its defence. The drunken +faki's indiscretion saved Achmet and +his troops; the village was forthwith +surrounded, and the next day the +ammunition was transferred to camp. +Not to rouse the whole population +against him, the Bascha abstained for +the moment from punishing the conspirators, +but he was not the man to +let them escape altogether; and some +time afterwards, Mr Werne, who had +returned to Chartum, received a letter +from his brother, informing him that +nine fakis had been hung on palm-trees +just outside the camp, and that +the magnanimous Achmet proposed +treating forty more in the same +way.</p> + +<p>A mighty liar was Effendina Achmet +Bascha, as ever ensnared a foe +or broke faith with a friend. Greedy +and cruel was he also, as only a +Turkish despot can be. One of his +most active and unscrupulous agents +was a bloodsucker named Hassan +Effendi, whom he sent to the country +of the Beni-Amers to collect three +thousand five hundred cows and thirteen +hundred camels, the complement +of their tribute. Although this tribe +had upon the whole behaved very +peaceably, Hassan's first act was to +shoot down a couple of hundred of +them like wild beasts. Then he seized +a large number of camels belonging to +the Haddendas, although the tribe +was at that very time in friendly negotiation +with the Bascha. The Haddendas +revenged themselves by burning +Gos-Rajeb. In proof of their +valour, Hassan's men cut off the ears +of the murdered Beni-Amers, and took +them to Achmet, who gave them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span> +money for the trophies. "They had +forced a slave to cut off the ears; +yonder now lies the man—raving +mad, and bound with cords. Camel-thieves, +too—no matter to what tribe +they belong—if caught <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">in flagranti</i>, +lose their ears, for which the Bascha +gives a reward. That many a man +who never dreamed of committing a +theft loses his ears in this way, is +easy to understand, for the operation +is performed on the spot." Dawson +Borrer, in his <cite>Campaign in the Kabylie</cite>, +mentions a very similar practice +as prevailing in Marshal Bugeaud's +camp, where ten francs was the fixed +price for the head of a horse-stealer, +it being left to the soldiers who severed +the heads and received the money to +discriminate between horse-stealers +and honest men. Whether Bugeaud +took a hint from the Bascha, or the +Bascha was an admiring imitator of +Bugeaud, remains a matter of doubt. +"Besides many handsome women and +children, Hassan Effendi brought in +two thousand nine hundred cows, and +seven thousand sheep." He might +have been a French prince returning +from a razzia. "For himself he kept +eighty camels, <em>which he said he had +bought</em>." A droll dog, this Hassan +Effendi, but withal rather covetous—given +to sell his soldier's rations, and +to starve his servants, a single piastre—about +twopence halfpenny—being +his whole daily outlay for meat for +his entire household, who lived for +the most part upon durra and water. +If his servants asked for wages, they +received the bastinado. "The Bascha +had given the poor camel-drivers +sixteen cows. The vampire (Hassan) +took upon himself to appropriate thirteen +of them." Mr Werne reported +this robbery to the Bascha, but Achmet +merely replied "<i>malluch</i>"—signifying, +"it matters not." When +inferior officers received horses as +their share of booty, Hassan bought +them of them, but always forgot to +pay, and the poor subalterns feared +to complain to the Bascha, who favoured +the rogue, and recommended +him to the authorities at Cairo for +promotion to the rank of Bey, because, +as he told Mr Werne with an +ironical smile, Hassan was getting +very old and infirm, and when he +died the Divan would bring charges +against him, and inherit his wealth. +Thus are things managed in Egypt. +No wonder that, where such injustice +and rascality prevail, many are found +to rejoice at the prospect of a change +of rulers. "News from Souakim (on +the Red Sea) of the probable landing +of the English, excite great interest +in camp; from all sides they come to +ask questions of us, thinking that we, +as Franks, must know the intentions +of the invaders. Upon the whole, +they would not be displeased at such +a change of government, particularly +when we tell them of the good pay +and treatment customary amongst the +English; and that with them no officer +has to endure indignities from his +superiors in rank."</p> + +<p>"I have now," says Mr Werne, +(page 256,) "been more than half +a year away from Chartum, continually +in the field, and not once have I +enjoyed the great comfort of reposing, +undressed, between clean white sheets, +but have invariably slept in my clothes, +on the ground, or on the short but +practical angarèb. All clean linen +disappears, for the constant perspiration +and chalky dust burns everything; +and the servants do not understand +washing, inasmuch as, contrasted +with their black hides, everything +appears white to them, and for +the last three months no soap has +been obtainable. And in the midst +of this dirty existence, which drags +itself along like a slow fever, suddenly +'Julla!' is the word, and one +hangs for four or five days, eighty or +a hundred leagues, upon the camel's +back, every bone bruised by the rough +motion,—the broiling sun, thirst, hunger, +and cold, for constant companions. +Man can endure much: I have +gone through far more than I ever +thought I could,—vomiting and in a +raging fever on the back of a dromedary, +under a midday sun, more dead +than alive, held upon my saddle by +others, and yet I recovered. To have +remained behind would have been to +encounter certain death from the enemy, +or from wild beasts. We have +seen what a man can bear, under the +pressure of necessity; in my present +uniform and monotonous life I compare +myself to the camels tied before +my tent, which sometimes stand up, +sometimes slowly stretch themselves<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span> +on the ground, careless whether crows +or ravens walk over their backs, constantly +moving their jaws, looking up +at the sun, and then, by way of a +change, taking a mouthful of grass, +but giving no signs of joy or curiosity."</p> + +<p>From this state of languid indifference +Mr Werne was suddenly and +pleasurably roused by intelligence +that a second expedition was fitting +out for the White Nile. He and his +brother immediately petitioned the +Bascha for leave to accompany it. +The desired permission was granted +to him, but refused to his brother. +There was too much sickness in the +camp, the Bascha said; he could not +spare his doctor, and lacked confidence +in the Italian, Bellotti. The +fondly-attached brothers were thus +placed in a painful dilemma: they +had hoped to pursue their wanderings +hand in hand, and to pass their +lives together, and loth indeed were +they to sunder in those sickly and +perilous regions. At last they made +up their minds to the parting. It has +been already recorded in Mr Werne's +former work, how, within ten days +of their next meeting, his beloved +brother's eyes were closed in death.</p> + +<p>In various respects, Mr Werne's +<cite>Feldzug</cite> is one of the most curious +books of travel and adventure that, +for a very long time, has appeared. +It has three points of particular attraction +and originality. In the first +place, the author wanders in a region +previously unexplored by Christian +and educated travellers, and amongst +tribes whose bare names have reached +the ears of but few Europeans. Secondly, +he campaigns as officer in +such an army as we can hardly realise +in these days of high civilisation and +strict military discipline,—so wild, +motley, and grotesque are its customs, +composition, and equipment,—an +army whose savage warriors, strange +practices, and barbarous cruelties, +make us fancy ourselves in presence +of some fierce Moslem horde of the +middle ages, marching to the assault +of Italy or Hungary. Thirdly, during +his long sojourn in camp he +had opportunities such as few ordinary +travellers enjoy, and of which +he diligently profited, to study and +note down the characteristics and +social habits of many of the races of +men that make up the heterogeneous +population of the Ottoman empire. +Some of the physiological and medical +details with which he favours us, +would certainly have been more in +their place in his brother's professional +journal, than in a book intended for +the public at large; and passages +are not wanting at which the squeamish +will be apt to lay down the volume +in disgust. For such persons +Mr Werne does not write; and his +occasional indelicacy and too crude +details are compensated, to our thinking, +by his manly honest tone, and by +the extraordinary amount of useful +and curious information he has managed +to pack into two hundred and +seventy pages. As a whole, the <cite>Expedition +to the White Nile</cite>, which contains +a vast deal of dry meteorological +and geographical detail, is decidedly +far less attractive than the present +book, which is as amusing as +any romance. We have read it with +absorbing interest, well pleased with +the hint its author throws out at its +close, that the records of his African +wanderings are not yet all exhausted.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>MY NOVEL; OR, VARIETIES IN ENGLISH LIFE.</h2> + +<h3>BY PISISTRATUS CAXTON.</h3> + + +<h4>BOOK VII.—INITIAL CHAPTER.</h4> + +<p>"What is courage?" said my uncle +Roland, rousing himself from a reverie +into which he had fallen after the +Sixth Book in this history had been +read to our family circle.</p> + +<p>"What is courage?" he repeated +more earnestly. "Is it insensibility +to fear? <em>That</em> may be the mere +accident of constitution; and, if so, +there is no more merit in being courageous +than in being this table."</p> + +<p>"I am very glad to hear you speak +thus," observed Mr Caxton, "for I +should not like to consider myself a +coward; yet I am very sensible to +fear in all dangers, bodily and moral."</p> + +<p>"La, Austin, how can you say so?" +cried my mother, firing up; "was it +not only last week that you faced the +great bull that was rushing after +Blanche and the children?"</p> + +<p>Blanche at that recollection stole to +my father's chair, and, hanging over +his shoulder, kissed his forehead.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr Caxton</span>, (sublimely unmoved +by these flatteries.)—"I don't deny +that I faced the bull, but I assert that +I was horribly frightened."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Roland.</span>—"The sense of honour +which conquers fear is the true courage +of chivalry: you could not run away +when others were looking on—no +gentleman could."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr Caxton.</span>—"Fiddledee! It +was not on my gentility that I stood, +Captain. I should have run fast +enough, if it had done any good. I +stood upon my understanding. As +the bull could run faster than I could, +the only chance of escape was to make +the brute as frightened as myself."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Blanche.</span>—"Ah, you did not +think of that; your only thought was +to save me and the children."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr Caxton.</span>—"Possibly, my +dear—very possibly I might have +been afraid for you too;—but I was +very much afraid for myself. However, +luckily I had the umbrella, and +I sprang it up and spread it forth in +the animal's stupid eyes, hurling at +him simultaneously the biggest lines +I could think of in the First Chorus of +the 'Seven against Thebes.' I began +with <span class="smcap">Eledemnas pedioploktupos</span>; +and when I came to the grand howl of +Ἰὼ, ἰὼ, ἰὼ, ἰὼ—the beast stood appalled +as at the roar of a lion. I shall +never forget his amazed snort at the +Greek. Then he kicked up his hind +legs, and went bolt through the gap in +the hedge. Thus, armed with Æschylus +and the umbrella, I remained master +of the field; but (continued Mr Caxton, +ingenuously,) I should not like +to go through that half minute again."</p> + +<p>"No man would," said the Captain +kindly. "I should be very sorry to +face a bull myself, even with a bigger +umbrella than yours, and even +though I had Æschylus, and Homer +to boot, at my fingers' ends."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr Caxton.</span>—"You would not +have minded if it had been a Frenchman +with a sword in his hand?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Captain.</span>—"Of course not. Rather +liked it than otherwise," he added +grimly.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr Caxton.</span>—"Yet many a +Spanish matador, who doesn't care a +button for a bull, would take to his +heels at the first lunge <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en carte</i> from +a Frenchman. Therefore, in fact, if +courage be a matter of constitution, it +is also a matter of custom. We face +calmly the dangers we are habituated +to, and recoil from those of which we +have no familiar experience. I doubt +if Marshal Turenne himself would +have been quite at his ease on the +tight-rope; and a rope-dancer, who +seems disposed to scale the heavens +with Titanic temerity, might possibly +object to charge on a cannon."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Captain Roland.</span>—"Still, either +this is not the courage I mean, or +there is another kind of it. I mean +by courage that which is the especial +force and dignity of the human character, +without which there is no +reliance on principle, no constancy in +virtue—a something," continued my +uncle gallantly, and with a half bow +towards my mother, "which your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span> +sex shares with our own. When the +lover, for instance, clasps the hand +of his betrothed, and says, 'Wilt thou +be true to me, in spite of absence and +time, in spite of hazard and fortune, +though my foes malign me, though thy +friends may dissuade thee, and our lot +in life may be rough and rude?' and +when the betrothed answers, 'I will +be true,' does not the lover trust to +her courage as well as her love?"</p> + +<p>"Admirably put, Roland," said my +father. "But <i>apropos</i> of what do +you puzzle us with these queries on +courage?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Captain Roland</span>, (with a slight +blush.)—"I was led to the inquiry +(though, perhaps, it may be frivolous +to take so much thought of what, no +doubt, costs Pisistratus so little) by +the last chapters in my nephew's +story. I see this poor boy, Leonard, +alone with his fallen hopes, (though +very irrational they were,) and his +sense of shame. And I read his heart, +I dare say, better than Pisistratus +does, for I could feel like that boy if +I had been in the same position; and, +conjecturing what he and thousands +like him must go through, I asked +myself, 'What can save him and +them?' I answered, as a soldier would +answer, 'Courage!' Very well. But +pray, Austin, what is courage?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr Caxton</span>, (prudently backing +out of a reply.)—"<i>Papæ!</i> Brother, +since you have just complimented the +ladies on that quality, you had better +address your question to them."</p> + +<p>Blanche here leant both hands on +my father's chair, and said, looking +down at first bashfully, but afterwards +warming with the subject, +"Do you not think, sir, that little +Helen has already suggested, if not +what is courage, what at least is the +real essence of all courage that endures +and conquers, that ennobles, +and hallows, and redeems? Is it not +<span class="smcap">Patience</span>, father?—and that is why +we women have a courage of our own. +Patience does not affect to be superior +to fear, but at least it never +admits despair."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Pisistratus.</span>—"Kiss me, my +Blanche, for you have come near to +the truth which perplexed the soldier +and puzzled the sage."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr Caxton</span>, (tartly.)—"If you +mean me by the sage, I was not +puzzled at all. Heaven knows you +do right to inculcate patience—it is a +virtue very much required in your +readers. Nevertheless," added my +father, softening with the enjoyment +of his joke—"nevertheless Blanche +and Helen are quite right. Patience +is the courage of the conqueror; it is +the virtue, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">par excellence</i>, of Man +against Destiny—of the One against +the World, and of the Soul against +Matter. Therefore this is the courage +of the Gospel; and its importance, in +a social view—its importance to races +and institutions—cannot be too +earnestly inculcated. What is it that +distinguishes the Anglo-Saxon from +all other branches of the human +family, peoples deserts with his children, +and consigns to them the heritage +of rising worlds? What but his +faculty to brave, to suffer, to endure—the +patience that resists firmly, and +innovates slowly. Compare him with +the Frenchman. The Frenchman has +plenty of valour—that there is no +denying; but as for fortitude, he has +not enough to cover the point of a +pin. He is ready to rush out of the +world if he is bit by a flea."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Captain Roland.</span>—"There was +a case in the papers the other day, +Austin, of a Frenchman who actually +did destroy himself because he was so +teased by the little creatures you +speak of. He left a paper on his +table, saying that 'life was not worth +having at the price of such torments.'"<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr Caxton</span>, (solemnly.)—"Sir, +their whole political history, since the +great meeting of the Tiers Etat, has +been the history of men who would +rather go to the devil than be bit by a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span> +flea. It is the record of human impatience, +that seeks to force time, and +expects to grow forests from the +spawn of a mushroom. Wherefore, +running through all extremes of constitutional +experiment, when they are +nearest to democracy they are next +door to a despot; and all they have +really done is to destroy whatever +constitutes the foundation of every +tolerable government. A constitutional +monarchy cannot exist without +aristocracy, nor a healthful republic +endure with corruption of manners. +The cry of Equality is incompatible +with Civilisation, which, of necessity, +contrasts poverty with wealth—and, +in short, whether it be an emperor or +a mob that is to rule, Force is the +sole hope of order, and the government +is but an army.</p> + +<p>"Impress, O Pisistratus! impress +the value of patience as regards man +and men. You touch there on the +kernel of the social system—the secret +that fortifies the individual and disciplines +the million. I care not, for +my part, if you are tedious so long as +you are earnest. Be minute and +detailed. Let the real human life, in +its war with Circumstance, stand out. +Never mind if one can read you but +slowly—better chance of being less +quickly forgotten. Patience, patience! +By the soul of Epictetus, your readers +shall set you an example!"</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER II.</h4> + +<p>Leonard had written twice to Mrs +Fairfield, twice to Riccabocca, and +once to Mr Dale; and the poor proud +boy could not bear to betray his humiliation. +He wrote as with cheerful +spirits—as if perfectly satisfied with +his prospects. He said that he was +well employed, in the midst of books, +and that he had found kind friends. +Then he turned from himself to write +about those whom he addressed, and +the affairs and interests of the quiet +world wherein they lived. He did +not give his own address, nor that of +Mr Prickett. He dated his letters +from a small coffeehouse near the +bookseller, to which he occasionally +went for his simple meals. He had a +motive in this. He did not desire to +be found out. Mr Dale replied for +himself and for Mrs Fairfield, to the +epistles addressed to these two. Riccabocca +wrote also. Nothing could +be more kind than the replies of both. +They came to Leonard in a very dark +period in his life, and they strengthened +him in the noiseless battle with +despair.</p> + +<p>If there be a good in the world that +we do without knowing it, without +conjecturing the effect it may have +upon a human soul, it is when we show +kindness to the young in the first +barren footpath up the mountain of life.</p> + +<p>Leonard's face resumed its serenity +in his intercourse with his employer; +but he did not recover his boyish +ingenuous frankness. The under-currents +flowed again pure from the turbid +soil and the splintered fragments +uptorn from the deep; but they were +still too strong and too rapid to allow +transparency to the surface. And now +he stood in the sublime world of books, +still and earnest as a seer who invokes +the dead. And thus, face to face with +knowledge, hourly he discovered how +little he knew. Mr Prickett lent him +such works as he selected and asked +to take home with him. He spent +whole nights in reading; and no longer +desultorily. He read no more poetry, +no more Lives of Poets. He read what +poets must read if they desire to be +great—<cite>Sapere principium et fons</cite>—strict +reasonings on the human mind; +the relations between motive and conduct, +thought and action; the grave +and solemn truths of the past world; +antiquities, history, philosophy. He +was taken out of himself. He was +carried along the ocean of the universe. +In that ocean, O seeker, study the law +of the tides; and seeing Chance nowhere—Thought +presiding over all—Fate, +that dread phantom, shall vanish +from creation, and Providence alone +be visible in heaven and on earth!</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER III.</h4> + +<p>There was to be a considerable +book-sale at a country house one day's +journey from London. Mr Prickett +meant to have attended it on his own<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span> +behalf, and that of several gentlemen +who had given him commissions for +purchase; but, on the morning fixed +for his departure, he was seized with +a severe return of his old foe the +rheumatism. He requested Leonard +to attend instead of himself. Leonard +went, and was absent for the three +days during which the sale lasted. +He returned late in the evening, and +went at once to Mr Prickett's house. +The shop was closed; he knocked at +the private entrance; a strange person +opened the door to him, and, in reply +to his question if Mr Prickett was at +home, said with a long and funereal +face—"Young man, Mr Prickett +senior is gone to his long home, but +Mr Richard Prickett will see you."</p> + +<p>At this moment a very grave-looking +man, with lank hair, looked forth +from the side-door communicating +between the shop and the passage, +land then, stepped forward—"Come +in, sir; you are my late uncle's assistant, +Mr Fairfield, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"Your late uncle! Heavens, sir, do +I understand aright—can Mr Prickett +be dead since I left London?"</p> + +<p>"Died, sir, suddenly last night. It +was an affection of the heart; the +Doctor thinks the rheumatism attacked +that organ. He had small time to +provide for his departure, and his +account-books seem in sad disorder: +I am his nephew and executor."</p> + +<p>Leonard had now followed the +nephew into the shop. There, still +burned the gas-lamp. The place +seemed more dingy and cavernous +than before. Death always makes its +presence felt in the house it visits.</p> + +<p>Leonard was greatly affected—and +yet more, perhaps, by the utter want +of feeling which the nephew exhibited. +In fact, the deceased had not been on +friendly terms with this person, his +nearest relative and heir-at-law, who +was also a bookseller.</p> + +<p>"You were engaged but by the +week I find, young man, on reference +to my late uncle's papers. He gave +you £1 a week—a monstrous sum! I +shall not require your services any +further. I shall move these books +to my own house. You will be good +enough to send me a list of those you +bought at the sale, and your account +of travelling-expenses, &c. What may +be due to you shall be sent to your +address. Good evening."</p> + +<p>Leonard went home, shocked and +saddened at the sudden death of his +kind employer. He did not think +much of himself that night; but, when +he rose the next day, he suddenly felt +that the world of London lay before +him, without a friend, without a calling, +without an occupation for bread.</p> + +<p>This time it was no fancied sorrow, +no poetic dream disappointed. Before +him, gaunt and palpable, stood +Famine.</p> + +<p>Escape!—yes. Back to the village; +his mother's cottage; the exile's garden; +the radishes and the fount. Why +could he not escape? Ask why civilisation +cannot escape its ills, and fly +back to the wild and the wigwam?</p> + +<p>Leonard could not have returned to +the cottage, even if the Famine that +faced had already seized him with her +skeleton hand. London releases not +so readily her fated stepsons.</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER IV.</h4> + +<p>One day three persons were standing +before an old book-stall in a +passage leading from Oxford Street +into Tottenham Court Road. Two +were gentlemen; the third, of the class +and appearance of those who more +habitually halt at old book-stalls.</p> + +<p>"Look," said one of the gentlemen +to the other, "I have discovered here +what I have searched for in vain the +last ten years—the Horace of 1580, +the Horace of the Forty Commentators—a +perfect treasury of learning, +and marked only fourteen shillings!"</p> + +<p>"Hush, Norreys," said the other, +"and observe what is yet more +worth your study;" and he pointed to +the third bystander, whose face, +sharp and attenuated, was bent with +an absorbed, and, as it were, with +a hungering attention over an old +worm-eaten volume.</p> + +<p>"What is the book, my lord?" +whispered Mr Norreys.</p> + +<p>His companion smiled, and replied +by another question, "What +is the man who reads the book?"</p> + +<p>Mr Norreys moved a few paces,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span> +and looked over the student's shoulder +"Preston's translation of <span class="smcap">Boethius</span>, +<cite>The Consolations of Philosophy</cite>," he +said, coming back to his friend.</p> + +<p>"He looks as if he wanted all the +consolations Philosophy can give him, +poor boy."</p> + +<p>At this moment a fourth passenger +paused at the book-stall, and, recognising +the pale student, placed his +hand on his shoulder and said, "Aha, +young sir, we meet again. So poor +Prickett is dead. But you are still +haunted by associations. Books—books—magnets +to which all iron +minds move insensibly. What is +this? <span class="smcap">Boethius!</span> Ah, a book written +in prison, but a little time before +the advent of the only philosopher +who solves to the simplest understanding +every mystery of life—"</p> + +<p>"And that philosopher?"</p> + +<p>"Is Death!" said Mr Burley. +"How can you be dull enough to +ask? Poor Boethius, rich, nobly +born, a consul, his sons consuls—the +world one smile to the Last Philosopher +of Rome. Then suddenly, against +this type of the old world's departing +<small>WISDOM</small>, stands frowning the new +world's grim genius, <small>FORCE</small>—Theodoric +the Ostrogoth condemning Boethius +the Schoolman; and Boethius, +in his Pavian dungeon, holding a +dialogue with the shade of Athenian +Philosophy. It is the finest picture +upon which lingers the glimmering +of the Western golden day, before +night rushes over time."</p> + +<p>"And," said Mr Norreys abruptly, +"Boethius comes back to us with the +faint gleam of returning light, translated +by Alfred the Great. And, +again, as the sun of knowledge bursts +forth in all its splendour, by Queen +Elizabeth. Boethius influences us as +we stand in this passage; and that is +the best of all the Consolations of +Philosophy—eh, Mr Burley?"</p> + +<p>Mr Burley turned and bowed.</p> + +<p>The two men looked at each other; +you could not see a greater contrast. +Mr Burley, his gay green dress +already shabby and soiled, with a rent +in the skirts, and his face speaking of +habitual night-cups. Mr Norreys, +neat and somewhat precise in dress, +with firm lean figure, and quiet, collected, +vigorous energy in his eye and +aspect.</p> + +<p>"If," replied Mr Burley, "a poor +devil like me may argue with a +gentleman who may command his +own price with the booksellers, I +should say it is no consolation at all, +Mr Norreys. And I should like to +see any man of sense accept the condition +of Boethius in his prison, with +some strangler or headsman waiting +behind the door, upon the promised +proviso that he should be translated, +centuries afterwards, by Kings and +Queens, and help indirectly to influence +the minds of Northern barbarians, +babbling about him in an alley, jostled +by passers-by who never heard the +name of Boethius, and who don't care +a fig for philosophy. Your servant, +sir—young man, come and talk."</p> + +<p>Burley hooked his arm within Leonard's, +and led the boy passively away.</p> + +<p>"That is a clever man," said +Harley L'Estrange. "But I am sorry +to see yon young student, with his +bright earnest eyes, and his lip that +has the quiver of passion and enthusiasm, +leaning on the arm of a guide +who seems disenchanted of all that +gives purpose to learning and links +philosophy with use to the world. +Who, and what is this clever man +whom you call Burley?"</p> + +<p>"A man who might have been +famous, if he had condescended to be +respectable! The boy listening to +us both so attentively interested <em>me</em> +too—I should like to have the making +of him. But I must buy this Horace."</p> + +<p>The shopman, lurking within his +hole like a spider for flies, was now +called out. And when Mr Norreys +had bought the Horace, and given an +address where to send it, Harley +asked the shopman if he knew the +young man who had been reading +Boethius.</p> + +<p>"Only by sight. He has come +here every day the last week, and +spends hours at the stall. When once +he fastens on a book, he reads it +through."</p> + +<p>"And never buys?" said Mr Norreys.</p> + +<p>"Sir," said the shopman with a +good-natured smile, "they who buy +seldom read. The poor boy pays me +twopence a-day to read as long as he +pleases. I would not take it, but he +is proud."</p> + +<p>"I have known men amass great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span> +learning in that way," said Mr +Norreys. "Yes, I should like to +have that boy in my hands. And +now, my lord, I am at your service, +and we will go to the studio of your +artist."</p> + +<p>The two gentlemen walked on +towards one of the streets out of +Fitzroy Square.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes more Harley +L'Estrange was in his element, +seated carelessly on a deal table, +smoking his cigar, and discussing art +with the gusto of a man who honestly +loved, and the taste of a man who +thoroughly understood it. The young +artist, in his dressing robe, adding +slow touch upon touch, paused often +to listen the better. And Henry +Norreys, enjoying the brief respite +from a life of great labour, was gladly +reminded of idle hours under rosy +skies; for these three men had +formed their friendship in Italy, where +the bands of friendship are woven +by the hands of the Graces.</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER V.</h4> + +<p>Leonard and Mr Burley walked on +into the suburbs round the north +road from London, and Mr Burley +offered to find literary employment +for Leonard—an offer eagerly accepted.</p> + +<p>Then they went into a public house +by the wayside. Burley demanded a +private room, called for pen, ink, and +paper; and, placing these implements +before Leonard, said, "Write what +you please in prose, five sheets of +letter paper, twenty-two lines to a +page—neither more nor less."</p> + +<p>"I cannot write so."</p> + +<p>"Tut, 'tis for bread."</p> + +<p>The boy's face crimsoned.</p> + +<p>"I must forget that," said he.</p> + +<p>"There is an arbour in the garden +under a weeping ash," returned +Burley. "Go there, and fancy yourself +in Arcadia."</p> + +<p>Leonard was too pleased to obey. +He found out the little arbour at one +end of a deserted bowling-green. All +was still—the hedgerow shut out the +sight of the inn. The sun lay warm +on the grass, and glinted pleasantly +through the leaves of the ash. And +Leonard there wrote the first essay +from his hand as Author by profession. +What was it that he wrote? +His dreamy impressions of London? +an anathema on its streets, and its +hearts of stone? murmurs against +poverty? dark elegies on fate?</p> + +<p>Oh, no! little knowest thou true +genius, if thou askest such questions, +or thinkest that there, under +the weeping ash, the taskwork for +bread was remembered; or that the +sunbeam glinted but over the practical +world, which, vulgar and sordid, +lay around. Leonard wrote a fairy +tale—one of the loveliest you can +conceive, with a delicate touch of +playful humour—in a style all flowered +over with happy fancies. He smiled +as he wrote the last word—he was +happy. In rather more than an hour +Mr Burley came to him, and found +him with that smile on his lips.</p> + +<p>Mr Burley had a glass of brandy +and water in his hand; it was his +third. He too smiled—he too looked +happy. He read the paper aloud, +and well. He was very complimentary. +"You will do!" said he, clapping +Leonard on the back. "Perhaps +some day you will catch my +one-eyed perch." Then he folded up +the MS., scribbled off a note, put +the whole in one envelope—and they +returned to London.</p> + +<p>Mr Burley disappeared within a +dingy office near Fleet Street, on +which was inscribed—"Office of +the <cite>Beehive</cite>," and soon came forth +with a golden sovereign in his hand—Leonard's +first-fruits. Leonard +thought Peru lay before him. He accompanied +Mr Burley to that gentleman's +lodging in Maida Hill. The +walk had been very long; Leonard +was not fatigued. He listened +with a livelier attention than before +to Burley's talk. And when they +reached the apartments of the latter, +and Mr Burley sent to the cookshop, +and their joint supper was taken out +of the golden sovereign, Leonard +felt proud, and for the first time for +weeks he laughed the heart's laugh. +The two writers grew more and more +intimate and cordial. And there was +a vast deal in Burley by which any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span> +young man might be made the wiser. +There was no apparent evidence of +poverty in the apartments—clean, +new, well furnished; but all things +in the most horrible litter—all speaking +of the huge literary sloven.</p> + +<p>For several days Leonard almost +lived in those rooms. He wrote continuously—save +when Burley's conversation +fascinated him into idleness. +Nay, it was not idleness—his knowledge +grew larger as he listened; but +the cynicism of the talker began slowly +to work its way. That cynicism in +which there was no faith, no hope, +no vivifying breath from Glory—from +Religion. The cynicism of the Epicurean, +more degraded in his stye than +ever was Diogenes in his tub; and +yet presented with such ease and +such eloquence—with such art and +such mirth—so adorned with illustration +and anecdote, so unconscious of +debasement.</p> + +<p>Strange and dread philosophy—that +made it a maxim to squander the +gifts of mind on the mere care for +matter, and fit the soul to live but as +from day to day, with its scornful +cry, "A fig for immortality and +laurels!" An author for bread! Oh, +miserable calling! was there something +grand and holy, after all, even +in Chatterton's despair!</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER VI.</h4> + +<p>The villanous <cite>Beehive</cite>! Bread was +worked out of it, certainly; but +fame, but hope for the future—certainly +not. Milton's <cite>Paradise Lost</cite> +would have perished without a sound, +had it appeared in the <cite>Beehive</cite>.</p> + +<p>Fine things were there in a fragmentary +crude state, composed by +Burley himself. At the end of a +week they were dead and forgotten—never +read by one man of education +and taste; taken simultaneously and +indifferently with shallow politics and +wretched essays, yet selling, perhaps, +twenty or thirty thousand copies—an +immense sale;—and nothing got out +of them but bread and brandy!</p> + +<p>"What more would you have?" +cried John Burley. "Did not stern +old Sam Johnson say he could never +write but from want?"</p> + +<p>"He might say it," answered +Leonard; "but he never meant posterity +to believe him. And he would +have died of want, I suspect, rather +than have written <cite>Rasselas</cite> for the +<cite>Beehive</cite>! Want is a grand thing," continued +the boy, thoughtfully. "A +parent of grand things. Necessity is +strong, and should give us its own +strength; but Want should shatter +asunder, with its very writhings, the +walls of our prison-house, and not +sit contented with the allowance +the jail gives us in exchange for our +work."</p> + +<p>"There is no prison-house to a +man who calls upon Bacchus—stay—I +will translate to you Schiller's +Dithyramb. 'Then see I Bacchus—then +up come Cupid and Phœbus, and +all the Celestials are filling my dwelling.'"</p> + +<p>Breaking into impromptu careless +rhymes, Burley threw off a rude but +spirited translation of that divine +lyric.</p> + +<p>"O materialist!" cried the boy, +with his bright eyes suffused. +"Schiller calls on the gods to take +him to their heaven with him; and +you would debase the gods to a gin +palace."</p> + +<p>"Ho, ho!" cried Burley, with his +giant laugh. "Drink, and you will +understand the Dithyramb."</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER VII.</h4> + +<p>Suddenly one morning, as Leonard +sate with Barley, a fashionable cabriolet, +with a very handsome horse, +stopped at the door—a loud knock—a +quick step on the stairs, and Randal +Leslie entered. Leonard recognised +him, and started. Randal glanced at +him in surprise, and then, with a tact +that showed he had already learned +to profit by London life, after shaking +hands with Burley, approached, +and said with some successful attempt +at ease, "Unless I am not +mistaken, sir, we have met before.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span> +If you remember me, I hope all boyish +quarrels are forgotten?"</p> + +<p>Leonard bowed, and his heart was +still good enough to be softened.</p> + +<p>"Where could you two ever have +met?" asked Burley.</p> + +<p>"In a village green, and in single +combat," answered Randal, smiling; +and he told the story of the Battle of +the Stocks, with a well-bred jest on +himself. Burley laughed at the story. +"But," said he, when this laugh was +over, "my young friend had better +have remained guardian of the village +stocks, than come to London in search +of such fortune as lies at the bottom +of an inkhorn."</p> + +<p>"Ah," said Randal, with the secret +contempt which men elaborately +cultivated are apt to feel for those +who seek to educate themselves—"ah, +you make literature your calling, +sir? At what school did you +conceive a taste for letters?—not very +common at our great public schools."</p> + +<p>"I am at school now for the first +time," answered Leonard, drily.</p> + +<p>"Experience is the best schoolmistress," +said Burley; "and that +was the maxim of Goethe, who had +book-learning enough, in all conscience."</p> + +<p>Randal slightly shrugged his +shoulders, and, without wasting another +thought on Leonard, peasant-born +and self-taught, took his seat, +and began to talk to Burley upon a +political question, which made then +the war-cry between the two great +Parliamentary parties. It was a +subject in which Burley showed much +general knowledge; and Randal, seeming +to differ from him, drew forth +alike his information and his argumentative +powers. The conversation +lasted more than an hour.</p> + +<p>"I can't quite agree with you," +said Randal, taking his leave; "but +you must allow me to call again—will +the same hour to-morrow suit +you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Burley.</p> + +<p>Away went the young man in his +cabriolet. Leonard watched him from +the window.</p> + +<p>For five days, consecutively, did +Randal call and discuss the question +in all its bearings; and Burley, after +the second day, got interested in the +matter, looked up his authorities—refreshed +his memory—and even spent +an hour or two in the Library of the +British Museum.</p> + +<p>By the fifth day, Burley had really +exhausted all that could well be said +on his side of the question.</p> + +<p>Leonard, during these colloquies, +had sate apart, seemingly absorbed +in reading, and secretly stung by +Randal's disregard of his presence. +For indeed that young man, in his +superb self-esteem, and in the absorption +of his ambitious projects, scarce +felt even curiosity as to Leonard's +rise above his earlier station, and +looked on him as a mere journeyman +of Burley's. But the self-taught are +keen and quick observers. And +Leonard had remarked, that Randal +seemed more as one playing a part +for some private purpose, than arguing +in earnest; and that, when he rose +and said, "Mr Burley, you have convinced +me," it was not with the +modesty of a sincere reasoner, but the +triumph of one who has gained his +end. But so struck, meanwhile, was +our unheeded and silent listener, with +Burley's power of generalisation, and +the wide surface over which his information +extended, that when Randal +left the room the boy looked at +the slovenly purposeless man, and +said aloud—"True; knowledge is <em>not</em> +power."</p> + +<p>"Certainly not," said Burley, drily—"the +weakest thing, in the world."</p> + +<p>"Knowledge is power," muttered +Randal Leslie, as, with a smile on his +lip, he drove from the door.</p> + +<p>Not many days after this last +interview there appeared a short +pamphlet; anonymous, but one which +made a great impression on the town. +It was on the subject discussed +between Randal and Burley. It was +quoted at great length in the newspapers. +And Burley started to his +feet one morning, and exclaimed, +"My own thoughts! my very +words! Who the devil is this pamphleteer?"</p> + +<p>Leonard took the newspaper from +Burley's hand. The most flattering +encomiums preceded the extracts, +and the extracts were as stereotypes +of Burley's talk.</p> + +<p>"Can you doubt the author?" cried +Leonard, in deep disgust and ingenuous +scorn. "The young man<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span> +who came to steal your brains, and +turn your knowledge—"</p> + +<p>"Into power," interrupted Burley, +with a laugh, but it was a laugh of +pain. "Well, this was very mean; I +shall tell him so when he comes."</p> + +<p>"He will come no more," said +Leonard. Nor did Randal come +again. But he sent Mr Burley a copy +of the pamphlet with a polite note, +saying, with candid but careless acknowledgment, +that "he had profited +much by Mr Burley's hints and +remarks."</p> + +<p>And now it was in all the papers, +that the pamphlet which had made so +great a noise was by a very young +man, Mr Audley Egerton's relation. +And high hopes were expressed of +the future career of Mr Randal +Leslie.</p> + +<p>Burley still attempted to laugh, and +still his pain was visible. Leonard +most cordially despised and hated +Randal Leslie, and his heart moved +to Burley with noble but perilous +compassion. In his desire to soothe +and comfort the man whom he deemed +cheated out of fame, he forgot the +caution he had hitherto imposed on +himself, and yielded more and more +to the charm of that wasted intellect. +He accompanied Burley now where +he went to spent his evenings, and +more and more—though gradually, +and with many a recoil and self-rebuke—there +crept over him the +cynic's contempt for glory, and miserable +philosophy of debased content.</p> + +<p>Randal had risen into grave repute +upon the strength of Burley's knowledge. +But, had Burley written the +pamphlet, would the same repute +have attended <em>him</em>? Certainly not. +Randal Leslie brought to that knowledge +qualities all his own—a style +simple, strong, and logical; a certain +tone of good society, and allusions to +men and to parties that showed his +connection with a cabinet minister, +and proved that he had profited no +less by Egerton's talk than Burley's.</p> + +<p>Had Burley written the pamphlet, +it would have showed more genius, +it would have had humour and wit, +but have been so full of whims and +quips, sins against taste, and defects +in earnestness, that it would have +failed to create any serious sensation. +Here, then, there was something +else besides knowledge, by which +knowledge became power. Knowledge +must not smell of the brandy +bottle.</p> + +<p>Randal Leslie might be mean in +his plagiarism, but he turned the +useless into use. And so far he was +original.</p> + +<p>But one's admiration, after all, rests +where Leonard's rested—with the +poor, shabby, riotous, lawless, big +fallen man.</p> + +<p>Burley took himself off to the Brent, +and fished again for the one-eyed +perch. Leonard accompanied him. +His feelings were indeed different +from what they had been when he +had reclined under the old tree, and +talked with Helen of the future. But +it was almost pathetic to see how +Burley's nature seemed to alter, as he +strayed along the banks of the rivulet, +and talked of his own boyhood. The +man then seemed restored to something +of the innocence of the child. +He cared, in truth, little for the perch, +which continued intractable, but he +enjoyed the air and the sky, the +rustling grass and the murmuring +waters. These excursions to the +haunts of youth seemed to rebaptise +him, and then his eloquence took a +pastoral character, and Isaac Walton +himself would have loved to hear +him. But as he got back into the +smoke of the metropolis, and the gas +lamps made him forget the ruddy +sunset, and the soft evening star, the +gross habits reassumed their sway; +and on he went with his swaggering +reckless step to the orgies in which +his abused intellect flamed forth, and +then sank into the socket quenched +and rayless.</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER VIII.</h4> + +<p>Helen was seized with profound +and anxious sadness. Leonard had +been three or four times to see her, +and each time she saw a change in +him that excited all her fears. He +seemed, it is true, more shrewd, +more worldly-wise, more fitted, it +might be, for coarse daily life; but, on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span> +the other hand, the freshness and glory +of his youth were waning slowly. +His aspirings drooped earthward. +He had not mastered the Practical, +and moulded its uses with the +strong hand of the Spiritual Architect, +of the Ideal Builder: the Practical was +overpowering himself. She grew pale +when he talked of Burley, and shuddered, +poor little Helen! when she +found he was daily and almost nightly +in a companionship which, with her +native honest prudence, she saw so unsuited +to strengthen him in his struggles, +and aid him against temptation. She +almost groaned when, pressing him as +to his pecuniary means, she found his +old terror of debt seemed fading away, +and the solid healthful principles he +had taken from his village were +loosening fast. Under all, it is true, +there was what a wiser and older +person than Helen would have hailed +as the redeeming promise. But that +something was <em>grief</em>—a sublime grief +in his own sense of falling—in his own +impotence against the Fate he had +provoked and coveted. The sublimity +of that grief Helen could not detect: +she saw only that it <em>was</em> grief, and she +grieved with it, letting it excuse every +fault—making her more anxious to +comfort, in order that she might save. +Even from the first, when Leonard +had exclaimed, "Ah, Helen, why did +you ever leave me?" she had revolved +the idea of return to him; and +when in the boy's last visit he told her +that Burley, persecuted by duns, was +about to fly from his present lodgings, +and take his abode with Leonard in +the room she had left vacant, all doubt +was over. She resolved to sacrifice +the safety and shelter of the home +assured her. She resolved to come back +and share Leonard's penury and +struggles, and save the old room, +wherein she had prayed for him, from +the tempter's dangerous presence. +Should she burden him? No; she +had assisted her father by many little +female arts in needle and fancy work. +She had improved herself in these +during her sojourn with Miss Starke. +She could bring her share to the common +stock. Possessed with this idea, +she determined to realise it before the +day on which Leonard had told her +Burley was to move his quarters. +Accordingly she rose very early one +morning; she wrote a pretty and +grateful note to Miss Starke, who +was fast asleep, left it on the table, +and, before any one was astir, stole +from the house, her little bundle on +her arm. She lingered an instant at +the garden-gate, with a remorseful +sentiment—a feeling that she had ill-repaid +the cold and prim protection +that Miss Starke had shown her. But +sisterly love carried all before it. She +closed the gate with a sigh, and +went on.</p> + +<p>She arrived at the lodging-house +before Leonard was up, took possession +of her old chamber, and, presenting +herself to Leonard as he was +about to go forth, said, (story-teller +that she was,)—"I am sent away, +brother, and I have, come to you to +take care of me. Do not let us part +again. But you must be very cheerful +and very happy, or I shall think +that I am sadly in your way."</p> + +<p>Leonard at first did look cheerful, +and even happy; but then he thought +of Burley, and then of his own means +of supporting her, and was embarrassed, +and began questioning Helen +as to the possibility of reconciliation +with Miss Starke. And Helen said +gravely, "Impossible—do not ask it, +and do not go near her."</p> + +<p>Then Leonard thought she had +been humbled and insulted, and remembered +that she was a gentleman's +child, and felt for her wounded pride—he +was so proud himself. Yet still +he was embarrassed.</p> + +<p>"Shall I keep the purse again, +Leonard?" said Helen coaxingly.</p> + +<p>"Alas!" replied Leonard, "the +purse is empty."</p> + +<p>"That is very naughty in the +purse," said Helen, "since you put +so much into it."</p> + +<p>"I?"</p> + +<p>"Did not you say that you made, +at least, a guinea a-week?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; but Burley takes the money; +and then, poor fellow! as I owe all to +him, I have not the heart to prevent +his spending it as he likes."</p> + +<p>"Please, I wish you could settle +the month's rent," said the landlady, +suddenly showing herself. She said +it civilly, but with firmness.</p> + +<p>Leonard coloured. "It shall be +paid to-day."</p> + +<p>Then he pressed his hat on his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span> +head, and, putting Helen gently aside, +went forth.</p> + +<p>"Speak to <em>me</em> in future, kind Mrs +Smedley," said Helen with the air of +a housewife. "<em>He</em> is always in study, +and must not be disturbed."</p> + +<p>The landlady—a good woman, +though she liked her rent—smiled +benignly. She was fond of Helen, +whom she had known of old.</p> + +<p>"I am so glad you are come back; +and perhaps now the young man will +not keep such late hours. I meant to +give him warning, but—"</p> + +<p>"But he will be a great man one +of these days, and you must bear with +him now." And Helen kissed Mrs +Smedley, and sent her away half inclined +to cry.</p> + +<p>Then Helen busied herself in the +rooms. She found her father's box, +which had been duly forwarded. She +re-examined its contents, and wept as +she touched each humble and pious +relic. But her father's memory itself +thus seemed to give this home a sanction +which the former had not; and she +rose quietly and began mechanically +to put things in order, sighing as she, +saw all so neglected, till she came to +the rose-tree, and that alone showed +heed and care. "Dear Leonard!" +she murmured, and the smile resettled +on her lips.</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER IX.</h4> + +<p>Nothing, perhaps, could have +severed Leonard from Burley but +Helen's return to his care. It was +impossible for him, even had there +been another room in the house +vacant, (which there was not,) to install +this noisy riotous son of the +Muse by Bacchus, talking at random, +and smelling of spirits, in the same +dwelling with an innocent, delicate, +timid, female child. And Leonard +could not leave her alone all the +twenty-four hours. She restored a +home to him, and imposed its duties. +He therefore told Mr Burley that in +future he should write and study in +his own room, and hinted with many +a blush, and as delicately as he could, +that it seemed to him that whatever +he obtained from his pen ought to be +halved with Burley, to whose interest +he owed the employment, and from +whose books or whose knowledge he +took what helped to maintain it; but +that the other half, if his, he could no +longer afford to spend upon feasts or +libations. He had another to provide +for.</p> + +<p>Burley pooh-poohed the notion +of taking half his coadjutor's earning, +with much grandeur, but spoke +very fretfully of Leonard's sober +appropriation of the other half; and, +though a good-natured warm-hearted +man, felt extremely indignant against +the sudden interposition of poor +Helen. However, Leonard was firm; +and then Burley grew sullen, and +so they parted. But the rent was +still to be paid. How? Leonard +for the first time thought of the pawnbroker. +He had clothes to spare, +and Riccabocca's watch. No; that +last he shrank from applying to such +base uses.</p> + +<p>He went home at noon, and met +Helen at the street door. She too +had been out, and her soft cheek was +rosy red with unwonted exercise and +the sense of joy. She had still preserved +the few gold pieces which +Leonard had taken back to her on +his first visit to Miss Starke's. She +had now gone out and bought wools +and implements for work; and meanwhile +she had paid the rent.</p> + +<p>Leonard did not object to the work, +but he blushed deeply when he knew +about the rent, and was very angry. +He payed back to her that night +what she had advanced; and Helen +wept silently at his pride, and wept +more when she saw the next day a +woeful hiatus in his wardrobe.</p> + +<p>But Leonard now worked at home, +and worked resolutely; and Helen +sate by his side, working too; so +that next day, and the next, slipped +peacefully away, and in the evening of +the second he asked her to walk out +in the fields. She sprang up joyously +at the invitation, when bang went the +door, and in reeled John Burley—drunk:—And +so drunk!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span></p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER X.</h4> + +<p>And with Burley there reeled in +another man—a friend of his—a man +who had been a wealthy trader and +once well to do, but who, unluckily, +had literary tastes, and was fond of +hearing Burley talk. So, since he had +known the wit, his business had fallen +from him, and he had passed through +the Bankrupt Court. A very shabby-looking +dog he was, indeed, and his +nose was redder than Burley's.</p> + +<p>John made a drunken dash at poor +Helen. "So you are the Pentheus in +petticoats who defies Bacchus," cried +he; and therewith he roared out a +verse from Euripides. Helen ran +away, and Leonard interposed.</p> + +<p>"For shame, Burley!"</p> + +<p>"He's drunk," said Mr Douce the +bankrupt trader—"very drunk—don't +mind—him. I say, sir, I hope we +don't intrude. Sit still, Burley, sit +still, and talk, do—that's a good man. +You should hear him—ta—ta—talk, +sir."</p> + +<p>Leonard meanwhile had got Helen +out of the room, into her own, and +begged her not to be alarmed, and +keep the door locked. He then returned +to Burley, who had seated +himself on the bed, trying wondrous +hard to keep himself upright; while +Mr Douce was striving to light a short +pipe that he carried in his buttonhole—without +having filled it—and, +naturally failing in that attempt, was +now beginning to weep.</p> + +<p>Leonard was deeply shocked and +revolted for Helen's sake; but it was +hopeless to make Burley listen to +reason. And how could the boy turn +out of his room the man to whom he +was under obligations?</p> + +<p>Meanwhile there smote upon Helen's +shrinking, ears loud jarring talk and +maudlin laughter, and cracked attempts +at jovial songs. Then she +heard Mrs Smedley in Leonard's +room, remonstrating, and Burley's +laugh was louder than before, and Mrs +Smedley, who was a meek woman, +evidently got frightened, and was heard +in precipitate retreat. Long and loud +talk recommenced, Burley's great +voice predominant, Mr Douce chiming +in with hiccupy broken treble. +Hour after hour this lasted, for want +of the drink that would have brought +it to a premature close. And Burley +gradually began to talk himself somewhat +sober. Then Mr Douce was +heard descending the stairs, and +silence followed. At dawn, Leonard +knocked at Helen's door. She opened +it at once, for she had not gone to +bed.</p> + +<p>"Helen," said he very sadly, "you +cannot continue here. I must find +out some proper home for you. This +man has served me when all London +was friendless, and he tells me that he +has nowhere else to go—that the +bailiffs are after him. He has now +fallen asleep. I will go and find you +some lodging close at hand—for I cannot +expel him who has protected me; +and yet you cannot be under the same +roof with him. My own good angel, +I must lose you."</p> + +<p>He did not wait for her answer, +but hurried down the stairs.</p> + +<p>The morning looked through the +shutterless panes in Leonard's garret, +and the birds began to chirp from the +elm-tree, when Burley rose and shook +himself, and stared round. He could +not quite make out where he was. +He got hold of the water-jug which he +emptied at three draughts, and felt +greatly refreshed. He then began to +reconnoitre the chamber—looked at +Leonard's MSS.—peeped into the +drawers—wondered where the devil +Leonard himself had gone to—and +finally amused himself by throwing +down the fire-irons, ringing the bell, +and making all the noise he could, in +the hopes of attracting the attention +of somebody or other, and procuring +himself his morning dram.</p> + +<p>In the midst of this <i>charivari</i> the door +opened softly, but as if with a resolute +hand, and the small quiet form of +Helen stood before the threshold. +<span class="smcap">Burley</span> turned round, and the two +looked at each other for some moments +with silent scrutiny.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Burley</span>, (composing his features +into their most friendly expression.)—"Come +hither, my dear. So you are +the little girl whom I saw with Leonard +on the banks of the Brent, and you +have come back to live with him—and +I have come to live with him too. You<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span> +shall be our little housekeeper, and I +will tell you the story of Prince +Prettyman, and a great many others +not to be found in <cite>Mother Goose</cite>. +Meanwhile, my dear little girl, here's +sixpence—just run out and change this +for its worth in rum."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Helen</span>, (coming slowly up to Mr +Burley, and still gazing earnestly into +his face.)—"Ah, sir, Leonard says +you have a kind heart, and that you +have served him—he cannot ask you +to leave the house; and so I, who have +never served him, am to go hence and +live alone."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Burley</span>, (moved.)—"You go, my +little lady?—and why? Can we not +all live together?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Helen.</span>—"No, sir. I left everything +to come to Leonard, for we had +met first at my father's grave. But +you rob me of him, and I have no +other friend on earth."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Burley</span>, (discomposed.)—"Explain +yourself. Why must you leave +him because I come?"</p> + +<p>Helen looks at Mr Burley again, long +and wistfully, but makes no answer.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Burley</span>, (with a gulp.)—"Is it +because he thinks I am not fit company +for you?"</p> + +<p>Helen bowed her head.</p> + +<p>Burley winced, and after a moment's +pause said,—"He is right."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Helen</span>, (obeying the impulse at her +heart, springs forward and takes +Burley's hand.)—"Ah, sir," she +cried, "before he knew you he was so +different—then he was cheerful—then, +even when his first disappointment +came, I grieved and wept; but I felt +he would conquer still—for his heart +was so good and pure. Oh, sir, don't +think I reproach you; but what is to +become of him if—if—No, it is not for +myself I speak. I know that if I +was here, that if he had me to care +for, he would come home early—and +work patiently—and—and—that I +might save him. But now when I am +gone, and you with him—you to whom +he is grateful, you whom he would +follow against his own conscience, +(you must see that, sir)—what is to +become of him?"</p> + +<p>Helen's voice died in sobs.</p> + +<p>Burley took three or four long +strides through the room—he was +greatly agitated. "I am a demon," +he murmured. "I never saw it before—but +it is true—I should be this boy's +ruin." Tears stood in his eyes, he +paused abruptly, made a clutch at his +hat, and turned to the door.</p> + +<p>Helen stopped the way, and, taking +him gently by the arm, said,—"Oh, sir, +forgive me—I have pained you;" and +looked up at him with a compassionate +expression, that indeed made the +child's sweet face as that of an +angel.</p> + +<p>Burley bent down as if to kiss her, +and then drew back—perhaps with a +sentiment that his lips were not worthy +to touch that innocent brow.</p> + +<p>"If I had had a sister—a child +like you, little one," he muttered, +"perhaps I too might have been +saved in time. Now—"</p> + +<p>"Ah, now you may stay, sir; I +don't fear you any more."</p> + +<p>"No, no; you would fear me again +ere night-time, and I might not be +always in the right mood to listen to +a voice like yours, child. Your +Leonard has a noble heart and rare +gifts. He should rise yet, and he +shall. I will not drag him into the +mire. Good-bye—you will see me no +more." He broke from Helen, cleared +the stairs with a bound, and was out +of the house.</p> + +<p>When Leonard returned he was +surprised to hear his unwelcome guest +was gone—but Helen did not venture +to tell him of her interposition. She +knew instinctively how such officiousness +would mortify and offend +the pride of man—but she never +again spoke harshly of poor Burley. +Leonard supposed that he should +either see or hear of the humourist +in the course of the day. Finding +he did not, he went in search of +him at his old haunts; but no trace. +He inquired at the <cite>Beehive</cite> if they +knew there of his new address, but no +tidings of Burley could be obtained.</p> + +<p>As he came home disappointed +and anxious, for he felt uneasy as +to the disappearance of his wild +friend, Mrs Smedley met him at the +door.</p> + +<p>"Please, sir, suit yourself with +another lodging," said she. "I can +have no such singings and shoutings +going on at night in my house. And +that poor little girl, too!—you should +be ashamed of yourself."</p> + +<p>Leonard frowned, and passed by.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span></p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER XI.</h4> + +<p>Meanwhile, on leaving Helen, Burley +strode on; and, as if by some better +instinct, for he was unconscious of his +own steps, he took the way towards +the still green haunts of his youth. +When he paused at length, he was +already before the door of a rural +cottage, standing alone in the midst +of fields, with a little farm-yard at +the back; and far through the trees +in front was caught a glimpse of the +winding Brent.</p> + +<p>With this cottage Burley was familiar; +it was inhabited by a good old +couple who had known him from a +boy. There he habitually left his +rods and fishing-tackle; there, for +intervals in his turbid riotous life, he +had sojourned for two or three days +together—fancying the first day +that the country was a heaven, and +convinced before the third that it was +a purgatory.</p> + +<p>An old woman, of neat and tidy +exterior, came forth to greet him.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Master John," said she clasping +his nerveless hand—"well, the +fields be pleasant now—I hope you +are come to stay a bit? Do; it will +freshen you: you lose all the fine +colour you had once, in Lunnon +town."</p> + +<p>"I will stay with you, my kind +friend," said Burley with unusual +meekness—"I can have the old room, +then?"</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, come and look at it. I +never let it now to any one but you—never +have let it since the dear +beautiful lady with the angel's face +went away. Poor thing, what could +have become of her?"</p> + +<p>Thus speaking, while Burley listened +not, the old woman drew him +within the cottage, and led him up +the stairs into a room that might +have well become a better house, for +it was furnished with taste, and even +elegance. A small cabinet pianoforte +stood opposite the fireplace, and the +window looked upon pleasant meads +and tangled hedgerows, and the narrow +windings of the blue rivulet. +Burley sank down exhausted, and +gazed wistfully from the casement.</p> + +<p>"You have not breakfasted?" said +the hostess anxiously.</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Well, the eggs are fresh laid, and +you would like a rasher of bacon, Master +John? And if you <em>will</em> have brandy +in your tea, I have some that you left +long ago in your own bottle."</p> + +<p>Burley shook his head. "No +brandy, Mrs Goodyer; only fresh +milk. I will see whether I can yet +coax Nature."</p> + +<p>Mrs Goodyer did not know what +was meant by coaxing Nature, but +she said, "Pray do, Master John," +and vanished.</p> + +<p>That day Burley went out with his +rod, and he fished hard for the one-eyed +perch: but in vain. Then he +roved along the stream with his +hands in his pockets, whistling. He +returned to the cottage at sunset, +partook of the fare provided for him, +abstained from the brandy, and felt +dreadfully low. He called for pen, +ink, and paper, and sought to write, +but could not achieve two lines. He +summoned Mrs Goodyer, "Tell your +husband to come and sit and talk."</p> + +<p>Up came old Jacob Goodyer, and +the great wit bade him tell him all +the news of the village. Jacob +obeyed willingly, and Burley at last +fell asleep. The next day it was +much the same, only at dinner he had +up the brandy bottle, and finished it; +and he did <em>not</em> have up Jacob, but +he contrived to write.</p> + +<p>The third day it rained incessantly. +"Have you no books, Mrs Goodyer?" +asked poor John Burley.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, some that the dear lady +left behind her; and perhaps you +would like to look at some papers in +her own writing?"</p> + +<p>"No, not the papers—all women +scribble, and all scribble the same +things. Get me the books."</p> + +<p>The books were brought up—poetry +and essays—John knew them by +heart. He looked out on the rain, +and at evening the rain had ceased. +He rushed to his hat and fled.</p> + +<p>"Nature, Nature!" he exclaimed +when he was out in the air and hurrying +by the dripping hedgerows, +"you are not to be coaxed by me! +I have jilted you shamefully, I own +it; you are a female and unforgiving.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span> +I don't complain. You may +be very pretty, but you are the stupidest +and most tiresome companion +that ever I met with. Thank heaven, +I am not married to you!"</p> + +<p>Thus John Burley made his way +into town, and paused at the first +public house. Out of that house he +came with a jovial air, and on he +strode towards the heart of London. +Now he is in Leicester Square, and +he gazes on the foreigners who stalk +that region, and hums a tune; and +now from yonder alley two forms +emerge, and dog his careless footsteps; +now through the maze of passages +towards St Martin's he threads his +path, and, anticipating an orgy as he +nears his favourite haunts, jingles the +silver in his pockets; and now the +two forms are at his heels.</p> + +<p>"Hail to thee, O Freedom!" muttered +John Burley, "thy dwelling is +in cities, and thy palace is the +tavern."</p> + +<p>"In the king's name," quoth a +gruff voice; and John Burley feels +the horrid and familiar tap on the +shoulder.</p> + +<p>The two bailiffs who dogged have +seized their prey.</p> + +<p>"At whose suit?" asked John +Burley falteringly.</p> + +<p>"Mr Cox, the wine-merchant."</p> + +<p>"Cox! A man to whom I gave a +cheque on my bankers, not three +months ago!"</p> + +<p>"But it warn't cashed."</p> + +<p>"What does that signify?—the +intention was the same. A good +heart takes the will for the deed. +Cox is a monster of ingratitude; and +I withdraw my custom."</p> + +<p>"Sarve him right. Would your +honour like a jarvey?"</p> + +<p>"I would rather spend the money +on something else," said John Burley. +"Give me your arm, I am not proud. +After all, thank heaven, I shall not +sleep in the country."</p> + +<p>And John Burley made a night of +it in the Fleet.</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER XII.</h4> + +<p>Miss Starke was one of those ladies +who pass their lives in the direst of +all civil strife—war with their servants. +She looked upon the members +of that class as the unrelenting +and sleepless enemies of the unfortunate +householders condemned to +employ them. She thought they ate +and drank to their villanous utmost, +in order to ruin their benefactors—that +they lived in one constant +conspiracy with one another and the +tradesmen, the object of which was +to cheat and pilfer. Miss Starke +was a miserable woman. As she +had no relations or friends who +cared enough for her to share her +solitary struggle against her domestic +foes; and her income, though easy, +was an annuity that died with herself, +thereby reducing various nephews, +nieces, or cousins, to the strict bounds +of a natural affection—that did not +exist; and as she felt the want of +some friendly face amidst this world +of distrust and hate, so she had tried +the resource of venal companions. +But the venal companions had never +staid long—either they disliked Miss +Starke, or Miss Starke disliked them. +Therefore the poor woman had resolved +upon bringing up some little +girl whose heart, as she said to herself, +would be fresh and uncorrupted, +and from whom she might expect +gratitude. She had been contented, +on the whole, with Helen, and had +meant to keep that child in her house +as long as she (Miss Starke) remained +upon the earth—perhaps some thirty +years longer; and then, having carefully +secluded her from marriage, and +other friendship, to leave her nothing +but the regret of having lost so kind +a benefactress. Agreeably with this +notion, and in order to secure the +affections of the child, Miss Starke +had relaxed the frigid austerity natural +to her manner and mode of +thought, and been kind to Helen in +an iron way. She had neither slapped +nor pinched her, neither had she +starved. She had allowed her to +see Leonard, according to the agreement +made with Dr Morgan, and had +laid out tenpence on cakes, besides +contributing fruit from her garden for +the first interview—a hospitality she +did not think it fit to renew on subsequent +occasions. In return for this,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span> +she conceived she had purchased the +right to Helen bodily and spiritually, +and nothing could exceed her indignation +when she rose one morning +and found the child had gone. As it +never had occurred to her to ask +Leonard's address, though she suspected +Helen had gone to him, she +was at a loss what to do, and remained +for twenty-four hours in a +state of inane depression. But then +she began to miss the child so much +that her energies woke, and she persuaded +herself that she was actuated +by the purest benevolence in trying +to reclaim this poor creature from the +world into which Helen had thus +rashly plunged.</p> + +<p>Accordingly, she put an advertisement +into the <cite>Times</cite>, to the following +effect, liberally imitated from +one by which, in former years, she had +recovered a favourite Blenheim.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="center">TWO GUINEAS REWARD.</p> + +<p>Strayed, from Ivy Cottage, Highgate, +a Little Girl, answers to the +name of Helen; with blue eyes and +brown hair; white muslin frock, and +straw hat with blue ribbons. Whoever +will bring the same to Ivy Cottage, shall +receive the above Reward.</p> + +<p><em>N.B.</em>—Nothing more will be offered.</p></blockquote> + +<p>Now, it so happened that Mrs +Smedley had put an advertisement in +the <cite>Times</cite> on her own account, relative +to a niece of hers who was coming +from the country, and for whom she +desired to find a situation. So, contrary +to her usual habit, she sent for +the newspaper, and, close by her +own advertisement, she saw Miss +Starke's.</p> + +<p>It was impossible that she could +mistake the description of Helen; +and, as this advertisement caught her +eye the very day after the whole +house had been disturbed and scandalised +by Burley's noisy visit, and +on which she had resolved to get rid +of a lodger who received such visitors, +the goodhearted woman was delighted +to think that she could restore Helen +to some safe home. While thus +thinking, Helen herself entered the +kitchen where Mrs Smedley sate, +and the landlady had the imprudence +to point out the advertisement, and +talk, as she called it, "seriously" to +the little girl.</p> + +<p>Helen in vain and with tears entreated +her to take no step in reply to the +advertisement. Mrs Smedley felt it +was an affair of duty, and was obdurate, +and shortly afterwards put on her +bonnet and left the house. Helen conjectured +that she was on her way to +Miss Starke's, and her whole soul was +bent on flight. Leonard had gone to +the office of the <cite>Beehive</cite> with his MSS.; +but she packed up all their joint +effects, and, just as she had done so, he +returned. She communicated the +news of the advertisement, and said +she should be so miserable if compelled +to go back to Miss Starke's, +and implored him so pathetically to +save her from such sorrow that he at +once assented to her proposal of flight. +Luckily, little was owing to the landlady—that +little was left with the +maid-servant; and, profiting by Mrs +Smedley's absence, they escaped +without scene or conflict. Their +effects were taken by Leonard to a +stand of hackney vehicles, and then +left at a coach-office, while they went +in search of lodgings. It was wise to +choose an entirely new and remote +district; and before night they were +settled in an attic in Lambeth.</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER XIII.</h4> + +<p>As the reader will expect, no +trace of Burley could Leonard find: +the humourist had ceased to communicate +with the <cite>Beehive</cite>. But Leonard +grieved for Burley's sake; and +indeed, he missed the intercourse of +the large wrong mind. But he settled +down by degrees to the simple loving +society of his child companion, and in +that presence grew more tranquil. +The hours in the daytime that he did +not pass at work he spent as before, +picking up knowledge at bookstalls; +and at dusk he and Helen would +stroll out—sometimes striving to +escape from the long suburb into +fresh rural air; more often wandering +to and fro the bridge that led +to glorious Westminster—London's +classic land—and watching the vague<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span> +lamps reflected on the river. This +haunt suited the musing melancholy +boy. He would stand long and with +wistful silence by the balustrade—seating +Helen thereon, that she too +might look along the dark mournful +waters which, dark though they be, +still have their charm of mysterious +repose.</p> + +<p>As the river flowed between the +world of roofs, and the roar of human +passions on either side, so in those +two hearts flowed Thought—and all +they knew of London was its shadow.</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER XIV.</h4> + +<p>There appeared in the <cite>Beehive</cite> certain +very truculent political papers—papers +very like the tracts in the +Tinker's bag. Leonard did not heed +them much, but they made far more +sensation in the public that read the +<cite>Beehive</cite> than Leonard's papers, full +of rare promise though the last were. +They greatly increased the sale of the +periodical in the manufacturing towns, +and began to awake the drowsy vigilance +of the Home Office. Suddenly +a descent was made upon the <cite>Beehive</cite>, +and all its papers and plant. +The editor saw himself threatened +with a criminal prosecution, and the +certainty of two years' imprisonment: +he did not like the prospect, and disappeared. +One evening, when Leonard, +unconscious of these mischances, +arrived at the door of the office, he +found it closed. An agitated mob was +before it, and a voice that was not +new to his ear was haranguing the +bystanders, with many imprecations +against "tyrans." He looked, and, +to his amaze, recognised in the orator +Mr Sprott the Tinker.</p> + +<p>The police came in numbers to disperse +the crowd, and Mr Sprott +prudently vanished. Leonard learned +then what had befallen, and again +saw himself without employment +and the means of bread.</p> + +<p>Slowly he walked back. "O, +knowledge, knowledge!—powerless +indeed!" he murmured.</p> + +<p>As he thus spoke, a handbill in +large capitals met his eyes on a dead +wall—"Wanted, a few smart young +men for India."</p> + +<p>A crimp accosted him—"You +would make a fine soldier, my man. +You have stout limbs of your own." +Leonard moved on.</p> + +<p>"It has come back, then, to this. +Brute physical force after all! O +Mind, despair! O Peasant, be a +machine again."</p> + +<p>He entered his attic noiselessly, +and gazed upon Helen as she sate at +work, straining her eyes by the open +window—with tender and deep compassion. +She had not heard him +enter, nor was she aware of his presence. +Patient and still she sate, +and the small fingers plied busily. +He gazed, and saw that her cheek +was pale and hollow, and the hands +looked so thin! His heart was deeply +touched, and at that moment he had +not one memory of the baffled Poet, +one thought that proclaimed the +Egotist.</p> + +<p>He approached her gently, laid his +hand on her shoulder—"Helen, put +on your shawl and bonnet, and walk +out—I have much to say."</p> + +<p>In a few moments she was ready, +and they took their way to their +favourite haunt upon the bridge. +Pausing in one of the recesses or +nooks, Leonard then began,—"Helen, +we must part."</p> + +<p>"Part?—Oh, brother!"</p> + +<p>"Listen. All work that depends +on mind is over for me; nothing remains +but the labour of thews and +sinews. I cannot go back to my village +and say to all, 'My hopes were +self-conceit, and my intellect a delusion!' +I cannot. Neither in this sordid +city can I turn menial or porter. +I might be born to that drudgery, +but my mind has, it may be unhappily, +raised me above my birth. What, +then, shall I do? I know not yet—serve +as a soldier, or push my way +to some wilderness afar, as an emigrant, +perhaps. But whatever my +choice, I must henceforth be alone; +I have a home no more. But there +is a home for you, Helen, a very +humble one, (for you, too, so well +born,) but very safe—the roof of—of—my +peasant mother. She will love +you for my sake, and—and—"</p> + +<p>Helen clung to him trembling, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span> +sobbed out, "Anything, anything +you will. But I can work; I can +make money, Leonard. I do, indeed, +make money—you do not know how +much—but enough for us both till +better times come to you. Do not let +us part."</p> + +<p>"And I—a man, and born to +labour, to be maintained by the work +of an infant! No, Helen, do not so +degrade me."</p> + +<p>She drew back as she looked on his +flushed brow, bowed her head submissively, +and murmured, "Pardon."</p> + +<p>"Ah," said Helen, after a pause, +"if now we could but find my poor +father's friend! I never so much +cared for it before."</p> + +<p>"Yes, he would surely provide for +you."</p> + +<p>"For <em>me</em>!" repeated Helen, in a +tone of soft deep reproach, and she +turned away her head to conceal her +tears.</p> + +<p>"You are sure you would remember +him, if we met him by chance?"</p> + +<p>"Oh yes. He was so different +from all we see in this terrible city, +and his eyes were like yonder stars, +so clear and so bright; yet the light +seemed to come from afar off, as the +light does in yours, when your +thoughts are away from all things +round you. And then, too, his dog +whom he called Nero—I could not +forget that."</p> + +<p>"But his dog may not be always +with him."</p> + +<p>"But the bright clear eyes are! +Ah, now you look up to heaven, +and yours seem to dream like his."</p> + +<p>Leonard did not answer, for his +thoughts were indeed less on earth +than struggling to pierce into that +remote and mysterious heaven.</p> + +<p>Both were silent long; the crowd +passed them by unheedingly. Night +deepened over the river, but the reflection +of the lamplights on its waves +was more visible than that of the +stars. The beams showed the darkness +of the strong current, and the +craft that lay eastward on the tide, +with sail-less spectral masts and black +dismal hulks, looked deathlike in their +stillness.</p> + +<p>Leonard looked down, and the +thought of Chatterton's grim suicide +came back to his soul, and a pale +scornful face with luminous haunting +eyes seemed to look up from the stream, +and murmur from livid lips,—"Struggle +no more against the tides +on the surface—all is calm and rest +within the deep."</p> + +<p>Starting in terror from the gloom +of his reverie, the boy began to talk +fast to Helen, and tried to soothe her +with descriptions of the lowly home +which he had offered.</p> + +<p>He spoke of the light cares which +she would participate with his +mother—for by that name he still +called the widow—and dwelt, with +an eloquence that the contrast round +him made sincere and strong, on +the happy rural life, the shadowy +woodlands, the rippling cornfields, +the solemn lone church-spire soaring +from the tranquil landscape. Flatteringly +he painted the flowery terraces +of the Italian exile, and the playful +fountain that, even as he spoke, was +flinging up its spray to the stars, +through serene air untroubled by the +smoke of cities, and untainted by the +sinful sighs of men. He promised her +the love and protection of natures +akin to the happy scene: the simple +affectionate mother—the gentle pastor—the +exile wise and kind—Violante, +with dark eyes full of the +mystic thoughts that solitude calls +from childhood,—Violante should be +her companion.</p> + +<p>"And oh!" cried Helen, "if life +be thus happy there, return with me, +return—return!"</p> + +<p>"Alas!" murmured the boy, "if +the hammer once strike the spark +from the anvil, the spark must fly +upward; it cannot fall back to earth +until light has left it. Upward still, +Helen—let me go upward still!"</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER XV.</h4> + +<p>The next morning Helen was very +ill—so ill that, shortly after rising, +she was forced to creep back to bed. +Her frame shivered—her eyes were +heavy—her hand burned like fire. +Fever had set in. Perhaps she might +have caught cold on the bridge—perhaps +her emotions had proved too<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span> +much for her frame. Leonard, in +great alarm, called on the nearest +apothecary. The apothecary looked +grave, and said there was danger. +And danger soon declared itself—Helen +became delirious. For several +days she lay in this state, between +life and death. Leonard then felt +that all the sorrows of earth are +light, compared with the fear of +losing what we love. How valueless +the envied laurel seemed beside the +dying rose.</p> + +<p>Thanks, perhaps, more to his heed +and tending than to medical skill, she +recovered sense at last—immediate +peril was over. But she was very +weak and reduced—her ultimate recovery +doubtful—convalescence, at +best, likely to be very slow.</p> + +<p>But when she learned how long she +had been thus ill, she looked anxiously +at Leonard's face as he bent over +her, and faltered forth—"Give me my +work; I am strong enough for that +now—it would amuse me."</p> + +<p>Leonard burst into tears.</p> + +<p>Alas! he had no work himself; all +their joint money had melted away; +the apothecary was not like good Dr +Morgan: the medicines were to be +paid for, and the rent. Two days +before, Leonard had pawned Riccabocca's +watch; and when the last +shilling thus raised was gone, how +should he support Helen? Nevertheless +he conquered his tears, and assured +her that he had employment; and +that so earnestly that she believed +him, and sank into soft sleep. He +listened to her breathing, kissed her +forehead, and left the room. He +turned into his own neigbouring +garret, and, leaning his face on his +hands, collected all his thoughts.</p> + +<p>He must be a beggar at last. He +must write to Mr Dale for money—Mr +Dale, too, who knew the secret +of his birth. He would rather have +begged of a stranger—it seemed to +add a new dishonour to his mother's +memory for the child to beg of one +who was acquainted with her shame. +Had he himself been the only one to want +and to starve, he would have sunk inch +by inch into the grave of famine, before +he would have so subdued his pride. +But Helen, there on that bed—Helen +needing, for weeks perhaps, all support, +and illness making luxuries +themselves like necessaries! Beg he +must. And when he so resolved, had +you but seen the proud bitter soul he +conquered, you would have said—"This +which he thinks is degradation—this +is heroism. Oh strange human +heart!—no epic ever written achieves +the Sublime and the Beautiful which +are graven, unread by human eye, +in thy secret leaves." Of whom else +should he beg? His mother had nothing, +Riccabocca was poor, and the +stately Violante, who had exclaimed, +"Would that I were a man!"—he +could not endure the thought that she +should pity him, and despise. The +Avenels! No—thrice No. He drew +towards him hastily ink and paper, +and wrote rapid lines, that were +wrung from him as from the bleeding +strings of life.</p> + +<p>But the hour for the post had +passed—the letter must wait till the +next day; and three days at least +would elapse before he could receive +an answer. He left the letter on the +table, and, stifling as for air, went +forth. He crossed the bridge—he +passed on mechanically—and was +borne along by a crowd pressing +towards the doors of Parliament. +A debate that excited popular interest +was fixed for that evening, and many +bystanders collected in the street to +see the members pass to and fro, +or hear what speakers had yet risen to +take part in the debate, or try to get +orders for the gallery.</p> + +<p>He halted amidst these loiterers, with +no interest, indeed, in common with +them, but looking over their heads +abstractedly towards the tall Funeral +Abbey—Imperial Golgotha of Poets, +and Chiefs, and Kings.</p> + +<p>Suddenly his attention was diverted +to those around by the sound of a +name—displeasingly known to him. +"How are you, Randal Leslie? +coming to hear the debate?" said a +member who was passing through +the street.</p> + +<p>"Yes; Mr Egerton promised to get +me under the gallery. He is to speak +himself to-night, and I have never +heard him. As you are going into +the House, will you remind him?"</p> + +<p>"I can't now, for he is speaking +already—and well too. I hurried from +the Athenæum, where I was dining, +on purpose to be in time, as I heard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span> +that his speech was making a great +effect."</p> + +<p>"This is very unlucky," said Randal. +"I had no idea he would speak +so early."</p> + +<p>"M—— brought him up by a direct +personal attack. But follow me; perhaps +I can get you into the House; +and a man like you, Leslie, of whom +we expect great things some day, I +can tell you, should not miss any +such opportunity of knowing what +this House of ours is on a field night. +Come on!"</p> + +<p>The member hurried towards the +door; and as Randal followed him, a +bystander cried—"That is the young +man who wrote the famous pamphlet—Egerton's +relation."</p> + +<p>"Oh, indeed!" said another. +"Clever man, Egerton—I am waiting +for him."</p> + +<p>"So am I."</p> + +<p>"Why, you are not a constituent, +as I am."</p> + +<p>"No; but he has been very kind to +my nephew, and I must thank him. +You are a constituent—he is an +honour to your town."</p> + +<p>"So he is: Enlightened man!"</p> + +<p>"And so generous!"</p> + +<p>"Brings forward really good measures," +quoth the politician.</p> + +<p>"And clever young men," said the +uncle.</p> + +<p>Therewith one or two others joined +in the praise of Audley Egerton, and +many anecdotes of his liberality were +told.</p> + +<p>Leonard listened at first listlessly, +at last with thoughtful attention. He +had heard Burley, too, speak highly +of this generous statesman, who, +without pretending to genius himself, +appreciated it in others. He suddenly +remembered, too, that Egerton was +half-brother to the Squire. Vague +notions of some appeal to this eminent +person, not for charity, but employ +to his mind, gleamed across him—inexperienced +boy that he yet was! And, +while thus meditating, the door of the +House opened, and out came Audley +Egerton himself. A partial cheering, +followed by a general murmur, apprised +Leonard of the presence of the +popular statesman. Egerton was +caught hold of by some five or six +persons in succession; a shake of the +hand, a nod, a brief whispered word +or two, sufficed the practised member +for graceful escape; and soon, free +from the crowd, his tall erect figure +passed on, and turned towards the +bridge. He paused at the angle and +took out his watch, looking at it by +the lamp-light.</p> + +<p>"Harley will be here soon," he +muttered—"he is always punctual; +and now that I have spoken, I can +give him an hour or so. That is well."</p> + +<p>As he replaced his watch in his +pocket, and re-buttoned his coat over +his firm broad chest, he lifted his eyes, +and saw a young man standing before +him.</p> + +<p>"Do you want me?" asked the +statesman, with the direct brevity of +his practical character.</p> + +<p>"Mr Egerton," said the young +man, with a voice that slightly trembled, +and yet was manly amidst +emotion, "you have a great name, +and great power—I stand here in +these streets of London without a +friend, and without employ. I believe +that I have it in me to do some +nobler work than that of bodily labour, +had I but one friend—one opening for +my thoughts. And now I have said +this, I scarcely know how, or why, +but from despair, and the sudden impulse +which that despair took from the +praise that follows your success, I +have nothing more to add."</p> + +<p>Audley Egerton was silent for a moment, +struck by the tone and address +of the stranger; but the consummate +and wary man of the world, accustomed +to all manner of strange applications, +and all varieties of imposture, +quickly recovered from a passing +and slight effect.</p> + +<p>"Are you a native of ——?" (naming +the town he represented as member.)</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"Well, young man, I am very +sorry for you; but the good sense you +must possess (for I judge of that by the +education you have evidently received) +must tell you that a public man, +whatever be his patronage, has it too +fully absorbed by claimants who have +a right to demand it, to be able to +listen to strangers."</p> + +<p>He paused a moment, and, as +Leonard stood silent, added, with +more kindness than most public men +so accosted would have showed—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You say you are friendless—poor +fellow. In early life that happens to +many of us, who find friends enough +before the close. Be honest, and +well-conducted; lean on yourself, not +on strangers; work with the body if +you can't with the mind; and, believe +me, that advice is all I can give you, +unless this trifle,"—and the minister +held out a crown piece.</p> + +<p>Leonard bowed, shook his head +sadly, and walked away. Egerton +looked after him with a slight +pang.</p> + +<p>"Pooh!" said he to himself, "there +must be thousands in the same state +in these streets of London. I cannot +redress the necessities of civilisation. +Well educated! It is not from ignorance +henceforth that society will suffer—it +is from over-educating the +hungry thousands who, thus unfitted +for manual toil, and with no career +for mental, will some day or other +stand like that boy in our streets, +and puzzle wiser ministers than I +am."</p> + +<p>As Egerton thus mused, and passed +on to the bridge, a bugle-horn rang +merrily from the box of a gay four-in-hand. +A drag-coach with superb +blood-horses rattled over the causeway, +and in the driver Egerton recognised +his nephew—Frank Hazeldean.</p> + +<p>The young Guardsman was returning, +with a lively party of men, from +dining at Greenwich; and the careless +laughter of these children of pleasure +floated far over the still river.</p> + +<p>It vexed the ear of the careworn +statesman—sad, perhaps, with all his +greatness, lonely amidst all his crowd +of friends. It reminded him, perhaps, +of his own youth, when such parties +and companionships were familiar to +him, though through them all he bore +an ambitious aspiring soul—"<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Le jeu, +vaut-il la chandelle?</i>" said he, shrugging +his shoulders.</p> + +<p>The coach rolled rapidly past Leonard, +as he stood leaning against the +corner of the bridge, and the mire of +the kennel splashed over him from the +hoofs of the fiery horses. The laughter +smote on his ear more discordantly +than on the minister's, but it begot no +envy.</p> + +<p>"Life is a dark riddle," said he, +smiting his breast.</p> + +<p>And he walked slowly on, gained +the recess where he had stood several +nights before with Helen; and dizzy +with want of food, and worn out for +want of sleep, he sank down into +the dark corner; while the river that +rolled under the arch of stone muttered +dirge-like in his ear;—as under +the social key-stone wails and rolls +on for ever the mystery of Human +Discontent. Take comfort, O Thinker +by the stream! 'Tis the river that +founded and gave pomp to the city; +and without the discontent, where +were progress—what were Man? +Take comfort, O <span class="smcap">Thinker</span>! where ever +the stream over which thou +bendest, or beside which thou sinkest, +weary and desolate, frets the arch +that supports thee;—never dream +that, by destroying the bridge, thou +canst silence the moan of the wave!</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>DISFRANCHISEMENT OF THE BOROUGHS.</h2> + +<h3>TO WALTER BINKIE, ESQ., PROVOST OF DREEPDAILY.</h3> + + +<p><span class="smcap">My dear Provost</span>,—In the course +of your communings with nature on +the uplands of Dreepdaily, you must +doubtless have observed that the +advent of a storm is usually preceded +by the appearance of a flight of seamaws, +who, by their discordant +screams, give notice of the approaching +change of weather. For some +time past it has been the opinion of +those who are in the habit of watching +the political horizon, that we +should do well to prepare ourselves +for a squall, and already the premonitory +symptoms are distinctly audible. +The Liberal press, headed by the +<cite>Times</cite>, is clamorous for some sweeping +change in the method of Parliamentary +representation; and Lord +John Russell, as you are well aware, +proposes in the course of next Session +to take up the subject. This is no +mere <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">brutum fulmen</i>, or dodge to +secure a little temporary popularity—it +is a distinct party move for a +very intelligible purpose; and is +fraught, I think, with much danger +and injustice to many of the constituencies +which are now intrusted with +the right of franchise. As you, my +dear Provost, are a Liberal both by +principle and profession, and moreover +chief magistrate of a very old +Scottish burgh, your opinion upon +this matter must have great weight +in determining the judgment of others; +and, therefore, you will not, I trust, +consider it too great a liberty, if, at +this dull season of the year, I call +your attention to one or two points +which appear well worthy of consideration.</p> + +<p>In the first place, I think you will +admit that extensive organic changes +in the Constitution ought never to be +attempted except in cases of strong +necessity. The real interests of the +country are never promoted by internal +political agitation, which unsettles +men's minds, is injurious to regular +industry, and too often leaves behind +it the seeds of jealousy and discord +between different classes of the community, +ready on some future occasion +to burst into noxious existence. +You would not, I think, wish to see +annually renewed that sort of strife +which characterised the era of the +Reform Bill. I venture to pass no +opinion whatever on the abstract +merits of that measure. I accept it +as a fact, just as I accept other changes +in the Constitution of this country +which took place before I was born; +and I hope I shall ever comport myself +as a loyal and independent +elector. But I am sure you have far +too lively a recollection of the ferment +which that event created, to wish to +see it renewed, without at least some +urgent cause. You were consistently +anxious for the suppression of rotten +boroughs, and for the enlargement of +the constituency upon a broad and +popular basis; and you considered +that the advantages to be gained by +the adoption of the new system, justified +the social risks which were incurred +in the endeavour to supersede +the old one. I do not say that you +were wrong in this. The agitation +for Parliamentary Reform had been +going on for a great number of years; +the voice of the majority of the country +was undeniably in your favour, +and you finally carried your point. +Still, in consequence of that struggle, +years elapsed before the heart-burnings +and jealousies which were occasioned +by it were allayed. Even now +it is not uncommon to hear the reminiscences +of the Reform Bill appealed +to on the hustings by candidates who +have little else to say for themselves +by way of personal recommendation. +A most ludicrous instance of this +occurred very lately in the case of a +young gentleman, who, being desirous +of Parliamentary honours, actually +requested the support of the electors +on the ground that his father or grandfather—I +forget which—had voted for +the Reform Bill; a ceremony which +he could not very well have performed +in his own person, as at that time +he had not been released from the +bondage of swaddling-clothes! I +need hardly add that he was rejected;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span> +but the anecdote is curious and instructive.</p> + +<p>In a country such as this, changes +must be looked for in the course of +years. One system dies out, or becomes +unpopular, and is replaced by +a new one. But I cannot charge my +memory with any historical instance +where a great change was attempted +without some powerful or cogent +reason. Still less can I recollect any +great change being proposed, unless a +large and powerful section of the +community had unequivocally declared +in its favour. The reason of this is +quite obvious. The middle classes of +Great Britain, however liberal they +may be in their sentiments, have a +just horror of revolutions. They +know very well that organic changes +are never effected without enormous +loss and individual deprivation, and +they will not move unless they are +assured that the value of the object to +be gained is commensurate with the +extent of the sacrifice. In defence of +their liberties, when these are attacked, +the British people are ever +ready to stand forward; but I mistake +them much, if they will at any +time allow themselves to be made the +tools of a faction. The attempt to +get up organic changes for the sole +purpose of perpetuating the existence +of a particular Ministry, or of maintaining +the supremacy of a particular +party, is a new feature in our history. +It is an experiment which the nation +ought not to tolerate for a single +moment; and which I am satisfied it +will not tolerate, when the schemes +of its authors are laid bare.</p> + +<p>I believe, Provost, I am right in +assuming that there has been no decided +movement in favour of a New +Parliamentary Reform Bill, either in +Dreepdaily or in any of the other +burghs with which you are connected. +The electors are well satisfied with +the operation of the ten-pound clause, +which excludes from the franchise no +man of decent ability and industry, +whilst it secures property from those +direct inroads which would be the +inevitable result of a system of universal +suffrage. Also, I suppose, you +are reasonably indifferent on the subjects +of Vote by Ballot and Triennial +Parliaments, and that you view the +idea of annual ones with undisguised +reprobation. Difference of opinion +undoubtedly may exist on some of +these points: an eight-pound qualification +may have its advocates, and +the right of secret voting may be convenient +for members of the clique; +but, on the whole, you are satisfied +with matters as they are; and, certainly, +I do not see that you have any +grievance to complain of. If I were +a member of the Liberal party, I +should be very sorry to see any +change of the representation made in +Scotland. Just observe how the +matter stands. At the commencement +of the present year the whole +representation of the Scottish burghs +was in the hands of the Liberal party. +Since then, it is true, Falkirk has +changed sides; but you are still remarkably +well off; and I think that +out of thirty county members, eighteen +may be set down as supporters of the +Free-trade policy. Remember, I do +not guarantee the continuance of +these proportions: I wish you simply +to observe how you stand at present, +under the working of your own Reform +Bill; and really it appears to me +that nothing could be more satisfactory. +The Liberal who wishes to +have more men of his own kidney +from Scotland must indeed be an unconscionable +glutton; and if, in the +face of these facts, he asks for a reform +in the representation, I cannot +set him down as other than a consummate +ass. He must needs admit +that the system has worked well. +Scotland sends to the support of the +Whig Ministry, and the maintenance +of progressive opinions, a brilliant +phalanx of senators; amongst whom +we point, with justifiable pride, to +the distinguished names of Anderson, +Bouverie, Ewart, Hume, Smith, +M'Taggart, and M'Gregor. Are +these gentlemen not liberal enough +for the wants of the present age? +Why, unless I am most egregiously +mistaken—and not I only, but the +whole of the Liberal press in Scotland—they +are generally regarded as +decidedly ahead even of my Lord John +Russell. Why, then, should your +representation be reformed, while it +bears such admirable fruit? With +such a growth of golden pippins on +its boughs, would it not be madness +to cut down the tree, on the mere<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span> +chance of another arising from the +stump, more especially when you +cannot hope to gather from it a more +abundant harvest? I am quite sure, +Provost, that you agree with me in +this. You have nothing to gain, but +possibly a good deal to lose, by any +alteration which may be made; and +therefore it is, I presume, that in this +part of the world not the slightest +wish has been manifested for a radical +change of the system. That very +conceited and shallow individual, Sir +Joshua Walmsley, made not long +ago a kind of agitating tour through +Scotland, for the purpose of getting +up the steam; but except from a few +unhappy Chartists, whose sentiments +on the subject of property are identically +the same with those professed +by the gentlemen who plundered the +Glasgow tradesmen's shops in 1848, +he met with no manner of encouragement. +The electors laughed in the +face of this ridiculous caricature of +Peter the Hermit, and advised him, +instead of exposing his ignorance in +the north, to go back to Bolton +and occupy himself with his own +affairs.</p> + +<p>This much I have said touching +the necessity or call for a new Reform +Bill, which is likely enough to +involve us, for a considerable period +at least, in unfortunate political strife. +I have put it to you as a Liberal, but +at the same time as a man of common +sense and honesty, whether there are +any circumstances, under your knowledge, +which can justify such an +attempt; and in the absence of these, +you cannot but admit that such an +experiment is eminently dangerous +at the present time, and ought to be +strongly discountenanced by all men, +whatever may be their kind of political +opinions. I speak now without any +reference whatever to the details. It +may certainly be possible to discover +a better system of representation than +that which at present exists. I never +regarded Lord John Russell as the +living incarnation of Minerva, nor +can I consider any measure originated +by him as conveying an assurance +that the highest amount of human +wisdom has been exhausted in its +preparation. But what I do say is +this, that in the absence of anything +like general demand, and failing the +allegation of any marked grievance +to be redressed, no Ministry is entitled +to propose an extensive or +organic change in the representation +of the country; and the men who +shall venture upon such a step must +render themselves liable to the imputation +of being actuated by other +motives than regard to the public +welfare.</p> + +<p>You will, however, be slow to +believe that Lord John Russell is +moving in this matter without some +special reason. In this you are perfectly +right. He has a reason, and a +very cogent one, but not such a reason +as you, if you are truly a Liberal, +and not a mere partisan, can accept. +I presume it is the wish of the Liberal +party—at least it used to be their +watchword—that public opinion in +this country is not to be slighted +or suppressed. With the view of +giving full effect to that public opinion, +not of securing the supremacy of this +or that political alliance, the Reform +Act was framed; it being the declared +object and intention of its founders that +a full, fair, and free representation +should be secured to the people of +this country. The property qualification +was fixed at a low rate; the +balance of power as between counties +and boroughs was carefully adjusted; +and every precaution was taken—at +least so we were told at the time—that +no one great interest of the State +should be allowed unduly to predominate +over another. Many, however, +were of opinion at the time, and have +since seen no reason to alter it, that +the adjustment then made, as between +counties and boroughs, was by no +means equitable, and that an undue +share in the representation was given +to the latter, more especially in England. +That, you will observe, was a +Conservative, not a Liberal objection; +and it was over-ruled. Well, then, +did the Representation, as fixed by +the Reform Bill, fulfil its primary +condition? You thought so; and so +did my Lord John Russell, until some +twelve months ago, when a new light +dawned upon him. That light has +since increased in intensity, and he +now sees his way, clearly enough, to +a new organic measure. Why is +this? Simply, my dear Provost, +because the English boroughs will no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span> +longer support him in his bungling +legislation, or countenance his unnational +policy!</p> + +<p>Public opinion, as represented +through the operation of the Reform +Act, is no longer favourable to Lord +John Russell. The result of recent +elections, in places which were formerly +considered as the strongholds +of Whiggery, have demonstrated to +him that the Free-trade policy, to +which he is irretrievably pledged, has +become obnoxious to the bulk of the +electors, and that they will no longer +accord their support to any Ministry +which is bent upon depressing British +labour and sapping the foundations of +national prosperity. So Lord John +Russell, finding himself in this position, +that he must either get rid of public +opinion or resign his place, sets about +the concoction of a new Reform Bill, +by means of which he hopes to swamp +the present electoral body! This is +Whig liberty in its pure and original +form. It implies, of course, that the +Reform Bill did not give a full, fair, +and free representation to the country, +else there can be no excuse for altering +its provisions. If we really have +a fair representation; and if, notwithstanding, +the majority of the electors +are convinced that Free Trade is not +for their benefit, it does appear to me +a most monstrous thing that they are +to be coerced into receiving it by +the infusion of a new element into the +Constitution, or a forcible change in +the distribution of the electoral power, +to suit the commercial views which +are in favour with the Whig party. +It is, in short, a most circuitous +method of exercising despotic power; +and I, for one, having the interests of +the country at heart, would much +prefer the institution at once of a pure +despotism, and submit to be ruled and +taxed henceforward at the sweet will +of the scion of the house of Russell.</p> + +<p>I do not know what your individual +sentiments may be on the subject of +Free Trade; but whether you are for +it or against it, my argument remains +the same. It is essentially a question +for the solution of the electoral body; +and if the Whigs are right in their +averment that its operation hitherto +has been attended with marked success, +and has even transcended the +expectation of its promoters, you +may rely upon it that there is no +power in the British Empire which can +overthrow it. No Protectionist ravings +can damage a system which has +been productive of real advantage to +the great bulk of the people. But if, +on the contrary, it is a bad system, is +it to be endured that any man or +body of men shall attempt to perpetuate +it against the will of the majority +of the electors, by a change in +the representation of the country? +I ask you this as a Liberal. Without +having any undue diffidence in the +soundness of your own judgment, I +presume you do not, like his Holiness +the Pope, consider yourself infallible, +or entitled to coerce others who may +differ from you in opinion. Yet this +is precisely what Lord John Russell +is now attempting to do; and I warn +you and others who are similarly +situated, to be wise in time, and to +take care lest, under the operation of +this new Reform Bill, you are not +stripped of that political power and +those political privileges which at +present you enjoy.</p> + +<p>Don't suppose that I am speaking +rashly or without consideration. All +I know touching this new Reform +Bill, is derived from the arguments +and proposals which have been advanced +and made by the Liberal press +in consequence of the late indications +of public feeling, as manifested by +the result of recent elections. It is +rather remarkable that we heard few +or no proposals for an alteration in +the electoral system, until it became +apparent that the voice of the boroughs +could no longer be depended on for +the maintenance of the present commercial +policy. You may recollect +that the earliest of the victories which +were achieved by the Protectionists, +with respect to vacant seats in the +House of Commons, were treated +lightly by their opponents as mere +casualties; but when borough after +borough deliberately renounced its +adherence to the cause of the League, +and, not unfrequently under circumstances +of very marked significance, +declared openly in favour of Protection, +the matter became serious. It +was <em>then</em>, and then only, that we +heard the necessity for some new and +sweeping change in the representation +of this country broadly asserted; and,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span> +singularly enough, the advocates of +that change do not attempt to disguise +their motives. They do not +venture to say that the intelligence of +the country is not adequately represented +at present—what they complain +of is, that the intelligence of the +country is becoming every day more +hostile to their commercial theories. +In short, they want to get rid of that +intelligence, and must get rid of it +speedily, unless their system is to +crumble to pieces. Such is their aim +and declared object; and if you entertain +any doubts on the matter, I +beg leave to refer you to the recorded +sentiments of the leading Ministerial +and Free-trade organ—the <cite>Times</cite>. It +is always instructive to notice the +hints of the Thunderer. The writers +in that journal are fully alive to the +nature of the coming crisis. They +have been long aware of the reaction +which has taken place throughout the +country on the subject of Free Trade, +and they recognise distinctly the peril +in which their favourite principle is +placed, if some violent means are not +used to counteract the conviction of +the electoral body. They see that, +in the event of a general election, the +constituencies of the Empire are not +likely to return a verdict hostile to +the domestic interests of the country. +They have watched with careful and +anxious eyes the turning tide of +opinion; and they can devise no +means of arresting it, without having +recourse to that peculiar mode of +manipulation, which is dignified by the +name of Burking. Let us hear what +they say so late as the 21st of July +last.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"With such a prospect before us, with +unknown struggles and unprecedented +collisions within the bounds of possibility, +there is only one resource, and we must +say that Her Majesty's present advisers +will be answerable for the consequences +if they do not adopt it. They must lay +the foundation of an appeal to the people +with a large and liberal measure of +Parliamentary reform. It is high time +that this great country should cease to +quake and to quail at the decisions of stupid +and corrupt little constituencies, of whom, +as in the case before us, it would take +thirty to make one metropolitan borough. +The great question always before the +nation in one shape or another is—whether +<em>the people</em> are as happy as laws +can make them? To what sort of constituencies +shall we appeal for the answer +to this question? To Harwich with its +population of 3370; to St Albans with +its population of 6246; to Scarborough +with its population of 9953; to Knaresborough +with its population of 5382; and +to a score other places still more insignificant? +Or shall we insist on the appeal +being made to much larger bodies? The +average population of boroughs and +counties is more than 60,000. Is it not +high time to require that no single +borough shall fall below half or a third +of that number?"</p></blockquote> + +<p>The meaning of this is clear enough. +It points, if not to the absolute annihilation, +most certainly to the concretion +of the smaller boroughs +throughout England—to an entire +remarshalling of the electoral ranks—and, +above all, to an enormous increase +in the representation of the +larger cities. In this way, you see, +local interests will be made almost +entirely to disappear; and London +alone will secure almost as many +representatives in Parliament as are +at the present time returned for the +whole kingdom of Scotland. Now, I +confess to you, Provost, that I do not +feel greatly exhilarated at the prospect +of any such change. I believe +that the prosperity of Great Britain +depends upon the maintenance of +many interests, and I cannot see how +that can be secured if we are to deliver +over the whole political power +to the masses congregated within the +towns. Moreover, I would very +humbly remark, that past experience +is little calculated to increase the +measure of our faith in the wisdom or +judgment of large constituencies. I +may be wrong in my estimate of the +talent and abilities of the several +honourable members who at present +sit for London and the adjacent districts; +but, if so, I am only one out +of many who labour under a similar +delusion. We are told by the <cite>Times</cite> +to look to Marylebone as an example +of a large and enlightened constituency. +I obey the mandate; and on +referring to the Parliamentary Companion, +I find that Marylebone +is represented by Lord Dudley Stuart +and Sir Benjamin Hall. That fact +does not, in my humble opinion, +furnish a conclusive argument in +favour of large constituencies. As I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span> +wish to avoid the Jew question, I +shall say nothing about Baron Rothschild; +but passing over to the Tower +Hamlets, I find them in possession of +Thomson and Clay; Lambeth rejoicing +in d'Eyncourt and Williams; +and Southwark in Humphrey and +Molesworth. Capable senators though +these may be, I should not like to +see a Parliament composed entirely +of men of their kidney; nor do I think +that they afford undoubted materials +for the construction of a new Cabinet.</p> + +<p>But perhaps I am undervaluing the +abilities of these gentlemen; perhaps +I am doing injustice to the discretion +and wisdom of the metropolitan constituencies. +Anxious to avoid any +such imputation, I shall again invoke +the assistance of the <cite>Times</cite>, whom I +now cite as a witness, and a very +powerful one, upon my side of the +question. Let us hear the Thunderer +on the subject of these same metropolitan +constituencies, just twelve +months ago, before Scarborough and +Knaresborough had disgraced themselves +by returning Protectionists to +Parliament. I quote from a leader in +the <cite>Times</cite> of 8th August 1850, referring +to the Lambeth election, when +Mr Williams was returned.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"When it was proposed some twenty +years ago to extend the franchise to the +metropolitan boroughs, the presumption +was, that the quality of the representatives +would bear something like a proportion +to the importance of the constituencies +called into play. In other words, +if the political axioms from which the +principle of an extended representation is +deduced have any foundation in reality, +it should follow that the most numerous +and most intelligent bodies of electors +would return to Parliament members of +the highest mark for character and capacity. +Now, looking at the condition of +the metropolitan representation as it +stands at present, or as it has stood any +time since the passing of the Reform Bill, +has this expectation been fulfilled? Lord +John Russell, the First Minister of the +Crown, sits, indeed, as member for the +city of London, and so far it is well. +Whatever difference of opinion may exist +as to the noble lord's capacity for government, +or whatever may be the views +of this or that political party, it is beyond +all dispute that, in such a case as this, +there is dignity and fitness in the relation +between the member and the constituency. +But, setting aside this one solitary instance, +with what metropolitan borough +is the name of any very eminent Englishman +associated at the present time? It is +of course as contrary to our inclination +as it would be unnecessary for the purposes +of the argument, to quote this or that +man's name as an actual illustration of the +failure of a system, or of the decadence +of a constituency. We would, however, +without any invidious or offensive personality, +invite attention to the present list +of metropolitan members, and ask what +name is to be found among them, with +the single exception we have named, +which is borne by a man with a shadow +of a pretension to be reckoned as among +the leading Englishmen of the age?"</p></blockquote> + +<p>You see, Provost, I am by no +means singular in my estimate of the +quality of the metropolitan representatives. +The <cite>Times</cite> is with me, or +was with me twelve months ago; and +I suppose it will hardly be averred +that, since that time, any enormous +increase of wisdom or of ability has +been manifested by the gentlemen referred +to. But there is rather more +than this. In the article from which +I am quoting, the writer does not confine +his strictures simply to the metropolitan +boroughs. He goes a great deal +further, for he attacks large constituencies +in the mass, and points out +very well and forcibly the evils which +must inevitably follow should these +obtain an accession to their power. +Read, mark, and perpend the following +paragraphs, and then reconcile +their tenor—if you can—with the later +proposals from the same quarter for +the general suppression of small constituencies, +and the establishment of +larger tribunals of public opinion.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Lambeth, then, on the occasion of the +present election, is likely to become another +illustration of the downward tendencies +of the metropolitan constituencies. +We use the word 'tendency' advisedly, +for matters are worse than they have +been, and we can perceive no symptom of +a turning tide. Let us leave the names +of individuals aside, and simply consider +the metropolitan members as a body, and +what is their main employment in the +House of Commons? <em>Is it not mainly to +represent the selfish interests and blind prejudices +of the less patriotic or less enlightened +portion of their constituents whenever +any change is proposed manifestly for the +public benefit?</em> Looking at their votes, +one would suppose a metropolitan member<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span> +to be rather a Parliamentary agent +of the drovers, and sextons, and undertakers, +than a representative of one of +the most important constituencies in the +kingdom. Is this downward progress of +the metropolitan representation to remain +unchanged? Will it be extended to +other constituencies as soon as they shall +be brought under conditions analogous to +those under which the metropolitan electors +exercise the franchise? The question +is of no small interest. Whether the +fault be with the electors, or with those +who should have the nerve to come forward +and demand their suffrages, matters +not for the purposes of the argument. +The fact remains unaltered. Supposing +England throughout its area were represented +as the various boroughs of the metropolis +are represented at the present +time, what would be the effect? That is +the point for consideration. It may well +be that men of higher character, and of +more distinguished intellectual qualifications, +would readily attract the sympathies +and secure the votes of these constituencies; +but what does their absence prove? +<em>Simply that the same feeling of unwillingness +to face large electoral bodies, which is +said to prevail in the United States, is gradually +rising up in this country.</em> On the +other side of the Atlantic, we are told by +all who know the country best, that the +most distinguished citizens shrink from +stepping forward on the arena of public +life, lest they be made the mark for calumny +and abuse. It would require more +space than we can devote to the subject +to point out the correlative shortcomings +of the constituencies and the candidates; +but, leaving these aside, <em>we cannot but arrive +at the conclusion that there is something +in the constitution of these great electoral +masses which renders a peaceful majority +little better than a passive instrument +in the hands of a turbulent minority</em>, and +affords an explanation of the fact that +such a person as Mr Williams should +aspire to represent the borough of Lambeth."</p></blockquote> + +<p>What do you think of that, Provost, +by way of an argument in favour +of large constituencies? I agree +with every word of it. I believe, in +common with the eloquent writer, +that matters are growing worse instead +of better, and that there is +something radically wrong in the constitution +of these great electoral +masses. I believe that they do not +represent the real intelligence of the +electors, and that they are liable to +all those objections which are here +so well and forcibly urged. It is +not necessary to travel quite so far +as London for an illustration. Look +at Glasgow. Have the twelve thousand +and odd electors of that great +commercial and manufacturing city +covered themselves with undying +glory by their choice of their present +representatives? Is the intelligence +of the first commercial city in Scotland +really embodied in the person of +Mr M'Gregor? I should be very loth +to think so. Far be it from me to +impugn the propriety of any particular +choice, or to speculate upon +coming events; but I cannot help +wondering whether, in the event of +the suppression of some of the smaller +burghs, and the transference of their +power to the larger cities, it may come +to pass that the city of St Mungo +shall be represented by the wisdom +of six M'Gregors? I repeat, that I +wish to say nothing in disparagement +of large urban constituencies, or of +their choice in any one particular +case—I simply desire to draw your +attention to the fact, that we are not +indebted to such constituencies for +returning the men who, by common +consent, are admitted to be the most +valuable members, in point of talent, +ability, and business habits, in the +House of Commons. How far we +should improve the character of our +legislative assembly, by disfranchising +smaller constituencies, and transferring +their privileges to the larger ones,—open +to such serious objections as +have been urged against them by the +<cite>Times</cite>, a journal not likely to err on the +side of undervaluing popular opinion—appears +to me a question decidedly +open to discussion; and I hope that +it will be discussed, pretty broadly +and extensively, before any active +steps are taken for suppressing +boroughs which are not open to the +charge of rank venality and corruption.</p> + +<p>The <cite>Times</cite>, you observe, talks in +its more recent article, in which +totally opposite views are advocated, +of "stupid and corrupt little constituencies." +This is a clever way of +mixing up two distinct and separate +matters. We all know what is meant +by corruption, and I hope none of us +are in favour of it. It means the +purchase, either by money or promises, +of the suffrages of those who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span> +are intrusted with the electoral +franchise; and I am quite ready to +join with the <cite>Times</cite> in the most +hearty denunciation of such villanous +practices, whether used by Jew or +Gentile. It may be, and probably is, +impossible to prevent bribery altogether, +for there are scoundrels in all +constituencies; and if a candidate +with a long purse is so lax in his +morals as to hint at the purchase of +votes, he is tolerably certain to find a +market in which these commodities +are sold. But if, in any case, general +corruption can be proved against +a borough, it ought to be forthwith +disfranchised, and declared unworthy +of exercising so important a public +privilege. But of the "stupidity" of +constituencies, who are to be the +judges? Not, I hope, the Areopagites +of the <cite>Times</cite>, else we may +expect to see every constituency +which does not pronounce in favour +of Free Trade, placed under the +general extinguisher! Scarborough, +with some seven or eight hundred +electors—a good many more, by the +way, than are on the roll for the +Dreepdaily burghs—has, in the +opinion of the <cite>Times</cite>, stultified itself +for ever by returning Mr George F. +Young to Parliament, instead of a +Whig lordling, who possessed great +local influence. Therefore Scarborough +is put down in the black list, +not because it is "corrupt," but because +it is "stupid," in having elected +a gentleman of the highest political +celebrity, who is at the same time +one of the most extensive shipowners +of Great Britain! I put it to you, +Provost, whether this is not as cool +an instance of audacity as you ever +heard of. What would you think +if it were openly proposed, upon +our side, to disfranchise Greenwich, +because the tea-and-shrimp +population of that virtuous town has +committed the stupid act of returning +a Jew to Parliament? If stupidity is +to go for anything in the way of cancelling +privileges, I think I could +name to you some half-dozen places +on this side of the border which are +in evident danger, at least if we are +to accept the attainments of the +representatives as any test of the +mental acquirements of the electors; +but perhaps it is better to avoid +particulars in a matter so personal +and delicate.</p> + +<p>I am not in the least degree surprised +to find the Free-Traders turning +round against the boroughs. Four +years ago, you would certainly have +laughed in the face of any one who +might have prophesied such a result; +but since then, times have altered. +The grand experiment upon native +industry has been made, and allowed +to go on without check or impediment. +The Free-Traders have had +it all their own way; and if there had +been one iota of truth in their statements, +or if their calculations had +been based upon secure and rational +data, they must long ago have +achieved a complete moral triumph. +Pray, remember what they told us. +They said that Free Trade in corn +and in cattle would not permanently +<em>lower</em> the value of agricultural produce +in Britain—it would only steady +prices, and prevent extreme fluctuations. +Then, again, we were assured +that large imports from any part of +the world could not by possibility +be obtained; and those consummate +blockheads, the statists, offered to +prove by figures, that a deluge of +foreign grain was as impossible as an +overflow of the Mediterranean. I +need not tell you that the results have +entirely falsified such predictions, +and that the agricultural interest has +ever since been suffering under the +effects of unexampled depression. +No man denies that. The stiffest +stickler for the cheap loaf does not +venture now to assert that agriculture +is a profitable profession in +Britain; all he can do is to recommend +economy, and to utter a hypocritical +prayer, that the prosperity which he +assumes to exist in other quarters +may, at no distant date, and through +some mysterious process which he +cannot specify, extend itself to the +suffering millions who depend for +their subsistence on the produce of the +soil of Britain, and who pay by far +the largest share of the taxes and +burdens of the kingdom.</p> + +<p>Now, it is perfectly obvious that +agricultural distress, by which I mean +the continuance of a range of unremunerative +prices, cannot long prevail +in any district, without affecting the +traffic of the towns. You, who are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span> +an extensive retail merchant in Dreepdaily, +know well that the business of +your own trade depends in a great +degree upon the state of the produce +markets. So long as the farmer is +thriving, he buys from you and your +neighbours liberally, and you find +him, I have no doubt, your best and +steadiest customer. But if you reverse +his circumstances, you must +look for a corresponding change in +his dealings. He cannot afford to +purchase silks for his wife and +daughters, as formerly; he grows +penurious in his own personal expenditure, +and denies himself every unnecessary +luxury; he does nothing +for the good of trade, and is impassable +to all the temptations which +you endeavour to throw in his way. +To post your ledger is now no very +difficult task. You find last year's +stock remaining steadily on your +hands; and when the season for the +annual visit of the bagmen comes +round, you dismiss them from your premises +without gratifying their avidity +by an order. This is a faithful picture +of what has been going on for two +years, at least, in the smaller inland +boroughs. No doubt you are getting +your bread cheap; but those whose +importations have brought about that +cheapness, never were, and never can +be, customers of yours. Even supposing +that they were to take goods +in exchange for their imported grain, +no profit or custom could accrue to +the retail shopkeeper, who must +necessarily look to the people around +him for the consumption of his wares. +In this way trade has been made to +stagnate, and profits have of course +declined, until the tradesmen, weary +of awaiting the advent of a prosperity +which never arrives, have come to +the conclusion, that they will best +consult their interest by giving their +support to a policy the reverse of that +which has crippled the great body of +their customers.</p> + +<p>Watering-places, and towns of +fashionable resort, have suffered in a +like degree. The gentry, whose rents +have been most seriously affected by +the unnatural diminution of prices, +are compelled to curtail their expenditure, +and to deny themselves many +things which formerly would have +been esteemed legitimate indulgences. +Economy is the order Of the day: +equipages are given up, servants dismissed, +and old furniture made to last +beyond its appointed time. These +things, I most freely admit, are no +great hardships to the gentry; nor do +I intend to awaken your compassion +in behalf of the squire, who, by reason +of his contracted rent-roll, has been +compelled to part with his carriage and +a couple of footmen, and to refuse his +wife and daughters the pleasure of a +trip to Cheltenham. The hardship +lies elsewhere. I pity the footmen, +the coach-builder, the upholsterer, +the house proprietor in Cheltenham, +and all the other people to whom the +surplus of the squire's revenue found +its way, much more than the old +gentleman himself. I daresay he is +quite as happy at home—perhaps far +happier—than if he were compelled +to racket elsewhere; and sure I am +that he will not consume his dinner +with less appetite because he lacks +the attendance of a couple of knaves, +with heads like full-blown cauliflowers. +But is it consistent with the workings +of human nature to expect that the +people to whom he formerly gave +employment and custom, let us say +to the extent of a couple of thousand +pounds, can be gratified by the cessation +of that expenditure?—or is it +possible to suppose that they will +remain enamoured of a system which +has caused them so heavy a loss? +View the subject in this light, and +you can have no difficulty in understanding +why this formidable reaction +has taken place in the English +boroughs. It is simply a question of +the pocket; and the electors now +see, that unless the boroughs are to +be left to rapid decay, something must +be done to protect and foster that +industry upon which they all depend. +Such facts, which are open and patent +to every man's experience, and tell +upon his income and expenditure, are +worth whole cargoes of theory. What +reason has the trader, whose stock is +remaining unsold upon his hands, to +plume himself, because he is assured +by Mr Porter, or some other similar +authority, that some hundred thousand +additional yards of flimsy calico have +been shipped from the British shores +in the course of the last twelve months? +So far as the shopkeeper is concerned,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span> +the author of the <cite>Progress of the Nation</cite> +might as well have been reporting upon +the traffic-tables of Tyre and Sidon. +He is not even assured that all this +export has been accompanied with a +profit to the manufacturer. If he +reads the <cite>Economist</cite>, he will find that +exhilarating print filled with complaints +of general distress and want +of demand; he will be startled from +time to time by the announcement +that in some places, such as Dundee, +trade has experienced a most decided +check; or that in others, such as +Nottingham and Leicester, the operatives +are applying by hundreds for +admission to the workhouse! Comfortable +intelligence this, alongside of +increasing exports! But he has been +taught, to borrow a phrase from the +writings of the late John Galt, to +look upon your political arithmetician +as "a mystery shrouded by a halo;" +and he supposes that, somehow or +other, somebody must be the gainer +by all these exports, though it seems +clearly impossible to specify the +fortunate individual. However, this +he knows, to his cost any time these +three years back, that <em>he</em> has not been +the gainer; and, as he opines very +justly that charity begins at home, +and that the man who neglects the +interest of his own family is rather +worse than a heathen, he has made +up his mind to support such candidates +only as will stand by British +industry, and protect him by means +of protecting others. As for the men +of the maritime boroughs—a large and +influential class—I need not touch +upon their feelings or sentiments +with regard to Free Trade. I observe +that the Liberal press, with peculiar +taste and felicity of expression, designates +them by the generic term of +"crimps," just as it used to compliment +the whole agriculturists of +Britain by the comprehensive appellation +of "chawbacons." I trust they +feel the compliment so delicately conveyed; +but, after all, it matters little. +Hard words break no bones; and, in +the mean time at least, the vote of a +"crimp" is quite as good as that of +the concocter of a paragraph.</p> + +<p>Perhaps now you understand why +the Free-Traders are so wroth against +the boroughs. They expected to +play off the latter against the county +constituencies; and, being disappointed +in that, they want to swamp +them altogether. This, I must own, +strikes me as particularly unfair. Let +it be granted that a large number of +the smaller boroughs did, at the last +general election, manifest a decided +wish that the Free Trade experiment, +then begun, should be allowed a fair +trial; are they to be held so pledged +to that commercial system, that, +however disastrous may have been +its results, they are not entitled to +alter their minds? Are all the representations, +promises, and prophecies +of the leading advocates of Free +Trade, to be set aside as if these +were never uttered or written? Who +were the cozeners in this case? +Clearly the men who boasted of the +enormous advantages which were +immediately to arise from their policy—advantages +whereof, up to the present +moment, not a single glimpse has +been vouchsafed. Free Trade, we +were distinctly told, was to benefit +the boroughs. Free Trade has done +nothing of the kind; on the contrary, +it has reduced their business and +lowered their importance. And now, +when this effect has become so plain +and undeniable that the very men +who subscribed to the funds of the +League, and who were foremost in +defending the conduct of the late Sir +Robert Peel, are sending Protectionists +to Parliament, it is calmly +proposed to neutralise their conversion +by depriving them of political +power!</p> + +<p>Under the circumstances, I do not +know that the Free-Traders could have +hit upon a happier scheme. The grand +tendency of their system is centralisation. +They want to drive everything—paupers +alone excepted, if they +could by possibility compass that fortunate +immunity—into the larger +towns, which are the seats of export +manufacture, and to leave the rest of +the population to take care of themselves. +You see how they have succeeded +in Ireland, by the reports of +the last census. They are doing the +same thing in Scotland, as we shall +ere long discover to our cost; and, +indeed, the process is going on slowly, +but surely, throughout the whole of the +British islands. I chanced the other +day to light upon a passage in a very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span> +dreary article in the last number of +the <cite>Edinburgh Review</cite>, which seems to +me to embody the chief economical +doctrines of the gentlemen to whom +we are indebted for the present posture +of affairs. It is as follows:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The common watchword, or cuckoo-note +of the advocates of restriction in +affairs of trade is, 'Protection to Native +Industry.' In the principle fairly involved +in this motto we cordially agree. +We are as anxious as the most vehement +advocate for high import duties on foreign +products can be, that the industry of our +fellow-countrymen should be protected(!) +We only differ as to the means. Their +theory of protection is to guard against +competition those branches of industry +which, without such extraneous help, +could never be successfully pursued: +ours, is that of enlarging, to the uttermost, +those other branches for the prosecution +of which our countrymen possess the +greatest aptitude, and of thereby securing +for their skill and capital the greatest +return. This protection is best afforded +by governments when they leave, without +interference, the productive industry +of the country to find its true level; for +we may be certain that the interest of +individuals will always lead them to prefer +those pursuits which they find most gainful. +There is, in fact, no mode of interference +with entire freedom of action +which must not be, in some degree, hurtful; +but <em>the mischief which follows upon +legislation in affairs of trade, in any given +country, is then most noxious when it tends +to foster branches of industry for which +other countries have a greater aptitude</em>."</p></blockquote> + +<p>You will, I think, find some difficulty +in discovering the protective +principle enunciated by this sagacious +scribe, who, like many others of his +limited calibre, is fain to take refuge +in nonsense when he cannot extricate +his meaning. You may also, very +reasonably, entertain doubts whether +the protective theory, which our friend +of the Blue and Yellow puts into the +mouth of his opponents, was ever +entertained or promulgated by any +rational being, at least in the broad +sense which he wishes to imply. The +true protective theory has reference to +the State burdens, which, in so far as +they are exacted from the produce of +native industry, or, in other words, +from labour, we wish to see counterbalanced +by a fair import-duty, which +shall reduce the foreign and the native +producer to an equality in the home +market. When the reviewer talks of +the non-interference of Government +with regard to the productive industry +of the country, he altogether omits +mention of that most stringent interference +which is the direct result of +taxation. If the farmer were allowed +to till the ground, to sow the seed, +and to reap the harvest, without any +interference from Government, then I +admit at once that a demand for protection +would be preposterous. But +when Government requires him to pay +income-tax, assessed taxes, church and +poor-rates, besides other direct burdens, +out of the fruit of his industry—when +it prevents him from growing on +his own land several kinds of crop, +in order that the customs revenue +may be maintained—when it taxes +indirectly his tea, coffee, wines, spirits, +tobacco, soap, and spiceries—then I +say that Government <em>does</em> interfere, +and that most unmercifully, with the +productive industry of the country. +Just suppose that, by recurring to a +primitive method of taxation, the +Government should lay claim to one-third +of the proceeds of every crop, +and instruct its emissaries to remove +it from the ground before another acre +should be reaped—would <em>that</em> not +constitute interference in the eyes of +the sapient reviewer? Well, then, +since all taxes must ultimately be paid +out of produce, what difference does +the mere method of levying the burden +make with regard to the burden +itself? I call your attention to this +point, because the Free-Traders invariably, +but I fear wilfully, omit all +mention of artificial taxation when +they talk of artificial restrictions. +They want you to believe that we, +who maintain the opposite view, seek +to establish an entire monopoly in +Great Britain of all kinds of possible +produce; and they are in the habit of +putting asinine queries as to the propriety +of raising the duties on foreign +wine, so as to encourage the establishment +of vineyards in Kent and Sussex, +and also as to the proper protective +duty which should be levied on +pine-apples, in order that a due stimulus +may be given to the cultivation of +that luscious fruit. But these funny fellows +take especial care never to hint to +you that protection is and was demanded +simply on account of the enormous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span> +nature of our imposts, which have the +effect of raising the rates of labour. +It is in this way, and no other, that +agriculture, deprived of protection, +but still subjected to taxation, has +become an unremunerative branch of +industry; and you observe how calmly +the disciple of Ricardo condemns it to +destruction. "The mischief," quoth +he, "which follows upon legislation +in affairs of trade, in any given +country, is then most noxious when +it tends to foster branches of industry +for which other countries have a +greater aptitude." So, then, having +taxed agriculture to that point when +it can no longer bear the burden, we +are, for the future, to draw our supplies +from "other countries which +have a greater aptitude" for growing +corn; that aptitude consisting in their +comparative immunity from taxation, +and in the degraded moral and social +condition of the serfs who constitute +the tillers of the soil! We are to +give up cultivation, and apply ourselves +to the task "of enlarging to +the uttermost those other branches, +for the prosecution of which our +countrymen possess the greatest aptitude"—by +which, I presume, is meant +the manufacture of cotton-twist!</p> + +<p>Now, then, consider for a moment +what is the natural, nay, the inevitable +effect of this narrowing of the +range of employment. I shall not +start the important point whether the +concentration of labour does not tend +to lower wages—I shall merely assume, +what is indeed already abundantly established +by facts, that the depression +of agriculture in any district leads almost +immediately to a large increase +in the population of the greater towns. +Places like Dreepdaily may remain stationary, +but they do not receive any +material increment to their population. +You have, I believe, no export trade, +at least very little, beyond the manufacture +of an ingenious description of +snuff-box, justly prized by those who +are in the habit of stimulating their +nostrils. The displaced stream of +labour passes through you, but does +not tarry with you—it rolls on towards +Paisley and Glasgow, where it is +absorbed in the living ocean. Year +after year the same process is carried +on. The older people, probably because +it is not worth while at their +years to attempt a change, tarry in +their little villages and cots, and gradually +acquire that appearance of +utter apathy, which is perhaps the +saddest aspect of humanity. The +younger people, finding no employment +at home, repair to the towns, +marry or do worse, and propagate +children for the service of the +factories which are dedicated to the +export trade. Of education they receive +little or nothing; for they must +be in attendance on their gaunt iron +master during the whole of their +waking hours; and religion seeks after +them in vain. What wonder, then, +if the condition of our operatives +should be such as to suggest to +thinking minds very serious doubts +whether our boasted civilisation can +be regarded in the light of a blessing? +Certain it is that the bulk of these +classes are neither better nor happier +than their forefathers. Nay, if there +be any truth in evidence—any reality +in the appalling accounts which reach +us from the heart of the towns, there +exists an amount of crime, misery, +drunkenness, and profligacy, which is +unknown even among savages and +heathen nations. Were we to recall +from the four ends of the earth all +the missionaries who have been despatched +from the various churches, +they would find more than sufficient +work ready for them at home. Well-meaning +men project sanitary improvements, +as if these could avail to +counteract the moral poison. New +churches are built; new schools are +founded; public baths are subscribed +for, and public washing-houses are +opened; the old rookeries are pulled +down, and light and air admitted to +the heart of the cities—but the heart +of the people is not changed; and +neither air nor water, nor religious +warning, has the effect of checking +crime, eradicating intemperance, or +teaching man the duty which he owes +to himself, his brethren, and his God! +This is an awful picture, but it is a +true one; and it well becomes us to +consider why these things should be. +There is no lukewarmness on the subject +exhibited in any quarter. The +evil is universally acknowledged, and +every one would be ready to contribute +to alleviate it, could a proper +remedy be suggested. It is not my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span> +province to suggest remedies; but it +does appear to me that the original +fault is to be found in the system +which has caused this unnatural pressure +of our population into the towns. +I am aware that in saying this, I am +impugning the leading doctrines of +modern political economy. I am +aware that I am uttering what will +be considered by many as a rank +political heresy; still, not having the +fear of fire and fagot before my eyes, +I shall use the liberty of speech. It +appears to me that the system which +has been more or less adopted since +the days of Mr Huskisson, of suppressing +small trades for the encouragement +of foreign importation, and of +stimulating export manufactures to +the uttermost, has proved very pernicious +to the morals and the social +condition of the people. The termination +of the war found us with a +large population, and with an enormous +debt. If, on the one hand, it +was for the advantage of the country +that commerce should progress +with rapid strides, and that our +foreign trade should be augmented, +it was, on the other, no less necessary +that due regard should be had for the +former occupations of the people, and +that no great and violent displacements +of labour should be occasioned, +by fiscal relaxations which might +have the effect of supplanting home +industry by foreign produce in the +British market. The mistake of the +political economists lies in their obstinate +determination to enforce a +principle, which in the abstract is +not only unobjectionable but unchallenged, +without any regard whatever +to the peculiar and pecuniary circumstances +of the country. They will +not look at what has gone before, in +order to determine their line of conduct +in any particular case. They +admit of no exceptions. They start +with their axiom that trade ought to +be free, and they will not listen to +any argument founded upon special +circumstances in opposition to that +doctrine. Now, this is not the way +in which men have been, or ever can +be, governed. They must be dealt +with as rational beings, not regarded +as mere senseless machinery, which +may be treated as lumber, and cast +aside to make way for some new +improvement. Look at the case of +our own Highlanders. We know +very well that, from the commencement +of the American war, it was +considered by the British Government +an important object to maintain +the population of the Highlands, as +the source from which they drew +their hardiest and most serviceable +recruits. So long as the manufacture +of kelp existed, and the breeding of +cattle was profitable, there was little +difficulty in doing this; now, under +this new commercial system, we are +told that the population is infinitely +too large for the natural resources of +the country; we are shocked by +accounts of periodical famine, and of +deaths occurring from starvation; +and our economists declare that there +is no remedy except a general emigration +of the inhabitants. This is +the extreme case in Great Britain; +but extreme cases often furnish us +with the best tests of the operation +of a particular system. Here you +have a population fostered for an +especial purpose, and abandoned so +soon as that special purpose has been +served. Without maintaining that +the Gael is the most industrious of +mankind, it strikes me forcibly that +it would be a better national policy +to give every reasonable encouragement +to the development of the +natural resources of that portion of +the British islands, than to pursue the +opposite system, and to reduce the +Highlands to a wilderness. Not so +think the political economists. They +can derive their supplies cheaper +from elsewhere, at the hands of +strangers who contribute no share +whatever to the national revenue; +and for the sake of that cheapness +they are content to reduce thousands +of their countrymen to beggary. +But emigration cannot, and will not, +be carried out to an extent at all +equal to the necessity which is engendered +by the cessation of employment. +The towns become the great +centre-points and recipients of the +displaced population; and so centralisation +goes on, and, as a matter of +course, pauperism and crime increase.</p> + +<p>To render this system perpetual, +without any regard to ultimate consequences, +is the leading object of the +Free-Traders. Not converted, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span> +on the contrary rendered more inveterate +by the failure of their schemes, +they are determined to allow no consideration +whatever to stand in the +way of their purpose; and of this you +have a splendid instance in their late +denunciation of the boroughs. They +think—whether rightfully or wrongfully, +it is not now necessary to +inquire—that, by altering the proportions +of Parliamentary power as +established by the Reform Act—by +taking away from the smaller +boroughs, and by adding to the +urban constituencies, they will still +be able to command a majority in +the House of Commons. In the present +temper of the nation, and so +long as its voice is expressed as heretofore, +they know, feel, and admit +that their policy is not secure. And +why is it not secure? Simply because +it has undergone the test of experience—because +it has had a fair trial +in the sight of the nation—and because +it has not succeeded in realising +the expectations of its founders.</p> + +<p>I have ventured to throw together +these few crude remarks for your consideration +during the recess, being +quite satisfied that you will not feel +indifferent upon any subject which +touches the dignity, status, or privileges +of the boroughs. Whether Lord +John Russell agrees with the <cite>Times</cite> as +to the mode of effecting the threatened +Parliamentary change, or whether +he has some separate scheme of his +own, is a question which I cannot +solve. Possibly he has not yet made +up his mind as to the course which it +may be most advisable to pursue; +for, in the absence of anything like +general excitement or agitation, it is +not easy to predict in what manner +the proposal for any sweeping or +organic change may be received by +the constituencies of the Empire. +There is far too much truth in the +observations which I have already +quoted from the great leading journal, +relative to the dangers which must +attend an increase of constituencies +already too large, or a further extension +of their power, to permit of our +considering this as a light and unimportant +matter. I view it as a very +serious one indeed; and I cannot help +thinking that Lord John Russell has +committed an act of gross and unjustifiable +rashness, in pledging himself, +at the present time, to undertake a remodelment +of the constitution. But +whatever he does, I hope, for his own +sake, and for the credit of the Liberal +party, that he will be able to assign +some better and more constitutional +reason for the change, than the refusal +of the English boroughs to bear arms +in the crusade which is directed +against the interests of Native Industry.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><small>PARIS IN 1851.</small>—(<em>Continued.</em>)</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">The Opera.</span>—In the evening I +went to the French Opera, which is +still one of the lions of Paris. It was +once in the Rue Richelieu; but the +atrocious assassination of the Duc de +Berri, who was stabbed in its porch, +threw a kind of horror over the spot: +the theatre was closed, and the performance +moved to its present site in +the Rue Lepelletier, a street diverging +from the Boulevard.</p> + +<p>Fond as the French are of decoration, +the architecture of this building +possesses no peculiar beauty, and +would answer equally well for a substantial +public hospital, a workhouse, +or a barrack, if the latter were not the +more readily suggested by the gendarmerie +loitering about the doors, +and the mounted dragoons at either +end of the street.</p> + +<p>The passages of the interior are of +the same character—spacious and +substantial; but the door of the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">salle</i> +opens, and the stranger, at a single +step, enters from those murky passages +into all the magic of a crowded +theatre. The French have, within +these few years, borrowed from us the +art of lighting theatres. I recollect +the French theatre lighted only by +a few lamps scattered round the +house, or a chandelier in the middle, +which might have figured in the crypt +of a cathedral. This they excused, +as giving greater effect to the stage; +but it threw the audience into utter +gloom. They have now made the +audience a part of the picture, and +an indispensable part. The opera-house +now shows the audience; and +if not very dressy, or rather as dowdy, +odd, and dishevelled a crowd as I ever +recollect to have seen within theatrical +walls, yet they are evidently +human beings, which is much more +picturesque than masses of spectres, +seen only by an occasional flash from +the stage.</p> + +<p>The French architects certainly +have not made this national edifice +grand; but they have made it a much +better thing,—lively, showy, and rich. +Neither majestic and monotonous, +nor grand and Gothic, they have +made it <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">riant</i> and racy, like a place +where men and women come to be +happy, where beautiful dancers are +to be seen, and where sweet songs are +to be heard, and where the mind is +for three or four hours to forget all +its cares, and to carry away pleasant +recollections for the time being. From +pit to ceiling it is covered with paintings—all +sorts of cupids, nymphs, and +flower-garlands, and Greek urns—none +of them wonders of the pencil, +but all exhibiting that showy mediocrity +of which every Frenchman +is capable, and with which every +Frenchman is in raptures. All looks +rich, warm, and <em>operatic</em>.</p> + +<p>One characteristic change has +struck me everywhere in Paris—the +men dress better, and the women +worse. When I was last here, the +men dressed half bandit and half Hottentot. +The revolutionary mystery +was at work, and the hatred of the +Bourbons was emblematised in a conical +hat, a loose neckcloth, tremendous +trousers, and the scowl of a stage +conspirator. The Parisian men have +since learned the decencies of <em>dress</em>.</p> + +<p>As I entered the house before the +rising of the curtain, I had leisure to +look about me, and I found even in +the audience a strong contrast to +those of London. By that kind of +contradiction to everything rational +and English which governs the Parisian, +the women seem to choose <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">dishabille</i> +for the Opera.</p> + +<p>As the house was crowded, and the +boxes are let high, and the performance +of the night was popular, I +might presume that some of the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">élite</i> +were present, yet I never saw so +many <em>ill-dressed</em> women under one +roof. Bonnets, shawls, muffles of all +kinds, were the <em>costume</em>. How different +from the finish, the splendour, +and the <em>fashion</em> of the English opera-box. +I saw hundreds of women who +appeared, by their dress, scarcely +above the rank of shopkeepers, yet, +who probably were among the Parisian +leaders of fashion, if in republican +Paris there are <em>any</em> leaders of +fashion.</p> + +<p>But I came to be interested, to enjoy, +to indulge in a feast of music and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span> +acting; with no fastidiousness of criticism, +and with every inclination to +be gratified. In the opera itself I was +utterly disappointed. The Opera was +<em>Zerline</em>, or, <em>The Basket of Oranges</em>. +The composer was the first living +musician of France, Auber; the writer +was the most popular dramatist of his +day, Scribe; the Prima Donna was +Alboni, to whom the manager of the +Opera in London had not thought it +too much to give £4000 for a single +season. I never paid my francs with +more willing expectation: and I never +saw a performance of which I so soon +got weary.</p> + +<p>The plot is singularly trifling. Zerline, +an orange-girl of Palermo, has +had a daughter by Boccanera, a man +of rank, who afterwards becomes +Viceroy of Sicily. Zerline is captured +by pirates, and carried to Algiers. +The opera opens with her return to +Palermo, after so many years that +her daughter is grown up to womanhood; +and Boccanera is emerged into +public life, and has gradually became +an officer of state.</p> + +<p>The commencing scene has all the +animation of the French picturesque. +The Port of Palermo is before the +spectator; the location is the Fruit +Market. Masses of fruits, with smart +peasantry to take care of them, cover +the front of the stage. The background +is filled up with Lazzaroni +lying on the ground, sleeping, or eating +macaroni. The Prince Boccanera +comes from the palace; the crowd +observe 'Son air sombre;' the Prince +sings—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"On a most unlucky day,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Satan threw her in my way;<br /></span> +<span class="i1">I the princess took to wife,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Now the torture of my life," &c.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>After this matrimonial confession, +which extends to details, the prime +minister tells us of his love still existing +for Zerline, whose daughter he +has educated under the name of niece, +and who is now the Princess Gemma, +and about to be married to a court +noble.</p> + +<p>A ship approaches the harbour; +Boccanera disappears; the Lazzaroni +hasten to discharge the cargo. Zerline +lands from the vessel, and sings a +cavatina in praise of Palermo:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"O Palerme! O Sicile!<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Beau ciel, plaine fertile!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Zerline is a dealer in oranges, and +she lands her cargo, placing it in the +market. The original tenants of the +place dispute her right to come among +them, and are about to expel her by +force, when a marine officer, Rodolf, +takes her part, and, drawing his +sword, puts the whole crowd to flight. +Zerline, moved by this instance of heroism, +tells him her story, that she +was coming "un beau matin" to the +city to sell oranges, when a pitiless +corsair captured her, and carried her +to Africa, separating her from her +child, whom she had not seen for fifteen +years; that she escaped to +Malta, laid in a stock of oranges there;—and +thus the events of the day occurred. +Rodolf, this young hero, is costumed +in a tie-wig with powder, stiff +skirts, and the dress of a century ago. +What tempted the author to put not +merely his hero, but all his court characters, +into the costume of Queen +Anne, is not easily conceivable, as +there is nothing in the story which +limits it in point of time.</p> + +<p>Zerline looks after him with sudden +sympathy, says that she heard him +sigh, that he must be unhappy, and +that, if her daughter lives, he is just +the <em>husband</em> for her,—Zerline not having +been particular as to marriage +herself. She then rambles about the +streets, singing,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Achetez mes belles oranges,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Des fruits divins, des fruits exquis;<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Des oranges comme les anges<br /></span> +<span class="i1">N'en <em>goutent pas en Paradis</em>."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>After this "hommage aux oranges!" +to the discredit of Paradise, on which +turns the plot of the play, a succession +of maids of honour appear, clad +in the same unfortunate livery of fardingales, +enormous flat hats, powdered +wigs, and stomachers. The +Princess follows them, apparently +armed by her costume against all the +assaults of Cupid. But she, too, has an +"affaire du cœur" upon her hands. In +fact, from the Orangewoman up to +the Throne, Cupid is the Lord of Palermo, +with its "beau ciel, plaine fertile." +The object of the Princess's +love is the Marquis de Buttura, the +suitor of her husband's supposed +niece. Here is a complication! The +enamoured wife receives a billet-doux +from the suitor, proposing a meeting +on his return from hunting. She tears<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span> +the billet for the purpose of concealment, +and in her emotion drops the fragments +on the floor. That billet performs +all important part in the end. The +enamoured lady buys an orange, and +gives a gold piece for it. Zerline, not +accustomed to be so well paid for her +fruit, begins to suspect this outrageous +liberality; and having had experience +in these matters, picks up the fragments +of the letter, and gets into the +whole secret.</p> + +<p>The plot proceeds: the daughter +of the orangewoman now appears. +She is clad in the same preposterous +habiliments. As the niece of the minister, +she is created a princess, (those +things are cheap in Italy,) and she, +too, is in love with the officer in the +tie-wig. She recognises the song of +Zerline, "Achetez mes belles oranges," +and sings the half of it. On this, the +mother and daughter now recognise +each other. It is impossible to go +further in such a <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">denouement</i>. If +Italian operas are proverbially silly, +we are to recollect that this is not an +Italian, but a French one; and that +it is by the most popular comic writer +of France.</p> + +<p>The marriage of Gemma and Rodolf +is forbidden by the pride of the +King's sister, the wife of Boccanera, +but Zerline interposes, reminds her of +the orange <em>affair</em>, threatens her with +the discovery of the billet-doux, and +finally makes her give her consent: +and thus the curtain drops. I grew +tired of all this insipidity, and left +the theatre before the catastrophe. +The music seemed to me fitting for +the plot—neither better nor worse; +and I made my escape with right +good-will from the clamour and crash +of the orchestra, and from the loves +and <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">faux pas</i> of the belles of Palermo.</p> + +<p><em>The Obelisk.</em>—I strayed into the +Place de la Concorde, beyond comparison +the finest <em>space</em> in Paris. +I cannot call it a square, nor does +it equal in animation the Boulevard; +but in the <em>profusion</em> of noble architecture +it has no rival in Paris, nor +in Europe. <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Vive la Despotisme!</i> +every inch of it is owing to Monarchy. +Republics build nothing, if we except +prisons and workhouses. They are proverbially +squalid, bitter, and beggarly. +What has America, with all her boasting, +ever built, but a warehouse or a +conventicle? The Roman Republic, +after seven hundred years' existence, +remained a collection hovels till an +Emperor faced them with marble. If +Athens exhibited her universal talents +in the splendour of her architecture, +we must recollect that Pericles was +her <em>master</em> through life—as substantially +<em>despotic</em>, by the aid of the +populace, as an Asiatic king by +his guards; and recollect, also, that +an action of damages was brought +against him for "wasting the public +money on the Parthenon," the glory +of Athens in every succeeding age. +Louis Quatorze, Napoleon, and Louis +Philippe—two openly, and the third +secretly, as despotic as the Sultan—were +the true builders of Paris.</p> + +<p>As I stood in the centre of this +vast enclosure, I was fully struck +with the effect of <em>scene</em>. The sun +was sinking into a bed of gold and +crimson clouds, that threw their hue +over the long line of the Champs +Elysées. Before me were the two +great fountains, and the Obelisk of +Luxor. The fountains had ceased to +play, from the lateness of the hour, +but still looked massive and gigantic; +the obelisk looked shapely and superb. +The gardens of the Tuilleries were on +my left—deep dense masses of foliage, +surmounted in the distance by the tall +roofs of the old Palace; on my right, +the verdure of the Champs Elysées, +with the Arc de l'Etoile rising above +it, at the end of its long and noble +avenue; in my front the Palace of +the Legislature, a chaste and elegant +structure; and behind me, glowing +in the sunbeams, the Madeleine, the +noblest church—I think the noblest +edifice, in Paris, and perhaps not surpassed +in beauty and grandeur, for +its size, by any place of worship in +Europe. The air cool and sweet from +the foliage, the vast <em>place</em> almost +solitary, and undisturbed by the cries +which are incessant in this babel +during the day, yet with that gentle +confusion of sounds which makes +the murmur and the music of a great +city. All was calm, noble, and +soothing.</p> + +<p>The obelisk of Luxor which stands +in the centre of the "Place," is one +of two Monoliths, or pillars of a +single stone, which, with Cleopatra's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span> +Needle, were given by Mehemet Ali +to the French, at the time when, by +their alliance, he expected to have +made himself independent. All the +dates of Egyptian antiquities are uncertain—notwithstanding +Young and +his imitator Champollion—but the +date <em>assigned</em> to this pillar is 1550 +years before the Christian era. The +two obelisks stood in front of the +great temple of Thebes, now named +Luxor, and the hieroglyphics which +cover this one, from top to bottom, are +supposed to relate the exploits and +incidents of the reign of Sesostris.</p> + +<p>It is of red Syenite; but, from time +and weather, it is almost the colour of +limestone. It has an original flaw up +a third of its height, for which the +Egyptian masons provided a remedy +by wedges, and the summit is slightly +broken. The height of the monolith +is seventy-two feet three inches, +which would look insignificant, fixed +as it is in the centre of lofty buildings, +but for its being raised on a +plinth of granite, and that again +raised on a pedestal of immense +blocks of granite—the height of the +plinth and the pedestal together being +twenty-seven feet, making the entire +height nearly one hundred. The weight +of the monolith is five hundred thousand +pounds; the weight of the pedestal +is half that amount, and the weight of +the blocks probably makes the whole +amount to nine hundred thousand, +which is the weight of the obelisk at +Rome. It was erected in 1836, by +drawing it up an inclined plane of masonry, +and then raising it by cables and +capstans to the perpendicular. The +operation was tedious, difficult, and +expensive; but it was worth the +labour; and the monolith now forms +a remarkable monument of the zeal +of the king, and of the liberality of +his government.</p> + +<p>There is, I understand, an obelisk +remaining in Egypt, which was given +by the Turkish government to the +British army, on the expulsion of the +French from Egypt, but which has +been unclaimed, from the difficulty of +carrying it to England.</p> + +<p>That difficulty, it must be acknowledged, +is considerable. In transporting +and erecting the obelisk of Luxor +six years were employed. I have not +heard the expense, but it must have +been large. A vessel was especially +constructed at Toulon, for its conveyance +down the Nile. A long +road was to be made from the Nile to +the Temple. Then the obelisk required +to be protected from the accidents +of carriage, which was done by +enclosing it in a wooden case. It was +then drawn by manual force to +the river—and this employed three +months. Then came the trouble of +embarking it, for which the vessel +had to be nearly sawn through; then +came the crossing of the bar at +Rosetta—a most difficult operation at +the season of the year; then the +voyage down the Mediterranean, the +vessel being towed by a steamer; then +the landing at Cherbourg, in 1833; +and, lastly, the passage up the Seine, +which occupied nearly four months, +reaching Paris in December; thenceforth +its finishing and erection, which +was completed only in three years +after.</p> + +<p>This detail may have some interest, +as we have a similar project before +us. But the whole question is, +whether the transport of the obelisk +which remains in Egypt for us is +worth the expense. We, without +hesitation, say that it <em>is</em>. The French +have shown that it is <em>practicable</em>, and +it is a matter of <em>rational</em> desire to +show that we are not behind the +French either in power, in ability, or +in zeal, to adorn our cities. The +obelisk transported to England would +be a proud monument, without being +an offensive one, of a great achievement +of our armies; it would present +to our eyes, and those of our children, +a relic of the most civilised kingdom of +the early ages; it would sustain the +recollections of the scholar by its +record, and might kindle the energy +of the people by the sight of what +had been accomplished by the prowess +of Englishmen.</p> + +<p>If it be replied that such views are +Utopian, may we not ask, what is +the use of all antiquity, since we can +eat and drink as well without it? +But we cannot <em>feel</em> as loftily without +it; many a lesson of vigour, liberality, +and virtue would be lost to us without +it; we should lose the noblest examples +of the arts, some of the finest +displays of human genius in architecture, +a large portion of the teaching of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span> +the public mind in all things great, and +an equally large portion of the incentives +to public virtue in all things +self-denying. The labour, it is true, +of conveying the obelisk would be +serious, the expense considerable, and +we might not see it erected before the +gate of Buckingham Palace these ten +years. But it would be erected at +<em>last</em>. It would be a trophy—it would +be an abiding memorial of the extraordinary +country from which civilisation +spread to the whole world.</p> + +<p>But the two grand fountains ought +especially to stimulate our emulation. +Those we can have without a voyage +from Alexandria to Portsmouth, or a +six years' delay.</p> + +<p>The fountains of the Place de la +Concorde would deserve praise if it +were only for their beauty. At a +distance sufficient for the picturesque, +and with the sun shining on them, +they actually look like domes and +cataracts of molten silver; and a +nearer view does not diminish their +right to admiration. They are both +lofty, perhaps, fifty feet high, both +consisting of three basins, lessening +in size in proportion to their height, +and all pouring out sheets of water +from the trumpets of Tritons, from +the mouths of dolphins, and from +allegorical figures. One of those +fountains is in honour of Maritime +Navigation, and the other of the +Navigation of Rivers. In the former +the figures represent the Ocean and +the Mediterranean, with the Genii +of the fisheries; and in the upper +basin are Commerce, Astronomy, +Navigation, &c., all capital bronzes, +and all spouting out floods of water. +The fountain of River Navigation is +not behind its rival in bronze or +water. It exhibits the Rhine and the +Rhone, with the Genii of fruits and +flowers, of the vintage and the harvest, +with the usual attendance of +Tritons. Why the artist had no room +for the Seine and the Garonne, while +he introduced the Rhine, which is not +a French river in any part of its +course, must be left for his explanation; +but the whole constitutes a +beautiful and magnificent object, and, +with the sister fountain, perhaps +forms the finest display of the kind in +Europe. I did not venture, while +looking at those stately monuments +of French art, to turn my thoughts to +our own unhappy performances in +Trafalgar Square—the rival of a +soda-water bottle, yet the work of a +people of boundless wealth, and the +first machinists in the world.</p> + +<p><i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">The Jardin des Plantes.</i>—I found +this fine establishment crowded with +the lower orders—fathers and mothers, +nurses, old women, and soldiers. As +it includes the popular attractions of a +zoological garden, as well as a botanical, +every day sees its visitants, and +every holiday its crowds. The plants +are for science, and for that I had no +time, even had I possessed other +qualifications; but the zoological collection +were for curiosity, and of that +the spectators had abundance. Yet +the animals of pasture appeared to be +languid, possibly tired of the perpetual +bustle round them—for all animals +love quiet at certain times, and escape +from the eye of man, when escape is +in their power. Possibly the heat of +the weather, for the day was remarkably +sultry, might have contributed +to their exhaustion. But if they have +memory—and why should they not?—they +must have strangely felt the +contrast of their free pastures, shady +woods, and fresh streams, with the +little patch of ground, the parched +soil, and the clamour of ten thousand +tongues round them. I could imagine +the antelope's intelligent eye, as he +lay panting before us on his brown +patch of soil, comparing it with the +ravines of the Cape, or the eternal +forests clothing the hills of his native +Abyssinia.</p> + +<p>But the object of all popular interest +was the pit of the bears; +there the crowd was incessant and +delighted. But the bears, three or +four huge brown beasts, by no means +<em>reciprocated</em> the popular feeling. They +sat quietly on their hind-quarters, +gazing grimly at the groups which +lined their rails, and tossed cakes and +apples to them from above. They +had probably been saturated with +sweets, for they scarcely noticed anything +but by a growl. They were +insensible to apples—even oranges +could not make them move, and cakes +they seemed to treat with scorn. It +was difficult to conceive that those +heavy and unwieldy-looking animals +could be ferocious; but the Alpine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span> +hunter knows that they are as fierce +as the tiger, and nearly as quick and +dangerous in their spring.</p> + +<p>The carnivorous beasts were few, +and, except in the instance of one +lion, of no remarkable size or beauty. +As they naturally doze during the +day, their languor was no proof of +their weariness; but I have never +seen an exhibition of this kind without +some degree of regret. The plea +of the promotion of science is nothing. +Even if it were important to science +to be acquainted with the habits of +the lion and tiger, which it is not, +their native habits are not to be +learned from the animal shut up in a +cage. The chief exertion of their +sagacity and their strength in the +native state is in the pursuit of prey; +yet what of these can be learned from +the condition in which the animal +dines as regularly as his keeper, and +divides his time between feeding and +sleep? Half-a-dozen lions let loose in +the Bois de Boulogne would let the +naturalist into more knowledge of their +nature than a menagerie for fifty years.</p> + +<p>The present system is merely +cruel; and the animals, without exercise, +without air, without the common +excitement of free motion, which all +animals enjoy so highly—perhaps +much more highly than the human +race—fall into disease and die, no +doubt miserably, though they cannot +draw up a <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">rationale</i> of their sufferings. +I have been told that the lions +in confinement die chiefly of consumption—a +singularly sentimental disease +for this proud ravager of the desert. +But the whole purpose of display +would be answered as effectually by +exhibiting half-a-dozen lions' <em>skins</em> +stuffed, in the different attitudes of +seizing their prey, or ranging the +forest, or feeding. At present nothing +is seen but a great beast asleep, +or restlessly moving in a space of +half-a-dozen square feet, and pining +away in his confinement. An eagle +on his perch and with a chain on his +leg, in a menagerie, always appears +to me like a dethroned monarch; and +I have never seen him thus cast down +from his "high estate" without longing +to break his chain, and let him +spread his wing, and delight his +splendid eye with the full view of his +kingdom of the Air.</p> + +<p>The Jardin dates its origin as far +back as Louis XIII., when the king's +physician recommended its foundation +for science. The French are +fond of gardening, and are good gardeners; +and the climate is peculiarly +favourable to flowers, as is evident +from the market held every morning +in summer by the side of the Madeleine, +where the greatest abundance +of the richest flowers I ever saw is +laid out for the luxury of the Parisians.</p> + +<p>The Jardin, patronised by kings +and nobles, flourished through successive +reigns; but the appointment +of Buffon, about the middle of the +eighteenth century, suddenly raised it +to the pinnacle of European celebrity. +The most eloquent writer of his time, +(in the style which the French call +eloquence,) a man of family, and a +man of opulence, he made Natural +History the <em>fashion</em>, and in France +that word is magic. It accomplishes +everything—it includes everything. +All France was frantic with the study +of plants, animals, poultry-yards, and +projects for driving tigers in cabriolets, +and harnessing lions <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">à la Cybele</i>.</p> + +<p>But Buffon mixed good sense with +his inevitable <em>charlatanrie</em>—he selected +the ablest men whom he could +find for his professors; and in France +there is an extraordinary quantity of +"ordinary" cleverness—they gave +amusing lectures, and they won the +hearts of the nation.</p> + +<p>But the Revolution came, and +crushed all institutions alike. Buffon, +fortunate in every way, had died in +the year before, in 1788, and was thus +spared the sight of the general ruin. +The Jardin escaped, through some +plea of its being national property; +but the professors had fled, and were +starving, or starved.</p> + +<p>The Consulate, and still more the +Empire, restored the establishment. +Napoleon was ambitious of the character +of a man of science, he was a +member of the Institute, he knew the +French character, and he flattered the +national vanity, by indulging it with +the prospect of being at the head of +human knowledge.</p> + +<p>The institution had by this time +been so long regarded as a public +show that it was beginning to be +regarded as nothing else. Gratuitous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span> +lectures, which are always good for +nothing, and to which all kinds of +people crowd with corresponding profit, +were gradually reducing the character +of the Jardin; when Cuvier, +a man of talent, was appointed to one +of the departments of the institution, +and he instantly revived its popularity; +and, what was of more importance, +its public use.</p> + +<p>Cuvier devoted himself to comparative +anatomy and geology. The +former was a study within human +means, of which he had the materials +round him, and which, being intended +for the instruction of man, is evidently +intended for his investigation. +The latter, in attempting to fix the +age of the world, to decide on the +process of creation, and to contradict +Scripture by the ignorance of man, +is merely an instance of the presumption +of <em>Sciolism</em>. Cuvier exhibited +remarkable dexterity in discovering +the species of the fossil fishes, reptiles, +and animals. The science was +not new, but he threw it into a new +form—he made it interesting, and he +made it probable. If a large proportion +of his supposed discoveries were +merely ingenious guesses, they were +at least guesses which there was nobody +to refute, and they <em>were ingenious</em>—that +was enough. Fame followed +him, and the lectures of the +ingenious theorist were a popular +novelty. The "Cabinet of Comparative +Anatomy" in the Jardin is the +monument of his diligence, and it +does honour to the sagacity of his +investigation.</p> + +<p>One remark, however, must be +made. On a former visit to the +Cabinet of Comparative Anatomy, +among the collection of skeletons, I +was surprised and disgusted with the +sight of the skeleton of the Arab who +killed General Kleber in Egypt. The +Arab was impaled, and the iron spike +was shown <em>still sticking in the</em> spine! +I do not know whether this hideous +object is still to be seen, for I have not +lately visited the apartment; but, if +existing still, it ought to remain no +longer in a museum of science. Of +course, the assassin deserved death; +but, in all probability, the murder +which made him guilty, was of the +same order as that which made Charlotte +Corday famous. How many of his +countrymen had died by the soldiery +of France! In the eye of Christianity, +this is no palliation; though in the +eye of Mahometanism it might constitute +a patriot and a hero. At all +events, so frightful a spectacle ought +<em>not</em> to meet the public eye.</p> + +<p><i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Hôtel des Invalides.</i>—The depository +of all that remains of Napoleon, +the monument of almost two hundred +years of war, and the burial-place +of a whole host of celebrated +names, is well worth the visit of +strangers; and I entered the esplanade +of the famous <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">hôtel</i> with due veneration, +and some slight curiosity to see +the changes of time. I had visited +this noble pile immediately after the +fall of Napoleon, and while it still +retained the honours of an imperial +edifice. Its courts now appeared to +me comparatively desolate; this, however, +may be accounted for by the +cessation of those wars which peopled +them with military mutilation. The +establishment was calculated to provide +for five thousand men; and, at +that period, probably, it was always +full. At present, scarcely more than +half the number are under its roof; and, +as even the Algerine war is reduced +to skirmishes with the mountaineers +of the Atlas, that number must be +further diminishing from year to year.</p> + +<p>The Cupola then shone with gilding. +This was the work of Napoleon, who +had a stately eye for the ornament of +his imperial city. The cupola of the +Invalides thus glittered above all the +roofs of Paris, and was seen glittering +to an immense distance. It might +be taken for the dedication of the +French capital to the genius of War. +This gilding is now worn off practically, +as well as metaphorically, and +the <em>prestige</em> is lost.</p> + +<p>The celebrated Edmund Burke, all +whose ideas were grand, is said to +have proposed gilding the cupola of +St Paul's, which certainly would have +been a splendid sight, and would +have thrown a look of stateliness over +that city to which the ends of the +earth turn their eyes. But the civic +spirit was not equal to the idea, and +it has since gone on lavishing ten +times the money on the embellishment +of <em>lanes</em>.</p> + +<p>The Chapel of the Invalides looked +gloomy, and even neglected; the great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span> +Magician was gone. Some service was +performing, as it is in the Romish +chapels at most hours of the day: +some poor people were kneeling in +different parts of the area; and some +strangers were, like myself, wandering +along the nave, looking at the +monuments to the fallen military +names of France. On the pillars in +the nave are inscriptions to the +memory of Jourdan, Lobau, and +Oudinot. There is a bronze tablet to +the memory of Marshal Mortier, who +was killed by Fieschi's infernal machine, +beside Louis Philippe; and to +Damremont, who fell in Algiers.</p> + +<p>But the chapel is destined to exhibit +a more superb instance of national +recollection—the tomb of Napoleon, +which is to be finished in 1852. A +large circular crypt, dug in the centre +of the second chapel (which is to be +united with the first,) is the site of the +sarcophagus in which the remains of +Napoleon lie. Coryatides, columns, +and bas-reliefs, commemorative of his +battles, are to surround the sarcophagus. +The coryatides are to represent +War, Legislation, Art, and +Science; and in front is to be raised +an altar of black marble. The architect +is Visconti, and the best statuaries +in Paris are to contribute the decorations. +The expense will be enormous. +In the time of Louis Philippe +it had already amounted to nearly +four millions of francs. About three +millions more are now demanded for +the completion, including an equestrian +statue. On the whole, the +expense will be not much less than +seven millions of francs!</p> + +<p>The original folly of the nation, and +of Napoleon, in plundering the Continent +of statues and pictures, inevitably +led to retribution, on the first +reverse of fortune. The plunder of +money, or of arms, or of anything +consumable, would have been exempt +from this mortification; but pictures +and statues are permanent things, +and always capable of being re-demanded. +Their plunder was an +extension of the law of spoil unknown +in European hostilities, or in history, +except perhaps in the old Roman +ravage of Greece. Napoleon, in +adopting the practice of heathenism +for his model, and the French nation—in +their assumed love of the arts +violating the sanctities of art, by +removing the noblest works from the +edifices for which they were created, +and from the lights and positions for +which the great artists of Italy designed +them—fully deserved the vexation +of seeing them thus carried back +to their original cities. The moral will, +it is to be presumed, be learned from +this signal example, that the works +of genius are <em>naturally</em> exempt from +the sweep of plunder; that even the +violences of war must not be extended +beyond the necessities of conquest; +and that an act of injustice is <em>sure</em> to +bring down its punishment in the +most painful form of retribution.</p> + +<p><em>The Artesian Well.</em>—Near the Hôtel +des Invalides is the celebrated well +which has given the name to all the +modern experiments of boring to great +depths for water. The name of +Artesian is said to be taken from the +province of Artois, in which the practice +has been long known. The want +of water in Paris induced a M. Mulot +to commence the work in 1834.</p> + +<p>The history of the process is instructive. +For six years there was no prospect +of success; yet M. Mulot gallantly +persevered. All was inexorable chalk; +the boring instrument had broken +several times, and the difficulty thus +occasioned may be imagined from its +requiring a length of thirteen hundred +feet! even in an early period of +the operation. However, early in +1841 the chalk gave signs of change, +and a greenish sand was drawn up. +On the 26th of February this was +followed by a slight effusion of water, +and before night the stream burst up +to the mouth of the excavation, +which was now eighteen hundred feet +in depth. Yet the water rapidly rose +to a height of one hundred and twelve +feet above the mouth of the well by a +pipe, which is now supported by scaffolding, +giving about six hundred gallons +of water a minute.</p> + +<p>Even the memorable experiment +confutes, so far as it goes, the geological +notion of strata laid under each +other in their proportions of gravity. +The section of the boring shows chalk, +sand, gravel, shells, &c., and this +order sometimes reversed, in the most +casual manner, down to a depth five +times the height of the cupola of the +Invalides.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span></p> + +<p>The heat of the water was 83° of +Fahrenheit. In the theories with +which the philosophers of the Continent +have to feed their imaginations +is that of a <em>central fire</em>, which is felt +through all the strata, and which +warms everything in proportion to its +nearness to the centre. Thus, it was +proposed to dig an Artesian well of +three thousand feet, for the supply of +hot water to the Jardin des Plantes +and the neighbouring hospitals. It +was supposed that, at this depth, the +heat would range to upwards of 100° +of Fahrenheit. But nothing has been +done. Even the Well of Grenelle +has rather disappointed the public +expectation; of late the supply has +been less constant, and the boring is +to be renewed to a depth of two thousand +feet.</p> + +<p><em>The Napoleon Column.</em>—This is the +grand feature of the Place de Vendôme, +once the site of the Hôtel Vendôme, +built by the son of Henry IV. +and Gabrielle d'Estrées; afterwards +pulled down by Louis XIV., afterwards +abandoned to the citizens, and +afterwards surrounded, as it is at this +day, with the formal and heavy architecture +of Mansard. The "Place" +has, like everything in Paris, changed +its name from time to time. It was +once the "Place des Conquêtes;" +then it changed to "Louis le Grand;" +and then it returned to the name of its +original proprietor. An old figure of +the "Great King," in all the glories +of wig and feathers, stood in the +centre, till justice and the rabble of +the Revolution broke it down, in the +first "energies" of Republicanism. +But the German campaign of 1805 +put all the nation in good humour, +and the Napoleon Column was raised +on the site of the dilapidated <em>monarch</em>.</p> + +<p>The design of the column is not +original, for it is taken from the +Trajan Column at Rome; but it is +enlarged, and makes a very handsome +object. When I first saw it, its decorations +were in peril; for the Austrian +soldiery were loud for its demolition, +or at least for stripping off +its bronze bas-reliefs, they representing +their successive defeats in that +ignominious campaign which, in three +months from Boulogne, finished by +the capture of Vienna. The Austrian +troops, however, stoutly retrieved +their disasters, and, as the proof, were +then masters of Paris. It was possibly +this effective feeling that prevailed +at last to spare the column, +which the practice of the French +armies would have entitled them to +strip without mercy.</p> + +<p>In the first instance, a statue of +Napoleon, as emperor, stood on the +summit of the pillar. This statue +had its revolutions too, for it was +melted down at the restoration of the +Bourbons, to make a part of the +equestrian statue of Henry IV. erected +on the Pont Neuf. A <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">fleur-de-lis</i> and +flagstaff then took its place. The +Revolution of 1830, which elevated +Louis Philippe to a temporary throne, +raised the statue of Napoleon to an +elevation perhaps as temporary.</p> + +<p>It was the shortsighted policy of +the new monarch to mingle royal +power with "republican institutions." +He thus introduced the tricolor once +more, sent for Napoleon's remains to +St Helena by permission of England, +and erected his statue in the old +"chapeau et redingote gris," the +characteristics of his soldiership. The +statue was inaugurated on one of the +"three glorious days," in July 1833, +in all the pomp of royalty,—princes, +ministers, and troops. So much for +the consistency of a brother of the +Bourbon. The pageant passed away, +and the sacrifice to popularity was +made without obtaining the fruits. +Louis Philippe disappeared from the +scene before the fall of the curtain; +and, as if to render his catastrophe +more complete, he not merely left a +republic behind him, but he lived to +see the "prisoner of Ham" the president +of that republic.</p> + +<p>How does it happen that an Englishman +in France cannot stir a single +step, hear a single word, or see a +single face, without the conviction +that he has landed among a people as +far from him in all their feelings, +habits, and nature, as if they were +engendered in the moon? The feelings +with which the Briton looks on the +statue of Buonaparte may be mixed +enough: he may acknowledge him for +a great soldier, as well as a great +knave—a great monarch, as well as a +little intriguer—a mighty ruler of +men, who would have made an adroit<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[319]</a></span> +waiter at a <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">table d'hôte</i> in the Palais +Royal. But he never would have +imagined him into a sentimentalist, a +shepherd, a Corydon, to be hung +round with pastoral garlands; an +opera hero, to delight in the sixpenny +tribute of bouquets from the +galleries.</p> + +<p>Yet I found the image of this man +of terror and mystery—this ravager +of Europe—this stern, fierce, and +subtle master of havoc, decorated like +a milliner's shop, or the tombs of the +citizen shopkeepers in the cemeteries, +with garlands of all sizes!—the large +to express copious sorrow, the smaller +to express diminished anguish, and +the smallest, like a visiting card, for +simply leaving their compliments; +and all this in the face of the people +who once feared to look in his face, +and followed his car as if it bore the +Thunder!</p> + +<p>To this spot came the people to offer +up their sixpenny homage—to this +spot came processions of all kinds, to +declare their republican love for the +darkest despot of European memory, +to sing a stave, to walk heroically +round the railing, hang up their garlands, +and then, having done their +duty in the presence of their own +grisettes, in the face of Paris, and to +the admiration of Europe, march +home, and ponder upon the glories of +the day!</p> + +<p>As a work of imperial magnificence, +the column is worthy of its founder, +and of the only redeeming point of +his character—his zeal for the ornament +of Paris. It is a monument to +the military successes of the Empire; +a trophy one hundred and thirty-five +feet high, covered with the representations +of French victory over the +Austrians and Russians in the campaign +of 1805. The bas-reliefs are in +bronze, rising in a continued spiral +round the column. Yet this is an +unfortunate sacrifice to the imitation +of the Roman column. The spiral, +a few feet above the head of the +spectator, offers nothing to the eye +but a roll of rough bronze; the +figures are wholly and necessarily +undistinguishable. The only portion +of those castings which directly meets +the eye is unfortunately given up to +the mere uniforms, caps, and arms of +the combatants. This is the pedestal, +and it would make a showy decoration +for a tailor's window. It is a +clever work of the furnace, but a +miserable one of invention.</p> + +<p>The bronze is said to have been the +captured cannon of the enemy. On +the massive bronze door is the inscription +in Latin:—"Napoleon, Emperor, +Augustus, dedicated to the glory of +the Grand Army this memorial of the +German War, finished in three months, +in the year 1805, under his command."</p> + +<p>On the summit stands the statue of +Napoleon, to which, and its changes, I +have adverted already. But the question +has arisen, whether there is not +an error in taste in placing the statue +of an individual at a height which +precludes the view of his <em>features</em>. +This has been made an objection to +the handsome Nelson Pillar in Trafalgar +Square. But the obvious answer +in both instances is, that the +object is not merely the sight of the +features, but the perfection of the +memorial; that the pillar is the true +<em>monument</em>, and the statue only an +accessory, though the most <em>suitable</em> +accessory. But even then the statue +is not altogether inexpressive. We +can see the figure and the costume of +Napoleon nearly as well as they could +be seen from the balcony of the Tuilleries, +where all Paris assembled in +the Carousel to worship him on Sundays, +at the parade of "La Garde." +In the spirited statue of Nelson we +can recognise the figure as well as if +we were gazing at him within a hundred +yards in any other direction. It +is true that pillars are not painters' +easels, nor is Trafalgar Square a +sculptor's yard; but the real question +turns on the effect of the whole. If +the pillar makes the monument, we +will not quarrel with the sculptor for +its not making a <em>miniature</em>. It answers +its purpose—it is a noble one; +it gives a national record of great +events, and it realises, invigorates, +and consecrates them by the images +of the men by whom they were +achieved.</p> + +<p><i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile.</i>—It is +no small adventure, in a burning day +of a French summer, to walk the +length of the Champs Elysées, even +to see the arch of the Star, (Napoleon's +<em>Star</em>,) and climb to its summit. Yet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[320]</a></span> +this labour I accomplished with the +fervour and the fatigue of a pilgrimage.</p> + +<p>Why should the name of Republic +be ever heard in the mouth of a +Frenchman? All the objects of his +glory in the Capital of which he +<em>glories</em>, everything that he can show +to the stranger—everything that he +recounts, standing on tip-toe, and +looking down on the whole world +besides—is the work of monarchy! +The grand Republic left nothing behind +but the guillotine. The Bourbons +and Buonapartes were the creators +of all to which he points, with an +exaltation that throws earth into the +shade from the Alps to the Andes. +The Louvre, the Madeleine, the Tuilleries, +the Hôtel de Ville, (now magnified +and renovated into the most +stately of town-houses,) the Hôtel +des Invalides, Nôtre Dame, &c. &c. +are all the work of Kings. If Napoleon +had lived half a century longer, +he would have made Paris a second +Babylon. If the very clever President, +who has hitherto managed +France so dexterously, and whose +name so curiously combines the monarchy +and the despotism,—if Louis +<em>Napoleon</em> (a name which an old +Roman would have pronounced an +omen) should manage it into a Monarchy, +we shall probably see Paris +crowded with superb public edifices.</p> + +<p>The kings of France were peculiarly +magnificent in the decoration of the +entrances to their city. As no power +on earth can prevent the French from +crowding into hovels, from living ten +families in one house, and from appending +to their cities the most +miserable, ragged, and forlorn-looking +suburbs on the globe, the +monarchs wisely let the national +habits alone; and resolved, if the +suburbs must be abandoned to the +popular fondness for the wigwam, to +impress strangers with the stateliness +of their gates. The <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Arc de St Denis</i>, +once conducting from the most dismal +of suburbs, is one of the finest +portals in Paris, or in any European +city; it is worthy of the Boulevard, +and that is panegyric at once. Every +one knows <em>that it was</em> erected in +honour of the short-lived inroad of +Louis XIV. into Holland in 1672, +and the taking of whole muster-rolls +of forts and villages, left at his mercy, +ungarrisoned and unprovisioned, by +the Republican parsimony of the +Dutch, till a princely defender arose, +and the young Stadtholder sent back +the coxcomb monarch faster than he +came. But the Arc is a noble work, +and its architecture might well set a +redeeming example to the London +<em>improvers</em>. Why not erect an arch in +Southwark? Why not at all the +great avenues to the capital? Why +not, instead of leaving this task to +the caprices, or even to the bad taste +of the railway companies, make it a +branch of the operations of the +Woods and Forests, and ennoble +all the entrances of the mightiest +capital of earthly empire?</p> + +<p>The Arch of St Denis is now shining +in all the novelty of reparation, +for it was restored so lately as last +year. In this quarter, which has +been always of a stormy temperature, +the insurrection of 1848 raged with +especial fury; and if the spirits of the +great ever hover about their monuments, +Louis XIV. may have seen +from its summit a more desperate +conflict than ever figured on its bas-reliefs.</p> + +<p>On the Arch of the Porte St Martin +is a minor monument to minor triumphs, +but a handsome one. Louis +XIV. is still the hero. The "Grand +Monarque" is exhibited as Hercules +with his club; but as even a monarch +in those days was nothing without +his wig, Hercules exhibits a huge +mass of curls of the most courtly +dimensions—he might pass for the +presiding deity of <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">perruquiers</i>.</p> + +<p>The <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Arc de Triomphe du Carousel</i>, +erected in honour of the German +campaign in 1805, is a costly performance, +yet poor-looking, from its +position in the centre of lofty buildings. +What effect can an isolated arch, of +but five-and-forty feet high, have +in the immediate vicinity of masses +of building, perhaps a hundred feet +high? Its aspect is consequently +meagre; and its being placed in the +centre of a court makes it look useless, +and, of course, ridiculous. On the +summit is a figure of War, or Victory, +in a chariot, with four bronze horses—the +horses modelled from the four +Constantinopolitan horses brought +by the French from Venice, as part<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[321]</a></span> +of the plunder of that luckless city, but +sent back to Venice by the Allies in +1815. The design of the arch was from +that of Severus, in Rome: this secured, +at least, elegance in its construction; +but the position is fatal to dignity.</p> + +<p>The <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Arc de l'Etoile</i> is the finest +work of the kind in Paris. It has +the advantage of being built on an +elevation, from which it overlooks the +whole city, with no building of any +magnitude in its vicinity; and is seen +from a considerable distance on all the +roads leading to the capital. Its cost +was excessive for a work of mere ornament, +and is said to have amounted +to nearly half a million sterling!</p> + +<p>As I stood glancing over the groups +on the friezes and faces of this great +monument, which exhibit war in +every form of conflict, havoc, and +victory, the homely thought of "<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">cui +bono</i>?" struck me irresistibly. Who +was the better for all this havoc?—Napoleon, +whom it sent to a dungeon! +or the miserable thousands and tens +of thousands whom it crushed in the +field?—or the perhaps more unfortunate +hundreds of thousands whom +it sent to the hospital, to die the +slow death of exhaustion and pain, +or to live the protracted life of mutilation? +I have no affectation of +sentiment at the sight of the soldier's +grave; he has but taken his share +of the common lot, with perhaps the +advantage, which so few men possess, +of having "done the state some +service." But, to see this vast monument +covered with the emblems of +hostilities, continued through almost +a quarter of a century, (for the groups +commence with 1792;) to think of the +devastation of the fairest countries of +Europe, of which these hostilities +were the cause; and to know the utter +fruitlessness and failure of the result, +the short-lived nature of the triumph, +and the frightful depth of the defeat—-Napoleon +in ignominious bondage and +hopeless banishment—Napoleon, after +having lorded it over Europe, sent to +linger out life on a rock in the centre +of the ocean—the leader of military +millions kept under the eye of a British +sentinel, and no more suffered to +stray beyond his bounds than a caged +tiger—I felt as if the object before me +was less a trophy than a tomb, less a +monument of glory than of retribution, +less the record of national triumph +than of national frenzy.</p> + +<p>I had full liberty for reflection, for +there was scarcely a human being to +interrupt me. The bustle of the capital +did not reach so far, the promenaders +in the Champs Elysées did +not venture here; the showy equipages +of the Parisian "<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">nouveaux +riches</i>" remained where the crowd +was to be seen; and except a few +peasants going on their avocations, +and a bench full of soldiers, sleeping +or smoking away the weariness of the +hour, the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Arc de Triomphe</i>, which +had cost so much treasure, and was +the record of so much blood, seemed +to be totally forgotten. I question, if +there had been a decree of the Legislature +to sell the stones, whether it +would have occasioned more than a +paragraph in the <cite>Journal des Debats</cite>.</p> + +<p>The ascent to the summit is by a +long succession of dark and winding +steps, for which a lamp is lighted by +the porter; but the view from the +parapet repays the trouble of the +ascent. The whole basin in which +Paris lies is spread out before the +eye. The city is seen in the centre +of a valley, surrounded on every side +by a circle of low hills, sheeted with +dark masses of wood. It was probably +once the bed of a lake, in which +the site of the city was an island. +All the suburb villages came within +the view, with the fortifications, which +to a more scientific eye might appear +formidable, but which to mine appeared +mere dots in the vast landscape.</p> + +<p>This parapet is unhappily sometimes +used for other purposes than the indulgence +of the spectacle. A short time +since, a determined suicide sprang from +it, after making a speech to the soldiery +below, assigning his reason for this +tremendous act—if reason has anything +to do in such a desperate determination +to defy common sense. He +acted with the quietest appearance of +deliberation: let himself down on the +coping of the battlement, from this +made his speech, as if he had been in the +tribune; and, having finished it, flung +himself down a height of ninety feet, +and was in an instant a crushed and +lifeless heap on the pavement below.</p> + +<p>It is remarkable that, even in these +crimes, there exists the distinction +which seems to divide France from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[322]</a></span> +England in every better thing. In +England, a wretch undone by poverty, +broken down by incurable pain, afflicted +by the stings of a conscience +which she neither knows how to heal +nor cares how to cure, woman, helpless, +wretched, and desolate, takes her +walk under cover of night by the +nearest river, and, without a witness, +plunges in. But, in France, the last +dreadful scene is imperfect without its +publicity; the suicide must exhibit +before the people. There must be +the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">valete et plaudite</i>. The curtain +must fall with dramatic effect, and +the actor must make his exit with the +cries of the audience, in admiration or +terror, ringing in the ear.</p> + +<p>In other cases, however varied, the +passion for publicity is still the same. +No man can bear to perish in silence. +If the atheist resolves on self-destruction, +he writes a treatise for his publisher, +or a letter to the journals. If he +is a man of science, he takes his laudanum +after supper, and, pen in hand, +notes the gradual effects of the poison +for the benefit of science; or he prepares +a fire of charcoal, quietly inhales +the vapour, and from his sofa continues +to scribble the symptoms of +dissolution, until the pen grows unsteady, +the brain wanders, and half-a-dozen +blots close the scene; the +writing, however, being dedicated to +posterity, and circulated next day in +every journal of Paris, till it finally +permeates through the provinces, and +from thence through the European +world.</p> + +<p>The number of suicides in Paris +annually, of late years, has been about +three hundred,—out of a population +of a million, notwithstanding the suppression +of the gaming-houses, which +unquestionably had a large share in +the temptation to this horrible and +unatonable crime.</p> + +<p>The sculptures on the Arc are in +the best style. They form a history +of the Consulate and of the Empire. +Napoleon, of course, is a prominent +figure; but in the fine bas-relief +which is peculiarly devoted to himself, +in which he stands of colossal +size, with Fame flying over his head, +History writing the record of his exploits, +and Victory crowning him, +the artist has left his work liable to +the sly sarcasm of a spectator of a +similar design for the statue of Louis +XIV. Victory was there holding +the laurel at a slight distance from +his head. An Englishman asked +"whether she was putting it on <em>or +taking it off</em>?" But another of the +sculptures is still more unfortunate, +for it has the unintentional effect of +commemorating the Allied conquest +of France in 1814. A young Frenchman +is seen defending his family; and +a soldier behind him is seen falling +from his horse, and the Genius of +the <em>future</em> flutters over them all. We +know what that future was.</p> + +<p>The building of this noble memorial +occupied, at intervals, no less than +thirty years, beginning in 1806, when +Napoleon issued a decree for its erection. +The invasion in 1814 put a stop +to everything in France, and the building +was suspended. The fruitless and +foolish campaign of the Duc d'Angoulême, +in Spain, was regarded by +the Bourbons as a title to national +glories, and the building was resumed +as a trophy to the renown of the Duc. +It was again interrupted by the expulsion +of the Bourbons in 1830; but +was resumed under Louis Philippe, +and finished in 1836. It is altogether +a very stately and very handsome +tribute to the French armies.</p> + +<p>But, without affecting unnecessary +severity of remark, may not the +wisdom of such a tribute be justly +doubted? The Romans, though the +principle of their power was conquest, +and though their security was almost +incompatible with peace, yet are said +to have never repaired a triumphal +arch. It is true that they built those +arches (in the latter period of the +Empire) so solidly as to want no +repairs. But we have no triumphal +monuments of the Republic surviving. +Why should it be the constant policy +of Continental governments to pamper +their people with the food of that most +dangerous and diseased of all vanities, +the passion for war? And this is not +said in the declamatory spirit of the +"Peace Congress," which seems to +be nothing more than a pretext for +a Continental ramble, an expedient +for a little vulgar notoriety among +foreigners, and an opportunity of getting +rid of the greatest quantity of +common-place in the shortest time. +But, why should not France learn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[323]</a></span> +common sense from the experience of +England? It is calculated that, of the +last five hundred years of French history, +two hundred and fifty have been +spent in hostilities. In consequence, +France has been invaded, trampled, +and impoverished by war; while England, +during the last three hundred +years, has never seen the foot of a +foreign invader.</p> + +<p>Let the people of France abolish +the <em>Conscription</em>, and they will have +made one advance to liberty. Till +cabinets are deprived of that material +of <em>aggressive</em> war, they will +leave war at the caprice of a weak +monarch, an ambitious minister, or a +vainglorious people. It is remarkable +that, among all the attempts at reforming +the constitution of France, +her reformers have never touched upon +the ulcer of the land, the Conscription, +the legacy of a frantic Republic, +taking the children of the country +from their industry, to plunge them +into the vices of idleness or the havoc +of war, and at all times to furnish +the means, as well as afford the +temptation, to aggressive war. There +is not at this hour a soldier of England +who has been <em>forced</em> into the +service! Let the French, let all the +Continental nations, abolish the Conscription, +thus depriving their governments +of the means of making war +upon each other; and what an infinite +security would not this illustrious +abolition give to the whole of Europe!—what +an infinite saving in the taxes +which are now wrung from nations by +the fear of each other!—and what an +infinite triumph to the spirit of peace, +industry, and mutual good-will!</p> + +<p><em>The Theatres.</em>—In the evening I +wandered along the Boulevard, the +great centre of the theatres, and was +surprised at the crowds which, in a +hot summer night, could venture to +be stewed alive, amid the smell of +lamps, the effluvia of orange-peel, the +glare of lights, and the breathing of +hundreds or thousands of human +beings. I preferred the fresh air, the +lively movement of the Boulevard, +the glitter of the Cafés, and the +glow, then tempered, of the declining +sun—one of the prettiest moving +panoramas of Paris.</p> + +<p>The French Government take a +great interest in the popularity of the +theatres, and exert that species of +superintendence which is implied in +a considerable supply of the theatrical +expenditure. The French Opera +receives annually from the National +Treasury no less than 750,000 francs, +besides 130,000 for retiring pensions. +To the Théâtre Français, the allowance +from the Treasury is 240,000 +francs a-year. To the Italian Opera +the sum granted was formerly 70,000, +but is now 50,000. Allowances are +made to the Opera Comique, a most +amusing theatre, to the Odeon, and +perhaps to some others—the whole +demanding of the budget a sum of +more than a million of francs.</p> + +<p>It is curious that the drama in +France began with the clergy. In +the time of Charles VI., a company, +named "Confrères de la Passion," +performed plays founded on the events +of Scripture, though grossly disfigured +by the traditions of Monachism. The +originals were probably the "<em>Mysteries</em>," +or plays in the Convents, a +species of absurd and fantastic representation +common in all Popish countries. +At length the life of Manners +was added to the life of Superstition, +and singers and grimacers +were added to the "Confrères."</p> + +<p>In the sixteenth century an Italian +company appeared in Paris, and +brought with them their opera, the +invention of the Florentines fifty +years before. The cessation of the +civil wars allowed France for a while +to cultivate the arts of peace; and +Richelieu, a man who, if it could be +said of any statesman that he formed +the mind of the nation, impressed his +image and superscription upon his +country, gave the highest encouragement +to the drama by making it the +fashion. He even wrote, or assisted +in writing, popular dramas. Corneille +now began to flourish, and French +Tragedy was established.</p> + +<p>Mazarin, when minister, and, like +Richelieu, master of the nation, invited +or admitted the Italian Opera +once more into France; and Molière, +at the head of a new company, obtained +leave to perform before Louis +XIV., who thenceforth patronised the +great comic writer, and gave his company +a theatre. The Tragedy, Comedy, +and Opera of France now led +the way in Europe.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[324]</a></span></p> + +<p>In France, the Great Revolution, +while it multiplied the theatres with +the natural extravagance of the time, +yet, by a consequence equally inevitable, +degraded the taste of the nation. +For a long period the legitimate +drama was almost extinguished: +it was unexciting to a people trained +day by day to revolutionary convulsion; +the pageants on the stage were +tame to the processions in the streets; +and the struggles of kings and nobles +were ridiculous to the men who had +been employed in destroying a +dynasty.</p> + +<p>Napoleon at once perceived the +evil, and adopted the only remedy. +He found no less than <em>thirty</em> theatres +in Paris. He was not a man to +pause where he saw his way clearly +before him; he closed twenty-two of +those theatres, leaving but eight, and +those chiefly of the old establishments, +making a species of compensation to +the closed houses.</p> + +<p>On the return of the Bourbons the +civil list, as in the old times, assisted +in the support of the theatres. On +the accession of Louis Philippe, the +popular triumph infused its extravagance +even into the system of the +drama. The number of the theatres +increased, and a succession of writers +of the "New School" filled the +theatres with abomination. Gallantry +became the <em>spirit</em> of the drama—everything +before the scene was intrigue; +married life was the perpetual burlesque. +Wives were the habitual +heroines of the intrigue, and husbands +the habitual dupes! To keep faith +with a husband was a standing jest +on the stage, to keep it with a seducer +was the height of human character. +The former was always described as +brutal, gross, dull, and born to be +duped; the latter was captivating, +generous, and irresistible by any +matron alive. In fact, wives and +widows were made for nothing else +but to give way to the fascinations of +this class of professors of the arts of +"good society." The captivator was +substantially described as a scoundrel, +a gambler, and a vagabond of the +basest kind, but withal so honourable, +so tender, and so susceptible, that his +atrocities disappeared, or rather were +transmuted into virtues, by the brilliancy +of his qualifications for seducing +the wife of his friend. Perjury, profligacy, +and the betrayal of confidence +in the most essential tie of human +nature, were supreme in popularity in +the Novel and on the Stage.</p> + +<p>The direct consequence is, that +the crime of adultery is lightly considered +in France; even the pure speak +of it without the abhorrence which, +for every reason, it deserves. Its +notoriety is rather thought of as an +anecdote of the day, or the gossiping +of the soirée; and the most acknowledged +licentiousness does not exclude +a man of a certain rank from general +reception in good society.</p> + +<p>One thing may be observed on the +most casual intercourse with Frenchmen—that +the vices which, in our +country, create disgust and offence in +grave society, and laughter and levity +in the more careless, seldom produce +either the one or the other in France. +The topic is alluded to with neither a +frown nor a smile; it is treated, in +general, as a matter of course, either +too natural to deserve censure, or too +common to excite ridicule. It is seldom +peculiarly alluded to, for the general +conversation of "Good Society" is +decorous; but to denounce it would be +unmannered. The result is an extent +of illegitimacy enough to corrupt the +whole rising population. By the registers +of 1848, of 30,000 children +born in Paris in that year, there were +10,000 illegitimate, of which but +1700 were acknowledged by their +parents!</p> + +<p>The theatrical profession forms an +important element in the population. +The actors and actresses amount to +about 5000. In England they are +probably not as many hundreds. +And though the French population is +35,000,000, while Great Britain has +little more than twenty, yet the disproportion +is enormous, and forms a +characteristic difference of the two +countries. The persons occupied in +the "working" of the theatrical system +amount perhaps to 10,000, and +the families dependent on the whole +form a very large and very influential +class among the general orders of +society.</p> + +<p>But if the Treasury assists in their +general support, it compels them to +pay eight per cent of their receipts +as a contribution to the hospitals.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[325]</a></span> +This sum averages annually a million +of francs, or £40,000 sterling.</p> + +<p>In England we might learn something +from the theatrical regulations +of France. The trampling of our +crowds at the doors of theatres, the +occasional losses of life and limb, and +the general inconvenience and confusion +of the entrance on crowded nights, +might be avoided by the were adoption +of French <em>order</em>.</p> + +<p>But why should not higher objects +be held in view? The drama is a +public <em>necessity</em>; the people will have +it, whether good or bad. Why should +not Government offer prizes to the +best drama, tragic or comic? Why +should the most distinguished work +of poetic genius find no encouragement +from the Government of a nation +boasting of its love of letters? Why +shall that encouragement be left to +the caprice of managers, to the +finances of struggling establishments, +or to the tastes of theatres, forced by +their poverty to pander to the rabble. +Why should not the mischievous performances +of those theatres be put +down, and dramas, founded on the +higher principles of our nature, be the +instruments of putting them down? +Why should not heroism, honour, and +patriotism, be taught on the national +stage, as well as the triumphs of the +highroad, laxity among the higher +ranks, and vice among all? The +drama has been charged with corruption. +Is that corruption essential? It +has been charged with being a <em>nucleus</em> +of the loose principles, as its places of +representation have been haunted by +the loose characters, of society. But +what are these but excrescences, generated +by the carelessness of society, +by the indolence of magistracy, and +by the general misconception of the +real purposes and possible power of +the stage? That power is magnificent. +It takes human nature in her +most <em>impressible</em> form, in the time of +the glowing heart and the ready tear, +of the senses animated by scenery, +melted by music, and spelled by the +living realities of representation. +Why should not impressions be +made in that hour which the man +would carry with him through all the +contingencies of life, and which would +throw a light on every period of his +being?</p> + +<p>The conditions of recompense to +authors in France make <em>some</em> advance +to justice. The author of a Drama is +entitled to a profit on its performance +in every theatre of France during his +life, with a continuance for ten years +after to his heirs. For a piece of +three or five acts, the remuneration is +<em>one twelfth part</em> of the gross receipts, +and for a piece in one act, one twenty-fourth. +A similar compensation has +been adopted in the English theatre, +but seems to have become completely +nugatory, from the managers' purchasing +the author's rights—the transaction +here being made a private one, +and the remuneration being at the +mercy of the manager. But in France +it is a public matter, an affair of law, +and looked to by an agent in Paris, +who registers the performance of the +piece at all the theatres in the city, +and in the provinces.</p> + +<p>Still, this is injustice. Why should +the labour of the intellect be less +permanent than the labour of the +hands? Why should not the author +be entitled to make his full demand +instead of this pittance? If his play +is worth acting, why is it not worth +paying for?—and why should he be +prohibited from having the fruit of his +brain as an inheritance to his family, +as well as the fruit of any other toll?</p> + +<p>If, instead of being a man of genius, +delighting and elevating the mind of +a nation, he were a blacksmith, he +might leave his tools and his trade to +his children without any limit; or if, +with the produce of his play, he purchased +a cow, or a cabin, no man +could lay a claim upon either. But +he must be taxed for being a man of +talent; and men of no talent must be +entitled, by an absurd law and a palpable +injustice, to tear the fruit of his +intellectual supremacy from his children +after ten short years of possession.</p> + +<p>No man leaves Paris without regret, +and without a wish for the +liberty and peace of its people.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[326]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>MR RUSKIN'S WORKS.</h2> + +<blockquote> + +<p><em>Modern Painters</em>, vol. i. Second edition.——<cite>Modern Painters</cite>, vol. ii.——<cite>The +Seven Lamps of Architecture.</cite>——<cite>The Stones of Venice.</cite>——<cite>Notes on the Construction +of Sheepfolds.</cite> By <span class="smcap">John Ruskin</span>, M.A.</p></blockquote> + + +<p>On the publication of the first +volume of Mr Ruskin's work on +Modern Painters, a notice appeared +of it in this Magazine. Since that +time a second volume has been published +of the same work, with two +other works on architecture. It is +the second volume of his <cite>Modern +Painters</cite> which will at present chiefly +engage our attention. His architectural +works can only receive a slight +and casual notice; on some future +occasion they may tempt us into a +fuller examination.</p> + +<p>Although the second volume of the +<cite>Modern Painters</cite> will be the immediate +subject of our review, we must +permit ourselves to glance back upon +the first, in order to connect together +the topics treated by the two, and to +prevent our paper from wearing quite +the aspect of a metaphysical essay; +for it is the nature of the sentiment +of the beautiful, and its sources in +the human mind, which is the main +subject of this second volume. In +the first, he had entered at once into +the arena of criticism, elevating the +modern artists, and one amongst them +in particular, at the expense of the old +masters, who, with some few exceptions, +find themselves very rudely +handled.</p> + +<p>As we have already intimated, we +do not hold Mr Ruskin to be a safe +guide in matters of art, and the present +volume demonstrates that he is +no safe guide in matters of philosophy. +He is a man of undoubted power and +vigour of mind; he feels strongly, +and he thinks independently: but he +is hasty and impetuous; can very +rarely, on any subject, deliver a calm +and temperate judgment; and, when +he enters on the discussion of general +principles, shows an utter inability to +seize on, or to appreciate, the wide +generalisations of philosophy. He is +not, therefore, one of those men who +can ever become an authority to be +appealed to by the less instructed in +any of the fine arts, or on any topic +whatever; and this we say with the +utmost confidence, because, although +we may be unable in many cases to +dispute his judgment—as where he +speaks of paintings we have not seen, +or technicalities of art we do not +affect to understand—yet he so frequently +stands forth on the broad +arena where general and familiar +principles are discussed, that it is +utterly impossible <em>to be mistaken in +the man</em>. On all these occasions he +displays a very marked and rather +peculiar combination of power and +weakness—of power, the result of +natural strength of mind; of weakness, +the inevitable consequence of a +passionate haste, and an overweening +confidence. When we hear a person +of this intellectual character throwing +all but unmitigated abuse upon works +which men have long consented to +admire, and lavishing upon some other +works encomiums which no conceivable +perfection of human art could +justify, it is utterly impossible to +attach any weight to his opinion, on +the ground that he has made an especial +study of any one branch of art. +Such a man we cannot trust out of +our sight a moment; we cannot give +him one inch of ground more than his +reasoning covers, or our own experience +would grant to him.</p> + +<p>We shall not here revive the controversy +on the comparative merits of +the ancient and modern landscape-painters, +nor on the later productions +of Mr Turner, whether they are the +eccentricities of genius or its fullest +development; we have said enough +on these subjects before. It is Mr +Ruskin's book, and not the pictures of +Claude or Turner, that we have to +criticise; it is his style, and his manner +of thinking, that we have to pass +judgment on.</p> + +<p>In all Mr Ruskin's works, and in +almost every page of them, whether +on painting, or architecture, or philosophy, +or ecclesiastical controversy, +two characteristics invariably prevail:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[327]</a></span> +an extreme dogmatism, and a passion +for singularity. Every man who +thinks earnestly would convert all the +world to his own opinions; but while +Mr Ruskin would convert all the +world to his own tastes as well as +opinions, he manifests the greatest +repugnance to think for a moment +like any one else. He has a mortal +aversion to mingle with a crowd. It +is quite enough for an opinion to be +commonplace to insure it his contempt: +if it has passed out of fashion, +he may revive it; but to think with +the existing multitude would be impossible. +Yet that multitude are to +think with him. He is as bent on +unity in matters of taste as others +are on unity in matters of religion; +and he sets the example by diverging, +wherever he can, from the tastes of +others.</p> + +<p>Between these two characteristics +there is no real contradiction; or +rather the contradiction is quite familiar. +The man who most affects +singularity is generally the most +dogmatic: he is the very man who +expresses most surprise that others +should differ from him. No one is so +impatient of contradiction as he who +is perpetually contradicting others; +and on the gravest matters of religion +those are often found to be most +zealous for unity of belief who have +some pet heresy of their own, for +which they are battling all their lives. +The same overweening confidence lies, +in fact, at the basis of both these +characteristics. In Mr Ruskin they +are both seen in great force. No +matter what the subject he discusses,—taste +or ecclesiastical government—we +always find the same combination +of singularity, with a dogmatism approaching +to intolerance. Thus, the +Ionic pillar is universally admired. +Mr Ruskin finds that the fluted shaft +gives an appearance of weakness. +No one ever felt this, so long as the +fluted column is manifestly of sufficient +diameter to sustain the weight +imposed on it. But this objection of +apparent insecurity has been very +commonly made to the spiral or +twisted column. Here, therefore, Mr +Ruskin abruptly dismisses the objection. +He was at liberty to defend +the spiral column: we should say +here, also, that if the weight imposed +was evidently not too great for even a +spiral column to support, <em>this</em> objection +has no place; but why cast the +same objection, (which perhaps in all +cases was a mere after-thought) +against the Ionic shaft, when it had +never been felt at all? It has been a +general remark, that, amongst other +results of the railway, it has given a +new field to the architect, as well as +to the engineer. Therefore Mr +Ruskin resolves that our railroad +stations ought to have no architecture +at all. Of course, if he limited his +objections to inappropriate ornament, +he would be agreeing with all the +world: he decides there should be no +architecture whatever; merely buildings +more or less spacious, to protect +men and goods from the weather. +He has never been so unfortunate, we +suppose, as to come an hour too soon, +or the unlucky five minutes too late, +to a railway station, or he would +have been glad enough to find himself +in something better than the large +shed he proposes. On the grave subject +of ecclesiastical government he +has stepped forward into controversy; +and here he shows both his usual +propensities in <em>high relief</em>. He has +some quite peculiar projects of his +own; the appointment of some hundreds +of bishops—we know not what—and +a Church discipline to be carried +out by trial by jury. Desirable or +not, they are manifestly as impracticable +as the revival of chivalry. +But let that pass. Let every man +think and propose his best. But his +dogmatism amounts to a disease, +when, turning from his own novelties, +he can speak in the flippant intolerant +manner that he does of the national +and now time-honoured Church of +Scotland.</p> + +<p>It will be worth while to make, in +passing, a single quotation from this +pamphlet, <cite>Notes on the Construction +of Sheepfolds</cite>. He tells us, in one +place, that in the New Testament the +ministers of the Church "are called, +and call themselves, with absolute +indifference, Deacons, Bishops, Elders, +Evangelists, according to what they +are doing at the time of speaking." +With such a writer one might, at all +events, have hoped to live in peace. +But no. He discovers, nevertheless, +that Episcopacy is the Scriptural form<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[328]</a></span> +of Church government; and, having +satisfied his own mind of this, no +opposition or diversity of opinion is +for a moment to be tolerated.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"But how," he says, "unite the two +great sects of paralysed Protestants? +By keeping simply to Scripture. <em>The +members of the Scottish Church have not a +shadow of excuse for refusing Episcopacy</em>: +it has indeed been abused among them, +grievously abused; but it is in the Bible, +and that is all they have a right to ask.</p> + +<p>"<em>They have also no shadow of excuse +for refusing to employ a written form of +prayer.</em> It may not be to their taste—it +may not be the way in which they like +to pray; but it is no question, at present, +of likes or dislikes, but of duties; and +the acceptance of such a form on their +part would go half way to reconcile them +with their brethren. Let them allege +such objections as they can reasonably +advance against the English form, and +let these be carefully and humbly weighed +by the pastors of both Churches: some of +them ought to be at once forestalled. +For the English Church, on the other +hand, <em>must</em>," &c.</p></blockquote> + +<p>Into Mr Ruskin's own religious +tenets, further than he has chosen to +reveal them in his works, we have no +wish to pry. But he must cease +to be Mr Ruskin if they do not exhibit +some salient peculiarity, coupled +with a confidence, unusual even +amongst zealots, that his peculiar +views will speedily triumph. If he +can be presumed to belong to any +sect, it must be the last and smallest +one amongst us—some sect as exclusive +as German mysticism, with pretensions +as great as those of the +Church of Rome.</p> + +<p>One word on the style of Mr +Ruskin: it will save the trouble of +alluding to it on particular occasions. +It is very unequal. In both his +architectural works he writes generally +with great ease, spirit, and +clearness. There is a racy vigour in +the page. But when he would be +very eloquent, as he is disposed to be +in the <cite>Modern Painters</cite>, he becomes +very verbose, tedious, obscure, extravagant. +There is no discipline in his +style, no moderation, no repose. +Those qualities which he has known +how to praise in art he has not aimed +at in his own writing. A rank luxuriance +of a semi-poetical diction lies +about, perfectly unrestrained; metaphorical +language comes before us in +every species of disorder; and hyperbolical +expressions are used till they +become commonplace. Verbal criticism, +he would probably look upon +a very puerile business: he need fear +nothing of the kind from us; we +should as soon think of criticising or +pruning a jungle. To add to the confusion, +he appears at times to have +proposed to himself the imitation of +some of our older writers: pages are +written in the rhythm of Jeremy +Taylor; sometimes it is the venerable +Hooker who seems to be his type; +and he has even succeeded in combining +whatever is most tedious and +prolix in both these great writers. If +the reader wishes a specimen of this +sort of <em>modern antique</em>, he may turn +to the fifteenth chapter of the second +volume of the <cite>Modern Painters</cite>.</p> + +<p>Coupled with this matter of style, +and almost inseparable from it, is the +violence of his manner on subjects +which cannot possibly justify so vehement +a zeal. We like a generous +enthusiasm on any art—we delight in +it; but who can travel in sympathy +with a writer who exhausts on so +much paint and canvass every term +of rapture that the Alps themselves +could have called forth? One need +not be a utilitarian philosopher—or +what Mr Ruskin describes as such—to +smile at the lofty position on which +he puts the landscape-painter, and +the egregious and impossible demands +he makes upon the art itself. And the +condemnation and opprobrium with +which he overwhelms the luckless +artist who has offended him is quite +as violent. The bough of a tree, "in +the left hand upper corner" of a landscape +of Poussin's, calls forth this +terrible denunciation:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"This latter is a representation of an +ornamental group of elephants' tusks, +with feathers tied to the ends of them. +Not the wildest imagination could ever +conjure up in it the remotest resemblance +to the bough of a tree. It might be the +claws of a witch—the talons of an eagle—the +horns of a fiend; but it is a full +assemblage of every conceivable falsehood +which can be told respecting foliage—a +piece of work so barbarous in every way +<em>that one glance at it ought to prove the +complete charlatanism and trickery of the +whole system of the old landscape-painters</em>.... I +will say here at once, that such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[329]</a></span> +drawing as this is as ugly as it is childish, +and as painful as it is false; and that the +man who could tolerate, much more, who +could deliberately set down such a thing +on his canvass, <em>had neither eye nor feeling +for one single attribute or excellence of +God's works</em>. He might have drawn <em>the +other stem</em> in excusable ignorance, or under +some false impression of being able to +improve upon nature, but this is conclusive +and unpardonable."—(P. 382.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>The great redeeming quality of Mr +Ruskin—and we wish to give it conspicuous +and honourable mention—is +his love of nature. Here lies the +charm of his works; to this may be +traced whatever virtue is in them, or +whatever utility they may possess. +They will send the painter more than +ever to the study of nature, and perhaps +they will have a still more beneficial +effect on the art, by sending the +critic of painting to the same school. +It would be almost an insult to the +landscape-painter to suppose that he +needed this lesson; the very love of +his art must lead him perpetually, one +would think, to his great and delightful +study amongst the fields, under the +open skies, before the rivers and the +hills. But the critic of the picture-gallery +is often one who goes from +picture to picture, and very little from +nature to the painting. Consequently, +where an artist succeeds in imitating +some effect in nature which had not +been before represented on the canvass, +such a critic is more likely to be +displeased than gratified; and the +artist, having to paint for a conventional +taste, is in danger of sacrificing +to it his own higher aspirations. Now +it is most true that no man should +pretend to be a critic upon pictures +unless he understands the art itself of +painting; he ought, we suspect, to +have handled the pencil or the brush +himself; at all events, he ought in +some way to have been initiated into +the mysteries of the pallet and the +easel. Otherwise, not knowing the +difficulties to be overcome, nor the +means at hand for encountering them, +he cannot possibly estimate the degree +of merit due to the artist for the production +of this or that effect. He may +be loud in applause where nothing has +been displayed but the old traditions +of the art. But still this is only one-half +the knowledge he ought to possess. +He ought to have studied +nature, and to have loved the study, +or he can never estimate, and never +feel, that <em>truth</em> of effect which is the +great aim of the artist. Mr Ruskin's +works will help to shame out of the +field all such half-informed and conventional +criticism, the mere connoisseurship +of the picture gallery. On +the other hand, they will train men +who have always been delighted spectators +of nature to be also attentive +observers. Our critics will learn how +to admire, and mere admirers will learn +how to criticise. Thus a public will +be educated; and here, if anywhere, +we may confidently assert that the +art will prosper in proportion as there +is an intelligent public to reward it.</p> + +<p>We like that bold enterprise of Mr +Ruskin's which distinguishes the first +volume, that daring enumeration of +the great palpable facts of nature—the +sky, the sea, the earth, the foliage—which +the painter has to represent. +His descriptions are often made indistinct +by a multitude of words; but +there is light in the haze—there is a +genuine love of nature felt through +them. This is almost the only point +of sympathy we feel with Mr Ruskin; +it is the only hold his volumes have +had over us whilst perusing them; we +may be, therefore, excused if we present +here to our readers a specimen or +two of his happier descriptions of +nature. We will give them <em>the Cloud</em> +and <em>the Torrent</em>. They will confess that, +after reading Mr Ruskin's description +of the clouds, their first feeling will be +an irresistible impulse to throw open +the window, and look upon them again +as they roll through the sky. The +torrent may not be so near at hand, +to make renewed acquaintance with. +We must premise that he has been +enforcing his favourite precept, the +minute, and faithful, and perpetual +study of nature. He very justly scouts +the absurd idea that trees and rocks +and clouds are, under any circumstances, +to be <em>generalised</em>—so that a +tree is not to stand for an oak or a +poplar, a birch or an elm, but for a +<em>general tree</em>. If a tree is at so great +a distance that you cannot distinguish +what it is, as you cannot paint more +than you see, you must paint it indistinctly. +But to make a purposed +indistinctness where the kind of tree<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[330]</a></span> +would be very plainly seen is a manifest +absurdity. So, too, the forms of +clouds should be studied, and as much +as possible taken from nature, and not +certain <em>general clouds</em> substituted at +the artist's pleasure.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"But it is not the outline only which +is thus systematically false. The drawing +of the solid form is worse still; for it +is to be remembered that, although clouds +of course arrange themselves more or less +into broad masses, with a light side and +a dark side, both their light and shade are +invariably composed of a series of divided +masses, each of which has in its outline +as much variety and character as the +great outline of the cloud; presenting, +therefore, a thousand times repeated, all +that I have described as the general form. +Nor are these multitudinous divisions a +truth of slight importance in the character +of sky, for they are dependent on, and +illustrative of, a quality which is usually +in a great degree overlooked—the enormous +retiring spaces of solid clouds. Between +the illumined edge of a heaped +cloud and that part of its body which +turns into shadow, there will generally be +a clear distance of several miles—more or +less, of course, according to the general +size of the cloud; but in such large masses +as Poussin and others of the old masters, +which occupy the fourth or fifth of the +visible sky, the clear illumined breadth of +vapour, from the edge to the shadow, +involves at least a distance of five or six +miles. We are little apt, in watching +the changes of a mountainous range of +cloud, to reflect that the masses of vapour +which compose it are linger and higher +than any mountain-range of the earth; +and the distances between mass and mass +are not yards of air, traversed in an +instant by the flying form, but valleys of +changing atmosphere leagues over; that +the slow motion of ascending curves, +which we can scarcely trace, is a boiling +energy of exulting vapour rushing into the +heaven a thousand feet in a minute; and +that the topling angle, whose sharp edge +almost escapes notice in the multitudinous +forms around it, is a nodding precipice of +storms, three thousand feet from base to +summit. It is not until we have actually +compared the forms of the sky with the +hill-ranges of the earth, and seen the +soaring alp overtopped and buried in one +surge of the sky, that we begin to conceive +or appreciate the colossal scale of +the phenomena of the latter. But of this +there can be no doubt in the mind of any +one accustomed to trace the forms of +cloud among hill-ranges—as it is there a +demonstrable and evident fact—that the +space of vapour visibly extended over an +ordinarily clouded sky is not less, from +the point nearest to the observer to the +horizon, than twenty leagues; that the +size of every mass of separate form, if it +be at all largely divided, is to be expressed +in terms of <em>miles</em>; and that every boiling +heap of illuminated mist in the nearer +sky is an enormous mountain, fifteen or +twenty thousand feet in height, six or +seven miles over in illuminated surface, +furrowed by a thousand colossal ravines, +torn by local tempests into peaks and +promontories, and changing its features +with the majestic velocity of a volcano."—(Vol. +i. p. 228.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>The forms of clouds, it seems, are +worth studying: after reading this, +no landscape-painter will be disposed, +with hasty slight invention, to sketch +in these "<em>mountains</em>" of the sky. Here +is his description, or part of it, first of +falling, then of running water. With +the incidental criticism upon painters +we are not at present concerned:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"A little crumbling white or lightly-rubbed +paper will soon give the effect of +indiscriminate foam; but nature gives +more than foam—she shows beneath it, +and through it, a peculiar character of +exquisitely studied form, bestowed on +every wave and line of fall; and it is this +variety of definite character which Turner +always aims at, rejecting as much as possible +everything that conceals or overwhelms +it. Thus, in the Upper Fall of +the Tees, though the whole basin of the +fall is blue, and dim with the rising +vapour, yet the attention of the spectator +is chiefly directed to the concentric zones +and delicate curves of the falling water +itself; and it is impossible to express +with what exquisite accuracy these are +given. They are the characteristic of a +powerful stream descending without impediment +or break, but from a narrow +channel, so as to expand as it falls. They +are the constant form which such a stream +assumes as it descends; and yet I think +it would be difficult to point to another +instance of their being rendered in art. +You will find nothing in the waterfalls, +even of our best painters, but springing +lines of parabolic descent, and splashing +and shapeless foam; and, in consequence, +though they may make you understand +the swiftness of the water, they never let +you feel the weight of it: the stream, in +their hands, looks <em>active</em>, not <em>supine</em>, as if +it leaped, not as if it fell. Now, water +will leap a little way—it will leap down +a weir or over a stone—but it <em>tumbles</em> +over a high fall like this; and it is when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[331]</a></span> +we have lost the parabolic line, and arrived +at the catenary—when we have +lost the spring of the fall, and arrived at +the <em>plunge</em> of it—that we begin really to +feel its weight and wildness. Where +water takes its first leap from the top, it +is cool and collected, and uninteresting +and mathematical; but it is when it finds +that it has got into a scrape, and has +farther to go than it thought for, that its +character comes out; it is then that it +begins to writhe and twist, and sweep +out, zone after zone, in wilder stretching +as it falls, and to send down the rocket-like, +lance-pointed, whizzing shafts at its +sides sounding for the bottom. And it is +this prostration, the hopeless abandonment +of its ponderous power to the air, +which is always peculiarly expressed by +Turner....</p> + +<p>"When water, not in very great body, +runs in a rocky bed much interrupted by +hollows, so that it can rest every now and +then in a pool as it goes long, it does +not acquire a continuous velocity of motion. +It pauses after every leap, and +curdles about, and rests a little, and then +goes on again; and if, in this comparatively +tranquil and rational state of mind, +it meets with any obstacle, as a rock or +stone, it parts on each side of it with a +little bubbling foam, and goes round: if it +comes to a step in its bed, it leaps it +lightly, and then, after a little splashing +at the bottom, stops again to take breath. +But if its bed be on a continuous slope, +not much interrupted by hollows, so that +it cannot rest—or if its own mass be so +increased by flood that its usual resting-places +are not sufficient for it, but that it +is perpetually pushed out of them by the +following current before it has had time +to tranquillise itself—it of course gains +velocity with every yard that it runs; +the impetus got at one leap is carried to +the credit of the next, until the whole +stream becomes one mass of unchecked +accelerating motion. Now, when water +in this state comes to an obstacle, it does +not part at it, but clears it like a racehorse; +and when it comes to a hollow, it +does not fill it up, and run out leisurely at +the other side, but it rushes down into it, +and comes up again on the other side, as +a ship into the hollow of the sea. Hence +the whole appearance of the bed of the +stream is changed, and all the lines of the +water altered in their nature. The quiet +stream is a succession of leaps and pools; +the leaps are light and springy and parabolic, +and make a great deal of splashing +when they tumble into the pool; then we +have a space of quiet curdling water, and +another similar leap below. But the +stream, when it has gained an impetus, +takes the shape of its bed, never stops, is +equally deep and equally swift everywhere, +goes down into every hollow, not +with a leap, but with a swing—not foaming +nor splashing, but in the bending +line of a strong sea-wave, and comes up +again on the other side, over rock and +ridge, with the ease of a bounding leopard. +If it meet a rock three or four +feet above the level of its bed, it will +neither part nor foam, nor express any +concern about the matter, but clear it in +a smooth dome of water without apparent +exertion, coming down again as smoothly +on the other side, the whole surface of +the surge being drawn into parallel lines +by its extreme velocity, but foamless, +except in places where the form of the +bed opposes itself at some direct angle to +such a line of fall, and causes a breaker; +so that the whole river has the appearance +of a deep and raging sea, with this +only difference, that the torrent waves +always break backwards, and sea-waves +forwards. Thus, then, in the water which +has gained an impetus, we have the most +exquisite arrangement of curved lines, +perpetually changing from convex to concave, +following every swell and hollow of +the bed with their modulating grace, and +all in unison of motion, presenting perhaps +the most beautiful series of inorganic +forms which nature can possibly +produce."—(Vol. i. p. 363.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>It is the object of Mr Ruskin, in his +first volume of <cite>Modern Painters</cite>, to +show what the artist has to do in his +imitation of nature. We have no +material controversy to raise with him +on this subject; but we cannot help +expressing our surprise that he should +have thought it necessary to combat, +with so much energy, so very primitive +a notion that the imitation of the +artist partakes of the nature of a <em>deception</em>, +and that the highest excellence +is obtained when the representation +of any object is taken for the +object itself. We thought this matter +had been long ago settled. In a page +or two of Quatremère de Quincy's +treatise on <cite>Imitation in the Fine Arts</cite>, +the reader, if he has still to seek on this +subject, will find it very briefly and +lucidly treated. The aim of the artist +is not to produce such a representation +as shall be taken, even for a moment, +for a real object. His aim is, by +imitating certain qualities or attributes +of the object, to reproduce for +us those pleasing or elevating impressions +which it is the nature of such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[332]</a></span> +qualities or attributes to excite. We +have stated very briefly the accepted +doctrine on this subject—so generally +accepted and understood that Mr +Ruskin was under no necessity to +avoid the use of the word imitation, +as he appears to have done, under the +apprehension that it was incurably +infected with this notion of an attempted +deception. Hardly any reader +of his book, even without a word of +explanation, would have attached any +other meaning to it than what he himself +expresses by representation of +certain "truths" of nature.</p> + +<p>With respect to the imitations of +the landscape-painter, the notion of a +deception cannot occur. His trees +and rivers cannot be mistaken, for an +instant, for real trees and rivers, and +certainly not while they stand there +in the gilt frame, and the gilt frame +itself against the papered wall. His +only chance of deception is to get rid +of the frame, convert his picture into +a transparency, and place it in the +space which a window should occupy. +In almost all cases, deception is obtained, +not by painting well, but by +those artifices which disguise that +what we see <em>is</em> a painting. At the +same time, we are not satisfied with an +expression which several writers, we +remark, have lately used, and which +Mr Ruskin very explicitly adopts. The +imitations of the landscape-painter are +not a "language" which he uses; they +are not mere "signs," analogous to +those which the poet or the orator +employs. There is no analogy between +them. Let us analyse our impressions +as we stand before the artist's landscape, +not thinking of the artist, or +his dexterity, but simply absorbed in +the pleasure which he procures us—we +do not find ourselves reverting, in +imagination, to <em>other</em> trees or other +rivers than those he has depicted. +We certainly do not believe them to +be real trees, but neither are they +mere signs, or a language to recall such +objects; but <em>what there is of tree there</em> +we enjoy. There is the coolness and +the quiet of the shaded avenue, and +we feel them; there is the sunlight on +that bank, and we feel its cheerfulness; +we feel the serenity of his river. +He has brought the spirit of the trees +around us; the imagination rests in +the picture. In other departments of +art the effect is the same. If we +stand before a head of Rembrandt or +Vandyke, we do not think that it +lives; but neither do we think of some +other head, of which that is the type. +But there is majesty, there is thought, +there is calm repose, there is some +phase of humanity expressed before +us, and we are occupied with so much +of human life, or human character, as +is then and there given us.</p> + +<p>Imitate as many qualities of the +real object as you please, but always +the highest, never sacrificing a truth +of the mind, or the heart, for one only +of the sense. Truth, as Mr Ruskin +most justly says—truth always. When +it is said that truth should not be +always expressed, the maxim, if properly +understood, resolves into this—that +the higher truth is not to be +sacrificed to the lower. In a landscape, +the gradation of light and shade +is a more important truth than the +exact brilliancy (supposing it to be +attainable,) of any individual object. +The painter must calculate what +means he has at his disposal for representing +this gradation of light, and +he must pitch his tone accordingly. +Say he pitches it far below reality, he +is still in search of truth—of contrast +and degree.</p> + +<p>Sometimes it may happen that, by +rendering one detail faithfully, an +artist may give a false impression, +simply because he cannot render other +details or facts by which it is accompanied +in nature. Here, too, he would +only sacrifice truth <em>in the cause of +truth</em>. The admirers of Constable +will perhaps dispute the aptness of our +illustration. Nevertheless his works +appear to us to afford a curious example +of a scrupulous accuracy or +detail producing a false impression. +Constable, looking at foliage under +the sunlight, and noting that the leaf, +especially after a shower, will reflect +so much light that the tree will seem +more white than green, determined to +paint all the white he saw. Constable +could paint white leaves. So far so +well. But then these leaves in nature +are almost always in motion: they +are white at one moment and green +the next. We never have the impression +of a white leaf; for it is seen +playing with the light—its mirror, for +one instant, and glancing from it the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[333]</a></span> +next. Constable could not paint +motion. He could not imitate this +shower of light in the living tree. He +must leave his white paint where he +has once put it. Other artists before +him had seen the same light, but, +knowing that they could not bring +the breeze into their canvass, they +wisely concluded that less white paint +than Constable uses would produce a +more truthful impression.</p> + +<p>But we must no longer be detained +from the more immediate task before +us. We must now follow Mr Ruskin +to his second volume of <cite>Modern +Painters</cite>, where he explains his theory +of the beautiful; and although this +will not be to readers in general the +most attractive portion of his writings, +and we ourselves have to practise +some sort of self-denial in fixing +our attention upon it, yet manifestly +it is here that we must look for the +basis or fundamental principles of all +his criticisms in art. The order in +which his works have been published +was apparently deranged by a generous +zeal, which could brook no delay, +to defend Mr Turner from the censures +of the undiscerning public. If the +natural or systematic order had been +preserved, the materials of this second +volume would have formed the first +preliminary treatise, determining +those broad principles of taste, or +that philosophical theory of the beautiful, +on which the whole of the subsequent +works were to be modelled. +Perhaps this broken and reversed order +of publication has not been unfortunate +for the success of the author—perhaps +it was dimly foreseen to be +not altogether impolitic; for the popular +ear was gained by the bold and +enthusiastic defence of a great painter; +and the ear of the public, once caught, +may be detained by matter which, in +the first instance, would have appealed +to it in vain. Whether the effect of +chance or design, we may certainly +congratulate Mr Ruskin on the fortunate +succession, and the fortunate +rapidity with which his publications +have struck on the public ear. The +popular feeling, won by the zeal and +intrepidity of the first volume of +<cite>Modern Painters</cite>, was no doubt a little +tried by the graver discussions of the +second. It was soon, however, to be +again caught, and pleased by a bold +and agreeable miscellany under the +magical name of "The Seven Lamps;" +and these Seven Lamps could hardly +fail to throw some portion of their +pleasant and bewildering light over a +certain rudimentary treatise upon +building, which was to appear under +the title of "The Stones of Venice."</p> + +<p>We cannot, however, congratulate +Mr Ruskin on the manner in which he +has acquitted himself in this arena of +philosophical inquiry, nor on the sort +of theory of the Beautiful which he +has contrived to construct. The least +metaphysical of our readers is aware +that there is a controversy of long +standing upon this subject, between +two different schools of philosophy. +With the one the beautiful is described +as a great "idea" of the reason, or an +intellectual intuition, or a simple intuitive +perception; different expressions +are made use of, but all imply +that it is a great primary feeling, or +sentiment, or idea of the human mind, +and as incapable of further analysis +as the idea of space, or the simplest +of our sensations. The rival school +of theorists maintain, on the contrary, +that no sentiment yields more readily +to analysis; and that the beautiful, except +in those rare cases where the +whole charm lies in one sensation, as in +that of colour, is a complex sentiment. +They describe it as a pleasure resulting +from the presence of the visible +object, but of which the visible object +is only in part the immediate cause. +Of a great portion of the pleasure it +is merely the vehicle; and they say +that blended reminiscences, gathered +from every sense, and every human +affection, from the softness of touch +of an infant's finger to the highest +contemplations of a devotional spirit, +have contributed, in their turn, to this +delightful sentiment.</p> + +<p>Mr Ruskin was not bound to belong +to either of these schools of philosophy; +he was at liberty to construct +an eclectic system of his own;—and +he has done so. We shall take the +precaution, in so delicate a matter, of +quoting Mr Ruskin's own words for +the exposition of his own theory. +Meanwhile, as some clue to the reader, +we may venture to say that he agrees +with the first of these schools in +adopting a primary intuitive sentiment +of the beautiful; but then this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[334]</a></span> +primary intuition is only of a sensational +or "animal" nature—a subordinate +species of the beautiful, which +is chiefly valuable as the necessary +condition of the higher and truly +beautiful; and this last he agrees +with the opposite school in regarding +as a derived sentiment—derived by +contemplating the objects of external +nature as types of the Divine attributes. +This is a brief summary of the +theory; for a fuller exposition we +shall have recourse to his own words.</p> + +<p>The term <em>Æsthetic</em>, which has been +applied to this branch of philosophy, +Mr Ruskin discards; he offers as a +substitute <em>Theoria</em>, or <em>The Theoretic +Faculty</em>, the meaning of which he +thus explains:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"I proceed, therefore, first to examine +the nature of what I have called the +theoretic faculty, and to justify my substitution +of the term 'Theoretic' for +'Æsthetic,' which is the one commonly +employed with reference to it.</p> + +<p>"Now the term 'æsthesis' properly +signifies mere sensual perception of the +outward qualities and necessary effects +of bodies; in which sense only, if we +would arrive at any accurate conclusions +on this difficult subject, it should always +be used. But I wholly deny that the +impressions of beauty <em>are in any way sensual</em>;—they +are neither sensual nor intellectual, +<em>but moral</em>; and for the faculty +receiving them, whose difference from +mere perception I shall immediately endeavour +to explain, no terms can be more +accurate or convenient than that employed +by the Greeks, 'Theoretic,' which +I pray permission, therefore, always to +use, and to call the operation of the +faculty itself, Theoria."—(P. 11.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>We are introduced to a new faculty +of the human mind; let us see what +new or especial sphere of operation is +assigned to it. After some remarks +on the superiority of the mere sensual +pleasures of the eye and the ear, but +particularly of the eye, to those derived +from other organs of sense, he +continues:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Herein, then, we find very sufficient +ground for the higher estimation of these +delights: first, in their being eternal and +inexhaustible; and, secondly, in their being +evidently no meaner instrument of life, +but an object of life. Now, in whatever +is an object of life, in whatever may be +infinitely and for itself desired, we may +be sure there is something of divine: for +God will not make anything an object of +life to his creatures which does not point +to, or partake of himself,"—[a bold assertion.] +"And so, though we were to regard +the pleasures of sight merely as the +highest of sensual pleasures, and though +they were of rare occurrence—and, when +occurring, isolated and imperfect—there +would still be supernatural character +about them, owing to their self-sufficiency. +But when, instead of being scattered, +interrupted, or chance-distributed, +they are gathered together and so arranged +to enhance each other, as by +chance they could not be, there is caused +by them, not only a feeling of strong +affection towards the object in which +they exist, but a perception of purpose +and adaptation of it to our desires; a +perception, therefore, of the immediate +operation of the Intelligence which so +formed us and so feeds us.</p> + +<p>"Out of what perception arise Joy, +Admiration, and Gratitude?</p> + +<p>"Now, the mere animal consciousness +of the pleasantness I call Æsthesis; but +the exulting, reverent, and grateful perception +of it I call Theoria. For this, +and this only, is the full comprehension +and contemplation of the beautiful as a +gift of God; a gift not necessary to our +being, but adding to and elevating it, +and twofold—first, of the desire; and, +secondly, of the thing desired."</p></blockquote> + +<p>We find, then, that in the production +of the full sentiment of the beautiful +<em>two</em> faculties are employed, or +two distinct operations denoted. First, +there is the "animal pleasantness +which we call Æsthesis,"—which +sometimes appears confounded with +the mere pleasures of sense, but which +the whole current of his speculations +obliges us to conclude is some separate +intuition of a sensational character; +and, secondly, there is "the exulting, +reverent, and grateful perception of +it, which we call Theoria," which +alone is the truly beautiful, and which +it is the function of the Theoretic Faculty +to reveal to us. But this new +Theoretic Faculty—what can it be but +the old faculty of Human Reason, +exercised upon the great subject of +Divine beneficence?</p> + +<p>Mr Ruskin, as we shall see, discovers +that external objects are beautiful +because they are types of Divine +attributes; but he admits, and is solicitous +to impress upon our minds, +that the "meaning" of these types is +"learnt." When, in a subsequent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[335]</a></span> +part of his work, he feels himself +pressed by the objection that many +celebrated artists, who have shown a +vivid appreciation and a great passion +for the beautiful, have manifested +no peculiar piety, have been rather +deficient in spiritual-mindedness, he +gives them over to that instinctive +sense he has called Æsthesis, and +says—"It will be remembered that I +have, throughout the examination of +typical beauty, asserted our instinctive +sense of it; the moral <em>meaning</em> of it +being only discoverable by reflection," +(p. 127.) Now, there is no other conceivable +manner in which the meaning +of the type can be learnt than by +the usual exercise of the human reason, +detecting traces of the Divine +power, and wisdom, and benevolence, +in the external world, and then associating +with the various objects of the +external world the ideas we have thus +acquired of the Divine wisdom and +goodness. The rapid and habitual +regard of certain facts or appearances +in the visible world, as types of the +attributes of God, <em>can</em> be nothing else +but one great instance (or class of +instances) of that law of association +of ideas on which the second school +of philosophy we have alluded to so +largely insist. And thus, whether +Mr Ruskin chooses to acquiesce in it +or not, his "Theoria" resolves itself +into a portion, or fragment, of that +theory of association of ideas, to which +he declares, and perhaps believes, +himself to be violently opposed.</p> + +<p>In a very curious manner, therefore, +has Mr Ruskin selected his materials +from the two rival schools of +metaphysics. His <em>Æsthesis</em> is an intuitive +perception, but of a mere sensual +or animal nature—sometimes almost +confounded with the mere pleasure +of sense, at other times advanced +into considerable importance, as where +he has to explain the fact that men +of very little piety have a very acute +perception of beauty. His <em>Theoria</em> is, +and can be, nothing more than the +results of human reason in its highest +and noblest exercise, rapidly brought +before the mind by a habitual association +of ideas. For the lowest element +of the beautiful he runs to the +school of intuitions;—they will not +thank him for the compliment;—for +the higher to that analytic school, +and that theory of association of ideas, +to which throughout he is ostensibly +opposed.</p> + +<p>This <em>Theoria</em> divides itself into two +parts. We shall quote Mr Ruskin's +own words and take care to quote +from them passages where he seems +most solicitous to be accurate and +explanatory:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The first thing, then, we have to do," +he says, "is accurately to discriminate +and define those appearances from which +we are about to reason as belonging to +beauty, properly so called, and to clear +the ground of all the confused ideas and +erroneous theories with which the misapprehension +or metaphorical use of the +term has encumbered it.</p> + +<p>"By the term Beauty, then, properly +are signified two things: first, that external +quality of bodies, already so often +spoken of, and which, whether it occur +in a stone, flower, beast, or in man, is +absolutely identical—which, as I have +already asserted, may be shown to be in +some sort typical of the Divine attributes, +and which, therefore, I shall, for distinction's +sake, call Typical Beauty; and, +secondarily, the appearance of felicitous +fulfilment of functions in living things, +more especially of the joyful and right +exertion of perfect life in man—and this +kind of beauty I shall call Vital Beauty."—(P. +26.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>The Vital Beauty, as well as the +Typical, partakes essentially, as far +as we can understand our author, of +a religious character. On turning to +that part of the volume where it is +treated of at length, we find a universal +sympathy and spirit of kindliness +very properly insisted on, as one great +element of the sentiment of beauty; but +we are not permitted to dwell upon this +element, or rest upon it a moment, +without some reference to our relation +to God. Even the animals themselves +seem to be turned into types for us +of our moral feelings or duties. We +are expressly told that we cannot +have this sympathy with life and +enjoyment in other creatures, unless +it takes the form of, or comes accompanied +with, a sentiment of piety. In +all cases where the beautiful is anything +higher than a certain "animal +pleasantness," we are to understand +that it has a religious character. +"In all cases," he says, summing up +the functions of the Theoretic Faculty, +"<em>it is something Divine</em>; either the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[336]</a></span> +approving voice of God, the glorious +symbol of Him, the evidence of His +kind presence, or the obedience to His +will by Him induced and supported,"—(p. +126.) Now it is a delicate task, +when a man errs by the exaggeration +of a great truth or a noble sentiment, +to combat his error; and yet as much +mischief may ultimately arise from +an error of this description as from +any other. The thoughts and feelings +which Mr Ruskin has described, form +the noblest part of our sentiment of +the beautiful, as they form the noblest +phase of the human reason. But they +are not the whole of it. The visible +object, to adopt his phraseology, does +become a type to the contemplative +and pious mind of the attribute of +God, and is thus exalted to our apprehension. +But it is not beautiful +solely or originally on this account. +To assert this, is simply to falsify our +human nature.</p> + +<p>Before, however, we enter into these +<em>types</em>, or this typical beauty, it will be +well to notice how Mr Ruskin deals +with previous and opposing theories. +It will be well also to remind our +readers of the outline of that theory +of association of ideas which is here +presented to us in so very confused a +manner. We shall then be better +able to understand the very curious +position our author has taken up in +this domain of speculative philosophy.</p> + +<p>Mr Ruskin gives us the following +summary of the "errors" which he +thinks it necessary in the first place +to clear from his path:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Those erring or inconsistent positions +which I would at once dismiss are, the +first, that the beautiful is the true; the +second, that the beautiful is the useful; +the third, that it is dependent on custom; +and the fourth, that it is dependent on +the association of ideas."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The first of these theories, that the +beautiful is the true, we leave entirely +to the tender mercies of Mr Ruskin; +we cannot gather from his refutation +to what class of theorists he is alluding. +The remaining three are, as we +understand the matter, substantially +one and the same theory. We believe +that no one, in these days, would define +beauty as solely resulting either from +the apprehension of Utility, (that is, +the adjustment of parts to a whole, or +the application of the object to an +ulterior purpose,) or to Familiarity +and the affection which custom engenders; +but they would regard both +Utility and Familiarity as amongst the +sources of those agreeable ideas or +impressions, which, by the great law +of association, became intimately connected +with the visible object. We +must listen, however, to Mr Ruskin's +refutation of them:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"That the beautiful is the <em>useful</em> is an +assertion evidently based on that limited +and false sense of the latter term which I +have already deprecated. As it is the +most degrading and dangerous supposition +which can be advanced on the subject, +so, fortunately, it is the most palpably +absurd. It is to confound admiration +with hunger, love with lust, and life +with sensation; it is to assert that the +human creature has no ideas and no feelings, +except those ultimately referable to +its brutal appetites. It has not a single +fact, nor appearance of fact, to support it, +and needs no combating—at least until its +advocates have obtained the consent of +the majority of mankind that the most +beautiful productions of nature are seeds +and roots; and of art, spades and millstones.</p> + +<p>"Somewhat more rational grounds +appear for the assertion that the sense of +the beautiful arises from <em>familiarity</em> with +the object, though even this could not +long be maintained by a thinking person. +For all that can be alleged in defence of +such a supposition is, that familiarity +deprives some objects which at first appeared +ugly of much of their repulsiveness; +whence it is as rational to conclude +that familiarity is the cause of beauty, as +it would be to argue that, because it is +possible to acquire a taste for olives, +therefore custom is the cause of lusciousness +in grapes....</p> + +<p>"I pass to the last and most weighty +theory, that the agreeableness in objects +which we call beauty is the result of the +association with them of agreeable or +interesting ideas.</p> + +<p>"Frequent has been the support and +wide the acceptance of this supposition, +and yet I suppose that no two consecutive +sentences were ever written in +defence of it, without involving either a +contradiction or a confusion of terms. +Thus Alison, 'There are scenes undoubtedly +more beautiful than Runnymede, +yet, to those who recollect the great +event that passed there, there is no scene +perhaps which so strongly seizes on the +imagination,'—where we are wonder-struck +at the bold obtuseness which +would prove the power of imagination by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[337]</a></span> +its overcoming that very other power (of +inherent beauty) whose existence the +arguer desires; for the only logical conclusion +which can possibly be drawn +from the above sentence is, that imagination +is <em>not</em> the source of beauty—for, +although no scene seizes so strongly on +the imagination, yet there are scenes +'more beautiful than Runnymede.' And +though instances of self-contradiction as +laconic and complete as this are rare, yet, +if the arguments on the subject be fairly +sifted from the mass of confused language +with which they are always encumbered, +they will be found invariably to fall into +one of these two forms: either association +gives pleasure, and beauty gives +pleasure, therefore association is beauty; +or the power of association is stronger +than the power of beauty, therefore the +power of association <em>is</em> the power of +beauty."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Now this last sentence is sheer +nonsense, and only proves that the +author had never given himself the +trouble to understand the theory he +so flippantly discards. No one ever +said that "association gives pleasure;" +but very many, and Mr Ruskin +amongst the rest, have said that +associated thought adds its pleasure +to an object pleasing in itself, and +thus increases the complex sentiment +of beauty. That it is a complex +sentiment in all its higher forms, Mr +Ruskin himself will tell us. As to +the manner in which he deals with +Alison, it is in the worst possible +spirit of controversy. Alison was +an elegant, but not a very precise +writer; it was the easiest thing in +the world to select an unfortunate +illustration, and to convict <em>that</em> of +absurdity. Yet he might with equal +ease have selected many other illustrations +from Alison, which would +have done justice to the theory he +expounds. A hundred such will +immediately occur to the reader. If, +instead of a historical recollection of +this kind, which could hardly make +the stream itself of Runnymede look +more beautiful, Alison had confined +himself to those impressions which +the generality of mankind receive +from river scenery, he would have +had no difficulty in showing (as we +believe he has elsewhere done) how, +in this case, ideas gathered from +different sources flow into one harmonious +and apparently simple feeling. +That sentiment of beauty which +arises as we look upon a river will be +acknowledged by most persons to be +composed of many associated thoughts, +combining with the object before them. +Its form and colour, its bright surface +and its green banks, are all that the +eye immediately gives us; but with +these are combined the remembered +coolness of the fluent stream, and of +the breeze above it, and of the +pleasant shade of its banks; and +beside all this—as there are few persons +who have not escaped with +delight from town or village, to +wander by the quiet banks of some +neighbouring stream, so there are +few persons who do not associate +with river scenery ideas of peace and +serenity. Now many of these +thoughts or facts are such as the eye +does not take cognisance of, yet they +present themselves as instantaneously +as the visible form, and so blended as +to seem, for the moment, to belong to it.</p> + +<p>Why not have selected some such +illustration as this, instead of the unfortunate +Runnymede, from a work +where so many abound as apt as they +are elegantly expressed? As to Mr +Ruskin's utilitarian philosopher, it is a +fabulous creature—no such being exists. +Nor need we detain ourselves +with the quite departmental subject of +Familiarity. But let us endeavour—without +desiring to pledge ourselves +or our readers to its final adoption—to +relieve the theory of association of +ideas from the obscurity our author +has thrown around it. Our readers +will not find that this is altogether a +wasted labour.</p> + +<p>With Mr Ruskin we are of opinion +that, in a discussion of this kind, the +term Beauty ought to be limited to +the impression derived, mediately or +immediately, from the visible object. +It would be useless affectation to +attempt to restrict the use of the word, +in general, to this application. We +can have no objection to the term +Beautiful being applied to a piece of +music, or to an eloquent composition, +prose or verse, or even to our moral +feelings and heroic actions; the word +has received this general application, +and there is, at basis, a great deal in +common between all these and the +sentiment of beauty attendant on the +visible object. For music, or sweet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[338]</a></span> +sounds, and poetry, and our moral +feelings, have much to do (through the +law of association) with our sentiment +of the Beautiful. It is quite +enough if, speaking of the subject of +our analysis, we limit it to those impressions, +however originated, which +attend upon the visible object.</p> + +<p>One preliminary word on this association +of ideas. It is from its very +nature, and the nature of human life, +of all degrees of intimacy—from the +casual suggestion, or the case where +the two ideas are at all times felt to +be distinct, to those close combinations +where the two ideas have apparently +coalesced into one, or require +an attentive analysis to separate +them. You see a mass of iron; you +may be said <em>to see its weight</em>, the impression +of its weight is so intimately +combined with its form. The <em>light</em> +of the sun, and the <em>heat</em> of the sun +are learnt from different senses, yet +we never see the one without thinking +of the other, and the reflection of the +sunbeam seen upon a bank immediately +suggests the idea of <em>warmth</em>. +But it is not necessary that the combination +should be always so perfect +as in this instance, in order to produce +the effect we speak of under the +name of Association of Ideas. It is +hardly possible for us to abstract the +<em>glow</em> of the sunbeam from its light; +but the fertility which follows upon +the presence of the sun, though a +suggestion which habitually occurs to +reflective minds, is an association of a +far less intimate nature. It is sufficiently +intimate, however, to blend +with that feeling of admiration we +have when we speak of the beauty of +the sun. There is the golden harvest +in its summer beams. Again, the +contemplative spirit in all ages has +formed an association between the +sun and the Deity, whether as the +fittest symbol of God, or as being His +greatest gift to man. Here we have +an association still more refined, and +of a somewhat less frequent character, +but one which will be found to enter, +in a very subtle manner, into that impression +we receive from the great +luminary.</p> + +<p>And thus it is that, in different +minds, the same materials of thought +may be combined in a closer or laxer +relationship. This should be borne in +mind by the candid inquirer. That +in many instances ideas from different +sources do coalesce, in the manner +we have been describing, he cannot +for an instant doubt. He seems <em>to +see</em> the coolness of that river; he seems +<em>to see</em> the warmth on that sunny bank. +In many instances, however, he must +make allowance for the different habitudes +of life. The same illustration +will not always have the same force +to all men. Those who have cultivated +their minds by different pursuits, +or lived amongst scenery of a different +character, cannot have formed +exactly the same moral association +with external nature.</p> + +<p>These preliminaries being adjusted, +what, we ask, is that first original +charm of the <em>visible object</em> which serves +as the foundation for this wonderful +superstructure of the Beautiful, to +which almost every department of +feeling and of thought will be found +to bring its contribution? What is +it so pleasurable that the eye at once +receives from the external world, that +round <em>it</em> should have gathered all +these tributary pleasures? Light—colour—form; +but, in reference to our +discussion, pre-eminently the exquisite +pleasure derived from the sense +of light, pure or coloured. Colour, +from infancy to old age, is one original, +universal, perpetual source of +delight, the first and constant element +of the Beautiful.</p> + +<p>We are far from thinking that the +eye does not at once take cognisance +of form as well as colour. Some +ingenious analysts have supposed that +the sensation of colour is, in its origin, +a mere mental affection, having no +reference to space or external objects, +and that it obtains this reference +through the contemporaneous acquisition +of the sense of touch. But there +can be no more reason for supposing +that the sense of touch informs us immediately +of an external world than +that the sense of colour does. If we do +not allow to all the senses an intuitive +reference to the external world, we +shall get it from none of them. Dr +Brown, who paid particular attention +to this subject, and who was desirous +to limit the first intimation of the +sense of sight to an abstract sensation +of unlocalised colour, failed entirely +in his attempt to obtain from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[339]</a></span> +any other source the idea of space or +<em>outness</em>; Kant would have given him +certain subjective <em>forms of the sensitive +faculty</em>, space and time. These he +did not like: he saw that, if he denied +to the eye an immediate perception of +the external world, he must also deny +it to the touch; he therefore prayed +in aid certain muscular sensations +from which the idea of <em>resistance</em> would +be obtained. But it seems to us evident +that not till <em>after</em> we have +acquired a knowledge of the external +world can we connect <em>volition</em> with +muscular movement, and that, until +that connection is made, the muscular +sensations stand in the same predicament +as other sensations, and could +give him no aid in solving his problem. +We cannot go further into this +matter at present.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> The mere flash +of light which follows the touch upon +the optic nerve represents itself as +something <em>without</em>; nor was colour, +we imagine, ever felt, but under some +<em>form</em> more or less distinct; although +in the human being the eye seems to +depend on the touch far more than in +other animals, for its further instruction.</p> + +<p>But although the eye is cognisant +of form as well as colour, it is in the +sensation of colour that we must seek +the primitive pleasure derived from +this organ. And probably the first +reason why form pleases is this, that +the boundaries of form are also the +lines of contrast of colour. It is a +general law of all sensation that, if it +be continued, our susceptibility to it +declines. It was necessary that the eye +should be always open. Its susceptibility +is sustained by the perpetual +contrast of colours. Whether the +contrast is sudden, or whether one +hue shades gradually into another, +we see here an original and primary +source of pleasure. A constant +variety, in some way produced, is +essential to the maintenance of the +pleasure derived from colour.</p> + +<p>It is not incumbent on us to inquire +how far the beauty of form may be +traceable to the sensation of touch;—a +very small portion of it we suspect. +In the human countenance, and in +sculpture, the beauty of form is almost +resolvable into expression; though +possibly the soft and rounded outline +may in some measure be associated +with the sense of smoothness to the +touch. All that we are concerned to +show is, that there is here in colour, +diffused as it is over the whole world, +and perpetually varied, a <em>beauty</em> at +once showered upon the visible object. +We hear it said, if you resolve all into +association, where will you begin? +You have but a circle of feelings. If +moral sentiment, for instance, be not +itself the beautiful, why should it become +so by association. There must +be something else that is <em>the beautiful</em>, +by association with which it passes +for such. We answer, that we do not +resolve <em>all</em> into association; that we +have in this one gift of colour, shed +so bountifully over the whole world, +an original beauty, a delight which +makes the external object pleasant +and beloved; for how can we fail, in +some sort, to love what produces so +much pleasure?</p> + +<p>We are at a loss to understand how +any one can speak with disparagement +of colour as a source of the +beautiful. The sculptor may, perhaps, +by his peculiar education, grow comparatively +indifferent to it: we know +not how this may be; but let any +man, of the most refined taste imaginable, +think what he owes to this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[340]</a></span> +source, when he walks out at evening, +and sees the sun set amongst the +hills. The same concave sky, the same +scene, so far as its form is concerned, +was there a few hours before, and saddened +him with its gloom; one leaden +hue prevailed over all; and now in a +clear sky the sun is setting, and the +hills are purple, and the clouds are +radiant with every colour that can be +extracted from the sunbeam. He +can hardly believe that it is the same +scene, or he the same man. Here +the grown-up man and the child stand +always on the same level. As to the +infant, note how its eye feeds upon a +brilliant colour, or the living flame. +If it had wings, it would assuredly do +as the moth does. And take the +most untutored rustic, let him be old, +and dull, and stupid, yet, as long as +the eye has vitality in it, will he look +up with long untiring gaze at this +blue vault of the sky, traversed by its +glittering clouds, and pierced by the +tall green trees around him.</p> + +<p>Is it any marvel now that round +the <em>visible object</em> should associate +tributary feelings of pleasure? How +many pleasing and tender sentiments +gather round the rose! Yet the rose +is beautiful in itself. It was beautiful +to the child by its colour, its texture, +its softly-shaded leaf, and the contrast +between the flower and the foliage. +Love, and poetry, and the tender regrets +of advanced life, have contributed +a second dower of beauty. +The rose is more to the youth and to +the old man than it was to the child; +but still to the last they both feel the +pleasure of the child.</p> + +<p>The more commonplace the illustration, +the more suited it is to our +purpose. If any one will reflect on +the many ideas that cluster round this +beautiful flower, he will not fail to +see how numerous and subtle may be +the association formed with the visible +object. Even an idea painful in +itself may, by way of contrast, serve +to heighten the pleasure of others with +which it is associated. Here the +thought of decay and fragility, like a +discord amongst harmonies, increases +our sentiment of tenderness. We +express, we believe, the prevailing +taste when we say that there is nothing, +in the shape of art, so disagreeable +and repulsive as artificial +flowers. The waxen flower may be +an admirable imitation, but it is a +detestable thing. This partly results +from the nature of the imitation; a +vulgar deception is often practised +upon us: what is not a flower is intended +to pass for one. But it is +owing still more, we think, to the +contradiction that is immediately +afterwards felt between this preserved +and imperishable waxen flower, and +the transitory and perishable rose. +It is the nature of the rose to bud, and +blossom, and decay; it gives its +beauty to the breeze and to the +shower; it is mortal; it is <em>ours</em>; it +bears our hopes, our loves, our regrets. +This waxen substitute, that +cannot change or decay, is a contradiction +and a disgust.</p> + +<p>Amongst objects of man's contrivance, +the sail seen upon the calm +waters of a lake or a river is universally +felt to be beautiful. The form +is graceful, and the movement gentle, +and its colour contrasts well either +with the shore or the water. But +perhaps the chief element of our pleasure +is all association with human life, +with peaceful enjoyment—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"This quiet sail is as a noiseless wing,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">To waft me from distraction."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Or take one of the noblest objects +in nature—the mountain. There is +no object except the sea and the sky +that reflects to the sight colours so +beautiful, and in such masses. But +colour, and form, and magnitude, +constitute but a part of the beauty or +the sublimity of the mountain. Not +only do the clouds encircle or rest +upon it, but men have laid on it their +grandest thoughts: we have associated +with it our moral fortitude, and +all we understand of greatness or +elevation of mind; our phraseology +seems half reflected from the mountain. +Still more, we have made it +holy ground. Has not God himself descended +on the mountain? Are not +the hills, once and for ever, "the +unwalled temples of our earth?" +And still there is another circumstance +attendant upon mountain scenery, +which adds a solemnity of its own, +and is a condition of the enjoyment of +other sources of the sublime—solitude. +It seems to us that the feeling of solitude +almost always associates itself +with mountain scenery. Mrs Somerville,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[341]</a></span> +in the description which she +gives or quotes, in her <cite>Physical Geography</cite>, +of the Himalayas, says—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The loftiest peaks being bare of snow +gives great variety of colour and beauty +to the scenery, which in these passes is +at all times magnificent. During the +day, the stupendous size of the mountains, +their interminable extent, the variety and +the sharpness of their forms, and, above +all, the tender clearness of their distant +outline melting into the pale blue sky, +contrasted with the deep azure above, is +described as a scene of wild and wonderful +beauty. At midnight, when myriads +of stars sparkle in the black sky, and +the pure blue of the mountains looks +deeper still below the pale white gleam +of the earth and snow-light, the effect is +of unparalleled sublimity, and no language +can describe the splendour of the +sunbeams at daybreak, streaming between +the high peaks, and throwing their +gigantic shadows on the mountains below. +There, far above the habitation of +man, no living thing exists, no sound is +heard; the very echo of the traveller's +footsteps startles him in the awful <em>solitude +and silence</em> that reigns in those +august dwellings of everlasting snow."</p></blockquote> + +<p>No one can fail to recognise the +effect of the last circumstance mentioned. +Let those mountains be the +scene of a gathering of any human +multitude, and they would be more +desecrated than if their peaks had +been levelled to the ground. We +have also quoted this description to +show how large a share <em>colour</em> takes +in beautifying such a scene. Colour, +either in large fields of it, or in sharp +contrasts, or in gradual shading—the +play of light, in short, upon this world—is +the first element of beauty.</p> + +<p>Here would be the place, were we +writing a formal treatise upon this +subject, after showing that there is +in the sense of sight itself a sufficient +elementary beauty, whereto other +pleasurable reminiscences may attach +themselves, to point out some of these +tributaries. Each sense—the touch, +the ear, the smell, the taste—blend +their several remembered pleasures +with the object of vision. Even taste, +we say, although Mr Ruskin will +scorn the gross alliance. And we +would allude to the fact to show the +extreme subtilty of these mental processes. +The fruit which you think of +eating has lost its beauty from that +moment—it assumes to you a quite +different relation; but the reminiscence +that there is sweetness in the +peach or the grape, whilst it remains +quite subordinate to the pleasure derived +from the sense of sight, mingles +with and increases that pleasure. +Whilst the cluster of ripe grapes is +looked at only for its beauty, the idea +that they are pleasant to the taste as +well steals in unobserved, and adds +to the complex sentiment. If this +idea grow distinct and prominent, +the beauty of the grape is gone—you +eat it. Here, too, would be the place +to take notice of such sources of pleasure +as are derived from adaptation +of parts, or the adaptation of the +whole to ulterior purposes; but here +especially should we insist on human +affections, human loves, human sympathies. +Here, in the heart of man, +his hopes, his regrets, his affections, +do we find the great source of the +beautiful—tributaries which take their +name from the stream they join, +but which often form the main current. +On that sympathy with which +nature has so wonderfully endowed +us, which makes the pain and pleasure +of all other living things our own +pain and pleasure, which binds us +not only to our fellow-men, but to +every moving creature on the face of +the earth, we should have much to +say. How much, for instance, does +its <em>life</em> add to the beauty of the swan!—how +much more its calm and placid +life! Here, and on what would follow +on the still more exalted mood of +pious contemplation—when all nature +seems as a hymn or song of praise to +the Creator—we should be happy to +borrow aid from Mr Ruskin; his +essay supplying admirable materials +for certain <em>chapters</em> in a treatise on +the beautiful which should embrace +the whole subject.</p> + +<p>No such treatise, however, is it our +object to compose. We have said +enough to show the true nature of +that theory of association, as a branch +of which alone is it possible to take +any intelligible view of Mr Ruskin's +<em>Theoria</em>, or "Theoretic Faculty." +His flagrant error is, that he will represent +a part for the whole, and will +distort and confuse everything for the +sake of this representation. Viewed +in their proper limitation, his remarks<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[342]</a></span> +are often such as every wise and good +man will approve of. Here and there +too, there are shrewd intimations +which the psychological student may +profit by. He has pointed out several +instances where the associations +insisted upon by writers of the school +of Alison have nothing whatever to +do with the sentiment of beauty; and +neither harmonise with, nor exalt it. +Not all that may, in any way, <em>interest</em> +us in an object, adds to its beauty. +"Thus," as Mr Ruskin we think very +justly says, "where we are told +that the leaves of a plant are occupied +in decomposing carbonic acid, +and preparing oxygen for us, we +begin to look upon it with some such +indifference as upon a gasometer. It +has become a machine; some of our +sense of its happiness is gone; its +emanation of inherent life is no longer +pure." The knowledge of the anatomical +structure of the limb is very +interesting, but it adds nothing to the +beauty of its outline. Scientific associations, +however, of this kind, will +have a different æsthetic effect, according +to the degree or the enthusiasm +with which the science has +been studied.</p> + +<p>It is not our business to advocate +this theory of association of ideas, but +briefly to expound it. But we may +remark that those who adopt (as Mr +Ruskin has done in one branch of his +subject—his <em>Æsthesis</em>) the rival theory +of an intuitive perception of the +beautiful, must find a difficulty where +to <em>insert</em> this intuitive perception. +The beauty of any one object is generally +composed of several qualities +and accessories—to which of these +are we to connect this intuition? +And if to the whole assemblage of +them, then, as each of these qualities +has been shown by its own virtue to +administer to the general effect, we +shall be explaining again by this new +perception what has been already +explained. Select any notorious +instance of the beautiful—say the +swan. How many qualities and accessories +immediately occur to us as +intimately blended in our minds with +the form and white plumage of the +bird! What were its arched neck and +mantling wings if it were not <em>living</em>? +And how the calm and inoffensive, +and somewhat majestic life it leads, +carries away our sympathies! Added +to which, the snow-white form of the +swan is imaged in clear waters, and +is relieved by green foliage; and if +the bird makes the river more beautiful, +the river, in return, reflects its +serenity and peacefulness upon the +bird. Now all this we seem to see +as we look upon the swan. To which +of these facts separately will you +attach this new intuition? And if +you wait till all are assembled, the +bird is already beautiful.</p> + +<p>We are all in the habit of <em>reasoning</em> +on the beautiful, of defending our +own tastes, and this just in proportion +as the beauty in question is of a +high order. And why do we do this? +Because, just in proportion as the +beauty is of an elevated character, +does it depend on some moral association. +Every argument of this kind +will be found to consist of an analysis +of the sentiment. Nor is there anything +derogatory, as some have supposed, +in this analysis of the sentiment; +for we learn from it, at every +step, that in the same degree as men +become more refined, more humane, +more kind, equitable, and pious, will +the visible world become more richly +clad with beauty. We see here an +admirable arrangement, whereby the +external world grows in beauty, as +men grow in goodness.</p> + +<p>We must now follow Mr Ruskin a +step farther into the development of +his <em>Theoria</em>. All beauty, he tell us, +<em>is such</em>, in its high and only true character, +because it is a type of one or +more of God's attributes. This, as +we have shown, is to represent one +class of associated thought as absorbing +and displacing all the rest. We +protest against this egregious exaggeration +of a great and sacred source of +our emotions. With Mr Ruskin's +own piety we can have no quarrel; +but we enter a firm and calm protest +against a falsification of our human +nature, in obedience to one sentiment, +however sublime. No good can come +of it—no good, we mean, to religion +itself. It is substantially the same +error, though assuming a very different +garb, which the Puritans committed. +They disgusted men with +religion, by introducing it into every +law and custom, and detail of human +life. Mr Ruskin would commit the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[343]</a></span> +same error in the department of taste, +over which he would rule so despotically: +he is not content that the +highest beauty shall be religious; he +will permit nothing to be beautiful, +except as it partakes of a religious +character. But there is a vast region +lying between the "animal pleasantness" +of his Æsthesis and the pious +contemplation of his Theoria. There +is much between the human animal +and the saint; there are the domestic +affections and the love they spring +from, and hopes, and regrets, and +aspirations, and the hour of peace and +the hour of repose—in short, there is +human life. From all human life, as +we have seen, come contributions to +the sentiment of the beautiful, quite +as distinctly traced as the peculiar +class on which Mr Ruskin insists.</p> + +<p>If any one descanting upon music +should affirm, that, in the first place, +there was a certain animal pleasantness +in harmony or melody, or both, +but that the real essence of music, +that by which it truly becomes music, +was the perception in harmony or +melody of types of the Divine attributes, +he would reason exactly in +the same manner on music as Mr +Ruskin does on beauty. Nevertheless, +although sacred music is the +highest, it is very plain that there is +other music than the sacred, and that +all songs are not hymns.</p> + +<p>Chapter v. of the present volume +bears this title—<em>Of Typical Beauty. +First, of Infinity, or the type of the +Divine Incomprehensibility.</em>—A boundless +space will occur directly to the +reader as a type of the infinite; perhaps +it should be rather described as +itself the infinite under one form. +But Mr Ruskin finds the infinite in +everything. That idea which he +justly describes as the incomprehensible, +and which is so profound and +baffling a mystery to the finite being, +is supposed to be thrust upon the +mind on every occasion. Every instance +of variety is made the type of +the infinite, as well as every indication +of space. We remember that, in +the first volume of the <cite>Modern Painters</cite>, +we were not a little startled at being +told that the distinguishing character +of every good artist was, that "he +painted the infinite." Good or bad, +we now see that he could scarcely +fail to paint the infinite: it must be +by some curious chance that the feat +is not accomplished.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Now, not only," writes Mr Ruskin, +"is this expression of infinity in distance +most precious wherever we find it, however +solitary it may be, and however unassisted +by other forms and kinds of +beauty; but it is of such value that no +such other forms will altogether recompense +us for its loss; and much as I dread +the enunciation of anything that may +seem like a conventional rule, I have no +hesitation in asserting that no work of +any art, in which this expression of infinity +is possible, can be perfect or supremely +elevated without it; and that, in proportion +to its presence, <em>it will exalt and render +impressive even the most tame and trivial +themes</em>. And I think if there be any +one grand division, by which it is at all +possible to set the productions of painting, +so far as their mere plan or system +is concerned, on our right and left hands, +it is this of light and dark background, +of heaven-light and of object-light.... +There is a spectral etching of Rembrandt, +a presentation of Christ in the Temple, +where the figure of a robed priest stands +glaring by its gems out of the gloom, +holding a crosier. Behind it there is a +subdued window-light seen in the opening, +between two columns, without which +the impressiveness of the whole subject +would, I think, be incalculably diminished. +I cannot tell whether I am at +present allowing too much weight to my +own fancies and predilections; but, without +so much escape into the outer air and +open heaven as this, I can take permanent +pleasure in no picture.</p> + +<p>"And I think I am supported in this +feeling by the unanimous practice, if not +the confessed opinion, of all artists. The +painter of portrait <em>is unhappy without his +conventional white stroke under the sleeve</em>, +or beside the arm-chair; the painter of +interiors feels like a caged bird unless he +can throw a window open, or set the door +ajar; the landscapist dares not lose himself +in forest without a gleam of light +under its farthest branches, nor ventures +out in rain unless he may somewhere +pierce to a better promise in the distance, +or cling to some closing gap of variable +blue above."—(P. 39.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>But if an open window, or "that +conventional white stroke under the +sleeve," is sufficient to indicate the +Infinite, how few pictures there must +be in which it is not indicated! and +how many "a tame and trivial +theme" must have been, by this indication,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[344]</a></span> +exalted and rendered impressive! +And yet it seems that some +very celebrated paintings want this +open-window or conventional white +stroke. The Madonna della Sediola +of Raphael is known over all Europe; +some print of it may be seen in every +village; that virgin-mother, in her +antique chair, embracing her child +with so sweet and maternal an embrace, +has found its way to the heart +of every woman, Catholic or Protestant. +But unfortunately it has a +dark background, and there is no +open window—nothing to typify infinity. +To us it seemed that there was +"heaven's light" over the whole picture. +Though there is the chamber +wall seen behind the chair, there is +nothing to intimate that the door or +the window is closed. One might in +charity have imagined that the light +came directly through an open door +or window. However, Mr Ruskin is +inexorable. "Raphael," he says, +"<em>in his full</em>, betrayed the faith he had +received from his father and his master, +and substituted for the radiant +sky of the Madonna del Cardellino +the chamber wall of the Madonna +della Sediola, and the brown wainscot +of the Baldacchino."</p> + +<p>Of other modes in which the Infinite +is represented, we have an instance in +"The Beauty of Curvature."</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"The first of these is the curvature of +lines and surfaces, wherein it at first appears +futile to insist upon any resemblance +or suggestion of infinity, since +there is certainly, in our ordinary contemplation +of it, no sensation of the kind. +But I have repeated again and again that +the ideas of beauty are instinctive, and +that it is only upon consideration, and +even then in doubtful and disputable +way, that they appear in their typical +character; neither do I intend at all to +insist upon the particular meaning which +they appear to myself to bear, but merely +on their actual and demonstrable agreeableness; +so that in the present case, +which I assert positively, and have no +fear of being able to prove—that a curve +of any kind is more beautiful than a right +line—I leave it to the reader to accept or +not, as he pleases, <em>that reason of its agreeableness +which is the only one that I can at +all trace: namely, that every curve divides +itself infinitely by its changes of direction</em>."—(P. +63.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>Our old friend Jacob Boehmen +would have been delighted with this +Theoria. But we must pass on to +other types. Chapter vi. treats <em>of +Unity, or the Type of the Divine Comprehensiveness</em>.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"Of the appearances of Unity, or of +Unity itself, there are several kinds, which +it will be found hereafter convenient to +consider separately. Thus there is the +unity of different and separate things, +subjected to one and the same influence, +which may be called Subjectional Unity; +and this is the unity of the clouds, as they +are driven by the parallel winds, or as +they are ordered by the electric currents; +this is the unity of the sea waves; this, of +the bending and undulation of the forest +masses; and in creatures capable of Will +it is the Unity of Will, or of Impulse. +And there is Unity of Origin, which we +may call Original Unity, which is of +things arising from one spring or source, +and speaking always of this their brotherhood; +and this in matter is the unity of +the branches of the trees, and of the petals +and starry rays of flowers, and of the +beams of light; and in spiritual creatures +it is their filial relation to Him from whom +they have their being. And there is +Unity of Sequence," &c.—</p></blockquote> + +<p class="noind">down another half page. Very little +to be got here, we think. Let us advance +to the next chapter. This is +entitled, <em>Of Repose, or the Type of +Divine Permanence</em>.</p> + +<p>It will be admitted on all hands +that nothing adds more frequently to +the charms of the visible object than +the associated feeling of repose. The +hour of sunset is the hour of repose. +Most beautiful things are enhanced +by some reflected feeling of this kind. +But surely one need not go farther +than to human labour, and human +restlessness, anxiety, and passion, to +understand the charm of repose. Mr +Ruskin carries us at once into the +third heaven:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"As opposed to passion, changefulness, +or laborious exertion, Repose is the especial +and separating characteristic of the +eternal mind and power; it is the 'I am' +of the Creator, opposed to the 'I become' +of all creatures; it is the sign alike of the +supreme knowledge which is incapable of +surprise, the supreme power which is incapable +of labour, the supreme volition +which is incapable of change; it is the +stillness of the beams of the eternal +chambers laid upon the variable waters +of ministering creatures."</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[345]</a></span></p> + +<p>We must proceed. Chapter viii. +treats <em>Of Symmetry, or the Type of +Divine Justice</em>. Perhaps the nature of +this chapter will be sufficiently indicated +to the reader, now somewhat informed +of Mr Ruskin's mode of thinking, +by the title itself. At all events, +we shall pass on to the next chapter, +ix.—<em>Of Purity, or the Type of Divine +Energy</em>. Here, the reader will perhaps +expect to find himself somewhat +more at home. One type, at all +events, of Divine Purity has often +been presented to his mind. Light +has generally been considered as the +fittest emblem or manifestation of the +Divine Presence,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"That never but in unapproachëd light<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Dwelt from eternity."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noind">But if the reader has formed any such +agreeable expectation he will be disappointed. +Mr Ruskin travels on no +beaten track. He finds some reasons, +partly theological, partly gathered +from his own theory of the Beautiful, +for discarding this ancient association +of Light with Purity. As the <em>Divine</em> +attributes are those which the visible +object typifies, and by no means the +<em>human</em>, and as Purity, which is "sinlessness," +cannot, he thinks, be predicted +of the Divine nature, it follows +that he cannot admit Light to be a +type of Purity. We quote the passage, +as it will display the working +of his theory:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"It may seem strange to many readers +that I have not spoken of purity in that +sense in which it is most frequently used, +as a type of sinlessness. I do not deny +that the frequent metaphorical use of it +in Scripture may have, and ought to have, +much influence on the sympathies with +which we regard it; and that probably +the immediate agreeableness of it to most +minds arises far more from this source +than from that to which I have chosen to +attribute it. But, in the first place, <em>if it +be indeed in the signs of Divine and not of +human attributes that beauty consists</em>, I see +not how the idea of sin can be formed +with respect to the Deity; for it is the +idea of a relation borne by us to Him, +and not in any way to be attached to His +abstract nature; while the Love, Mercifulness, +and Justice of God I have supposed +to be symbolised by other qualities +of beauty: and I cannot trace any rational +connection between them and the idea of +Spotlessness in matter, nor between this +idea nor any of the virtues which make +up the righteousness of man, except perhaps +those of truth and openness, which +have been above spoken of as more expressed +by the transparency than the +mere purity of matter. So that I conceive +the use of the terms purity, spotlessness, +&c., on moral subjects, to be merely +metaphorical; and that it is rather that +we illustrate these virtues by the desirableness +of material purity, than that we +desire material purity because it is illustrative +of those virtues. I repeat, then, +that the only idea which I think can be +legitimately connected with purity of +matter is this of vital and energetic connection +among its particles."</p></blockquote> + +<p>We have been compelled to quote +some strange passages, of most difficult +and laborious perusal; but our +task is drawing to an end. The last +of these types we have to mention is +that <em>Of Moderation, or the Type of +Government by Law</em>. We suspect +there are many persons who have +rapidly perused Mr Ruskin's works +(probably <em>skipping</em> where the obscurity +grew very thick) who would be +very much surprised, if they gave a +closer attention to them, at the strange +conceits and absurdities which they +had passed over without examination. +Indeed, his very loose and declamatory +style, and the habit of saying extravagant +things, set all examination +at defiance. But let any one pause a +moment on the last title we have +quoted from Mr Ruskin—let him read +the chapter itself—let him reflect that +he has been told in it that "what we +express by the terms chasteness, refinement, +and elegance," in any work +of art, and more particularly "that +finish" so dear to the intelligent critic, +owe their attractiveness to being types +of God's government by law!—we +think he will confess that never in any +book, ancient or modern, did he meet +with an absurdity to outrival it.</p> + +<p>We have seen why the curve in +general is beautiful; we have here +the reason given us why one curve is +more beautiful than another:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"And herein we at last find the reason +of that which has been so often noted +respecting the subtilty and almost invisibility +of natural curves and colours, and +why it is that we look on those lines as +least beautiful which fall into wide and +far license of curvature, and as most +beautiful which approach nearest (so that +the curvilinear character be distinctly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[346]</a></span> +asserted) to the government of the right +line, as in the pure and severe curves +of the draperies of the religious +painters."</p></blockquote> + +<p>There is still the subject of "vital +beauty" before us, but we shall probably +be excused from entering +further into the development of +"Theoria." It must be quite clear +by this time to our readers, that, +whatever there is in it really wise +and intelligible, resolves itself into +one branch of that general theory +of association of ideas, of which +Alison and others have treated. +But we are now in a condition to +understand more clearly that peculiar +style of language which startled us so +much in the first volume of the <cite>Modern +Painters</cite>. There we frequently +heard of the Divine mission of the +artist, of the religious office of the +painter, and how Mr Turner was +delivering God's message to man. +What seemed an oratorical climax, +much too frequently repeated, proves +to be a logical sequence of his theoretical +principles. All true beauty is +religious; therefore all true art, which +is the reproduction of the beautiful, +must be religious also. Every picture +gallery is a sort of temple, every +great painter a sort of prophet. If +Mr Ruskin is conscious that he never +admires anything beautiful in nature +or art, without a reference to some +attribute of God, or some sentiment +of piety, he may be a very exalted +person, but he is no type of humanity. +If he asserts this, we must be sufficiently +courteous to believe him; we +must not suspect that he is hardly +candid with us, or with himself; but +we shall certainly not accept him as +a representative of the <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">genus homo</i>. +He finds "sermons in stones," and +sermons always; "books in the running +brooks," and always books of +divinity. Other men not deficient in +reflection or piety do not find it thus. +Let us hear the poet who, more than +any other, has made a religion of the +beauty of nature. Wordsworth, in a +passage familiar to every one of his +readers, runs his hand, as it were, +over all the chords of the lyre. He +finds other sources of the beautiful +not unworthy his song, besides that +high contemplative piety which he +introduces as a noble and fit climax. +He recalls the first ardours of his +youth, when the beautiful object +itself of nature seemed to him all, +in all:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i12">"I cannot paint<br /></span> +<span class="i0">What then I was. The sounding cataract<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Haunted me like a passion; the tall rock,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The mountain, and the deep and gloomy wood.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Their colours and their forms were thus to me<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An appetite; a feeling and a love<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That had no need of a remoter charm<br /></span> +<span class="i0">By thought supplied, nor any interest<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Unborrowed from the eye. That time is past,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And all its aching joys are now no more,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And all its dizzy raptures. Not for this<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Faint I, nor mourn, nor murmur; other gifts<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Have followed. I have learned<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To look on nature not as in the hour<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><em>The still sad music of humanity,</em><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><em>Nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power</em><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><em>To chasten and subdue.</em> And I have felt<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A presence that disturbs me with the joy<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of something far more deeply interfused,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the round ocean and the living air,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the blue sky, and in the mind of man."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Our poet sounds all the chords. +He does not muffle any; he honours +Nature in her own simple loveliness, +and in the beauty she wins from the +human heart, as well as when she is +informed with that sublime spirit</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i18">"that impels<br /></span> +<span class="i0">All thinking things, all objects of all thought,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And rolls through all things."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Sit down, by all means, amongst +the fern and the wild-flowers, and +look out upon the blue hills, or near +you at the flowing brook, and thank +God, the giver of all this beauty. +But what manner of good will you do +by endeavouring to persuade yourself +that these objects <em>are</em> only beautiful +because you give thanks for them?—for +to this strange logical inversion +will you find yourself reduced. And +surely you learned to esteem and love +this benevolence itself, first as a +human attribute, before you became +cognisant of it as a Divine attribute. +What other course can the mind take +but to travel through humanity up to +God?</p> + +<p>There is much more of metaphysics +in the volume before us; there is, in +particular, an elaborate investigation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[347]</a></span> +of the faculty of imagination; but we +have no inducement to proceed further +with Mr Ruskin in these psychological +inquiries. We have given some +attention to his theory of the Beautiful, +because it lay at the basis of a +series of critical works which, partly +from their boldness, and partly from +the talent of a certain kind which is +manifestly displayed in them, have +attained to considerable popularity. +But we have not the same object for +prolonging our examination into his +theory of the Imaginative Faculty. +"We say it advisedly," (as Mr Ruskin +always adds when he is asserting +anything particularly rash,) we say it +advisedly, and with no rashness whatever, +that though our author is a man +of great natural ability, and enunciates +boldly many an independent isolated +truth, yet of the spirit of philosophy +he is utterly destitute. The calm, +patient, prolonged thinking, which +Dugald Stewart somewhere describes +as the one essential characteristic of +the successful student of philosophy, +he knows nothing of. He wastes his +ingenuity in making knots where +others had long since untied them. +He rushes at a definition, makes a +parade of classification; but for any +great and wide generalisation he has +no appreciation whatever. He appears +to have no taste, but rather an antipathy +for it; when it lies in his way +he avoids it. On this subject of the +Imaginative Faculty he writes and he +raves, defines and poetises by turns; +makes laborious distinctions where +there is no essential difference; has +his "Imagination Associative," and +his "Imagination Penetrative;" and +will not, or cannot, see those broad +general principles which with most +educated men have become familiar +truths, or truisms. But what clear +thinking can we expect of a writer +who thus describes his "Imagination +Penetrative?"—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"It may seem to the reader that I am +incorrect in calling this penetrating possession-taking +faculty Imagination. Be +it so: the name is of little consequence; +the Faculty itself, called by what name +it will, I insist upon as the highest +intellectual power of man. <em>There is no +reasoning in it</em>; it works not by algebra, +nor by integral calculus; it is a piercing +Pholas-like mind's tongue, that works +and tastes into the very rock-heart. No +matter what be the subject submitted to +it, substance or spirit—all is alike +divided asunder, joint and marrow, whatever +utmost truth, life, principle, it has +laid bare; and that which has no truth, +life, nor principle, dissipated into its +original smoke at a touch. The whispers +at men's ears it lifts into visible angels. +Vials that have lain sealed in the deep +sea a thousand years it unseals, and +brings out of them Genii."—(P. 156.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>With such a wonder-working +faculty man ought to do much. Indeed, +unless it has been asleep all +this time, it is difficult to understand +why there should remain anything +for him to do.</p> + +<p>Surveying Mr Ruskin's works on +art, with the knowledge we have here +acquired of his intellectual character +and philosophical theory, we are at no +loss to comprehend that mixture of +shrewd and penetrating remark, of +bold and well-placed censure, and of +utter nonsense in the shape of general +principles, with which they abound. +In his <cite>Seven Lamps of Architecture</cite>, +which is a very entertaining book, +and in his <cite>Stones of Venice</cite>, the reader +will find many single observations +which will delight him, as well by +their justice, as by the zeal and +vigour with which they are expressed. +But from neither work will he derive +any satisfaction if he wishes to carry +away with him broad general views +on architecture.</p> + +<p>There is no subject Mr Ruskin has +treated more largely than that of +architectural ornament; there is none +on which he has said more good things, +or delivered juster criticisms; and +there is none on which he has uttered +more indisputable nonsense. Every +reader of taste will be grateful to Mr +Ruskin if he can pull down from St +Paul's Cathedral, or wherever else +they are to be found, those wreaths or +festoons of carved flowers—"that +mass of all manner of fruit and flowers +tied heavily into a long bunch, thickest +in the middle, and pinned up by +both ends against a dead wall." +Urns with pocket-handkerchiefs upon +them, or a sturdy thick flame for +ever issuing from the top, he will +receive our thanks for utterly demolishing. +But when Mr Ruskin expounds +his principles—and he always<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[348]</a></span> +has principles to expound—when he +lays down rules for the government of +our taste in this matter, he soon involves +us in hopeless bewilderment. +Our ornaments, he tells us, are to be +taken from the works of nature, not +of man; and, from some passages of +his writings, we should infer that Mr +Ruskin would cover the walls of our +public buildings with representations +botanical and geological. But in this +we must be mistaken. At all events, +nothing is to be admitted that is taken +from the works of man.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"I conclude, then, with the reader's +leave, that all ornament is base which +takes for its subject human work; that it +is utterly base—painful to every rightly +toned mind, without, perhaps, immediate +sense of the reason, but for a reason palpable +enough when we do think of it. +For to carve our own work, and set it up +for admiration, is a miserable self-complacency, +a contentment in our wretched +doings, when we might have been looking +at God's doings."</p></blockquote> + +<p>After this, can we venture to admire +the building itself, which is, of necessity, +man's own "wretched doing?"</p> + +<p>Perplexed by his own rules, he will +sometimes break loose from the entanglement +in some such strange manner +as this:—"I believe the right +question to ask, with respect to all +ornament, is simply this: Was it done +with enjoyment—<em>was the carver happy +while he was about it</em>?" Happy art! +where the workman is sure to give +happiness if he is but happy at his +work. Would that the same could be +said of literature!</p> + +<p>How far <em>colour</em> should be introduced +into architecture is a question with +men of taste, and a question which of +late has been more than usually discussed. +Mr Ruskin leans to the introduction +of colour. His taste may +be correct; but the fanciful reasoning +which he brings to bear upon the subject +will assist no one else in forming +his own taste. Because there is no +connection "between the spots of an +animal's skin and its anatomical +system," he lays it down as the first +great principle which is to guide us +in the use of colour in architecture—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"That it be <em>visibly independent of +form</em>. Never paint a column with vertical +lines, but always cross it. Never +give separate mouldings separate colours," +&c. "In certain places," he continues, +"you may run your two systems closer, +and here and there let them be parallel +for a note or two, but see that the colours +and the forms coincide only as two +orders of mouldings do; the same for an +instant, but each holding its own course. +So single members may sometimes have +single colours; <em>as a bird's head is sometimes +of one colour, and its shoulders +another, you may make your capital one +colour, and your shaft another</em>; but, in +general, the best place for colour is on +broad surfaces, not on the points of interest +in form. <em>An animal is mottled on +its breast and back, and rarely on its paws +and about its eyes</em>; so put your variegation +boldly on the flat wall and broad shaft, +but be shy of it on the capital and moulding."—(<cite>Lamps +of Architecture</cite>, p. 127.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>We do not quite see what we have +to do at all with the "anatomical +system" of the animal, which is kept +out of sight; but, in general, we +apprehend there is, both in the animal +and vegetable kingdom, considerable +harmony betwixt colour and external +form. Such fantastic reasoning as +this, it is evident, will do little towards +establishing that one standard +of taste, or that "one school of architecture," +which Mr Ruskin so strenuously +insists upon. All architects are +to resign their individual tastes and +predilections, and enrol themselves in +one school, which shall adopt one style. +We need not say that the very first +question—what that style should be, +Greek or Gothic—would never be +decided. Mr Ruskin decides it in +favour of the "earliest English decorated +Gothic;" but seems, in this +case, to suspect that his decision will +not carry us far towards unanimity. +The scheme is utterly impossible; +but he does his duty, he tells us, by +proposing the impossibility.</p> + +<p>As a climax to his inconsistency +and his abnormal ways of thinking, +he concludes his <cite>Seven Lamps of +Architecture</cite> with a most ominous +paragraph, implying that the time is +at hand when no architecture of any +kind will be wanted: man and his +works will be both swept away from +the face of the earth. How, with this +impression on his mind, could he have +the heart to tell us to build for posterity? +Will it be a commentary +on the Apocalypse that we shall next +receive from the pen of Mr Ruskin?</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[349]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>PORTUGUESE POLITICS.</h2> + + +<p>The dramatic and singular revolution +of which Portugal has recently +been the theatre, the strange fluctuations +and ultimate success of Marshal +Saldanha's insurrection, the narrow +escape of Donna Maria from at least +a temporary expulsion from her dominions, +have attracted in this country +more attention than is usually bestowed +upon the oft-recurring convulsions of +the Peninsula. Busy as the present +year has been, and abounding in +events of exciting interest nearer +home, the English public has yet +found time to deplore the anarchy +to which Portugal is a prey, and to +marvel once more, as it many times +before has marvelled, at the tardy +realisation of those brilliant promises +of order, prosperity, and good government, +so long held out to the two +Peninsular nations by the promoters +of the Quadruple Alliance. The +statesmen who, for nearly a score of +years, have assiduously guided Portugal +and Spain in the seductive paths +of modern Liberalism, can hardly feel +much gratification at the results of +their well-intended but most unprosperous +endeavours. It is difficult +to imagine them contemplating with +pride and exultation, or even without +a certain degree of self-reproach, the +fruits of their officious exertions. +Repudiating partisan views of Peninsular +politics, putting persons entirely +out of the question, declaring our absolute +indifference as to who occupies +the thrones of Spain and Portugal, so +long as those countries are well-governed, +casting no imputations +upon the motives of those foreign +governments and statesmen who +were chiefly instrumental in bringing +about the present state of things +south of the Pyrenees, we would look +only to facts, and crave an honest +answer to a plain question. The +question is this: After the lapse of +seventeen years, what is the condition +of the two nations upon which +have been conferred, at grievous expense +of blood and treasure, the much +vaunted blessings of rulers nominally +Liberal, and professedly patriotic? +For the present we will confine this +inquiry to Portugal, for the reason +that the War of Succession terminated +in that country when it was but beginning +in the neighbouring kingdom, +since which time the vanquished party, +unlike the Carlists in Spain, have +uniformly abstained—with the single +exception of the rising in 1846-7—from +armed aggression, and have observed +a patient and peaceful policy. +So that the Portuguese Liberals have +had seventeen years' fair trial of their +governing capacity, and cannot allege +that their efforts for their country's +welfare have been impeded or retarded +by the acts of that party whom they +denounced as incapable of achieving +it,—however they may have been +neutralised by dissensions and anarchy +in their own ranks.</p> + +<p>At this particular juncture of Portuguese +affairs, and as no inappropriate +preface to the only reply that can +veraciously be given to the question +we have proposed, it will not be amiss +to take a brief retrospective glance at +some of the events that preceded and +led to the reign of Donna Maria. It +will be remembered that from the year +1828 to 1834, the Liberals in both +houses of the British Parliament, supported +by an overwhelming majority +of the British press, fiercely and pertinaciously +assailed the government +and person of Don Miguel, then <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">de +facto</i> King of Portugal, king <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">de jure</i> +in the eyes of the Portuguese Legitimists +and by the vote of the Legitimate +Cortes of 1828, and recognised +(in 1829) by Spain, by the United +States, and by various inferior powers. +Twenty years ago political passions +ran high in this country: public men +were, perhaps, less guarded in their +language; newspapers were certainly +far more intemperate in theirs; and +we may safely say, that upon no +foreign prince, potentate, or politician, +has virulent abuse—proceeding +from such respectable sources—ever +since been showered in England, in +one half the quantity in which it then +descended upon the head of the unlucky +Miguel. Unquestionably Don +Miguel had acted, in many respects, +neither well nor wisely: his early<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[350]</a></span> +education had been ill-adapted to the +high position he was one day to fill—at +a later period of his life he was +destined to take lessons of wisdom +and moderation in the stern but +wholesome school of adversity. But +it is also beyond a doubt, now that +time has cleared up much which then +was purposely garbled and distorted, +that the object of all this invective +was by no means so black as he was +painted, and that his character suffered +in England from the malicious +calumnies of Pedroite refugees, and +from the exaggerated and easily-accepted +statements of the Portuguese +correspondents of English newspapers. +The Portuguese nation, removed from +such influence, formed its own opinions +from what it saw and observed; and +the respect and affection testified, even +at the present day, to their dethroned +sovereign, by a large number of its +most distinguished and respectable +members, are the best refutation of +the more odious of the charges so +abundantly brought against him, and +so lightly credited in those days of +rampant revolution. It is unnecessary, +therefore, to argue that point, +even were personal vindication or +attack the objects of this article, +instead of being entirely without its +scope. Against the insupportable +oppression exercised by the monster +in human form, as which Don Miguel +was then commonly depicted in England +and France, innumerable engines +were directed by the governments and +press of those two countries. Insurrections +were stirred up in Portugal, +volunteers were recruited abroad, +irregular military expeditions were +encouraged, loans were fomented; +money-lenders and stock-jobbers were +all agog for Pedro, patriotism, and +profit. Orators and newspapers foretold, +in glowing speeches and enthusiastic +paragraphs, unbounded prosperity +to Portugal as the sure consequence +of the triumph of the revolutionary +party. Rapid progress of +civilisation, impartial and economical +administration, increase of commerce, +development of the country's resources, +a perfect avalanche of social +and political blessings, were to descend, +like manna from heaven, upon +the fortunate nation, so soon as the +Liberals obtained the sway of its +destinies. It were beside our purpose +here to investigate how it was +that, with such alluring prospects +held out to them, the people of Portugal +were so blind to their interests +as to supply Don Miguel with men +and money, wherewith to defend himself +for five years against the assaults +and intrigues of foreign and domestic +enemies. Deprived of support and +encouragement from without, he still +held his ground; and the formation of +a quadruple alliance, including the +two most powerful countries in Europe, +the enlistment of foreign mercenaries +of a dozen different nations, the +entrance of a numerous Spanish army, +were requisite finally to dispossess +him of his crown. The anomaly of +the abhorred persecutor and tyrant +receiving so much support from his +ill-used subjects, even then struck +certain men in this country whose +names stand pretty high upon the list +of clear-headed and experienced politicians, +and the Duke of Wellington, +Lord Aberdeen, Sir Robert Peel, +Lord Lyndhurst, and others, defended +Miguel; but their arguments, however +cogent, were of little avail against the +fierce tide of popular prejudice, unremittingly +stimulated by the declamations +of the press. To be brief, +in 1834 Don Miguel was driven +from Portugal; and his enemies, put +in possession of the kingdom and +all its resources, were at full liberty +to realise the salutary reforms they +had announced and promised, and for +which they had professed to fight. +On taking the reins of government, +they had everything in their favour; +their position was advantageous and +brilliant in the highest degree. They +enjoyed the prestige of a triumph, +undisputed authority, powerful foreign +protection and influence. At their +disposal was an immense mass of +property taken from the church, as +well as the produce of large foreign +loans. Their credit, too, was <em>then</em> unlimited. +Lastly—and this was far +from the least of their advantages—they +had in their favour the great +discouragement and discontent engendered +amongst the partisans of the +Miguelite government, by the numerous +and gross blunders which that +government had committed—blunders +which contributed even more to its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[351]</a></span> +downfall than did the attacks of its +foes, or the effects of foreign hostility. +In short, the Liberals were complete +and undisputed masters of the situation. +But, notwithstanding all the +facilities and advantages they enjoyed, +what has been the condition of Portugal +since they assumed the reins? +What <em>is</em> its condition at the present +day? We need not go far to ascertain +it. The wretched plight of that +once prosperous little kingdom is deposed +to by every traveller who visits +it, and by every English journal that +has a correspondent there; it is to be +traced in the columns of every Portuguese +newspaper, and is admitted +and deplored by thousands who once +were strenuous and influential supporters +of the party who promised so +much, and who have performed so +little that is good. The reign of that +party whose battle-cry is, or was, +Donna Maria and the Constitution, +has been an unbroken series of revolutions, +illegalities, peculations, corruptions, +and dilapidations. The +immense amount of misnamed "national +property" (the <em>Infantado</em> and +church estates,) which was part of +their capital on their accession to +power, has disappeared without benefit +either to the country or to its +creditors. The treasury is empty; +the public revenues are eaten up by +anticipation; civil and military officers, +the court itself, are all in constant and +considerable arrears of salaries and +pay. The discipline of the troops is +destroyed, the soldiers being demoralised +by the bad example of +their chiefs, including that of Marshal +Saldanha himself; for it is one of the +great misfortunes of the Peninsula, +that there most officers of a certain +rank consider their political predilections +before their military duty. The +"Liberal" party, divided and subdivided, +and split into fractions, whose +numbers fluctuate at the dictates of +interest or caprice, presents a lamentable +spectacle of anarchy and inconsistency; +whilst the Queen herself, +whose good intentions we by no means +impugn, has completely forfeited, as +a necessary consequence of the misconduct +of her counsellors, and of the +sufferings the country has endured +under her reign, whatever amount of +respect, affection, and influence the +Portuguese nation may once have +been disposed to accord her. Such is +the sad picture now presented by +Portugal; and none whose acquaintance +with facts renders them competent +to judge, will say that it is overcharged +or highly coloured.</p> + +<p>The party in Portugal who advocate +a return to the ancient constitution,<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> +under which the country +flourished—which fell into abeyance +towards the close of the seventeenth +century, but which it is now proposed +to revive, as preferable to, and practically +more liberal than, the present +system—and who adopt as a banner, +and couple with this scheme, the +name of Don Miguel de Bragança, +have not unnaturally derived great +accession of strength, both moral and +numerical, from the faults and dissensions +of their adversaries. At the +present day there are few things +which the European public, and especially +that of this country, sooner +becomes indifferent to, and loses +sight of, than the person and pretensions +of a dethroned king; and +owing to the lapse of years, to +his unobtrusive manner of life, and +to the storm of accusations amidst +which he made his exit from power, +Don Miguel would probably be considered, +by those persons in this +country who remember his existence, +as the least likely member of the +royal triumvirate, now assembled in +Germany, to exchange his exile for a +crown. But if we would take a fair +and impartial view of the condition of +Portugal, and calculate, as far as is +possible in the case of either of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[352]</a></span> +two Peninsular nations, the probabilities +and chances of the future, we +must not suffer ourselves to be run +away with by preconceived prejudices, +or to be influenced by the popular +odium attached to a name. After +beholding the most insignificant and +unpromising of modern pretenders +suddenly elevated to the virtual +sovereignty—however transitory it +may prove—of one of the most powerful +and civilised of European nations, +it were rash to denounce as impossible +any restoration or enthronement. +And it were especially rash so to do +when with the person of the aspirant +to the throne a nation is able to connect +a reasonable hope of improvement +in its condition. Of the principle +of legitimacy we here say nothing, +for it were vain to deny that in +Europe it is daily less regarded, +whilst it sinks into insignificance +when put in competition with the +rights and wellbeing of the people.</p> + +<p>As far back as the period of its +emigration, the Pedroite or Liberal +party split into two fractions. One +of these believed in the possible realisation +of those ultra-liberal theories so +abundantly promulgated in the proclamations, +manifestoes, preambles of +laws, &c., which Don Pedro issued +from the Brazils, from England and +France, and afterwards from Terceira +and Oporto. The other fraction of +the party had sanctioned the promulgation +of these utopian theories as a +means of delusion, and as leading to +their own triumph; but they deemed +their realisation impossible, and were +quite decided, when the revolutionary +tide should have borne them into +power, to oppose to the unruly flood +the barrier of a gradual but steady +reaction. At a later period these +divisions of the Liberal party became +more distinctly defined, and resulted, +in 1836, in their nominal classification +as Septembrists and Chartists—the +latter of whom (numerically very +weak, but comprising Costa Cabral, +and other men of talent and energy) +may be compared to the Moderados +of Spain—the former to the Progresistas, +but with tendencies more +decidedly republican. It is the ambitious +pretensions, the struggles for +power and constant dissensions of +these two sets of men, and of the +minor fractions into which they have +subdivided themselves, that have kept +Portugal for seventeen years in a +state of anarchy, and have ended by +reducing her to her present pitiable +condition. So numerous are the divisions, +so violent the quarrels of the +two parties, that their utter dissolution +appears inevitable; and it is in +view of this that the National party, +as it styles itself, which inscribes +upon its flag the name of Don Miguel—not +as an absolute sovereign, but +with powers limited by legitimate +constitutional forms, to whose strict +observance they bind him as a condition +of their support, and of his +continuance upon the throne upon +which they hope to place him—uplifts +its head, reorganises its hosts, and +more clearly defines its political principles. +Whilst Chartists and Septembrists +tear each other to pieces, the +Miguelites not only maintain their +numerical importance, but, closing +their ranks and acting in strict +unity, they give constant proofs of +adhesion to Don Miguel as personifying +a national principle, and at the +same time give evidence of political +vitality by the activity and progress +of their ideas, which are adapting +themselves to the Liberal sentiments +and theories of the times.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> And it +were flying in the face of facts to deny +that this party comprehends a very +important portion of the intelligence +and respectability of the nation. It +ascribes to itself an overwhelming +majority in the country, and asserts +that five-sixths of the population of +Portugal would joyfully hail its advent +to power. This of course must be +viewed as an <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">ex-parte</i> statement, difficult +for foreigners to verify or refute. +But of late there have been no lack of +proofs that a large proportion of the +higher orders of Portuguese are steadfast<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[353]</a></span> +in their aversion to the government +of the "Liberals," and in their +adherence to him whom they still, +after his seventeen years' dethronement, +persist in calling their king, and +whom they have supported, during +his long exile, by their willing contributions. +It is fresh in every one's +memory that, only the other day, +twenty five peers, or successors of +peers, who had been excluded by Don +Pedro from the peerage for having +sworn allegiance to his brother, having +been reinstated and invited to +take their seats in the Chamber, signed +and published a document utterly rejecting +the boon. Some hundreds of +officers of the old army of Don Miguel, +who are living for the most part in +penury and privation, were invited to +demand from Saldanha the restitution +of their grades, which would have +entitled them to the corresponding +pay. To a man they refused, and +protested their devotion to their +former sovereign. A new law of +elections, with a very extended franchise—nearly +amounting, it is said, to +universal suffrage—having been the +other day arbitrarily decreed by the +Saldanha cabinet (certainly a most +unconstitutional proceeding,) and the +government having expressed a wish +that all parties in the kingdom should +exercise the electoral right, and +give their votes for representatives +in the new parliament, a numerous +and highly respectable meeting of the +Miguelites was convened at Lisbon. +This meeting voted, with but two +dissentient voices, a resolution of +abstaining from all share in the +elections, declaring their determination +not to sanction, by coming forward +either as voters or candidates, a system +and an order of things which they +utterly repudiated as illegal, oppressive, +and forced upon the nation by +foreign interference. The same resolution +was adopted by large assemblages +in every province of the kingdom. +At various periods, during the +last seventeen years, the Portuguese +government has endeavoured to inveigle +the Miguelites into the representative +assembly, doubtless hoping +that upon its benches they would be +more accessible to seduction, or easier +to intimidate. It is a remarkable +and significant circumstance, that only +in one instance (in the year 1842) +have their efforts been successful, and +that the person who was then induced +so to deviate from the policy of his +party, speedily gave unmistakable +signs of shame and regret. Bearing +in mind the undoubted and easily +proved fact that the Miguelites, whether +their numerical strength be or be +not as great as they assert, comprise +a large majority of the clergy, of the +old nobility, and of the most highly +educated classes of the nation, their +steady and consistent refusal to sanction +the present order of things, by +their presence in its legislative assembly, +shows a unity of purpose and +action, and a staunch and dogged +conviction, which cannot but be disquieting +to their adversaries, and +over which it is impossible lightly to +pass in an impartial review of the +condition and prospects of Portugal.</p> + +<p>We have already declared our determination +here to attach importance +to the persons of none of the four +princes and princesses who claim or +occupy the thrones of Spain and Portugal, +except in so far as they may +respectively unite the greatest amount +of the national suffrage and adhesion. +As regards Don Miguel, we +are far from exaggerating his personal +claims—the question of legitimacy +being here waived. His prestige <em>out</em> +of Portugal is of the smallest, and +certainly he has never given proofs of +great talents, although he is not altogether +without kingly qualities, nor +wanting in resolution and energy; +whilst his friends assert, and it is fair +to admit as probable, that he has long +since repented and abjured the follies +and errors of his youth. But we +cannot be blind to the fact of the +strong sympathy and regard entertained +for him by a very large number +of Portuguese. His presence in +London during some weeks of the +present summer was the signal for a +pilgrimage of Portuguese noblemen +and gentlemen of the best and most +influential families in the country, +many of whom openly declared the +sole object of their journey to be +to pay their respects to their exiled +sovereign; whilst others, the chief +motive of whose visit was the attraction +of the Industrial Exhibition, +gladly seized the opportunity to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[354]</a></span> +reiterate the assurances of their +fidelity and allegiance. Strangely +enough, the person who opened the +procession was a nephew of Marshal +Saldanha, Don Antonio C. de Seabra, +a staunch and intelligent royalist, +whose visit to London coincided, as +nearly as might be, with his uncle's +flight into Galicia, and with his triumphant +return to Oporto after the +victory gained for him as he was +decamping. Senhor Seabra was followed +by two of the Freires, nephew +and grand-nephew of the Freire who +was minister-plenipotentiary in London +some thirty years ago; by the +Marquis and Marchioness of Vianna, +and the Countess of Lapa—all of the +first nobility of Portugal; by the +Marquis of Abrantes, a relative of +the royal family of Portugal; by a +host of gentlemen of the first families +in the provinces of Beira, Minho, +Tras-os-Montes, &c.—Albuquerques, +Mellos, Taveiras, Pachecos, Albergarias, +Cunhas, Correa-de-Sas, Beduidos, +San Martinhos, Pereiras, and +scores of other names, which persons +acquainted with Portugal will +recognise as comprehending much +of the best blood and highest intelligence +in the country. Such +demonstrations are not to be overlooked, +or regarded as trivial and +unimportant. Men like the Marquis +of Abrantes, for instance, not less distinguished +for mental accomplishment +and elevation of character than for +illustrious descent,<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> men of large possessions +and extensive influence, cannot +be assumed to represent only +their individual opinions. The remarkable +step lately taken by a number +of Portuguese of this class, must be +regarded as an indication of the state +of feeling of a large portion of the +nation; as an indication, too, of something +grievously faulty in the conduct +or constitution of a government +which, after seventeen years' sway, +has been unable to rally, reconcile, or +even to appease the animosity of any +portion of its original opponents.</p> + +<p>Between the state of Portugal and +that of Spain there are, at the present +moment, points of strong contrast, +and others of striking similarity. The +similarity is in the actual condition of +the two countries—in their sufferings, +misgovernment, and degradation; the +contrast is in the state and prospects +of the political parties they contain. +What we have said of the wretched +plight of Portugal applies, with few +and unimportant differences, to the +condition of Spain. If there has lately +been somewhat less of open anarchy in +the latter country than in the dominions +of Donna Maria, there has not been one +iota less of tyrannical government and +scandalous malversation. The public +revenue is still squandered and robbed, +the heavy taxes extorted from the +millions still flow into the pockets of +a few thousand corrupt officials, ministers +are still stock-jobbers, the liberty +of the press is still a farce,<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> and the +national representation an obscene +comedy. A change of ministry in +Spain is undoubtedly a most interesting +event to those who go out and +those who come in—far more so in +Spain than in any other country, since +in no other country does the possession +of office enable a beggar so speedily to +transform himself into a <em>millionaire</em>. +In Portugal the will is not wanting, but +the means are less ample. More may +be safely pilfered out of a sack of corn +than out of a sieveful, and poor +little Portugal's revenue does not +afford such scope to the itching palms +of Liberal statesmen as does the more +ample one of Spain, which of late +years has materially increased—without, +however, the tax-payer and public +creditor experiencing one crumb of +the benefit they might fairly expect in +the shape of reduced imposts and +augmented dividends. But, however +interesting to the governing fraction, +a change of administration in Spain +is contemplated by the governed +masses with supreme apathy and +indifference. They used once to be +excited by such changes; but they +have long ago got over that weakness, +and suffer their pockets to be picked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[355]</a></span> +and their bodies to be trampled +with a placidity bordering on the +sublime. As long as things do not +get <em>worse</em>, they remain quiet; they +have little hope of their getting <em>better</em>. +Here, again, in this fertile and beautiful +and once rich and powerful country +of Spain, a most gratifying picture is +presented to the instigators of the +Quadruple Alliance, to the upholders +of the virtuous Christina and the innocent +Isabel! Pity that it is painted +with so ensanguined a brush, and that +strife and discord should be the main +features of the composition! Upon +the first panel is exhibited a civil +war of seven years' duration, vying, +for cold-blooded barbarity and gratuitous +slaughter, with the fiercest and +most fanatical contests that modern +<cite>Times</cite> have witnessed. Terminated +by a strange act of treachery, even +yet imperfectly understood, the war +was succeeded by a brief period of +well-meaning but inefficient government. +By the daring and unscrupulous +manœuvres of Louis Philippe +and Christina this was upset—by +means so extraordinary and so disgraceful +to all concerned that scandalised +Europe stood aghast, and almost +refused to credit the proofs +(which history will record) of the +social degradation of Spaniards. For +a moment Spain again stood divided +and in arms, and on the brink of civil +war. This danger over, the blood +that had not been shed in the field +flowed upon the scaffold: an iron +hand and a pampered army crushed +and silenced the disaffection and +murmurs of the great body of the +nation; and thus commenced a system +of despotic and unscrupulous misrule +and corruption, which still endures +without symptom of improvement. +As for the observance of the constitution, +it is a mockery to speak of it, +and has been so any time these eight +years. In June 1850, Lord Palmerston, +in the course of his celebrated +defence of his foreign policy, declared +himself happy to state that the +government of Spain was at that +time carried on more in accordance +with the constitution than it had been +two years previously. As ear-witnesses +upon the occasion, we can do +his lordship the justice to say that the +assurance was less confidently and +unhesitatingly spoken than were most +other parts of his eloquent oration. +It was duly cheered, however, by the +Commons House—or at least by +those Hispanophilists and philanthropists +upon its benches who accepted +the Foreign Secretary's assurance in +lieu of any positive knowledge of their +own. The grounds for applause and +gratulation were really of the slenderest. +In 1848, the <em>un</em>-constitutional +period referred to by Lord Palmerston, +the Narvaez and Christina government +were in the full vigour of their +repressive measures, shooting the disaffected +by the dozen, and exporting +hundreds to the Philippines or immuring +them in dungeons. This, of course, +could not go on for ever; the power +was theirs, the malcontents were compelled +to succumb; the paternal and +constitutional government made a +desert, and called it peace. Short +time was necessary, when such violent +means were employed, to crush Spain +into obedience, and in 1850 she lay +supine, still bleeding from many an +inward wound, at her tyrants' feet. +This morbid tranquillity might possibly +be mistaken for an indication of an +improved mode of government. As +for any other sign of constitutional +rule, we are utterly unable to discern +it in either the past or the present +year. The admirable observance of +the constitution was certainly in process +of proof, at the very time of +Lord Palmerston's speech, by the +almost daily violation of the liberty +of the press, by the seizure of journals +whose offending articles the authorities +rarely condescended to designate, +and whose incriminated editors were +seldom allowed opportunity of exculpation +before a fair tribunal. It was +further testified to, less than four +months later, by a general election, +at which such effectual use was made +of those means of intimidation and +corruption which are manifold in +Spain, that, when the popular Chamber +assembled, the government was +actually alarmed at the smallness of +the opposition—limited, as it was, to +about a dozen stray Progresistas, +who, like the sleeping beauty in the +fairy tale, rubbed their eyes in wonderment +at finding themselves there. +Nor were the ministerial forebodings +groundless in the case of the unscrupulous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[356]</a></span> +and tyrannical Narvaez, who, +within a few months, when seemingly +more puissant than ever, and with an +overwhelming majority in the Chamber +obedient to his nod, was cast +down by the wily hand that had set +him up, and driven to seek safety in +France from the vengeance of his innumerable +enemies. The causes of +this sudden and singular downfall are +still a puzzle and a mystery to the +world; but persons there are, claiming +to see further than their neighbours +into political millstones, who +pretend that a distinguished diplomatist, +of no very long standing at +Madrid, had more to do than was +patent to the world with the disgrace +of the Spanish dictator, whom the +wags of the Puerta del Sol declare to +have exclaimed, as his carriage whirled +him northwards through the gates +of Madrid, "<em>Comme Henri Bulwer!</em>"</p> + +<p>Passing from the misgovernment +and sufferings of Spain to its political +state, we experience some difficulty in +clearly defining and exhibiting this, +inasmuch as the various parties that +have hitherto acted under distinct +names are gradually blending and +disappearing like the figures in dissolving +views. In Portugal, as we +have already shown, whilst Chartists +and Septembrists distract the country, +and damage themselves by constant +quarrels and collisions, a +third party, unanimous and determined +in its opposition to those two, +grows in strength, influence, and +prestige. In Spain, <em>no</em> party shows +signs of healthy condition. In all +three—Moderados, Progresistas, and +Carlists—symptoms of dissolution are +manifest. In the two countries, +Chartists and Septembrists, Moderados +and Progresistas, have alike split +into two or more factions hostile to +each other; but whilst, in Portugal, +the Miguelites improve their position, +in Spain the Carlist party is reduced +to a mere shadow of its former self. +Without recognised chiefs or able +leaders, without political theory of +government, it bases its pretensions +solely upon the hereditary right of its +head. For whilst Don Miguel, on +several occasions,<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> has declared his +adhesion to the liberal programme +advocated by his party for the security +of the national liberties, the Count de +Montemolin, either from indecision of +character, or influenced by evil counsels, +has hitherto made no precise, +public, and satisfactory declaration of +his views in this particular,<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> and by +such injudicious reserve has lost the +suffrages of many whom a distinct +pledge would have gathered round his +banner. Thus has he partially neutralised +the object of his father's abdication +in his favour. Don Carlos was +too completely identified with the old +absolutist party, composed of intolerant +bigots both in temporal and spiritual +matters, ever to have reconciled +himself with the progressive spirit of +the century, or to have become acceptable +to the present generation of +Spaniards. Discerning or advised of +this, he transferred his claims to his +son, thus placing in his hands an +excellent card, which the young prince +has not known how to play. If, instead +of encouraging a sullen and +unprofitable emigration, fomenting +useless insurrections, draining his adherents' +purses, and squandering their +blood, he had husbanded the resources +of the party, clearly and publicly defined +his plan of government—if ever +seated upon the throne he claims—and +awaited in dignified retirement the progress +of events, he would not have supplied +the present rulers of Spain with +pretexts, eagerly taken advantage of, +for shameful tyranny and persecution; +and he would have spared himself +the mortification of seeing his party<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[357]</a></span> +dwindle, and his oldest and most +trusted friends and adherents, with few +exceptions, accept pardon and place +from the enemies against whom they +had long and bravely contended. But +vacillation, incapacity, and treachery +presided at his counsels. He had none +to point out to him—or if any did, +they were unheeded or overruled—the +fact, of which experience and repeated +disappointments have probably +at last convinced him, that it is not +by the armed hand alone—not by the +sword of Cabrera, or by Catalonian +guerilla risings—that he can reasonably +hope ever to reach Madrid, but +by aid of the moral force of public +opinion, as a result of the misgovernment +of Spain's present rulers, of an +increasing confidence in his own merits +and good intentions, and perhaps of +such possible contingencies as a +Bourbon restoration in France, or +the triumph of the Miguelites in +Portugal. This last-named event +will very likely be considered, by that +numerous class of persons who base +their opinions of foreign politics upon +hearsay and general impressions +rather than upon accurate knowledge +and investigation of facts, as +one of the most improbable of possibilities. +A careful and dispassionate +examination of the present +state of the Peninsula does not enable +us to regard it as a case of such utter +improbability. But for the intimate +and intricate connection between the +Spanish and Portuguese questions, it +would by no means surprise us—bearing +in mind all that Portugal has +suffered and still suffers under her +present rulers—to see the Miguelite +party openly assume the preponderance +in the country. England would +not allow it, will be the reply. Let us +try the exact value of this assertion. +England has two reasons for hostility +to Don Miguel—one founded on certain +considerations connected with his +conduct when formerly on the throne +of Portugal, the other on the dynastic +alliance between the two countries. +The government of Donna Maria may +reckon upon the sympathy, advice, +and even upon the direct naval assistance +of England—up to a certain +point. That is to say, that the English +government will do what it <em>conveniently</em> +and <em>suitably</em> can, in favour +of the Portuguese queen and her +husband; but there is room for a +strong doubt that it would <em>seriously</em> +compromise itself to maintain +them upon the throne. Setting aside +Donna Maria's matrimonial connection, +Don Miguel, as a constitutional +king, and with certain mercantile and +financial arrangements, would suit +English interests every bit as well. +But the case is very different as regards +Spain. The restoration of Don +Miguel would be a terrible if not a +fatal shock to the throne of Isabella II. +and to the Moderado party, to whom +the revival of the legitimist principle +in Portugal would be so much the +more dangerous if experience proved +it to be compatible with the interests +created by the Revolution. For the +Spanish government, therefore, intervention +against Don Miguel is an +absolute necessity—we might perhaps +say a condition of its existence; +and thus is Spain the great stumbling-block +in the way of his restoration, +whereas England's objections +might be found less invincible. So, +in the civil war in Portugal, this +country only co-operated indirectly +against Don Miguel, and it is by no +means certain he would have been +overcome, but for the entrance of +Rodil's Spaniards, which was the decisive +blow to his cause. And so, the +other day, the English government +was seen patiently looking on at the +progress of events, when it is well +known that the question of immediate +intervention was warmly debated +in the Madrid cabinet, and +might possibly have been carried, but +for the moderating influence of English +counsels.</p> + +<p>If we consider the critical and +hazardous position of Marshal Saldanha, +wavering as he is between +Chartists and Septembrists—threatened +to-day with a Cabralist insurrection, +to-morrow with a Septembrist +pronunciamiento—it is easy to foresee +that the Miguelite party may soon +find tempting opportunities of an +active demonstration in the field. +Such a movement, however, would be +decidedly premature. Their game +manifestly is to await with patience +the development of the ultimate consequences +of Saldanha's insurrection. +It requires no great amount of judgment<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[358]</a></span> +and experience in political matters judgment +to foresee that he will be the +victim of his own ill-considered movement, +and that no long period will +elapse before some new event—be it +a Cabralist reaction or a Septembrist +revolt—will prove the instability of +the present order of things. With +this certainty in view, the Miguelites +are playing upon velvet. They have +only to hold themselves in readiness +to profit by the struggle between +the two great divisions of the +Liberal party. From this struggle +they are not unlikely to derive an +important accession of strength, if, as +is by no means improbable, the +Chartists should be routed and the +Septembrists remain temporary masters +of the field. To understand the +possible coalition of a portion of the +Chartists with the adherents of Don +Miguel, it suffices to bear in mind +that the former are supporters of constitutional +monarchy, which principle +would be endangered by the triumph +of the Septembrists, whose republican +tendencies are notorious, as is also—notwithstanding +the momentary truce +they have made with her—their hatred +to Donna Maria.</p> + +<p>The first consequences of a Septembrist +pronunciamiento would probably +be the deposition of the Queen and +the scattering of the Chartists; and in +this case it is easy to conceive the +latter beholding in an alliance with +the Miguelite party their sole chance +of escape from democracy, and from a +destruction of the numerous interests +they have acquired during their many +years of power. It is no unfair inference +that Costa Cabral, when he +caused himself, shortly after his arrival +in London, to be presented to Don +Miguel in a particularly public place, +anticipated the probability of some +such events as we have just sketched, +and thus indicated, to his friends and +enemies, the new service to which he +might one day be disposed to devote +his political talents.</p> + +<p>The intricate and suggestive complications +of Peninsular politics offer a +wide field for speculation; but of this +we are not at present disposed further +to avail ourselves, our object being to +elucidate facts rather than to theorise +or indulge in predictions with respect to +two countries by whose political eccentricities +more competent prophets +than ourselves have, upon so many +occasions during the last twenty +years, been puzzled and led astray. +We sincerely wish that the governments +of Spain and Portugal were +now in the hands of men capable of +conciliating all parties, and of averting +future convulsions—of men sufficiently +able and patriotic to conceive +and carry out measures adapted to the +character, temper, and wants of the +two nations. If, by what we should +be compelled to look upon almost as a +miracle, such a state of things came +about in the Peninsula, we should be +far indeed from desiring to see it disturbed, +and discord again introduced +into the land, for the vindication of +the principle of legitimacy, respectable +though we hold that to be. But if +Spain and Portugal are to continue a +byword among the nations, the focus +of administrative abuses and oligarchical +tyranny; if the lower classes of +society in those countries, by nature +brave and generous, are to remain +degraded into the playthings of egotistical +adventurers, whilst the more +respectable and intelligent portion of +the higher orders stands aloof in disgust +from the orgies of misgovernment; +if this state of things is to +endure, without prospect of amendment, +until the masses throw themselves +into the arms of the apostles of +democracy—who, it were vain to deny, +gain ground in the Peninsula—then, we +ask, before it comes to that, would it +not be well to give a chance to parties +and to men whose character and +principles at least unite some elements +of stability, and who, whatever reliance +may be placed on their promises +for the future, candidly admit their +past faults and errors? Assuredly +those nations incur a heavy responsibility, +and but poorly prove their +attachment to the cause of constitutional +freedom, who avail themselves +of superior force to detain feeble allies +beneath the yoke of intolerable abuses.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[359]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2>THE CONGRESS AND THE AGAPEDOME.</h2> + +<h3>A TALE OF PEACE AND LOVE.</h3> + + +<h4>CHAPTER I.</h4> + +<p>If I were to commence my story +by stating, in the manner of the military +biographers, that Jack Wilkinson +was as brave a man as ever pushed a +bayonet into the brisket of a Frenchman, +I should be telling a confounded +lie, seeing that, to the best of my knowledge, +Jack never had the opportunity +of attempting practical phlebotomy. +I shall content myself with describing +him as one of the finest and best-hearted +fellows that ever held her +Majesty's commission; and no one +who is acquainted with the general +character of the officers of the British +army, will require a higher eulogium.</p> + +<p>Jack and I were early cronies at +school; but we soon separated, having +been born under the influence of +different planets. Mars, who had +the charge of Jack, of course devoted +him to the army; Jupiter, who was +bound to look after my interests, +could find nothing better for me than +a situation in the Woods and Forests, +with a faint chance of becoming in +time a subordinate Commissioner—that +is, provided the wrongs of Ann +Hicks do not precipitate the abolition +of the whole department. Ten years +elapsed before we met; and I regret +to say that, during that interval, +neither of us had ascended many +rounds of the ladder of promotion. +As was most natural, I considered +my own case as peculiarly hard, and +yet Jack's was perhaps harder. He +had visited with his regiment, in the +course of duty, the Cape, the Ionian +Islands, Gibraltar, and the West +Indies. He had caught an ague in +Canada, and had been transplanted +to the north of Ireland by way of a +cure; and yet he had not gained a +higher rank in the service than that +of Lieutenant. The fact is, that Jack +was poor, and his brother officers as +tough as though they had been made of +caoutchouc. Despite the varieties of +climate to which they were exposed, +not one of them would give up the +ghost; even the old colonel, who had +been twice despaired of, recovered +from the yellow fever, and within a +week after was lapping his claret at +the mess-table as jollily as if nothing +had happened. The regiment had a +bad name in the service: they called +it, I believe, "the Immortals."</p> + +<p>Jack Wilkinson, as I have said, +was poor, but he had an uncle who +was enormously rich. This uncle, +Mr Peter Pettigrew by name, was +an old bachelor and retired merchant, +not likely, according to the ordinary +calculation of chances, to marry; and +as he had no other near relative save +Jack, to whom, moreover, he was +sincerely attached, my friend was +generally regarded in the light of a +prospective proprietor, and might +doubtless, had he been so inclined, +have negotiated a loan, at or under +seventy per cent, with one of those +respectable gentlemen who are making +such violent efforts to abolish +Christian legislation. But Pettigrew +also was tough as one of "the Immortals," +and Jack was too prudent a +fellow to intrust himself to hands so +eminently accomplished in the art of +wringing the last drop of moisture +from a sponge. His uncle, he said, +had always behaved handsomely to +him, and he would see the whole tribe +of Issachar drowned in the Dardanelles +rather than abuse his kindness +by raising money on a post-obit. +Pettigrew, indeed, had paid for his +commission, and, moreover, given him +a fair allowance whilst he was quartered +abroad—circumstances which +rendered it extremely probable that +he would come forward to assist his +nephew so soon as the latter had any +prospect of purchasing his company.</p> + +<p>Happening by accident to be in +Hull, where the regiment was quartered, +I encountered Wilkinson, whom +I found not a whit altered for the +worse, either in mind or body, since the +days when we were at school together; +and at his instance I agreed to prolong +my stay, and partake of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[360]</a></span> +hospitality of the Immortals. A +merry set they were! The major told +a capital story, the senior captain +sung like Incledon, the <em>cuisine</em> was +beyond reproach, and the liquor only +too alluring. But all things must +have an end. It is wise to quit even +the most delightful society before it +palls upon you, and before it is accurately +ascertained that you, clever +fellow as you are, can be, on occasion, +quite as prosy and ridiculous as your +neighbours; therefore on the third +day I declined a renewal of the ambrosial +banquet, and succeeded in persuading +Wilkinson to take a quiet +dinner with me at my own hotel. +He assented—the more readily, perhaps, +that he appeared slightly depressed +in spirits, a phenomenon not +altogether unknown under similar circumstances.</p> + +<p>After the cloth was removed, we +began to discourse upon our respective +fortunes, not omitting the usual +complimentary remarks which, in +such moments of confidence, are applied +to one's superiors, who may be +very thankful that they do not possess +a preternatural power of hearing. Jack +informed me that at length a vacancy +had occurred in his regiment, and that +he had now an opportunity, could he +deposit the money, of getting his captaincy. +But there was evidently a +screw loose somewhere.</p> + +<p>"I must own," said Jack, "that it +<em>is</em> hard, after having waited so long, +to lose a chance which may not occur +again for years; but what can I do? +You see I haven't got the money; so +I suppose I must just bend to my +luck, and wait in patience for my +company until my head is as bare as +a billiard-ball!"</p> + +<p>"But, Jack," said I, "excuse me +for making the remark—but won't +your uncle, Mr Pettigrew, assist +you?"</p> + +<p>"Not the slightest chance of it."</p> + +<p>"You surprise me," said I; "I am +very sorry to hear you say so. I +always understood that you were a +prime favourite of his."</p> + +<p>"So I was; and so, perhaps, I am," +replied Wilkinson; "but that don't +alter the matter."</p> + +<p>"Why, surely," said I, "if he is +inclined to help you at all, he will not +be backward at a time like this. I +am afraid, Jack, you allow your modesty +to wrong you."</p> + +<p>"I shall permit my modesty," said +Jack, "to take no such impertinent +liberty. But I see you don't know my +uncle Peter."</p> + +<p>"I have not that pleasure, certainly; +but he bears the character +of a good honest fellow, and everybody +believes that you are to be his +heir."</p> + +<p>"That may be, or may not, according +to circumstances," said Wilkinson. +"You are quite right as to his +character, which I would advise no +one to challenge in my presence; for, +though I should never get another +stiver from him, or see a farthing of +his property, I am bound to acknowledge +that he has acted towards me in +the most generous manner. But I +repeat that you don't understand my +uncle."</p> + +<p>"Nor ever shall," said I, "unless +you condescend to enlighten me."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, listen. Old Peter +would be a regular trump, but for one +besetting foible. He cannot resist a +crotchet. The more palpably absurd +and idiotical any scheme may be, the +more eagerly he adopts it; nay, unless +it <em>is</em> absurd and idiotical, such as +no man of common sense would listen +to for a moment, he will have nothing +to say to it. He is quite shrewd +enough with regard to commercial +matters. During the railway mania, +he is supposed to have doubled his +capital. Never having had any faith +in the stability of the system, he sold +out just at the right moment, alleging +that it was full time to do so, when +Sir Robert Peel introduced a bill +giving the Government the right of +purchasing any line when its dividends +amounted to ten per cent. The result +proved that he was correct."</p> + +<p>"It did, undoubtedly. But surely +that is no evidence of his extreme +tendency to be led astray by +crotchets?"</p> + +<p>"Quite the reverse: the scheme +was not sufficiently absurd for him. +Besides, I must tell you, that in pure +commercial matters it would be very +difficult to overreach or deceive my +uncle. He has a clear eye for pounds, +shillings, and pence—principal and +interest—and can look very well after +himself when his purse is directly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[361]</a></span> +assailed. His real weakness lies in +sentiment."</p> + +<p>"Not, I trust, towards the feminine +gender? That might be awkward for +you in a gentleman of his years!"</p> + +<p>"Not precisely—though I would +not like to trust him in the hands of +a designing female. His besetting +weakness turns on the point of the +regeneration of mankind. Forty or +fifty years ago he would have been a +follower of Johanna Southcote. He +subscribed liberally to Owen's schemes, +and was within an ace of turning out +with Thom of Canterbury. Incredible +as it may appear, he actually +was for a time a regular and accepted +Mormonite."</p> + +<p>"You don't mean to say so?"</p> + +<p>"Fact, I assure you, upon my +honour! But for a swindle that Joe +Smith tried to perpetrate about the +discounting of a bill, Peter Pettigrew +might at this moment have been a +leading saint in the temple of Nauvoo, +or whatever else they call the capital +of that polygamous and promiscuous +persuasion."</p> + +<p>"You amaze me. How any man +of common sense—"</p> + +<p>"That's just the point. Where +common sense ends, Uncle Pettigrew +begins. Give him a mere thread of +practicability, and he will arrive at a +sound conclusion. Envelope him in +the mist of theory, and he will walk +headlong over a precipice."</p> + +<p>"Why, Jack," said I, "you seem +to have improved in your figures of +speech since you joined the army. +That last sentence was worth preservation. +But I don't clearly understand +you yet. What is his present +phase, which seems to stand in the +way of your prospects?"</p> + +<p>"Can't you guess? What is the +most absurd feature of the present +time?"</p> + +<p>"That," said I, "is a very difficult +question. There's Free Trade, and +the proposed Exhibition—both of +them absurd enough, if you look to +their ultimate tendency. Then there +are Sir Charles Wood's Budget, and +the new Reform Bill, and the Encumbered +Estates Act, and the whole +rubbish of the Cabinet, which they +have neither sense to suppress nor +courage to carry through. Upon my +word, Jack, it would be impossible +for me to answer your question satisfactorily."</p> + +<p>"What do you think of the Peace +Congress?" asked Wilkinson.</p> + +<p>"As Palmerston does," said I; +"remarkably meanly. But why do +you put that point? Surely Mr Pettigrew +has not become a disciple of the +blatant blacksmith?"</p> + +<p>"Read that, and judge for yourself," +said Wilkinson, handing me over +a letter.</p> + +<p>I read as follows:—</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">My dear Nephew</span>,—I have your +letter of the 15th, apprising me of +your wish to obtain what you term a +step in the service. I am aware that +I am not entitled to blame you for a +misguided and lamentably mistaken +zeal, which, to my shame be it +said, I was the means of originally +kindling; still, you must excuse me if, +with the new lights which have been +vouchsafed to me, I decline to assist +your progress towards wholesale homicide, +or lend any farther countenance +to a profession which is subversive of +that universal brotherhood and entire +fraternity which ought to prevail +among the nations. The fact is, Jack, +that, up to the present time, I have +entertained ideas which were totally +false regarding the greatness of my +country. I used to think that England +was quite as glorious from her renown +in arms as from her skill in arts—that +she had reason to plume herself upon +her ancient and modern victories, and +that patriotism was a virtue which it +was incumbent upon freemen to view +with respect and veneration. Led +astray by these wretched prejudices, +I gave my consent to your enrolling +yourself in the ranks of the British +army, little thinking that, by such a +step, I was doing a material injury to +the cause of general pacification, and, +in fact, retarding the advent of that +millennium which will commence so +soon as the military profession is entirely +suppressed throughout Europe. +I am now also painfully aware that, +towards you individually, I have failed +in performing my duty. I have been +the means of inoculating you with a +thirst for human blood, and of depriving +you of that opportunity of +adding to the resources of your country, +which you might have enjoyed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[362]</a></span> +had I placed you early in one of those +establishments which, by sending exports +to the uttermost parts of the +earth, have contributed so magnificently +to the diffusion of British patterns, +and the growth of American +cotton under a mild system of servitude, +which none, save the minions +of royalty, dare denominate as actual +slavery.</p> + +<p>"In short, Jack, I have wronged +you; but I should wrong you still +more were I to furnish you with the +means of advancing one other step in +your bloody and inhuman profession. +It is full time that we should discard +all national recollections. We have +already given a glorious example to +Europe and the world, by throwing +open our ports to their produce +without requiring the assurance of +reciprocity—let us take another step +in the same direction, and, by a +complete disarmament, convince them +that for the future we rely upon +moral reason, instead of physical force, +as the means of deciding differences. +I shall be glad, my dear boy, to +repair the injury which I have unfortunately +done you, by contributing +a sum, equal to three times the +amount required for the purchase of +a company, towards your establishment +as a partner in an exporting +house, if you can hear of an eligible +offer. Pray keep an eye on the advertising +columns of the <cite>Economist</cite>. +That journal is in every way trustworthy, +except, perhaps, when it +deals in quotation. I must now conclude, +as I have to attend a meeting +for the purpose of denouncing the +policy of Russia, and of warning +the misguided capitalists of London +against the perils of an Austrian loan. +You cannot, I am sure, doubt my +affection, but you must not expect me +to advance my money towards keeping +up a herd of locusts, without +which there would be a general conversion +of swords and bayonets into +machinery—ploughshares, spades, and +pruning-hooks being, for the present, +rather at a discount.—I remain always +your affectionate uncle,</p> + +<p class="sig"> +"<span class="smcap">Peter Pettigrew</span>. +</p> + +<p>"<em>P. S.</em>—Address to me at Hesse +Homberg, whither I am going as a +delegate to the Peace Congress."</p></blockquote> + +<p>"Well, what do you think of +that?" said Wilkinson, when I had +finished this comfortable epistle. "I +presume you agree with me, that I +have no chance whatever of receiving +assistance from that quarter."</p> + +<p>"Why, not much I should say, +unless you can succeed in convincing +Mr Pettigrew of the error of his ways. +It seems to me a regular case of monomania."</p> + +<p>"Would you not suppose, after +reading that letter, that I was a sort +of sucking tiger, or at best an ogre, +who never could sleep comfortably +unless he had finished off the evening +with a cup of gore?" said Wilkinson. +"I like that coming from old Uncle +Peter, who used to sing Rule Britannia +till he was hoarse, and always dedicated +his second glass of port to the +health of the Duke of Wellington!"</p> + +<p>"But what do you intend to do?" +said I. "Will you accept his offer, +and become a fabricator of calicoes?"</p> + +<p>"I'd as soon become a field preacher, +and hold forth on an inverted tub! +But the matter is really very serious. +In his present mood of mind, Uncle +Peter will disinherit me to a certainty +if I remain in the army."</p> + +<p>"Does he usually adhere long to +any particular crotchet?" said I.</p> + +<p>"Why, no; and therein lies my +hope. Judging from past experience, +I should say that this fit is not likely +to last above a month or two; still +you see there may be danger in treating +the matter too lightly: besides, +there is no saying when such another +opportunity of getting a step may +occur. What would you advise under +the circumstances?"</p> + +<p>"If I were in your place," said I, +"I think I should go over to Hesse +Homberg at once. You need not +identify yourself entirely with the +Peace gentry; you will be near your +uncle, and ready to act as circumstances +may suggest."</p> + +<p>"That is just my own notion; and +I think I can obtain leave of absence. +I say—could you not manage to go +along with me? It would be a real +act of friendship; for, to say the +truth, I don't think I could trust any +of our fellows in the company of the +Quakers."</p> + +<p>"Well—I believe they can spare +me for a little longer from my official<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[363]</a></span> +duties; and as the weather is fine, I +don't mind if I go."</p> + +<p>"That's a good fellow! I shall +make my arrangements this evening; +for the sooner we are off the better."</p> + +<p>Two days afterwards we were +steaming up the Rhine, a river which, +I trust, may persevere in its attempt +to redeem its ancient character. In +1848, when I visited Germany last, +you might just as well have navigated +the Phlegethon in so far as pleasure +was concerned. Those were the days +of barricades and of Frankfort murders—of +the obscene German Parliament, +as the junta of rogues, fanatics, and +imbeciles, who were assembled in St +Paul's Church, denominated themselves; +and of every phase and form +of political quackery and insurrection. +Now, however, matters were somewhat +mended. The star of Gagern +had waned. The popularity of the +Archduke John had exhaled like the +fume of a farthing candle. Hecker +and Struve were hanged, shot, or +expatriated; and the peaceably disposed +traveller could once more retire +to rest in his hotel, without being +haunted by a horrid suspicion that +ere morning some truculent waiter +might experiment upon the toughness +of his larynx. I was glad to +observe that the Frankforters appeared +a good deal humbled. They were +always a pestilent set; but during +the revolutionary year their insolence +rose to such a pitch that it was +hardly safe for a man of warm temperament +to enter a shop, lest he +should be provoked by the airs and +impertinence of the owner to commit +an assault upon Freedom in the person +of her democratic votary. I suspect +the Frankforters are now tolerably +aware that revolutions are the +reverse of profitable. They escaped +sack and pillage by a sheer miracle, +and probably they will not again +exert themselves, at least for a considerable +number of years, to hasten +the approach of a similar crisis.</p> + +<p>Everybody knows Homberg. On +one pretext or another—whether the +mineral springs, the baths, the gaiety, +or the gambling—the integral portions +of that tide of voyagers which +annually fluctuates through the Rheingau, +find their way to that pleasant +little pandemonium, and contribute, +I have no doubt, very largely to the +revenues of that high and puissant +monarch who rules over a population +not quite so large as that comprehended +within the boundaries of +Clackmannan. But various as its +visitors always are, and diverse in +language, habits, and morals, I +question whether Homberg ever exhibited +on any previous occasion so +queer and incongruous a mixture. +Doubtful counts, apocryphal barons, +and chevaliers of the extremest industry, +mingled with sleek Quakers, +Manchester reformers, and clerical +agitators of every imaginable species +of dissent. Then there were women, +for the most part of a middle age, +who, although their complexions +would certainly have been improved +by a course of the medicinal waters, +had evidently come to Homberg on a +higher and holier mission. There was +also a sprinkling of French deputies—Red +Republicans by principle, who, +if not the most ardent friends of pacification, +are at least the loudest in +their denunciation of standing armies—a +fair proportion of political exiles, +who found their own countries too +hot to hold them in consequence of +the caloric which they had been +the means of evoking—and one or two +of those unhappy personages, whose +itch for notoriety is greater than +their modicum of sense. We were +not long in finding Mr Peter Pettigrew. +He was solacing himself +in the gardens, previous to the table-d'hôte, +by listening to the exhilarating +strains of the brass band which +was performing a military march; +and by his side was a lady attired, not +in the usual costume of her sex, but in +a polka jacket and wide trousers, +which gave her all the appearance of +a veteran duenna of a seraglio. Uncle +Peter, however, beamed upon her as +tenderly as though she were a Circassian +captive. To this lady, by name +Miss Lavinia Latchley, an American +authoress of much renown, and a +decided champion of the rights of +woman, we were presented in due +form. After the first greetings were +over, Mr Pettigrew opened the +trenches.</p> + +<p>"So Jack, my boy, you have come +to Homberg to see how we carry on +the war, eh? No—Lord forgive me—that's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[364]</a></span> +not what I mean. We don't +intend to carry on any kind of war: +we mean to put it down—clap the +extinguisher upon it, you know; and +have done with all kinds of cannons. +Bad thing, gunpowder! I once sustained +a heavy loss by sending out a +cargo of it to Sierra Leone."</p> + +<p>"I should have thought that a +paying speculation," observed Jack.</p> + +<p>"Not a whit of it! The cruisers +spoiled the trade; and the missionaries—confound +them for meddling +with matters which they did not +understand!—had patched up a peace +among the chiefs of the cannibals; +so that for two years there was +not a slave to be had for love or +money, and powder went down a +hundred and seventy per cent."</p> + +<p>"Such are the effects," remarked +Miss Latchley with a sarcastic smile, +which disclosed a row of teeth as +yellow as the buds of the crocus—"such +are the effects of an ill regulated +and unphilosophical yearning after +the visionary theories of an unopportune +emancipation! Oh that men, +instead of squandering their sympathies +upon the lower grades of creation, +would emancipate themselves +from that network of error and prejudice +which reticulates over the whole +surface of society, and by acknowledging +the divine mission and hereditary +claims of woman, construct a +new, a fairer Eden than any which +was fabled to exist within the confines +of the primitive Chaldæa!"</p> + +<p>"Very true, indeed, ma'am!" +replied Mr Pettigrew; "there is a +great deal of sound sense and observation +in what you say. But Jack—I +hope you intend to become a member +of Congress at once. I shall +be glad to present you at our afternoon +meeting in the character of a +converted officer."</p> + +<p>"You are very good, uncle, I am +sure," said Wilkinson, "but I would +rather wait a little. I am certain +you would not wish me to take so +serious a step without mature deliberation; +and I hope that my +attendance here, in answer to your +summons, will convince you that I am +at least open to conviction. In fact, +I wish to hear the argument of your +friends before I come to a definite +decision."</p> + +<p>"Very right, Jack; very right!" +said Mr Pettigrew. "I don't like +converts at a minute's notice, as I +remarked to a certain M.P. when he +followed in the wake of Peel. Take +your time, and form your own judgment; +I cannot doubt of the result, if +you only listen to the arguments of +the leading men of Europe."</p> + +<p>"And do you reckon America as +nothing, dear Mr Pettigrew?" said +Miss Latchley. "Columbia may not +be able to contribute to the task so +practical and masculine an intellect as +yours, yet still within many a Transatlantic +bosom burns a hate of tyranny +not less intense, though perhaps less +corruscating, than your own."</p> + +<p>"I know it, I know it, dear Miss +Latchley!" replied the infatuated +Peter. "A word from you is at any +time worth a lecture, at least if I may +judge from the effects which your +magnificent eloquence has produced +on my own mind. Jack, I suppose +you have never had the privilege of +listening to the lectures of Miss +Latchley?"</p> + +<p>Jack modestly acknowledged the +gap which had been left in his education; +stating, at the same time, his +intense desire to have it filled up +at the first convenient opportunity. +Miss Latchley heaved a sigh.</p> + +<p>"I hope you do not flatter me," she +said, "as is too much the case with +men whose thoughts have been led +habitually to deviate from sincerity. +The worst symptom of the present +age lies in its acquiescence with axioms. +Free us from that, and we are free +indeed; perpetuate its thraldom, and +Truth, which is the daughter of Innocence +and Liberty, imps its wings +in vain, and cannot emancipate itself +from the pressure of that raiment +which was devised to impede its +glorious walk among the nations."</p> + +<p>Jack made no reply beyond a glance +at the terminations of the lady, which +showed that she at all events was resolved +that no extra raiment should +trammel her onward progress.</p> + +<p>As the customary hour of the table-d'hôte +was approaching, we separated, +Jack and I pledging ourselves to +attend the afternoon meeting of the +Peace Congress, for the purpose of +receiving our first lesson in the +mysteries of pacification.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[365]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, what do you think of that?" +said Jack, as Mr Pettigrew and the +Latchley walked off together. "Hang +me if I don't suspect that old harpy +in the breeches has a design on Uncle +Peter!"</p> + +<p>"Small doubt of that," said I; "and +you will find it rather a difficult job +to get him out of her clutches. Your +female philosopher adheres to her victim +with all the tenacity of a polecat."</p> + +<p>"Here is a pretty business!" groaned +Jack. "I'll tell you what it is—I +have more than half a mind to put an +end to it, by telling my uncle what I +think of his conduct, and then leaving +him to marry this harridan, and make +a further fool of himself in any way he +pleases!"</p> + +<p>"Don't be silly, Jack!" said I; +"It will be time enough to do that +after everything else has failed; and, +for my own part, I see no reason to +despair. In the mean time, if you +please, let us secure places at the +dinner-table."</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER II.</h4> + +<p>"Dear friends and well-beloved +brothers! I wish from the bottom of +my heart that there was but one +universal language, so that the general +sentiments of love, equality, and fraternity, +which animate the bosoms of +all the pacificators and detesters of +tyranny throughout the world, might +find a simultaneous echo in your ears, +by the medium of a common speech. +The diversity of dialects, which now +unfortunately prevails, was originally +invented under cover of the feudal +system, by the minions of despotism, +who thought, by such despicable means, +for ever to perpetuate their power. +It is part of the same system which +decrees that in different countries +alien to each other in speech, those +unhappy persons who have sold themselves +to do the bidding of tyrants +shall be distinguished by different +uniforms. O my brothers! see what +a hellish and deep-laid system is here! +English and French—scarlet against +blue—different tongues invented, and +different garments prescribed, to inflame +the passions of mankind against +each other, and to stifle their common +fraternity!</p> + +<p>"Take down, I say, from your halls +and churches those wretched tatters +of silk which you designate as national +colours! Bring hither, from all parts +of the earth, the butt of the gun and +the shaft of the spear, and all combustible +implements of destruction—your +fascines, your scaling-ladders, +and your terrible pontoons, that have +made so many mothers childless! +Heap them into one enormous pile—yea, +heap them to the very stars—and +on that blazing altar let there be +thrown the Union Jack of Britain, +the tricolor of France, the eagles of +Russia, Austria, and Prussia, the +American stripes and stars, and every +other banner and emblem of that accursed +nationality, through which alone +mankind is defrauded of his birthright. +Then let all men join hands together, +and as they dance around the reeking +pile, let them in one common speech +chaunt a simultaneous hymn in honour +of their universal deliverance, and in +commemoration of their cosmopolitan +triumph!</p> + +<p>"O my brothers, O my brothers! +what shall I say further? Ha! I +will not address myself to you whose +hearts are already kindled within you +by the purest of spiritual flames. I +will uplift my voice, and in words of +thunder exhort the debased minions of +tyranny to arouse themselves ere it +be too late, and to shake off those +fetters which they wear for the purpose +of enslaving others. Hear me, +then, ye soldiers!—hear me, ye +degraded serfs!—hear me, ye monsters +of iniquity! Oh, if the earth could +speak, what a voice would arise out +of its desolate battle-fields, to testify +against you and yours! Tell us not +that you have fought for freedom. +Was freedom ever won by the sword? +Tell us not that you have defended +your country's rights, for in the eye +of the true philosopher there is no +country save one, and that is the +universal earth, to which all have an +equal claim. Shelter not yourselves, +night-prowling hyenas as you are, +under such miserable pretexts as +these! Hie ye to the charnel-houses, +ye bats, ye vampires, ye ravens, ye +birds of the foulest omen! Strive, if +you can, in their dark recesses, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[366]</a></span> +hide yourselves from the glare of that +light which is now permeating the +world. O the dawn! O the glory! O +the universal illumination! See, my +brothers, how they shrink, how they +flee from its cheering influence! +Tremble, minions of despotism! Your +race is run, your very empires are +tottering around you. See—with one +grasp I crush them all, as I crush +this flimsy scroll!"</p> + +<p>Here the eloquent gentleman, having +made a paper ball of the last +number of the <i lang="de" xml:lang="de">Allgemeine Zeitung</i>, +sate down amidst the vociferous +applause of the assembly. He was +the first orator who had spoken, and +I believe had been selected to lead +the van on account of his platform +experience, which was very great. I +cannot say, however, that his arguments +produced entire conviction upon +my mind, or that of my companion, +judging from certain muttered adjurations +which fell from Wilkinson, to +the effect that on the first convenient +opportunity he would take means to +make the crumpler-up of nations +atone for his scurrilous abuse of the +army. We were next favoured with +addresses in Sclavonian, German, and +French; and then another British +orator came forward to enlighten the +public. This last was a fellow of +some fancy. Avoiding all stale +topics about despotism, aristocracies, +and standing armies, he went to the +root of the matter, by asserting that +in Vegetarianism alone lay the true +escape from the horrors and miseries +of war. Mr Belcher—for such was +the name of this distinguished philanthropist—opined +that without beef and +mutton there never could be a battle.</p> + +<p>"Had Napoleon," said he, "been +dieted from his youth upwards upon +turnips, the world would have been +spared those scenes of butchery, +which must ever remain a blot upon +the history of the present century. +One of our oldest English annalists +assures us that Jack Cade, than whom, +perhaps, there never breathed a more +uncompromising enemy of tyranny, +subsisted entirely upon spinach. This +fact has been beautifully treated by +Shakspeare, whose passion for onions +was proverbial, in his play of Henry +VI., wherein he represents Cade, immediately +before his death, as engaged +in the preparation of a salad. I myself," +continued Mr Belcher in a +slightly flatulent tone, "can assure +this honourable company, that for more +than six months I have cautiously +abstained from using any other kind +of food, except broccoli, which I find +at once refreshing and laxative, light, +airy, and digestible!"</p> + +<p>Mr Belcher having ended, a bearded +gentleman, who enjoyed the reputation +of being the most notorious duellist in +Europe, rose up for the purpose of +addressing the audience; but by this +time the afternoon was considerably +advanced, and a large number of the +Congress had silently seceded to +the <em>roulette</em> and <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">rouge-et-noir</i> tables. +Among these, to my great surprise, +were Miss Latchley and Mr Pettigrew: +it being, as I afterwards understood, +the invariable practice of this +gifted lady, whenever she could secure +a victim, to avail herself of his pecuniary +resources; so that if fortune +declared against her, the gentleman +stood the loss, whilst, in the opposite +event, she retained possession of the +spoil. I daresay some of my readers +may have been witnesses to a similar +arrangement.</p> + +<p>As it was no use remaining after +the departure of Mr Pettigrew, Wilkinson +and I sallied forth for a stroll, +not, as you may well conceive, in a +high state of enthusiasm or rapture.</p> + +<p>"I would not have believed," said +Wilkinson, "unless I had seen it with +my own eyes, that it was possible to +collect in one room so many samples +of absolute idiocy. What a pleasant +companion that Belcher fellow, who +eats nothing but broccoli, must be!"</p> + +<p>"A little variety in the way of +peas would probably render him perfect. +But what do you say to the +first orator?"</p> + +<p>"I shall reserve the expression of +my opinion," replied Jack, "until I +have the satisfaction of meeting that +gentleman in private. But how are +we to proceed? With this woman in +the way, it entirely baffles my comprehension."</p> + +<p>"Do you know, Jack, I was thinking +of that during the whole time of +the meeting; and it does appear to +me that there is a way open by which +we may precipitate the crisis. Mind—I +don't answer for the success of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[367]</a></span> +my scheme, but it has at least the +merit of simplicity."</p> + +<p>"Out with it, my dear fellow! I +am all impatience," cried Jack.</p> + +<p>"Well, then," said I, "did you +remark the queer and heterogeneous +nature of the company? I don't +think, if you except the Quakers, who +have the generic similarity of eels, +that you could have picked out any +two individuals with a tolerable resemblance +to each other."</p> + +<p>"That's likely enough, for they +are a most seedy set. But what of +it?"</p> + +<p>"Why, simply this: I suspect the +majority of them are political refugees. +No person, who is not an +absurd fanatic or a designing demagogue, +can have any sympathy +with the nonsense which is talked +against governments and standing +armies. The Red Republicans, of +whom I can assure you there are plenty +in every state in Europe, are naturally +most desirous to get rid of the latter, +by whom they are held in check; and +if that were once accomplished, no +kind of government could stand for +a single day. They are now appealing, +as they call it, to public opinion, +by means of these congresses and +gatherings; and they have contrived, +under cover of a zeal for universal +peace, to induce a considerable number +of weak and foolish people to join with +them in a cry which is simply the +forerunner of revolution."</p> + +<p>"All that I understand; but I +don't quite see your drift."</p> + +<p>"Every one of these bearded +vagabonds hates the other like poison. +Talk of fraternity, indeed! They want +to have revolution first; and if they +could get it, you would see them +flying at each other's throats like a +pack of wild dogs that have pulled +down a deer. Now, my plan is this: +Let us have a supper-party, and +invite a deputy from each nation. +My life upon it, that before they have +been half-an-hour together, there will +be such a row among the fraternisers +as will frighten your uncle Peter out +of his senses, or, still better, out of +his present crotchet."</p> + +<p>"A capital idea! But how shall +we get hold of the fellows?"</p> + +<p>"That's not very difficult. They +are at this moment hard at work at +roulette, and they will come readily +enough to the call if you promise them +lots of Niersteiner."</p> + +<p>"By George! they shall have it +in bucketfuls, if that can produce the +desired effect. I say—we must positively +have that chap who abused +the army."</p> + +<p>"I think it would be advisable to +let him alone. I would rather stick +to the foreigners."</p> + +<p>"O, by Jove, we must have him. +I have a slight score to settle, for +the credit of the service!"</p> + +<p>"Well, but be cautious. Recollect +the great matter is to leave our guests +to themselves."</p> + +<p>"Never fear me. I shall take care +to keep within due bounds. Now +let us look after Uncle Peter."</p> + +<p>We found that respected individual +in a state of high glee. His own +run of luck had not been extraordinary; +but the Latchley, who +appeared to possess a sort of second-sight +in fixing on the fortunate +numbers, had contrived to accumulate +a perfect mountain of dollars, to the +manifest disgust of a profane Quaker +opposite, who, judging from the +violence of his language, had been +thoroughly cleaned out. Mr Pettigrew +agreed at once to the proposal for a +supper-party, which Jack excused +himself for making, on the ground +that he had a strong wish to cultivate +the personal acquaintance of the +gentlemen, who, in the event of his +joining the Peace Society, would +become his brethren. After some +pressing, Mr Pettigrew agreed to take +the chair, his nephew officiating as +croupier. Miss Lavinia Latchley, so +soon as she learned what was in contemplation, +made a strong effort to +be allowed to join the party; but, +notwithstanding her assertion of the +unalienable rights of woman to be +present on all occasions of social +hilarity, Jack would not yield; and +even Pettigrew seemed to think that +there were times and seasons when +the female countenance might be withheld +with advantage. We found no +difficulty whatever in furnishing the +complement of the guests. There +were seventeen of us in all—four +Britons, two Frenchmen, a Hungarian, +a Lombard, a Piedmontese, a +Sicilian, a Neapolitan, a Roman, an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[368]</a></span> +Austrian, a Prussian, a Dane, a +Dutchman, and a Yankee. The majority +exhibited beards of startling +dimension, and few of them appeared +to regard soap in the light of a justifiable +luxury.</p> + +<p>Pettigrew made an admirable chairman. +Although not conversant with +any language save his own, he contrived, +by means of altering the terminations +of his words, to carry on a +very animated conversation with all +his neighbours. His Italian was +superb, his Danish above par, and +his Sclavonic, to say the least of it, +passable. The viands were good, +and the wine abundant; so that, by +the time pipes were produced, we +were all tolerably hilarious. The +conversation, which at first was general, +now took a political turn; and +very grievous it was to listen to the +tales of the outrages which some of +the company had sustained at the +hands of tyrannical governments.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you what it is, gentlemen," +said one of the Frenchmen, +"republics are not a whit better than +monarchies, in so far as the liberty of +the people is concerned. Here am I +obliged to leave France, because I was +a friend of that gallant fellow, Ledru +Rollin, whom I hope one day to see +at the head of a real Socialist government. +Ah, won't we set the guillotine +once more in motion then!"</p> + +<p>"Property is theft," remarked the +Neapolitan, sententiously.</p> + +<p>"I calculate, my fine chap, that +you han't many dollars of your own, +if you're of that way of thinking!" +said the Yankee, considerably scandalised +at this indifference to the rule +of <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">meum</i> and <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">tuum</i>.</p> + +<p>"O Roma!" sighed the gentleman +from the eternal city, who was rather +intoxicated.</p> + +<p>"<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Peste!</i> What is the matter with +it?" asked one of the Frenchmen. +"I presume it stands where it always +did. <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Garçon—un petit verre de rhom!</i>"</p> + +<p>"How can Rome be what it was, +when it is profaned by the foot of the +stranger?" replied he of the Papal +States.</p> + +<p>"<em>Ah, bah!</em> You never were better +off than under the rule of Oudinot."</p> + +<p>"You are a German," said the +Hungarian to the Austrian; "what +think you of our brave Kossuth?"</p> + +<p>"I consider him a pragmatical ass," +replied the Austrian curtly.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps in that case," interposed +the Lombard, with a sneer that might +have done credit to Mephistopheles, +"the gentleman may feel inclined to +palliate the conduct of that satrap of +tyranny, Radetski?"</p> + +<p>"What!—old father Radetski! the +victor in a hundred fights!" cried the +Austrian. "That will I; and spit in +the face of any cowardly Italian who +dares to breathe a word against his +honour!"</p> + +<p>The Italian clutched his knife.</p> + +<p>"Hold there!" cried the Piedmontese, +who seemed really a decent +sort of fellow. "None of your stiletto +work here! Had you Lombards +trusted more to the bayonet and less +to the knife, we might have given +another account of the Austrian in +that campaign, which cost Piedmont +its king!"</p> + +<p>"<em>Carlo Alberto!</em>" hissed the Lombard, +"<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">sceleratissimo traditore!</i>"</p> + +<p>The reply of the Piedmontese was +a pie-dish, which prostrated the Lombard +on the floor.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen! gentlemen! for +Heaven's sake be calm!" screamed +Pettigrew; "remember we are all +brothers!"</p> + +<p>"Brothers!" roared the Dane, +"do ye think I would fraternise with +a Prussian? Remember Schleswig +Holstein!"</p> + +<p>"I am perfectly calm," said the +Prussian, with the stiff formality of +his nation; "I never quarrel over the +generous vintage of my fatherland. +Come—let me give you a song—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Sie sollen ihm nicht haben<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Den Deutschen freien Rhein.'"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"You never were more mistaken +in your life, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">mon cher</i>," said one of +the Frenchmen, brusquely. "Before +twelve months are over we shall see +who has right to the Rhine!"</p> + +<p>"Ay, that is true!" remarked the +Dutchman; "confound these Germans—they +wanted to annex Luxembourg."</p> + +<p>"What says the frog?" asked the +Prussian contemptuously.</p> + +<p>The frog said nothing, but he hit +the Prussian on the teeth.</p> + +<p>I despair of giving even a feeble +impression of the scene which took<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[369]</a></span> +place. No single pair of ears was +sufficient to catch one fourth of the +general discord. There was first an +interchange of angry words; then an +interchange of blows; and immediately +after, the guests were rolling, +in groups of twos and threes, as +suited their fancy, or the adjustment +of national animosities, on the ground. +The Lombard rose not again; the +pie-dish had quieted him for the +night. But the Sicilian and Neapolitan +lay locked in deadly combat, +each attempting with intense animosity +to bite off the other's nose. +The Austrian caught the Hungarian +by the throat, and held him till he +was black in the face. The Dane +pommelled the Prussian. One of the +Frenchmen broke a bottle over the +head of the subject of the Pope; +whilst his friend, thirsting for the +combat, attempted in vain to insult +the remaining non-belligerents. The +Dutchman having done all that honour +required, smoked in mute tranquillity. +Meanwhile the cries of +Uncle Peter were heard above the +din of battle, entreating a cessation +of hostilities. He might as well have +preached to the storm—the row grew +fiercer every moment.</p> + +<p>"This is a disgusting spectacle!" +said the orator from Manchester. +"These men cannot be true pacificators—they +must have served in the +army."</p> + +<p>"That reminds me, old fellow!" +said Jack, turning up the cuffs of his +coat with a very ominous expression +of countenance, "that you were +pleased this morning to use some +impertinent expressions with regard +to the British army. Do you adhere +to what you said then?"</p> + +<p>"I do."</p> + +<p>"Then up with your mauleys; +for, by the Lord Harry! I intend to +have satisfaction out of your carcase!"</p> + +<p>And in less than a minute the +Manchester apostle dropped with +both his eyes bunged up, and did not +come to time.</p> + +<p>"Stranger!" said the Yankee to +the Piedmontese, "are you inclined +for a turn at gouging? This child +feels wolfish to raise hair!" But, to +his credit be it said, the Piedmontese +declined the proposal with a +polite bow. Meanwhile the uproar +had attracted the attention of the +neighbourhood. Six or seven men in +uniform, whom I strongly suspect +to have been members of the brass +band, entered the apartment armed +with bayonets, and carried off the +more obstreperous of the party to the +guard-house. The others immediately +retired, and at last Jack and +I were left alone with Mr Pettigrew.</p> + +<p>"And this," said he, after a considerable +pause, "is fraternity and +peace! These are the men who +intended to commence the reign of the +millennium in Europe! Giver me your +hand, Jack, my dear boy—you shan't +leave the army—nay, if you do, rely +upon it I shall cut you off with a +shilling, and mortify my fortune to +the Woolwich hospital. I begin to +see that I am an old fool. Stop a +moment. Here is a bottle of wine +that has fortunately escaped the devastation—fill +your glasses, and let +us dedicate a full bumper to the +health of the Duke of Wellington."</p> + +<p>I need hardly say that the toast +was responded to with enthusiasm. +We finished not only that bottle, but +another; and I had the satisfaction +of hearing Mr Pettigrew announce to +my friend Wilkinson that the purchase-money +for his company would +be forthcoming at Coutts's before he +was a fortnight older.</p> + +<p>"I won't affect to deny," said +Uncle Peter, "that this is a great disappointment +to me. I had hoped +better things of human nature; but I +now perceive that I was wrong. +Good night, my dear boys! I am a +good deal agitated, as you may see; +and perhaps this sour wine has not +altogether agreed with me—I had +better have taken brandy and water. +I shall seek refuge on my pillow, and +I trust we may soon meet again!"</p> + +<p>"What did the venerable Peter +mean by that impressive farewell?" +said I, after the excellent old man +had departed, shaking his head +mournfully as he went.</p> + +<p>"O, nothing at all," said Jack; +"only the Niersteiner has been +rather too potent for him. Have you +any sticking-plaster about you? I +have damaged my knuckles a little +on the <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">os frontis</i> of that eloquent +pacificator."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[370]</a></span></p> + +<p>Next morning I was awoke about +ten o'clock by Jack, who came rushing +into my room.</p> + +<p>"He's off!" he cried.</p> + +<p>"Who's off?" said I.</p> + +<p>"Uncle Peter; and, what is far +worse, he has taken Miss Latchley +with him!"</p> + +<p>"Impossible!"</p> + +<p>However, it was perfectly true. On +inquiry we found that the enamored +pair had left at six in the morning.</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER III.</h4> + +<p>"Well, Jack," said I, "any tidings +of Uncle Peter?" as Wilkinson entered +my official apartment in London, six +weeks after the dissolution of the +Congress.</p> + +<p>"Why, yes—and the case is rather +worse than I supposed," replied Jack +despondingly.</p> + +<p>"You don't mean to say that he +has married that infernal woman in +pantaloons?"</p> + +<p>"Not quite so bad as that, but very +nearly. She has carried him off to +her den; and what she may make of +him there, it is quite impossible to +predict."</p> + +<p>"Her den? Has she actually inveigled +him to America?"</p> + +<p>"Not at all. These kind of women +have stations established over the +whole face of the earth."</p> + +<p>"Where, then, is he located?"</p> + +<p>"I shall tell you. In the course of +my inquiries, which, you are aware, +were rather extensive, I chanced to +fall in with a Yarmouth Bloater."</p> + +<p>"A what?"</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon—I meant to +say a Plymouth Brother. Now, these +fellows are a sort of regular kidnappers, +who lie in wait to catch up any +person of means and substance: they +don't meddle with paupers, for, as +you are aware, they share their property +in common: and it occurred to +me rather forcibly, that by means of +my friend, who was a regular trapping +missionary, I might learn something +about my uncle. It cost me an immensity +of brandy to elicit the information; +but at last I succeeded in +bringing out the fact, that my uncle +is at this moment the inmate of an +Agapedome in the neighbourhood of +Southampton, and that the Latchley +is his appointed keeper."</p> + +<p>"An Agapedome!—what the mischief +is that?"</p> + +<p>"You may well ask," said Jack; +"but I won't give it a coarser name. +However, from all I can learn, it is +as bad as a Mormonite institution."</p> + +<p>"And what the deuce may they +intend to do with him, now they have +him in their power?"</p> + +<p>"Fleece him out of every sixpence +of property which he possesses in the +world," replied Jack.</p> + +<p>"That won't do, Jack! We must +get him out by some means or other."</p> + +<p>"I suspect it would be an easier +job to scale a nunnery. So far as I +can learn, they admit no one into +their premises, unless they have hopes +of catching him as a convert; and I +am afraid that neither you nor I have +the look of likely pupils. Besides, +the Latchley could not fail to recognise +me in a moment."</p> + +<p>"That's true enough," said I. "I +think, however, that I might escape +detection by a slight alteration of +attire. The lady did not honour me +with much notice during the half-hour +we spent in her company. I must +own, however, that I should not like +to go alone."</p> + +<p>"My dear friend!" cried Jack, "if +you will really be kind enough to +oblige me in this matter, I know the +very man to accompany you. Rogers +of ours is in town just now. He is +a famous follow—rather fast, perhaps, +and given to larking—but as true as +steel. You shall meet him to-day at +dinner, and then we can arrange our +plans."</p> + +<p>I must own that I did not feel very +sanguine of success this time. Your +genuine rogue is the most suspicious +character on the face of the earth, +wide awake to a thousand little discrepancies +which would escape the +observation of the honest; and I felt +perfectly convinced that the superintendent +of the Agapedome was +likely to prove a rogue of the first +water. Then I did not see my way +clearly to the characters which we +ought to assume. Of course it was +no use for me to present myself as a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[371]</a></span> +scion of the Woods and Forests; I +should be treated as a Government +spy, and have the door slapped in +my face. To appear as an emissary +of the Jesuits would be dangerous; +that body being well known for their +skill in annexing property. In +short, I came to the conclusion, that +unless I could work upon the cupidity +of the head Agapedomian, there was +no chance whatever of effecting Mr +Pettigrew's release. To this point, +therefore, I resolved to turn my attention.</p> + +<p>At dinner, according to agreement, +I met Rogers of ours. Rogers was not +gifted with any powerful inventive +faculties; but he was a fine specimen of +the British breed, ready to take a hand +at anything which offered a prospect +of fun. You would not probably +have selected him as a leading conspirator; +but, though no Macchiavelli, +he appeared most valuable as an +accomplice.</p> + +<p>Our great difficulty was to pitch +upon proper characters. After much +discussion, it was resolved that Rogers +of ours should appear as a young +nobleman of immense wealth, but +exceedingly eccentric habits, and that +I should act as bear-leader, with an +eye to my own interest. What we +were to do when we should succeed +in getting admission to the establishment, +was not very clear to the perception +of any of us. We resolved +to be regulated entirely by circumstances, +the great point being the +rescue of Mr Peter Pettigrew.</p> + +<p>Accordingly, we all started for +Southampton on the following morning. +On arriving there, we were informed +that the Agapedome was situated +some three miles from the town, and +that the most extraordinary legends +of the habits and pursuits of its inmates +were current in the neighbourhood. +Nobody seemed to know exactly +what the Agapedomians were. +They seemed to constitute a tolerably +large society of persons, both male +and female; but whether they were +Christians, Turks, Jews, or Mahometans, +was matter of exceeding disputation. +They were known, however +to be rich, and occasionally went +out airing in carriages-and-four—the +women all wearing pantaloons, to +the infinite scandal of the peasantry. +So far as we could learn, no gentleman +answering to the description of Mr +Pettigrew had been seen among them.</p> + +<p>After agreeing to open communications +with Jack as speedily as possible, +and emptying a bottle of champagne +towards the success of our +expedition, Rogers and I started in +a postchaise for the Agapedome. +Rogers was curiously arrayed in garments +of chequered plaid, a mere +glance at which would have gone far +to impress any spectator with a strong +notion of his eccentricity; whilst, for +my part, I had donned a suit of black, +and assumed a massive pair of gold +spectacles, and a beaver with a portentous +rim.</p> + +<p>This Agapedome was a large building +surrounded by a high wall, and +looked, upon the whole, like a convent. +Deeming it prudent to ascertain +how the land lay before introducing +the eccentric Rogers, I requested that +gallant individual to remain in the +postchaise, whilst I solicited an interview +with Mr Aaron B. Hyams, the +reputed chief of the establishment. +The card I sent in was inscribed with +the name of Dr Hiram Smith, which +appeared to me a sufficiently innocuous +appellation. After some delay, +I was admitted through a very +strong gateway into the courtyard; +and was then conducted by a servant +in a handsome livery to a library, +where I was received by Mr Hyams.</p> + +<p>As the Agapedome has since been +broken up, and its members dispersed, +it may not be uninteresting to put on +record a slight sketch of its founder. +Judging from his countenance, the progenitors +of Mr Aaron B. Hyams must +have been educated in the Jewish +persuasion. His nose and lip possessed +that graceful curve which is so characteristic +of the Hebrew race; and +his eye, if not altogether of that kind +which the poets designate as "eagle," +might not unaptly be compared to +that of the turkey-buzzard. In certain +circles of society Mr Hyams +would have been esteemed a handsome +man. In the doorway of a warehouse +in Holywell Street he would +have committed large havoc on the +hearts of the passing Leahs and +Dalilahs—for he was a square-built +powerful man, with broad shoulders +and bandy legs, and displayed on his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[372]</a></span> +person as much ostentatious jewellery +as though he had been concerned in +a new spoiling of the Egyptians. +Apparently he was in a cheerful +mood; for before him stood a half-emptied +decanter of wine, and an +odour as of recently extinguished +Cubas was agreeably disseminated +through the apartment.</p> + +<p>"Dr Hiram Smith, I presume?" +said he. "Well, Dr Hiram Smith, +to what fortunate circumstance am +I indebted for the honour of this +visit?"</p> + +<p>"Simply, sir, to this," said I, "that +I want to know you, and know about +you. Nobody without can tell me +precisely what your Agapedome is, +so I have come for information to +headquarters. I have formed my +own conclusion. If I am wrong, there +is no harm done; if I am right, we +may be able to make a bargain."</p> + +<p>"Hallo!" cried Hyams, taken +rather aback by this curt style of +exordium, "you are a rum customer, +I reckon. So you want to deal, do +ye? Well then, tell us what sort of +doctor you may be? No use standing +on ceremony with a chap like you. +Is it M.D. or LL.D. or D.D., or a +mere walking-stick title?"</p> + +<p>"The title," said I, "is conventional; +so you may attribute it to any +origin you please. In brief, I want +to know if I can board a pupil here?"</p> + +<p>"That depends entirely upon circumstances," +replied Hyams. "Who +and what is the subject?"</p> + +<p>"A young nobleman of the highest +distinction, but of slightly eccentric +habits." Here Hyams pricked up his +ears. "I am not authorised to tell +his name; but otherwise, you shall +have the most satisfactory references."</p> + +<p>"There is only one kind of reference +I care about," interrupted +Hyams, imitating at the same time +the counting out of imaginary sovereigns +into his palm.</p> + +<p>"So much the better—there will +be trouble saved," said I. "I perceive, +Mr Hyams, you are a thorough +man of business. In a word, then, +my pupil has been going it too fast."</p> + +<p>"Flying kites and post-obits?"</p> + +<p>"And all the rest of it," said I; +"black-legs innumerable, and no end +of scrapes in the green-room. Things +have come to such a pass that his +father, the Duke, insists on his being +kept out of the way at present; and, +as taking him to Paris would only +make matters worse, it occurred to +me that I might locate him for a +time in some quiet but cheerful establishment, +where he could have his +reasonable swing, and no questions +asked."</p> + +<p>"Dr Hiram Smith!" cried Hyams +with enthusiasm, "you're a regular +trump! I wish all the noblemen +in England would look out for tutors +like you."</p> + +<p>"You are exceedingly complimentary, +Mr Hyams. And now that you +know my errand, may I ask what the +Agapedome is?"</p> + +<p>"The Home of Love," replied +Hyams; "at least so I was told by +the Oxford gent, to whom I gave +half-a-guinea for the title."</p> + +<p>"And your object?"</p> + +<p>"A pleasant retreat—comfortable +home—no sort of bother of ceremony—innocent +attachments encouraged—and, +in the general case, community +of goods."</p> + +<p>"Of which latter, I presume, Mr +Hyams is the sole administrator?"</p> + +<p>"Right again, Doctor!" said +Hyams with a leer of intelligence; +"no use beating about the bush with +you, I perceive. A single cashier for +the whole concern saves a world of +unnecessary trouble. Then, you see, +we have our little matrimonial arrangements. +A young lady in search +of an eligible domicile comes here +and deposits her fortune. We provide +her by-and-by with a husband of +suitable tastes, so that all matters are +arranged comfortably. No luxury or +enjoyment is denied to the inmates of +the establishment, which may be +compared, in short, to a perfect +aviary, in which you hear nothing +from morning to evening save one +continuous sound of billing and cooing."</p> + +<p>"You draw a fascinating picture, +Mr Hyams," said I: "too fascinating, +in fact; for, after what you have +said, I doubt whether I should be fulfilling +my duty to my noble patron +the Duke, were I to expose his heir +to the influence of such powerful +temptations."</p> + +<p>"Don't be in the least degree<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[373]</a></span> +alarmed about that," said Hyams. +"I shall take care that in this case +there is no chance of marriage. +Harkye, Doctor, it is rather against +our rules to admit parlour boarders; +but I don't mind doing it in this case, +if you agree to my terms, which are +one hundred and twenty guineas per +month."</p> + +<p>"On the part of the Duke," said I, +"I anticipate no objection; nor shall +I refuse your stamped receipts at that +rate. But as I happen to be paymaster, +I shall certainly not give you +in exchange for each of them more +than seventy guineas, which will leave +you a very pretty profit over and +above your expenses."</p> + +<p>"What a screw you are, Doctor!" +cried Hyams. "Would you have the +conscience to pocket fifty for nothing? +Come, come—make it eighty and it's +a bargain."</p> + +<p>"Seventy is my last word. Beard +of Mordecai, man! do you think I am +going to surrender this pigeon to your +hands gratis? Have I not told you +already that he has a natural turn for +<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">ecarté</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Ah, Doctor, Doctor! you must +be one of our people—you must indeed!" +said Hyams. "Well, is it a +bargain?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet," said I. "In common +decency, and for the sake of appearances, +I must stay for a couple of +days in the house, in order that I may +be able to give a satisfactory report +to the Duke. By the way, I hope +everything is quite orthodox here—nothing +contrary to the tenets of the +church?"</p> + +<p>"O quite," replied Hyams; "it is +a beautiful establishment in point of +order. The bell rings every day +punctually at four o'clock."</p> + +<p>"For prayers?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir—for hockey. We find +that a little lively exercise gives a +cheerful tone to the mind, and promotes +those animal spirits which are +the peculiar boast of the Agapedome."</p> + +<p>"I am quite satisfied," said I. +"So now, if you please, I shall introduce +my pupil."</p> + +<p>I need not dwell minutely upon the +particulars of the interview which +took place between Rogers of ours +and the superintendent of the Agapedome. +Indeed there is little to +record. Rogers received the intimation +that this was to be his residence +for a season with the utmost nonchalance, +simply remarking that he +thought it would be rather slow; and +then, by way of keeping up his character, +filled himself a bumper of +sherry. Mr Hyams regarded him as +a spider might do when some unknown +but rather powerful insect +comes within the precincts of his net.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Rogers, "since it +seems I am to be quartered here, +what sort of fun is to be had? Any +racket-court, eh?"</p> + +<p>"I am sorry to say, my Lord, ours +is not built as yet. But at four +o'clock we shall have hockey—"</p> + +<p>"Hang hockey! I have no fancy +for getting my shins bruised. Any +body in the house except myself?"</p> + +<p>"If your Lordship would like to +visit the ladies—"</p> + +<p>"Say no more!" cried Rogers impetuously. +"I shall manage to kill +time now! 'Hallo, you follow with +the shoulder-knot! show me the way +to the drawing-room;" and Rogers +straightway disappeared.</p> + +<p>"Doctor Hiram Smith!" said +Hyams, looking rather discomposed, +"this is most extraordinary conduct +on the part of your pupil."</p> + +<p>"Not at all extraordinary, I assure +you," I replied; "I told you he was +rather eccentric, but at present he is +in a peculiarly quiet mood. Wait +till you see his animal spirits up!"</p> + +<p>"Why, he'll be the ruin of the +Agapedome!" cried Hyams; "I cannot +possibly permit this."</p> + +<p>"It will rather puzzle you to stop +it," said I.</p> + +<p>Here a faint squall, followed by a +sound of suppressed giggling, was +heard in the passage without.</p> + +<p>"Holy Moses!" cried the Agapedomian, +starting up, "if Mrs Hyams +should happen to be there!"</p> + +<p>"You may rely upon it she will +very soon become accustomed to his +Lordship's eccentricities. Why, you +told me you admitted of no sort of +bother or ceremony."</p> + +<p>"Yes—but a joke maybe carried +too far. As I live, he is pursuing one +of the ladies down stairs into the +courtyard!"</p> + +<p>"Is he?" said I; "then you may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[374]</a></span> +be tolerably certain he will overtake +her."</p> + +<p>"Surely some of the servants will +stop him!" cried Hyams, rushing to +the window. "Yes—here comes one +of them. Father Abraham! is it possible? +He has knocked Adoniram +down!"</p> + +<p>"Nothing more likely," said I; +"his Lordship had lessons from Mendoza."</p> + +<p>"I must look to this myself," cried +Hyams.</p> + +<p>"Then I'll follow and see fair +play," said I.</p> + +<p>We rushed into the court; but by +this time it was empty. The pursued +and the pursuer—Daphne and Apollo—had +taken flight into the garden. +Thither we followed them, Hyams +red with ire; but no trace was seen +of the fugitives. At last in an acacia +bower we heard murmurs. Hyams +dashed on; I followed; and there, to +my unutterable surprise, I beheld +Rogers of ours kneeling at the feet of +the Latchley!</p> + +<p>"Beautiful Lavinia!" he was saying, +just as we turned the corner.</p> + +<p>"Sister Latchley!" cried Hyams, +"what is the meaning of all this?"</p> + +<p>"Rather let me ask, brother Hyams," +said the Latchley in unabashed +serenity, "what means this intrusion, +so foreign to the time, and so subversive +of the laws of our society?"</p> + +<p>"Shall I pound him, Lavinia?" said +Rogers, evidently anxious to discharge +a slight modicum of the debt which he +owed to the Jewish fraternity.</p> + +<p>"I command—I beseech you, no! +Speak, brother Hyams! I again require +of you to state why and wherefore +you have chosen to violate the +fundamental rules of the Agapedome?"</p> + +<p>"Sister Latchley, you will drive me +mad! This young man has not been +ten minutes in the house, and yet I +find him scampering after you like a +tom-cat, and knocking down Adoniram +because he came in his way, and +you are apparently quite pleased!"</p> + +<p>"Is the influence of love measured +by hours?" asked the Latchley in a +tone of deep sentiment. "Count we +electricity by time—do we mete out +sympathy by the dial? Brother +Hyams, were not your intellectual +vision obscured by a dull and earthly +film, you would know that the passage +of the lightning is not more rapid +than the flash of kindled love."</p> + +<p>"That sounds all very fine," said +Hyams, "but I shall allow no such +doings here; and you, in particular, +Sister Latchley, considering how you +are situated, ought to be ashamed of +yourself!"</p> + +<p>"Aaron, my man," said Rogers of +ours, "will you be good enough to +explain what you mean by making +such insinuations?"</p> + +<p>"Stay, my Lord," said I; "I really +must interpose. Mr Hyams is about +to explain."</p> + +<p>"May I never discount bill again," +cried the Jew, "if this is not enough +to make a man forswear the faith of +his fathers! Look you here, Miss +Latchley; you are part of the establishment, +and I expect you to obey +orders."</p> + +<p>"I was not aware, sir, until this +moment," said Miss Latchley, loftily, +"that I was subject to the orders of +any one."</p> + +<p>"Now, don't be a fool; there's a +dear!" said Hyams. "You know +well enough what I mean. Haven't +you enough on hand with Pettigrew, +without encumbering yourself—?" +and he stopped short.</p> + +<p>"It is a pity, sir," said Miss +Latchley, still more magnificently, +"it is a vast pity, that since you have +the meanness to invent falsehoods, +you cannot at the same time command +the courage to utter them. +Why am I thus insulted? Who is +this Pettigrew you speak of?"</p> + +<p>"Pettigrew—Pettigrew?" remarked +Rogers; "I say, Dr Smith, was +not that the name of the man who is +gone amissing, and for whose discovery +his friends are offering a reward?"</p> + +<p>Hyams started as if stung by an +adder. "Sister Latchley," he said, +"I fear I was in the wrong."</p> + +<p>"You have made the discovery +rather too late, Mr Hyams," replied +the irate Lavinia. "After the insults +you have heaped upon me, it is full +time we should part. Perhaps these +gentlemen will be kind enough to +conduct an unprotected female to a +temporary home."</p> + +<p>"If you will go, you go alone, +madam," said Hyams; "his Lordship +intends to remain here."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[375]</a></span></p> + +<p>"His Lordship intends to do nothing +of the sort, you rascal," said +Rogers. "Hockey don't agree with +my constitution."</p> + +<p>"Before I depart, Mr Hyams," +said Miss Latchley, "let me remark +that you are indebted to me in the +sum of two thousand pounds as my +share of the profits of the establishment. +Will you pay it now, or would +you prefer to wait till you hear from +my solicitor?"</p> + +<p>"Anything more?" asked the +Agapedomian.</p> + +<p>"Merely this," said I: "I am +now fully aware that Mr Peter Pettigrew +is detained within these walls. +Surrender him instantly, or prepare +yourself for the worst penalties of the +law."</p> + +<p>I made a fearful blunder in betraying +my secret before I was clear of +the premises, and the words had +scarcely passed my lips before I was +aware of my mistake. With the look +of a detected demon Hyams confronted +us.</p> + +<p>"Ho, ho! this is a conspiracy, is +it? But you have reckoned without +your host. Ho, there! Jonathan—Asahel! +close the doors, ring the +great bell, and let no man pass on +your lives! And now let's see what +stuff you are made of!"</p> + +<p>So saying, the ruffian drew a life-preserver +from his pocket, and struck +furiously at my head before I had +time to guard myself. But quick as +he was, Rogers of ours was quicker. +With his left hand he caught the arm +of Hyams as the blow descended, +whilst with the right he dealt him a +fearful blow on the temple, which +made the Hebrew stagger. But +Hyams, amongst his other accomplishments, +had practised in the ring. He +recovered himself almost immediately, +and rushed upon Rogers. Several +heavy hits were interchanged; and +there is no saying how the combat +might have terminated, but for the +presence of mind of the Latchley. +That gifted female, superior to the +weakness of her sex, caught up the +life-preserver from the ground, and +applied it so effectually to the back of +Hyams' skull, that he dropped like an +ox in the slaughter-house.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the alarum bell was +ringing—women were screaming at +the windows, from which also several +crazy-looking gentlemen were gesticulating; +and three or four truculent +Israelites were rushing through the +courtyard. The whole Agapedome +was in an uproar.</p> + +<p>"Keep together and fear nothing!" +cried Rogers. "I never stir on these +kind of expeditions without my +pistols. Smith—give your arm to +Miss Latchley, who has behaved like +the heroine of Saragossa; and now +let us see if any of these scoundrels +will venture to dispute our way!"</p> + +<p>But for the firearms which Rogers +carried, I suspect our egress would +have been disputed. Jonathan and +Asahel, red-headed ruffians both, +stood ready with iron bars in their +hands to oppose our exit; but a +glimpse of the bright glittering +barrel caused them to change their +purpose. Rogers commanded them, +on pain of instant death, to open the +door. They obeyed; and we emerged +from the Agapedome as joyfully as +the Ithacans from the cave of Polyphemus. +Fortunately the chaise was +still in waiting: we assisted Miss +Latchley in, and drove off, as fast as +the horses could gallop, to Southampton.</p> + + +<h4>CHAPTER IV.</h4> + +<p>"Is it possible they can have +murdered him?" said Jack.</p> + +<p>"That, I think," said I, "is highly +improbable. I rather imagine that +he has refused to conform to some of +the rules of the association, and has +been committed to the custody of +Messrs Jonathan and Asahel."</p> + +<p>"Shall I ask Lavinia?" said +Rogers. "I daresay she would tell +me all about it."</p> + +<p>"Better not," said I, "in the +mean time. Poor thing! her nerves +must be shaken."</p> + +<p>"Not a whit of them," replied +Rogers. "I saw no symptom of +nerves about her. She was as cool +as a cucumber when she floored that +infernal Jew; and if she should be a +little agitated or so, she is calming +herself at this moment with a glass +of brandy and water. I mixed it for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[376]</a></span> +her. Do you know she's a capital fellow, +only 'tis a pity she's so very plain."</p> + +<p>"I wish the police would arrive!" +said Jack. "We have really not +a minute to lose. Poor Uncle Peter! +I devoutly trust this may be the +last of his freaks."</p> + +<p>"I hope so too, Jack, for your +sake: it is no joke rummaging him +out of such company. But for Rogers +there, we should all of us have been +as dead as pickled herrings."</p> + +<p>"I bear a charmed life," said +Rogers. "Remember I belong to +'the Immortals.' But there come the +blue-coats in a couple of carriages. +'Gad, Wilkinson, I wish it were our +luck to storm the Agapedome with a +score of our own fellows!"</p> + +<p>During our drive, Rogers enlightened +us as to his encounter with the +Latchley. It appeared that he had +bestowed considerable attention to +our conversation in London; and +that, when he hurried to the drawing-room +in the Agapedome, as +already related, he thought he recognised +the Latchley at once, in the +midst of half-a-dozen more juvenile +and blooming sisters.</p> + +<p>"Of course, I never read a word +of the woman's works," said Rogers, +"and I hope I never shall; but I know +that female vanity will stand any +amount of butter. So I bolted into +the room, without caring for the rest—though, +by the way, there was +one little girl with fair hair and blue +eyes, who, I hope, has not left the +Agapedome—threw myself at the feet +of Lavinia; declared that I was a +young nobleman, enamoured of her +writings, who was resolved to force +my way through iron bars to gain a +glimpse of the bright original: and, +upon the whole, I think you must +allow that I managed matters rather +successfully."</p> + +<p>There could be but one opinion as +to that. In fact, without Rogers, +the whole scheme must have miscarried. +It was Kellermann's charge, +unexpected and unauthorised—but +altogether triumphant.</p> + +<p>On arriving at the Agapedome we +found the door open, and three or +four peasants loitering round the +gateway.</p> + +<p>"Are they here still?" cried Jack, +springing from the chaise.</p> + +<p>"Noa, measter," replied one of the +bystanders; "they be gone an hour +past in four carrutches, wi' all their +goods and chuckles."</p> + +<p>"Did they carry any one with +them by force?"</p> + +<p>"Noa, not by force, as I seed; but +there wore one chap among them +woundily raddled on the sconce."</p> + +<p>"Hyams to wit, I suppose. Come, +gentlemen; as we have a search-warrant, +let us in and examine the +premises thoroughly."</p> + +<p>Short as was the interval which had +elapsed between our exit and return, +Messrs Jonathan, Asahel, and Co. +had availed themselves of it to the +utmost. Every portable article of +any value had been removed. Drawers +were open, and papers scattered +over the floors, along with a good +many pairs of bloomers rather the +worse for the wear: in short, every +thing seemed to indicate that the +nest was finally abandoned. What +curious discoveries we made during +the course of our researches, as to the +social habits and domestic economy +of this happy family, I shall not venture +to recount; we came there not +to gratify either private or public +curiosity, but to perform a sacred duty +by emancipating Mr Peter Pettigrew.</p> + +<p>Neither in the cellars nor the +closets, nor even in the garrets, could +we find any trace of the lost one. +The contents of one bedroom, indeed, +showed that it had been formerly +tenanted by Mr Pettigrew, for there +were his portmanteaus with his name +engraved upon them; his razors, and +his wearing apparel, all seemingly untouched: +but there were no marks of +any recent occupancy; the dust was +gathering on the table, and the ewer +perfectly dry. It was the opinion of +the detective officer that at least ten +days had elapsed since any one had +slept in the room. Jack became +greatly alarmed.</p> + +<p>"I suppose," said he, "there is +nothing for it but to proceed immediately +in pursuit of Hyams: do you +think you will be able to apprehend +him?"</p> + +<p>"I doubt it very much, sir," +replied the detective officer. "These +sort of fellows are wide awake, and +are always prepared for accidents. I +expect that, by this time, he is on his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[377]</a></span> +way to France. But hush!—what +was that?"</p> + +<p>A dull sound as of the clapper of a +large bell boomed overhead. There +was silence for about a minute, and +again it was repeated.</p> + +<p>"Here is a clue, at all events!" +cried the officer. "My life on it, +there is some one in the belfry."</p> + +<p>We hastened up the narrow stairs +which led to the tower. Half way +up, the passage was barred by a stout +door, double locked, which the officers +had some difficulty in forcing with the +aid of a crow-bar. This obstacle removed, +we reached the lofty room +where the bell was suspended; and +there, right under the clapper, on a +miserable truckle bed, lay the emaciated +form of Mr Pettigrew.</p> + +<p>"My poor uncle!" said Jack, +stooping tenderly to embrace his +relative, "what can have brought you +here?"</p> + +<p>"Speak louder, Jack!" said Mr +Pettigrew; "I can't hear you. For +twelve long days that infernal bell +has been tolling just above my head +for hockey and other villanous purposes. +I am as deaf as a doornail!"</p> + +<p>"And so thin, dear uncle! You +must have been most shamefully +abused."</p> + +<p>"Simply starved; that's all."</p> + +<p>"What! starved? The monsters! +Did they give you nothing to eat?"</p> + +<p>"Yes—broccoli. I wish you would +try it for a week: it is a rare thing to +bring out the bones."</p> + +<p>"And why did they commit this +outrage upon you?"</p> + +<p>"For two especial reasons, I suppose—first, +because I would not surrender +my whole property; and, +secondly, because I would not marry +Miss Latchley."</p> + +<p>"My dear uncle! when I saw you +last, it appeared to me that you would +have had no objections to perform the +latter ceremony."</p> + +<p>"Not on compulsion, Jack—not on +compulsion!" said Mr Pettigrew, with +a touch of his old humour. "I won't +deny that I was humbugged by her at +first, but this was over long ago."</p> + +<p>"Indeed! Pray, may I venture +to ask what changed your opinion of +the lady?"</p> + +<p>"Her works, Jack—her own works!" +replied Uncle Peter. "She gave me +them to read as soon as I was fairly +trapped into the Agapedome, and +such an awful collection of impiety +and presumption I never saw before. +She is ten thousand times worse than +the deceased Thomas Paine."</p> + +<p>"Was she, then, party to your +incarceration?"</p> + +<p>"I won't say that. I hardly think +she would have consented to let them +harm me, or that she knew exactly +how I was used; but that fellow +Hyams is wicked enough to have been +an officer under King Herod. Now, +pray help me up, and lift me down +stairs, for my legs are so cramped +that I can't walk, and my head is as +dizzy as a wheel. That confounded +broccoli, too, has disagreed with my +constitution, and I shall feel particularly +obliged to any one who can +assist me to a drop of brandy."</p> + +<p>After having ministered to the immediate +wants of Mr Pettigrew, and +secured his effects, we returned to +Southampton, leaving the deserted +Agapedome in the charge of a couple +of police. In spite of every entreaty +Mr Pettigrew would not hear of entering +a prosecution against Hyams.</p> + +<p>"I feel," said he, "that I have +made a thorough ass of myself; and +I should not be able to stand the ridicule +that must follow a disclosure of +the consequences. In fact, I begin to +think that I am not fit to look after +my own affairs. The man who has +spent twelve days, as I have, under +the clapper of a bell, without any +other sustenance than broccoli—is +there any more brandy in the flask? +I should like the merest drop—the +man, I say, who has undergone these +trials, has ample time for meditation +upon the past. I see my weakness, +and I acknowledge it. So Jack, my +dear boy, as you have always behaved +to me more like a son than a nephew, +I intend, immediately on my return +to London, to settle my whole property +upon you, merely reserving an +annuity. Don't say a word on the +subject. My mind is made up, and +nothing can alter my resolution."</p> + +<p>On arriving at Southampton we +considered it our duty to communicate +immediately with Miss Latchley, +for the purpose of ascertaining if we +could render her any temporary assistance.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[378]</a></span> +Perhaps it was more than she +deserved; but we could not forget her +sex, though she had done everything +in her power to disguise it; and, +besides, the lucky blow with the life-preserver, +which she administered to +Hyams, was a service for which we +could not be otherwise than grateful. +Jack Wilkinson was selected as the +medium of communication. He found +the strong Lavinia alone, and perfectly +composed.</p> + +<p>"I wish never more," said she, "to +hear the name of Pettigrew. It is +associated in my mind with weakness, +fanaticism, and vacillation; and I +shall ever feel humbled at the reflection +that I bowed my woman's pride +to gaze on the surface of so shallow +and opaque a pool! And yet, why +regret? The image of the sun is reflected +equally from the Bœotian +marsh and the mirror of the clear +Ontario! Tell your uncle," continued +she, after a pause, "that as he is nothing +to me, so I wish to be nothing +to him. Let us mutually extinguish +memory. Ha, ha, ha!—so they fed +him, you say, upon broccoli?</p> + +<p>"But I have one message to give, +though not to him. The youth who, +in the nobility of his soul, declared +his passion for my intellect—where is +he? I tarry beneath this roof but for +him. Do my message fairly, and say +to him that if he seeks a communion +of soul—no! that is the common +phrase of the slaves of antiquated +superstition—if he yearns for a grand +amalgamation of essential passion +and power, let him hasten hither, and +Lavinia Latchley is ready to accompany +him to the prairie or the forest, +to the torrid zone, or to the confines +of the arctic seas!"</p> + +<p>"I shall deliver your message, +ma'am," said Jack, "as accurately as +my abilities will allow." And he +did so.</p> + +<p>Rogers of ours writhed uneasily in +his seat.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you what it is, my fine +fellows," said he, "I don't look upon +this quite as a laughing matter. I +am really sorry to have taken in the +old woman, though I don't see how +we could well have helped it; and I +would far rather, Jack, that she had +fixed her affections upon you than +on me. I shall get infernally roasted +at the mess if this story should +transpire. However, I suppose +there's only one answer to be given. +Pray, present my most humble respects, +and say how exceedingly distressed +I feel that my professional +engagements will not permit me to +accompany her in her proposed expedition."</p> + +<p>Jack reported the answer in due +form.</p> + +<p>"Then," said Lavinia, drawing +herself up to her full height, and +shrouding her visage in a black veil, +"tell him that for his sake I am resolved +to die a virgin!"</p> + +<p>I presume she will keep her word; +at least I have not yet heard that any +one has been courageous enough to +request her to change her situation. +She has since returned to America, +and is now, I believe, the president +of a female college, the students of +which may be distinguished from the +rest of their sex, by their uniform +adoption of bloomers.</p> + + +<p class="center space-above"><em>Printed by William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh.</em></p> + + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> <cite>Blackwood's Magazine</cite>, No. CCCXCIX., for January 1849.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> "The word <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">chasua</i> signifies an expedition along the frontier, or rather <em>across</em> +the frontier, for the capture of men and beasts. These slave-hunts are said to have +been first introduced here by the Turks, and the word chasua is not believed to be +indigenous, since for war and battle are otherwise used <i>harba</i> (properly a lance) +and <i>schàmmata</i>. <i>Chasua</i> and <i>razzia</i> appear to be synonymous, corrupted from the +Italian <i lang="it" xml:lang="it">cazzia</i>, in French <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">chasse</i>."—<cite>Feldzug von Sennaar</cite>, &c., p. 17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> These Kammarabs possess a tract on the left or south bank of the Atbara. +The distribution of the different tribes, as well as the line of march and other particulars, +are very clearly displayed in the appropriate little map accompanying Mr +Werne's volume. Opposite to the Kammarabs, "on the right bank of the Atbara, +are the Anafidabs, of the race or family of the Bischari. They form a Kabyle (band +or community) under a Schech of their own. How it is that the French in Algiers +persist in using <em>Kabyle</em> as the proper name of a nation and a country, I cannot understand."—<cite>Feldzug +von Sennaar</cite>, p. 32.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> <cite>Blackwood's Magazine</cite>, No. CCCCIV., for June 1849.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Fact. In a work by <span class="smcap">M. Gibert</span>, a celebrated French physician, on diseases of +the skin, he states that that minute troublesome kind of rash, known by the name +of <i>prurigo</i>, though not dangerous in itself, has often driven the individual afflicted +by it to—suicide. I believe that our more varying climate, and our more heating +drinks and aliments, render this skin complaint more common in England than in +France, yet I doubt if any English physician could state that it had ever driven one +of his <em>English</em> patients to suicide.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> It is seldom any action of a limb is performed without the concurrence of several +muscles; and, if the action is at all energetic, a number of muscles are brought into +play as an equipoise or balance; the infant, therefore, would be sadly puzzled +amongst its muscular sensations, supposing that it had them. Besides, it seems clear +that those movements we see an infant make with its arms and legs are, in the first +instance, as little <em>voluntary</em> as the muscular movements it makes for the purpose of +respiration. There is an animal life within us, dependent on its own laws of irritability. +Over a portion of this the developed thought or reason gains dominion; +over a large portion the will never has any hold; over another portion, as in the +organs of respiration, it has an intermittent and divided empire. We learn voluntary +movement by doing that instinctively and spontaneously which we afterwards do +from forethought. We have moved our arm; we wish to do the like again, (and to +our wonder, if we then had intelligence enough to wonder,) we do it.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> It is desirable here to explain that the old constitution of Portugal, whose +restoration is the main feature of the scheme of the National or Royalist party, (it +assumes both names,) gave the right of voting at the election of members of the +popular assembly to every man who had a hearth of his own—whether he occupied +a whole house or a single room—in fact, to all heads of families and self-supporting +persons. Such extent of suffrage ought surely to content the most democratic, and +certainly presents a strong contrast to the farce of national representation which has +been so long enacting in the Peninsula.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> The principal Miguelite papers, <cite>A Nação</cite> (Lisbon,) and <cite>O Portugal</cite> (Oporto,) +both of them highly respectable journals, conducted with much ability and moderation, +unceasingly reiterate, whilst exposing the vices and corruption of the present system, +their aversion to despotism, and their desire for a truly liberal and constitutional +government.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> The Marquis of Abrantes is descended from the Dukes of Lancaster, through +Philippa of Lancaster, Queen of John I., one of the greatest kings Portugal ever +possessed.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> This remark, (regarding the press,) literally true in Spain, does not apply to +Portugal.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Particularly by his "declaration" of the 24th June 1843, by his autograph +letter of instructions of the 15th August of the same year, and by his "royal letter" +of the 6th April 1847, which was widely circulated in Portugal.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> We cannot attach value to the vague and most unsatisfactory manifesto signed +"Carlos Luis," and issued from Bourges in May 1845, or consider it as in the +slightest degree disproving what we have advanced. It contains no distinct pledge or +guarantee of constitutional government, but deals in frothy generalities and magniloquent +protestations, binding to nothing the prince who signed it, and bearing more +traces of the pen of a Jesuit priest than of that of a competent and statesmanlike +adviser of a youthful aspirant to a throne.</p></div></div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<div class="tn"><h3>Transcriber's note:</h3> +<p>Mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where the missing quote should be placed.</p> + +<p>The cover for the eBook version of this book was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.</p> + +<p>Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as printed, ecept for the following:</p> + +<p>The transcriber has made accents consistent for "Schaïgië" and "Schaïgië's".</p> + +<p>Page 328: "But he must cease to be Mr Ruskin if they ..." The transcriber has inserted "be".</p> +</div> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44361 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/44361-h/images/coverpage.jpg b/44361-h/images/coverpage.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a57cf91 --- /dev/null +++ b/44361-h/images/coverpage.jpg |
